(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Manchu is a staple in the community here.
Think you're going to the corner store,
but you're not, you're going basically to the takeout
restaurant that is incredible.
- Ahh! - Oh number two, number two!
- What is this place, I love it!
- [Narrator] People on top of each other,
the whole community's in there.
(customer speaking in background)
People come from all over the city, you can't describe it.
- Thank you.
- [Narrator] So John and Hieu are cousins.
John is a super cool guy.
You have John's dad behind the counter.
- You're busy today, huh?
- Uh, a little bit.
- Oh, what do we got?
Chicken wings are literally just flyin' out.
Fried chicken wings, chicken wings with barbecue sauce,
and yakamein, this incredible chicken noodle soup.
What's the best thing to get?
The wings and yakamein?
- Wings and yakamein, can't go wrong.
- How long have you been going to this store?
- For years.
- There's dishes and their nuances in that place
that can only be from the Vietnamese
and the African American community working together.
And you see it, and you feel it,
and you taste it in the food.
How long has this store been open?
- Oh, 26 years, right?
- So it's older than you.
- It's definitely older than me.
We just originally opened up to serve
the community around here and honestly, my parents
when they created the recipe for the chicken,
they really didn't think it was gonna
become intense like this.
- And it's popular. It's popular. It's packed.
- To this day we can't believe it's popular, you know.
- The neighborhood really looks out for this place,
when a lot of these people have had their grandparents
come here, or like their parents, and they were kids
growing up coming here, and they still come back.
- I have people who come here every single day of the week.
- Alright - Get some chicken.
- Chicken, definitely, and the wings, right?
- Yes, sir!
- Oh look, you can tell he's a local, he dive right
in at the window. - Gonna eat right
at the window. - I'm not really.
- It's the way to go.
(laughter)
- Alright guys, let's dine!
(music)
- This is a good lunch table.
- It's a New Orleans lunch table.
Come on in, man. - Oh, this looks good!
Yeah, man! - Let's get a plate.
- Mmm!
- I can taste that,
it's a little bit, - Coming up as a kid,
you guys coming up, - Yes, sir.
- You worked a lot in the store, I assume?
- My father actually, he was born and raised over
in Vietnam and he didn't have too much time for school
so you know, he started from a real young age
and starting over here, too you know, with his own kids,
my siblings and I, he got us into the flow early on.
- First generation, just hustled and hustled and hustled
so that their kids can pursue
you know financially secure dreams.
- I'm sure leaving one place, post-war, and also
for religious freedom, you know, you trade that
coming to America, and then it can be racial tension,
or poverty, it's just so many different hurdles
that you gotta overcome.
- Because we have only been here for what, four decades,
Vietnamese people that is, these minority communities
try their best to not make waves,
because we're trying to just thrive.
- So just head down, keep working, sticking together.
- Right, you don't scream out loud when you're just
payin' your bills, you know, you're payin' your bills
in silence, and you send your kids to school in silence.
You know and when they graduate, you know, you hope
that you can make it there and you're not stuck
at work because that's what your business demands of you.
But any community who's come here from a harder place,
this is paradise, you know, to have the opportunity
to not only open a business, but own something.
And in the due process, you're contributing
to the very country that took you in.
- What's Vietnamese about Manchu?
- It's just the flavor profile, growing up Vietnamese
especially in this city, I don't think I've ever been privy
to a bland food before, you know, so everything
that you try here it's just sort
of a kick to the taste buds.
- What do you think it's about this city?
Because it doesn't really matter whether it's Vietnamese
food or the food of New Orleans, it's always flavorful,
it's always delicious, it's always pushing
for bringing in different types of culture.
What do you think, is it in the water?
- It is in the water, we drink a lot!
(laughter)
Yeah it's a city where we really just revel
in the little joys, you know 'cause there's just so many
communities here that are very low income,
the luxuries that you do have are just very tiny
and it's short.
- I think the story of the Vietnamese community
in New Orleans is a story of two tales.
One, the Vietnamese community's staying strong,
sticking together to carve out this place that is theirs.
The other tale is also how open minded the city
of New Orleans were, to a new taste, a new culture.
And historically, the city has always done that,
whether it was through the French, Spanish,
or the Africans, it's richer culture for it,
and it proves why it's such an iconic American city.
(music)