Luau - Juárez

Juárez, Juárez, Mexico

Luau is a Chinese restaurant in the Zona Rosa section of Mexico City. The building has a large Chinese pagoda facade, and the interior is decorated in an Asian style, with dragons and porcelain pieces. There don't appear to be any specifically Polynesian elements in the decor, but there are "tiki adjacent" elements present like their green ceramic Chinese tiles (utilized by Trader Vic's and other tiki locations) and a nice indoor koi pond made with what looks like lava rock. But in keeping with the seemingly incongruous Polynesian name, tropical drinks are served, and tikis have appeared in advertisements.

From their website:

"In 1957, Mr. Fong, an immigrant of Chinese origin, decided to rent a small space of just a few meters, in a house located on Calle de Niza in the Zona Rosa of Mexico City, to sell Chinese-Cantonese food using the original recipes of the family and naming the restaurant Luaú a word of Hawaiian origin that means "Banquet".

The delicious flavors of said foreign food soon caught the attention of Mexicans and the Chinese themselves, so the restaurant had to expand little by little until it became the restaurant it is today, with more than 1000 square meters, 2 lounges and a capacity for 200 diners, and with more than 100 dishes on the menu."