Jade King Chinese of Roslyn Heights closes after 50 years

Jade King of Roslyn Heights, one of Long Island’s oldest Chinese restaurants, has closed. The phone has been disconnected and multiple reports reference a note posted to the door: "Jade King is now closed. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all our customers for your many years of support. Thank you, management."

The restaurant, on Willis Avenue just south of the Northern State Parkway, opened in 1975. According to a 2007 Newsday story, then-owner Joe Kwok had operated Joy King in Brooklyn before taking over the corner spot. (It had previously been Slowboat to China.) The restaurant changed hands a few times since 2007; a current owner could not be reached.

Jade King was a white-tableclothed, wonton-soup-egg-roll sort of place where you could still get egg foo young and chow mein, and wash them down with a mai tai. Such old-school eateries, serving a version of Cantonese cuisine tailored to American tastes, have largely been eclipsed in the last few decades by Asian fusion and regional Chinese cooking. The American-Cantonese menu is now most commonly found at takeout establishments.

Many of Long Island’s historic "emperors of egg rolls" have closed, including Sun Ming in Huntington (1966-2009), Palace of Wong in Rockville Centre (1967-2015) Hoi Ming in Sayville (c. 1968-2020), Hy Ting in Riverhead (1974-2018) and Hunam in Levittown (1978-2007). But chow mein lives on at Kwong Ming of Wantagh (1962).