A friend of mine once said, "If there's one thing professional athletes know, it's food." Obviously he was being completely facetious. Let's face it -- celebrity restaurants aren't always the best places to eat (Kenny Roger's Roasters, anyone?). However Yao's (owned by basketball player Yao Ming)was recently featured on Huffington Post's 25 Best Celebrity-Owned Restaurants List, so I thought I would give it a shot.
From the outside Yao's doesn't look like much. Don't let that dissuade you, because the inside is very spacious and actually quite elegant. The menu is very large, but seeing as how my husband is out of town this week and I can openly eat shellfish, I went directly for the shrimp chow mein (on the right in the picture below).
As you can see, portions at Yao's are quite generous. My chow mein was pretty basic: noodles, shrimp, some green onions and carrots. The shrimp were perfectly cooked (not always a given) and everything was tasty, but it was ... basic. My friend/stand-in husband, Grady, had a similar opinion of his pork dish. It was big, inexpensive, well cooked, but nothing special. BUT it was served by very nice people in a very nice space, and that does count for something.
Is Yao's the best restaurant I've ever been to? Heck no. Is it the best celebrity restaurant? Sure ... but the only other celebrity cuisine I've ever sampled is the aforementioned Roasters. My suggestion is to forget the celebrity connection and enjoy Yao's for what it is: tasty and accessible low-cost food. And nothing more.
