Based on the life of Asian-American restaurateur, chef, food personality, and former lawyer Eddie Huang. He serves as the show's narrator in the first season.
Eddie Huang decreased his involvement with the show in season 2 due to his disagreements in creative direction of the show, in particular how the Louis character is portrayed as nice, friendly, and naive versus the dark, abusive, and strict personality he had in the book.
This is the first U.S. network television series centering on an Asian American family since Margaret Cho's All American Girl (1994).
In season one, all episodes are told from Eddie's first person perspective. In season two, the perspective switched to third person and focused on all members of the Huang family.
Jenny Huang is depicted on the show in a wheelchair. In real life, Eddie Huang's grandmother used a wheelchair because she had bound feet. Though in real life it was his grandmother on his mom's side, not his dad's like in the show, who used a wheelchair.