Renowned Chinese chef Peter Chang expanded his collection of Szechuan-style restaurants to College Park with the opening of Peter Chang Kitchen & Bar on Route 1 in August.

Matthew Famularo, the manager of Peter Chang Kitchen & Bar, said the restaurant serves some of the “most authentic Szechuan” cuisine available in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area.

“I’ve been told by people who come through here that this is the closest thing that they’ve had to food they actually eat back home,” he said.

Peter Chang partnered with MeatUp Korean BBQ & Bar in College Park, which opened in 2023, The Diamondback previously reported. When MeatUp closed on Aug. 3, Chang took over the location and opened Peter Chang Kitchen & Bar in the same building later that month.

The restaurant serves a variety of cold dishes, such as hot chili oil beef tendon, as well as its signature pork dumplings and many noodle and rice dishes with vegan options.

Chang trained to become a chef in China and moved to the United States to become the chef at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. He now operates several restaurants around the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area, including NiHao in Baltimore.

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According to Famularo, Chang frequents the College Park restaurant as well as his other locations across the region. Famularo said his talent is very apparent during these drop-ins, and that he runs events for diners with dishes such as the Peking duck.

“That’s always very fun and interesting to watch. You can tell he knows what he’s doing,” Famularo said. “He’s a total pro.”

District 1 College Park City Council member Alan Hew said the restaurant’s cuisine is different from the Western-style Chinese food that many Americans are accustomed to.

Hew said having this kind of authentic cuisine is important to recognize China’s many different regional food styles with which Westerners are not always familiar.

“To have as many regional, non-Western focused Chinese restaurants is a blessing,”  Hew told The Diamondback. “To be in one city and have various, multiple choices of styles … it brings us opportunities.”

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Hew added that the opening of this restaurant reflects College Park’s diverse population of both students and residents, and hopes Chang’s cuisine can bring students comfort by serving up food that reminds them of home.

Archica Naik, a junior computer science major at the University of Maryland, visited Peter Chang Kitchen & Bar for the first time with her friends to celebrate her 20th birthday.

Naik said she enjoyed the restaurant’s ambience as well as its many vegetarian options and wide assortment of teas.

“It’s affordable, so it’s good for college students,” Naik said. “And it’s something closer to this side of campus, near the CS building, and it has a good variety of options for students to try and spend time.”

Hew said he commends Chang’s decision to bring his cuisine outside of major cities like Washington, D.C., and College Park’s work in supporting diverse restaurants.

“I’m proud of the efforts that the city has been making into really wonderful restaurants that will bring people in from other parts of the state,” Hew said.