Look out for a charming, low-slung brick building with a red-tiled roof and bold red-framed windows and doors, just across the sidewalk-a palm tree and bright red details will help you spot Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens.
Alright, let’s travel back in time together. Imagine it’s 1947: here you are, at Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens, the final new arrival on Santa Barbara’s “new Chinatown” block. The air smells of sizzling garlic and soy sauce, drifting out onto Canon Perdido Street as hungry diners crowd inside. This place was the heart and soul of Chinatown, the last reminder of a bustling block that once housed Chinese stores, laundries, and a bustling rooming house. But Jimmy’s was more than just a restaurant-it was a home, a piece of living history.
Jimmy Chung, a young man from China with big dreams and a knack for great food, opened his first spot, the Friendly Cafe, back in 1936-imagine the sounds of plates clinking, laughter, and greetings in English and Chinese echoing off the brick walls. When the Friendly Cafe was done, Jimmy didn’t hang up his apron; he boldly opened the Oriental Gardens in 1940, moving a few times before finally landing right here. Behind the restaurant, a humble two-story house let Jimmy and his wife Nuey raise their five kids-the Chung family, all part of this grand adventure.
Now, Santa Barbara didn’t always have it easy for its Chinese community! Workers first arrived here in the 1860s to carve out Stagecoach Road, serving as laborers, cooks, and hotel hands, settling in and building what became “Old Chinatown.” By the time Jimmy’s was built in 1947, the neighborhood had changed, but his restaurant stayed-like a lantern glowing through the decades. It was famous for its cocktails, ping-pong games, and family warmth until it closed in 2006, when son Tommy retired.
In 2014, Jimmy’s story got a spotlight in the film “Grasshopper for Grandpa,” a tribute to heritage, food, and family-one of the last traces of Chinatown’s once-vibrant pulse, still whispering stories just beyond these red doors.
