Lucky 8’s China House

Service was a five star. Food was 1 star sad to say. Did not feel like going to the International district so I tried this place. No Chinese cooks or customers should have been a dead giveaway. Next time I will go the extra distance and go to Chinatown International District. Hell Panda Express was better than this.

Worst experience in Seattle ever.
Me and my lunch friend avoided ordering what sounded like extremely fatty appetizers and we choose the healthiest choice for a beverage-​water our waiter then chose to say «oh going econo today?»
When asked about vegetarian options eyes rolled and responded to us with «I guess this is.»
The food which I have tried to shove from my mind was fried wonton noodles (WHICH I SWEAR CAME FROM A CAN) covered with gravy and basically only cabbage.
After the meal we could not find the waiter and when we finally got someone to look up from the bar they quickly looked back down. It was only when we decided to leave that the waiter came running out where he was given (which killed me to do I am a great tipper and give many chances for making it up) his $ 0.24 tip.
Never going back.
Insulting
Rude
Not veggie friendly
Unhealthy
Poor service
Make room for real food and people who actually care you are walking in the door.

I really want to love this place — the people are nice, cute décor, and you get the impression that the ingredients are more high quality than you usually get. It is also refreshingly non-​greasy for a Chinese joint. The only trouble is that this is at the expense of the tastiness of the food. A dish can be non-​greasy without lacking in flavor, but this is unfortunately the case at Lucky 8’s. I’ve ordered many dishes from here but the Buddha’s Delight is especially bland — it says it’s got some special Buddha sauce but it is just a bunch of vegetables sauteed in almost no seasoning, without sauce. Maybe they forgot the sauce?
Overall the food is just OK, but the price for it is about 10−20% higher than it should be.

Lucky 8 was alright but I think the owner is trying to pay rent or the bill for swanky restaurant space… price was a bit on the high side for 1 fried sweet & sour entrée, 2 appetizers, and a complimentary rice = $ 30 bill before tip.
I ordered delivery, the food was decent, timing was alright, but the price. Fees kill me, especially if there is a way around it, just tells me there is no need for the fee. There is a $ 5 delivery charge for all online orders but you can avoid it if you call in and order over $ 25. Can’t you just set the fee to waive on online orders after the minimum is reached? Simple fix, so fix it.
Anyway, calling is becoming a thing of the past, but was a delightful experience this time. The lady who answered was awesome. Also, no credit card info over the phone was great. The delivery guy has a tablet and swipes your card at the door. Information safety first!
Now that I’ve ranted over the logistics, lets get onto the food.
Starter:
— Braised Pork Bao was awesome and thumbs up for the phone order chick for suggesting it because it wouldn’t have happened otherwise. I would suggest getting an extra sauce if you don’t like double dippers.
— Crab Rangoon is awful, don’t buy it. This was the most «real» Crab Rangoon I’ve had in a long time, but it smelled fishy and the mustard sauce wasn’t for me. I used my S&S pork sauce to try them and it didn’t work. Nasty stuff.
Entrée:
— Fried Sweet & Sour Pork entrée was basic. The sweet and sour sauce was thin and juiced up with pineapple and some sweet peppers. It is really hard to mess this up, but the rice I had just fell apart as soon as the juice (sauce) touched the rice, it just got mushy and I couldn’t use chopsticks at all.
— And the rice was… well, rice, basic, no flavor, and free.
I might eat here again to try some of their other stuff. The dine in to experience may be needed to capture the freshness, but looking at other reviews I will have to cross that bridge when I get to it. The Braised Pork Bao is delish! I say check it out, but bring your wallet and get ready to pay their rent.

We ordered delivery. Due to arcane Washington state liquor laws, Lucky 8 cannot allow any beverage to leave the premises, even when it’s the delivery of non-​alcoholic beverages. BUMMER! I missed out on the special ginger beer and will have to visit in person some time.
We had chicken fried rice, which had large pieces of real chicken breast, tender long beans, spicy tofu with vegetables, and general Tso’s chicken. The spicy tofu, while the spiciest of the entrees, was not overwhelming by any means. Tso’s chicken was good, with a more complex and richer flavor than many Tso’s I’ve had in the past.
I look forward to going in to a sit down dinner at Lucky 8’s sometime, just so I can get to try the damned ginger beer!

I’m amazed Lucky 8 wasn’t crowded when we went in on Friday at 8. This place has great service, perfectly inauthentic Chinese food, actually spicy things that are labeled spicy, and shockingly good tofu.
I look forward to getting my leftovers to go and then eating them almost immediately again soon.

Came here for a birthday party which involved copious amounts of alcohol and karaōke. The host was awesome, and was one of the better karaōke experiences I’ve had (but that could also be due to the crowd and our *awesome* song choices).
The restaurant itself is sort of small– I guess not too surprising, it’s Cap Hill. But it was so crowded, our party was awkwardly hanging out near the cash register since there was no seats (at the time, it was also HH, which they have a pretty good one twice a day. yay!)
The bathroom situation was weird, especially if you had too many drinks. I couldn’t tell the sex of the random asian statutes on the doors, but luckily they’re both uni-​sex so I guess pick your poison: P
I didn’t end up ordering any food, but it honestly reeked of grease and the majority of their menu involves some sort of frying. Also, they seem to cater more towards trendy asian cuisine like P.F. Changs which isn’t really my thing, but the karaōke was fun!

I really wanted to like this place. The décor is cool. The kung fu movies playing in the background are great. Delivery? I love delivery.
Unfortunately, our food was a mixed bag and the service even more so. My dining companion ordered a diet Coke. It arrived and was completely flat. He told our server and his response was «Yeah, it’s weird… everybody complains about that. It’s coming from a 2 liter bottle vs. a tap.»
If you’re getting multiple complaints about something, wouldn’t that indicate that it might be worth considering a change? Cans are more expensive, but they’re not *that* much more expensive. Or you could just get the syrup and make it yourself, which would be cheaper than 2 liter bottles.
After explaining that, he departed. No offer to comp the drink or exchange it. It appeared on the bill even though it was never touched again.
My entrée (vegetarian) was the better of the two… it was simple and plain. The other was pronounced nearly inedible.

Cool space with an inexpensive build out that has endearing camp charm. Needs some more deep fryer grease smoke to properly cure the new space however.
Who wants to stand outside a surrounding restaurant for 45 minutes on a Friday when you can eat well here?
Had two disappointments here. First is that I didn’t have more room to eat any further. Second, the crab Rangoon was too petite. Entrees were solid. Sweet sour pork, sesame beef, duck lo mein. Very ducky… dynamite.
I’m a bartender. And, I’m frequently disappointed with dining in Seattle. People settle and rave for mediocrity in this town. How about having some food that’s fun?

I see there are mixed reviews for Lucky 8’s. I could see how this could not be your jam. My first thoughts were 1. I don’t like Chinese food, and 2. This looks like a boys clubhouse. But it turned out I loved it and go there are the time now, love when that happens.
Being a vegetarian the dishes are simple but superb. I think some even qualify as vegan. I can pay the same price for much less food that is only so-​so/​crap with MSG at the Asian restuaraunt by my house or come here and actually enjoy myself.
The drinks and happy hour aren’t bad either, if you can manage the parking. My one recommendation would be the untapped market of the tropical fruity cocktail. You know the kind, flowers, pineapples, FRILLS, and rum you can’t taste til you hit the floor. They have one (Buddha’s breath?) and it really is good, but since no where in Seattle does it I think they could really monetize on it.

So the décor is great and location sweet. Server was very kind and did a good job, food came out fast. But really, that’s not the point of eating. Maybe of «going out.»
My drink tasted like what I imagine bad cologne does. The friend I was with commented that she was able to finish hers once the ice diluted the poor flavor.
Starter was alright, thanks to a familiar store bought sweet sauce. The entrees were completely lacking flavor. The ingredients tasted fresh, but overall both of our dishes fell completely flat.
It’s hip and trendy, but neither the food nor the drinks did anything for the palate. They didn’t even justify the mediocre ticket price. Honestly I’m really surprised by the number of higher reviews on here.

We got delivery. It was fast and the delivery person was super nice.
Bao was good. Fried rice was good, though had kind of a ‘sweet’ flavor to it? Egg rolls were not so good, and were soggy. Fortune cookies were very stale. Main dishes were pretty flavorful.
Overall pretty on par for chinese delivery in Seattle (not great, not awful). We’ll probably try it one more time.

For some reason, this place has the vibe of the red chinese restaurant in Bruce Lee’s Return of the Dragon. It’s somewhat retro old school, yet modern and sleek while playing old karate (?) movies. Pulling up a bar stool after descending the steps, I get the Hong Kong Snap cocktail, the salt n pepper calamari and pork buns. The sauce with the pork buns was great and interesting subtle tang flavor. The S&P calamari was nice; not too heavy on the coating and decent seasoning. I think it should’ve had more garlic, but not sure. The HK Snap drink was delightful and I would down more of those. Megan, the bartender, was cool & friendly.
Nice spot.

This is SUCH a cute space with so much potential. Let me first make it clear… The folks here are really trying hard. It’s so apparent that they wear their hearts on their sleeves and they are putting their best foot forward. Sadly though, it’s not quite up to par with what people are hoping or expecting.
Being next to Restaurant Zoe and across from Skillet Diner and Marjorie, there’s a lot of room for competition. In fact, I meant to head to Skillet tonight for dinner but the line was over an hour long. Cut to Lucky 8 which I’d never tried and was practically empty at 8pm on a Thursday, and here I am writing about it.
The space looks somewhat incomplete but much of it is pretty adorable. Small touches like pretty red lamps over the bar, a great cluster of paper lanterns of a sexy communal table and a giant screen on the wall for Kung Fu movies really make the space interesting.
To keep up with the big boys nearby it seems like Lucky 8 has a ways to go. Now almost a half a year into being open, I had hoped many of the kinks I’ve read about would have been fixed. But not quite. Again, that doesn’t mean this place doesn’t have heart. They’re like the Little Engine That Could and I really want them to make it to the top.
We started with some appetizers like pork buns and egg rolls were tasty. In fact, the pork buns were pretty stellar. Then we tried Gen Tsao’s chicken and beef broccoli. Both dishes were ok and at the end of the meal we had some pretty tasty chocolate ice cream topped with little bits of crispy rice.
Service was great and everyone seemed so polite. In fact, when we left we got a big goodbye and they hit the gong for us. Cute touch!
I heard rumblings of Kung Fu movie nights and the bar is cute enough to post up at for a few hours if you wanted.
Overall it’s a pretty cute place.

I disagree with the lower rater haters, I felt the food was very tasty and spiced well. I had a sz. rib and it was 2.00 on HH, and it was hearty and fell off the bone! It had good texture with a pickled veggie side. Also had an egg roll, it wasn’t impressive but it was 1.50! the long beans were nice and had a spicy mustard sauce, the beans were cooked to perfection but slightly too oily. Easy to fix! I must say that their HH rocks! The service was nice and personable. Tiger rocks, too!

Oh, Lucky 8’s. I waited until April to give you a chance to work it all out. You’re in my ‘hood and now you deliver! The man who answered the phone was sweet and so was the bike delivery guy who arrived very quickly. Unfortunately, they can not compensate for what you have apparently ignored from how many reviews? Your food is bad. Your egg rolls were limp and bland. You actually put the sweet and sour sauce ON the fried pork before delivering it. Do you know that you produced a sweet and sour porky mush by doing that? Your veggie fried rice was all oil with the veggies plunked on top.
You have a market in this part of town, and we want to support your business. Fix the food.
I would also like to note that the International District is 10 minutes away. If you are under the impression that Lucky 8’s is good Chinese, don’t go there.

AMBIENCE — A (step down, but has handicap elevator avail.) — cool clean modern reddish lit atmosphere playing Bruce Lee movies on screen.
SERVICE — B– — walked in and wasn’t sure where or what to do as the only one server /​host was busy. Just sat myself down — and he was nice enough, but call over when you’re ready as it was just too busy for him at the moment.
FOOD — C — hmm… it’s a hard call — I didn’t find anything special about the food. Went during happy hour… so you save a few bucks, can’t imagine paying full price for these small portions.
PRICE — C — well, i“m not going back even for happy hour… just can’t see the current menu working.
I went 2 weeks ago at 10 a.m. for their late happy hour. The establishment doesn’t stand out when walking down the block. I decided to give it a chance as the décor is pretty cool, kitchy and modern.
Swanky modem. Step down with elevator call option. It’s okay if you’re in the neighborhood… however, the newly established Regent is 2 blocks away… going to be hard to compete…
The food — meh… It’s not even okay. Lg spareribs with lots of gristle on one end. And salty spicy. Chili rub Not very meaty. Without the glaze the meat is pretty dry. And may I say. Salty again!
Fried Springroll w tea smoked chiken Hmmm maybe the flavor of tea was fried out the few 3 bites of this tiny spring roll was just okay. I’ve had better. It comes with a side sweet chili sauce.
The tea soaked egg was unusual. You can taste a sweetness ro the marbled boiled egg. I wouldn’t want ro do again. It was just okay.
Happy hr. well cocktails were $ 4. Were decent and good.
Full service cocktail bar. Decent service. Call for attention if you need anything.
Honored my Unilocal.$ 1.00 off Fernet. A bitter licorice Italian liquor. Normally $ 8! I used during happy hr. where price I marfked down to $ 3. So got it for $ 2.
Well, glad I tried it, but don’t think I“ll be going back anytime soon, unless they change up the menu or make something really special that stands out… too bad. can be a cool space to eat… they just need better cooked options.

Lucky 8’s has such a cute space.
That’s all I can say that’s good about it — OH! And the staff was so nice!
And onto the food items:
— fried rice — it was kind of bland and when the rice was moved around, we realized it was sitting in a pool of what I can only decipher to be oil
— beef with Chinese broccoli — v salty. Also, oily.
— spring rolls — I was a bit turned off by the presentation or lack thereof. Also, noooot so great tasting.
— Chinese long beans — also, tasteless. And oily.
Staff — so nice, but not v attentive. There was a lot of running around w/​no real direction and there weren’t that many people in the restaurant. Am not entirely sure what was happening on this particular night, but apparently something was off. I hope it gets better b/​c I want them to succeed!
I feel as though I’m striking out here. I wanted to like this place b/​c I’m not a huge fan of Chinese food (I’m trying, ok?), but evidently, I failed. Miserably.
I walked out w/​a headache and still hungry.
Sad panda. :(

After reading some of the initial reviews, my partner and I wonder if they were actually at Lucky 8’s, because we had a stellar experience.
The décor is perfect; kitschy, cozy and hip. I love the giant take-​out box, the cool red painted 8’s on some o the walls, and the red-​black-​white interior. The staff (and owners?) were super attentive and friendly, and even offered to re-​make a drink if we weren’t satisfied (which we were). The menu is not huge but if the perfect kung pao, egg rolls and General Lucky Tsao’s chicken with a side of fried rice makes you happy, this place is for you!
The location is also interesting; right across from Skillet, down the block from Piecora’s and next to Zoe and Diesel. It’s definitely cheaper and more casual than Zoe and Skillet, maybe even a bit more hip (ster). I’d say if you’re ever going to Skillet and find yourself on an hour wait-​list, head over to Lucky 8’s for a drink — you might just decide to stick around!

No flavor. Extremely Small portions. Disorganized and confused service considering the small size of the restaurant.
Regarding the ridiculous portion size of the plates im surprised to hear they will be offering delivery… What exactly do they plan to deliver? Half empty boxes?
I ordered a diet coke and was brought ginger beer. When I let our server know, he said it was diet, but it had like 40 grams of sugar! When I pointed this out to him he just said its advertised as diet… ok. Well its not diet. If i was diabetic it would be a problem. My friend ordered iced tea but they do not have iced tea. ?? Ok.
We ordered and once again i have to say the portion sizes were super tiny! There was four of us and we had 3 apps. And 4 entrees (one of them didnt come until we were leaving) and we all left still hungry and disappointed in the entire experience. I always associate chinese food with sharing family style but here we all ordered an entrée and it still was not enough. The only saving grace would have been the taste of the food and sadly we were ambivalent… Not terrible, not good, not really anything. I felt nothing about this food.
Our server said our missing entrée would be up shortly and we waited but it just got to the point where we were all a little tired of this place… Check please. I told the server we couldn’t wait any longer and he literally said «ok give me your cards» excuse me? Can we at least SEE the bill? What is With this place?
Everyone at this table works in customer service so we make it a point to be patient and kind. We are not the people who go out to eat and treat everyone like crap. things happen when you go out to eat, especially at a new restaurant, but this place was really testing us. Our server did not help.
You would think after an entrée fails to reach a table the owner or manager would visit, but no… so another ball dropped and another opportunity to smooth out the situation was missed. They did comp. one of our appetizers which was nice of them.
I’m sure some people will love this place and they will find their niche, but its just not for me.