For 18 years, Oriental Express was downtown Tampa’s go-to for quick Chinese food and sushi. That was until the shop, located at 510 E Jackson St. near the county building, shuttered last Halloween.
Wife and husband owners Xue Yun and Chao Lin, from Fujian in southeastern China, quickly found a new home and are back in business a quarter-mile away under the Sunset Lotus moniker.
Xue Yun told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that she and her husband had to find a new place when the lease on the Oriental Express address ended. Their reopening last November at 514 N Franklin St. in between Anchor Bar and Eddie & Sam’s pizza means workers and visitors won’t have to venture out of town to get their fix of classic dishes (General Tso, Happy Family, Mongolian beef, etc., starting at $10.95 with steamed rice)—but that’s not everything on the menu.
Just like at Oriental Express, the Lins and their two sons (a third moved to Philadelphia after graduation) serve both broth-based and dry fried ramen ($15.75-$19.75) along with wok dishes ($14.95-$16.95), sushi rolls ($6.95-17.95), nigiri ($7.50-$8) and poke bowls ($15-$18).
Appetizers start at $2.50 (egg and spring rolls) and go all the way up to $10.95 (beef on a stick), with soups going for $3.95-$12.95. Noodles are $7.75-$14.95. A $11.95 lunch special (dish with two sides, plus fried rice or lo mein) runs from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Delivery is available via Uber Eats and DoorDash.
The next closest notable Chinese food spots—Ming Garden in Tampa Heights, where I once spotted Columbia caretaker Richard Gonzmart picking up takeout)—are not even downtown.
Sunset Lotus is open in downtown Tampa Monday-Thursday 10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Friday 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. and Sunday noon-9:30 p.m.
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This article appears in Jan. 08 – 14, 2026.