Celebrity haunt that made ‘Chinese chicken salad a household name' to close this summer

Los Angeles Times

2 days ago

One of L.A.'s most iconic Chinese American restaurants will close next month, ending nearly a half-century of Chinese chicken salads, dumplings and pan-fried noodles in West Hollywood's Sunset Plaza.
The first location of Chin Chin — a decades-long celebrity haunt — will close on the Sunset Strip on July 27. Other locations will remain open.
The West Hollywood originator helped proliferate Chinese American cuisine in Los Angeles since it debuted in 1983, when founder Bob Mandler introduced many Angelenos to dim sum and Cantonese specialties.
A representative for the restaurant told the L.A. Times that while nearing the end of negotiations for that location's five-year lease, the building's landlord chose not to continue the arrangement. Chin Chin's owners hope to reopen elsewhere.
'At the last minute I think the landlord had a change in vision for the place, and as much as we wanted to be part of that, Chin Chin just wasn't part of their vision,' said David Choi, a partner in the restaurant. 'It was just a very sudden change, and so we were kind of left scrambling.'
When reached by phone, a representative for Sunset Plaza said, 'Absolutely no comment.'
It's the latest in a stretch of West Hollywood restaurants to close this year. The Den on Sunset, Rock & Reilly's and Le Petit Four — the latter of which also resided in Sunset Plaza — all shuttered in 2025.
Choi said that First to Market Hospitality, which has operated Chin Chin for roughly a decade, is grateful for its years in Sunset Plaza. The local chain's remaining locations — in Studio City, Brentwood and Las Vegas — remain in operation.
Through the years the casual-dining restaurant chain amassed a legion of notable fans, including Britney Spears, the Kardashians and Sean Hayes. The fandom is so fierce, Choi said, that when the restaurants temporarily switched ginger purveyors due to a supply shortage two years ago, customers instantly noticed a change in the signature Chinese chicken salad and cried out.
Sweet-crunchy, crispy-wonton-laced Chinese chicken salad was most likely created by Madame Sylvia Wu at her Santa Monica restaurant Madame Wu's Garden, but a large share of the dish's popularity across L.A. in the 1980s and '90s can be credited to Chin Chin.
'Owner and founder Bob Mandler is the man responsible for making Chinese chicken salad a household name in Los Angeles County, the man who elevated the fine art of Chinese grazing to undreamed-of plateaus,' former L.A. Times restaurant critic Max Jacobson wrote in 1992.
During the pandemic First to Market Hospitality tapped new culinary talent, including Rockey Dominguez and Maketto chef-owner Erik Bruner-Yang, who helped introduce new dishes and retool some of its older recipes — but some, including the most iconic, remain the same.
The hospitality group plans to relocate some of West Hollywood's staff to its other restaurants, and launched a GoFundMe campaign for those who will need financial help after July's closure. But the Brentwood location has seen impacted sales due to the recent Palisades fire, Choi said, while Studio City's Chin Chin has suffered from the entertainment-industry strikes and continued production downturn. A sizable amount of Chin Chin's business comes from delivery orders, Choi said, but third-party apps take commissions of 20% to 30%; ordering directly from the restaurant, he said, would help their survival.
Given the restaurant industry's financial precarity, Choi said the prospect of investing capital into a new Chin Chin outpost might not be prudent unless his team can find 'a sweetheart deal or a great location.'
At the Sunset Plaza location, many guests are already trickling in to pay their respects since the closure announcement posted to Instagram on Friday.
'We've been around for 45 years and that's been incredible, and we couldn't have done it without our customers,' Choi said. 'It's been a very pleasant surprise that we've had so many people that felt so strongly and had so many memories with us.'
Chin Chin is located in Sunset Plaza at 8618 W. Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood, and is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.