In 1919, Chinese businessman Choy Him came to the village of Newdale and bought a hotel. His next business venture was the Paris Café that he operated from 1928 to 1938, when he retired and his son Choy Soo took over. In 1950, Soo demolished the building and moved a former machine shop dating from 1939 to the site. He renovated the structure into a modern café and built a kitchen and living quarters at the back. By all accounts, the Paris Café was a thriving business.
In 1970, Soo moved to Brandon where he and his family operated Soo’s Chop Suey House for 30 years. The former Paris Café building was occupied successively by a community centre and lending library operated by Rev. Gordon Elliott Waddell and his wife, and later an insurance agency and liquor vendor. The building is now a private home.
Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.35126, W100.20529
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Early Chinese settlers in Western Manitoba by Alison R. Marshall
Manitoba History, Number 62, Winter 2009
We thank Duncan Waddell for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 17 January 2021
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