Posted on 12/26/2023 12:37:48 PM PST by Red Badger
The holiday tradition of eating Chinese food on Christmas is going strong, according to Yelp data shared with Axios.
The big picture: Yelp searches for Chinese restaurants spike every December. Last year, Christmas Day searches were 99% higher than any other day in the month, the platform told Axios.
It's not just Yelp. Google search interest for "Chinese food" has peaked on Christmas every year since the data became available (in 2004). Zoom in: A lack of restaurants open on Christmas has fueled the trend over the years, and the cuisine is a holiday favorite among many Jewish families.
Rabbi Joshua Plaut, author of the book "A Kosher Christmas: 'Tis the Season to be Jewish," told NPR in 2017 that the Chinese food tradition has been around at least since 1935 — but probably earlier. The first written citation of Jews eating Chinese on Christmas was published in the New York Times in 1935, Plaut said. "The Chinese restaurant was a safe haven for American Jews who felt like outsiders on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day," Plaut told NPR. Flashback: The Jewish tradition was even brought up during Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's confirmation hearing in 2010 when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked Kagan where she was on Christmas.
"Like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant," Kagan said. "No other restaurants are open," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) added.
There’s a kosher Chinese Restaurant in Brookline, MA... Shalom Hunan.
We make a huge batch of Barzcht and a shuba for Christmas.
It’s Tex-Mex at the Texino home.
The Chinese places here in Bothell were all closed but Biryani House was packed on Christmas Eve..
I assume Biryani House is Indian (?) Indian is good, but it’s not Chinese. (Actually, the Indian places here are now much better than the Chinese.)
Where I am, even the cheap Chinese places were very good when I was growing up; but not nearly so good now.
I remember when I was working in DC, and a lot of the ‘Chinese’ places were taken over by Koreans. The ‘Chinese’ food started to taste somewhat Korean.
(I like Korean food; but not when I’m wanting Chinese...)
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