China Pearl, 7971 North Woodrow Street Suite 5: 2000s 17 comments
I have got to say that their marquee mascot looks the least like a Chinese chef of any illustration I've seen. (Not that there's anything wrong with a European in a floppy hat dilligently applying himself and learning Chinese cooking..)
UPDATE 6 October 2021: Adding "North" to "Woodrow Street" in the title and tags. Adding map icon.
17 Responses to 'China Pearl, 7971 North Woodrow Street Suite 5: 2000s'
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Homer
26 Sep 13 at 1:31 am
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This was the spot of the late, great, Bicycle Center of Irmo. Spent many a day in there, waxing philosophical w/ Lane and Steve.
jonathan
26 Sep 13 at 10:42 am
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Just remember that the stuff we get at "Chinese" restaurants isn't what you'd actually find in China. "Our" Chinese food was created primarily out West when thousands of Chinese were brought over to build the railroads across the continent. If you go to Shanghai and ask for General Tso's Chicken or some such thing, they won't know what you're talking about.
Mike R.
26 Sep 13 at 6:46 pm
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Get outta here! Next thing you'll be trying to convince us that the Bloomin' Onion isn't really Australian!
badger
27 Sep 13 at 7:12 am
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Or that French Fries aren't French.
rick
27 Sep 13 at 10:28 am
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Belgian waffles aren't from Belgium.
tonkatoy
27 Sep 13 at 11:17 am
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I've heard that what most Chinese restraunts serve here is their festival food...
Andrew
27 Sep 13 at 12:50 pm
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Years ago there was a Chinese restraunt on Two Notch Road, midway between Beltline and Fontaine Road at the bottom of the hill. I worked in that area and decided to go in for lunch one day. I got inside about ten feet, turned around and walked back out. It had an awful smell that I can't describe. I'm glad I did leave. A Cop lived across the street from me and a few weeks afterwards told me about that place getting busted for having dressed out cats in their freezer.
rick
27 Sep 13 at 1:01 pm
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I find the smell of Chinese restraunts unappetizing...
Andrew
27 Sep 13 at 1:26 pm
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@rick - I know the one you are talking about!! Imperial Garden, wasn't it? When I worked at PMSC back in the mid 80's I'd go there for lunch with several buddies to chow down off of the all you can eat buffet. Lord knows what we were actually eating. Never noticed a smell though. I also heard that the owners told the cops that the cats (and dogs) were for personal consumption only, not for the customers. Hmmmm.... Last time I went by there it was a porn shop.
Homer
28 Sep 13 at 1:11 am
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@Homer- rough area of town. I had a business at the corner of Two Notch and Beltline in the 80's, Lots of uhhh.. people in the worlds oldest profession, all hours of the DAY and night. My Wife and I used to get a kick out of watching them from our showroom window at night. We would go to our store, cut the lights off inside and watch how many people looked for that sort of thing. Some nights the cops would put undercover uhhh.. people on the street to catch those soliciting. It was so funny to watch. Imperial Garden it was, I could not remember the name until you mentioned it. As far as the smell goes, I must have gone in on just the right day. I believe the same people owned the Chinese Restraunt in the Ceadar Terrace Shopping Center as well. My Wife works in the PMSC complex now with the DMV. That was/is a spectacular place. Somebody had lots of money.
rick
30 Sep 13 at 5:20 pm
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@rick - I know. I didn't like driving down that stretch of road 25 years ago. I can only imagine what it's like now. And the stretch of Two Notch past Beltline over to the Providence Hospital - No freakin way!!!!
I just noticed the wording in my last comment. After reading it again I should have said we went there to chow down on a chow.....GROAN!!
You're right about the old PMSC complex. During the 80's they were raking in more money than they knew what to do with. Without saying anything that may come back to haunt me, let's just say that some of their shady dealings finally caught up with them, investigations were launched, scapegoats took the fall, some came out with fat pockets and that's when they became Mynd and then were bought out by the myriad of companies since,
Homer
1 Oct 13 at 12:12 am
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@ Andrew - There is a little hole in the wall Chinese place in the old Piggly Wiggly shopping center on Lake Murray Blvd. It does not always have the most appetizing aroma but they do have some good food.
For the life of me, I don't know how they stay in business since I never see more than one or two cars parked out front. Maybe they live in a room in the back.
It's run by one family and every time you go there you have to deal with their kids running around the place. Their daughter (roughly 10) takes your order (since she speaks better English that the parents). Then she rattles off the order to her parents in Chinese. The father does most of the cooking unless they have a take-out order when Mom takes over an he doubles as the delivery driver. It is a really strange set up.
But I deal with the weirdness, because they are very polite, they stuff the food cartons and the food is always good.
Homer
1 Oct 13 at 12:23 am
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@rick - I'm sure you remember El Menchaca. There are posts about them all over this site. They had the best Mexican food that ever graced the face of Columbia, IMHO.
Homer
3 Oct 13 at 2:07 am
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@Homer - Do I ever. I was a regular from 1977 until they closed. I must have eaten over a hundred Monsters. I totally agree, they had the best Mexican food ever. My wife and I craved their Big Burrito called The Monster. So much so that I spent a great deal of time working to recreate it, which I have posted the recipe on this site under El Menchaca. I ate so many I knew how they were suppose to taste, it just took a while to get it right.
rick
3 Oct 13 at 10:27 am
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@rick - sweet - I'll go look for the recipe!!!!!
Homer
4 Oct 13 at 1:23 am
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This restaurant is open again or at least it was last year, 2015.
Scott
22 Feb 16 at 1:45 pm
Dang, that little strip seems to be drying up completely. I can't recall the last time I made it up to the vicinity of the Friarsgate Bi-Lo.