Well I used to go here in the glory days when they were on Buena vista road and chef Lee was actually back in the kitchen making the dishes and everything was the bomb. Great Chinese food experience. Many memories, Fast forward to today and I assume ownership has changed and I believe it is whats causing some quality issues food wise and building interior wise. Maybe they can hire Chef Lee back for a 6 month tenure lol. My first recommendation is to have the robots park themselves in the parking lot. Wish the best read more

Excellent portions and atmosphere. Helpful and friendly service also. Wanted to come here again but they were closed on a Monday.

We went on Mother's Day for lunch. We have very good service and food was very good. Place was clean, but the carpets are a little worn could not have imagined how anything could've been better. read more

I went for lunch at 2pm with a friend. We were both pleased with everything from the $12 full meal with soup, an entree, rice and hot tea to the service and atmosphere. The food was very good, and I will plan to have lunch there often. read more

Fun atmosphere, delicious food, great service!! A great place to stop on our way home to Florida. We loved all the ornate decorations. The only feedback I would say is they need to give the place a good deep cleaning read more

Restaurant needs a deep cleaning and new carpet. The carpet was dirty and had duct tape over some torn areas. Doesn't look like it has been cleaned in years. Food was fair. Might be better as a takeout location. read more

Chef Lee's Peking Restaurant - Carpet next to our booth - Chinese Near Me - Columbus, Georgia

Chef Lee's has been our go to Chinese restaurant for many years. Food is always top quality and delicious. The restaurant itself is beautiful, if a little worn. The robots are weird but whatever. I love this place! read more

Entire family met for a recent Holiday that I usually slave over the stove. Everyone enjoyed their meals. We had time to share and food was hot & delicious. Waitresses attentive, responsive. Chef Lee's was one of the first restraunts we visited 33 years ago moving to Columbus. Both quality & quantiity consistently great! read more

This was supposed to be a chicken plate. What I got was a plate of onions and a few pieces of chicken and a bowl of cold rice. 30 bucks and I'm leaving hungry. I did tell waitress that it was nasty. Her response... I'm sorry. I'm freaking sorry that I came here read more

Chef Lee's Peking Restaurant - It was supposed to be a chicken plate.... 30 bucks for a plate of onions and a bowl of cold rice. Sweet tea was very good though.. - Chinese Near Me - Columbus, Georgia

Wow! What has happened to Chef Lee's? The place has deteriorated dramatically! The building needs to be totally renovated! The bathrooms were dirty with the floor being nasty and sticky. My food was ok but not as good as it used to be. Service was great. Other than looking like a dump, it was ok. read more

Usually I get hot & sour soup, crab Rangoon and two egg rolls. I have been eating at Chef Lee's since the 1970. The last couple of times I've ordered these they have not been as good since Chef Lee's changed ownership. read more

The place is not what it used to be at all. The bathrooms have a smell to them. The restaurant's interior needs to be professionally cleaned. The tall robots are worthless. My first visit to this restaurant was in 2004. Today was my last visit. The building hasn't been updated since. The tea tasted like soap. The food was not good. I ordered sweet and sour chicken. The chicken tasted like it had been fried in old grease or either in fish grease. My son ordered orange chicken and he said it tasted like they squeezed a large orange in the sauce. He couldn't eat it. My husband's general Tso's was not good. He actually said he didn't think you could mess it up, but it sure was. We will not be going back. I hate it too because this was my favorite Chinese place in town! Sizzling rice soup! I don't want to risk anything because it was very dark and dingy. read more

Husband came home with takeout from Chef Lee's. Pleasantly surprised with their food! The hot & sour soup was so different but in a good way. Wish the places where I live made theirs this way. We actually have to ask them to make it both 'hot' & 'sour' but not here. We shared that and also the Mongolian Beef. The meat was tender and the sauce on it was sweet & delicious. Plenty of green onion pieces in it which I really enjoyed. The meat pieces were also nice sizes not think slices. The rice was a nice white rice with some veggies inside. Even those that don't like veggies would eat it. My husband said that the appearance of the place itself was nice but as we did take out, we couldn't enjoy the ambiance. Would definitely recommend and go to when in town. read more

They have the best Chinese food in town! When I lived in Atlanta and we were coming to Columbus. We would bring a cooler with us so we can take dinners back with us and put some in our freezer to carry us over til our next visit. They are family friendly. They have Koi fish in a pond upon approaching the big beautiful entrance, where just in the door they sell fish food in a bubble gum type machine for a quarter for kids or families can get. Enjoy watching the beautifully multi-colored Koi hustle for the small pieces of food as children and adults like me oh and aww at the beauty of the Koi to the songs of the different size frogs. They have a beautiful banquet room as well as the beautiful Chinese artwork and design make it a perfect place for a romantic date night. The staff and people that work there are so sweet and accommodating. You know you're in a classy restaurant. They also sell healthy Chinese teas and "home" remedies to make what ail's you pop go away. They have an excellent vegetarian & pescatarian menu as well as authentic dishes. As you leave just as they greeted you coming in someone is usual there to say thank you as you leave. read more

Do not waste your money!! I know places change with time, but I never expected it to be this bad not only was the service terrible and the fact that they didn't realize that we did not even eat the food. I was just sad I didn't even want to take it home. read more

Chef Lee's Peking Restaurant - General chicken - Chinese Near Me - Columbus, Georgia

So unfortunate how terrible this place has become. Chef Lee's legacy is being destroyed. #1 it is filthy inside. #2 the food has become awful in both looks and taste. #3 when approaching the restaurant, it looks like an abandoned building due to the dreadfully unkempt entrance landscaping -- tall grass, weeds, etc. Add to that the nearly empty parking lot one would think this place was permanently closed. #4 lose the dumb robot waiters. I'm not going back unless I hear of a dramatic turnaround on cleanliness and quality of food. read more

I can't believe how far this place has fallen since new owners took over. Last night (Christmas night) we ordered online for take out at 4:30 in the afternoon. We were told it would be ready at 6:00. I went in the restaurant at about 6:10 and was told the food wasn't ready. I waited til almost 7:00 and was then told our order wasn't in the system. I went out and got my phone and showed them my confirmation number and then the food was suddenly ready! When we got our food home, the servings were small,cold and the flavor of the sauces had changed. plus we had a container of some liquid we never could figure out. I'm sure this will be the last time we eat at Chef Lees. It's a shame that the service and food quality has gotten so bad. I guess the new owners just don't care as much as Chef Lee did! read more

The restaurant was beautiful with distinctly 90's LA Chinese Takeout vibes. There are also a few fantastic water features. However, that is where the compliments end. For our meal we ate Shrimp toast, crab Rangoon, chicken egg foo young, Kang pao shrimp, and Mongolian beef. I have lived in Washington state for the last six years which is densely populated with Koreans, Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese people. I also love Chinese takeout food, because who doesn't! The shrimp toast had a great amount of shrimp but was served messy, and without any flavor. It also appeared to have been fried twice. The color was dark brown and was saturated in oil as if it was previously cooked and then thrown back in the fryer to re heat it. We then tried the crab rangoon. The inside was full of cream cheese of subpar quality at best with imitation crab sprinkled in as an after thought. There was no real crab in sight. The fried wanton wrapper was also soft and floppy. Typically with both of these appetizers you would serve a sauce, non was provided. We requested sweet and sour which was served cold right out of the fridge. For our entrees we started with the Mongolian beef which was recommended to us by the chef. It was by far the most edible thing on the menu, while still remaining tasteless. The beef was tender enough. However, the sauce was not thick enough to stay on top of the fried rice noodles. It also only provided a sweet flavor. There was non of the well developed flavors that come from making homemade Chinese food, this leaves me feeling like the sauce was out of a can. As we progress to the second entrée we were even more disappointed. The Kung Pau chicken, while served with red chilies was absolutely tasteless and had no spiciness at all. It could have been watered down garlic shrimp. We where also never asked what spicy level we would like. Anyone who has ever had Chinese takeout would know this is standard procedure. The quality of the shrimp where ok, the veggies where unevenly cooked, and there were some veggies that where to ambiguous in both texture and shape to even tell what they where. The last entree we selected was egg foo young. This is one of our all time favorite items to eat from Chinese takeout restaurants. Typically it is a well cooked egg patty, browned to perfection containing a protein and veggies. It is then served with a side of well seasoned brown gravy. What we got was not that. The plate was smothered in light brown paste with sloppy mystery chunks. After digging through the paste, which still contained visible bites of flour/starch, we got to a severely undercooked egg filled with what felt like last weeks veggies. While we paid for our entire meal, and left a descent tip. The service was spotty and inconsistent at best. The only reason for leaving a 20% tip is to ensure the staff still received at least a living wage for working our table. At the end of the meal we only had a few bites of each meal and ate the majority of our Mongolian beef because we where hungry. While there are not many options in Columbus for Chinese takeout I certainly wouldn't recommend this one. It is not food the staff would even serve to their own families I am sure. read more

This past year I have ordered eggs rolls several times . And each after I eat at them I get violently sick. They taste fine but, I had never gotten sick till these past few years. ‍ read more

Sorry for the length of this review. They say curiosity killed the cat. I have been following the back and forth about Chef Lee's and decided I had to check it out for myself, figuring how bad can it be? The answer, to be brief, is not that bad. I have had a test for Chinese restaurants which has held tried and true for more decades than a gentleman will admit in polite company. (I consider myself a Chinese food snob, having grown up in New Jersey and often cut school to ride the bus into Manhattan to eat lunch in Chinatown.) I have never had a bad meal in a restaurant where the broth in the wonton soup is really good. If they pay attention to something so mundane it is a good sign. (The converse is not always true, because I have had good meals in restaurants with mediocre broth, but that is for another review.) I confess I came prepared to be disappointed, so I was very pleasantly surprised when the wonton soup was the best I had tasted in quite some time. The broth was flavorful and complex, the wontons, both the wrapper and the filling, were fresh and tasty, and even the vegetables were crispy and fresh. Plus, while I was eating my soup, the bartender was polishing wine glasses for another table and eyeballed it like five times before he was content. Nice attention to detail. I ordered the General Tso's Chicken because it is probably the most ubiquitous dish on American Chinese menus so I figured it was a safe bet. (Yes, there really was a General Tso. There is both a book and a documentary film about this dish. For reals.) But as you might be able to see in the photo, what came was some very dried out chicken with the sauce just poured on top, missing about of the dish, rather than being cooked in the sauce after frying. The sauce was so sweet it could have been a dessert topping. No wanting to base my decision on just one dish, I ordered something from the far opposite of the spectrum for take out, "Shredded Beef with Dry Sauce" and the hot and sour soup. (See photo and desciption.). This was quite tasty and I would order it again! However, they forgot my soup. (Since I live in Lumpkin I did not go back for it.) I am eating the leftovers for breakfast. The staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The server I had noticed that she brought me the wrong rice before I did. And the other diners seemed to like their food. They also had some appetizers I am curious to try like various pickled vegetables which I haven't seen outside of NY or SF. If I had to sum it up I would have to say I am just bewildered. It feels like the restaurant is like a toddler learning how to walk. I would give them a solid A for effort, but the food was too mixed to evaluate. But the portico!!! Who could resist such chintz? read more

See all

First time in a while and I was sad because this beautiful restaurant was nearly empty. The service was wonderful and the food was delicious. Portions were huge. read more

Sorry, once great is now less than average and overpriced. Gave em 2* because the egg rolls were good. I really hate it for the new owners. I'll give them another try but not anytime soon. Sad. It was once a go to place for everyone. read more

Big ole yikes. We used to come here pretty often several years ago and decided to eat here again randomly. Wild disappointment. I can't even put into words the heartbreak that eating here brought me and 4 others. None of the food was good in any way, shape, or form. We all ordered different items as well. Our waiter brought out 2 meals and then went on vacation for like 30 minutes before bringing out the rest of the meals. I might have cancer from the unnaturally bright red sweet and sour chicken that I forced myself to eat. The only reason I gave 1 star was because despite the fact that everything else was terrible, it was still a nice, clean restaurant. read more

Ummmm where to even start . I ordered the general chicken lunch special. The fried rice isn't fried at all, it's steam rice with 3 peas in it. I have never seen general chicken this color and the sauce was just completely off. I tried to eat the rice but even for steamed rice, it just wasn't good at all. So upset that I wasted money here. Ended up throwing the plate out just as pictured. read more

Not what it used to be. We moved from Columbus many years ago and have bragged on how GREAT Chef Lee's was at that time. We now live in Peachtree City and during a recent visit to Columbus we could not wait to visit what was once our favorite restaurant. We were VERY disappointed. A robot (yes a real robot) sat us, walking slower than a turtle, we could not understand anything it said and it sat us at the wrong table. The food was very bland, had no flavor and was NOT fresh. The meat and rice tasted like it was made yesterday and heated up. The wontons were over cooked. The server never asked us for drinks and only brought us water. And we were only offered a fork and one napkin. No salt, no condiments. We had to ask for everything. We drove home, all the way to south Atlanta, and we can still taste the food. Very disappointed and I can no longer recommend this restaurant. We only have the memories of what it once was. read more

Really sketchy tasting food. Would never eat here again. Had to ask for new dishes, and even those were disgusting. The orange chicken tasted like orange syrup. All of their chicken dishes are cooked the exact same way with different syrups. The rice taste old, the egg soup was nasty!! read more

Chef Lee's Peking Restaurant - Sesame chicken and Mongolian Chicken - Chinese Near Me - Columbus, Georgia

Love the vibe here w/ koi pond, dragon statues, & fountain windows. Friendly staff, always open, can accommodate large groups. Always put cute umbrellas, etc. in my littler guy's drink. I got General Tsu's, wife got Sweet n Sour, & our son got "Special Egg Roll" (2 HUGE egg rolls that fill a platter - savory & tasty). Love the Hot & Sour soup! read more

See all

This place is disgusting now. Food borders on food poisoning. Service is bad. They try to go with gimmicks like robots for seating you to cover up their inexperienced wait staff who screwed up orders and bills. So sad that such a great restaurant changed ownership and let it go downhill fast in the last few Months. So sad. Will never go there again. Had indigestion from eating there for two days afterward. Health department should close the place. read more

I moved here recently from LA, where amazing Chinese restaurants are endless. Chef Lee's really shocked me - I can't believe there is such good Chinese food in Columbus. It seems like there is something for every palate here. Fans of Americanized Chinese food will be happy with standard options like Orange Chicken, Fried Rice, Egg Rolls, etc. If you're like me and want really that authentic Chinese taste, you can find that here too. It's just a matter of ordering the right thing. I brought my Beijing-born mom here and we both loved the Jajangmyeon (off-the-menu item/server's recommendation), Mushroom + Snow Pea + Water Chestnut lunch special, Hot and Sour Soup, and the Eggplant in Garlic Sauce. The servers are also very nice and the ambiance is very beautiful and clean. I'll definitely be here often. read more

Not nearly as good as before new owner! Egg roll tasted like it was cooked yesterday. House chicken was tough and heavily breaded. What a shame! This use to be a real "go-to" for consistently good food! Best thing was the fortune cookie. read more

Our waitress, Lin, was great as always. However the quality of the food has really really went down. Mongolian beef was basically jerky and the rice was mush. It's like both dishes were cooked way in advance and reheated. It's been like this the last few times we have came, I suspect due to the new owners. Won't be back. read more

Don't like it. The food quality was really poor made. I am not recommending this place. Sorry but is my opinion. The results of the meal was not what I had in the past in other Chinese restaurants. read more

We have been eating at to Chef Lee's for 30 years.. food was always fresh and delicious. With new owners, everything has changed and the Chef Lee's we once enjoyed is no more. Quality of food and service have both declined. Frozen egg rolls have replaced what was once freshly made. We have stopped eating there due to the changes. It is now a cheap version of the resturant that Chef Lee spent years to build up.. very disappointing. read more

Love Love this place! Great place for business lunches! The food is always delicious and hot! Love to swing by on my way home from work and grab a large egg drop soup and a egg roll! read more

Fantastic building that needs a solid cleaning. They brought me a plate of white meat deep fried chicken and a bowl of sauce and called it *sesame chicken* The same for my nephew and called it *orange chicken* I complained to the sweet waitress that neither of these dishes were what they claimed to be. What we got were chicken fingers with a sauce - it was ridiculous. Then the *owner* spoke ad nauseam that this was how customers liked it. But I was a customer and when I pull into a palatial Chinese restaurant I want Chinese food. That concept was lost on her. So sad that this once iconic restaurant is being mismanaged. read more

The food is not as good since Chef Lee retired. The food definitely tastes SO different. The tomato beef was awful and the house chicken tasted bad. I hate they don't have a good chef because we've eaten here since it was on Buena Vista Road. read more

Decidedly nothing like Chinese dinner in The Christmas Story. Refused to prepare a drink (Lemon Drop) for no apparent reason. Food delivered in waves, with long waits between the meals. Used to be a favorite, but not so much. read more

The food , service prices and cleanliness were excellent ! I would absolutely recommend this spot . The seafood and noodles were fresh and seasoned perfectly . read more

Not the best and not what I was used to at all. Ask ahead of time what their dish entails, I ordered a classic (sweet and sour chicken) and it came out very different than I was used to. read more

Chef Lee's is one my favorite places to get Chinese food in Columbus. I'm a little surprised by the large amount of negative reviews. The service is fine. You are usually greeted and seated immediately upon entry. They're not the most enthusiastic bunch, but they get the job done, which is all I really need. The food comes out within 10 mins of ordering, and your drinks are filled frequently throughout your stay. They offer to pack you more rice to go at the end of your meal. I do prefer coming during lunch over dinner since the prices then are much more budget friendly with great portions. You can't go wrong with any of the seafood dishes. Pictured below is the Seafood Delight, which while it is great, I do think is a little more pricey than it's worth. The Mongolian beef is excellent. The interior of the restaurant is nice and clean. Outside in the pond are a large amount of koi fish. You can get food at the entrance to feed them if you have spare change. Parking is never an issue since there are ample spots. Overall, I highly recommend this place. read more

Chef Lee's Peking Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Columbus, Georgia

See all