Lo Kai Restaurant

Went there for lunch last week and the buffet was excellent everything was fresh and hot it was all very good!

This was my second visit to the Lo Kai. This experience was exactly what I was expecting. It was busy. Buffett was fresh, hot and full and offered a great variety. I love the old school décor inside.

Don’t ever come here for dinner buffet! Their options are small and the food was cold.
The waiter (I think it was Jamie) was really nice. However, the owners were talking and looked at us when we came in and didn’t say hi. It seemed like he expected us to greet him and when I did, he still didn’t say anything.
The food, was not so great. For $ 30, I could have went to a better buffet with more options and hotter food. We wanted to give this place a try since it was close to the house and we were hungry.
When we left, the owners were still talking and looked at us AGAIN without saying a word!
Never again!!!

Fantastic New Year’s Eve party, best deal in town! What a great time at the Lo Kai. The music was live and they played everything from the 50’s to present day. The dance floor was never empty. The food on the buffet was fantastic and they were hopping to keep it well supplied. The drinks were fantastic and service was quick and efficient! Truly the best deal in the entire area. The tickets were $ 25 pp and you received live entertainment, fantastic unlimited buffet, champagne toast at midnight, and party favors on each and every table. Again, service was top notch and food was fantastic! Found out that night that the event was sold out well in advance. Will definitely return next year and will buy my tickets early again. Kudo’s to everyone at the Lo Kai!

Dracut local landmark with standard American Chinese food. Stays open late so it seems you can always depend on the Lo Kai being open for that late night Chinese food fix and a drink with friends. Friendly staff and if you’re from the area, it’s likely you’ll run into someone know.

Never had the worst food in my life went hear for the first time last nite with my girl for take out got both orders wrong my girls plate had lobster sauce like 2 spoon fulls and was just throw in her plate ribs tasted like shit it was just all bad wouldn’t feed that food to a goat never in my life would I go back there.

So you’re craving Chinese food (the classical 70s style greasy, salty type not new age healthy style). You know, the kind of Chinese food that you chow down, then the next morning you wake up not feeling quite 100%, then you eat some of the leftovers anyway?
Then it hits you…“why did I eat that?”.
Then you run to the gym and detox for a week… well if that’s the type of food you’re looking for (which is great once in a while), then this fits that perfectly. Otherwise you will be disappointed. It’s an icon in Dracut for a reason. It’s a dinosaur, a throwback, but that’s what I expect every time so I’m not disappointed. That’s why I gave it a 4… for what it is, it does it very well. I’m eating raw veggies for a week…

Just say, «Girl, Bye!» to dining at Lo Kai. I was passing through the town of Dracut with a couple friends who wanted to stop in for Chinese food before our trek back home. I wish I had read the reviews, or at least asked the locals before dining here. Upon stepping into the restaurant, I immediately noticed the retro 80s vibe of the restaurant, something I didn’t mind at all actually. In fact, who doesn’t want to feel like they’ve warped back in time to a Chevy Chase movie from twenty years ago? However, what I didn’t expect was the entire experience to feel like a Chevy Chase comedy.
After we were seated, we were asked if we wanted to do the buffet ($ 12.50 per person) or if we wanted menus. After doing a quick stroll and observing the buffet option, we decided it best to order from the menu, as opposed to food that had been sitting out all day. The menu was very disorganized, and some of the main dishes we were inquiring about weren’t on the menu (but things that the restaurant does serve). We ordered the letter ‘K’ from the combination dinner options, an order of General Tso’s Chicken, and a large Vegetable Lo Mein.
The food came out after five minutes, which was an indicator of its quality. Simply put-​the combination dinner plate just was not good. The boneless spare ribs and beef teriyaki were lacking flavor. The pork fried rice was stale and the crab rangoons tasted awful. The Vegetable Lo Mein looked like thin slices of onions and the veggies were not cooked, and since food poisoning wasn’t on our top list of priorities for the day, we decided to send it back. The General Tso’s was tolerable, but I mostly just consumed the broccoli it came with.
Throughout all the negative, there was a beacon of hope. Our server was really nice! She was really attentive and very understanding. She was the shining star of Lo Kai.
All in all, not the best experience, but gave us a good laugh all the way home. I would highly recommend looking at other Chinese food restaurants before deciding to dine at Lo Kai.

This place has good Chinese food like any other place in my area. I like coming here for the buffet. They have all my favorites including gold fingers, chicken fingers and rice. The best part about the buffet is the soft serve ice cream.

Worst buffet ever. They didn’t even have crab-​rangoon at a Chinese buffet! Thats asinine, blasphemy I tell ya!!! They don’t even have enough food or variety to even be considered a buffet. They only get one star for having soft serve ice cream. The waitress Diane was very nice though.

this place is out dated someone call bar rescue

After having bad service at Lo Kai in October, I figured I would try Lo Kai again because there was another Elvis show. I had Diane as my server and she did an outstanding job and I hope the owner gives her a raise due to her great service.
I ordered food with my friends, gerneral gao’s chicken, ham friend rice, beef and brocolli. The food was served hot at my table, diane did a check back to back sure everything was fine, which it was, Diane was also very tentive in seeing if any of my guests needed more drinks or food, and kept our dinner table neat and clean, and refilled waters at all times. She received a 22 percent tip from myself.
I hope to get Diane again as my server and if anyone goes to Lo kai, I recomend Diane, best server there, and I really mean it.

i went to have the lo kai buffet and i must say, it was a horrible experience, the fried rice, chicken teriyaki, pork egg foo young, and chicken wings did not taste good at all, it def. tasted very old and smelled very funny, i could not finish my meal, once i walked out of the building i was not feeling good whatsoever… i will not be returning here…

I think Lo Kai translates into «time machine». This is the exact type of place I remember going to back in the ’70−80’s as a kid.
Its not the best food around… but its tough to find another Polynesian style place like this. I had a lunch special and everything was OK… great wings & egg rolls by the way. Coldest beer in Dracut.
Don’t expect 5 star food… but I love the atmosphere.

This business is a disgrace to the neighborhood. They could care less about the noise they make long into the night. Call over and ask if they could turn the music down since it is well after midnight and they don’t. Can they turn the Bass up any louder? In fact they will open the back doors probably to let the stink out and the noise just gets louder. They’ve even claimed they have not control over the loudness because the band controls that. Really? Who own/​runs the restaurant? Who controls the lights/​electricity? Grow a pair and turn off the circuit breaker if the band won’t co-​operate. Maybe a visit from the Cops is needed more often.
Cooks are outside near the dumpsters smoking and feeding seagulls. Totally gross and unhealthy. How many seagulls does it take to fill the skies of Dracut with chinese food and old rolls and bread? The answer lies in the side street of the Lo Kai.

Lo Kai is conveniently located off Lakeview Ave near Dracut High School and the Lowell/​Dracut border. It’s incredibly hard to miss– there’s always a pack of cars outside.
Upon walking in to the lobby, you’ll notice the small, tucked away bar area (with decent sized booths actually) as you pass through one of the many «rooms» which take you to the buffet area. My party of three (including myself), were greeted by a nice enough oder gentleman who brought us to our table. Shortly after, we were greeted by a woman, who knew the clientele, who took our drink orders. No one ordered any mixed drinks or beers this time, so I can’t comment on the bar. Maybe next time. Alas, the waitress informed us that you could either order from the menu or experience the buffet.
We three decided to take our chances on the buffet. To be honest, the food looked less than savory. The white rice looked as if it had been there a while. Although it looked as if the fried rice looked was changed a time or two before our arrival, it was also atypical of Chinese take away. Moreover, the «entrees» like egg foo yung, veggie’s delight, chicken and broccoli, etc, were slightly flavored and lukewarm at best. The appetizers like egg rolls and crab rangoons were NOT bad. I’d go again specifically for those items. On a relative note, my H was completely enthralled to have found a local area that serves his beloved lobster sauce.
I’m sure we’ll make our way again. Lo Kai is known to have «amazing» live bands and we’d like to experience it. Hah!

Good Lord, here we go with a place that is so dreadfully bad that you just have to love it!
An aquiantance of mine is fairly close to the owner and from what I hear, is the cheapest human being alive. Which I guess explains why this place has not been updated since the 1970’s. Yes, 1970’s. 80’s décor would make this place seem modern. I have actually seen duct tape for some time on some of the booths in the lounge.
There are 4 main areas of the Lo Kai. The Lounge, The Dining Area, The permanently creepy-​closed-​dark-​smoking-​dining area, and the back dance area.
Lounge-​This is what you see when you first walk in. A dark dungeon of a bar helps to disguise what it really looks like because I’m positive if there was a light turned on people would leave in disgust. Keno screens and a couple TV’s is pretty much the only light in here. Dark green vinyl patched up seats are off set by dark wood paneling.
Dining Area– 2 areas really, one is a large room which houses the 2 buffet lines. None of the food here is very good. Getting the buffet is actually not a bad deal around $ 10, but the food seems to always be atrocious. Ordering off of the menu is more expensive, and the food you get is either hit or miss. Don’t look down at the carpet or up towards the celings until after you have eaten.
Closed Smoking Room– Seems to have finally died about 15 years ago, give or take. I have never seen this room open for anything since smoking was banned in restaurants. Creepy doesn’t even begin to explain it. I’ve been informed that this room is actually opened for special events but God knows why; there must be so much nicotine build up in that room it must give the Marlboro plant a run for it’s money.
Dance Area– This is where the place actually seems to do something decent once in a while. It is a huge area with tables, large dance floor, a large stage for a band, and another full service bar. I have seen some enjoyable shows here, I must admit. Lately it has gone downhill even more, as the owner is so cheap many bands and acts won’t even consider going there anymore. The Legend shows were alright, although if I see that Elvis guy anytime soon I might barf. The drinks I will admit are pretty damn good here and the wait staff is great.
Rumors persisted about a year or so ago that the owner was considering selling this place to the 99, but that rumor seems to have died. Head down there on a Friday or Saturday night and see how packed the place is; it does have an old, buy very loyal following. Folks swear that it is the place to be. As bad as it is, there is SOMETHING about it that draws you in.
Lo Kai is a perfect example of something so wrong, cheesy, outdated, and downright god awful that it’s actually good fun in it’s moments!

Food is ok at best… It looks like it would be a fun place but is long overdue for a remodel… Last time we went there they did not order the buffet and food seemed like it was not fresh. We can’t prove it but it seems like we got food from the buffet…
We might try it again as that place is usually pretty busy so it must be for a reason, right?

Ugh God no.
I went to Lo Kai and well, from the previous reviews it was about as good as I expected it to be. The food was nasty, Americanized Chinese food. Fried, sugary, goopey, and dreadfully salty. My Gin and Tonic was watered down but I needed the booze to get the food down. I was here for a «mercy meal» after a funeral, so it wasn’t my choice and I wasn’t paying, so that was good at least. If I had paid for this experience I would have been realll upset. The décor looked like it hadn’t been changed since the restaurant first opened (I’m thinking seventies or eighties). Anyways, not really much point going on but I feel obligated to urge future Unilocalers who come to this page to stay.

Not DSLR friendly. Bringing a screaming baby would probably prompt less questions and curious faces.
Food
The food’s quick and fattening. Many of the items on the menu have an exotic name to it, but they’re nothing special. The beef teriyaki here is different from other Chinese places; it has a light ginger and scallion taste to it. It is also very tender, I think I would have preferred it a little more smokey/​charred.
If you’re also thinking of drinking something, don’t worry — they kind of do the suggesting for you. Mai Tais seem pretty popular here along with the scorpion bowls. From experience, the Mai Tais aren’t really as strong as other Chinese places. However, the scorpion bowls must pack quite a punch because we saw three people take down four scorpion bowls — and they were getting to the point of obnoxious tipsy-​ness.
Atmosphere
It’s like an asian gambling den dated a fast food restaurant, and had an illegitimate baby. From the entrance to the bar (about 10 steps), I saw two scratch ticket machines, one keno, one horse racing, and one big screen TV with sports on it (probably being gambled on too).
The other thing you’ll notice is the predominance of overweight caucasian people. I say overweight, but I probably should have said «regular sized» as they seem to come here a lot. Most will be in their 40’s, and the rest are probably mid 20’s.
Staff
The staff jumps on you if you’re not a regular, as if they’re trying to convert you into a sloppy-​food zombie. I was particularly offended because I had a DSLR with me, and the staff commenced their secret interrogation over the course of fifteen minutes. «What you going to do with that? A little spying?» «Where you live?» «Where you come from?» Relax guys. I’m not an undercover cop, and I’m not here to steal your crappy recipes anyways.
After a while, they just let up on the fact that I was a secret agent. They serviced my friend and I like regular customers, and did their own thing.
Final Thoughts
Lo Kai is definitely a low-​key place. While they do have plenty of entertainment options, and reasonably priced drinks — the food and atmosphere leaves one a little disappointed.