What The First 2 Letters In PF Chang's Name Actually Stand For

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Like so many other cuisines, Chinese-American food doesn't have a lot in common with the traditional food of China. It's seen its own evolution over time, starting with chop suey when it was first invented on the East Coast of the United States back in the 1890s. A few chain restaurants epitomize this cuisine, and one of the most recognizable is P.F. Chang's. So who is this P.F. Chang, and how did they get into the food business?

Actually, P.F. Chang isn't a person. The name instead comes from a combination of the two founders' names, Paul Fleming (hence the P.F.) and Philip Chiang. The spelling of Chiang's last name was changed for the restaurant name. Both come from a long background in the culinary business, but with very different paths that converged at P.F. Chang's founding. 

Chiang and Fleming started the restaurant in 1993 in Scottsdale, Arizona, originally called P.F. Chang's China Bistro. While the China Bistro part of the name was dropped over the years, the rest of it stuck. The chain became famous for its lettuce wraps and spicy chicken, though there are plenty of other popular items on the P.F. Chang's menu. 

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Chiang and Fleming could hardly come from more different backgrounds. Chiang was born in Shanghai and grew up in Japan, and his father became a Taiwanese diplomat. When his family moved to California, his mother Cecilia Chiang opened an upscale, traditional Chinese restaurant called The Mandarin in 1962. (She later received a James Beard award for lifetime achievement.) After attending art school, Philip Chiang worked in The Mandarin and opened a second location, a casual Chinese restaurant called Mandarette.

Paul Fleming, on the other hand, grew up in rural southern Louisiana. He got into the restaurant business, too, eventually becoming a franchisee for the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse chain on the West Coast. He's also the founder of the Fleming's Steakhouse chain. Fleming became a customer at Chiang's restaurant, and upon moving to Arizona, contacted Chiang about becoming a partner in a new Chinese restaurant there, since he thought there was a need for one.

These days, Fleming runs the Paul Fleming Restaurant Group, which focuses on eateries in southwestern Florida. Chiang, on the other hand, is semi-retired and has returned to an early love: painting. "Art is my first love. I'm a bohemian, not a corporate guy at all," he told Honolulu Magazine in 2011.