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Yelp, the crowd-sourced review platform that can make or break a restaurant, listed Asian Spice at 7850 N. Silverbell Road among the in America.

鈥淲e were very surprised,鈥� owner Joyce Tan said on Thursday. 鈥淢y son sent me the news and I didn鈥檛 even know.鈥�

landed at No. 53 on the list, released Wednesday. It was one of just three Arizona Chinese restaurants to make the cut, based on Yelp reviews.

This was the first time Asian Spice has gotten a national nod, although the restaurant has made a number of local media best-of lists in the decade since Tan and her chef-husband Phillip opened the restaurant in October 2014.

Phillip Tan trained as a chef in his native China before embarking on a 10-year run cooking for the five-star Nanhai Hotel in Shenzhen.

When the couple immigrated to the U.S., they spent their first 10 years in Tucson working in local Chinese restaurants before going out on their own, Joyce Tan said.

The Tans鈥� scratch kitchen leans into Cantonese and Szechuan cuisines. Popular dishes include the house orange chicken 鈥� deep-fried, crispy chicken dressed in a citrusy sweet-and-spicy sauce 鈥� and the Mongolian beef, tender saute茅d beef lathered with a spicy gravy.

The lo mein and fried rice also are popular among the regulars, many of whom live in the surrounding Continental Ranch neighborhood and nearby Gladden Farms.

鈥淭hey come because they taste the food and they enjoy the service,鈥� Tan said, adding that the restaurant鈥檚 price point 鈥� most entrees average $10 to $12 鈥� also is a draw.

The restaurant had 432 reviews and an overall Yelp rating of 4.5 stars out of 5. Many of the reviews lauded the service 鈥� Erick D. of Tucson called the restaurant 鈥渁 well-oiled machine鈥� while Craig W. of Oro Valley dubbed the service 鈥渆lite鈥� 鈥� but the food also earned high marks.

Megan M. of Tucson confessed that she and her family eat at Asian Spice 鈥渁t least four times a month. We are obsessed with the pork fried rice and Mongolian beef 鈥� extra spicy!鈥� Thousand Oaks, California, yelper Steve J. gave the restaurant five stars. 鈥淭iny place, great food and service,鈥� he posted.

Most of Asian Spice鈥檚 business is takeout; the dining room can only seat 25 at its five booths and two tables.

Tan credited her staff, from the servers and dishwashers to the cooks working alongside her husband, for the Yelp honor.

鈥淲e have amazing employees,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just Phillip and me that make this happen; it鈥檚 the team in the kitchen and the front (of house).鈥�

Yelp ranked the Top 100 Chinese restaurants based on the total number and ratings of Yelp reviews. All of the restaurants are independently owned; no national chains were included, according to Yelp.

Asian Spice ranked highest among the Arizona restaurants on the list. in Prescott Valley landed at No. 63 while in Phoenix was ranked 85.

Asian Spice is the latest Tucson restaurant to land on a Yelp list. In January, Tumerico at 2526 E. Sixth St. was No. 1 on Yelp鈥檚 2024 Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. Two other Tucson restaurants made the rankings: Buendia Breakfast & Lunch Cafe, 2530 N. First Ave., was No. 39; Baja Cafe, with locations at 2970 N. Campbell Ave. and 7002 E. Broadway, was 50.