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Five Happiness
$$
3605 S. Carrollton Ave., Mid-City
Lunch and dinner seven days.
One of these days I'm going to create an Importance Index for restaurants, measuring how essential an eatery is to its customers. When I do, the Five Happiness will score extremely high. Maybe in the top 10 among all New Orleans restaurants.
The avid interest in the Five Happiness didn't abate even after it reopened about eight months after Hurricane Katrina. It did so in its banquet facility across the street from the main restaurant that had major roof damage. Even though owner Peggy Lee operated the Five Happiness with a full menu in temporary quarters, the question of when the "real" Five Happiness would reopen kept on coming.
The interest is easy to understand. With what may be the most central location in the metropolitan area, this place is in the top 10 among sit-down restaurants in the number of people it serves in a day. It gets Uptowners and everybody in the Mid-City and Carrollton neighborhoods, from all income levels. It's quite convenient to Old Metairie, too.
Last Tuesday I had a 5:30 p.m. dinner at Five Happiness. By the time the second of my three courses arrived, both dining rooms were full. By the time I left, at least 20 people were waiting for tables.
The new Five Happiness is sleek. Gone forever - from this and most other Chinese restaurants - are the paper lanterns, bright red and painted gold surfaces, and images of dragons and such. It has a subtle Asian feel,...