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China Chef

4.1 (73 reviews)
InexpensiveChinese
Open • 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

China Chef Photos

Business Info

CHINA CHEF ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Quiet
Good for groups
Good for kids

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Recommended Reviews - China Chef

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Egg drop soup
Kat B.

It's rare for me to give a place 5 stars, even rarer that it was a Chinese place on the southside but holy crap! Drop whatever you're eating and go here. This is a non-descript building with a decent parking lot that has recently been remodeled due to a kitchen fire. I had the $8 spicy orange beef lunch that came with soup, egg roll and rice. I chose egg drop soup and it tasted homemade. It was thick but not gelatinous, with corn, carrots and onions and lots of black pepper. Definitely one of the better I've had. I switched out the egg roll for a crab rangoon and it was delicious. I opted for steamed rice which was 2 big scoops along with my large portion of deliciously cooked orange beef. The beef was perfectly crunchy and had a great orangey flavor. The service was very prompt and friendly. When we paid our bill we chatted with the guy and he told us they deliver downtown, so we're excited to have it afain. Terrific surprise for lunch and now I'm going to go into food coma! Go eat here and support local business!

Shrimp fried rice. I had eaten almost half before taking the photo so there are at least 3 missing shrimp. Delicious!
Christina F.

I had been craving shrimp fried rice and a Facebook group recommended China Chef. Since I was on the south side, I decided to give it a shot. I called ahead for take-out and they said it would be ready in ten minutes. When I got there, approximately 10 minutes later, my order was ready. It smelled great in the car and I was tempted to tear into it. The lunch comes with your choice of egg drop, wonton or hot and sour soup, an egg roll and the entree. I chose the wonton soup and while it was hot and not very greasy, it was also bland. The wonton was huge but mostly wrap and the filling had very little flavor. The egg roll was tasty, hot and crunchy. It came with sweet and sour sauce but it didn't need any. The rice was among some of the better fried rice I've had in Des Moines. It had a great flavor and large pieces of shrimp. There were at least 5 and they were a mouthful by themselves. The whole meal, which was enough for 2 days of lunches was only $7.50. A steal! I will definitely be back and look forward to trying other items from the menu.

To go menu middle inside column
Deana T.

NEVER A DISAPPOINTMENT! After what seemed like forever they've finally reopened after the fire. Before the fire we were primarily delivery customers, but after the long wait we had to go to the restaurant and see the changes. WOW! The interior is no bigger, but I think a couple more tables. The decor is more modern than before, tasteful, but not over done with ethnicity, very pleasant! I didn't actually go in the restrooms but from what I could see they got a great makeover as well. Unfortunately I was so excited about the food I forgot to take pictures. It was a little strange to sit there and not be cold, so I assume they've replaced the HVAC system as well. We went Friday around 6. I've never seen that parking lot so full! Even before it was China Chef and the ice cream place was there! There was a line out on the enclosed entrance area. We were seated within 5 minutes, but we were warned that our entrees could be an hours wait. The wait was interesting! First there was the menu! The food on the menu...all the options we have always enjoyed with a new feature of Pho as well as a few other new dishes. Amazingly the prices didn't go up as much as I thought it would, and I heard other customers express the same thing. We ordered the assorted appetizers for two. The egg rolls and crab Rangoon a were heavenly! My son was a little bit disappointed that it's no longer served over flames. He got over it! We both got the egg drop soup and we are reminded of how it should taste! Soup with flavor! Chicken Fried Rice, for my son, it looked good. He said it was as good as he remembered, but he wished it had a few more peas and carrots. I had Garlic Shrimp. NOT SPICY! Big shrimp cooked perfectly, not rubbery. Lots of mushrooms and water chestnuts. The garlic sauce was PERFECT, not spicy, not sweet, the perfect consistency and plenty of it! After we ordered we realized we should have ordered our to go order at the same time! Customers were walking in to make carry out orders because they were unable get thru on the phone. Carry out orders were taking around 2 hours!! We counted 4 people answering the phones, but never heard how long delivery times were running. The staff... I COMMEND THEM FOR STAYING CALM AND PLEASANT! There was more staff than I'd ever seen before! Many new young faces, as well as the familiar faces and voices from before. Even though we were told an hour we were actually done eating within the hour. Our to go order was another story. I think we waited another 20-30 minutes for it. Which was a shorter wait than others had to wait. We both brought home leftovers, but I'm most excited to tell you about the to go entree! We brought home a new Chef's Specialty, Royal Beef! The menu description is "Tender beef deep fried and then blended into a savory sauce with a touch of garlic flavoring." THAT IS SUCH AN UNDERSTATEMENT! It should say tender beef.....with a heavenly, smooth, yummy, tasty and all kinds of good descriptive words!! We also brought home Pork Lo Mein for my cousin and a dozen egg rolls. I think this review is probably a little longer than it should be, so I'll stop now, but I want people to know how great this place is! So if you have never tried it and are going to now, please be prepared for the wait time or wait until things are back to being more normal for them. Delivery times used to run 45 minutes at most, and usually less than what you are told when ordering.

Sweet and sour chicken

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7 months ago

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3 months ago

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3 years ago

I highly recommend this place. Theirs food is quite authentic. Appropriate pricing. I love the orange chicken

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8 years ago

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5 years ago

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4 years ago

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4 years ago

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4 years ago

Take away was available which is what we wanted. The food was fresh and very good. Plenty of shrimp in my dish. Dinners come with soup.

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12 years ago

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7 years ago

Since reopening, the food was delivered hot and fresh! Exactly how it was before! Great job China Chef!

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5 years ago

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15 years ago

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12 years ago

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5 years ago

Got the orange and sesame chicken with crab Rangoon. Food was fresh, hot, and fast! Got our food 20min within ordering it

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7 years ago

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10 years ago

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10 years ago

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5 years ago

This is my Chinese spot to go to I go here at least once every week amazing food and amazing service

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10 years ago

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Sam's Fine Food Egg Rolls - Beef Lo Mein

Sam's Fine Food Egg Rolls

(136 reviews)

$

My boyfriend and I stopped in early on a Friday evening. We walked in and were immediately greeted…read moreand the 4 tables were all open. We ordered egg rolls, crab rangoons, beef lo mein with egg drop soup, and hot and sour soup. It was our first time here, so we wanted to try it all. The food was delicious and plenty for my boyfriend & I and a small amount of leftovers. The egg rolls lived up to the hype everyone is talking about. I am not typically a fan, but these were delicious. There's a spice or something that they add that levels up the flavor and with a nice crispy crunch when you bite into it, you can't go wrong with these. We also really enjoyed their rangoons. They were cooked to perfection, but what makes them even better is dipping it in their duck sauce. 10/10 for the egg-rolls and the crab rangoons. For the main we ordered the beef lo mein. It had so much flavor and we enjoyed it a lot. We also tried both the soups. The hot and sour was good, but I have had better elsewhere. My boyfriend really enjoyed the egg drop soup. He liked that it had veggies and tofu in it and was different than other places we have tried 9/10. We really loved this place and are already planning to come back soon even though it is 25 minutes from us, but it's totally worth the drive. Everyone working was so kind and they continued to make sure everything was good with our meal.

This place was on my list of restaurants to try for a long time so my husband and I had dinner…read morethere last night. It's a tiny hole in the wall place with only five tables. There was a line all the way to the door. It's a very popular place. I got the Yusiang Chicken and my husband got the Hunan Chicken. The entrees came with either: an egg roll , a crab Rangoon, hot and sour soup or egg drop soup. I really liked my entree. It was spicy and sweet and came out piping hot. I thought the egg roll was just average, though, and was disappointed that there was no homemade sweet and sour sauce that came with it. There were just packets of duck sauce. My husband thought his dish was just ok but his crab Rangoon was delicious. It was filled with a slightly sweet cream cheese filling. I had a bite of it and agreed it was very tasty, The service was very good and the employees were very friendly. I thought the prices were pretty good and lower than other Chinese restaurants we had been to. The amount of food we got was really good, too. We both ate half or what we got and had leftovers for lunch the next day. That's always nice. I would definitely come back again. They serve Laotian and Thai food, too. I'd like to try some of their potstickers and get more of their yummy crab rangoons next time.

Flaming Wok - Kung Pao chicken

Flaming Wok

(24 reviews)

This place is amazing!!! The food was soooo delicious, soup and egg roll with your meal and the…read moreportions very generous! The service was excellent as well! Will most definitely be coming back!

This really is a hidden gem! I've driven past this place a few times before but never stopped. It's…read moreacross the street from the post office and visible from Hubbell, but you probably won't stop in by accident. This place really should be more popular. I went just before 8 pm on a Thursday night and was the only dine-in customer. There were some people standing outside talking, but other than a couple of carry-out customers there weren't many people there. The seating area was immaculate and they let me sit wherever I wanted. The server brought me a menu immediately. I ordered Mongolian beef. Meals come with rice, soup, and a spring roll. I ordered the egg drop soup and friend rice. The soup and spring roll came out almost immediately. I noticed that the soup wasn't just egg. There were actually pieces of carrots and celery in it, and it wasn't too salty like a lot of restaurant soups are. The spring roll had a crisp, flaky crust. I was so glad it wasn't soggy with oil. The main dish came out before I could finish my soup and before I could even touch the spring roll. The beef had a good flavor, and best of all it was not drowning in oil or some kind of sauce. I appreciated the food and the good service. I plan to come back soon and bring some more people with me.

China Chef - chinese - Updated May 2026

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