So 'Lucky': Tucson recently welcomed a NEW dim sum restaurant

Sometimes, when operating a business, it helps to have a little good luck. Back in 2020, that sort of luck was in short supply.

COVID-19 hit the restaurant industry hard. For many Chinese eateries, it was especially devastating. Many restaurants were forced to shutter, at least for a time, in the virus’ initial wake.

That included longtime midtown favorite Guilin Chinese Restaurant, which eventually switched to a takeout-only model.

“I used to do the dim sum at Guilin,” said owner Danyan “Dawn” Lew. “But during the pandemic, I just closed down.”

However, since then, things have changed.

For one, Guilin is back to serving customers in-house. And second, well, you might just say Lew (and Tucson) got a little lucky.

Lucky Panda, located at 4016 N. First Ave. at the intersection of First Avenue and Roger Road in a Fry’s Grocery store-anchored strip mall, opened its doors to diners June 27.

The name is appropriate for Lew, who owns Lucky Panda along with Guilin and two other Chinese establishments. The restaurant is the embodiment of her hard work and drive.

“After the pandemic, I wanted to open a place for dim sum, it was a dream,” said Lew. “It’s good marketing since there are not many (dim sum dens) in Tucson.”

Lucky Panda’s menu offers an array of Cantonese-inspired dim sum dishes like tender chicken feet, shrimp-and-pork-filled shu mai and sticky-sweet BBQ pork buns, something Lew credits to her upbringing in Guangdong Province, formerly known as Canton, and where most dishes associated with dim sum originate.

Although popular in China and in the West’s bigger cities, dim sum, which translates most closely in English to “to touch the heart,” is rare in Tucson.

Last summer saw the opening of Go Dim Sum, at the time the city’s only Chinese restaurant devoted almost exclusively to the ancient cuisine-art, though with a fast-casual setup.

Before that, select restaurants like Guilin and others offered sit-down style dim sum on weekends, replete with servers pushing carts piled high with circular bamboo steamers containing delectable morsels just waiting to be dropped off at tables, where diners, after filing out a small chit of paper selecting their favorites, eagerly awaited.

Lucky Panda, however, features a walk-up counter and an a la carte ordering style. It also features some Thai dishes (both chicken and beef pad Thai) as well as tried-and-true Americanized Chinese favorites like orange chicken, Mongolian beef and General Tso’s, to go along with its dim sum selections.

“We wanted to offer what was really popular” with Tucson restaurant goers, Lew said.

And Lew would know what’s popular when it comes to Chinese food in Tucson.

After arriving in the United States in 2004, she’s had a presence in the local Chinese restaurant scene almost non-stop. She started at Guilin, where for nine years she worked before eventually taking over the restaurant from previous ownership.

Since the end of COVID restrictions, Lew has been especially busy. On top of opening Lucky Panda in June, Lew started the year taking over the Nan Tian BBQ stall inside of Lee Lee International Supermarket.

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And just recently, she partnered with friend Christine Wong to open Happy Lemon, a bubble tea and boba shop located on Broadway.

“This year has been very busy, yes,” Lew said, with a sigh.

Still, she said she believes in her dream of bringing dim sum to the Tucson masses at Lucky Panda, and not just because her daughters, aged 17 and 13, appreciate the restaurant being named after their favorite cartoon series, “Kung-Fu Panda,” growing up.

“When they were babies, they loved pandas. They still collect panda items, even my older daughter,” she said.

No, for Lew, whose favorite Lucky Panda dish are the shrimp-filled har gow dumplings, it comes down to Lucky Panda being in a fortuitous spot: There are two nearby large student-housing complexes and a growing collection of Chinese and Asian-fusion restaurants nearby.

Plus, the kind hearts and expanding palettes of Tucson’s restaurant goers have ample parking to choose from.

“I like the parking here. It’s easy to park,” Lew said.

If you go

Location: 4016 N. First Ave.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday-Monday, closed Tuesday.

Price: Expect to spend between $10-$25 per person.

Eddie’s recommendations: I visited Lucky Panda on two occasions. Here are my suggestions:

General Tso’s chicken: Lightly breaded and not overcooked, the chicken chunks were well-sauced and not overly crunchy or chewy, and didn’t get lost in their breading, which is common for many similar dishes. The sauce itself was sweeter and less spicy than some of the tangier General Tso dishes I’ve tried before, but it wasn’t so sweet to be off-putting. The accompanying fried rice soaked up the excess sauce and added veggies and rounded out the meal well.

BBQ pork buns: My favorite dim sum selections, notable for letting their fillings be the star. For the pork buns, a soft warm bun gives way to a sweet, hearty center of diced BBQ pork filling that doesn’t skimp on flavor or portions.

Shu mai: Noticeably larger than most I’ve had in the past, and while not as shrimp-heavy as I would like, this is Tucson and the nearest significant body of ocean water is at least four hours away. Dip these into a bit of soy sauce and enjoy the tender pork-shrimp bite-size combo.

Beef chow fun: My favorite dish. Perfectly prepared noodles accompany thin-cut slabs of tender, well-seasoned beef and veggies to complete a simple, down-home comfort food that might be the best I’ve had in Tucson. Not overly spicy, although the heat level can be adjusted by request, and the bean sprouts give the noodle-based dish a welcome crunchy texture.