An unassuming Chinese restaurant tucked into a Marana shopping plaza just got a major national spotlight.
Yelp, the crowd-sourced review platform that can make or break a restaurant, listed Asian Spice at 7850 N. Silverbell Road among the Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in America.
"We were very surprised," owner Joyce Tan said on Thursday. "My son sent me the news and I didn't even know."
Asian Spiceย landed at No. 53 on the list, which was released Wednesday. It was one of just three Arizona Chinese restaurants to make the cut, based on Yelp reviews.
This was the first time Asian Spice has gotten a national nod, although the restaurant has made a number of local media best-of lists in the decade since Tan and her chef-husband Phillip opened the restaurant in October 2014.
Victor Tan adds broth to a to-go order at Asian Spice, a small small eatery in a Marana strip mall that was included on Yelpโs 2024 list of the top 100 Chinese restaurants in America.
Phillip Tan trained as a chef in his native China before embarking on a 10-year run cooking for theย five-star Nanhai Hotel in Shenzhen.
When the couple immigrated to the U.S., they spent their first 10 years in Tucson working in local Chinese restaurants before going out on their own, Joyce Tan said.
The Tans' scratch kitchen leans into Cantonese and Szechuan cuisines. Popular dishes include the house orange chickenย โ deep-fried, crispy chicken dressed in a citrusy sweet-and-spicy sauceย โ and the Mongolian beef, tender sauteรฉd beef lathered with a spicy gravy.ย
The lo mein and fried rice also are popular among the regulars, many of whom live in the surrounding Continental Ranch neighborhood and nearby Gladden Farms.ย
"They come because they taste the food and they enjoy the service," Tan said, adding that the restaurant's price pointย โ most entrees average $10 to $12ย โ also is a draw.
Nicolette Padilla, left, shares a meal Thursday with her mother, Denisse, at Asian Spice restaurant in Marana. It ranked at No. 53 on Yelpโs 2024 list of the top 100 Chinese restaurants in America.
The restaurant hadย 432 reviews andย an overall Yelp rating of 4.5 stars out of 5. Many of the reviews lauded the serviceย โ Erick D. of Tucson called the restaurant "a well-oiled machine" while Craig W. of Oro Valley dubbed the service "elite"ย โ but the food also earned high marks.
Megan M. of Tucson confessed that she and her family eat at Asian Spice "at least four times a month. We are obsessed with the pork fried rice and Mongolian beefย โ extra spicy!" Thousand Oaks, California, yelper Steve J. gave the restaurant five stars. "Tiny place, great food and service," he posted.
Most of Asian Spice's business is takeout; the dining room can only seat 25 at its five booths and two tables.
Tan credited her staff, from the servers and dishwashers to the cooks working alongside her husband, for the Yelp honor.
"We have amazing employees," she said. "It's not just Phillip and me that make this happen; itโs the team in the kitchen and the front (of house)."
Yelp ranked the Top 100 Chinese restaurants based on the total number and ratings of Yelp reviews. All of the restaurants are independently owned; no national chains were included, according to Yelp.
Phillip Tan cooks up a to-go order Thursday at Asian Spice in Marana. The small restaurant he and his wife, Joyce Tan, opened in 2014 made Yelpโs 2024 list of the top 100 Chinese restaurants in America.
Asian Spice ranked highest among the Arizona restaurants on the list.ย Sauced Potstickers in Prescott Valley landed at No. 63 while Wong's Chinese Cuisine in Phoenix was ranked 85.
Asian Spice is the latest Tucson restaurant to land on a Yelp list. In January, Tumerico at 2526 E. Sixth St. was No. 1 on Yelp's 2024 Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. Two other Tucson restaurants made the rankings: Buendia Breakfast & Lunch Cafe, 2530 N. First Ave., was No. 39; Baja Cafe, with locations at 2970 N. Campbell Ave. and 7002 E. Broadway, was 50.
