Hunam Restaurant (Levittown, Long Island) Lives Again?

[Jim Leff]

I feel a little silly posting this, as Long Island talk seems to have been killed by the elimination of the Tristate board, but, just in case anyone's still out there: I got a tip that the owners of the late/lamented Hunam Restaurant in Levittown moved over to Hunan Dynasty across from PC Richards at 2993 Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown, NY [phone].

If anyone out there remembers the Chef Chan's Beef (their name for orange beef) and Slippery Chicken from Hunam and has a chance to check this out and see whether there's any culinary continuity, I'd be obliged. I'll get there eventually, myself, and will post if no one gets there before me?

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Hunan Dynasty Restaurant
2993 Hempstead Tpke, Levittown, NY 11756

[sgaswirth]

I contacted Hunan Dynasty and asked for one of the prior owners of Hunam restaurant by name. They were quite nasty about it.
Hunam Restaurant was my all time favorite Chinese restaurant. I was going there for over 20 years. Have you heard anything further? I have many friends who would be as happy as I am if they came back.

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Hunan Dynasty Restaurant
2993 Hempstead Tpke, Levittown, NY 11756

[MacTAC]

No, nothing...

[Jim Leff]

I have a pretty good track record in stumbling into new incarnations of old restaurants, tracking down favorite chefs in new jobs, etc. And one thing I've found is that it's best to follow the food. Look for reports of great orange beef, sizzling rice soup, or slippery chicken (or, even better, methodically try any restaurant advertising a Hunanese connection). That's how any remaining connections will come to light.

Also, while there are exceptions (and this might actually be one of them), it's generally best to look for chefs, not proprietors, resurfacing. Proprietors and their brands tend to be red herrings in the restaurant world, and lots of diners fall for it. Really, it's all about the chef (diners don't focus there, because non chef-owner chefs don't market).

I'll keep my eye out.

[MacTAC]

Peter was the chef and John was out front, but wasn't John also a chef? Not that we wants, or needs to do that now.

[DrThinkALot]

John and Peter did not move over to Human Dynasty

[chumly]

Hope they are not brining the depressing dark dank atmosphere and surly waitpersons they had when they were across the street. As I recall, having been there many times, the ONLY reason to go there was the food which in its waning days was really hit and miss.

[Tom Armitage]

Just stumbled on your post, Jim. As you may recall, by mother-in-law and brother-in-law live in East Meadow. I'll check this out on a future visit. And thanks for the tip on New Star Wok.

[Jim Leff]

Hey, Tom!

New Star Wok is very much on the "surprisingly useful for locals" end of the spectrum. You needn't make a beeline there coming in from the west coast, however!

But any help you can offer on the Hunam front would be eagerly appreciated!

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New Star
240 N Broadway, Hicksville, NY 11801

[MacTAC]

After reading your original post, I stopped in at Hunan Dynasty to see if John or Peter were there. They weren't and I haven't heard anything further. Haven't been out to restaurants lately, but enjoyed HD the times we were there and look forward to eating there again in the future.

[SarahSparkles]

Does that mean that Hunan Dynasty is gone or are they merging? I love that place. Tried to go there on Sunday night with my in-laws and it said it was closed for renovations?

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Hunan Dynasty Restaurant
2993 Hempstead Tpke, Levittown, NY 11756

[Jim Leff]

Bonus tip: nearby, New Star Wok in a big shopping strip at 1938 Hempstead tpk in East Meadow, is a best-of-type chinese-american takeout. Don't miss their beef chow fun. Even the sushi's surprisingly good.