From Jenna Dietzer at www.About.com
Your Guide to Gainesville, FL.
2) Chopstix Cafe
Cuisine: Pan-Asian, Vegetarian, & Sushi
Choptsix is infamous for two things. The first is its view
from the dining hall, which overlooks a portion of Biven's
Arm that flows underneath SW 13th Street. Here
fishermen cast lines and gators swim freely. The second
is its sushi variety - from the standard California roll to a
tasty Gainesville original called the "Crispy Gator Roll"
that is fried on the outside and holds a pocket of warm
cream cheese, vegetables, and meat inside.
Guide Rating -
The Bottom Line
Chopstix serves a plate for everyone with the best
pan-Asian cuisine, sushi, and a variety of vegetarian
dishes on-hand and made fresh.
Pros
Lakeside view on patio overlooks sunbathing gators and
fishermen.
Over 20 varieties of freshly made sushi.
Vegetarian dishes galore!
Romantic, yet affordable.
Attentive service.
Guide Review - Chopstix Café Restaurant Review
Chopstix Café was voted on of the Top 10 Gainesville
Restaurants of 2006, and it's easy to see why. Even when
the restaurant is at its busiest on weekends, the Chopstix
staff is still friendly and prompt. With a variety of dishes
and appetizers to choose from, all kinds of palates
(including sushi lovers and vegetarians) will walk away
happy. Its outdoor lakeside seating gives guests a view of
sunbathing gators and fisherman during the day and a
romantic canopy of stars at night. The prices are very
affordable, and the drinks are delicious.
Best of Gainesville 2002
The Gator Times congratulates CHOP STIX CAFE
with the distinction of being Gainesville's Best
Chinese as voted by the students, alumni and
community of The University of Florida, Gainesville,
Florida.
Blaise Provitola,Publisher
Christina Jesson, Editor in Chief
Best of the Best 2003 Reader's Poll
Congratulates Chop Stix for being awarded Best
Restaurant With a View
November 4, 1999
Chop Stix offers tasty, low-priced culinary tour of Asia
in Gainesville.
Gainesville: Chopstix Cafe: "The Best in
Gainesville!"
Jul 21, 2006: A TripAdvisor Member, Florida
and Maryland
My experience with this property took place in:
June, 2006
When I lived in Gainesville, this was our favorite
restaurant! Also the favorite of our friends, coworkers,
and of everyone I took there from out of town. I
actually hosted a conference where many attendees
ate there every night because they loved it! A wide
variety of food, and just because it is “Pan-Asian” don’
t assume that some of it is mediocre, this place does
everything right. Our standard advice is to order
anything because everything on the menu is great!
My favorites are the thai or peanut grouper when it is
on special, the orange beef (which they will make
hot enough for you to cry, if you ask), pad thai, all of
the curries, the grilled beef rice vermicelli, and for
dessert the tempura bananas, yum! The main
complaint is that the service is slow, but that is
justified when everything is cooked fresh from scratch
and the place is packed at peak times. To get faster
service, go at off peak times and use our secret- go
during the gator football games, just make sure to run
for it before the game lets out! The wide variety will
tempt carnivores, vegetarians, vegans, and others
with special diets. This restaurant uses no MSG, try
getting that from any other Asian place.
An absolute must visit in Gainesville, with a beautiful
view of Biven’s Arm lake and often real Florida
Gators. J
An extensive menu of pan-Asian fare, complete with
plenty of vegetarian options, brings folks back to Chop
Stix on a regular basis. It doesn't hurt that prices are
happily affordable or that the restaurant sits lakeside,
offering amazing views and even glimpses of lazy,
sunbathing gators (the reptilian ones). Among the dishes
you'll discover are vegetable tempura, steamed
dumplings, noodle and rice bowls, sushi and curries. On
weekends, the place can get quite busy, so plan
accordingly.
December 3, 1999
Pan-Asian with a panoramic view
by David Carlson
Sun Restaurant Critic
Nestled on the bank of Bivens Lake, Chop Stix Cafe has
one of the most spectacular restaurant locations in
Gainesville.
The space, nicely decorated in an Oriental motif, is
small enough to feel intimate and large enough for a
good restaurant to make a go of it. It offers great views
of the lake with mellow jazz as a backdrop. My
companions and I watched an alligator swim lazily past
the windows just after sunset, and it was no more than 20
feet from our seats.
Good food is a bonus in such spectacular surroundings.
Chop Stix serves what's become known as "Pan-Asian"
cuisine, which simply means the restaurant offers a
mish-mash of foods from Asian countries including
Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea and others.
Creating such a wide variety of tastes from a single
kitchen is a difficult task, but this restaurant's effort is
commendable. Many of the dishes are not prepared in
the traditional fashion, but the food still is good and it's
sill a very interesting place to dine. If you and your party
can't decide between Chinese, Japanese, Thai and
Vietnamese foods, this definitely is the place to go. It
has good sushi and wide variety of vegetarian dishes, too.
The appetizer offerings give a decent clue to the variety
of cuisine Chop Stix is preparing. There are the usual
spring rolls, egg rolls, and Chinese dumplings, but there
are such interesting and unusual delicacies as soft shell
crab tatsuta age, frog legs fried with garlic, and
Malaysian chicken satay with peanut sauce. The spring
rolls are among the best in the city.
Soup include offerings from China, Thailand, Vietnam,
and Korea. Chop Stix version of tom yum soup from
Thailand is available with chicken or shrimp. It's version
of hot and sour soup from China is as good as any I've
had in Gainesville.
So it goes with much of the menu. "Chop Stix's Famous
Noodle Bowls" are quite similar to the meal-size soups
one is served in Vietnam. They are tasty and with a
choice of rice or egg noodles and anything from
seafood to vegetarian, you can't beat the price and you
will leave with a full stomach.
Entrees run the gamut of Asian cuisines. There are Thai
curries, Japanese tempuras, Chinese-style chow meins
and dishes from Singapore and Korea. They are
well-prepared and reasonably priced.
Gainesville: Chopstix Cafe: "Amazing"
Sep 17, 2005: A TripAdvisor Member, Miami
The food is delicious. I used to eat here frequently,
so much that my order was known to the waiters. The
food is fresh and there's always a crowd. Sushi is
amazing but the pad thai and thai fried rice are my
favorites. I can't get enough of this place. sometimes,
my friend and I drive 2 hours from orlando just to eat
here. you can't go wrong here.
Gainesville: Chopstix Cafe: "Excellent food"
Jul 10, 2004: A TripAdvisor Member,
Palmyra VA
The food here really is superb. My wife and I both
had an excellent meal, and the people next to us
also commented that their food was delicious. The
view is also great, though the heat of the sunset can
be pretty hot. Watching the alligators float by is
amusing. I would definitely return.
Chopstix Pan Asian: It's amazing!
By macguys on December 17, 2002
with gators swimming by, the chef prepares the best
of Thai, Korean, Japanese, and rural Chinese dishes
great pad thai and Thai lettuce rolls. with a
emphasis on soups and noodles. They offer great pad
thai and Thai lettuce rolls.
An Oriental wonderland
Posted by dusksunset on 10/31/2002
Maybe you like Thai food, but your significant other
prefers Chinese. Just go to Chopstix Cafe and you'll
both be happy, as will lovers of Japanese and
Korean dishes. Prices are reasonable and servings of
the tasty food are generous. Sushi goes for $1 per
piece, though everywhere else I've been flying fish
roe was orange rather than black caviar as it is here.
Getting there early is a boon, as the restaurant is
popular and seats fill quickly. A dusk visit is
recommended so you can watch the sundown over
the lake. Can't wait around or don't like crowds? Get
takeout.
Pros: delicious food, some unusual choices,
reasonable prices
Cons: noisy, may have to wait
Overall user rating: Highly Recommended
August 18, 2006
Fantastic
By Littlebit_32667
Chopstix's is the best restaurant. Worth the wait. If you
are new to Gainesville, you must try this restaurant.
Visit date: August 2006
By Big Bad Voodoo Lou
Chop Stix Cafe -- my favorite restaurant in
Gainesville. Located on SW 13th Street south of the
University of Florida, it is a gorgeous restaurant with a
beautiful lake view. You can usually see alligators in
the lake behind it. They have a Pan-Asian menu with
excellent selections, nice big portion sizes, and
extremely fair prices. Their noodle bowls are
universally good, and their sushi is above average, at
least by G'ville standards. They get very busy on the
weekends and service is almost always slow, but it's
worth it.
September 08, 2005
Delicious
By janiesgotjesus
Great restaurant. Appearance is deceiving. Outside of
building looks old, but view of the water inside while
dining is beautiful. Best to go at dusk...sunset is
beautiful. They have the best sweet and sour chicken
I've tasted and the spring rolls are also great. Worth the
wait.
Visit date: August 2005
By Rob C.
"SO SO glad my friends took me here. Gigantic menu,
all kinds of pan-Asian specialties, great drinks, better
prices. The service was excellent."
08/23/2006
