Mother, daughter open second SLO County Chinese restaurant — and this one has a ‘secret menu’

Kathe Tanner
·3 min read

San Luis Obispo’s newest Chinese restaurant has ties to a familiar Central Coast eatery.

Bamboo Bamboo Chinese Restaurant opened Aug. 6 at 1049 Nipomo St. in the Creamery Marketplace, between La Esquina Taqueria and Club Bubbly wine bar.

The new eatery took over part of a space that was previously occupied by Ciopinot Seafood Grille and La Esquina Taqueria, which are now closed.

Bamboo Bamboo is the second San Luis Obispo County restaurant started by Xiohan Ding and Yanzhi Liu, whose Morro Bay eatery opened in June 2022 as Panda Panda.

Ding and Liu changed the restaurant’s name about six months later, after the parent company of fast food giant Panda Express accused the pair of trademark infringement and threatened legal action.

Ding said she’s excited about branching out with a new Bamboo Bamboo location.

“I really like the Creamery Marketplace,” she said.

Mother-daughter team own 3 restaurants

Before going into the restaurant business, Liu was in the massage industry, and Ding was a student. She now holds a master’s degree in business management from Pepperdine University.

In addition to the two Bamboo Bamboo restaurants in SLO County, the mother-daughter team own and manage China Red House in Lebec, which they opened in 2019.

The two take turns commuting approximately 300 miles, round trip, from the Sierra foothills to the Central Coast to manage the restaurants.

According to Ding, two major factors in the women’s decision to rent restaurant space at the Creamery were the outdoor seating and the synergy between the various other restaurants in the compound.

Ding said she and her mother remodeled the approximately 2,000-square-foot space, completely redecorated it and added special equipment, including a high-heat burner for a Chinese wok.

Bamboo Bamboo Chinese Restaurant is open in the Creamery Marketplace in San Luis Obispo. Aug. 23, 2023.
Bamboo Bamboo Chinese Restaurant is open in the Creamery Marketplace in San Luis Obispo. Aug. 23, 2023.

What’s new SLO Chinese restaurant like?

With a soaring ceiling, skylights and arched windows, the San Luis Obispo Bamboo Bamboo is filled with light.

Large, modern chandeliers that evoke memories of childhood Slinky toys dangle above white tables with green and white woven-bamboo chairs from China.

There’s also a bar seating area with cool blue under-counter lighting and overhead pendant lights hanging from a high arched alcove.

A long, dramatic fish sculpture decorates one wall of the pet-friendly restaurant.

Although the Morro Bay Bamboo Bamboo has a interactive BellaBot food delivery robot that can guide customers to their seats, drop off orders and help clear tables, Ding and Liu haven’t yet added one to the San Luis Obispo restaurant.

Arched windows, dramatic light fixtures and a triptych fish sculpture set the stage for Bamboo Bamboo Chinese Restaurant in San Luis Obispo’.
Arched windows, dramatic light fixtures and a triptych fish sculpture set the stage for Bamboo Bamboo Chinese Restaurant in San Luis Obispo’.

What’s on the menu at Bamboo Bamboo?

Like its sister restaurant in Morro Bay, Bamboo Bamboo in San Luis Obispo offers a massive menu with about 90 options.

There are, however, a few upscale “secret menu” additions at the SLO eatery, Ding said.

For example, she said, “We added some more traditional Chinese food, such as Szechuan spicy chicken, Yuxiang shredded pork and Chinese broccoli.”

Bamboo Bamboo’s menu options include 14 chicken entrees, nine fish/seafood meals, eight beef dishes, six vegetable entrees, four tofu dishes and three entrees each featuring lamb and pork.

Bamboo Bamboo Chinese Restaurant faces the Creamery Marketplace’s Nipomo Street parking lot and its neighbor, Goshi Japanese restaurant, in San Luis Obispo.
Bamboo Bamboo Chinese Restaurant faces the Creamery Marketplace’s Nipomo Street parking lot and its neighbor, Goshi Japanese restaurant, in San Luis Obispo.

In addition, there are 11 appetizers, seven flavors of fried rice, seven chow meins, six soups and five kinds of egg foo young.

Prices range from nearly $7 for vegetable egg rolls or a side of rice up to $20 for entrees such as combination egg foo young, boiled fish and curried lamb. A spicy lamb dish is $21 and the Happy Family stir fry with chicken, beef, shrimp and vegetables costs $26.

So far, the most-ordered entrees at the SLO restaurant have been homemade potstickers and the boiled fish, Ding said.

Food at both Bamboo Bamboo locations is 100% MSG free. The restaurants offer catering, takeout and vegetarian and gluten-free entrees using tamari instead of soy sauce.

Ding expects the restaurant will have its beer and wine license soon.

More about Bamboo Bamboo

Bamboo Bamboo is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, at 1049 Nipomo St. in San Luis Obispo.

For details, call 805-423-1007, visit bamboo-restaurants.com or follow Bamboo Bamboo on Instagram at @bamboorestaurants23.