Luk Fu by Jet Tila debuts at Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia on Tuesday, May 12, with the Food Network star’s signature menu rolling out across the property’s pan-Asian flagship in the South Philadelphia Stadium District. The launch lands inside Live! Casino Philadelphia’s fifth anniversary year, and Philadelphia is the first market in the country to receive the Luk Fu by Jet Tila concept before it expands to the company’s Maryland and Louisiana properties later this year.

The next night, Wednesday, May 13, Tila himself takes over the kitchen for a single-evening event — a free Happy Hour meet-and-greet at Center Bar followed by a $69 prix fixe dinner inside Luk Fu — giving Philadelphia food readers a six-day window to plan a one-night-only seat at the chef’s opening service.

Inside the Luk Fu by Jet Tila Menu

The Luk Fu by Jet Tila menu spans about a dozen signature dishes, drawing from the chef’s broader culinary catalog and tuned for the room’s late-evening, hospitality-driven service style. The standouts read as both photogenic and crowd-tested. Sizzling Mongolian Beef arrives finished tableside on a hot iron platter — the most theatrical plate on the menu. Thai Pineapple Fried Rice is served inside a carved pineapple bowl, a presentation choice that signals the chef’s long roots in Thai cuisine.

Hamachi Chili Ponzu and Crispy Spicy Tuna anchor the raw bar side. Tamarind Prawns and Jet’s Pad Thai round out the protein and noodle courses. Tila has framed the partnership less as a menu takeover and more as a residency — the kind of arrangement where the chef stays involved with the program rather than handing over a static recipe sheet.

Meet the Chef Behind Luk Fu by Jet Tila

Chef Jet Tila brings a national television profile to Luk Fu by Jet Tila that few visiting chefs match. Food Network audiences know him from Iron Chef America, Beat Bobby Flay, Tournament of Champions, and his own series Ready Jet Cook. He is a James Beard Foundation honoree and an Emmy nominee, holds six culinary Guinness World Records, and was appointed the inaugural Culinary Ambassador of Thai Cuisine by the Royal Thai Consulate.

Tila also serves as Vice President of Culinary at the Pei Wei Asian Kitchen group and operates Dragon Tiger Noodle Co. in Las Vegas. He grew up inside what is widely described as Los Angeles’ first family of Thai food — his family ran the city’s first Thai grocery and one of its first Thai restaurants — and that lineage runs through every plate on the new Philadelphia menu. The Philadelphia spring dining calendar has rarely had a chef of this national stature open a residency in town, which is part of what makes the May 13 event worth the calendar hold.

The Luk Fu by Jet Tila “A New Era of Flavor” Dinner Event on May 13

Wednesday, May 13 is structured as a two-part evening at Live! Casino Philadelphia, both segments hosted by Tila himself. The Happy Hour at Center Bar runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. with free admission — the first 50 guests get a meet-and-greet photo with the chef, and ten signed cookbooks will be given away during the hour. The prix fixe dinner at Luk Fu follows from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., priced at $69 per person, with Tila in the kitchen for the service.

The eight-course tasting reads: Tempura Crunch Roll, Hamachi Chili Ponzu, Sweet Heat Wings, Thai Pineapple Fried Rice, Salmon Dynamite Bowl, Pad Thai, Coconut Tapioca Pudding, and Five Spice Donuts. Reservations are required and bookings open through OpenTable. For a chef-led debut night at this price point, the dinner is positioned to fill quickly — the calendar move is to book early in the week.

About Luk Fu by Jet Tila and Live! Casino Philadelphia

Luk Fu by Jet Tila operates inside Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia at 900 Packer Avenue in the South Philadelphia Stadium District, walking distance from the sports complexes and a short drive from Center City. The restaurant runs a pan-Asian program with late-evening service, private karaoke lounges, and an ongoing cultural calendar that includes Lunar New Year, Cherry Blossom Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival programming.

Tila summed up the partnership in a statement tied to the launch: I’m excited to partner with a brand like Live! that matches my own passion for hospitality and high-energy service. Live! Casino Philadelphia opened in early 2021 and the May 12 menu debut is positioned inside the property’s fifth-anniversary year. The casino has been recognized by Casino Player Magazine as Best Overall Gaming Resort and Best Overall Dining and Entertainment in Pennsylvania, and the addition of a nationally televised chef to its dining program continues that trajectory.

About Post Author

Allan Lane

Philadelphia born and bred, Allan Lane is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of digital magazines. He launched his first publication, SportBikes Inc Magazine in 2010, followed by dosage MAGAZINE in 2019. Recently, Allan launched his third online publication, Club For Man. As a journalist, Allan covers fashion, lifestyle, culture, art, and motorcycles.

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