BOUNTIFUL — The year of the rooster seems to be helping boost a local restaurant's confidence.

And although the Mandarin restaurant on the corner of 900 North and 400 East may be off the beaten path, it is still on the national radar.

"Everybody says that location is everything, but this is way out of the way," said Brandon Evenson, kitchen manager for the Mandarin. "They blew that one right out of the water."

The Mandarin was listed as one of 10 great places to dine on fine Chinese food by newspaper USA Today.

Betty Xie, editor in chief of Chinese Restaurant News, selected the Bountiful restaurant out of more than 40,000 Chinese restaurants in the United States.

"Considered the best Chinese restaurant in town and the area," Xie said of the Mandarin in the Friday, Sept. 16, USA Today travel section.

Restaurant owner Gregory Skedros said he was pleasantly surprised by the recognition. Last year his restaurant was chosen by the Chinese Restaurant News as one of the top 100 Chinese restaurants in the nation. He said that Xie must have chosen the 10 restaurants recognized in USA Today from last year's top 100.

Last year after he found out his restaurant had been chosen, Skedros and his daughter, Angel Manfredini, went to the award ceremony in New York.

"In this room completely full of Chinese, Angel and I were the only Caucasians, and here we were going up to get this award," Skedros said.

The Chinese Restaurant News will announce this year's top 100 Chinese restaurants on Oct. 9 at the All Asia Food Expo in Los Angeles. Skedros said that if his restaurant is chosen again, he will be making a trip to Los Angeles for the award ceremony.

Skedros opened the Mandarin in January 1978. He owned the Mountain View Pharmacy at the time and said he could see where pharmacies were heading with mini-pharmacies popping up inside grocery stores.

"I figured back then I better make sure we embark on something different," Skedros said.

So Skedros and his wife, Jeni, purchased an old pizza restaurant that had been vacant for many years. The original 50-seat Mandarin now houses 200 seats in an old dining room, formal dining room and garden room.

All of Skedros' five children have worked in the restaurant at some point.

"Thanks to the restaurant here it provided a job for all of them where they were able to work and pay for their education," Skedros said.

Manfredini, who vacuumed the floors at age 8, currently helps manage the restaurant.

Skedros said it is very important that he and Manfredini are at the restaurant watching everything.

"The cooks appreciate my being here; in fact, they say I work too hard," Skedros said. "They always worry about me. Having us here encourages them to perform to our expectations."