Amy Russo|The Providence Journal
A local walks in and orders a chicken fried rice to go.
John Chan knows him by name.
Patrons at the bar exchange laughs. “Who’s playing tonight?” one asks. Two couples, who don’t appear to have known each other previously, strike up a conversation, the only thing they have in common being the proximity of their bar stools. Howls reverberate from a far corner of the restaurant, where something funny must have been said.
Nothing too distinct can be heard amidthe pouring of ice, the clinking of glasses and the steady hum of conversation —friendly sounds that make this place feel like home.
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Chan’s is a true relic in every sense.
Here, you can feast on lo mein, fire up a jukebox, or scan a paper placemat to find your Chinese zodiac sign. Mine is the boar, intellectual yet painfully naive, a symbol shared with Hemingway. The mat tells me that my quest for material goods could be my downfall. I don’t think the mat knows I’m a newspaper journalist.
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Chan has been working here since age 15. He remembers working the front and the back of the house, washing dishes, cookingand doing homework in between. He came to run the place gradually. Around 1975, after Chan graduated from Providence College, the restaurant added live music. In 1977, he booked his first gig, taking on more leadership. In 1980, his father died at age 63.
“From that point on, it was my baby, basically,” Chan recalled.
Now, he can cook everything on the menu, from the five spice calamari to the shanghai fish —both his creations. The former is a salty, crunchy snack of fried squid topped with diced onions and peppers. The latter is a lightly battered cod bathed in a sweet sauce in which the onions and peppers make another appearance, along with some chopped tomatoes.
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Chan also notes that, unlike other Chinese joints, his makes lo mein with a flat noodle.
But culinary creativity isn’t Chan’s only talent. He also paints nature scenes, is an avid golfer, and has a knack for collecting doodles from celebrities he meets.
Flipping through a small pad, he points out Sharpie sketches from boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard, comedian George Lopez, and Cher, with whom he once acted in a scene for a Farrelly Brothers movie.
In the comedy “Stuck on You,” Chan made an appearance as Cher’s photographer, though the scene was eventually cut.
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Still, he had the chance to meet the singer-turned-actress, and he said she’s nice.
Each of these memories is memorialized on the restaurant’s walls in the form of posters, autographs, awards and articles, one of which advertises a 25-cent chow mein sandwich served during the eatery’s centennial in 2005.
Having sampled Chan’s seafood specialties and taken a walk down memory lane, I am seated among a sea of diners for what the venue does best: live music.
Inside a darkened room lit by string lights and Chinese lanterns, I share a table with Sandra and Gene, who think they were here in the 1980s but can’t be sure. We’re waiting for Danny Klein to take the stage with his band Full House. For those who don’t recall, Klein was afounding member of The J. Geils Band, best known for its1981 hit“Centerfold.”
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Klein, recalling those old days, says he was the band’s bassist, “from what I remember.”
As the music begins, frontman Jim Taft belting out the opening lines to the J. Geils tune“First I Look at the Purse,” tables full of fans — the youngest of whom appear to be in their 50s — begin to raise their armsand cheer. Eventually, two climb on top of their chairs. A couple, who look to be husband and wife, have a disagreement as she repeatedly asks him to stop dancing and sit down. He resorts to dancing with another woman.
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While I thought I’d seen tough waitresses during the earlier days of my journalism career in New York, when I worked in restaurants in between reporting, the staff at Chan’s put them to shame.
As one hustles through the crowd with four bottles of beer, she encounters the dancing man who refuses to sitand gives him a boot to the butt. Moments later, another waitress, clearing a table of thirsty patrons, passes by carrying seven bottles without the help of a tray.
Stories here — from employees to patrons to musicians —are many. Chan, who is in the process of selling the venue, hopes it all continues under its eventual new ownership.
“I have no regrets,” he said. “I had a great run, and I met some wonderful people. We’ve become a musical family.”
Having recently undergone successful surgery on his knee, Chan plans to spend retirement living the good life.
“The doctors guarantee an extra 10 yards on my drive for my golf game,” he said. “I’m going to keep golfing, keep painting, and just slow down my pace, cherish what I have.”
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Providence Journal staff writer Amy Russo moved from New York City last March, and she's eager to experience her adopted state. If you have suggestions for this column, email her atamrusso@providencejournal.com.
