![]() “Asian people are very suspicious, so no one wanted to rent it.” But the curse, he adds, “has no effect on us North Koreans.” 5. “They tell me there’s a curse on the building,” Lê says of his neighbors. When Lê first rented the space, it was cheaper than you might expect - because the Chinatown property is cursed. “Simply because we can't afford it, and also we don't want to give the local Philadelphia propaganda press a chance to tap our phone,” Lê says. “I thought I’d come in less after a few years,” he says, “but I’m still here every day.” 3. He’s the only one with a key to the bar.Įvery single day Hop Sing Laundromat is open, Tuesday to Saturday, he’s there to unlock the door in the afternoon and secure it late at night. “I'll barely touch the beer but I’ll always make sure I finish the water so I can tell the bartender I don't have any room left for the beer.” 2. “I’ll order a drink at a bar so it doesn't look awkward, but most of the time I order a light beer and a bottle of water,” Lê says. Despite running a bar that serves some of the best liquor around, Lê barely drinks. On Twitter, he describes Hop Sing Laundromat as “The World's Greatest North Korean Cocktail Bar according to all inferior Imperialist Americans.” In honor of the bar’s fifth anniversary, here are five things inferior Americans might not have known about Hop Sing Laundromat, according to the man himself: 1. Lê styles himself, especially on social media, as a North Korean ex-pat, a fervent support of Dear Leader - and he isn’t inclined to break character. But he’s not kidding around about screening people: The list of aspiring patrons banned from the bar is already 1,700 names long. Never one to hold his tongue, Lê might not have wanted to go with “laundromat” in the name if he wasn’t aiming for a speakeasy vibe. “I just want to serve reasonable humans.” I don’t want to put my staff through the hassle of dealing with idiots,” he says. ![]() “People think I have the gate locked to be a speakeasy, but it’s so I can screen people. “The things people say about us aren’t true,” says Lê of the cocktail destination, named one of the 30 greatest bars in the world by Condé Nast Traveler in 2015. Chinatown’s speakeasy-style Hop Sing Laundromat, owned by man of mystery Lê, is celebrating five years of accidentally being a speakeasy.
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