Thank you all for the suggestions. Though it's been a while now since my initial post, we did get around to trying Exmpress Of China. Lee's Korean, and China #1 (and will probably try some of the others soon).
Empress Of China and Lee's run a bit more than $20, but when we've got the money, we thought they were wonderful places to go. I was very impressed with Lee's. It took some persuading to get my much less adventurous fiance' to go with me (since we had never tried Korean before), but I got him there, and got him to order something other than sweet and sour chicken

We were both really pleased with what we ordered. My fiance' was glad I had gotten him to order something other than his usual (maybe I can prod him into being adventurous more often!).
China #1 definitely fit the $20 budget, and while not quite as good as Empress and Lee's, I can see us returning there on a regular basis. The food was all well made, and and tasty.