Lucky Star

Good dishes here: salt and pepper shrimp, black bean ginger scallion steam whole fish, and Singapore’s noodle. Must have

Perfect little neighborhood delivery spot. My orders are always perfect and the prices are reasonable. The honey sesame chicken is my favorite meal!

Its almost late at night, and I was just craving for some Lo Mein, Shrimp Lo Mein, and let me tell ya a little secret that even my man knows, a Good Shrimp Lo Mein gets to my heart. Even though I read a review on another Chinese restaurant it was closed by the time we got there 9pm ! ugh ! My man wanted to make me happy this night so we searched and found the Lucky star on Cortez. Very simple décor, but could use a bit of touch up here and there. The owner was very sweet and friendly, and we just got them as they were closing up shop I felt so bad but i wanted my fixing. Now I know what your thinkin Chinese food… all the same right? oh its probably brought in frozen and just warmed up right? or the food is out of a date and I could go on and on .
Drum roll… please … The food here is actually FRESH !!! made on the spot fresh !! I mean then again there was no lines or no one there at all except for my man and I. But still it was HOT!!! like as in FRESH HOT ! WOW !!! and there is actually TASTE in the food not just some out of the box oh here you go this is what we call Chinese food deal HELL NO ! Actually food !!! WOW for once there is a good Chinese take out place. LUCKY STAR !!! I ordered the large «Shrimp Lo Mein «I totally recommend this dish cause you get a meaningful portion with plently shrimp. Pocket and or purse not too bad for either one, fairly cheap but then again your getting good food !
So maybe one night your like me and want some Chinese take out you definetly need to head over to Lucky Star for your Chinese fix

Very simple and casual interior but excellent and very authentic Chinese cuisine at a very reasonable price. Love their hot and sour soup.

Excellent place to eat the food was very good and the owners were just excellent very friendly. Excellent.

This is our goto chinese restaurant when we are in Brandenton. We try to go on Sat/​Sun for some dim sum, but we’ll also go for lunch if we’re in the area. The food is authentic Hong Kong and it’s tasty… probably not the place to order szechuan/​hunan, but there are so many interesting dishes that are less spicy. Service is terrific. It looks like every other chinese restaurant, but the food is far better. Highly recommended.

I love this place. A family run restaurant, the food is great, and the folks couldn’t be any nicer. You can eat-​in, take-​out, or get it delivered (they deliver to quite a large area). Make sure to check out the Family Pack on the menu — a ton of food for 25 bucks! Long story short, Lucky Star gets a «Woohoo! As good as it gets!» from me. Try it out…

Easily one of the best Chinese places in the area. The food is super fresh, and is noticeably better than most Chinese places, which basically all taste almost the same.
The egg rolls are the bomb, as are any of their chicken dishes. Lucky Star is a noticeable notch above any other Chinese restaurant in the area that we have been to.

Moo goo gao pan is a new dish to me. It was very bland. The pork and mushroom dish my wife ordered was quite good. The shrimp lo main was bland.
Perhaps this is the essence of the Lucky Star’s cuisine. That authentic dishes can have pleasant flavors, or be, simply, bland.
Different tastes for different consumers. We won’t be back.

I’m not a Chinese food fan and this experience just reaffirmed my dislike. Owner was super nice and staff was very friendly. I wish the food was better.
The krab Rangoon was filled with cheddar cheese and not the normal cream cheese. I didn’t care much for the variance as it had a strange texture going for it. Plus the cheddar over powered the other favors.
I got the Moo Chicken something because she recommended it and my partner got the sweet and sour chicken. I thought my broccoli and fried rice tasted fresh. The pecans were a too toasted.
And then this happened… I saw 2 small bugs on the table. This kinda stuff doesn’t bother me probably as much as it would for others (try traveling in a developing nation). I just squashed them and went on to eat my wrapped fortune cookie. I took a sip of my well carbonated sprite and I was outta there!
I’ve had better Chinese but that was in major cities — not Bradenton.

I love this place. The fried rice is amazing. And the egg rolls and killer! I order from them all the time. The owners are so sweet.

I been there 3 times for take out only… the garlic chicken is great, shrimp fried rice was great… the gen chix I wasn’t a big fan of, but to be fair to them, that’s a dish that doesn’t hold up well for carry out… the other thing that is great, the size of the order is huge… they couldnt even close the lid, so they wrapped it in a plastic bag… I wasn’t a really big fan of the egg roll either… not much in it… but I will be a reg here for sure!!! its worth a try!!!

I really wanted to love Lucky Star and call it my new go-​to Chinese restaurant based on all of the great reviews I read here on Unilocal.Womp womp… not happening. We ordered take-​out and granted it was later at night, but that shouldn’t hold any bearing on the quality and taste of the food. We ordered a large variety of items, but what I was most disappointed with, and the major reason behind the two stars, were the steamed dumplings. These were by far the WORST dumplings I have ever had. The ones I make out of a bag from the grocery store are 100x better than the ones from Lucky Star. I don’t know if it was because they were overcooked or if the dumpling itself was too thin, but they were all melded together and when I reached my fork in to take one, the dumpling completely separated itself from the filling. They were awful. On a more positive note, I thought the hot and sour soup was delicious as well as the fried rice and egg rolls. My husband was not a fan of his mongolian beef, but I don’t necessarily trust his judgement in this category… I thought it tasted just fine! We probably won’t be ordering from Lucky Star again, and maybe we just caught them on an off night. Sigh. Still in search of delicious Chinese take-​out in Manatee County…

We had it delivered and tried a few different dishes. It wasn’t that great and was more expensive than other places in the area that we think are better (China City Express).

Best Chinese food with 50 miles!
We like to eat Chinese food that is authentic and doesn’t make you feel completely unhealthy afterwords. This restaurant has many unique characteristics that make it delicious especially compared to surrounding places!

Hard to believe, a real dim sum restaurant in Bradenton! next to Sarasota & Long Boat Key. Lucky Star has a full list of 40 dim sum’s, and all day, not just until mid afternoon like in New York Chinatown. Dim sum are tasty little morsel dishes for leisurely late morning snacks, think brunch. Since they serve it all day, they are also perfect for dinner appetizers. The 4 of us ordered 9 dishes in total, all double portions mostly at $ 3.95/portion. We wanted to focus on the dim sum instead of the regular menu. The take out menus is the same as the regular menu.
Everyone’s favorites were #14 butterfly shrimp (deep fried with egg batter), #15 fried bean curd (just perfect), #17 BBQ spareribs, #20 sticky rice (with chicken wrapped in lotus leaf and braised slowly), #21 mushroom & spring onion stuffed bun, #40 gai lan (a Cantonese vegetable cooked very plain for natural flavor). Three votes for #10 the roast pork bun. I recently returned from a trip to Hongkong where many people find the best Chinese food. Three of us lived for decades in Boston and no restaurant there in recent years scored as high. The dim sums in New York outside of Chinatown will have a hard time beating this. Only NYC Chinatown or California can consistently score higher. I’m scoring this 5 lucky stars because it is such authentic high quality in SW Florida.
Lucky Star has a genuine Hongkong chef, and the listed dim sum are made on premise. The restaurant is spacious and clean, with good service. The booths are along the sides with tables in the center. We shall certainly go again for try the duck and fish as well as other items on the regular menu.
Outstanding, an authentic Chinese restaurant in Bradenton!

If you live long enough, things do change. Dial phones to pushbuttons, TV channel changing without getting up, reheating food in seconds rather than minutes and need I mention phones and computers in your pocket, but this is a REALLY BIG change; excellent Chinese food in Sarasota/​Bradenton!
Matthew T and Coty S already said it and I think they were as shocked as I.
We started slowly just as we did at Golden Dynasty (3 stars bordering on 4), Dim Sum and two entrees. Our starter (used to be called an appetizer) was Roast Pork (3 @ $ 3.95) with Rice Paste. Julienne pieces of sweet roast pork wrapped in a very thin pancake. It was just outstanding and delicious.
We followed with Beef Chow Fun ($ 9.95) as we often do as our «control» meal when it’s offered. They have it in a standard way however we opted for their second Chow Fun offering with black beans, red and green peppers. The beef was outstandingly tender; the broad rice noodles cooked perfectly, the peppers sliced ever so thinly… just right because cooked peppers can easily overpower a dish. There was a hint of that mysterious underlying «charred» flavor that really good Chow Fun includes.
Our third dish was Gai Lan ($ 8.95) — Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. Cooked to a tender yet just right crunchiness and sprinkled with a few teaspoons of oyster sauce. It was perfect and a dish to be ordered for a couple of people to share. Our server asked if we wanted more oyster sauce and it was a great addition to dip the pieces in before eating.
Their menu includes all the standard items (Gen. Tso’s Chicken, Moo Shu Pork, Chop Suey, Lo Mein) you’d expect and some exotic things like Steamed Chicken Feet. There is «touch» and caring in everything they make here. It’s a real shame that an exceptional Chinese restaurant in this area has to tout themselves as next to a «Big Lots» but hell, after dinner you can get a box of Mike & Ike’s for only 50 cents.
Combinations and lunch specials are available along with local delivery. Try this place, support this place, we need quality of this level in Sarasota/​Bradenton.
Wow good Chinese food in Sarasota/​Bradenton, next thing you know they will invent a voice in your car to tell where the hell you’re going!

I went to Lucky Star on Christmas Eve… and ate-​in the resturant. I can say that whatever the place lacks in ambiance it definitely makes up for in flavor!
Having lived in NYC for several years — I have not been a fan of any of the local Chinese food — until now. This place IS GOOD!
We started with the dumplings and they were the tastiest I have had in ages. Light in dough and big in filling and flavor — they are reminiscent of Japanese dumpings — but yummy.
I ordered the General Tso’s and my companion ordered the pork and green beans.
The General Tso’s Chicken was not the ‘usual’ spicy and sticky General Tso sauce I had expected (and love). The dish was more like twice fried chicken in a flavorful brown sauce with Vegs. It was in no way a General Tso’s. However, accepting it for what it really was — it was fresh, flavorful, cooked wonderfully and a good indication that, even with the wrong sauce, the kitchen can deliver some tasty Chinese food.
What really impressed me was the Pork with Green beans. This dish in a word was — AWESOME! Lots of tender sliced pork (with the proper red ringed edges) and fresh green beans that squeaked when bitten (if you like chinese green beans — you know what I am talking about) The brown sauce on the dish was a perfect balance of sweet & salty with a hint of spices that married all the flavors so wonderfully that you could envision ‘licking the plate clean’
Even with the General Tso’s not being General Tso’s — the dishes were the best Chinese I have had in years.
I am looking forward to trying more dishes from Lucky Star… including giving their General Tso’s another chance.

I was so happy, ever so happy to find Lucky Star. For someone who grew up in California, chinese food in florida has been one sad experience after another. The only exception was Le Chaing’s in Sarasota, which sadly closed a number of years ago. I go on vacation to get good dim sum! But now, I don’t think I have to. There is a little place on Cortez road that brings hope to all of us suffering from bad strip mall chinese food in this part of florida.
I was shopping at Wong Chai, asian market, the other week and I saw a hand printed sign about a new restaurant having dim sum on cortez road of all places. So the following week I went to Lucky Star for dim sum and it was great. We were greeted by Wendy, who is probably the happiest and most friendly restaurant person I’ve ever met.
We tried a few delightful things and Wendy seemed to get excited that I asked for Gai lan. I’ve been making it at home the last few months, and after tasting how they prepare it at Lucky Star I know I’m just a hack. Also, the fried tofu was great and when we asked Wendy if they made it there, she said yes and asked if we wanted to try the salt and pepper tofu. We jumped on that and loved every bite of it. The tofu is light and fluffy that you only rarely if ever get. My only comment on the salt and pepper tofu was that it didn’t seem to have any of the hot and numbing affect that comes with using Sichuan pepper corns, which is how I’ve had it in the past.
A group of people came in after us and over hearing their conversation they too sounded like refugees who hadn’t had good dim sum in a long time and often traveled to the wet cost to get their fix.
I’m dying to go back. Not sure if I want more dim sum or if I want to try their normal dinner menu. I hope this place meets with great success and I hope and pray they don’t cave into the neon pink sweet and sour fired pork bits of the other Chinese restaurants in the area.
What I really want to know if they have hong kong style pig, roast goose or hong kong style steamed whole fish. If they do I might cry.

Authentic Chinese food in Bradenton? Not even in Sarasota, but in Bradenton? YES!!!
I was driving down Cortez Road a couple weeks ago and saw Chinese writing on the marquee sign for one of the strip mall plazas. I quickly hit the brakes and turned in to see what it was. The place was not open yet at the time, but they had take-​away menus near their front door. Upon reading the menu, I sensed something great was about to happen to Bradenton, yes the real deal was here in my town. Not across the Skyway, but right here. I was freakin’ amazed.
They do not serve any alcohol of any kind, but at least they accept credit cards. I recommend that they have BYOB with no bottle charge, which would actually increase their business. They do deliver within a small radius, and half of their customers are there for the take-​out orders. The take-​out menu is slightly different, because you can order portions in large or small to make things cheaper than dining in at dinnertime.
Lucky Star just opened their modest dine-​in and carry-​out establishment this week. Inside you will be a very clean and new dining area with redwood tables and a few booths, a scene that reminds me of many of our favorite places in Tampa. The owner, Wendy, is very happy to greet every customer and is quite personable. She loves it when you ask questions and especially when you ask for items that are not on the menu, such as Gai Lan or Har Gow. She says that once they get established a little more, she hopes to serve dim sum on the weekends (during dim sum hours). I explained to her that we drive all the way to Tampa every weekend for dim sum and how wonderful it would be if she would try selling it, so let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Since we could not order everything we were interested in, we definitely tried as much as we could for sure. The Roast Pork Rice Paste ($ 3.55) is a typical dim sum item that comes with four soft rice crepes wrapped around roast pork and covered with a sweet brown sauce. Lucky Star’s were especially delicious since the crepes were thinner than usual making them more delicate and easier to cut and pick up with chopsticks.
All of their beef dishes use thin sliced flank steak cut against the grain, so no matter what beef dish you order it will always taste tender and amazing, never bitter or buttery. The Beef with String Beans ($ 9.95) tasted like homemade with a dark rich garlic sweet sauce and tender generous slices of beef. Some of the best I have ever had, which makes me want to try their Mongolian Beef in the future.
The Salt and Pepper Tofu ($ 8.55) is crispy and salty bites of firm tofu covered in minced onion, and green and red bell pepper. Normally, with «Salt and Pepper» items such as squid and shrimp, I will ask for a dipping sauce, but the batter was so flavorful that it did not need any. Next time, I will try the Salt and Pepper Shrimp.
Off of the Chef’s Signature Items we ordered the Three Sea’s Coral ($ 14.95), which is shrimp, fish, and scallops in an XO sauce. The dish was delicious and the seafood tasted fresh, but I have never had XO sauce, but I read up on it. (
) I do not think it was actually XO sauce because the color was very light, but it did have a slight hint of alcohol flavor to it, that tasted more like white wine to me.
For dessert, we had Sesame Balls ($ 3.95), which were filled with black bean paste, and judging by their size they were the store bought kind. Hopefully if they start to have dim sum, then they will make everything homemade.
Squid is the only item that I could not find on the menu that I was interested in, as well as whole fish. But, I am trying to be realistic here and consider their clientele. This is definitely going to be a weekly dinning spot for us. Items that I would like to try in the future are the House Special Noodle Soup ($ 6.95), Curry Chicken Fried Rice ($ 7.55), Mongolian Beef ($ 9.55), Eggplant in Garlic Sauce ($ 8.25), Pan Fried Crispy Noodles ($ 11.95), Salt and Pepper Shrimp ($ 13.95), and Duck with Ginger and Scallion ($ 13.95).
I should give this 5 stars, because it is «As Good as it Gets» in Bradenton, but it is not the best I have ever had, like in New York for example. So that would be unfair.
When eating at Lucky Star you feel like you are in Tampa, not in Bradenton. A great feeling to have on a weeknight and you don’t even have to pay the toll to get there.