The curious case of Food Lion and Chinese food

If you’ve lived in the Southeast for any amount of time, you may have heard on more than one occasion someone saying there is a Chinese restaurant next to every Food Lion.

This has been investigated thoroughly on TikTok, of all places. A user under the handle @jeffrey.jiacheng used various online tools to create a database of Food Lions and Chinese restaurants and claimed 72% of North Carolina’s Food Lions are next to a Chinese restaurant.

Since I’m allergic to most online tools and database-building, I decided to launch a local investigation the old-fashioned way using a simple Google maps search.

What I found was in line with other closer looks at local legends: It’s a bit of a stretch, which doesn’t bother me, but the “why” is troublingly elusive.

Let’s keep it to The Paper’s coverage area. Burke and Caldwell County play host to no less than 10 Food Lion stores, with the highest concentration in the Morganton area. There are four Food Lions in Morganton proper and another close by in Valdese. Meanwhile, there are two in Lenoir, one in Hudson and one in Hildebran.

There are a few standouts in the group that solidify the theory. The Food Lion in the Fiddler’s Run shopping center off Enola Road in Morganton is next door to Chen’s Garden, a Chinese restaurant. The Food Lion on East Union Street in Morganton is across the street from Great China. The Food Lion on U.S. 64 in west Lenoir is in the same building as Jasmine, a Chinese restaurant.

Beyond these stores, a broader continental approach is required to maintain the theory.

The Food Lion stores on North Green Street and Burkemont Avenue in Morganton and on U.S. 70 in Valdese are nowhere near Chinese restaurants, but all three are across the street from Japanese restaurants. The Burkemont Food Lion is also near a Thai restaurant.

Meanwhile, the Food Lion stores on U.S. 64 on the northeast side of Lenoir; U.S. 321 in Hudson; and U.S. 70 in Hildebran were the outliers, having no Asian cuisine nearby.

In the course of about a dozen interviews with Food Lion staff and even two City of Morganton employees — who all declined to be identified or comment on the record, for some reason — other common Food Lion neighbors came up, among them nail salons, Mexican restaurants, and vape shops, all hallmarks of the great American shopping strip.

However, none of these are present at more than one or two of the Food Lion stores in the area.

The correlation is plain enough, but causation is another story: No one interviewed could even venture a guess at why there is an apparent connection between Food Lion stores and Asian food.

Calls to three of the Chinese restaurants in question offered even less information, with staff members at two hanging up shortly after answering and one saying the location of their restaurant was chosen entirely at random.

Asked for comment, Food Lion’s corporate office responded with a boilerplate statement containing about as much flavor as a crab rangoon:

“Our store locations are chosen based on a variety of factors, including the needs of the towns and cities we serve. In shopping centers where we typically lease our stores, the landlord ultimately determines the mix of tenants. We believe in being a good neighbor to our customers and fellow business owners.”

While offering little in the way of explanation, the statement may give a whisper of a clue.

Food Lion’s mission statement is to “deliver an easy, fresh and affordable shopping experience” in the communities it serves. Strip malls near dense population centers provide easy access for those seeking affordable groceries.

Meanwhile, a small, family-owned restaurant with a focus on affordable food may find such a location attractive for high traffic and low rent.

While there may not be a grand conspiracy — or even a clear reason — behind the connection, the legend remains, accomplishing what many do: It acts as a mirror to the community, clarifying our view of what means the most to us.

In this case, it’s cheap food.