The people there are SO nice. Always a big smile. I really like the person who handles the phones and checkout. The mustard packets actually have some heat, too. The food declined for a while when new ownership was starting, but it has improved again. I'd say it's on par for most Chinese takeout, better than a lot. I usually order egg roll, soup, egg foo young, moo shu, keeping it simple. I had something a little more adventurous recently, forget what, and it was solid. It's a perfect location for takeout, with easy parking and near a busy intersection. read more

there was a cooked roach in my food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there was a cooked roach in my food!!!!!! read more

See all

Went to visit a dear friend, and we talked and talked, she offered me wine, and suggested Chinese food, which I had been craving for weeks. I agreed and she passed me a menu. We have all seen the thousand-dish menu from Chinese restaurants, and the plethora of choices they have to offer. I quickly eliminated certain sections, and when my eyes saw Sweet and Sour chicken, my stomach said yaaaaassssssss!! Great choice! The rice in its wire-handled red and white box made my mouth water, and the sweet and sour sauce came in two containers (thank you!) The chicken was golden brown, crispy on the outside, but nice tender on the inside! My chopsticks did not hesitate! I dug in, went in for seconds and still I have more for one more meal!! Wow! What a treat!! read more

I've been here a few times. Both times the food was just okay. The sweet and sour chicken was soft and mushy. I was not a fan.

Great food, exceptional service, excellent prices, large portions. This restaurant hits on all levels, and is my go-to for Chinese take out in Gainesville. read more

The food here is amazing, and great for the prices. The customer service also ties with it, they greet you with more than just friendly smiles. The atmosphere overall is very friendly the place is clean and they have their specials up along with pricing. I recommend coming here this has been the best Chinese Restaurant I've been to in all my life ! read more

China 88 - Drinks - Chinese Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

See all

Not good. China bowl is Better. We ordered from here twice and both times it tasted bland and vaguely like cardboard. read more

This is your typical Chinese take out place. Food is good and similar to most take out places. Staff was friendly and helpful. Dining area could use a little makeover. Looks rundown and old. Also A/C felt like it was broken as it was hot in here. Overall good place, good food and good prices. read more

China 88 - Chicken chow mein - Chinese Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

See all

Seems like your ordinary Chinese place. Friendly staff, fresh cooked food, and good service. I came on lunch break and definitely felt like I got plenty of food. I had to take some home with me. I will definitely eat there again when I'm working in the area. The inside can use a decor upgrade but hey, I came for the food and not the looks. Food was good! read more

China 88 - Chicken Wings with House Fried Rice and Drink - Chinese Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

I ordered the food. The lady at the counter was soooo sweet. While waiting, I went to use the restroom. They had a sign hanging up not to put toilet paper in the toilet. What?! I went #1 and forgot what the sign said and threw toilet paper in the toilet. It swirled but didn't flush. What happens when someone goes #2? It's really disgusting to think feces laden particles are swarming the air. read more

This food is amazing we have eaten here twice and have never been disappointed . The lady that runs the place is sweet, kind and compassionate. Food here is absolutely amazing. I would recommend it to anyone my opinion. Hands down. Best, Asian food in Gainesville read more

Yummy ., I like the sesame chicken,General Tao's chicken and finally pepper steak.All of them not too sweet and delicious.Recommend this place the most read more

See all

This is a GREAT local joint. Like a lot of small Chinese restaurants it's not much of a sit down place, although there are tables available. No, where China 88 shines is the food, which is always a win, prices which are great considering you usually have leftovers, and ESPECIALLY the service. These are just the nicest people, incredibly hospitable! Not like they're chatting while you're just trying to grab your food and go, but they genuinely pay attention to their customers and try to ensure everyone leaves happy. These are Good People. read more

The food wasn't too good. The onions were cut too big inside my shrimp fried rice and the peas were hard,rice was dry. My son ordered plain fried rice he said it was also dried. My co worker said her food was good. We picked it up. My co worker came down with food poisoning last night from the food. read more

The food and service here is good. The facility it self is a little questionable as far as cleanliness. They could use some improvements it overall the food is good. read more

China 88 - Shrimp fried rice. - Chinese Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

The new owners are great! The food is very good and always fresh. I would definitely recommend this place for eating! They are fast an friendly, and the customer service is phenomenal!! They also have monthly contests when you stop in to pick up your food. Overall a better experience!! read more

China88 has the best new owners, please show them lots of love! We LOVE Tina and her family! Everything we have ordered has been delicious, and they are like family to us. My favorite is the orange beef, and it's hard to change it up, but I got the orange chicken this time, and my fiance got the general tso's, extra spicy.... he said it was amazing!! The cheese wontons are also super yummy, and he loves the egg rolls. We don't go anywhere else, everything here is so fresh!! We also adore Miss Jenny, who answers the phones and works the register. read more

the food ,people & atmosphere is always spectacular! we order the pepper wings atleast three times a week. they have a drawing we won 50.00 gift card... read more

Horrible experience. I ordered vegetable chow mein and received a pile of steamed vegetables, which is not what the menu shows to be chow mein. Not a single noodle in the box. I will be contacting the restaurant directly for a refund. EDIT: I called the restaurant to request a refund and was spoken to like a child. The employee on the phone said what I received is what it's supposed to be despite the menu showing something entirely different. I was told it should have come with white rice, though, which I did not receive. read more

China 88 - What I received - Chinese Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

See all

I thought the portions were good for the price initially but unfortunately I was very disappointed when I started eating. The Orange Chicken was was more breading than chicken. The peppered steak, crab Rangoon, and rice had no flavor. The peas in the rice were hard and I felt that it was under cooked. The overall experience was bad, as I will not be going back. read more

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. Here's a picture of the egg drop soup I bought 30 minutes ago. It's filled with mold. DO NOT EAT HERE!!! read more

China 88 - MOLDY Egg drop soup - Chinese Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

Had tried China 88 a number of times thru the years and was generally disappointed - not bad, but not good. However, I recently had a order from there and was quite impressed! It's your typical chinese takeout menu, but the quality is far from typical of these kinds of chinese places. The orange chicken was excellent, the fried wontons and dumplings were also very very good. It's our new go-to for a quick chinese takeout - better than Panda Express for sure read more

China 88 is very close to my home, so it was my first choice on the list. I'm glad they were my first choice as their food is excellent, and service is always very friendly. I order from here quite often, and of course there may be things that slip through the cracks on occasion, such as any business, however they are excellent at correcting any issues when brought to their attention. I've recommended China 88 to friends and have only heard positive things about their experiences. I'm comfortable recommending China 88 to anyone looking for good traditional Chinese food read more

I've been to China 88 a number of times and at first I felt pretty indifferent to them: they are more or less like every other fast Chinese place in town that you find often in a Publix shopping center. More on the reason all these places seem more or less the same in a minute. However, recent experiences with China 88 have convinced me they're a couple steps below the typical cheap Chinese place. Firstly, I went in today planning to order Mongolian Beef which they did have on their menu, but I asked the girl at the counter whether it came with the white fried rice noodles that it is most often served with elsewhere. No, it doesn't, she replied. And furthermore she told me that "you must be mistaken: Mongolian Beef doesn't come with noodles" . . . no, I am not mistaken, most places it does in fact come with the little white fried noodles. Unless maybe if you get it at one of these fast places. I ordered the Beef with Black Bean Sauce instead. It wasn't very good at all, overly saltly and gooey. Also, I'd asked for it spicy and it clearly wasn't. Also, a Black teenager came in and wanted to order something and the staff seemed very curt, nearly rude, to him. Certainly, it seemed like he was treated differently than white, middle-aged customers who were also coming in at the same time while I was there. For his part, this kid was very, very polite. I mean, this was like having a seventeen year-old President Obama in the Chinese restaurant, ok? I can't say in literal terms the staff was racist, but they seemed at best indifferent and even too busy for him. That really put me off. Now about these quick Chinese joints: a good friend who has lived in China and speaks Chinese and is dating someone Chinese told me the following: Chinese who desire to move to America are by certain companies provided a business oppurtunity to open one of these quick Chinese take-out joints at a price and thereby secure not only a business for themselves when they come to the USA but also a visa to do so. My friend said this package is sold more or less as a bundle with all instructions and such included, which would explain why all these place, though under different names, seem to have the very same menus. It would also help explain why they don't, and probably can't, do Mongolian Beef the way I requested it. Just try going into one of these places and ask to tweak a recipe beyond removing a certain item or such: they'll just look at you with this haunted look. It confounds them apparently because they are not prepared to depart at all from their standard bag of tricks. I've tried this at other Gainesville quick Chinese places and only one (the one at the Hunters' Crossing Shopping Center) has been happy to be innovative with a dish. Others will act like they don't understand or argue with you. I can understand the noble desire to get ahead and to move to a nation where dreams can come true, but for someone to just open a restaurant because they want a business and not invest much time in learning about food is wrong. Just because I am white and grew up in the South doesn't mean I can just open up a BBQ joint and it will be great and just because you're Chinese doesn't mean you know how to cook Chinese food. Gainesville lacks good Chinese restaurants which is a real shame but I won't be back to this one and I probably will avoid the rest of its ilk too. If its owner or any other wishes to dispute what I said, that my friend told, about how these businesses come into being, please educate me if something else is the truth . . . I kinda doubt it though. read more

AVOID AT ALL COSTS GARBAGE FOODI'm really disappointed in this place. First off it was $2+ to upgrade to shrimp fried rice from pork and there were 4 shrimp in there. The pork fried rice has 0 veggies and is just cheap yellow rice that they minced 1 inch of pork into and didn't even fry. Boneless spare ribs were just soaked in ketchup and nothing else. GARBAGE! Restaurant was dirty and I will be going back for a refund read more

I enjoy the food here. What I don't enjoy is the homeless camp that's formed outside. They harass people for money to feed their drug addictions (and I'm not just saying this as a generalization as I've genuinely seen them smoking meth outside). I used to really enjoy going here often, but since the squalor has arrived I feel very uncomfortable. it's an eye sore :/ I hope something is done. read more

Food was not edible and was thrown away after two bites. Chicken was soggy and had weird taste. I wasted roughly 29.00 plus tip of 3 dollars. read more

The young female who takes my order knows what I always get. I once went months, it had to be about 4 months or so since I last visited, and she even remembered I didn't care for the egg roll, and gave me a drink cup instead. That's quality service, in my opinion. I like that they're open later than other stores in the area that close early. Consistently tasty food. Good pricing. I wouldn't call it the best Chinese food in town (I won't name who I think is best in this review), but they're plenty good and very close to where I live, so I always come here. 4-stars for very good take-out Chinese food. read more

I would describe China 88 with the term "cheap Chinese". It is your typical take out Chinese restaurant that does have a few tables if you want to eat there, but I would really not recommend eating there. This type of food is enjoyed much better sitting on the floor in front of your TV. They have a wide variety of your typical New York style Chinese dishes which are not bad, but nothing great, but just right for the price. One of the things I really like is their Hot and Sour soup which you can get for $2.95 for a quart and it is almost enough for two meals. read more

China 88 is close to my house and always pleases my rumbling stomach. I always order the sesame chicken which is cooked perfectly with white rice, a side of shrimp lo mein, and sometimes crab rangoon. I am a huge crab rangoon fan! They always have hot tea and sugar available at the counter where you order. read more

China 88 is the perfect place for you if you want quick New York Style Chinese Food. The family is super nice, the food is delicious and consistent, and I am NEVER disappointed. I love this small restaurant with all my heart and encourage everyone to enjoy it on a weekly basis. read more

Just sampled them tonight. The portions were ample and the price was right. That's the good. We ordered Hunan Chicken (spicy) and Hot & Sour soup. Absolute garbage. The dinner was tasteless, not spicy at all, lacked vegetables. The soup was neither hot nor sour. Wrong mushrooms, no meat, little flavor. The egg rolls tasted old. After a few bites, it went into the garbage can. As someone else remarked...DO NOT EAT HERE read more

I went on my lunch break and while the food was hot & ready at pick-up, it taste like it had been sitting out for a while. Seems to be a frozen, heat in microwave type of food and it's not good. I ended up throwing away most of my meal because I could not stomach more than a few bites. read more

The food was inetible, the teriyaki chicken had a weird taste like it was old and had been sitting out for a while. The veggie lo mein tasted like straight peanut oil. My husband got the general tso chicken and he said it was not fresh, and tasted reheated. He started to feel nauseated after a few minutes. I would not recommend China 88. read more

My go-to Chinese food place. Love it here, although sometimes they are hard to understand the food is awesome. Orange chicken is amazing.

It was great, especially for the prices. Very affordable, diverse menu, tasty food. We ordered online (which was nice and simple) and found our food ready on time and hot. Portions were good. I think I've found my go to place when I want a satisfying order of Chinese take out for a decent price. If I want to get really fancy and pay a lot I can go to Yummy House. read more

sadly I used to love this place. I would get the lemon chicken and it was cooked perfectly. The last time I got it, totally overdone, dried out and burned! Figured they were busy and had a bad day. Tried again today... same garbage overdone dried out burned chicken. Called to tell them, and maybe a language thing, but they didnt really care.. I assumed the first woman put a guy on the phone who spoke/understood English. Needless to say PF Changs from now on. read more

Terrible! My wife and I ordered a mu shu pork and a cashew chicken, brought it home and took a couple bites. We both looked at each other and thought the meat tasted rotten. I threw the meat in the garbage - it tasted so bad that I wouldn't even give my dog the food. I called China 88 and they told me that they would give us something different. I drove back to pick up a new dish and they denied me the food. They wanted to taste the food to make sure it was bad and would not give me my new dish until they did so. The owners and employees apparently do not trust their customers to rank their food. Terrible food and terrible customer service. My family will never order from China 88 again! read more

Not my favorite Chinese take-out in Gainesville, but it's ok. I ordered Moo Goo Gai Pan twice recently. The first time it was fine. The second time the vegetables were partly raw and the chunks of chicken were so thick and tough that I couldn't chew them. read more

My new job is right across the street - how convenient. UGHHHH. I pulled up the menu online, called & read what I wanted exactly INCLUDING THE PRICE so I could go pick it up. Had to repeat myself several time until I heard an "OK". When I went to pay the price was a dollar more, "Oh, old menu online". Didn't matter that I said the price when I had him on the phone. I'm hungry so I take it back to my office & find the container is smaller than other take-outs and it doesn't even taste good - found almost no cashews in my chicken with cashews. NEVER AGAIN. read more