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All the United States Washington, D.C. Yenching Palace
Yenching Palace is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

AO Edited

Yenching Palace

The iconic D.C. restaurant where the Cuban Missile Crisis was negotiated, now a Walgreens.

Washington, D.C.

Added By
Meg Neal
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Yenching Palace in Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C.   dbking/CC BY 2.0
Yenching Palace in Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C.   dbking/CC BY 2.0
Walgreens at former Yenching Palace site   Map Data © 2012 Google 
  David/CC BY 2.0
Yenching Palace in 2007.   Map Data © 2007 Google 
Walgreens at former Yenching Palace site   Map Data © 2014 Google 
  IgFan / Atlas Obscura User
  IgFan / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In its heyday in the 1960s and 70s, Yenching Palace was a landmark in Washington, D.C. known for its iconic neon sign with the confusing backwards “Y”, and frequented by celebrities and politicians, including Mick Jagger, Art Garfunkel, Ann Landers, Henry Kissinger, Bob Woodward, and Carl Bernstein.

More famously, Yenching Palace played a pivotal role at a crucial moment in American history. It was the final meeting place in negotiations between the U.S. and Russia to resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis and avoid nuclear war.

As the story goes, ABC newsman John Scali, representing President John Kennedy, and Soviet Embassy counselor (and senior K.G. B. officer) Aleksander Fomin, representing the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, met covertly in the second to last booth on the left to iron out the details of an agreement.

There are few details on the meeting, but the New York Times reported that the negotiations took place over the course of several meetings in local Washington establishments. Over lunch at the Willard Hotel, the terms for settlement of the crisis were proposed—the promise not to invade Cuba in exchange for the missiles being removed—and the terms were agreed upon later at the Statler coffee shop. The next day the two men celebrated the conflict resolution with a Chinese dinner at Yenching Palace.

Yenching Palace was opened in 1955 by Van Lung, the son of a Chinese warlord. Ownership passed down to his nephew, who, facing rising costs, closed the restaurant in 2007. The building went on to house a Walgreens, which is also now closed.

Related Tags

Politics History Stores Nuclear

Know Before You Go

The building still stands and features a historical plaque in the windows describing the history of the location, very worth a stop.

Community Contributors

Added By

Meg

Edited By

AF, JECE, rosetatarsky, IgFan

  • AF
  • JECE
  • rosetatarsky
  • IgFan

Published

November 16, 2016

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  • http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301272.html
Yenching Palace
3598 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, District of Columbia, 20008
United States
38.936647, -77.059301
Get Directions

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