The Eng Family and the King Joy Restaurant, Part 1: Quincy’s First Successful Chinese Restaurant

Quincy’s Asian community has deep roots within the city. The first time that individuals of Asian descent were recorded by the State Census living in Quincy was in 1885. Over the subsequent hundred and thirty-six years that community has grown and contributed significantly to Quincy’s social and civic life. One local family that exemplifies that legacy is the Eng family, formerly of Dysart Street. 

Over the first half of the 20^th century, the Eng family restaurant – known as the King Fong Low or King Joy restaurant – was one of Quincy’s only dining establishments serving Asian cuisine. It was also the most successful Asian restaurant of its era – other contemporary establishments did not stay open for more than a few years (the longest being 10 years) compared to the Eng restaurants’ near forty years of service. That alone would be reason enough to mark the Eng family restaurant as of historical significance in Quincy. But the family behind the restaurant were also notable on an individual level for their accomplishments and service to the community.

While we wish to share the story of the Eng family with you here, the research into their story is ongoing. There are questions that we have not yet been able to answer, as well as gaps in the record that we have not yet been able to fill. As such, there will be further updates as we learn more. This article is also meant to be a small peek into a much larger project being undertaken by Quincy Historical Society, one which seeks to recover and elevate the stories of Quincy’s many immigrant and minority communities and reflect upon how these groups helped to shape the city.

The first Asian-owned businesses in Quincy were laundry services, the first of which opened between 1885 and 1888. Bids for the opportunity to open Quincy’s first restaurant serving Asian cuisine began to be reported in the 1910s. In 1915, one such restaurant finally opened. It was associated with the Hotel Midland in Houghs Neck, and the proprietor was featured in a Quincy Telegram piece detailing a celebratory supper thrown for City Officials in thanks for approving his victualler’s license. Flat Wong, as the article names him, was commended for his hospitality and for the quality of the food served.[1] Unfortunately, the Patriot Ledger reports that Wong’s restaurant closed just over a year later.[2]

The Eng family, consisting of restaurateur Yee Han Eng, his wife Shee Moy Eng, and their infant daughter Nellie, moved to Quincy from Boston circa 1913. Yee Han Eng was born in 1884 in California and was a child of Chinese immigrants. Shee Moy Eng was born in 1890 in China. Unfortunately, the historical record for the Eng family before their arrival in Quincy is largely blank. We do not know when Yee Han Eng met his wife, or why they decided to settle in Massachusetts, or Quincy specifically. The first official record of the family in Massachusetts is Nellie Eng’s birth record. Fortunately, the historical record for the family thereafter is much more detailed. 

In total, Eng and Shee Moy had ten children together. Nellie Eng, their eldest child, was born in 1912 in Boston. The remaining Eng children were born in Quincy: David in 1914, James in 1917, Grace Jean in 1919, Marjorie in 1921, Marion Mei Yuk in 1922 (who, sadly, died a year later), Ruth in 1924, Robert Leo in 1925, William Donald in 1928, and Marion Elizabeth (called “Betty”) in 1929.

The King Fong Low Restaurant

Upon their arrival in Quincy, the Eng family moved into a house on Washington Street. But their first listing in the City Directories does not appear until 1920, when Yee Han Eng is referenced as the proprietor of the King Fong Low restaurant. This restaurant was located on Hancock Street next to Alpha Hall. This prime location, no doubt, played a role in its success.

In a 1996 oral history interview, Grace Toy (née Eng) recalled the hassle that her father went through to open his restaurant. “… my father had a restaurant in the city of Quincy. That’s when they used to have the [City Government] okay whether they could open up or not, and that was the red tape then, because he was the first Chinese restaurant to open in Quincy.”[3]

Contemporary articles from the local newspapers provide evidence of at least two other attempts to open Chinese restaurants being blocked in Quincy around this same time.  In 1917, Mayor Whiton and the City Council denied a victualler’s license for John Fong Ying. Whiton explained he did not object to Ying’s character, but believed that Chinese restaurants were inherently threats to the morals of a community, claiming this was based on evidence from police officials around the area.[4] This explanation reflected a widely promulgated stereotype. Another license for a Chinese restaurant was denied a year later.[5]

Quincy Historical Society has not yet found a report of the city approving Yee Han Eng’s victualler’s license, so we do not know whether he was met with opposition. But given Grace Toy’s recollections, one would imagine that there were a number of bureaucratic hurdles to overcome.

Despite Mayor Whiton’s belief that there was no market for a Chinese restaurant in Quincy, Yee Han Eng saw significant financial success once his restaurant opened. In 1927 the King Fong Low relocated up Hancock Street to the commercial building next to the old Bethany Church, and then again in 1932 to a larger location on Chestnut Street. A year later, in 1933, Eng opened a laundry business in the basement of the Chestnut Street building, which the family operated until 1943. Also in 1933, Eng purchased a second home on Robertson Street which he rented out to another family, though he sold the property the following year.

The family also moved several times during this period. In 1924 the family moved from Washington Street to Revere Street. Then again in 1927, they moved to Glencoe Place, which today is the southern half of Dysart Street.

Sadly, Shee Moy Eng passed away in 1933. Grace Toy later recalled that her eldest sister Nellie, stepped up to help raise the younger siblings after the death of their mother. To that end, Nellie also began working as a stenographer for a company in Boston.  

The King Joy Restaurant

When the Eng family restaurant moved to Chestnut Street, the City Directories ceased to list it as the King Fong Low. In fact, they only list the establishment by its proprietor’s name for several years. It isn’t until 1936 that the restaurant gets a new name, the King Joy. This is the name that the Eng family restaurant would go by until its closure.

Grace Toy recalled fondly her childhood spent in Quincy, but also her time spent working in her family’s restaurant. “… we all worked at the restaurant when we had to, because it was like a family affair. If it got busy, then we got the phone call to go to work. So that from early times, we always had to help him out, which was good; it was good training for all of us. And I think that it doesn’t hurt, you know, to be brought up that way, because then you keep thinking of what you can do to help other people.”

The next decade was eventful for the Eng family as the children started to come of age and set out on their own, and as global events reached Quincy. Sadly, in 1938, Marjorie Eng passed away at the age of 17. Grace Toy later remembered this family event as solidifying her career path towards becoming a nurse. After the U.S. entry into World War II, four of the Eng children served in the war effort. David and Robert enlisted in the Army, James in the Navy, and Grace as a nurse for the Army. William Eng would also serve in the Army, but not until after the War’s end.

Grace Toy recalled her father being worried but proud of his children’s service. Particularly, he was shocked when Grace announced her intention to serve in the European Theater. She recalled him saying “But you promised that you wouldn’t go overseas!” To which she responded, “Well, but they need me!” She concludes the story by saying that she believed, ultimately, her father was proud of all of them.

Yee Han Eng’s Death and the Closure of the King Joy

The King Joy restaurant remained on Chestnut Street until 1949, when it moved just a block away to Cottage Ave. The same year the youngest Eng child, Marion Elizabeth (called “Betty”), was added to the City Directory as the King Joy’s assistant manager.

Sadly, just a few years later in 1951, Yee Han Eng died at the age of 67. The King Joy restaurant continued to operate for at least another four years. After his father’s death, City Directories list James Eng as the proprietor of the King Joy, with Betty still as the assistant manager. Due to gaps in the historic record, we have not yet been able to determine exactly what year the King Joy restaurant closed. But we know that it happened sometime between 1955 and 1961. The location was ultimately taken over by another Chinese restaurant, the O-Wah.

In her oral history interview, Grace Toy remembers her father as strict but loving. She recalled that he always wanted to know where his children were and where they were going. During her interview, she recalled standing up to a teacher – who had given her detention for disruptive behavior in class – by saying that her father expected her home to help out at the restaurant by a certain time. “So I said, “I have no choice. I have to go with my father, and I’ll take the consequences from you.” And I think she understood because she didn’t push it. I just said, “And besides, I wasn’t communicating, I was just listening to somebody talking.” And I said, “You know, if I had my choice–fact is, I promised, I have to be there.” I just felt that that was my job.”

Yee Han Eng saw significant success as a restaurateur, keeping the doors to his business open for nearly forty years. His restaurant was also highly successful, supporting his large family. Only two other Chinese restaurants opened in Quincy while the Eng family restaurant was in operation, and these did not see the same level of success that Eng did. There are many reasons for why this might have been the case, but the popularity of the King Fong Low and the King Joy restaurants no doubt contributed.

As hinted at throughout this article, Yee Han Eng was not the only member of the family who led a note-worthy life. The Eng children are also historically significant for their achievements and contributions to the Quincy community. Part 2 of this article will focus on the second generation of the Eng family and their individual successes.

Note: Quincy Historical Society would like to thank Chris Toy and Linda Lew-Hanson for their help in inspiring this article, for sharing with us family oral history interviews, and for allowing us the use of family photos, all of which aided greatly in our research.

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[1] Quincy Telegram, May 14, 1915, pg. 1.

[2] Quincy Patriot-Ledger, September 9, 1916, pg. 8.

[3] While the Historical Society has determined that the King Fong Low was not the first Chinese restaurant in Quincy, there were no other Asian restaurants in Quincy at the time that it opened and for several years thereafter. The next Quincy restaurant serving Asian cuisine opened in 1924. This establishment was located on Beale Street and was owned by Shogoro Shinomiya, a Japanese immigrant.  It remained open for 10 years and was Eng’s only competition during that time.

[4] Quincy Patriot Ledger, May 4, 1917, pg. 1.

[5] Quincy Telegram, August 9, 1918, pg. 1.