"no signaling necessary"

As a true-blooded American, I'm a fan of fake Chinese food.  (Fake Mexican as well!  I miss you Chipotle, bacteria and all!)  And while the history of Chinese restaurants in America is long and winding, it's also quite dark and often driven by racism:

"Chinese restaurants in the U.S. date back to the first wave of immigration from China, predominantly from Guangdong (then known as Canton), in the mid-1800s. It was spurred by the Gold Rush, and then work on railroads, farms, and in laundries. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act as white Americans increasingly blamed Chinese immigrants for low wages and a lack of jobs. 'Out of sheer necessity, Chinese had to find or develop forms of self-employment because most forms of work were denied to them,' writes John Jung, a professor emeritus in psychology and a historian of Chinese-American history, in Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants. Restaurants popped up both as places for the predominantly male Chinese population to cook their own cuisine for each other, and as a business opportunity — especially since Chinese immigrants were often unwelcome or segregated from other communities.

'You see early on… the menus are pretty standard,' says Piccoli. They were black text on white paper, no illustration or design, just a list of food. These restaurants were typically located in Chinatowns, and because they were run by Chinese people for Chinese people, there was no signaling necessary.

The rise of Orientalist design in Chinese-American restaurants begins at the turn of the 20th century. By this point, Chinese restaurants were at least a familiar sight to non-Chinese people, and some diners who fancied themselves adventurous began to pop in — the way the bohemian class always prides themselves on their willingness to eat at a 'hole in the wall.' Chinese business owners realized they could capitalize on, and expand, this new consumer base, and 'courted business from tourists and the curious with remodeled restaurants designed with a typical Oriental motif both inside and out,' writes Jung. They brought in bamboo shoots, the dragons slithering along menu spines, Buddha statues sitting on windowsills. By 1903, there were over 100 of these Chinese-American restaurants between 14th Street and Times Square in Manhattan."

When it comes to food history and culture, nothing is authentic.  Everything is authentic.