Hong Kong Café

For Hong Kong style cafés, see Cha chaan teng.

The Hong Kong Café was a Los Angeles restaurant and music venue that was a part of the Los Angeles punk rock scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s when the club was owned and operated by Barry Seidel, Kim Turner and Suzy Frank, followed by a resurgence from 1992 to 1995.

Hong Kong Café

The Hong Kong
Address	425 Gin Ling Way
Location	Chinatown, Los Angeles, California
Genre(s)	Punk rock hardcore punk
Opened	For Music, June 5, 1979
Closed	January, 1981

Located at 425 Gin Ling Way in the Chinatown district of Downtown Los Angeles, California and across the way from sometimes rival Esther Wong's Madame Wong's,^[1][2] the former Chinese restaurant^[3] was open to audiences of all ages.

It can briefly be seen in the 1974 movie, Chinatown.

History

First Run of Shows: 1979-1981

The Plugz and UXA played at the club's opening night on June 7, 1979,^[4][5] and numerous bands, including X, Catholic Discipline, The Mau-Mau's, Bags, The Smart Pills, Nervous Gender, and The Alley Cats, performed there until its closing in January 1981.^[6][7] Concert footage filmed at Hong Kong Café appears in the Penelope Spheeris documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization.^[8]

The Hong Kong Cafe was typically more open to punk and hardcore acts than Madame Wong's.^[9] Black Flag played some of its first few shows at the Hong Kong Cafe.^[10]

Resurgence: 1992-1995

The venue reopened for music in 1992, featuring shows from acts such as D.I., Guttermouth^[11] The Offspring, and the Voodoo Glow Skulls.

Aftermath

The space is currently occupied by Realm, a housewares and gifts retailer.^[12]

Shows at the Hong Kong Café

Shows from the Hong Kong's first months:

Date	Band	Band	Band	Band	Band Also appearing were Phil Seymour, the Textones, and Moon Martin.
June 5, 1979	Daily Planet	Elton Duck
June 6, 1979	Uncle	Jammer
June 7, 1979[13]	The Plugz	U.X.A.
June 8, 1979	The Alley Cats	Bags
June 9, 1979	Snapp	Blow-Up
June 10, 1979	Ryno	Curtis Bros.
June 18, 1979[14]	Black Flag	The Last
June 22, 1979[15]	The Controllers	Fear	The Plugz	X	Black Flag
June 29, 1979[16]	The Controllers	Fear	The Plugz	X	Black Flag
July 1, 1979	The Dogs	The Tremors
July 2, 1979	Copter	Big Wow
July 3, 1979	Gorilla	Fingers
July 4, 1979	The Flyboys	Fear	Satin Tones
July 5, 1979	The Weasels	The Silencers
July 6, 1979	Pink Section	The Units	The B-People
July 7, 1979	The Pink Section
July 8, 1979	The Plugz	The Tellers
July 9, 1979	Roy Loney & the Phantom Movers	The Real Kids
July 10, 1979	The Shieks of Shake	The Blitz Bros.
July 11, 1979	The Alley Cats	The Eyes	Human Hands
July 12, 1979	X	Unknown	Unknown
July 13, 1979	Unknown
July 14, 1979	Unknown
July 15, 1979	Bags	Controllers	The B-People
July 16, 1979	Yankee Rose	Shandi Cinnamon
July 17, 1979	Germs	Adaptors	Extremes
July 18, 1979	The Real Kids
July 19, 1979	Bates Motel	Hero	Johanna Went
July 20, 1979	The Plugz	Go-Go's
July 21, 1979	The Alley Cats	Penetrators
July 22, 1979	Elton Duck	Daily Planet	Dianna Harris	The Tufftones
July 23, 1979	The Most	Keller and Webb
July 24, 1979	Suburban Lawns	The Eyes	The Brainiacs
July 25, 1979	The Weirz	U.S. Rock
July 26, 1979	Middle Class	U.X.A.	Agent Orange
July 27, 1979	Bates Motel	The Meckanics
July 28, 1979	Bags	Nervous Gender
July 29, 1979	Ivy and the Eaters	Big Wow
July 30, 1979	Ivy and the Eaters	Big Wow
July 31, 1979	Axis	The Real Kids
August 1, 1979	Fear	Shandi	Johanna Went
August 2, 1979	D.O.A.	Pointed Sticks
August 3, 1979	D.O.A.	Pointed Sticks
August 4, 1979	X	Eddie and the Subtitles
August 5, 1979	Reddi Killawatt	Prankster
August 6, 1979	Suburban Lawns	Rotters	Spy
August 7, 1979	Simpletones	the Crowd	Stepmothers
August 8, 1979	U.X.A.	Flyboys	Silencers
August 9, 1979	Zero's (S.F.)	Urge
August 10, 1979	Zero's (S.F.)	Urge
August 11, 1979	Nervous Gender	Human Hands
August 12, 1979	The Plugz
August 13, 1979	Bates Motel
August 15, 1979	Germs	The B-People	VS.
October 22, 1979	210 IQ