Del Mar’s Longstanding Chinese Restaurant Changing Hands

A fixture on Camino Del Mar for many decades, Double Happiness served Americanized Chinese cuisine in a pleasantly-kitschy old school setting. Though it was renamed as Chef Zhu in 2013 when the former owner and chef of Convoy’s once-great Shanghai City took over, the Del Mar restaurant was still known as Double Happiness, and continued to offer its original Chinese-American classics along with a good number of Shanghainese and Szechwan dishes.

The restaurant, which recently closed for kitchen renovations, has changed ownership again and will be reopening on July 10 as another outpost of Chin’s Szechwan, a long-running group of local Chinese restaurants which has locations in Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside, Vista, and Rancho Bernardo.

Chin’s Szechwan Del Mar will restart operations with takeout and delivery only while the company spends the next few months remodeling the dining room. Though the menu will shift entirely to the Chin’s lineup, which combines Americanized items and Szechwan dishes, former owner chef Zhu, who has partnered up with Chin’s and will be staying with the restaurant, may feature occasional Shanghainese specials.

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