2 Dim Sum Garden restaurants settle name dispute
There are still two Dim Sum Gardens. If you were confused before this legal battle, you're no better off now.
The year-old dispute between two rival Chinatown restaurants named Dim Sum Garden has been settled in federal court.
If you were confused before, you're no better off now.
The controversy began in September 2013. Dajuan "Sally" Song opened the Dim Sum Garden on Race Street. Her mother, Shizhou Da, was the original chef and a part-owner of the 11th Street Dim Sum Garden. They now work together on Race Street, where Da is head chef.
In a joint statement issued Monday, April 20, attorneys Donald Benedetto (of the 11th Street restaurant) and Robert Black (of the Race Street restaurant) said Song Enterprise LLC (that's Race Street) had purchased the exclusive rights to the name "Dim Sum Garden" from Shanghai Dim Sum Garden Inc., previously doing business at 59 N. 11th St.
As part of this agreement, the restaurant at 59 N. 11th St., now operated by Philly Dim Sum Garden Inc., will continue to operate as Dim Sum Garden independently, under a separate licensing agreement, and with no affiliation to the Race Street restaurant.
Name issues are not that uncommon, and they are also seldom pleasant. For decades, the Bookbinder's restaurants - Old Original Bookbinder's in Old City and Bookbinders Seafood House in Center City - were bitter rivals, the result of a falling-out in a family.
Currently, the Jim's Steak shop on South Street is separately owned from the other locations, and the Nick's Roast Beef restaurants are separately owned, carrying subtle variations in their trade names.