You don’t forget a neighborhood fixture, even after it’s been gone for more than a year.
Evidence of that was shown when Chopsticks in Edmonds, located for 41 years in the shopping center on the southwest corner of Edmonds Way and 100th Avenue S., reopened March 15 after closing in early 2002.
The restaurant announced its scheduled reopening on a readerboard sign in front of its new location across the street in the former Angie’s and Bickfords Steak House at 23025 100th Ave. W. On the 15th, people lined up an hour before the scheduled opening time, said Terry Woo, who helps manage Chopsticks for his family.
Woo said the family had hoped to slowly ease back into the routine of running a restaurant. But no such luck — after opening day, business continued at such a pace it was “scary,” Woo said.
Chopsticks had closed because its former location — where it first opened in 1961 — was being redeveloped. The former buildings on the property were torn down and are being replaced by a new building containing Bartell Drugs.
It took so long for Chopsticks to reopen because of the combination of the city permitting process and remodeling tasks at the former Angie’s, Woo said. Woo himself spent seven to eight months working on the remodeling, he said.
The family, which has owned the restaurant since 1993, has kept the same menu the whole time. The more popular dishes include almond chicken, lemon chicken and Mongolian beef, each available as part of a lunch special that includes soup (choice of won ton, hot and sour or egg flower), fried won tons and choice of fried or steamed rice. The Mongolian beef sampled at a recent lunch was made with lean beef in a sauce flavorful enough to add to the dish but not overpowering.
The menu includes traditional favorites such as chow mein, fried rice, barbecued pork, chop suey and sweet and sour dishes, but specialties such as spicy salty garlic salmon, beef with pepper in black bean sauce and prawns with lobster sauce. Prices range from $5.25 for the lunch special to $9.75 for the salmon dishes to $25 for Peking duck.
Chopsticks’ biggest claim to fame is its Trader Vic’s mai tai. Since Trader Vic’s in downtown Seattle closed, Chopsticks is the only place in the Seattle area that continues to serve the world famous concoction, according to the Woos. The drink contains three kinds of rum, lime juice and Trader Vic’s mai tai mix that Chopsticks still has sent up from California.
“On the weekends, many people come for a mai tai,” said Woo’s sister and co-manager, Ling.
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