Dueling Chuan Lu Gardens cause ripples of confusion in Orlando’s Chinese restaurant landscape

“This is not Chuanlu Garden on Mills. We are still closed for renovation. We will take legal action against this.”

That message was posted on Chuan Lu Garden’s Instagram page — the Chuan Lu Garden at 1101 E. Colonial Drive near Mills Avenue, not the Chuan Lu Garden at 3922 E. Colonial Drive which, until Dec. 31, 2023, was the home of Peter’s Kitchen China Bistro.

It seems that earlier this week, the marquee of Peter’s Kitchen China Bistro was changed to read “Chuan Lu Garden,” causing confusion, outrage and drama worthy of a Michael Cimino film.

So let’s sift through this plot:

Peter Leung, owner of Peter’s Kitchen (which I reviewed favorably back in 2018), was getting out of the game. He sold the business to Leon Liu, who — stay with me now — was the original owner of Chuan Lu Garden at 1101 E. Colonial Drive.

Liu sold his original Chuan Lu Garden to the current owners back in the summer of 2019. That ownership group, led by Joyce Cai, goes by the name of “Chuan Cai Wang Food LLC.” But they do business as “Chuan Lu Garden” and are entitled to do so until Dec. 31, 2027.

Liu’s company name is “Chuan Lu Garden, LLC,” but is doing business as “Peter’s Kitchen China Bistro” and is entitled to do so until April 1, 2025.

Lost? You’re not the only one.

“It’s causing so much confusion,” Cai says. “It’s just sad. I don’t know why he would do this. Our location is getting bad reviews online and we’re not even open!” (As we reported in July, it’s closed for renovation.)

Liu, who ran a second Chuan Lu Garden at 11891 E. Colonial Drive up until 2021, insists he’s doing nothing wrong. “I’ve had that name, Chuan Lu Garden, for a long time.”

And while that may be true, records show that Liu’s company, Chuan Lu Garden, LLC, allowed the DBA name of “Chuan Lu Garden” to expire Dec. 31, 2020 and subsequently lost rights to it after Cai’s company registered it after the sale.

Cai says she has an attorney drafting a cease and desist letter which will go out to Liu early next week but is, nevertheless, considering changing the name of Chuan Lu Garden at 1101 E. Colonial Drive ahead of its January reopening.

“In our culture, we want good luck and good fortune on big occasions. We don’t want bad luck and bad omens like this before we reopen. Even after sending the cease and desist letter, we’re going to seriously think about changing the name because these legal actions can take a long time to resolve, and I don’t have enough time left to wait and see if [Liu] will do the right thing.”

Indeed, time will tell how this drama we’ll call “Chuan for the Money, Lu for the Show” plays out in this, the Year of the Dragon.

And as far as that January reopening of Chuan Lu Garden at 1101 E. Colonial Drive, Cai says the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling renovation has stripped the space of its existing chinoiserie and replaced it with a contemporary aesthetic, à la sister resto Chuan Fu in Winter Park.

At the time of this posting, a second Chuan Fu, thankfully, hasn’t opened.

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This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2024.