Ming's Restaurant & Lounge

Yreka, California, United States

Ming's is a Chinese restaurant with an attached bar area that is semi-Polynesian themed. There is a heavy use of lauhala mats, and all the lamps are made of tapa & bamboo and look like they are probably from Orchids of Hawaii. There are dark wooden masks throughout, but they look like generically-exotic Indonesian imports of recent manufacture. Tiki mugs are behind the bar. The restaurant has a dramatic Chinese facade that looks like it has been there for many decades; the bar feels like it acquired its Polynesian bent in the late '60s or mid-'70s. The restaurant itself apparently dates back to the 1880s.

And now the sad news: Ming's was purchased by a new owner around 2002; this new owner's immigration status precludes him from having a full liquor license, and now Ming's serves only beer and wine. The bar area is still intact, but no longer in active use.