Ate8 Noodle Bowl

The Concept: Taiwanese Food Court Culture

All around the island, shopping malls, office complexes and highway rest areas are littered with quick serve hot food shops; however, most of the shops have limited ventilation systems, which restrain menu choices from having too much wok cooking recipes.

In a typical food court, you’ll hear a barrage of noise; office workers on their lunch hour screaming for their food, babies crying over family chatter, students laughing and if you’re at one of the highway rest area locations you’ll hear trucks rolling in and out from all sides. For this reason, beepers are necessary since no one can hear anything!

The Name: Ate 8 Dumpling & Noodle House

The number 8 in the Chinese language sounds very similar to the word prosperity. In addition, if you turn the number 8 on its side, it’ll be an infinity symbol, which is also a symbol of prosperity i.e. infinite wealth!

I’m sure most of you are asking “Why would you eat (or ate) an 8?” This not only was a play on words trying to have two number 8’s but also came from the origins of this particular location. A day not so long ago, the owner was in Taiwan playing a game of mahjong with his friends. He won a hand after someone threw out a number 8 tile and his luck turned for the better from that hand on. At the end of the game, all four players all went out to have some noodles and pot stickers at a local food court and the concept was born. All from a game of Mahjong!