China Chef

My first time here. Reviews were all over the place so I decided to try it for myself, and I'm so glad I did! You order at the counter and I felt a bit rushed but all that rushing was getting food out FAST. The young woman taking orders also brought the food out. I noticed her being a lot more friendly with some regulars right before I left, as it had slowed down a lot. The inside is fine. Standard fast food Chinese. Nothing special. Plastic utensils, Styrofoam plates and bowls and sauce packets. They do give you a fortune cookie with your meal. I got the lunch special with egg drop soup and the really yellow color threw me off at first, but it was seriously some of the best I've ever had. And I'm a self-proclaimed connoisseur. I went here because I was craving crab Rangoon and everyone said they are the best in the city. They weren't wrong! SO good! Bursting with cream cheese and they're huge. I also got a shrimp Egg roll, which i could pass on next time, just because I had so much fried stuff. I didn't expect the Rangoon to be so large and filling. For my actual lunch I got the Springfield cashew chicken. Again, the looks threw me off because of the really light colored chicken, but it was battered perfectly and really delicious! The gravy is spot on. Only thing missing was the green onion on top. I'll definitely be back here!

Restaurant is small, decor a bit dated and empty; because 95% of their business is takeout. Don't be fooled. Hot-Sour soup was among best I've had. My lunch special was hot, fresh and could easily feed 2x people. All for <$10.

I love this place! I got the pineapple chicken and it was the best meal ever. The portion size was amazing and the flavor was fantastic. The flavors were melting on my tongue. I’m definitely coming back.

I love this place. It has a quiet atmosphere with lots of natural lighting. The food is really good and you also get a nice quantity. The service is really sweet and quick, and you get your food steaming hot. One of my favorite Chinese food restaurants all in Columbia. I would definitely recommend this place!

ordered takeout from china chef and was surprised by how they had the lunch special even on a weekend! we ordered the kung pao chicken and springfield style cashew chicken (fried chicken with an american style gravy). the main portions were extremely generous and the fried chicken was still crunchy despite it being takeout. the food was a little on the salty side, as it usually is, but we enjoyed it. our lunch special came with a crab rangoon and hot and sour soup, and we liked our sides. the crab rangoon was bursting with cream cheese and was delicious. hot and sour soup was exactly what it said it would be - hot, sour and very good!

Service and food is always amazing! Will not disappoint! Portions and price are also pretty damn good! You will be full and potentially have extra. This place worth your time, stop in!

We love China Chef!!! The egg drop soup and hot and sour soup are my favorites in Columbia! And their crab rangoons are also the best in town. That’s just to name our favorites! The service is fast and friendly.

Pretty average Chinese food. Got bourbon chicken. It was quite sweet for my liking. The rice was decent and egg roll was what you’d expect. No major issues. Will probably return and try something different next time.

Combo for only $11.00, and I couldn't finish the chicken. Great place. Why spend more elsewhere? I watched the staff handle a dinner rush very well.

This is a pretty standard Chinese takeout restaurant. The inside is small but has a few booths if you did prefer to eat there (I would do takeout). Overall I would not return though. The service was quick but the food was just not good. The rice was bland and tasted old while the orange chicken was just slightly below average orange chicken. The hot and sour soup was good however. The lunch special was cheap being $9 for orange chicken fried rice and hot and sour. I would still not return either way.

House Special fried rice has a minimum amount of meat compared to other restaurants I've visited. I would have not ordered from here, but the other restaurants were closed. Not the same as the past! Egg roller, also.

Edit: there are enough Chinese spots in Columbia to choose somewhere else. They questioned the validity of my order so when I came to pick it up AFTER the time it was supposed to be ready, they still needed to cook my food. So I had to wait even longer but still pay full price. Smh. If I would have been a cash customer instead of card, would I still had to wait?! That's not good business. My baby was crying in the car the extra 15 minutes this pick up order took.... They said, we tried to call you but I have no missed calls. They just weren't going to make my food until I showed up. Can't trust this place ever again. Can I actually give this place 0 stars? Because then they said have a nice day as though they didn't just DOUBLE my wait. No remorse.

Barely any flavor. Came quickly and hot but I just cannot recommend this place. Had friends try it too and they could not take more than a bite... maybe it was just an off day but it was just so bad.

This place is great! They handled a situation that was out of there control very professionally and in a very timely manner.

Friendly service. not wait long to get my meal! Food is good i will come back again The restaurant is relatively small. Next door to Hyvee.. Not easy to see it...

One of Columbia's best Chinese places. I've been going there over 10 years. Great lunch specials also. So good!

Best egg drop soup in Columbia. Hands down. So if you're like me and not from here and have yet to be impressed by the local egg drop soup, come here. Food is cooked fresh and staff is very friendly. Kitchen is visible and very clean. Found pineapple in my sweet and sour sauce which proved it was fresh and homemade. It was very delicious! Crab Rangoon has actual crab in it as well. Come here! Prices are good and food is wonderful!

Try the spicy house fried rice, extra meat (shrimp, chicken and pork). Mmmm Don't forget to add soy sauce!

Good, solid, moderately priced, Chinese food. My wife and I ordered pork fried rice, steamed pork dumplings, egg rolls, crab rangoon, and hot and sour soup--pretty standard, fast food Chinese fare. Following are my comments on each. The pork fried rice was fine. Rice was properly cooked, neither mushy or hard. Oily, but not greasy. Decent flavor, without being overly salty. Fair amount of vegetables and meat. Not great, but certainly good. Hot and sour soup was both hot and sour. Slightly thinner texture than is commonly served in this part of the world. Not a bad thing, as it means a little less corn starch. Less tofu and meat bits than I normally see, but still adequate. Only thing off putting was a slight, "odd" taste. Didn't seem spoiled, just odd. Can't place the flavor, but it's the first time I've experienced it in hot and sour soup. Egg rolls were excellent. Steaming on the inside and crisp on the outside. Quite large, well seasoned, and obviously hand made. These were the high point of the meal. Steamed pork dumplings were good. Wrappers nicely steamed and not too thick. The filling was rather strange. It reminded me much more of a meatball in an Italian restaurant, than the filling of a Chinese dumpling. Not bad, just not what I expected. The crab rangoon was the least tasty item. More accurately, it would have been described as "Cream cheese wrapped in a thick tortilla and deep fried". Absolutely no trace of anything crablike in the mix Decor was basic, fast food Chinese, complete with the obligatory fish tank. Service was fast and friendly. Prices right in line with the area. Overall, China Chef is solid, middle of the pack Chinese restaurant. Not bad, but not great.

Dirty place, no heat turned on so it is freezing in the building. I was the only customer in the place and waited 20 minutes for an order of General Tso's Chicken which is pretty ridiculous.

I thought no one could screw up Sweet Sour Chicken, sadly, I was wrong. Never seen it served w/o any veggies at all, never seen it soaked so in oil, or had an entire order deemed totally un-digestable. Husband said it might do for fishing bait, but I don't think the fish will want it either. The Seafood Delight was at least recognizable as food, but I hope you like broccoli. If it hadn't been a takeout, would have returned it & asked for $ back.

This place used to look kind of sketchy, but the chinese food is really good. Recently they remodeled because of the Hy-Vee moving in near by (yay!) so it looks much better. The portions are large. You can either share one dish with someone or save it for left overs. I've had many things here but my favorites are the crab rangoons, fried or steamed dumplings and the garlic sauce dishes. I usually get chicken with garlic sauce, but last time I got shrimp with garlic sauce. Very good and comes with plenty of fresh broccoli in it. It's very good take-out!

I would give this place no stars. Worst Chinese food I have ever had. Customer service was poor. They sent the wrong food. Never ordering from here again.

The fried rice was not cooked. I thought it was just a one time thing, it happened again. Crunchy fried rice.

Quick kitchen- a lot of food for the cost. The food though was not representative of the Chinese food I expected. I ordered Cashew Chicken and it was chicken in an odd brown gravy. The fried rice was very dry and dark, and overcooked. Won't be returning.

This place has good food, fast service, huge portions, and cheap prices. I had cashew chicken (comes with rice and 2 crab rangoons), egg drop soup, and a can of soda for less than $11. Everything was great, especially the egg drop soup!

This is my favorite Chinese place in town, I have been going here for 10 years, they have never let down, yes it is kinda expensive but it is most definitely needed

Food Poisoning Compliments Of China Chef I've been going to China Chef since we first moved to Columbia. Used to take my kids. Owners have come and gone but the food has always been good. Not any more. Tuesday I called in an order but when I arrived the people who run it were all sitting around a table eating and the kitchen was cold, dark. I walked to the counter but there was no bag. I turned to walk back and find out what'd happened, one of the guys approached me, I told him I was told 20 minutes and he said, "oh, a call in". He went to the kitchen and I waited. I have to admit as I walked home I noticed a smell that wasn't the usual aroma, that fragrant good Chinese. Home I had to stop eating what I'd bought, wonton soup, crab rangoon and fried shrimp, something was wrong, none of it tasted right. During the night I woke with stomach problems, the type you get from food poisoning, was up for a couple of hours, hoped enough of it was over and done with so I could get on to work, still had problems in the morning, got to work but was still sick - finally I went home. Even my kitchen had an odor from the food being on the counter. I threw it out and made coffee to freshen it up. Sharing my experience with a co-worker I discovered I'm not the only one who's gotten food poisoning from China Chef. Lately many have been complaining. Wish someone had told me. I won't risk it again.

The food is pretty good and we usually love going here, but today the son of the owner called my mother fat. I will not be going back to such a rude facility.

They're Chinese food was great! The flavor was good, it was quick service, and they give you huge portions for how much we pay. It's definitely a great place to go when you're shopping around that area.

Do not be fooled by the reviews that they have posted on their website. This place is one to avoid at all cost. I ordered food to be picked up from China Chef on Saturday. My order was basic and only for one person although it took over 45 minutes for it to be ready. Note - this was at 2PM (not during a lunch rush) and there was no one else in the restaurant. This was the first time that I have ordered from here and it will certainly be my last. I would have never ordered food from here knowing what the place looks like inside. It is filthy and I saw a bug crawling up the wall while I waited. I get it - there are always bugs where there is food - but I just don't want to see it. I came pretty close to cancelling my order although I had already given them my credit card information. The staff behind the counter were rude, unfriendly and customer service was pretty much nonexistent. The food was mediocre AT BEST. My shrimp friend rice was incredibly oily and bland. There was maybe 5 tiny shrimp in the entire order. My crab rangoon was over fried and I bet that there wasn't anything more in it than cream cheese. The chicken in my General Tso's Chicken was tough to chew and had a strange taste. Honestly, this place should be closed down. So one star for extremely poor customer service, almost inedible food, a dirty establishment and a wait time that was unacceptable. Take your money and business elsewhere. This place really needs to clean up their act or shut their doors.

I almost passed out in their bathroom once and they didn't even yell at me. The food is passable. Really you should order Formosa but this place isn't bad.

Ate here last night. We ordered General tso Chicken, lo mien noodles, fried rice, egg drop soup and crab rangoons. The general tsos chicken was sweet and bland, mediocre at best. The fried rice was too salty and the crab rangoons were bland. I did not try the egg drop soup or lo mien noodles, but my fiancée said it was really good. We did get a lot of food for our money and the staff was nice.

This is my favorite Chinese Restaurant in CoMo. Consistently great food with good portion sizes. My preference is General Tso's Chicken with Hot & Sour soup. This place may look like a hole-in-the-wall, but give it a try!

DON'T ORDER ONLINE! Went to their website to view the menu, saw the option to order online. Was offered delivery for $1 more from the website, so placed my order for delivery online. Waited an hour and called to see what was with the delay. The man answering the phone stated that they didn't offer delivery, and the "other company" that did the online ordering was wrong. He blamed them and told me to call them to complain. Seemed to not understand that I got there from their own website. Eventually went and picked up the food since I had already paid for it online. By this time it was only lukewarm and soggy as it had been sitting out for over an hour. Probably would have been "average" Chinese food take out when fresh. As I received it, it was definitely subpar. When I came to pick it up, the man at the register told me never to place an order online, and to just call and he'd have it ready in 5 minutes. He seemed pretty irritated that I used the order online button on their website. I've never run a Chinese Restaurant before, but it seems like they should just...remove the button from the website or at least communicate with whatever company they're using for online ordering to have them remove the option. Anyway, I wouldn't go of my way to eat here. It's probably OK if it's the closest place to your house, but otherwise Formosa downtown or the many other places around are a better choice. It's also within the same parking lot as a Panda Express, which would be the safer choice.

Good food at reasonable prices. The evening food seems better ( fresher) than the noontime meals. I like the sesame chicken, chicken wings and tofu and veggies. The egg rolls are good too.

Best Chinese food in Columbia, excellent food, especially for the price. Good selection, friendly service. Small, but usually not overcrowded. Highly recommend!

they said they had cashew chicken but the sauce is very different it is still very delicious so three stars for saying that they had cashew chicken but it is not quite the same the food. tasty though.