Sometime in the 1980s, Los Angeles accountant and attorney David Chan discovered that there wasn't a single Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles where he hadn't dined. "At that point I figured, why not keep going?" Chan said. As Chinese food spread across the Southland and the nation, Chan tried to keep pace, hitting more than 300 new Chinese restaurants a year at his peak. He kept meticulous records on a spreadsheet, which today numbers 6,297 - and counting. Click the "play" button to see Chan's eating patterns over the years. Read the story: 6,297 Chinese restaurants and hungry for more.

What is the distinguishing feature of a food that makes it "Chinese food"?

3 of the top 10 are in Alhambra but #1 is in Daly City:

1. Koi Palace

Location: Daly City, California

Chan says:

“Koi Palace is a Hong Kong style restaurant specializing in dim sum at lunch time and Hong Kong style seafood at dinner. Koi Palace is also an anomaly in that it is the only one of two restaurants on this list that opened before the year 2000. This is significant because Chinese food is continuously evolving and improving, and Chinese restaurants that might be the best at one point in time are likely to be surpassed by new contenders, rather than evolving to new heights themselves. Koi Palace apparently sends their kitchen staff back to Asia periodically to pick up on the newest trends and innovations.”