Hong Kong Restaurant Mourns Loss of Founder

A Harvard Square restaurant that has been a fixture of the neighborhood for more than 60 years suffered a loss this week with the death of its founder. The Hong Kong Restaurant closed down Thursday and will reopen today to honor the passing of Mary (Buoy) Lee.

A post on the restaurant’s Facebook page announced the news:

We will be CLOSED on THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2016, in honor of the passing of the founder and matriarch of the Hong Kong Restaurant. We mourn the loss of such a strong woman, and our beloved mother. For over 60 years, Mrs. Lee has been the sponsor, mentor and caretaker for many, keeping the Hong Kong restaurant open year round so anyone who needed food or someplace to gather with friends and family had a place to go. We give her a day of remembrance, now that she is at rest. We welcome you back Friday August 26, 2016, when we will be open as usual - just as Mrs. Lee would have wanted.

Lee and her husband Jimmy (Sen) Lee started the Hong Kong Restaurant in 1954. At that time, it was a single dining room at 1238 Massachusetts Ave., but in the 1970s, the family expanded the restaurant into the three floors of space it includes today.

Mary Lee’s children still run the Cambridge restaurant and its Faneuil Hall sibling. The Hong Kong Restaurants are known for their lively nightlife scenes, with dancing, comedy, karaoke, scorpion bowls, and more.

• Hong Kong Coverage on Eater [EBOS]