Top100 Chinese Restaurants in the U.S.A. 2004

[Gifted Gourmet]

the article

an exciting event to take place this October in New York City – the Ranking of “Top 100 Chinese Restaurants” Award Ceremony, presented by Chinese Restaurant News, a national monthly magazine .. Although this ranking will be the first of its kind in U.S., we believe it is long overdue since Chinese restaurants and Chinese take-out foods have become a “daily necessity” in the modern life of American people. The first ranking results will be released on October 26, 2004, during an award ceremony to take place in New York. This is timed to capitalize on the congregation of food industry people in the city for the first ever All Asia Food Expo

the nominees

Did your old standbys make the list?

Waiting to see which ones win? I will bet money on Blue Ginger being in the top 10 ...

Think the results will be read onstage by Martin Yan? and come in individual fortune cookies??

Is this going to be a good thing for Jason, who enjoys this genre of cuisine?

Stay tuned for results .. Price Waterhouse knows more than we do at this point ...

[StudentChefEclipse]

AAIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

The best they could do was nominate PF Chang's in Scottsdale? OH! The Horror Of It All!!

*sobs*

[chile_peppa]

Seems like a strange assortment -- Blue Ginger and Panda Express competing head to head? I'd put them in completely different categories.

[Toliver]

Yes, there are some some odd nominees on the list.

I see Jasmine in San Diego on the list described as "full service" execpt that they're mainly a Dim Sum place. I never knew they even had a regular menu.

[KatieLoeb]

The Philadelphia area contingent of restaurants is an odd mix. Joe Poon's, Susanna Foo and Yangming out in Bryn Mawr. Not a single nominee from Chinatown??? Where's Shiao Lan Kung? Charles Plaza?? Lee How Fook???

[ScorchedPalate]

The Seattle entries are really, really odd, too. None of the local eG faves are on the list. Of the two that are there, one is cavernous and unremarkable, and the second is, to the best of my knowledge, notable only as a venue for weddings and banquets.

A quick re-scan of the list also turns up Mr. Chau's-- a totally grotty chain of fast-food places in the SF Bay Area... best known for their annoying radio jingle:

"Mister Chau's... Mister Chau's... CHOW DOWN at Mister Chau-au-au's!"

Run away!

Also: PF Changs?? Panda Express?? Ew.

[Gifted Gourmet]

A very cursory look at the list of nominees seems to have elicited some unusual choices .. maybe they simply pulled names from phone books?

Seattle Chinese Top !00 thread equally baffling!

[halland]

If you really plow through the text on the c-r-n.com website, you see why many of our favorites are not listed.

Q: What was the procedures by which these restaurants were ranked? 

A: The mechanism for such ranking includes open nomination of restaurants that meet a set of criteria, and will be then ranked by category. The mechanism for such a ranking includes three rounds of nominations The first round encourages open nomination that is based on mass media reviews of Chinese restaurants on either the national or local level. In the first round list we collected 3,656 Chinese restaurants across the states.

The second round involved reviewing candidate restaurants against a set of criteria: minimum 3 years in business, owned by Chinese-Americans, a recipient of a minimum two award of local dining excellence. Thus we narrowed down the list to 1,000 restaurant candidates on the second round, semi-final list. Every candidate on the semi-final list is required to fill in a registration form to participate in the final round of rankings.

The third and final round involves being reviewed and ranked by the appointed judges.

The list is also open for public ratings on the web, or by local diners of nominated restaurants.

How many of your favorite chinese restaurants have been in business for more than 3 years?

Ok then of those, how many have been the recipient of 2 awards of local dining excellence?

This contest is about CRN selling ad slicks promoting the restaurants they've identified as the top 100.

UP the page a bit in the Q&A they state:

Q: What can diners expect when coming to these restaurants to eat versus other restaurants? 

A: Diners can see the Top 100 Chinese Restaurant logo at the Restaurant window and know that they are in for a culinary treat. This award will be displayed with pride by the owners, who have a commitment to excellence in Chinese cuisine.

and elsewhere they state

Such grand event also creates an innovative marketing channel for name brands like yours. We have enclosed 5 levels of sponsorship for your consideration. Please review the attached sponsorship fact sheet. To sign up the most suitable package for you, call the sponsorship hotline 1-888-909-1234 (East Coasts), or 1-888-727-8881 (Central & West Coasts).

Don't be fooled by this marketing hype. Instead let all the CRN subscribers support each other, while we eGulleters enjoy delicious Chinese at our favorites.

Hal

[Gifted Gourmet]

Amen, Hal, and thank you for digging through the lengthy text!

[Jason Perlow]

I am amazed that Baumgarts (!!!) , Silver Pond (ok, they do a really good Dim Sum and are a respectable Hong Kong place) and Ivangie Tea House in Ridgewood (never been), is up for the running for NJ -- and China 46 is not there.

EDIT: China 46 might not have made the 3 year mark. It probably comes in right under 3 years.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Jason,

How about that one you had a thread about, King Yum? I missed it on the list but that was just a quick look ...

[Jason Perlow]

King Yum, while excellent in terms of representing Chinese American food, is not a serious representative of regional chinese cuisine. Nevertheless I am surprised it didn't make it either.

[mongo_jones]

all you need to know about this list is that it has only 4 restaurants from the greater los angeles area listed and one of them is an outpost of chin chin in santa monica.

[snowangel]

I am thankful that the only place they ranked in the Twin Cities was a place that I would never stoop to enter (Leeann Chin). So, for me, that means that the lines at the really good places will not get any longer.

(The only Twin Cities entry is well known as the fast food of the Chinese here).

[Pan]

The fact that there are a bunch of entries from New York, NY and - unless I missed one - none whatsoever from Flushing, NY is pretty damning. How can a serious ranking of Chinese restaurants in the U.S. totally ignore Flushing?

[Mark Sommelier]

The fact that there are a bunch of entries from New York, NY and - unless I missed one - none whatsoever from Flushing, NY is pretty damning. How can a serious ranking of Chinese restaurants in the U.S. totally ignore Flushing?

←

Michael,

I was raised for a time in Levittown, NY. To this very day, my brother-in-law, Norman, judges every Chinese restaurant on the planet against Kwong Ming, a restaurant in in Cherrywood Plaza, Wantagh NY. His mother still sends 2 dozen frozen egg rolls to him in California from there every month! We have some damn good ones here in Washington. Screw egg rolls when there are live shrimp and dungeness crabs in the tanks.

[Bux]

The fact that there are a bunch of entries from New York, NY and - unless I missed one - none whatsoever from Flushing, NY is pretty damning. How can a serious ranking of Chinese restaurants in the U.S. totally ignore Flushing?

←

Have you tried AsiaRoma Bar and Lounge on Mulberry?

[Pan]

Michael,

I was raised for a time in Levittown, NY. To this very day, my brother-in-law, Norman, judges every Chinese restaurant on the planet against Kwong Ming, a restaurant in  in Cherrywood Plaza, Wantagh NY. His mother still sends 2 dozen frozen egg rolls to him in California from there every month!  We have some damn good ones here in Washington. Screw egg rolls when there are live shrimp and dungeness crabs in the tanks.

←

Mark, are you making an analogy between frozen eggrolls and the Chinese restaurants in Flushing? I hope not. But I'm not sure I got your point.

[Pan]

Have you tried AsiaRoma Bar and Lounge on Mulberry? 

←

Nope, I was never tempted. Isn't that a karaoke lounge?

[JPW]

This list is amusingly bad.

Fortune Star isn't even the best Chinese in Rockville MD, much less one of the best around DC.

Same goes for the one restaurant in DC proper that I saw, Mr. K's.

[Mark Sommelier]

Mark, are you making an analogy between frozen eggrolls and the Chinese restaurants in Flushing? I hope not. But I'm not sure I got your point.

←

No, his mom calls the restaurant and orders egg rolls. She takes them home and freezes them before she mails them. I laughed my ass off when I heard about this last year.

[hshiau]

I'm sorry but China Grill is on the list?!?!? I don't know that I'd consider that anything close to Chinese.

[Laksa]

Not a single nominee from Chinatown???  Where's Shiao Lan Kung? Charles Plaza??  Lee How Fook??? 

←

I need to voice how I feel about the nominations. I am completely puzzled why they took Lee How Fook off the list.

[KatieLoeb]

I need to voice how I feel about the nominations.  I am completely puzzled why they took Lee How Fook off the list.

←

It seems that how "upscale", fusion style or Westernized the restaurant is has more to do with their selection than their criteria is letting on. The common thread I see in the restaurants that made their cut is that they are less authentic and more pandering to American palates and ideas of what a "restaurant" looks like inside, with all the trappings like linens, fine china and crystal, etc. that one would expect at a French restaurant.

[NancyH]

And the only nominee from the Cleveland Area is Szechwan House in Beachwood? What about our fine collection of authentic Chinatown places (most of which have been around well over 3 years)? We have other suburban places that offer Chinese menu and fish tanks! Well, I'll give this list all the attention it deserves.