The Route 1 landmark Kowloon is downsizing, but the redesigned restaurant will have something the original A-frame building never had: a drive-thru. <\/p>\n
The Wong family, owners of the historic pan-Asian restaurant, secured approval last week to open a pair of drive-thrus during a forthcoming redevelopment project that will demolish the old restaurant to make way for an apartment complex. <\/p>\n
The drive-thrus will not allow customers to order on site, the project\u2019s engineer told officials in Saugus, and will only serve customers who ordered ahead for pick-up.<\/p>\n
The approval comes more than a year after the family announced plans to replace the sprawling restaurant with two six-story apartment complexes and a smaller version of the restaurant, with roughly one-third of the seating. <\/p>\n
At a Nov. 4 selectmen\u2019s meeting, engineer Paul Marchionda said the first apartment building will be built while the restaurant is still standing. This building will be home to a smaller, temporary version of the restaurant with a drive-thru to accommodate more visitors.<\/p>\n
After the original restaurant is demolished, the second apartment building will feature a permanent Kowloon that will serve between 300 and 400 patrons. The current restaurant seats about 1,200 people. <\/p>\n
When the second building is ready, the Kowloon drive-thru will be moved there and the old space can be leased to another business, such as a bank. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe point of these drive-thrus, we need to explain, is it\u2019s not typical like a McDonald\u2019s or Dunkin\u2019 Donuts, people don\u2019t just drive up and order something,\u201d Marchionda said. \u201cThey\u2019ve got to either [order] online or call ahead and have a specified time to pick up their order.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some members of the board expressed concerns about potential traffic issues that drive-thru service might cause, but ultimately approved the request, noting that the project has already experienced significant delays. <\/p>\n
In October 2025, project planners estimated that construction could begin as soon as the spring or summer, but a timeline for breaking ground has not been announced. <\/p>\n
Bryan Hecht can be reached at bryan.hecht@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @bhechtjournalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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