Been There, Done That

Doctor Tape is a creature of habit and one of his favorite habits is going to Wo Hop at 17 Mott St in Chinatown.  The one in New York. Down the stairs. I think there may be a Wo Hop in every Chinatown on Earth.  In fact there is a place called Wo Hop City at 15 Mott St.  I went there once because the line for the true Wo Hop was soooo long I didn't want to wait and it scarred me for life. .Just like skydiving, never again. Anthony Bourdain (Mr Uber cool) once filmed a segment at Hop Kee which is at 21 Mott Street.  I am convinced that Hop Kee exists solely to take the overflow from Wo Hop. Wo Hop is open 24/7 so if you want to make sure you avoid the lines go at 3AM.  Unless its New Year's.  Then it doesn't matter.

99% of the time I go with my best friend Marc. We have been going to Wo Hop for 39 years. I have known Marc since we were 12. We met at summer camp. We immediately became struck on each other as if we had used really strong double-coated tape  And remember for all of your tape needs visit us at www.taperite.com. Hey, it is a tape column.

Anyway we went tonight in Marc's new used car. Marc buys lots of used cars. Don't get the wrong idea, it's a 2002 AMG55 convertible. A worthy vehicle for transporting Doctor Tape to his favorite restaurant.The drive in was like all the stars aligned.  There was no traffic, Marc drove under control (Marc always drives) and we got a spot half a block from the place. We leapt out and ran into a group of guys also going to Wo Hop.  Three were from out of town and one was a native.  They were a little lost because 17 Mott is all the way south, almost to the Bowery and the New Yorka had only been there late at night.  When he was drunk. And he didn't remember how far down it was.

We got to the stairs and there was NO LINE.  At 7:45PM there was NO LINE.  I can't stress how rare an occurrence this is. Wo Hop only seats 46 people. We rushed in and there were open tables.  Another sign from above.  What a great night!! Our favorite waiters were working (Raymond and Feng) and we had a great meal. While we were eating we noticed that a line had formed and there were maybe 20 people waiting for a table.  Could it get any better?  Actually no.  Turns out we didn't read the parking signs correctly and we got a $65.00 ticket.  The worst part is its not the first time we did this.  Oh well, I guess that's a habit I have to kick.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" -- Albert Einstein