The year is 1995 and the Huang family is making a big move from Washington D.C.'s Chinatown to Orlando. Patriarch Louis Huang (Randall Park) is moving his three kids, wife, and mother-in-law down to Orlando to open up his own restaurant because he wants to live out the American dream rather than working for his brother.
When they get down to Orlando, family matriarch Jessica is disappointed to discover that the Louis' restaurant isn't as packed with customers as Louis had been reporting. Louis reassures her that it's a soft opening but it seems clear that he's putting on a face.
Of the three kids, Eddie is the narrator and central character of the show. He's the oldest at 11-years old and displays a love of hip-hop and wants badly to fit in. While their parents are from Taiwan, Eddie was born in Washington D.C. but he feels pretty alarmed that all his new neighbors are white and he worries he might not fit in at school.
Eddie's first day shows promise of going well when he meets some kids at the lunch table who share his interest in the Notorious BIG. Things go awry where they see his lunch and mistake his mother's Taiwanese meal for worms.
Eddie's brother Emery is doing surprisingly well as the girls are all over him and he has a ton of new friends.
In the interim, Louis decides to hire a white host to greet the customers. He hires what appears to be the first person interviews and the new hire, Mitch (Paul Scheer), seems a bit dim. The results don't show right away so they decide to make a commercial.
Back at school, Eddie gets into a fight and gets in trouble. To the surprise of the principal, the parents are thrilled with Eddie when they get called into the principal's office. They stand by his actions even though it could result in suspension.
Louis tells the family that this move will clearly be a challenge but it will make Eddie