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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIt turns out that Colonel Lee\u2019s was a small chain \u2014 only in California as far as I know. Since I was spending a great deal of time in the San Francisco area \u2014 mostly Palo Alto and Sunnyvale, I was excited that I found a Colonel Lee\u2019s in that area, located on Castro Street in Mountain View. That location wasn\u2019t very far from were I was working and I think I managed to eat there at least several times a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously I got to know the owner and the staff very well and they always made me feel like an honored guest. I often took some of the guys I was working with, but only a couple of the them thought it was as good as I did. More than once, when I had to work late, the restaurant was closed when I got there, but if any of the staff was still there, they always opened the door and usually met me with a Tsingtao (Chinese beer.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One night a friend\/co-worker and myself went there for dinner, but Colonel Lee\u2019s Mongolian BBQ was closed due to a private party having their wedding reception in the restaurant. We looked in and saw the place all re-arranged with all the tables nicely decorated with nice table cloths. The wedding party was sitting at a long table facing the other tables, near the front of the dining room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were just about to turn around when the manager came running out\u2026 told us how glad he was to see us and to \u201ccome on in.\u201d I explained that I thought that if the party had rented the restaurant for the night, it was just for their invited guests. Well, the manager said he was sure they wouldn\u2019t mind and in fact a table was already being set up for us near the back \u2014 complete with a white table cloth, flowers and \u201cwedding favors,\u201d and of course a couple of Tsingtao beers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were the only ones in the place not of Asian descent. We got a number of stares, and we just smiled and waved at everyone\u2026. most of them smiled and waved back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had the usual great meal and a number of Tsingtao\u2019s along with a couple of glasses of champagne. As the night progressed we started hitting our glasses with a knife as a way of urging the bride and groom to kiss (a tradition at a lot western weddings\u2026apparently not so much at Asian weddings.) But a lot of the guests picked up on it and were making quite a lot of noise. Finally, the bride announced that \u201cwe don\u2019t do that!\u201d Both my friend and I wondered if the groom knew that beforehand\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mongolian BBQ is still one of my favorite foods and Colonel Lee\u2019s Mongolian BBQ will always be one of my all-time favorite restaurants. There are a number of Mongolian BBQ establishments in California, especially the Los Angles area \u2014 But there will never be another Colonel Lee\u2019s.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of my favorite foods is Mongolian BBQ. It\u2019s not something that\u2019s available in our area, and in fact it\u2019s hard to find in most places in the United States. I\u2019ve had it in Hawaii, but it isn\u2019t the same … Continue reading