Cathay House

Charming restaurant space with lots of seating. The food was better than other local spots and was fresh and flavorful. The crab puffs were tasty and the lo mein was worth going back for. Affordable and worth the trip, and had a lot of leftovers to bring home.

just spent $60 on some of the worst takeout we've ever tried. only thing decent were the egg rolls but their sweet and sour seemed diluted out with water. we also ordered orange chicken, general tso chicken, chicken lo mein, and hot and sour soup. the orange and general tso sauces were indistinguishable from eachother. they also seemed watered down which is probably why their chicken peices were disgustingly soggy/slimy, very off-putting texture. fried rice was wack- should be described as steamed rice covered in dark soy sauce. soup had a weird flavor going on that was gross as well. lo mein was not as terrible as everything else but still lacking in flavor unfortunately. overall very disappointed and shocked this place has any good reviews at all.

This was the absolute worst chinese food I've ever had. I got the pork baos, and frankly they seemed like frozen baos from the grocery store. The fried rice was just rice with soy sauce, absolutely no veggies and it wasn't even friend. Just cooked. The general Tsos was soggy and spongy in consistency. 0/10. Terrible food

First time for my quest and I. Was quick, fresh, and very tasty. Egg drop soup was wonderful. The waiter was attending to all of the dinning guests and made it look easy. Highly recommend for Asian food.

I took my girlfriend here and we were sat quickly and received great service. Chill authentic atmosphere. We ordered the crab puffs and mixed dim sum to start and then we shared the Cathay House pho and pineapple fried rice. Both were delicious and prepared quickly and well. Never had an empty glass. Reasonable prices too only $40 for two people with a ton of leftovers. Will definitely be coming again!

Based on the 4.1 star review for this restaurant, I decided to give it a try. Upon entering, I immediately smelled chemicals, and it was very unappealing. However, I still wanted to try the food and went against my instinct to turn around and walk out. I was seated quickly and greeted by my server named Kerrigan. She was very polite and attentive to my needs. I ordered the sweet and sour chicken lunch combo with steamed white rice and the won ton soup. The soup was quite flavorful. The chicken was tender but tasted bland and the white rice was nothing more than a sticky white rice, scooped up and plopped on the plate. It wasn't even neat. The chicken had large chunks of white onion, green bell pepper, and a few slivers of sliced carrots. I'm used to sweet and sour chicken having added pineapple, but it was missing in this dish and so I was not impressed with it at all. And to add, I overheard the man sitting at the next table talk about the onions he had in his sweet and sour chicken. He said "if I were to eat those dinosaur sized onions, I would still be tasting them into next week." I laughed and said Sir, I agree." If you've ever had really good Chinese food, I wouldn't recommend this place unless you want oversized onions in your food and an aftertaste of what smelled like fabuloso. In closing, I ordered a side of their fried rice. As you can see in the picture, it is nothing to rave about. It's simply their steamed white rice douse in soy sauce. No carrots, no peas, no large onions, No Flavor. This restaurant gets a D- for my disappointment.

Firstly, I’d like to say that our server was excellent and attentive. She was great. Second, I don’t like writing bad reviews but the food here was awful. I feel like it used to be a lot better and perhaps the kitchen staff needs better training or to be replaced. Also, our dishes and utensils were dirty. Even for American style Asian food it was terrible. The Pad Thai that my wife ordered was unrecognizable as Pad Thai. There were no scallions or peanuts or spice and it was swimming in a watery sauce. My Mongolian Beef was basically just meat and onions in a sugary sauce. No spice at all. My fried rice was basically just rice drenched in soy sauce. I noticed some traditional Chinese dishes on the menu and they looked interesting but I’d be apprehensive to try them if they can’t even get the basic stuff right.

Best hot sour soup anywhere. Fried rice is different, it’s brown without any other ingredients like the usual fried rice. Wait staff was excellent, courteous and polite. Entrees have all been good, plenty hot and quick out from the kitchen.

I had not eaten food from this restaurant in a while as I found a couple of other places in town that I enjoy more. But, I must say, that the combination soup, which had shrimp and chicken and veggies and more was delicious. And, the pu pu platter was absolutely a meal in itself and excellent value, very tasty, and something I will definitely order again soon. I appreciated that they included, without my request, soy, hot mustard, and duck sauce, along with several bags of very tasty and crispy chips for the soup. I thought it was good value too.

When the old owners sold out the business, they were probably laughing all the way to the bank! These "new" owners don't know how to properly prepare any of the dishes they offer. My husband ordered Moo Goo Gai Pan...or was it Chow Mein?? Guaranteed, awful! Half was cold...I'm talking, cold! The "fried" rice was nothing like the traditional recipe...Just a plain dark gooey brown rice...no flavor, no veggies...nothing. I ordered Lemon Chicken...and Egg Drop soup. Greasy chicken...the soup was a dark yellow and stunk like nasty feet! I swear I've never seen anything like it! We REALLY tried to find something good about it all but couldn't. We just said nothing...paid the $37.11 + $5.00 tip (wasn't the waitresses' fault) and we left...NEVER going back. We have tried it TWICE now... Second time around, still awful. We've been coming to Cathay House since the 1960's, so we KNOW how it Should be! This "ain't" it...sadly.

Let me tell you I had big expectations and was disappointed. The ambiance and the service was great. Our food came out really fast, but it was 1/2 cold and 1/2 warm - not hot. I had pepper steak and was asked white rice of fried rice and I said fried rice - well, it was definitely not the traditional fried rice. It was rice in soy sauce or beef broth all brown with no veggies or egg - very salty for sure. My daughter did try the mochi dessert and that was good. Also the kids chicken tenders and fries were really good. Not sure if I'd go back although the menu was big it would have been better to have a smaller menu with big fresh family sized portions.

I've been eyeing this place for awhile. I seen a few pictures that convinced me and the food smells really good. However, I was deceived in my opinion. I ordered the Lo Mein with shrimp and it was okay, I didn't really enjoy it like I thought I would. The shrimp could've been seasoned just a bit more. The noodles weren't that bad, but it could've been better. It all had a strange taste, especially afterwards. But that's my personal opinion, I recommend you try it for yourself if it looks interesting to you.

Food is always great. Never seem to dine in, but to go orders are always ready quickly. Chinese comfort food at its best. There's a reason this place has been open for a long time.

I really enjoyed Cathay House! Food was delicious and full of flavor. The soup and tea felt wonderful on the cold day. The dinner special orange chicken was on point. Service is superb and extremely helpful as you arrive. The ambience is warm and welcoming too. Pricing was very good for what you get. It definitely a go to Chinese restaurant in Waco!!

I did a pickup. The food was great and the waiter met me at the door with my order. 10/10, will eat there again

Great tasting & Fresh. One of my favorite restaurants in Waco & I eat out a lot! Its cheap and the servers are very friendly too.

Passing through Waco and needing a quick fix of Chinese which Yelp yielded several. Chose Cathay because of its proximity. It was your basic homestyle Chinese with service to match the style and decor. Decidedly more than worth a try, for passersby and home folks.

I had supper at the Cathay House in Waco tonight for the first time. Excellent! A hidden gem! The food was great. The service was superb. We had Egg Foo Young and Sweet & Sour Chicken. We got the full meal deal which included 3 appetizers and soup. Yum! We highly recommend Cathay House.

Ordered Rare beef Pho, scallion pancakes and Xi Dumplings. All very good and served with expected condiments Service was polite and swift Ambiance was not overdone. Subdued is quite welcome. Will be returning as often as possible

A gem of a Chinese restaurant tucked away in Waco. It's no secret that the Asian food scene is lacking in the area but fortunately Cathay House holds its own. We ordered from the "traditional Chinese" dishes part of the menu: eggplant, hot spicy chicken, and cumin lamb. The food was pleasantly delicious and I was glad that they offered more than the regular Chinese American dishes. The eggplant is a classic done well. The chicken I thought was going to be fried like I've had at Sichuan places but it wasn't, flavor was good though. Cumin lamb was heavyyyyyyy on the cumin, probs a bit too much but I still enjoyed it so I'm not sure what that says about me haha. I'd definitely order the eggplant again and would try some other dishes next time. Even before the meal was finished I knew Cathay House would go onto my Waco restaurant list, which for an Asian place is saying something. Would recommend

1st time guest @ CATHAY HOUSE. The food was very very good! Lo Mein Servings abundant! Will Definitely be repeat customer. Thanks

Cathay House has amazing service and the food is delicious! We had the orange chicken which was sweet and spicy with a citrus kick, one of the best I have ever had. We also had the pineapple fried rice. It came out in a half of a pineapple. It was sweet and yet had lots of umami. There were three types of protein and lots of pineapple. It was balanced really well and just delicious! It's a hidden gem and local favorite in Waco. Do not miss it!!!

Best food ever! This is definitely a little gem! The service was outstanding. We will definitely make this one of our regular restaurants!

Not your best. Better in desert small towns with authentic. The dishes are salty as they must use a lot of soy not oyster sauce. Server was clueless. We ordered small though and had a lot. Noodles fair but meat and veggies way salty. Taking the Pork noodles home to mix with more upgrade.

We have gotten to go here for the past two Christmas's. The food is is good - the cheese wontons are the biggest I've ever had and are delicious - they aren't greasy or over fried. We had a large order so variety on dishes. We had sesame chicken, general tsaos, Mongolian beef, lo mein and a few others. Everything was cooked perfectly but I will say the Mongolian beef was a bit watery - good flavor just was sitting in a pool of sauce. They were obviously very busy but handled it well and everyone was friendly and made sure to keep up with us. We'll probably be back next Christmas for food. We don't live in Waco so I can only base my review on Christmas when we are up there.

Food is good Except egg drops is greasy and tasteless.. Thanks to Pu Pu tray I enjoyed and the Happy House (Gulf shrimp, scallops, beef, chicken breast and roast pork blended with broccoli, napa cabbage, mushroom bamboo shoot water chestnuts, baby corn and carrots in a brown sauce) Tender and the seafood in it is not overcook.

Great food and great service at still a good price! Moving here from California I was in search of good asian food. I'm super picky rarely eat out at all ever, but this is a winner.

Ordered delivery via DoorDash and this was some of the best Chinese food I have ever had! Fresh fresh fresh! You can taste it in everything from the egg rolls to the hot and sour soup to the moo goo it was delicious.

Best Chinese food I've had in Waco so far. I'm from Chicago and moving to Waco has been difficult as far as the food scene goes. I've tried a few other places and am always disappointed. Cathay house was a nice surprise! The reviews stopped me from coming here for a long time but this place deserves way more than 3.5 stars. Went during the lunch special (Tuesday-Saturday 11am-3pm) and the amount of food you get for less than $8.00 is insane. Szechuan chicken came with fried rice, egg roll and soup for $7.95! General tso's chicken came with all the same extras for $7.35! They also put some fried dough type deal and dipping sauce on the table for free before you order. We added a bubble tea to the Oder and it was great as well ($4.25). The food has good flavor and is cooked properly. Seems fresh and came out hot. The ambiance could use an upgrade but the service was very good, prompt, and kind. My go to from now on when I'm craving Chinese. P.s. egg drop and wonton soup were great. P.s. p.s. As we were walking out we noticed this sign. I support it!! This is a small business, the owner was our server. For the amount of food they provide you at that price you can afford to leave them a tip. If you don't want to, don't go! Nobody wants to work for free.

Cathay House is my favorite Chinese/Vietnamese Restaurant. The Pho Soup is fresh and the best in town. Today I tried the Shrimp Lo Mein to compare to King Noodles Fried Noodles and Cathay House won out for both dishes. The food is prepared fresh for each order and I've never had bad service!

Comfortable, tasteful dining area, great friendly service, but we came for the food and the generous portions of Szechuan Chicken and Mongolian Beef were delicious. I'll definitely be going back.

To the poster who recommended the crab puffs, thank you, thank you, thank you. Get them as an appetizer, get them for dessert; just get them.

Cathay has slightly better food quality than imperial. Making it the best Chinese in town to my knowledge. Service was quick to bring out the food. Ambiance I saw many couples at the dim lighted restaurant on dates in the booths.

A tucked away gem this place is!!! Authentic Chinese deliciousness!!! Kindness from all the staff when we came in. Our server Jasmine was super friendly, attentive and made some really great recommendations! The amount of food we ordered for the price was very reasonable!!!! All fresh, and once our appetizer arrived, the food just kept on coming and my stomach did it's happy dance. Highly recommend and we will be returning again!!

Sooooooooooooo goooooooood one of my fave places here in Waco Texas there food is so good it's been hard trying to find good food places and this one is so good you definitely have to try

The food wasn't very authentic. The fried rice just had soy sauce in it, the Mongolian beef was more sliced onion than anything and we paid for 2 separate pork egg rolls that were missing. The orange chicken was good and so was the chow mein. The delivery fees had all these additional fees in it that I could have bought another meal. The man I talked to on the phone was nice though. All and all, it was adequate, but again, not very authentic.

A great go to for Chinese food when in Waco! I enjoyed Beef with mixed vegetables. It was unmute with good portion sizes.

Very good food and nice staff! We were served during a tornado warning and the hostess offered to guard us from the tornado lol.

I love the food here! It is reasonably priced, service is friendly and attentive, and the restaurant has great vibes! Cool place!

Service is terrible. Been a couple times lately and it's getting worse with service. Picked up one night and what I would have to assume are the owners kids were (5-9ish) were bouncing balls and running around. Cussing up a storm. Made me laugh on the inside but still out of control. Went today at lunch and the girl didn't bring our soup that was included. When we asked her about it she argued that she didn't bring it because we didn't tell her what type of soup we wanted even thought we both told her clearly when ordering. ??? Had to ask for refills. I have been in the service industry before. Terrible service. Food is always decent though. It's cheap and good. I mean I don't expect 5 star dining. For the price, the food is good.

This is NOT PAD THAI. I don't know what the heck it is. It tastes okay, but is not pad thai. Customer service was not great for a pick up order. I will not be returning.

20 minutes after finishing our meal we're now sitting in our bathroom, nauseated and close to passing out. Long night ahead of us, so if you don't want a long night ahead of you afflicted by food poisoning, I would choose a safer location.

Pretty good. Wasn't a huge fan of the hot & sour soup. Was excited to see they had the Vermicelli on the menu but when I asked about it, that was the only thing she said they weren't serving. Never really said why. Hadn't been in years. Wouldn't be a spot I would necessarily crave but I'm glad we went.

I ordered egg drop soup and chicken fried rice. The egg drop soup is decent. It's a little bland and doesn't come with any vegetables. The chicken fried rice is also okay, but I found a staple in mine that stabbed my gums.

It used to be better. My mom did enjoy the chicken and snow peas. The pork lo menu was light on the pork, but the bite's with pork were good. Egg rolls tasted like frozen from the grocery store

Don't sleep on the cumin lamb! Everything else was pretty standard fare, but the lamb was full of flavor, if a bit salty and greasy.

This place is rapidly becoming our favorite restaurant. As a native Wacoan, I've watched many restaurants come and go. I hope Cathay House stays around for a long, long time. It's worth taking the time to locate it.

I've seen where the one star reviews for this place complain about the service. Well, we had great service last night. Angie, our waitress, was excellent. Food was great overall, as well. We ordered mostly off the traditional menu: stir fried bok choy, garlic egg plant, beef stomach (tripe), sauteed pork, mongolian beef, stir fried tofu, and steamed fish. Winning dish of the night was braised pork in brown sauce - we were pleasantly surprised to find it was actually braised pork belly. Yum! Only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5, the beef tripe was a little chewy, they need to boil it quite a bit longer before they stir fry it (flavor, though, was excellent); and the double sauteed pork was a little too salty. Other than that, food was great, service was great, and the price was outstanding. We had 9 people in our group and spent about $20 a person before the well-earned tip.

Nice service - pricing is reasonable- food is so so - the chicken pad Thai look nothing like a pad Thai what I expect pad Thai too - very bland - no sauce -no peanuts - luckily I had some extra at home along with some green onion- the rice was quite dry

Food is wonderful and portions are HUGE!! Easy to order and pick up. Eating in is great, too. Service is fast and accurate.

NEW MANAGEMENT, PROMISING FUTURE! Sunday Buffet is back! One of the few authentic places in Waco where you can get real Chinese food. I encourage the people who are normally ordering the usual Americanized menu items and try some of the real stuff, you won't regret it. Try some Cumin Beef, Ma Po Tofu, and Garlic Eggplant for instance, they're absolutely delicious. And they just started offering fried oysters! So fresh and tasty. The new manager told us he'll be adding more items to the menu soon, so stay tuned!

Excellent and authentic food at great prices! It's my favorite asian place in town. Because of the quality and generous prices here, it will be popular. It will be busy. You might have to wait, but it's no worse than other popular places in town like George's. And it is worth it.

I love their crab Rangoon's, best in town! They also have really great entrees that come with a ton of food. Only ever been inside once, but it's very cute. We usually do takeout and it's perfect. Always warm, never had issues with wrong orders. My favorite Chinese place in Waco!

The only place in Waco you will find real authentic Chinese food. The wait staff is always shocked when this white girl makes a whole order of all authentic dishes but Waco is a desert for authentic cuisine of any sort other than Tex-mex and Mexican.

Awesome Staff and Awesome food. Have to order from the Menu which is great with lots of great options. Hopefully one day the buffet will return someday.

We tried this for the first time today at a friend's recommendation. We went for Lunch Special, and our food was fantastic. They start by bringing you complimentary fried wonton strips. We ordered the lemon chicken and General Tso's Chicken. Both lunches came with soup, rice, and an egg roll. Everything was delicious. The staff, especially our waitress Jazlynn, was very attentive and friendly. The restaurant was clean and inviting. We will definitely make this our new lunch place!

We've ordered from here a few times while in town. The combination rice is so good & the hot sour soup is the best I've ever had.