Cathay Inn

I love this place. I no longer live in the area, but it’s my first stop every time I land in Spokane. The almond fried chicken is my absolute favorite dish. My only disappointment is that they won’t share the recipe. :-)

I had the vegi chop suey. It was very good especially after adding a little Sriracha. The vegi eggroll was delicious. The service was fantastic!

Got takeout. Once home, realized the sweet n sour was everywhere. They put it in a paper container with no lid, just flaps folded over. They placed them on their side. It spilled all over the food, bags, our table, floor, and us. Tried calling and all they wanted to do was give us more sweet n sour. They weren't willing to make it right. The food was decent. Got cold while cleaning up their mess. The fried rice is not good. Pork chow mein was okay. The bbq pork was the best part of the meal. Didn't have enough sweet n sour for the pork or chicken. Egg rolls were flavorless. Their general sos is good but very ketchup based. Beyond that, I'd say the whole experience is a 2.5-3 star. With the money we dished out, I expected better. It would be one thing if they were busy but on pickup no one was even there. Definitely won't be going back anytime soon.

Building is nice, open and clean. Waitress was nice, but not on top of it. Ordered lunch special. Small portions for price. Soup was salty flavorless broth a couple of noodles, no veges and one small bite of chiken. Fried, greasy egg roll with mushy veges. Battered shrimp-hard to find the shrimp. Almond chicken was ok. Won't go here again.

We ordered takeout and it already smelled off in the car. When we sat down to eat it, everything was soft and mushy and there was a puddle of white slime and vegetables in each of our plates. I had to throw up within 10 minutes of starting to eat. Never before have I been to a restaurant who's "food" had no redeeming qualities. Unmistakably one star.

My respect to the staff because that was the only good thing that came out of this place. Unflavored, bland and frozen food ruined the experience of an “authentic” restaurant. Genuinely do not recommend this place if you’re looking for great food. Ngl I’m surprised this place is still in business but I’m assuming it is the bar and the “fancy” looking atmosphere that brings the illusion of great food which you will be extremely disappointed on having wasted about $40 for two people and getting only a few bites due to its soulless food.

I've been a Cathay Inn regular for years. Their food, cocktails, special events during football season are the best. I have my favorite servers😚🍸🥢

If I could give them zero stars for the food I would. If you like general tsaos chicken then you may want to look at my picture. It is chicken smothered with KETCHUP and soy sauce in place of what is supposed to be generals chicken. The fried rice is white rice covered in soy sauce and never fried and there's nothing else in it and no egg, no vegetables no seasoning and no garlic. The special chow mein was never fried, it looked like it was dumped on my plate from a package and mixed with cold vegetables. Everything was inedible except for the barbecue pork. To be fair I don't think that their food was always like this. I actually think perhaps they hired someone who said they could cook and didn't know how. The fried prawns seeped grease out of them when I broke them in half. Nothing could be eaten. As for the table next to us;, we could overhear them loudly saying the same things. The great thing here and the right thing was that our waitress did not charge us for anything as we did offer to pay for our barbecue pork and our tea that we drank.

The Cathay Inn is my all time favorite Chinese restaurant in Spokane. I ordered a half order of chicken fried rice yesterday to pick up. They had it ready in less than 10 minutes. I didn't even ask about the price . When I was ready to pay, I was a bit surprised that it was $17.95 plus tax which came to $19.58. If you take out the price factor, my review would be 5 stars but due to the high price , my review is 3 stars, an "OK". I deep detailed records of all my purchases. In May 2020 I bought a half order of chicken fried rice from Cathay Inn and it was $10.92 with tax. Yesterday's price reflected an increase of 79% in a little over 5 years. The chicken fried rice mainly contains rice, chicken, eggs, and green onions and there is no way prices on those items have increased anywhere near 79%. Perhaps part of the problem is the state we live in. High taxes and a high minimum wage probably have something to do with it. In CDA, Idaho the China Inn charges $13.95 for a full order of chicken fried rice. I'll still get chicken fried rice from Cathay Inn but likely only once or twice a year instead of 5 or 6 times. I'm on retirement income and I don't make 79% more that I did in 2020.

Been going here for over 40 years. My favorite Chinese restaurant. Excellent food & service.

The food was awesome I love the sweet n sour sauce ( it's brown) our waitress was awesome, wasn't busy.. I wish it was closer to home

Visiting family for the holidays and ate lunch here after our flight. If this place was any indication of how our stay was going to be I would have been very afraid. I ordered crispy almond chicken lunch plate , it was supposed to come with pork chowmein. I asked for chicken. Appearance : When I got the plate , the crispy almond chicken looked decent, the gravy looked sketchy, it was dark and thick.. it was edible but nothing great either. the chowmein .. oh my I still have PTSD The chowmein had cold deli chicken meat slices And the " chowmein" were crunchy noodles weird things . I want to say they're like fried egg noodles but packaged... maybe? I'm not sure what it was but they were anything but chowmein or real noodles. ( instant noodles would have been a better bet) The sauce on top was this clear thick gelatinous concoction with a crap load of onions and celery. Definitely wouldn't recommend. It was absolutely horrible

Service and ambiance were good, but the portions were about 20% smaller, and the some of the food lacked taste this time. The chicken was over cooked, and the batter on it was undercooked. The prawns seemed to be batter with little pieces of prawns in some parts of it. For over $21 each with the tax and tip it seemed overpriced for a lunch that wasn't made well.

Ambiance and service were good but the food each of the 8 of us ordered was not good. The fried rice was just rice with a bunch of soy sauce added and super dry and bland, the special chowmein had soggy noodles not pan fried as advertised... and the only vegetable in it was broccoli and a few pieces of celery. All of our group was very disappointed as the prices for these lunches were no bargain. We will not be going back anytime soon.

Probably not the worst Chinese food restaurant on the planet. I'm sure there's at least one other somewhere. My first clue should have been when the waitress described all the sauces as gravy. We were visiting friends in Spokane. The consensus was - never again.

I've been dining here for close to 20 years. So Young was my favorite server when she retired I met Nute. I work in the restaurant industry and it is always A pleasure to dine here they take great care of you in A speedy fashion. The food is always good and consistent as with the service and in this industry that's very hard to find. Our entire family that can be quite large at some visits is always pleased with the food, cleanliness, and accommodations and service provided. Nute is the best server FYI. Niki

Everything was amazing. The staff was exceptional and the appetizer platter was to die for. My son loved cooking the beef on the fire at the table. Our waitress Newt made our experience so great we can't wait to come back again.

Another top notch meal at Cathay Inn!! We also tried the Bobo platter with beef kebobs appetizer....PHENOMENAL!!! I always go for the #1 with adjustments and it comes out perfect every time. If you enjoy almond chicken, Cathay Inn is the best in Spokane, easily. The Monday gravy is light and refreshing and their sweet and sour sauce is out of this world delicious. It's darker and thicker than any other place that I've been to....do yourself a favor and head over to Cathay Inn and try em out. They also have a secret authentic Chinese menu if you are looking for traditional!! I also want to give a massive shout out to Newt! She is the absolute best in the industry!!

We needed a break from Turkey and decided to eat something different The best place for Chinese food. Our server was Newt she was extremely helpful and super friendly. The food fresh and tasty a great place to take our family.

The food is so much better than the Chinese restaurant we've visited over the past nine years. Very cheerful wait staff and they check to see if we need anything. Super clean bathroom. Clean carpet and tables. Just can't say enough about this new, favorite restaurant!

Just bad service, food was overflowing with celery. Was not enjoyable. And overpriced

I'm sad to see the Cathay inn change... the food is gross the service was terrible and the prices are high looks like our family spot is now china dragon

Unfortunately, the food was mediocre. Sweet and sour chicken sauce was brown and tasted more like a mole' sauce. Pork chow mein has minimal pork and was mostly onions. Waitress was the best.

Wow! What a disaster! I have never seen prices like these for chinese food. It's vegetables and rice for gawd sakes. The quality of the food was mediocre at best. I felt the worst for my sister who ordered vegetarian fried rice. Please, no onions or green peppers. It was loaded with both. Drive on by!

After a sub-standard previous outing, we decided to give them a second chance and were rewarded with an exceptional dinner. The special chow main on the #6 dinner was outstanding and enough to share on a future visit. Our server, Newt, was very social and represented the Cathay Inn with outstanding customer service. We will be back!'

I intended to never go there again but a friend wanted to try it, so I met her there. It was even worse than before, although the service was fine. She ordered a #6 combo... good BBQ pork w/hot mustard and seeds. Egg drop soup barely had any flavor, 2 limp and greasy shrimp, "fried" rice (I'll speculate it was yesterday's steamed rice with a ton of soy sauce added nothing fried about it), Almond chicken topped with crumbs from the toaster (tasted like it), their "Special" chow mein with white noodles that had absolutely not been fried (like if you bought pre-cooked ones in the store and served them straight from the package.j I ordered a #4 Combo. Same awful rice, General Tsao's chicken, which was not crispy and covered with ketchup, (it smelled like ketchup and it tasted like ketchup), and a spring roll that looked fine but I left it. We told our server it was inedible and she took our full plates the kitchen to show them. Someone made the decision to not charge us and for that we were grateful. I hate giving such a terrible review but maybe they will do better for you.

This is not Chinese. This is not food. I would not give this stuff to inmates. The chow mein was just soggy cabbage. No noodles. I saved my wife from taking any bites. I took one bite of what they call general tsos chicken and was left with a foul taste in my mouth. It was soggy and had zero spices in it. I honestly don't know how this business survives. I returned the food and got my money back. As I write this that single piece of junk meat is still disturbing my mouth. I give any place a chance. This place will not be getting any more.

I usually get the Roasted Pork Egg Foo Young because it's absolutely delicious and not full of filler. But decided to try the Shrimp Egg Foo Young. The three perfect sized patties were light and full of shrimp, onion & bean sprouts covered in a delicious gravy topped with green onions. Comes with a cup of white rice. The combination of the patty with the rice and gravy is just sooo good! I keep forgetting that I had an egg roll too that was just fine, nothing exceptional. But when I bit into it, hot oil dripped down onto my shirt. Thank goodness for Dawn dish soap! The food is just okay if you only come here for the same old Americanized Chinese Dishes (and stop complaining when you're disappointed!). But I encourage you to go outside and try the dishes where they really shine: Hot & Sour Soup, Cathay Pecan Shrimp, Pineapple Chicken (ask for extra pineapple), Moo Goo Gai Pan, Tomato Beef, Ma Po Tofu (ask them to reduce the amount of peas), any of the Egg Foo Young, and Siam Chow Mein. All of these dishes stand out!

Really enjoyed my recent visit to the Cathay Inn. Food was great but the star is Newt! She is vivacious, hands down the best waitress ever.

Great service, friendly staff every time. The best part is the food, it's always delicious and leftovers is always the favorite.

Best Chinese in Spokane. Been eating here my entire life, well over 100 times. I'm actually going today for a Pickup Order & I'll go again in a few weeks. It is my favorite restaurant in town and the only place I go for my Chinese food cravings. Worth every penny as no other restaurant tastes even close. Cathay Inn is the very best!!

The food was good we went there for lunch when we were visiting Missoula. It came quickly the food was hot and was good.

Always the best option for Chinese food! We always get the number one! Very friendly staff and one of the cleanest restaurant I've been to.

i love the food, i got the hot and spicy chicken with white rice and it was delicious. the servant she was amazing she answered all of our questions! she has been working there since 1991. such a nice lady, can't remember her name sadly. I loved what they did with the renovations in the place the lighting and ambiance was good not to bright not to low. great place! 5/5 stars.

We ordered to go and was very disappointed. The chow mien was a glob of overcooked vegetables, and the soft noodles came separate. There wasn't even a full cup of noodles. We asked the small egg flower soup be changed to won ton. We got two huge containers we did not order wanting the small ones. The Special chowmein my wife had was not Special at all. The sweet and sour ribs were very small and with the bone, very little meat. All costing $67 for two meals. The quality of the food has gone down as the price went up. Will be looking for a new Chinese food restaurant.

Incredible food and great service, too. Everything was so fresh. We'll definitely be back.

Got all kinds of food. Nice, clean and friendly place. Loved that they brought us tea. Overpriced. Meat tasted frozen and was mostly breading. Lots of salt. Good fortunes.

Food is still pretty good but nothing worse than taking an order home and it's not the right food. No reason for it!

We have an Airbnb in the neighborhood and our guests frequently complain about the food quality and taste. Too bad because it's a convenient location.

i love this place! amazing food and good service, and quiet and peaceful ambiance. definitely the best chinese food place in spokane, will be coming back!!!

Used to go there any time I was in Spokane with someone else who liked Chinese food. Hadn't been there for 5 or 6 years, and it certainly has changed. Both the service and the meal were a great disappointment. We almost walked out because it took so long before a waitress came to take our order. Then - the food. Fried rice tasted like old fish. Chow mein was only onions and celery - with a few minced pork pieces sprinkled on top, since it was supposed to be pork chow mein. The chicken was OK. The egg roll (an extra $5.99) was overcooked and tasteless - egg rolls from our local grocery store deli taste better. All in all, I was greatly disappointed, especially since my husband, who doesn't love Chinese Food, took me there just to be nice. We won't go back.

Employees are friendly, quick, and attentive. The place is clean, but the food is subpar. The chicken fried noodle is likely made of chopped deli meat and the rest of it is mush. The fried rice is more of a brown colored flavorless rice. The sweet and sour pork has a brown colored sauce that tastes of spoiled food. If you've never had great Chinese food or even fast food type Chinese from Safeway this place may taste decent. Coming from an area of high Asian population with great to excellent Chinese, this is by far the most disgusting food I may have ever eaten.

One of our favorites! We've always received wonderful service and delicious food. I personally love their almond chicken, it can't be beat. Highly recommend

Below average food quality. Save your money and go to Panda Express. Large pieces of beef on Mongolian beef but absolutely no flavor.

Not overly impressed...really greasy...so heavy on the gut... please turn on the air conditioner or fans

I wish I would have read the reviews before eating here. First off I will say we had the nicest server. I don't know his name but he said he was also a bartender. I would give him 5 stars, but have to give the food 1 star. This is the worst Chinese food I have ever eaten. Every single dish was flavorless. The short ribs were bizarre. A stew meat sized piece of bone with a sauce that literally had no flavor but was somehow sour. It was so disgusting. The egg flower soup doesn't even have a broth. It is just like eating water and peas. Would not recommend.

We're from Montana and Spokane has been our occasional weekend getaway for over 20 years. We've always driven past Cathay Inn on the way to the mall and said something to the effect of "Wonder what THAT place is like?" Well, last night we finally decided to try it, and we're so glad we did. The exterior has a pagoda-style roof and a big parking lot. The inside of the building is huge - they could easily host large parties. The decor is outdated but kind of adds to the charm and is quite clean. Our server quickly brought us complimentary tea and water - the tea was well-flavored. We ordered the #6 combo (special lo mein, fried prawns, almond chicken, BBQ pork and fried rice), the chicken egg foo yong, and chicken fried rice. The food was absolutely a cut above what you'd expect from an American Chinese restaurant. My 10-year-old is picky about fried rice and loved it. My almond chicken was very tender and the fried prawns were great - I was given an array of dipping sauces for them. The egg foo yong was also delicious. Our server was incredibly sweet and attentive and even brought our child a bunch of extra fortune cookies. I give it 5 stars because it well exceeded our expectations and was a fun experience. Skip PF Chang's and try this local delight.

We went here on Christmas Eve. It was incredibly busy and they were short staffed. It took about half an hour to get our food, even though we arrived there when they said our food would be ready. At the same time, there were about 10 people in the lobby waiting to either pick up their food or make an order. Normally this would irk me, but even with all this going on, the staff that were there were professional and friendly. Plus, we're in the middle of COVID, so they might be short staffed because of that. We ordered the Moo Goo Gai Pan. It was well cooked and well seasoned, but there was almost no chicken! It's was 95% vegetables (Good vegetables, but if your menu says "chicken" there should be chicken as a main ingredient!) It came with rice, but they only gave us one fortune cookie. Overall, pretty good. I'd go again, preferably on a day that's not a holiday.

Holy wow. Ok Spokane this place isn't going to make you feel like the late, great, Anthony Bourdain on "No Reservations" eating in Chengdu after getting some acupuncture. But it's good. Its what you expect. And also what you dont expect. The inside. Its gloriously clean and I dont think it's just because of covid. Its outdated. But not held together with duct tape. The waitstaff is friendly and knows their regulars. And there were a lot of regulars. They are attentive and keep the drink of your choice full. Tea is complimentary and is well brewed. The food. I ordered Kung Pow Chicken at a medium level. It was a perfect medium for someone who enjoys spicy food. If your are sensitive to spice go with mild. There are chilis involved. If you love spice there is a "Raymond" level. Which, being a glutton for punishment, I may venture one day. The chicken was perfectly cooked and white meat. The veggies were super fresh and appropriately cut for a stir fry. And there was copious amounts. The sauce was a nice complex flavor. Not overly salty either. And actual cashews. And more than a sprinkle. Added a nice earthly flavor and great texture. Overall. I hate to admit it but I was surprised. I've avoided this place as there are others with better reviews in the same cuisine. I shouldn't have. I feel dumb.

Terrible food. If you want Chinese food DO NOT GO HERE. The chow main was soggy and gross the almond chicken was way over cooked and was rock hard. Never go here and waste your money! You can thank me later! I will never go there again and want others to know not to go there and waste their money on crappy food.

Moo Goo Gai Pan without plum sauce is like a car without gas. Ask if they've discovered it before you consider this dish. Then, a bit of soy on the contents and it would be OK. If I go there again, I'm taking my plum sauce with me. I think I would prefer a buffet to getting one entree that isn't anything except that it falls under the broad category of "food".

If you want real Chinese food go somewhere else unless you are just a local and dont have any idea what decent cuisine is. They used Italian noodles in house chow mean that had no flavor. The General chicken was pieces of frozen bird that was rolled in a red colored sauce and not deep fried then mixed with sweet/hot sauce before serving. Literally, ( other than the fresh vegetables) the food was of High School quality for 19 dollars an entree. You like a bad value - patronize your palate and wallet here !

Friendly people, clean, comfortable,pleasant quiet environment, good food reasonably priced. My favorite Chinese restaurant.

Great service and very helpful. They put other spokane Chinese restaurants to shame. Would recommend Cathay inn to anyone.

Used to be #2 in Spokane when father managed this business. More recently it has been hit and miss for quality, consistency and value. Previously takeout was devoured as next day leftovers. Most recently leftovers sit in the fridge until thrown out.

I ordered a combo meal #9. The service was good, the presentation was good. The chow Mein was good and I finished it. However, the fried rice was just plain rice and very dry, the fried prawns was very greasy coated with some prawn, and the sweet and sour pork was very dry meat as well. Unfortunately, I do not recommend this place at all especially for the cost. We had 5 combo meals plus an app for $100. Drinks was only water so I felt that it was very expensive.

It was my 30th Birthday and I was so excited to go out to dinner. I made a reservation thru Google on Cathay Inn listing. I received a confirmation email as well as a text message my reservation was set for 7pm we showed up 10 minutes early when we checked in they told us they did not have a reservation or a table for us. We ended up waiting about 15 additional minutes before we were seated. Our server tool about 15 minutes in between being seated and receiving our beverages I ordered a Old Fashioned it was literally whiskey and water we expressed to our waitress that it was not a Old fashioned she was very rude about it she said "what were you expecting." She had it remade but it was still not a Old Fashion but I drank it. We ordered our food and we were thinking this will make up for everything I haven't been here in years we received our food I ordered a #1 our egg flour soup came out so Salty it was unbearable my Husband ordered the Chicken noodle his was water with noodles the waitress told us there was nothing she could do about the soup. We received our main course the Prawns were wonderful the fried rice was okay but not what I am used to there was just rice the sweet and sour pork was good but the chow main which is what I came for was extremely Salty as well as the Almond chicken. At this point I was just going to except the fact that my favorite restaurant was no longer the same as before. My Mother let the waitress know we were unsatisfied She then offered to have the chow main remade as well as substituting our chicken out for a different chicken we ended up asking for General chicken it was Spectacular. Over all it was a okay we I'll] pu li[ok p