Magic Wok

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By JEFF KORBELIK / GZO

Fernando Gonzalez will have his work cut out for him.

 He is the latest to open a restaurant in Indian Village, where there have been four others before his since 1997.

The last was the Shanghai Palace, which lasted a little more than three years.

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Magic Wok at the Indian Village Strip Mall offers Sesame Chicken along with other Chinese food options. (Jacob Hannah)

Magic Wok at the Indian Village Strip Mall offers Sesame Chicken along with other Chinese food options. (Jacob Hannah)

Gonzalez is sticking with the Chinese concept. His restaurant — Magic Wok — features nearly 100 different “American Chinese” entrees.

American Chinese cuisine refers to a style of cooking that appeals to Western tastes.

You won’t, for example, find General Tso’s chicken or sweet and sour shrimp in China. American Chinese generally is stir-, pan- or deep-fried and features a lot of oil and salt.

Gonzalez knows his American Chinese, having cooked at other restaurants in Lincoln over the past 20 years. He said his resume includes stints at Wok Express, Fortune Palace and China Inn.

Those restaurants have proven that Chinese restaurants can work in a strip mall, especially if most of their business is takeout.

Takeout, most likely, will be the way Gonzalez can succeed  in Indian Village — developing a grab-and-go customer base in the south Lincoln neighborhood.

Gonzalez has set up his business as such, using just a portion of the space available to him. A handful of tables and chairs wraps around his kitchen. The restaurant has little appeal aesthetically. It’s more about the food.

Right now, Gonzalez pretty much is a one-man show, taking orders at the counter and then cooking the food. He had one other person on our visit, who delivered our entrees to the table.

Gonzalez’s menu is typical of American Chinese fare, with a variety of beef, chicken, pork, seafood and vegetable entrees. He said customer favorites include his moo shu, lo mein and egg foo yong dishes.

Lunch entrees range from $4.95 to $7.55 and include fried rice and one piece of crab rangoon. Larger dinner entrees cost between $6.95 and $8.99. The menu also includes a variety of appetizer favorites — egg rolls, fried wonton, crab rangoon — and soup.

I sampled the pork with a semi-spicy garlic sauce. My co-worker had the kung pao chicken and a cup of hot and sour soup. My pork was good, but a tad on the salty side. My co-worker said he enjoyed his meal, especially the soup. The lunch portions were sizable.

We both found Magic Wok comparable to several other Lincoln  strip mall Chinese restaurants. My guess is its success will hinge on its takeout service.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.