This Atlantic City Restaurant Site Has Been Vacant For 25 Years

A very popular restaurant operated at this desirable corner of Atlantic City, New Jersey for many years.

Locals will remember this site as the former Peking Duck House restaurant. It was owned and operated by the popular and talented Kenny Pu.

This valuable property been vacant for approximately the past 25 years.

Now, this prime, Iowa Avenue corner property’s only job appears to be serving as a holder for this billboard and its Geico sign (as pictured above and below).

This was recently a topic on the I GREW UP OR LIVED IN ATLANTIC CITY NJ Facebook Page. This page does a great job and has many great and nostalgic conversations on a daily basis.

The Peking Duck is one of the most celebrated meals in Beijing and Mandarin cuisine. This meal has more than 400 years of celebrated history.

Britannica.com describes it like this:

“In its classic form, the dish calls for a specific breed of duck, the Imperial Peking, that is force-fed and housed in a small cage so that inactivity will ensure tender meat.”

A New York Times article about Peking Duck from November 16, 2006 wrote the following:

”Peking duck is all about crunch nuzzling up to tenderness, with fatty richness unifying the two. And, as I mentioned, it's not easy. The process may include pumping air into the bird to separate the skin from the meat, dousing the bird with boiling water, hanging it for many hours, and on and on. A restaurant kitchen has to make a real commitment to Peking duck.” according to The New York Times.

By today’s standard, all of this is considered to be cruel and unacceptable … but, it is where the name of this coveted dish came from.

Prior to this location becoming The Peking Duck House … according to Eileen McGinty Eger, “Before it was Peking it was Haddock's Typewriter store. I rented my typewriter from them when I was in High School.”

There is so much rich history in Atlantic City. This is just one example of a successful restaurant that operated for a time … only to close and now see the property vacant for the last 25 years.