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Pagoda Roof Restaurants

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This page documents restaurants with pagoda roofs and entrances. The examples are organized in alphabetical order by state.

Hop Louie
Los Angeles, CA		 Chen Ling Palace
Riverside, CA
The Hop Louie restaurant in Chinatown was built in 1941 as the Golden Pagoda. It closed in 2016. In 2018, it was announced that new owners would reopen the place. It is still closed in 2022. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

The Chen Ling Palace was designed by R. Ross Herrick and built in 1962 as the Oriental Garden. [map]

Rice Bowl
Hanford, CA
The Rice Bowl was built in 1990. [map]

Hong Kong Restaurant [gone]
Pensacola, FL		 Oriental House
St. Matthews, KY
The Hong Kong Restaurant closed around 2019. The pagoda entrance was removed around 2023.

The Oriental House features a pagoda-influenced building and sign. It has been here since at least the 1960s. The rooftop neon sign is lit at night. I don't know if the freestanding sign is. For more, see this website. [map]

former Weylu's Restaurant [gone]
Saugus, MA
Weylu's had two other locations, one in Woburn and another in Saugus, but all of them are gone now. The restaurants had vast menus with Chinese, Japanese and Thai food. At 51,000 square feet, this building was supposedly the largest Chinese restaurant ever built. The building was constructed from 1986-1989 at a cost of $13 million. It was modeled after the Forbidden Palace in Beijing. The Weylu's building was a dramatic sight overlooking Route 1. Weylu's closed in 1999. The restaurant sat empty with boarded up windows and broken tile, surrounded by an immense parking lot. Around 2004, after a multi-million-dollar renovation, it reopened as East Manor. In 2006, the Jin Asian Cuisine Restaurant took over the building. That business closed in 2009 and the building remained vacant until it was demolished in 2015. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.

Ying Dynasty
Mattapoisett, MA
The Ying Dynasty Chinese restaurant opened in 1951 as the Cathay Temple. It became the Ying Dynasty in 2010. The building's roof probably had tiles originally. The Bowl-Mor which features duckpin bowling is located next door. It was built in 1946. [map]

Lin's Cuisine [gone]
New Bedford, MA
The Lin's Cuisine building originally housed the York Wong Restaurant when it was built in 1949. In 2000, the name was changed to Lin's Cuisine. These photos are from 2005 and 2006. After a fire, Lin's relocated nearby. By 2011, this building had been demolished. [middle photo thanks DinerFan]

Chinatown Restaurant & Japanese Steak House [gone]
Wyoming, MI
The Chinatown Restaurant & Japanese Steak House opened in 1975. The building was rebuilt after a fire in 1980. These photos are from 2011. The restaurant closed in 2016. In 2022, the pagoda-influenced facade was removed. In 2023, the building was housing Rio Peruvian and Mexican Cuisine.

Hong Kong Restaurant
Cloquet, MN
The Hong Kong Restaurant features a pagoda-topped building and sign. [map]

China Town Food Stand [gone]
St. Paul, MN
The China Town Food Stand was located at the Minnesota State Fair. This photo is from 2007. The building was still there in 2009 but gone by 2013.

Japanese Tea House
St. Joseph, MO
This Japanese Tea House was built from 1916-1917 at John Wyeth's estate to host parties. In 1984, the building was donated to the Pony Express Historical Association. It was moved in 1985 to the Patee House Museum which is owned and operated by the association. It was restored as an ice cream parlor for the museum. I don't believe it is used as such any more. [map]

New Jersey:
Hunan Taste (Denville) [map]

Zen Steak & Sushi
Gallup, NM
Zen Steak & Sushi has been operating since at least 2007. [map]

East Wok Asian Gourmet [gone]
Glen Cove, NY
The East Wok Asian Gourmet opened in 2003. The building previously housed Eva's Lantern, a Chinese-American restaurant. These photos are from 2005. The building housed at least one other Chinese restaurant after that. In 2013, the building was undergoing major remodeling for the Sweet Mandarin Bistro. The pagoda features are gone. [photo thanks DinerFan]

Ohio:
Golden Dragon (Fremont)

House of Louie
Portland, OR		 The Pagoda [gone]
Portland, OR
The House of Louie building opened in 1922. It included a mix of restaurants, pool hall, barber shop, bakery, flower shop and other stores. The exterior includes dragon pillars, a dragon wall relief, neon signs and a green tile roof. The placed closed in 2018. The building was boarded up in 2019. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

The Pagoda opened in 1940. The orange tilework was added later. These photos are from 2008. The restaurant closed later that year. The building has been extensively remodeled with the pagoda features removed. The building now houses a bank. [map]

More Oregon:
former China City (Salem) [map]

Panda Garden
Boyertown, PA		 Grand Fortuna
San Antonio, TX
The Panda Garden restaurant appears to be an oldie. I don't know if it was expanded at the sides or if this is how it always looked. [map]

The Grand Fortuna Chinese restaurant was built in 1955. [map]

Washington:
Kaylon Garden (now Kobe) (Spokane) [map]

Woo's Pagoda Restaurant [gone]
Eau Claire, WI
Woo's Pagoda Restaurant opened in 1951 as Jimmy Woo's. The pagoda was added in 1959. The restaurant closed in 2008. In 2009, the place reopened as the Red Parrot Nightclub and Lounge. The neon sign over the entrance was removed. However, the pagoda and other building details remained. These photos are from 2011. In 2014, the 18-foot-tall pagoda was removed from the roof before the building was demolished for a CVS drug store. The pagoda will be displayed in Carson Park or the Chippewa Valley Museum after it is restored. In 2017, it was moved to indoor storage. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3.

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