Staff on the phone is extremely impatient about making each and every dish non-spicy. This is simply unprofessional.

After placing an order for chicken lo me in with only carrots and repeating this 3 to 5 times to the lady on the phone and her repeating it back to me 3 times and after 45 minutes later I get the lo me in and you guessed it it had more then just carrots. (Its for my 5 year old) I called and spoke to the manager she asked for pictures of the dish I took two pics in less then 5 minutes and sent them to her. She calls and apologises and offers to send me a new lo me in but could not assure tome of delivery. At iron finally the man came he would not give me the new lo me in unless I gave him the old one. No one told me to keep it? No one told me to exchange it. Needless to say the experience with this restaurant left a lot of holes in their service not to mention the portions are extremely small and they do not fill the container. I ordered 3 dishes for 35 bucks. The portions not worth it. The combination fried rice not a original or good tasting lacking in fresh ingredients all around. Try hunan panda on Main street 703.273.6310 ...lesson learned stick with what you know and stick to the best. Avoid China star run from it read more

Chef Yan - Chinese Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

DO NOT ORDER FROM HERE. If I could give it less than one star I would. Service is terrible, delivery comes way later than expected, the driver is rude and refuses to bring the food to the door. Management does nothing to help you or accommodate and is rude. Food arrives cold and inedible. I don't even know how this place is still in business. I have complained to eat24 about it and intend to continue until they're removed. The worst. read more

Authentic Chinese Food!!! Lots of flavor, heat (when you ask for it) and satisfaction. The twice cooked pork, the Szechuan chili chicken, the home style tofu are always good every time. These guys should have a waaaay better rating than the three stars. Across the board from Indian, Mediterranean SouthAmerican, Vietnamese to Korean food in the area that we've tried, China Star is the only place that does not ever disappoint. The flavors are on point, the price is right, the quality and quantity are without complaint. When you're all hungry and looking for something tasty and satisfying, these guys have got it all. read more

I don't know what happened to this place. I've gotten good food here a couple of times. I ordered a General Tsos lunch special 2/7/17 and it was straight garbage. The rice had a scent like it had been cooked and stored previously and the breading and sauce on the chicken was terrible. I'm done with them. read more

Typical Chinese food place. Staff is nice and food is prepared fast. I love their Beef Broccoli. Couple times had a minor issue with the delivery order. read more

Being new to the area, I have yet to find a decent dry cleaner or chinese restaurant. I feel that these are normal staples after a good coffee shop (yes im a Starbucker, and the Old Town Ffx Sbux is wonderfull). In a quest for decent chinese and several failed (and even expensive) attempts, this place has been the best thus far. I am not super critical, but I will eat here again. Previous comments are correct, it is decent (especially in this area!) The 1.25 spring role is the smallest I have ever seen - even smaller than a role of pennies! Getting the fabulously non-chinese generals chicken with fried rice, my favorite places in Franklin County Maine do a better job, but for Fairfax County Virginia, this is good thus far. read more

Scratch off another restaurant from my bookmark list. If Tyler Cowen says it's one of his favorite restaurants in Fairfax, I gotta try it. If you haven't checked out Tyler Cowen's ethnic dining guide, google it. We ordered up the sliced beef and tripe appetizer, scallion fried fish, ma po tofu, fried green beans, and snow pea leaves. Mmm...tripe. The dish was some slices of beef and cow stomach in chili oil. Very tasty. Also, we got a small plate of soybeans. They helped take the edge off the spicier dishes. The scallion fried fish was sections of breaded fish with scallions, ginger and hot peppers. I liked the dish even though I'm not a huge fan of cumin. The fish had a good spice level. The ma po tofu was a little salty for my taste and was the least popular dish of the dishes ordered. The only way you can eat it is with a lot of rice. I gotta say that I liked it better at Hong Kong Palace. The fried green beans were really good. The dish is comparable to the four season string beans at Peking Gourmet Inn only spicier and less greasy. The flavors are more intense with the garlic and chilis. The snow pea leaves were pretty standard but did help cut the spice level of the other dishes. Also, you need something to help push the meat dishes through the ol' colon. And I'm ashamed to admit it, but my brother felt the need to order the crab rangoon off the "Americanized" menu. I'm pretty sure the waitress could sense my shame. The crab rangoon were meh. The service was pretty good. Water was refilled and food came out very quickly. I looked at the first page of the menu and saw nothing but Chinese characters. It wasn't until the second page of the Szechuan menu where I saw English translations that I became relieved. I didn't even bother looking at the Americanized side...too enthralled with such items as tripe and pig knuckles. It's kind of funny to look at some of the negative reviews and see talk of sweet and sour chicken, broccoli with garlic sauce, fried rice, and lo mein? Really? I die a little on the inside every time I see things like this. read more

Knew about china star for a couple of years. Decided to try it out the other day. Looked at the menu and noticed they had some food that not every Chinese restaurant offers. Ordered delivery at like 830pm...came almost an hour and half later when I live 3.5miles away. Food was mad salty, you know the MsG is real with this place. Will not order again. Wife and I had stomach problems for about a day lol. No good. read more

EASILY the best Chinese food in the DC area. I don't know, personally I think most Chinese food tastes the same from restaurant to restaurant. Some are slightly better than others, but for the most part, it's the same. China Star does not fit this bill. They have 2 separate menus. One is the typical "Americanized" menu that you will probably be pretty familiar with, having seen an almost identical menu at every other Chinese restaurant you've been to. The other, and FAR superior menu is their "Authentic Szechuan Style" menu. Please don't be scared off by this. Many of the menu items will seem unappealing with names such as "Beef tripe with pig's blood" and dishes involving chicken feet. This may not be your cup of tea if you aren't used to it, but you can DEFINITELY find things that you will keep coming back for more. Keep in mind that you probably won't like the food if you can't stand spiciness. For example, something as basic as Kung Pao chicken, ordered off their Szechuan menu is MUCH better than off their Americanized counterpart. Other favorites of mine from this restaurant include General Kwan's Spicy Beef, Szechuan Chili Fish, Dried Fried Green Beans and Ma Po's Tofu. Oh, and they also serve delicious soups that aren't commonly served in most Chinese restaurants. Crab-meat & Asparagus soup as well as Beef soup with turnips are amazingly delicious...GUARANTEED! Again, all these are very spicy (except for the soups) but if you can handle that, you will taste some amazing spices/dishes that you have never had and won't be able to forget. I live in DC and routinely make it out to the VA suburbs (along with many friends who feel it's worth it) to eat at this far superior Chinese cuisine. Huzzah! read more

If interested in authentic Szechuan, this is the place in Fairfax. It's all about the food, zero ambience to be had -- but the food is worth it. Expect to hear more Chinese than English spoken by the patrons. Personally like the Hot and Spicy Shrimp and Szechuan chicken. Haven't tried the Tripe or Pig's Feet off of the "home style" menu, but the Chili Chicken will destroy your tastebuds irrevocably. read more

Pretty typical takeout Chinese place. Exactly what you would expect. I got the beef and broccoli lunch special and it tasted how I would have guess it would have tasted. I do like how they have special take out trays where they separate the meat from the rice so the rice doesn't end up absorbing all the sauce, something I dislike about Chinese takeout. Their lunch specials are also on the slightly more expensive end comapred to other lunch specials I've seen. I do recommend this place for Chinese takeout cravings and will probably be coming back to try other things on the menu. read more

Another fantastic meal at China Star. There's nothing fancy about this place, there are no pictures of celebrities and past Presidents on the walls, no big banquet halls, no fancy 20-page menus, but the food hits the spot every time and for a short amount of time makes you feel like you're back in China. The lamb in sizzling pot (gan guo yang rou) is exactly what you would get in a restaurant in China. The dish that it was served in didn't look big but there was a ton of lamb in there, each piece was melt-in-your-mouth tender, spiced flavorfully with chili and cumin powder and cooked with scallion and onions. The pork in the pickled veggies with pork in hot pot (ya cai kou rou bao) wasn't sliced as thinly as it should be, but the flavor of the dish was right on that I didn't mind that one tiny misstep. The fatty part of the pork was steamed long enough that it didn't taste fatty at all, the pickled veggies absorbed all the flavor from the pork fat and IMO is great to have with just plain white rice. A Chinese meal isn't complete without veggies, and the pea shoots stir-fried with garlic completed our meal nicely. They were well cooked, still bright green and very garlicky. After this visit, I think it is safe to say that China Star will be my go-to restaurant when I'm feeling home sick. read more

Delicious food, very friendly staff, large portions....best authentic Chinese food around! You won't be disappointed!

This place is ok, usually the authentic dishes are ok. They gave me burned moo shu once when I had carry out. We live close by and will visits for a quick meal. If I have more time I'll drive a bit farther for better, but China Star is good in a pinch. read more

We ordered for carry-out. We read many good reviews about this restaurant, particularly for its specialty dishes. Our order were not specialty dishes but were typical ones, including fried rice, beef brocoli, stir fried eggplant, etc. It was well below our expectation in quality. Fried rice was greasy and undercooked. Everything was extra greasy. Probably the most edible food we ordered were fried chicken wings. Maybe the main cook was off that night. That's the only explanation I can give for such poor quality of our dishes. read more

We've ordered from this place twice now. The first time was an accident when we called our usual/favorite Chinese Take out (Yen Chen) and were forwarded to China Star. I guess they bought the number. They should have bought their recipes. The first time we ordered from them it was ok... not great but ok. We ordered our usual fried rice and beef and broccoli and two egg rolls. Nothing fancy to screw up but it just wasn't the same. The fried rice was overly greasy and the beef and broccoli had more broccoli than beef. Last night after working late and having little time to make dinner for ourselves we decided to take another swing at China Star. I ordered online and that went smoothly. The General Tso's Chicken was unlike anything I've ever had before, not in a good way. Rather it tasted in texture more close of an orange chicken recipe gone wrong, without any real heat or spice associated with General Tso. Just gooey sauce. The other dishes were ok. But messing up on the main dish like that just got China Star removed from our list of local delivery places. I will say that their pan fried dumplings were good. The last thing that got me that the restaurant wrote in their own tip... They wrote in 4.85 for their tip. I was going to give the driver a 5. I'm not sure if this is a new custom with delivery places. But it rubbed the the wrong way. (I have since looked at the email receipt and it does specify the tip at the time of order... but that still doesn't sit right with me.) I don't think we will be ordering from them in the future. read more

China Star, like many Chinese restaurants, has two menus - the "American" one and a more authentic Szechuan one. Can't comment too much on the former, although it's pretty generic and generally should be avoided if you are looking for an interesting meal. On the other hand, the Szechuan menu is terrific - fresh, not overly greasy, and unusual for north Americans more acquainted with the standard fare. We love the chicken with leeks (even my four year-old loves it) as well as the spicy eggplant dishes. Nice staff too, although the ambiance is not particularly distinctive. I would also caution against ordering delivery - VERY slow, and not very responsive. On the whole, though, one of our go-to local places. read more

My quest to find decent Chinese food in the D.C. area continues to fail; while the Sichuan menu looked impressive, the food was only so-so (nothing comparable to Sichuan Gourmet in Billerica, MA). Went here because of the New Yorker article about the wandering Sichuanese chef that claimed he once worked here. The chicken chili was mostly dried chilies, and the chicken in said chicken chili was unappetizingly fried. The shredded pork with bamboo shoots was good, and the sliced beef appetizer was tolerable, but I've had better. I was unimpressed by the service, but I can deal with bad service if the food was spectacular...seriously, what is wrong with D.C.? I may just have to stick with Thai while I'm here. read more

Great place for finding both the usual Chinese-American menu items and the Chinese menu items. I wish more Chinese restaurants around here were this good!! Judging by the heavy traffic, you'll see that this place is liked by both asians and non-asians. Excellent place for groups so you can try numerous entrees. The Schechuan chili chicken is great. I also like the braised fish (numbing btw). read more

I like their food and do a carry out once in while. But that hostess is rude as hell. All i want to do is to get some food and out of there. Last time, i called for delivery. She was very upset that i didnt have their new menu which there s been changes on their menu. Well, i can always go to different place for better service. read more

Bad eating experience.. The crab and cheese wontons were chewy without a good flavor. The general tso's chicken was lacking and especially the fried rice. I would not come here again because I love good rice with veggies. read more

OK, next update: Shredded pork w/Dried Tofu, a favorite of both mine and my daughter. As I mentioned the other day, things are definitely different at China Start. Unquestionably the cooking has changed: 1. Some things have been added, something else (which I can't put my finger on) is definitely missing. 2. The current chef/cooks are adding both stem cilantro and chinese celery to the Shredded Pork with Dried Tofu. The prior chef didn't. I may be inaccurate but to me this lends a more "dim sum type" flavor to the dish than before. 3. There seems to be a lot more tofu than pork than previously. 4. The type of tofu used seems different, too. The tofu had "dark edges", as if the outer part of the block of tofu had been stored in tea leaves or something. Previously the tofu used was all white in color. 5. I didn't taste quite as much "sesame oil" as I used to in this dish. In fact, there may not have been any at all. Previously the sesame taste was quite noticeable. I must say I enjoyed it. But it was definitely differently prepared and differently flavored than I remember. Some flavoring that used to be used...I can't figure out what...clearly wasn't there anymore. New flavors were added, however. Do I miss the old version? Yes. Do I like the new version? Yes. Would I order it again? Yes. I just wish they had both versions. read more

This is my go to place when I'm wanting some Chinese food! It's close by and the food is pretty good. I usually order to deliver, even on a busy night my food will come within 30mins or less still hot. Everything I've had has been great and I've been going here for at least 5 years or longer. Never had anything bad. The service in the restaurant is pleasant. read more

Terrible first experience. Really lacking in customer service. I always order combination fried rice, no chicken at chinese restaurants and never have any problems. Here, however, they not only take my order and confirm the lack of chicken, they have the guts to charge me the full, more expensive, fried SHRIMP price. First of all, fried rice with chicken and shrimp IS NOT combination fried rice. Second of all, how dare you charge me for something I DID NOT ORDER? Even if I had, vegetables are burnt, puddle of grease at the bottom of the container, and some mysterious brownish/black substance among the rice. Staying far, far away from this place. You guys could learn a thing or two from Chef Huang down in Mt. Vernon. Debating whether or not to call in for a refund.. read more

The best Chinese restaurant in this area. The menu's got a long list of dishes to keep you from getting bored. The Sichuan dishes are very tasty, they are spicy and well-seasoned. The Mapo Tofu was awesome with just the exact amount of peppers to make it authentic and unforgettable. read more

In my search for the perfect Egg Roll I stopped here after my eye appointment next door. I ordered a Spring Roll & Egg Roll, and a cup of water. They arrived quickly, clearly fresh from the frier. The Spring roll had nice crispy thin skin, the Egg roll had crunchy thicker chewy skin. Both were well cooked. They were very good, but not outstanding, not the very best. I will go back when I am in the area I try some of their other dishes. read more

I ordered the Braised Fish(Flounder) with vegetables for takeout off the authentic menu as it was mentioned elsewhere that the "new" chefs prepared it well . Not only was it terrific, but there was enough for 3 meals. So don't bother with the American style Chinese even with the coupons(not valid off authentic menu). Its worth the difference. BTW, you can order numbing, and not super spicy. read more

I don't go to China Star for the usual suspects off the Americanized menu. No, I was tipped off to this restaurant by my Chinese friends who drive from Reston whenever they can to eat China Star's authentic Szechuan food. The service used to be brusque and hurried, but with new management, we have enjoyed our past few meals in the restaurant. I would say the Szechuan food we have tried can be hit or miss, but no matter what, know that it will likely be very spicy. Hello, capsicum - it will shock your taste buds. Our favorites are Shredded Pork with Dried Tofu (not spicy), Lamb or Beef in Sizzling Pot, Fried Fish with Scallion, Szechuan Chili Chicken, Mapo Tofu and Braised Fish or Beef. This place is the real deal for Szechuan food lovers. read more

I had high hopes after reading some of the reviews, but unfortunately cannot say I'd eagerly re-order from here. My take-out kung pao chicken had zero peanuts and was saucy to the extent of soup. The vegetables were lazily diced and overall the dish lacked flavor. The fried rice would have been good had it included a single onion, carrot, pea or other vegetable item; sadly it was just rice. Lastly, the spring roll was very doughy with little to no filling. If I do give this place another chance I will try other menu items. read more

It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good - except for the beer. Dumplings were heavy, garlic eggplant had no flavor, sesame shrimp were meh. Service incompetent. Won't be back. read more

Yummy spicy authentic chinese from a repeated (happy) customer!

I love Chinese food, and always want to try out authentic places. I also love spicy, so this place was perfect for that. We had some kind of beef (we had a Chinese person ordering, so I don't know the names of everything), Ma Po tofu, some kind of fried fish with a MILLION peppers, kung pao, and green beans. My favorites by far were the green beans (Yum!), and the fish (and i don't even really like fish). True to form, the cuts of meat were a little questionable for my taste, but I just pick around and mix the sauce and rice. The tofu had an amazing flavor, but I wish it was firm tofu instead of the jiggly silky tofu. I'd say this is definitely a cut above your average strip mall Chinese place and worth seeking out if you like Szechuan. All in all, I'd go back! read more

We follow the rule a lot of old school Chinese diners do, which is we'll complain and put up with awful service, but if the food is good we'll always be back! So it's been almost half a year because we decided to take a break from our last experience(food was great but one dish we ordered never came and one hostess gave us an attitude so...). Anyways fast forward to today: we heard the chef had changed but we were hungry so we came. We saw it was a bit busy and one familiar face so we hoped this was a good sign. The service was average, but the chef has definitely changed. We got the goto dish lamb hotpot (gang guo yang ro) but there was no numbing, no zest, no spice, no sizzle! The house tofu was average. The Dan Dan noodle which was new was average, there was a little mala (numb spice) but it wasn't "Shang" or fragrant. It is sad to say. Also the white rice we got was oily. It didn't add to the taste and there might have been some sticky rice in there but we didn't like how it was oily. We asked for some regular steamed rice but they said they didn't have any other kind. A real authentic Szechuan restaurant is no longer here in fairfax, my wife and I are very disappointed read more

Chef Yan - Hot pot lamb. Not as good as before - Chinese Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

If you like spicy Chinese food that's full of sodium then this is the place for you.

Edit: I've been back a couple times since I wrote this review, both for the real Chinese and for the lunch take-out options. For the real stuff, if you don't like spicy stuff I'd recommend the Lion's Head -- it's basically a giant meatball that's very tasty and less spicy than some other options. The lunch take-out stuff I'd say is better than average and comes at a good price. Everything is also well packed, so there's no mess. I'd almost give the lunch menu it's own review where it'd be about a 3-3.5. read more

Only Chinese food I'll eat in Fairfax. They have really good Chicken and Brocolli and always give us extra rice without charge! Also, service is very quick whether you dine in or take out! read more

What happened? This place used to be good but the last few times the food had been borderline gross. I think Good Chinese-American food is pretty standard but it seems like every one is missing the secret Chinese ingredient lately and China Star is no exception. read more

The dirty Windows and carpeting and window blinds We're enough I turned around and left. Enough said!! read more

My wife (who is Chinese) and I (not Chinese) have been here many times, mostly because the choices for truly authentic Chinese food within a short drive of Vienna are pretty limited. This place used to be 4-5 star quality; but in the past couple of years has gotten progressively more middling. Still, I just went there with a large mixed crowd of Chinese, American and Indian IT workers today, and the service was good, food was tasty, and it's still not too expensive. It's just too salty and greasy for my taste now. But their dishes still have that Sichuan bite. My favorites are fuqi feipian, spicy tripe and beef slices; their mapo tofu, which is the best and most authentic I've had outside of Chengdu (except for my wife's!); and la zi ji, fried chicken bites in a huge pile of red chiles, which just becomes addictive. Today we had the Sichuan beef, and also a similar Sichuan fish dish that just melts in your mouth. If only I didn't feel like I was going to need blood pressure medicine every time I go. We took leftover dou miao (snow pea shoots) home; which I'll rinse with water so they won't taste so salty, and then have a nice healthy dinner. read more