Restaurants in Port St. Lucie (Miami, Orlando: house, theatres, live in)

[GlennsMom]

We moved here almost 2 years ago and to date have not found a good chinese restaurant. We are originally from New York and would love to find a great chinese restaurant that serves drinks, has atmosphere and good food.
I must admit in 2 years restaurants have improved but not chinese. Does anyone have any help?

[julz]

Hopefully PSLOldtimer will see this post.I remember him mentioning a good chinese restaurant once before and was sorry I didn't write it down.

[ddlove01]

I'm not pslOldTimer, but I found his post!

Posted by pslOldTimer in 4-07

I stop at China Star at least once every couple of weeks for a large order of House Fried Rice, my favorite Chinese meal. It's very good, but I rate the fried rice at the Double Dragon Vietnamese restaurant on U.S. 1 a little higher. The best yet, however, is Chen's in Okeechobee, where they mix chicken, shrimp, pork, beef, crab meat and anything else that's laying around into the House Fried Rice. I usually order from the car when I'm about 10 minutes from Okeechobee, and as soon as I say, "large House Fried Rice", she knows who I am.

[pslOldTimer]

I am pslOldTimer . None of the restaurants I mentioned in that post have "atmosphere" (other than the great smell of wok cooking). They are essentially take-out places with a few tables.

My favorites for a slightly nicer atmosphere are both buffets -- One in the Staples and Bealls shopping center on US1, and the other in the Rio Mar Plaza on US 1, just North of Rio Mar Drive. There are dozens of others; on PSL Blvd near Morningside, for example. I don't drink, so I can't comment on what they serve for adult liquid refreshment.

But, if I am reading you correctly about wanting a really classy location, I don't think it exists in Port St. Lucie. You might consider Benihana, the Japanese steak house, in Sewall's Point.

[LingLing]

I haven't found a good Chinese restaurant in PSL. In Palm Beach Gardens, you can find PF Chang in Garden Mall, Mr. Zhang in Donald Ross Village and Christina Lee in Abacoa Town Center. If you are willing to drive, following is what I wrote for Broward county residents (very authentic Chinese food).

I am from China and English is not my first language. So with my imperfect English, here are some Chinese restaurants I like in your area.

Peppers, located on Pines Blvd and Palm. It offers spicy or no spciy hot pots (seafood buffet style). It is very popular among Chinese.

Silver Pond, located on State Road 7 and Oakland Park Blvd. Its dishes are mainly Cantonese style. They are good and comparable with the similar restaurants in bay area.

Lung gong, located in Miami on SW8th. It is not far from Weston. It offers very spicy food with emphasis on northern Chinese style and authentic Sichuan favor. If you like spicy, they have a dish with small pieces of chicken buried in a big pile of hot pepper, very hot.

Tropical, in Miami too. All my non-Chinese friends love it. It offers Dim Sum. Everytime, we have to wait in line to get a seat. I am not a big fan of Dim Sum so we only go there to entertain our non-Chinese friends.

I live in PSL now so I only get to go there during weekend. Or sometime, I drive to Orlando for good Chinese and Japanese food.

[TriMT7]

Port St. Lucie USED to have a godo Chinese option in "Hunan Garden," which was in the Village Green plaza. That used to be my gold standard for Chinese food, and was a great place to bring visitors from out of town. Now that it's gone, the owners re-opened in Eastport plaza and followed so many other new Chinese restaurants in forgoing the sit-down restaurant for the tacky counter service with picture menu take-out type restaurants. The food is now not-so-good.


The nearest "nice" Chinese place with atmosphere will be a short trip down I-95 to Abacoa Town Center, where Ling Ling mentioned "Christina Lees". PF Changs is the next exit down in the Gardens Mall, but is "Corporate Chinese" food.

If I remember correctly, Stuart also has "Sake House" which is Japanese/Chinese food I believe..... I don't remember what the food is like though, since it's been so long! There also USED to be a sit down style Chinese Restaurant in the St. Lucie West Publix plaza.... don't know if it's still there though.

[ddlove01]

The one is SLW is still there...It's called Oriental Garden. The serve Chinese tea with dinner and ice cream for dessert. It's pretty good but I would stay away from anything PORK...pretty fatty - YUCK! The place is never crowded. They deliver, take-out and sit-down. Some of the servers there are not that friendly, but it is one of the better ones in the area.

Now, when about 10 years ago, I worked at The Golden Buddha. It was on PSL Blvd in Bridge Plaza. They had the best food I've ever eaten in this area AND I got a 20% discount...even better. The owners sold it, it still has the same name, but not the same food at all.

To comment on the other restaurants, Benihana's is kinda pricy and I don't think you get that big of portions. I LOVE PF Changs, but they are not in the area.

pslOldTimer - I hope you didn't take offense..I was bored and wanted to take on the challenge of searching thru your 1182 posts : ) - I haven't tried the buffet in Staples plaza...is it really similar to the one on RioMar?

I used to go to Hunan Garden all the time, it's such a shame it's not there anymore.

On a side note, it's really weird not having Village Green Theatres here anymore...It's like a hole in my heart. Many first dates were spent there! ::sigh::

[GlennsMom]

I want to thank all who answered if anyone else has any suggestions please post it -------------in the meantime maybe we should all get together and open a real good chinese restaurant in PSL with friendly help. This is one of my pet pieves since I always worked with the public - they seem to forget that their help is who we see and how we judge their establishment.

[LingLing]

Originally Posted by GlennsMom

I want to thank all who answered if anyone else has any suggestions please post it -------------in the meantime maybe we should all get together and open a real good chinese restaurant in PSL with friendly help. This is one of my pet pieves since I always worked with the public - they seem to forget that their help is who we see and how we judge their establishment.

Great idea. If I retire from my current job, I will open a real Chinese restaurant. Personally, I know the owners of Mr. Zhang, Christina lee and Lung Gong Chinese restaurants. I have told them that I would like to have them as my consultants if I ever plan to open one. China has many regional food, each with distinct flavor and isn’t reflected in any Chinese restaurants in our area. All Chinese food here is mimicking Cantonese flavor. But good Cantonese food requires very fresh vegetable and seafood. Well, just a thought..

[GlennsMom]

Originally Posted by LingLing

Great idea. If I retire from my current job, I will open a real Chinese restaurant. Personally, I know the owners of Mr. Zhang, Christina lee and Lung Gong Chinese restaurants. I have told them that I would like to have them as my consultants if I ever plan to open one. China has many regional food, each with distinct flavor and isn’t reflected in any Chinese restaurants in our area. All Chinese food here is mimicking Cantonese flavor. But good Cantonese food requires very fresh vegetable and seafood. Well, just a thought..

If and when this happens please keep me in mind - I truly love chinese cuisine and especially true authentic dishes. Good Luck and thank you