Pick Up Stix is an American fast-casual restaurant chain based in Laguna Hills, California, that serves fresh

Asian cuisine Asian cuisine encompasses several significant regional cooking styles of Asia: Central Asian, East Asian, North Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and West Asian. Cuisine is a distinctive way of cooking practices and customs, usually associat ...

(or Chinese-American cuisine as well) through corporate-owned restaurants and franchises in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. The company serves both dine-in and take-out customers, and offers offsite catering and some delivery services. It also supplies meals to private schools as part of a school lunch program. It is owned by Lorne Goldberg's Mandarin Holdings, the parent company of Leeann Chin, who bought the company from Carlson Companies in 2010. All of the company's food is cooked-to-order over high-heat burners using traditional woks. In a readers' poll in the June 2008 issue of '' San Diego Magazine'', Pick Up Stix was named one of the three "Best Takeout" restaurants in San Diego.

History

Pick Up Stix was created by a Chinese immigrant, Charlie Zhang, who moved to the United States in 1982 with only $20 in his pocket. He took traditional Asian food and adapted it to the American palate by reducing the amount of oil and adding wine, vinegar and

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

. He opened the first restaurant in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, in 1989. By 1992, there were two more locations in Orange County, in Irvine and Laguna Niguel. Two years later, the chain expanded into San Diego County with locations in Del Mar, Carlsbad and San Diego. In July 2001, the company was acquired by Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, a unit of the Carlson Companies. The company is headquartered in Laguna Hills, California, and owns and operates its own food-processing facility. Zhang remained as president and CEO of the company until his retirement in 2003. In 2010, Carlson Restaurants Worldwide sold the company to Lorne Goldberg's Mandarin Holdings. There are over 70 locations throughout the United States.

Closings

In early 2008, 26 locations were closed in California, Nevada and Arizona in order to "focus on stronger markets". In 2010, all locations in Nevada and Arizona were closed although Pick Up Stix' Facebook page encouraged these states' local customers to continue to enjoy their menu at various California locations. However, in late 2012 the Food Court in the Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas underwent a major renovation. As a result of the renovation Manchu Wok was removed and a branch of Pick Up Stix was put in its place. In 2022, their Rancho Santa Margarita location was closed.

References

External links

* {{Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food franchises Restaurants in Orange County, California Chinese restaurants Restaurants established in 1989 Companies based in Orange County, California Regional restaurant chains in the United States 1989 establishments in California American companies established in 1989 Laguna Hills, California