2008-05-03

Seattle can't be a real city...

...because I can't order Chinese food for delivery.

I don't understand this. I live in First Hill, a densely populated neighborhood near hospitals that run all night, just a few blocks from the busy downtown core, and a few blocks from the shiny nightlife on Broadway. There's a major university no more than a 20 minute walk from here.

And I can't find anyone who delivers Chinese food to this neighborhood.

Seattle is a great food city, and we have Asian food available on every corner. Most major instersections have a Starbucks, a Tully's, a Thai place, and a Pho place. In the International Disctrict, we have some fantastic Chinese restaurants.

But no one delivers Chinese food to my neighborhood.

What's the problem? Maybe it's that the Chinese food in Seattle is too authentic. The stuff you can get delivered in any real city is, I'm sure, thoroughly Americanized. I'm pretty sure you can't get the typical NYC Chinese delivery food delivered to your house in Beijing or Guangzhou.

But you should be able to in Seattle.

Even in Boise I could get real, American Chinese food delivered.

Seattle can't be a real city until cheap, Americanized Chinese food is availble anywhere in the city to someone who just picks up the phone.

I'm half tempted to open my own Chinese food delivery restaurant on Madison. Maybe replace that new check cashing place that just opened.

Afterall, who know more about opening a Chinese food delivery business than an Irish-Catholic kid from Queens?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps you're in a dangerous area for delivery boys? We can'tg et pizza deliverd around here because the delivery boys have ben mugged a few times.

Anonymous said...

Well. I've just crossed Seattle off my list of places I might like to live. If I can't get my Kung Pao veggies without leaving my house in inclement weather, I can't live there. Of course, compared to the Northeast, you don't HAVE inclement weather... and that gives Seattle bigs points... but no Chinese without leaving my house?

I guess my brother-in-law and his family are big Chinese food eaters. Surely they would have mentioned a defect like this. :)

Anonymous said...

Never been to Seattle but your post made me smile :)

Good luck in your quest! LOL!

Erica said...

I agree! I used to live on the East Coast and took good Chinese food for granted. Since moving here, I have not had a single good Chinese take-out meal.

Anonymous said...

Boise does have great Chinese food. People always look at me funny when I tell them that the restaurants are a big reason for visiting Boise. And if you are willing to venture to the wild, wild suburbs there is a fantastic Chinese buffet down in Dupont. (thinking I am overdue for a trip down there)

Anonymous said...

That's pretty funny! Well, at least here in my neighborhood on the other side of the country, we do have Chinese places that deliver! Sorry, dude! As an Irish-Catholic kid raised in the military, unless you can actually cook the Chinese food yourself, just being able to deliver it won't cut it! LOL

Anonymous said...

You know Cromely - you are right. I'm a fellow Seattle-ite and I can't think of a single Chinese food delivery place in the city. Only pizza delivery.