I ve worked Christmas since I was in 7th grade : San Diego Chinese restaurants open on holidays NBC 7 San Diego
San Diego is usually quiet on Christmas Day with most businesses taking the day off but that’s certainly not the case for many Chinese restaurants, like Mandarin House in La Jolla.
“I call it our Super Bowl,” said Nelson Law, owner of Mandarin House.
Nelson Law took over the 46-year-old family-owned restaurant when his father, John “Tat” Law, died in 2016. The restaurant opened in 1977 and since then has become a staple among La Jolla locals.
Busier even than Lunar New Year, Christmas is this Chinese restaurant’s biggest day of the year, bringing in two or even three times as much business as the new year celebration, Nelson said.
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It’s become something of a tradition for Jewish folks to eat at Chinese restaurants on Christmas Day, according to NBC News. Traditionally, many Jews don’t celebrate Christmas while Chinese restaurants are some of the only restaurants open on Christmas Day. To boot, much of the Chinese faire keeps kosher by not mixing meat with dairy, NBC News says.
“On top of that, I think it’s turned into a kind of cultural novelty,” Nelson said.