East Bay Old Timers Question

Submitted by RedditSkippy t3_11kmm3g in RhodeIsland

So, I am back in East Bay this year after about 25 years away. My question is about a vague memory I have of a Chinese (or at least Asian,) restaurant located on Route 114, this would have been in the 1990s. It was a large space on the east side of the road (so, as you were driving south, the restaurant would have been on your left-hand side) and it had a large parking lot. The place was either in Warren or north Bristol. It was a stand-alone building, and it wasn't in a shopping center.

I don't think the restaurant had a great reputation, and a few people told me way back then that this restaurant would close for long stretches and then reopen. One memory I have is during one of the restaurant's closures, the message board sign read something like, "Closed Temperarely" to which someone had stopped to attach another sign that read, "Attending Spelling Convention."

Obviously, things have changed some since I last lived here. Route 114 has a few more new streets and subdivisions, and I cannot figure out where this restaurant could have been along the route. I'm not even sure if the building is still there anymore. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? Was Alfred's Consignments a restaurant before it became the antiques shop? Thank you! This has been driving me a little crazy.

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Previous_Floor t1_jb8fnwa wrote

It was The Jade Tree...and it was awesome.

It was here: https://goo.gl/maps/DPAFsDs8bGYbzHeu8

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beauford3641 t1_jb9j54x wrote

I remember going there as a kid. Luke's Inn was our usual place for Chinese food (or, going WAY back, Bing Sum on Water Street), but occasionally we'd switch it up with Jade Tree. Honestly of all the things I miss about living in Warren, and of that entire East Bay area in general, it's the Fall River style chow mein.

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RedditSkippy OP t1_jbbyqbf wrote

A few weeks ago we got dinner at Luke’s. While I enjoyed the New England Chinese food fix, beyond the nostalgia, the food wasn’t really good. I felt kinda terrible the next day.

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beauford3641 t1_jbe0sqb wrote

Ugh. That's terrible to know. Luke's used to be excellent.

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RedditSkippy OP t1_jbebkfg wrote

Someone here said there’s a place in Barrington that’s better.

The other thing was that our food was out in, like, three minutes. There was no way any of that was even partially prepared fresh.

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retsuko_h4x t1_jbj2tyh wrote

I gotta say I actually like Luke's food. Coming from the west coast where you really don't get '80s style Chinese food anymore, it's nice to find places like that still exist around here. However, I agree that it is a bit odd how fast the food comes out. The last time we were there our entire table (4 people) was served in around 5 minutes and I was wondering how the hell they did it. There's like 200 items on that menu, are they all just sitting back there ready and waiting for someone to order?

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RedditSkippy OP t1_jbj9yas wrote

Okay, maybe it’s just me. The food tasted pretty much how I remember Chinese food tasting when I was a kid. Maybe I’m a snob now.

I will say that their hot mustard is crazy good. If they bottled it, I would buy some.

But…yeah. How did they make that food so quickly?

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RedditSkippy OP t1_jb9gfi3 wrote

Ah! So it was located where Alfred’s is now. Thank you!! Yes, Jade Tree rings a bell now that you say it.

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BitterStatus9 t1_jb8atbg wrote

I cant remember the restaurant but I’m upvoting this post for the sign story 😂

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bambooboi t1_jbagssl wrote

Jade Tree was good. Its an antique store now. Not a bad one, at that.

Would recommend Tong D in Barrington to scratch that quality asian itch. There's also a killin' ramen spot in Bristol

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RedditSkippy OP t1_jbal9ev wrote

Yeah, the ramen spot here is good, but they decided to close for the winter this year.

Also, yes, I drove by Alfred’s Consignments this morning and, yes, that makes sense that Jade Tree used to be there.

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OctoberRust13 t1_jb9p6xe wrote

anyone remember Chow Dynasty?

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RedditSkippy OP t1_jb9pg26 wrote

I don’t. Where was that?

I seem to remember that back in the 90s there were more Chinese places in East Bay that delivered. Shrimp chow mein was a big treat on Friday night.

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lsandre2005 t1_jb8ck5d wrote

Was it a buffet style chinese restaurant?

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