One Friday in late July 2023, Neighbor Roy and I headed North to Marana for a Chinese lunch. We originally planned to go to Asian Spice, which had very good reviews. When we got there, it was full of people. So many, we were told we would have a 10 to 15-minute wait. I started to sit in the only chairs available near the front door and was told by the manager, that I could not sit there. I explained I could not stand for 10 or 15 minutes. I didn’t explain that I had had 5 back surgeries and therefore was unable to stand for more than a minute or two. Needless to say, Roy and I left. I had another option in mind up the road a ways. It was Fortune Cookie at Twin Peaks Road.
When we got to Fortune Cookie, we parked right in front of the entrance door. Unlike the previous place, all tables were available to us. Our server quickly brought our drinks and we ordered an appetizer of pot stickers. They were served soon enough and were really good, particularly after dipping them in the accompanying soy sauce.
Then we ordered our main lunches. Roy ordered House Lo-Mein with beef, shrimp, and chicken over noodles. I ordered my usual sweet-and-sour pork.
Roy can tell you about his experience.
“Today, we dined at a small, family-style Chinese family restaurant in the 940 block of North Silverbell Road in the Safeway shopping center. It was our second choice but turned out to be a good substitute. The restaurant was empty, so we were seated promptly and menus were presented. At first glance, I thought we had gone through a time warp a good ten years or more. Nothing on the menu was priced in 9 dollar range. I half expected them to apologize and slip another higher-priced menu in its place. It did not happen. So I ordered my usual house lo-mein. Also ordered an order of pot stickers (6 large, plump, and tasty) items for 8 dollars. I also ordered my hot tea and sat back to enjoy the restaurant decor.
After ordering, Jim also relaxed to look at this restaurant, and as Jim does, to take pictures of interesting visual objects. He asked me to take a picture of a screen behind me which i had noticed on the way in. These screens are usually made of soapstone figures on a large, black lacquered frame–this screen was alive with figures done in soapstone, but it had the most figures I have ever seen, very, very attractive. By now our lunches had arrived, large portions, well prepared and tasty. As usual, I took half home for tomorrow (but it didn’t last past supper time). I give this restaurant 4 saguaros, for decor, food, price of food, and service. Too bad it is so far north, I could become a regular here. If you are in the area, stop in, if for no other reason than to see a restaurant still with an antique menu.”
My sweet and sour pork was excellent and I ate it all. This was large chunks of tender pork properly fried with fried rice, carrots, green peppers, and an extra cup of sauce. Fortune Cookie is not fancy, except for the elaborately decorated screen that was behind Roy. They have some framed pictures of China on their walls and a very large mural of a Chinese landscape on the back wall. It’s clean and the service was exceptional. We have no idea why Fortune Cookie was without patrons on the day we were there. And most remarkably, the total bill was only $26. We compared that to our lunch a few weeks earlier at Culinary Dropout which came to almost $70.
For the quality of the food, service, atmosphere, and price, we rate Fortune Cookie with four and a half Saguaros. Nearly perfect.
Fortune Cookie Chinese Restaurant
9110 n. Silverbell Road Suite #140
Tucson Az 85743
(520) 579 – 7813
MON – SAT: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
SUNDAY: 4:00 PM – 9:00 PM
For more restaurants in Marana, see our Marana Restaurants page.
