Tientsin Cafe was a small chain of Chinese restaurants. The one in Oakland was on 13th Street near Broadway, and was open from 1928 to 1947.
The Oakland cafe opened in 1928 at 425 - 13th Street, "Just west of the Tribune Tower." At the time, they had 2 cafes in Sacramento. 1
In 1935, the restaurant moved nearby to 431 - 13th St. in the new Charles Jurgens Company - Lux Theater Building. A 1935 article says they had been in business in Oakland since 1918 (17 years), but all other evidence points towards 1928 (7 years). The same article says Fong Wing was the founder and proprietor, and a sidebar notes that Miss Elsie Lewis, cashier and hostess, had been educated at Mills College. 2
While the Oakland cafe closed c.1947, one of the Sacramento cafes was in business until 1954.
Beginning c.1916 there was a Tientsin Cafe in Venice, CA, and c.1925, one in San Francisco, though it's unknown if they were related. (NB: Tientsin is an alternate spelling of Tianjin, a municipality in northern China.)
Links and References
- Tientsin Cafe Is Link In Restaurant Chain In State Oakland Tribune June 14, 1928
- Old Chinese Cafe Resumes In Bright, New Quarters Oakland Tribune October 4, 1935