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. read more

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

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 read more

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 read more

Cathay House - Chicken pad Thai - Chinese Near Me - Waco, Texas

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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. read more

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. read more

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! read more

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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. read more

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

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! read more

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. read more

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. read more

My parents come here every week and they finally convinced mention join them. I had not been in a few years and remember if not being so great but it surprised me this last time! The interior had a nice facelift and the food was much better. Service was great although it did take a long time to get our food. Probably because it was Friday night though. read more

Decent Chinese food. Friendly staff and fast service. Nothing too fancy but it's alright. Nothing really amused me but I would eat it again. No buffet due to covid but they have dine in and Togo. read more

Finally got to try a Chinese restaurant since our move to Waco (4 months!). Ordered from the "Traditional" menu. Did not want the "fast food" variants. Ordered: 1. Double sautéed pork (waaaaaay too salty) 2. Garlic Eggplant (good flavor, slightly sweet, but a bit salty) Solution: stir-fry cabbage and mix with left-overs to dilute the person who sat us down forgot about us, but the waitress assigned was friendly. read more

Closed by the health department, see below Chicken and beef were thrown away because they didn't have a date. An employee was seen touching 'wonton chips' with their bare hands and a bottle of Roundup weed killer was next to pots and pans. That's not all. Water was dripping from the ceiling of the walk-in cooler onto the chicken, which was eventually thrown out. A few days later, that water was still dripping and other violations hadn't corrected. The owner voluntarily closed on July 24 with plans to renovate and reopen on Aug. 14 after they pass a re-inspection of course. read more

Best taste and value as far as Chinese food goes in Waco. Soup, main dish, rice, and egg roll for around six bucks! Everything tasted great. Portions are large as well. Servers and host were extremely friendly. Soup came out fast and the food came out just as I was finishing my soup. Perfect timing. Great lunch spot! read more

Cathay House - Sesame shrimp with fried rice, egg roll, and egg drop soup. All for around six bucks. - Chinese Near Me - Waco, Texas

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. read more

Lunch special is on point, great portions and great service. Place is always clean and smell great. Love the Wonton soup and sweet and sour chicken. Try the Green beans with sechwon sauce amazing and taste great. I very well hidden gem in waco for asian food give it try if you can. read more

Recently tried Cathay House for the first time. Wow!! It is a little hole-in-the-wall-ish, which fueled my first impression, but wow we were blown away. The family that works there is incredibly kind and the service is amazing. There is a woman that works there that hustles so much- we have been very appreciative of her!! Anyways, food is great and we love it! read more

There is a chain restaurant that has a saying, "when you're here you're family". That is precisely the type of philosophy 'Cathay House' practices . Every time i walk through that door I'm greeted with a genuine welcome. I'm always seated and waited on promptly. On top of that their food is delicious. I highly recommend the Phõ or their shrimp dumplings and if you don't know what you want they will help you find something that will suit your palate. The staff is always genuinely friendly and always willing to help. Overall, I think this restaurant is a hidden gem in Waco. DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS RESTAURANT. You'll miss out. read more

I ordered on a whim through Uber Eats. I should've looked at these reviews before ordering. This is what the Pad Thai looks like. Is this dog food? I'm mortified. read more

Cathay House - 88. Chicken Pad Thai Noodle - Chinese Near Me - Waco, Texas

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! read more

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.

I used to absolutely LOVE this place, but since the change in ownership, it has not been the same. The egg drop soup is great, but the food isn't anything special. Unfortunately, it tastes like any chain Chinese restaurant. I ordered the Moo Goo Gai Pan, and it had little flavor, was very salty, and the sauce had a slimy consistency. The General Tso's sauce was very good, though! Overall, not too bad, but I probably won't return. read more

Cathay House - Chinese Near Me - Waco, Texas

I ordered orange chicken through Uber eats. It is way overpriced somewhere around 14$ for some chicken and plain rice. It has way too many soggy orange peels left in it, that should have been removed, but worst of all, it was super chewy and literally tasted like nothing. It was like when Scooby cut a piece of fog with a knife in Scooby doo. It didn't taste like orange chicken or even chicken for that matter. Very disappointing and I definitely won't be ordering again. -Extremely overpriced / not competitively priced -Soggy and chewy -Tasteless read more

Always love going to this place! The service is quick and the food is good!. I always get the General Tso's chicken, accompanied by wonton soup. The rice and egg roll seem prepackaged but this shouldn't take away from the entire meal. Affordable lunch prices and the portions are reasonably measured for what you pay. read more

Excellent food! We ordered pick up take out and it was delicious, hot and everything was fresh and properly cooked (not too much, not to little). Delicious, well priced, great quality and great portion sizes read more

Today, I came here and there was a dude who had a takeout order and he was being very... VERY disrespectful towards the workers and owner. I overheard the conversation and it made me feel uncomfortable because how can you get mad at paying 25 cents.. 25 CENTS more for house-made sauce? And, he said he was going to write bad things and tell all his friends and family not to come here... How can you be like this? Everywhere else charges for house-made things and it's perfectly fine. It's not sauce that comes in a package, they hand make it from scratch. I've been coming here for years and the food is delicious every single time. I love this place and the workers are always nice so to see that happen in front of me.... It's just so rude and the man was yelling at them... It was crazy, but nonetheless the scallion pancakes and triple delight Mongolian style was delicious. read more

This place is kinda tranquil and peaceful. I went here around 7pm Wednesday and the tables were empty. Felt like this was not a good restaurant. It turned out wonderful when I tried the Pho over here. Best noodle in Waco! read more

If you haven't tried the Cathay House you must. My friend and I had lunch there today. First time for her she said she will definitely bring her husband. The lunch menu has a large selection of choices. Our lunch was very good, but one word of advice be careful when ordering something extra spicy because WOW it is hot. read more

Just ordered Chinese food from Cathay House in Waco. We are at a hotel. When we got the food out of the bag there was no plastic ware or napkins. When I called and told them about it they told me they don't put it in the bag after 3:00...so here we are with food and no way to eat it unless we use our hands or go to a store and buy some. read more

I have been a customer of Cathay House for nearly 15 years. Yesterday I stopped for lunch and was appalled. Apparently the restaurant has changed hands (again). I have ordered the orange beef for years. A beautiful crispy bed of fried beef strips in sauce. This time it was 4 or 5 strips of beefs, tough, and soggy, drenched in a pale imitation of the previous rich sauce. The food didn't even cover the plate but rather sat there strewn as if plopped down by a disgruntled lunchroom worker at a less than stellar high school. I am so disheartened. What was once a wonderful experience had been turned into a second rate Chinese food place. read more

Made improvements to only have good workers getting to go orders, waitresses/waitors are great! Food is great. Super fresh lunch time, but even good dinner time. This is now my regular Chinese restaurant. read more

Not only was the food absolutely amazing, the service was incredible. Such a sweet family ran restaurant. Definitely will be back!

Man... Oh, man... I used to eat here after attending church when I was attending Baylor back in 1997! I was driving from Dallas to San Antonio and was craving good Chinese food. I asked google to recommend a good Chinese restaurant in Waco and Cathay house came up. I wasnt sure it was the same restaurant, but when I pulled up I was happy to see it was the same reataurant and I hoped it had the same taste. I was not disappointed! I ordered the sesame chicken and it had the same taste as how I remembered it! I was surprised and very happy! That taste took me back 20 years and I'm glad it did. Service was excellent and I will definitely be back. Its nice to know a good restaurant like this is still open and serving up great Chinese food. If your in Waco and want good tasting Chinese food, Cathay house is the place you want to eat! read more

I happened to be staying in Waco for the Gem and Mineral Show where I was a dealer. I live in Temple, Tx. but used to frequent Cathay House when I lived in Waco attending Baylor University back in the 70's. Always had good food, service, etc. So I am looking for food in the motel and I see that Grub hub delivers from Cathay House. Great. This was 7:30 on Friday 4-30-2021. I completed my Grub hub transaction and sent it off. In a couple of minutes I got a message saying the order was cancelled, refund to come, blah blah blah. I called CH hoping to get a reason why my order was rejected. I got someone on the line who was difficult to communicate with, but I determined that his reason was "my manager said to cancel it because we are too busy." I asked to speak to the manager and then I was hung up on. I called back and demanded to speak to the manager, and was met with "we too busy, manager can't talk now". Again he hung up. If it wasn't for the fact I was in someone elses vehicle, I would have driven over and personally chewed out the manager. That is a sucky attitude to have and very bad customer relations. I wouldn't spend a dime in that place again. read more

Awful; extremely rude service. My order took forever. The server never checked out table to refill our drinks. The food had so much oil, very little meat. It sucked! I asked for an extra glass of ice and they wanted to charge. I laughed. Unfortunately, in Waco great Chinese food is hard to come by and great service is like finding a unicorn here. But with bad food and bad service on top. Forget it. I will never go to this place again. read more

If you order from the special Szhehuan menu you will get authentic Chinese dishes that are amazing.

My experience wasn't good. I ordered Pepper steak and it had a sauce on it that was so sweet, that it felt like I was eating cotton candy! The description did NOT say anything about it being very sweet. I complained and they just said, "sorry." Also, my diet coke was tastless and they had no idea how to fix the problem! The dish was not what I expected and it didn't have any description of it being very sweet! read more