HOP LOUIE (CHINATOWN)
(public room/Kuei-jin controlled)
Gauntlet Rating: 7
Shroud Rating: 7
Banality Rating: 5
The Golden Pagoda was built in 1941, perhaps the last major landmark to go up in the New Chinatown Central Plaza. It rapidly became perhaps the most recognizable Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles, and has been seen in numerous movies. Though it has changed hands, and names, several times down through the years, it has endured. Today it is Hop Louie, also called the Jade Pagoda.
Vibrant, kitschy, and colorful, stepping into Hop Louie is like stepping back into the 1930s. This is undoubtedly what draws its majority owner, the former gangster Fun Toy, to it. The infamous Thrashing Dragon can often be found here, as can various members of his wu, and other Kuei-jin as well as Hsien and Hengeyokai, have come to favor its curious charm and expansive menu.
(Scroll down to see interior picture.)
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