First Emperor Chinese Restaurant

This is a very Chinese, Chinese restaurant. If you're not sure what I mean, you should take a look at the menu; pig intestines, and pigs blood are included in several of their dishes. That being said, they also have the standard American Chinese food. Such staples as orange chicken. I noticed they had several tofu options on the menu so I was excited because not many Chinese restaurants these days seem to have much in the way of tofu, and today I was wanting to try something vegetarian. I'm glad I asked about the vegetarian portion when I got there. Nearly every tofu dish had either pork or fish in it. Only the tofu with vegetables was actually vegetarian. And then it's not truly vegetarian, as the brown sauce seems to be chicken stock based. But oh it was good! Being a real Chinese restaurant and not an American Chinese restaurant, don't expect fried rice with your entree. It seems that they only serve white rice with everything. Though you can order a fried rice dish. The food was tasty and I'll probably be back, but will ask about every single dish since I avoid pork products.

I loved their food! This is probably one of the best Chinese restaurants I've been to in Dallas in the last two years. A husband and wife run the business, and the atmosphere is simple and calm—no chaos or rush. The food is great. What more could we need?

This restaurant running by 2 owner only, offer some good dishes, recommand for soy bean paste fish, stir fried vegetables, we also order fried rice, steam pork belly with pickled mustard, oyster fry those dishes are pretty ordinary, need to do some try and error and knowing what's good dishes for you, price here is fair, I will come back to support their business.

Wonderful hole in the wall spot. It's a Taiwanese couple that runs it, the husband cooks everything and the wife handles every single non kitchen related thing. Food came to the table searing hot and was amazing. It's incredible that it's just one woman taking care of every table. Sesame cake is good, so is general tso's. Incredibly cheap for the volume of food we got

February 2025 This mom and pop location saved on my favorite list. Small family owned restaurant served some quick and delicious food selections. We love their Kung Pao with 3 meats, the satay beef and the fish fillet with bean sauce. Highly recommended this hole in a wall place. This place served the Chinese community for a long time. You will not be disappointed.

I want to come by and try the Mongolian beef and fried rice. The orange chicken is authentic and it is delicious. It comes with a bowl of steamed rice. The hot and sour soup was immaculate easily my favorite part of dinner it’s hot/fresh and tangy/sour with a veggie egg roll complimented by the soy sauce you can’t go wrong. Chicken Lo mein was also good pretty standard dish anywhere you go for Chinese! Mom taken orders pops cooking it up. Just the way I like it. Will be back.

Great orange and szechuan chicken! I can imagine the bulk of their menu is great based off other reviews. The lone owner upfront took great care of us. We were the only party dining in one evening but several pick up orders were keeping them busy. We will definitely be coming back

FEEL LIKE HOME! We have been coming to the restaurant weekly since 2007. My son loves their fish tofu (none spicy). We came here every time we came back in town from the trip to taste being home. The restaurant is own by a coupe nearly 30 years. And I do not know how they do that. They do not hire anyone to work for them. They do everything on their own. Such an amazing and powerful couple is!!! We love come here to talk to them and hear about their adventures. A lot of customers have been coming here generation after generation.

It had been a few years, but I went back tonight. Combination Lo Mein, which is usually flavorless or with spaghetti noodles, was on-point. Proper noodles, good flavor, and the meats weren't rubbery like some places. Unassuming spot in Richardson, but I like the quiet vibe on a Sunday. Service was attentive and friendly. My friend got the Szechuan Beef, I tried a piece, and that was great too.

Love this food. Hot and made to order- super authentic! The sweetest couple owns and runs it...

I've been frequenting Dallas lately and I would say I'm a regular now. This is a Taiwanese restaurant, with a separate and fantastic vegetarian menu, albeit in Mandarin - ask for it and use Google translate. The translation is funny but it's good enough for me to be able to order - check out one of my pics. Don't let the dated furniture and decor deter you from eating here. I understand it's been here for 26 years so that should say something. Good flavors (authentic Chinese or Taiwanese) and I can request pure vegetarian, no onion no garlic. My faves: Salt and pepper mushroom- this is a must try; even non-veg boyfriend loves and dreams about it; order with low salt if needed Water spinach Bitter melon with black bean sauce Mustard greens Service: great! Only 1 person but efficient Speed: food comes out quick usually from the time of order (when I go, there's not a lot of people) Ingredients: consistently fresh and top notch Tap water: not that great but better with ice Price: not cheap but it's very fair for the servings, flavors and ingredients (and you probably can have as much rice as you want - in my state they skimp on rice)

Really enjoy the shredded pork with garlic sauce. It reminds me of the style it was prepared & flavor when I was in Taiwan. The crispy salt shrimp is very flavorsome.

DIS-GUST-ING!!!!!!!!! We ordered 3 different plates. All of them were terrible! All of the meat/ paltry were a weird consistency, which threw off the whole meal. They wouldn't let us substitute white rice for fried rice. No chops tix/ fortune cookies. Ambiance... DIRTY. NEVER AGAIN! Money wasted. SMH

Tried out this recommended Chinese restaurant by words of mouth. It was first a little hard to pinpoint its exact location on Google but it's right across from Kirin Court. The place has been around for a long time, from the appearance of it, outside and inside, and the service and food must be good to stay in business for this long. I tried ordering the crispy oysters and a beef dish but for that night surprisingly they did not have both proteins. I ended up getting their signature tofu fish in garlic sauce. The flavors were great and the dish went very well with steamed rice. The only suggestion I had was to not thicken the sauce too much and cut up the fish fillets just a little more. The lady servicing the dining room was nice and sadly it was a slow, Monday evening.

If you're in the mood for authentic Chinese cuisine without the frills, this place is a must-visit. While the decor and ambiance may feel outdated, that's part of the charm for a restaurant that has been serving satisfied customers for 26 years. I've been coming here for a decade, and it's never disappointed. The star of the menu has to be the sinful pork belly--absolutely delightful and bursting with flavor. Despite the no-frills setup, the food quality keeps you coming back. A meal for two, including water, came to a very reasonable $32. If you're looking for an unpretentious spot with consistently good food, this is it. Highly recommended!

Wonderful food, wonderful service and it's family owned, which is a plus. I don't think they deliver? Which kind of sux because I would eat here more often if they did.

I returned earlier this year and was disappointed with food and service. They need to hire another person to take orders and serve during lunch hour. Quality and taste of the food has also changed. I'm not sure if I will take the drive again. Not horrible but I was no longer excited or pleased with my order; neither was my friend. That's my opinion only please try them for yourself.

We were looking for a lil local takeout spot and this was good! We liked the shrimp fried rice and the veggie eggrolls are always so good! The sesame chicken is good flavor wise, but they give you really big pieces and it makes me uncomfortable so I don't order it anymore. The smaller pieces I had I enjoyed and they were crispy. Beef and broccoli is okay I wish the beef was a little more tender and the dish had more flavor overall. This place is a little on the pricier side for Chinese and I think the team can afford to be a little more sanitary when I come in to pick up my order, but the owner is nice and the rice and eggrolls are good.

No frills, just some awesomely legit Taiwanese food. I wish I could buy gallons of their hot and sour soup because it may just be the best that I've had (ahem, except for in Taiwan). It's traditional but also when a hint of sesame oil that I was NOT expecting. Well done! Along with that, greens and shrimp egg rolls, we sprung for the fish in garlic sauce and it hit the spot. It's enough for about five to six people and comes with a savory sauce that you can use for leftovers along with many piece of tofu. You can get the head and tail too, insert chef's kiss here!

We weren't impressed & wanted to find our new fav Chinese spot. The food was not seasoned at all to our liking. The veggies were huge, not a fan.

Small, easy to pass by, but actually very good. Had driven by this place thousands of times (for 20 yrs), as I worked very near by but always looked un-inviting. After scanning the dishes on yelp, decided to try it out. Of all the chinese food places I've tried over the past 40 years, so far I'm liking this place the most. Orange beef, orange chicken, ma po tofu, fried rice, hot'n sour soup, all excellent. Can't wait to try other dishes. Still wish I could find black bean sauce dish though.

They are famous for their bad service. If you did not give enough tips, the server will say in Cantonese thinking that most customers will not understand. Quality of food is going downhill as well.

My family and I love "hole in the wall" places, but this was bad. I'm giving it 2 stars because the waitress was nice. * Interior: old and grungy, even "hole in the wall" places look worn but not gross--you know? * Cleanliness: as mentioned it was pretty outdated but overall clean, however the waitresses apron was the worst I've ever seen. But she was sweet! Also the cups added an old dingy taste to the water like everything came from the 80's... * Food: my family and I will go 40 minutes out of our way for good Chinese food but wanted to try this place out because it's closer but it wasn't that good. My Sesame Chicken had some good pieces but most tasted old like they picked up day old chicken from the store?... Honestly just tasted like leftovers. But the rice was good! Overall, I'm not sure why this place had such good reviews and kept giving it the benefit of the doubt. I kept thinking, are the reviews friends and family? Mostly disappointed by how far it was from the reviews so wanted to throw this out there to anyone.

Was surprised how good it was for Americanized Chinese food. Favorite dishes were orange chicken and sizzling beef

It's been hard to find good home style Chinese food for me these days and this place was great. Service was good, Dining room was clean, Food was delicious! Will definitely be back! Oh those shrimp roll are to die for. Get them.

They accommodated us at the last minute. They close at 9 and we got there at 8:30 pm. They were really fast with service. It's looks to me that they're a small mom & pop restaurant. Everything was great and full of flavor.

Not sure why I always pass by this place and have never gone in but I'm sure glad I did! The quick overview: - Small, unassuming shop that has a mini parking lot. Directly across the street from Kirin Court - The inside feels like its from the 90's and reminds me of home - The main lady (owner?) was very polite and provided great service - Entrees are fairly reasonably priced between $10-$15 per dish with a large portion - They are "famous" for their "sesame pancake" which looks to be huge and filling, but probably good if you have enough people. Note: they say it takes ~40 min to make so order ahead What we got: Seafood Soup for 4 (~$10): Small amount of shrimp in an otherwise tasty soup Twice cooked pork: Fairly standard dish, pieces of pork belly weren't overly fatty - Mustard greens + bean curd: This was surprisingly a lot more flavorful than I expected it to be and was a winner - Sizzling tofu: Delicious sauce, huge pieces of tofu and other veggies, another winner - Black bean stir fried squid: This was the only reason it's a 4 star for now. This dish was an absolute miss (consensus) - would not recommend this one. Solid place for a great lunch!

Love this place! Best Chinese, I've had in a long time. Small business, family owned, authentic! Customer service is top tier.

This is one of my favorite Taiwanese style Chinese restaurants in Dallas. Reminds me of food I ate when I lived in Taiwan. My favorites include the Orange Chicken, Kung Pao Beef, and Tofu with Vegetables in brown sauce. Really, I haven't had anything that I didn't like on the menu. I usually order extra food to take home and eat later...Yes, the restaurant is a bit old looking on inside (I imagine they do mainly takeout orders) but the food is consistently good.

If you can get past the peeling wallpaper, you will understand why I give this hole in the wall 5 Stars! Order the "Mapo Tofu with fish" and the "Crispy Sesame Beef" and your life will never be the same. Pack any leftovers and add more cubed tofu to the mapo sauce when you get home. Trust me!

This place is indeed a hidden gem. I've been in the area over a decade and never heard about it. I'm been craving fish with garlic sauce since I returned from Australia. The various styles of Asian cuisine that I experienced while I was there were superb. This. This provided that same level of superb. The service was wonderful. I was given suggestions and clarity as to what I was ordering. I was not steered wrong. I got the Fish with bean curd in garlic sauce and an order of Crispy Shrimp with Pepper Salt. Both were absolutely delicious and so satisfying. I even greatly appreciated the tofu in the fish. I'm normally not a fan of tofu. I have never eaten the shell on prawns. I now understand and gladly look forward to consuming it that way in the future. They did everything perfectly for my tastes. I look forward to trying more dishes from this restaurant.

Everything is really high quality. We tried the: Veggie Eggrolls (yum), Pork Bellies (don't sleep on these), sweet and sour chicken (had to cover the basics and was blown away), lo mein (nothing to write home about but still delish), and beef fried rice (A++). Definitely worth a visit if you're looking for some most excellent Chinese food.

Tried them today for the first time, and wish I'd gone sooner. It was delicious! I got Chicken Lo Mein for my 2 year old, and ordered Orange Beef and egg rolls (spring rolls) for myself. The Chicken Lo Mein was good, although a bit greasy. Nice flavors, not too salty, plenty of chicken. Tasty. But baby - that Orange Beef was nothing to play with. It was OUTSTANDING! Cooked just right, tender, the sauce was amazing, and it was not spicy (although the menu said it would be). Simply phenomenal. My 2 year old saw me rolling my eyes in the back of my head after eating each bite, and he asked for a piece. I shouldn't have given him that first bite, because he completely ditched the lo mein and only wanted my entree. lol I didn't really care for the spring rolls. They were just ok. It said egg rolls on the menu and when I ordered them, the lady DID tell me that they were actually spring rolls. However, for $1.50 a piece, I will only order if they have actual egg rolls next time. Go. Order Orange Beef. Be happy.

This place is best for takeout... On their website all pricing is not current. They do not have a lunch menu regardless of what is on the website. So all pricing is for separate entrees and sides. All that being said, this is my go to place for Chinese Food. The flavors are good and the amount you get is generous. My favorite dish is Orange Beef. It has a dark sauce with crispy battered and fried beef. Each entree comes with complimentary white rice. I've had all options for fried rice and it's consistently good. I always order the Hot and Sour soup for 4 since the price for double the soup is only $1.00 different. The workers are all very nice and well meaning. The inside of the building is old like 80's old. If you eat in... just don't look at the ceiling. Happy eating..

It's actually funny and sad reading some of the bad reviews given for this place. For instance, "lo mein noodles are made of Italian spaghetti." The guy clearly does not know how authentic lo mein noodles are made. "Food seemed old" and "My Sesame Chicken had some good pieces but most tasted old". Almost should just stop at "sesame chicken". Those are Americanized dishes and nobody should ever order those when you come to an authentic Taiwanese/Chinese place like this. Maybe bring someone who knows how to order food with you next time or actually understand what type of cuisine you should be ordering here before coming again. This place is quite authentic and their rice is absolutely QQ. Highly recommend pork chop salt and pepper dish, sesame cake, and can't go wrong with taiwanese style eggplant dish. Portions can be on the small side but price point matches well. Been going here for over 3 decades now and never disappoints.

We had the pork with hot garlic sauce, orange chicken, and hot & sour soup. Everything was excellent. The ambiance is like a hole-in the -wall, but please pay that no mind. This is one of the best Chinese restaurants in DFW. Service is attentive.

Great food with excellent service. Very authentic cuisine! Highly recommended! . Very happy we found this place!

Back Open. Packed with Chinese patrons still needs updating decor. Food is outstanding just don't look at the wallpaper and vents

This place serves authentic Chinese food. I ordered takeout, but when I walked in to pick it up, I noticed the entire restaurant was full of people of Asian descent. This was a really good sign. When I got home I couldn't believe how great everything looked and tasted. If you're looking for something authentic, look no further!

Furniture and decor is very dated and dilapidated looking. Wallpaper is literally falling off the wall and has rolls of packing tape holding it up. Bathroom is a mess with the Toilet seat so loose you can hardly sit on it and it will not stay up so it gets pee'd on, I feel bad for the lady customers. The food is ok. They do not offer small bowls of Soup only the big bowls for two or more persons, so if you are by yourself and want soup your forced to pay more.

Food was still good but I feel they are gouging customers more and more. Ordered 2 entrees and one fried rice. Well, she only gave us 2 small bowls of steam rice and charged if we wanted more. To pay for steam rice at a Chinese restaurant is a sacrilege for me. We stopped going. To think during covid time 2020-2021 We went there a lot , just us in the whole restaurant, supporting their business but the lady owner didn't appreciate us the loyal customers. She remembered our favorite dishes. She knows us. Also we always gave big tips when she's the owner. Normally we don't tip owners because they aren't paid $2.5 per hour like waitresses do. They are business owners. But we gave big tips to her. Too bad with the many other Asian choices in DFW, we just stopped coming here,

This is an authentic Taiwanese restaurant. Very easy to park, and everything is pretty good here. Highly recommended.

First time trying this place. I had the orange chicken with steamed rice Ordering fried rice as a side isn't an option. Also the meal is a little over priced. After reading other reviews I see that the price is not consistent. Meaning they'll charge what they feel it should be at the time regardless of what's on the menu. The food was ok but I wouldn't double back. The service is slow just ok. I dined in and there's only one server.

Without a doubt some of the worst Chinese food I have ever eaten. The shrimp in the egg rolls were like rubber. The fried rice was soggy. Tried to tell the waitress that the food was bad but in fairness to her there may have been a language barrier. $26 with a tip! This is the first time I have ever rated a restaurant. I won't be back.

Food is good but service is horrendous! They didn't give us chop sticks for a Togo order- we had a order for over $100 and that is the stupidest thing I ever heard that they can't give us chop sticks.

One of our routine restaurant. 烧酒鸡汤特别好喝，客家酸菜肉丝必点，Salt Pepper Fish Filet was soooo good. Highly Recommended.

Order lunch from here and when we did they say they no longer have a lunch menu even though one was posted. The food was mid and nothing special to write about. Overall not my favorite and wouldn't recommend.

I wanted to try this place out bc I came across it on Yelp. High reviews and mix looking pictures. The pic that grabbed my attention was the rice noodles and shrimp. So that's what I ordered. IT WAS SO BLAND! I had to drench it in soy sauce to get a good enough taste to eat it. It was a TON of food, nice amount of shrimp, so nice I potential but zero taste. I wouldn't go back to give anything else a chance.

What it lacks in ambiance it deliverers from the Chef AND the kitchen. Especial!! Been going here for ~25 years.

Sesame Pancake is a must have. Fried King Mushroom was soooo good. Also Kejia Cabbage was the best. Highly recommended.

Great whole in the wall Chinese restaurant. We came today 1/2/23 for some dim sum across the street but it was so busy and lined up so we just decided to go to First Emperor. We are not Chinese so we didn't know what kind of Chinese food this place has because on the menu it had some different Chinese dishes we didn't recognize. So we just went with what we already knew: sweet and sour soup, grilled bean curd tofu, and orange chicken, plus another dish we just picked because it has bamboo shoots in it. The food was very delicious and above our expectations. The lady who was serving us was nice even though at first she was kinda impatient with us when we were trying to order from her. Probably because it was just her and the cook working today. Would recommend going to this place if you try to go to the dim sum place across the street but it is too busy.

First Emperor is now my new favorite Chinese restaurant. It's family owned and the woman who runs the place is always very nice. Every suggestion she made tasted amazing. I ordered their shrimp rice noodles to-go, which had the perfect texture of noodles by the way. The shrimp weren't over cooked, and the veggies were just right. Not too mushy, a good enough bite to them. First emperor definitely has made a forever customer out of me.

Oh man, where do I start. We came here for a group dinner on a weekend. Only the wife is serving and let's just say they are extremely understaffed. Then comes the food, we are all Asians so we know our stuff. Let's just say the quality of the meats were questionable. Not fresh at all. The foods are somehow just warm when they show up at the table. Their famous sesame pancakes were a letdown, not toasted and crunchy outside. The only one we liked was the eggplants. Sorry won't come back.

This restaurant has been around Richardson for many years. I vaguely remembered that coming here when my brother's family still lived here. Come here to introduce our summer intern a taste of authentic Chinese food. We order Scallion Pancake, Three-Cup Chicken, Chinese Eggplant with Thai Basil and Seafood Tofu Pot. The food was delicious but a little heavy on the sauce, so I give it 4-star instead of 5. The pandemic has slowed down the business a lot. There was only two tables with patrons. Many takeout orders, I have similar issue trying to find a dim sum place for lunch at Plano. Need more fellow Yelpers to support local small restaurants.

Weird to give a hole in the wall spot 5 stars... I have been to every serious Chinatown in the country and am 1st gen Taiwanese. This mom and pop place is the epitome of Chinese take out greatness. It will forever be difficult to listen to Covid "we're short staffed" BS after watching the 2 owners, alone, cook and wait on guests. Take out and eat in. Only 2 people and they took care of EVERYTHING. Yes, the interior was tired and needs updating. But that is a little of the character and essence of a great Chinatown restaurant. I had the acclaimed sesame cake, green beans w pork, tofu w veggies, and a very large portion of perfectly steamed rice. It was packaged perfectly (see my pics) and more importantly, it was cooked perfectly and tasted incredible. I would suggest you order the sesame cake if you have several people, as it is huge. It doesn't get much better than this, truly. I loved every bite and can't wait to try other dishes. I am a huge fan.

When we visit Dallas, there is rarely a time when we don't order from here. Their beef and scallions has become a personal favorite.

I ordered the orange chicken. I live 10 mins away and by the time I got home, the chicken was SOOOO soggy :( the lady was super nice though!