The community’s beloved and iconic Chinese restaurant closed its doors in August after 64 years of great food and memories
in Bloomington.
David Fong’s is one of the longest-running, family-owned restaurants in the Twin Cities. What started out as a small Chinese takeout spot in 1958, grew into a legendary two-generation, family-operated restaurant.
Ed Fong is David Fong’s second-generation owner. His siblings own and operate restaurants in nearby communities. Their father, David Fong, worked for his parents who operated Moy Café in Minneapolis.
When David, pictured at right, set out to pursue his dream of restaurant ownership, he got lost. That’s how David Fong’s landed in Bloomington.
“They missed the exit, and traveled through to Bloomington,” Ed Fong said. “They were turning around in a shopping center to go back and saw a ‘for lease’ sign. They inquired and, on a handshake, that’s how we started the business.”
David Fong’s started out serving only four dishes—chicken chow mein, egg foo young, fried rice and egg rolls—which have remained customers’ favorites and bestsellers all these years.
Eight years into the business, Fong’s moved its location to 9329 Lyndale, just four blocks from its original store, to accommodate the success of the restaurant. Ed’s father was a draftsman by trade and he designed the red awnings around and inside the building.
Ed was two months old when his father started David Fong’s. He has never worked outside of the family business. Ed Fong has run the family restaurant for 40 years since taking over.
“We were welcomed into the community and that’s how we started putting our roots down,” Ed Fong said. “Bloomington is still my home and will always be my home.”
