Hong Kong Café
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.
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, the former Chinese restaurant was open to audiences of all ages.
It can briefly be seen in the 1974 movie, Chinatown.
History
First Run of Shows: 1979-1981
and UXA played at the club's opening night on June 7, 1979, and numerous bands, including X, Catholic Discipline, The Mau Maus, Bags, The Smart Pills, Nervous Gender, and The [Alley Cats (Los Angeles punk band)|The Alley Cats], performed there until its closing in January 1981. Concert footage filmed at Hong Kong Café appears in the Penelope Spheeris documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization.The Hong Kong Cafe was typically more open to punk and hardcore acts than Madame Wong's. Black Flag played some of its first few shows at the Hong Kong Cafe.