The story of the Chinese family restaurants outside of North America is remarkably similar in other parts of the world where the Chinese diaspora of the mid to late 19th century spread. 
Barbara Nichol has written about the history of Chinese restaurants in Melbourne, Australia from 1830-1950. "The restaurant industry was central to the way many in the Chinese community supported themselves and their families back in China over the early decades. Return visits home and the opportunity to develop migration patterns reinforced culture, perpetuating and strengthening the dominance of Cantonese cuisine in Victoria. Forced at the turn of the century into one of the few occupational avenues available to them, the Chinese developed highly successful and enduring businesses which have made a significant economic and cultural contribution to Australia."

In Nichol's 2010 Melbourne Chinese Studies Group seminar presentation, "Chinese restaurant children: negotiating Australian lives," she noted that ‘Restaurant children’ recognised the importance of fulfilling the obligations of their Chinese heritage, yet at the same time were negotiating their futures as Australians. They tend not to be described as ‘pioneers’, yet in many ways their struggles were just as valiant and the obstacles they negotiated were no less daunting.