Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens, postcard ca. early 1950s.

“Jimmy,” James Yee Chung, was born in the Guandong province of China in 1910 and moved to Santa Barbara as a young man. After working at his father’s laundry for a few years, Jimmy operated restaurants on State Street and Cabrillo Boulevard before moving his business to Canon Perdido Street in 1947 at the encouragement of Elmer Whittaker.2 He and Mr. Whittaker built the restaurant and residence behind it in 1946.3 He operated Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens as a bar and grill, clearing the large dining room periodically for big band dances. His son Tommy, who took over the business in 1967, modified the menu to include more Chinese dishes, and took on all the cooking himself.4 In 2006, Tommy and his siblings William and Barbara Chung sold the restaurant and adjoining two-story home of the Chung family to SBTHP for eventual use as a museum.

The Chung family has donated a series of artifacts, including photos and items from the restaurant, for the future museum. Before leaving the site, Tommy Chung led a video-taped tour of Jimmy’s in which he described the evolution of the restaurant and shared memories from his childhood with SBTHP staff members. We look forward to continuing to work with the Chung family as museum planning efforts continue.

2Neal Graffy, “The History of a family Legacy.” Santa Barbara Independent July 27, 2006.
3City of Santa Barbara building permit.
4Interview with Tommy Chung and staff of SBTHP at Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens, March 7, 2007.