Many of Lucky Palace’s entrees have a gourmet twist.

Duck on Scallion Pancake.

Good food and wine to follow Lucky Palace to its new location

The quintessential Lucky Palace Chinese Restaurant, which opened in 1997 inside the Bossier Inn and Suites, is moving to Louisiana Downs Casino and Racetrack late this summer. Kuan Lim (known as Lim by many), Lucky Palace’s original owner, built the restaurant into not only a destination for delectable Asian cuisine but also a wine hot spot sought out by wine enthusiasts throughout the United States and beyond. For almost three decades, the restaurant has continued to excel on both fronts, and this move is another example of its success.

“Lim taught me everything I know,” says current owner Holly Lim (the two are unrelated). “I’ve been involved with the restaurant since 1997, when it opened, and became close friends with Lim and his wife, Evelyn. I started working at the restaurant in 2004. When Lim passed away in October 2022, I became the owner.”

Lucky Palace is well-known for its many specialties and delicacies prepared by head chef Richard and chef Alberto. Offerings include spicy alligator with garlic sauce, northern-style duck with steamed buns, and happy family, a dish of stir-fried beef, shrimp, chicken, roast pork and mixed vegetables in a house special brown sauce. “Anything under our house specialty menu is well-known,” Holly says, “but our most famous appetizer is the duck on scallion pancake.”

In addition to luxurious dining, the restaurant also offers an ample catering menu and delivery service in Shreveport and Bossier. And then, there is the wine. According to Kuan’s message on the Lucky Palace website, “The Lucky Palace Restaurant, specializing in Asian cuisine with a serious commitment to wine, is a decidedly unique thing unto itself. Wine is not integral to the history of Asian cuisines as it is to the great cuisines of France or Italy, and we work equally hard at exploring alternative and obscure varietals and regions as we do in securing highly allocated, coveted trophies. We are honored to be a Chinese restaurant known not just for food but for our wine program.”

Lucky Palace’s dedication to its menu and extensive wine collection has not gone unnoticed. The restaurant has been named among the top 100 Chinese restaurants in the United States and has won multiple awards from the prestigious James Beard Foundation for Restaurant and Chef Awards and an Outstanding Wine Program. It has also been awarded a Best of Award of Excellence several times by Wine Spectator magazine and has been featured in Louisiana Cookin’, Southern Living, Garden & Gun and the New York Times, to name a few.

The restaurant will be closed for a few days during the transition between locations. “We plan on being at the current location until the third week of August,” Holly says of the move, which came about after meeting with Kevin Preston, president of Louisiana Downs Casino and Racetrack. “This is an opportunity to better the business. Everything will be the same except it will be new and better,” says Holly. The dining capacity will be about the same as at the restaurant’s current location, and the staff will continue their catering and the same commitment to excellence. Louisiana Downs is renovating a former restaurant on the pavilion’s first floor to house Lucky Palace.

“I will have my loyal customers, and since the announcement has been made, I have had numerous people contact me that will be new customers. I also look forward to seeing a lot of new faces,” Holly adds. “I look forward to being able to give my customers a better dining experience and have more exposure in our community.

“Lim would be very happy because through the years he had wanted to move, but an opportunity like this wasn’t available at the time,” Holly says about this next chapter for the restaurant. “I want to thank all of my customers who have been with us throughout all of these years. I hope that everyone is also looking forward to the move.”

Lucky Palace is currently located at 750 Diamond Jacks Blvd., Bossier City. It can be contacted at 318-752-1888 or theluckypalace.com. You can also find the restaurant on social media. It is open every day except Monday.

Visit Lucky Palace after the move at Louisiana Downs Casino and Racetrack, 8000 East Texas St., Bossier City.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to experience dining at Lucky Palace, there is no time like the present. As Kuan Lim is quoted on the restaurant’s website, “I believe the enjoyment of good wine and good food is integral to good living. Living well through wine and food happens here at the Lucky Palace.”

Lucky Palace is known as a wine hot spot.

Crispy T-Bone

Patrons are sure to find something on the menu to satisfy their taste buds.