Phoenix Pavilion

Surprisingly good Chinese food! I am from Seattle and have pretty high restaurant standards– honestly I was expecting a greasy spoon place, but the veggies were fresh, the portions generous, and nothing was dripping with oil. The flavors went together well. Nothing fancy, but a good solid Chinese food experience. (The mu shu pork and egg rolls hit the spot.)

Must have been an off day, ’cause the food was greasy and bland. Had the sweet and sour chicken and maybe I am wrong but it tasted like it had just come out of a box into the oil… Rice was good and the service was good. Will not try again.

Phoenix Pavilion is a humble restaurant located in old Stanwood that has stood the test of time and watched many a competitor come and go. To park there, depending on the day, can be quite the hassle but the inside of this seemingly small restaurant can accommodate a fair number of people and is comfortable. The service was fine in so much that the staff was nice and the turnaround was fair. I went with a small group and because we were not that hungry decided to buy a bunch of the appetizers so that everybody could have something that they (an even number of vegetarian and carnivores) would like. The general consensus from my guests was okay (nothing special), I found that the flavor was lacking, unseasoned and a bit too oily (even for fried food). Another knock on Phoenix Pavilion is that it offers fries as a side which personally is a cop out and only makes them just a step above mall court Chinese food. Overall, Phoenix Pavilion plays it safe and offers the basic of basic Chinese food, with just average quality but a pricier tag.

Very nice family run business. My husband and I have dined here since they opened. Good food, nice people!

We came here for Valentines dinner with the family. They were very accommodating to our 3 year old and infant. Very quiet and relaxing. The food was not greasy and good quality. We enjoyed the family special and everything was good. We will come here again.

OK, let’s get the disclaimer out of the way: I typically bump reviews down one star to compensate for Unilocal’s much-​documented «Extortion 2.0» system, where negative reviews are encouraged and positive ones filtered (now «not recommended,» they had to do some damage control with all the bad PR apparently) to shake businesses down for money to pay Unilocal to clean it up.
I am just the messenger, read here:
…
and here:
… The Eastbay Express article was also behind a recent PBS story:
… Best quote from a Unilocal business victim: «It’s more like a mafia if you think about it… unless you pay them, the company will only show negative reviews.»
Or just Google the phrase Unilocal Extortion and scan the 93,000 hits returned. Also I notice that if I start my reviews this way they usually don’t wind up in the «not recommended» pile automatically, apparently the clean honest light of publicity encourages Unilocal to maintain a façade of honesty and integrity. Try it!
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
Now for the review: being relatively new to the area, we’d been looking for a decent Chinese homestyle place in the Stanwood-​Arlington area. I’d passed Phoenix Pavilion several times; last eveing my wife and I made it a «date night» stop.
Glad we did, this place is good, pleasant and cheap! We had the combination dinners, everything was fresh, nothing very deep-​fried or greasy, and the sauces were authentic and flavorful. I’d order what I had again (always a simple, good test of a restaurant) and would like to try a lot more of the menu, and will. Staff is great, I think it’s a family with kids helping out which is always fun– eveyrone smiles and is engaging.
Here’s the interesting part: we got seated at the same time as another couple, but our food took maybe 5 or 10 minutes longer– hardly much of a delay and we weren’t in a hurry. But the staff apologized several time (we hadn’t even mentioned it). They were looking out for customers and making sure things were going well, the opposite of a lot of places where you can’t get someone’s attention. Great service and good food, in a neat little downtown– all the essentials. How can you go wrong?

Went there after reading reviews here. As real hidden gem. Hole in the wall restaurant storefront in town. Food very good. Yum yum. Prices good too. Will be back for sure.

If I could give this place 0 stars I would! It was the first and last time we will ever go there. This place was an embarrassment. We ordered 2 different entrees, orange chicken and honey walnut chicken, and they both we gross. The honey walnut chicken sauce tasted like it was mayo. We let the waiter know we were not happy with the food and she went and got the owner. The owner was very ride. I let her know that we didn’t like the food at all and if we an pay for the appetizer and soup we are and she started yelling at me in front of everyone in the restaurant. She said she would not refund any food. She was very argumentive and rude. I would never recommend going there.

This place did not look like much. One day I ventured in and I was glad I did. Lunch special was a great deal and the food made a great impression. Nothing too greasy like cheap Chinese. No everything seemed to be made with care and our lunch was perfect. Another great excuse to not leave stanwood to eat and blow Money on run of the mill chains.

Just moved to the area from Southern Calif., Consider ourselves «foodies» and will travel a distance for good food. Been on a quest for good, authentic Chinese food and have been striking out. Was told to go north to Chinatown in BC or south to Seattle. Thank goodness we discovered Phoenix Pavilion! Fantastic Hot and Sour soup with all of the correct ingredients (you can have it customize to the «heat» that you want), The Green Bean Chicken w/​black beans is absolutely the BEST I’ve had in a very long time. Mongolian Beef is also a must that can also be customized to the desired amount of heat. The combination dinners are huge, average around $ 10 and allow you to try a number of items at one setting. I tried #3 my first time so I could sample a number of dishes and was pleasantly surprised.
Food is hot and fresh and service is very pleasant. If you don’t know what to order, there are picture of the dishes all around the booths. Amy, the waitress/​owner, will try to help you order as well.
We will absolutely be back again and again.

Absolutely delicious food! Always fresh. Their Mongolian beef is amazing, salt and pepper chicken. yum and their honey walnut prawns or chicken… Delicious! We eat here about once a week, it’s just THATgood!

My wife was born and raised in Chongqing, Sichuan Province China and is an excellent cook of traditional foods. We both have dined at the pavilion numerous times. Our opinion is that it is in fact the best cuisine in the pacific northwest rivaling what you could find in the San Francisco bay area. No pre-​prepared here, all freshly made which usually means a little longer wait but well worth the wait

Excellent food, Cantonese style food. It is the ONLY place in the are where you can get chow fun which is very traditional Chinese food. If you have not had this dish it is basically fat fresh rice noodles with your choice of vegetables and meats. My husband and I have had many versions of this dish, including the veggie (with tofu). It is consistently awesome! We have tried other items on the menu and they have been excellent, tasty and fresh! They don’t use MSG which is a real plus as well. This is a mom and pop shop with simple good food. A rare find in a small town.