Hung Fong Chinese Restaurant is celebrating its 75th birthday this year. Like De Wese’s Tip Top Cafe, not much has changed over the years. Order yourself a pot of hot tea and bask in the glow of the neon flags while appreciating the beauty of the art created from butterfly wings.

My friend ordered Hung Fong’s Lemon Chicken, and I ordered the Beef and Broccoli lunch special. Presto change-o, our food was placed in front of us before we blinked. Hung Fong’s does a brisk lunchtime trade for this very reason. You can get in and out. Plus, their prices are reasonable.

My Beef and Broccoli and my friend’s Lemon Chicken were each $5.79. Mine came with an egg roll and rice, and my friend’s came with rice and crab rangoon. The Beef and Broccoli tasted as good as it did when I was a college student in the early ’80s.

Hung Fong’s is owned by Maury Maverick Jr. “Junior” Huey. Maury Maverick Jr., free speech activist and San Antonio Express-News columnist, was a close friend and attorney for the family, as was his father, Maury Maverick. The Hueys also own Ding How on Northwest Loop 410.

Hung Fong’s is located at 3624 Broadway, not far from the South Texas Heritage Center, Brackenridge Park and the San Antonio Zoo and Aquarium. From downtown, you may take VIA’s #7 Sightseer Special to reach Hung Fong’s. They are open daily from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m.

Denise Barkis Richter, Ph.D., author of “San Antonio’s Passport to Fun,” has been blogging about San Antonio since June of 2010. Follow her at facebook.com/SanAntonioTourist so that you’ll never miss a post. Her love affair with the Alamo City began at Hemisfair in 1968. She moved to San Antonio in 1979 as an 18-year-old college student, and San Antonio has been her home ever since. Denise completed certification to become a professional tour guide in 2019. Please contact her at sanantoniotourist at gmail dot com if you’d like for her to curate a fabulous San Antonio experience for you!