Although it has nothing to do with the '80s or '90s, I wanted to take a moment to mourn the loss of the greatest Chinese food place ever. Evergreen express, a former Fox's Pizza Den located kitty-corner from The Store that Time Forgot, was my go-to MSG destination for many years. It was so loved that I mentioned it in the dating profile which landed me my wife.
Let's not mince words: This place was a dive. Walking in, you wondered how the Board of Health missed it. When I first saw the "closed" sign, I figured that somebody must have blown the whistle on the place, in the spirit of the kid who told the teacher that she forgot to assign homework (no sexism intended).
The truth, I later learned, is that the owner retired. The city bought out the property, and is tearing down the structure to built a completely unnecessary roundabout. You can see the demolition already underway behind the ill-fated restaurant, where a longstanding gift shop called Cappy's has since bit the dust:
Many were the days that I would get sesame chicken takeout, as the perfect accompaniment to a kung-fu movie. Sometimes my friend Luke and I would grab some egg rolls, and eat them on top of the parking garage a few blocks away from here. (That sounds weirder than it was in execution.)
There are a few Chinese places in the area, as there are in any small town on the continent, but none will ever be able to take the place of Evergreen Express. My wife was certain she had a photo of one of our many dates there, but alas, the closest thing that she could find was a picture of a balloon on the ceiling. That's a pretty random way to end this piece, which is why I'm doing it.
