Watertown's China Rainbow Keeps its Classic Look, but Adds a New Spirit

China Rainbow has a new face behind the bar, but Watertown’s original Chinese restaurant will continue to provide the same favorites that diners have enjoyed for 40 years.

Town-native Richard Brackett joined China Rainbow founder Tammy Young earlier this year and has given the old-school Chinese restaurant a tune up.

When he first arrived in March Brackett said China Rainbow fans worried that Young had left, but he reassures them she’s still there.

“When I first started, I thought about making a T-shirt saying ‘Tammy is still here,’ and ‘She taught me how to make Mai Tais,’ on the back,” Brackett said.

The restaurant does not need to be totally remodeled, Brackett said, just slightly tweaked.

“This is the same as it was – it is 1972 in here. I don’t want to blow things up,” Brackett said. “The trend today is retro. This is not retro. It’s original. People are going to try to build something like this.”

Young asked Brackett to work with her at China Rainbow on a couple occasions. She founded the restaurant with her husband, and then ran it with her son, Brackett said.

“Her son Steven and I were good friends,” Brackett said. “Steven passed away six years ago this spring from cancer. She asked me to help then, but I had just opened a restaurant.”

Brackett has beein the restaurant business for many years, and has worked with such places as The Capital Grille in Chestnut Hill, Scampo at the Liberty Hotel in Boston, Towne Stove and Spirits in the Hynes Convention Center and most recently Rialto in Cambridge.

In March, Brackett said the time was right, and agreed to partner with Young. He has changed the hours, added delivery, and a Keno game, and improved the quality of the food.

“The food has come back,” Brackett said. “It was not that it was bad, but it had gotten to the point where it was not consistent.”

He hired two new chefs – Young’s nephew and his wife – and has added to the menu, while keeping favorites like pupu platters, chow mein and egg rolls. Regulars will see some new additions, too, which Brackett said come from the chefs themselves.

“Everyday they cook a family meal for themselves, and I partake,” Brackett said. “There are some dishes that work great for the restaurant, and some that are a little too extreme.”

One such addition is ho phun (also known as chow fun) noodle dishes – which feature wide rice noodles topped with meat and vegetables. The noodles soak up the flavors, Brackett said.

China Rainbow is now open for lunch, and offers delivery in Watertown.

After a long career in the business, this is the first time that Brackett has worked in his hometown and he loves it.

“That part has been fun,” Brackett said. “To have someone come in who hasn’t seen you for 10-15 years, it’s great. And I live three minutes away!”