When Peter Chang Stamford closed at Stamford Town Center sometime in 2025, Connecticut lost the only outpost of the Sichuan chef's chain in the state. In September 2026, part of that kitchen started cooking again at 420 West Putnam Avenue, in the dining room that was Panda Pavilion from 1988 until its recent closing. The restaurant is called Lunar. The new owner calls it authentic Chinese food, and the coverage has run under that label. In practice it is a relocation, with a smaller room, the same building Greenwich already knew and a kitchen with a traceable pedigree.
Same Room, New Kitchen, Two Months Late
Panda Pavilion opened at 420 West Putnam in 1988 and was operated for decades by Danny and Angie Chu, according to the Greenwich Beacon. When the space went quiet, Greenwich Free Press described "months of speculation" about what would come next.
The answer came in early July. Bill Xia, who has run STEAM Asian Kitchen at 374 Greenwich Avenue since 2023, announced that he would open Lunar in the space. The renovation he described was mostly behind the swinging doors. The kitchen and grease trap are new, the sushi bar is gone, and a full-service bar has been added. The layout itself stayed the same, with new furniture and fresh paint. So the room keeps its old proportions while the cooking has changed hands entirely.
Xia knew what he was inheriting. "It represents a lot of people's Greenwich memories. It used to be very busy," he told Greenwich Free Press in July. He told CT Insider that former customers who had moved out of the area kept coming back to Panda Pavilion out of a "memory of gratitude."
The summer schedule slipped. Both the Beacon and CT Insider reported a soft opening targeted for late July. When Greenwich Free Press stopped by on September 23, Xia had opened only a few days earlier, after the renovation and after working with the town to update the kitchen. Rebuilding a kitchen inside a 1988 restaurant took about two months longer than the July plan.
The Line Back to Stamford Town Center
The Stamford connection goes deeper than menu inspiration. CT Insider reported that Xia had been a longtime investor in the Peter Chang restaurant group, which is concentrated around Washington, D.C., and that he brought two chefs from Peter Chang to Lunar. The Beacon added that Lunar's head chef previously served as Chang's head chef. In September, Greenwich Free Press named Chef Gong and Chef Ye in the Lunar kitchen and reported that members of the team had worked at Peter Chang's restaurants.
Chang himself is a two-time James Beard Award finalist known for Sichuan cooking, as Hey Stamford noted when the Stamford restaurant was announced. That announcement described a 6,010-square-foot space seating about 120.
| Peter Chang Stamford | Lunar | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Restaurant plaza, Stamford Town Center | 420 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich |
| Size | About 6,010 square feet | Former Panda Pavilion layout, unchanged |
| Seating | About 120 | About 55, plus patio and garden |
| Operator | Part of the Peter Chang group | Bill Xia, an investor in that group |
| Status | Closed sometime in 2025 | Opened September 2026 |
Lunar seats fewer than half as many people as the mall restaurant did. It is an independent restaurant run by a former backer of the chain, and it does not carry the Peter Chang name. Greenwich Free Press put Chang's current count at 18 namesake restaurants in the Washington area in July and at about 20 restaurants in September. Either way, Connecticut no longer has one.
"I want to continue in the tradition of Peter Chang. We will have a full liquor service, lots of takeout and seating for people to come and stay. There is so much space here."
Xia said that to Greenwich Free Press before opening.
Reading the Menu for the Lineage
The menu runs eight pages. The quickest way into it is to start with the dishes that trace straight back to Chang.
- Bamboo fish. CT Insider calls this a Peter Chang signature: fish lightly fried until crisp, then stir-fried with chili oil, Sichuan peppercorns, scallions and cilantro.
- Eggplant. Dry-fried eggplant was one of the signature Chang dishes Hey Stamford listed. Xia promised "dried eggplant" at Lunar, and CT Insider also lists basil eggplant with chicken.
- Clay hot pots. Xia pointed to the hot pots served at Peter Chang's in D.C. On the menu, the "Hot & Numbing Hot Pot" comes with fish fillet, beef, chicken, shrimp, baby bok choy, napa cabbage, tofu and sweet potato noodles. A Hot & Sour version offers a choice of chicken, pork, beef or fish.
- Bubble pancake and Peking shredded pork. CT Insider lists both among the opening dishes, along with mapo tofu.
Two other parts of the menu have their own backstory. The Peking duck comes over from Xia's Greenwich Avenue restaurant. "Right now, people think we have best Peking duck," he told CT Insider, speaking of STEAM. At Lunar it is roasted and served with pancakes, duck sauce, cucumber matchsticks and sliced green onion. Dim sum runs to 19 choices. CT Insider reported that the chef making it has been preparing dim sum for 20 years in China, and handmade xiaolongbao are part of the lineup.
The small plates go from Cumin Fish to Crispy Pork Belly and from Salt & Pepper Tofu to Osmanthus Sweet Ribs. Among the cold dishes are garlic cucumber, braised beef shank, wood ear mushroom salad and marinated jellyfish. Familiar dishes stay on as well. A full page covers classics such as Moo Shu and General Tso, and another full page is vegetable dishes.
Xia was frank about the work behind it. He told Greenwich Free Press that with China's economy booming, fewer people there want to become chefs, given how labor-intensive each dish is. That makes chefs with Chang experience harder to find, and it explains why bringing two of them from the Peter Chang group carries real weight.
What the Bigger Room Allows
STEAM explains why Lunar is on West Putnam. Xia told the Beacon that the Greenwich Avenue location was too small to expand the menu or the operation. CT Insider described STEAM as mostly takeout. Setting the two restaurants apart, Xia told Greenwich Free Press that Lunar is much bigger, has a spacious parking lot and offers a large outdoor patio set back from West Putnam traffic.
The bar is new to the building and seats eight. Manager Jennifer Chavez told Greenwich Free Press she expects an after-work crowd, with the patio in use on warm evenings. The staff have been developing seasonal cocktails and mocktails. On the paper's visit, Francis Conti made a Matcha Yuzu Gin Fizz behind the bar. One night in the opening week there was a line out the door at dinner, and Chavez handed out samples of a sangria made from sake mixed with red or white wine.
The room has its own details. Xia brought red lanterns back from a trip to China, and they will be lit with LEDs at night. The walls show paintings of New England scenes by Xiao Mai Kong, a Shanghai-born artist who lives in Westport. The name comes from the Chinese calendar.
Before You Go
- Hours. Lunar's website lists 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
- Reservations. Tables can be booked through OpenTable, which was showing same-day times as of October 13, 2026.
- Takeout. The restaurant's website links to online ordering and advertises a grand-opening discount.
- Boba. A from-scratch boba bar with alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks was still a plan as of the September report.
- Parking. Lunar has its own spacious lot on West Putnam Avenue.
If you have a question about West Putnam Avenue or the parts of Greenwich around it, the team at Charles Paternina & Associates is glad to share what we know. Request a Private Consultation, and we will talk it through over lunch nearby.
