Upfront disclaimers: I've only eaten here once; I rate places against other places of their type, so a five star rating for a sandwich shop, for example, is possible. There aren't a lot of food choices near Seminole State College's Sanford/Lake Mary campus. This tiny Chinese takeout is in a small shopping plaza at the corner of Weldon and 17-92, sandwiched between Subway and Tutto Bene, an Italian eatery I will have to get to. When a coworker was kind enough to give me a spring roll from China Star I was intrigued. It was light, crispy, and delicious. So I stopped in for lunch yesterday, 9/16/2011. It's a small shop indistinguishable from many of its type by appearance. Four tables, small counter, visible kitchen. What sets it apart is the quality of the food. I ordered from the $5.95 lunch menu, selecting Szechuan Shrimp with Hot and Sour soup as my option (choice of soup, egg roll, or can of soda). I also ordered a Spring Roll with Shrimp as an extra. Total with tax, under eight dollars. The soup was light and fresh tasting, not that overcooked gelatinous mess I've had at too many other places. The shrimp were large and accompanied by very crisp veggies (broccoli, baby corn, pea pods, carrots, onions, mushrooms) in a light, flavorful, but not too spicy sauce. It was very yummy. The main dish was served with a giant helping of pork fried rice with peas, carrots, egg, all the things you want in a fried rice dish. This was not cafeteria-style steamtable Chinese food! It was fresh, flavorful and delicious. The spring roll was crisp, flaky, and savory, although until the last bite I was wondering where the shrimp was. I found one towards the end. If their other dishes are made with as much care and quality ingredients as the lunch I had, this place is a keeper. No ambience to speak of. May be best though of as a takeout delight. Try it if you're in the neighborhood. read more

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Look how much fucking rice they give you. I got pork fried rice with wings. I go to other Chinese stores and my plate be full with rice and they make the wings fit. WITH A DRINK TOO!. Never ordering from here again! 13$ not even a combo doesn't even come with a drink they being stingy with there rice god bless them would not recommend this. I got the same rice with beef and broccoli and they fill it up but this meal they never do second time and last. Make this review for yelp short to fit read more

China Star - $13 for this and barely any rice ‍ Other spots fill the plate and have a drink. they've been stingy--last time orderin - Chinese Near Me - Lake Mary, Florida

Yo that pepper steak with $2 extra meat be hitting hard along with 2 shrimp egg roll made two orders today watching the game daughter came over and eat my fist order :( Great Hot Delicious Food:) Don't forget that shrimp egg foo young be in Point along with that shrimp fried rice :) read more

We probably go here once a week because it's right across the street. My orders are always correct and ready on time. Portions are great for the price and I've never had a bad experience here read more

This is a small family-run business and they are the nicest people! The food is ALWAYS fantastic and I end up eating way more than I should, but that's because it tastes so good! Super clean kitchen and bathrooms. read more

China Star is my favorite Chinese restaurant. Their food is consistently good and always fresh. Very quick service. Their wonton soup is our household's cure-all. Sick? Soup. Bad day? Soup. Good day? Soup. China Star's food also is always packed well and still very hot even when it arrives through Doordash. read more

China Star - Sesame Chicken, krab rangoon, egg roll, Wonton Soup, Roast Pork Fried Rice - Chinese Near Me - Lake Mary, Florida

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I am appalled by the experience we had as patrons of this business. So naturally, I came to yelp to share my cautionary tale. My boyfriend and I are self-proclaimed foodies and have frequented a wide variety of establishments in the greater Central Florida area, but never have I been treated with such disrespect and combativeness as I was at China Star. Please, order at your own risk. I will never spend my hard-earned money here again and I recommend that you follow suit. Here's why: Last weekend, much to our delight, my boyfriend and I realized that China Star delivered to our home! We previously thought Lee's Palace was the only place for Chinese delivery in our area and were happy to have a second option. We ordered online with ease and the food arrived ahead of the estimated delivery time. So far, so good! The issue began when we realized that the soups included with our combination platters were not in the bag. I'll be honest--the only reason I wanted Chinese delivery was to get my hands on a hot bowl of wonton, so I was super disappointed. I called the restaurant to allow them to right this wrong and was absolutely disgusted by the behavior that ensued. I explained our predicament to the gentleman (I use that term VERY LOOSELY) who answered the phone, I presume the owner by the way in which he spoke with authority on the subject. He explained that they did not give us soups because we did not indicate on the online order which type of soup we wanted. He stated that it was our fault because we didn't choose an option for soup (SPOILER ALERT: There is NO option to choose a soup on the order form - photos attached for proof). I politely asked him why they didn't call us and he was outraged by the suggestion--"WE NO CALL CUSTOMER!" I responded that I did not understand why they wouldn't call us, but that's fine, could they just send someone over with the soups now? With an abundance of attitude, he responded that it would take 45 mins to an hour, clearly trying to dissuade me from requesting my soups, which we paid for. I told him that it would be fine and we would wait. I think this upset him even more and he went on a tirade about how if it was the restaurants fault they would have them to us in 5 minutes, but it wasn't their fault, it was ours because we don't know how to order correctly (read: you stupid people don't deserve soup). Attempting to reason with him, I asked him if the soup was included with the price of the meal and he confirmed that it was, so I said that we wanted the soups that we paid for. He conceded that they would credit us on a future order for the soups. Perhaps if I'd accepted, that would have been the end of things, but I've been in this situation before where the restaurant offers you a credit with nothing in writing and when you try to cash it in, they suddenly don't know what you're talking about. Furthermore, this person had been YELLING at me and berating me for the past 5 minutes, so frankly, I had no desire to place a future order. I told him as much. Very calmly and politely I said, "sir, I do not want to order from you in the future if this is how you treat your customers. Please deliver our soups or you can credit them back to the card that we paid with today." HE LOST IT. I am paraphrasing, but it was something along these lines: "EXCUSE ME, NO. NO, YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO. I DON'T CARE IF YOU DON'T ORDER HERE AGAIN!!!" followed by a continuous stream of yelling, again, about how it is our fault because we can't figure out the right way to order. I quietly interrupted 2-3 times with, "sir, please stop yelling at me." The look on my boyfriend's face was priceless as he watched me calmly get screamed at on the phone and called out "there was no option for soup!" in the background. After several minutes of abuse from this business owner, I said, "you know what? You can keep my money and you can keep the soups but I will be writing a review about your business and how you treated me." So here I am and here it is. The way this person spoke to me was completely unacceptable, regardless of whether or not we made a mistake on the order. The outrageous-ness of his behavior is compounded by the fact that HE was wrong and there is no way to select soup on the website, despite it clearly being included on the combination meal selections. He could have approached this in so many other ways. He could have called us to confirm what we wanted. He could have offered to refund us or send the soups to us. Even if he was certain we were wrong, he could have spoken to me with respect. He didn't do any of those things. Do you really want to spend your money at an establishment that condones this type of behavior? read more

China Star - Despite the owner badgering me for not selecting my type of soup on the order form, there is NOWHERE to select it. - Chinese Near Me - Lake Mary, Florida

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Ever heard of where's the beef. Well this places wonton soup almost has non. It also doesn't have pork or scallions. I've never seen such a cheap soup at a premium price The spare ribs were ok at best. They were so cheap with the portion size of chicken. I spent $18 for 1 meal with a side of spare ribs. I will not be returning I was robbed!!! I should've checked my food before leaving. I heard them arguing in the back I can only guess it was whether to rob me or not. read more

I've been ordering from this place since I moved to Lake Mary for years ago. At first I really liked the food but it is going downhill quickly. I ordered a shrimp and vegetable combo meal which comes with soup and I kid you not my wonton soup had only one wonton in it and it wasn't even cooked thoroughly cooked! Not many shrimp in the meal either. This establishment has new owners and unfortunately the food is even worse. Ordered shrimp with lobster sauce it lacked lobster sauce and they piled peas and carrots on top, the fried rice had no flavor had nothing in it except peas and carrots no eggs no bean sprouts nothing. Fortune cookies were stale!! Don't waste your time ordering from this place. read more

Never have I had a problem with Chinese food until I tried here for the first time with my spouse she got Boneless spare ribs, and it was extremely salty and tasted burnt. And then I had tried them again for the 2nd time and ordered Sweet & Sour Chicken and it simply taste like rubber. And then we called and he over charged us... This wasn't a good experience. read more

Love their food. Go here all the time. They make authentic Chinese food and every meal I order is fantastic. Do not look elsewhere. I am picky and they accommodate special orders no problem at all read more

OK I KNOW I wrote a review on China Star - it was a while back, but I even remember what it said. What happened to it? In any case, since they provided my son with a job and were nice to him, I'm kind of partial to this place. I don't usually do Chinese take-out (I have much better home-cooked!), but I usually host a luncheon for coworkers at the end of summer, when I'd order about 15-20 lunches from them - pretty decent quality and value. I also order the occasional vermicelli Singapore style. Unless I'm really hungry, one order would last me two meals, or I'd split with my wife. If you can't take 'heat', though, ask for it "not spicy"; last time we had it, they (mistakenly) prepared it "a little spicy" (I read the instruction in Chinese), and my wife found it to be still too much. read more

Terrible food and terrible service. Took over an hour and a half for delivery. Food was bland and tasteless and honestly the dumplings look store bought. When I asked for a refund the owner argued with me and said that I am the first person to complain and that he sells pounds of his food a day. I will never eat here again and I will make sure none of my friends or family will either. read more

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Your review helps others learn about great local businesses. The Pro's: fast service, egg role was good and the rice was fair. Cons: The bourbon chicken was a little dry and had no sauce on it. It was like boneless chicken wings baked and the cut up. Literally the bottom of the container had no extra sauce at all and I could not taste any on the chicken at all. I will give them 1 more try and try the General Tso's chicken. Hopefully they will do better. Please don't review this business if you received a freebie for writing this review, or if you're connected in any way to the owner or employees.The egg role was good, the ric read more

Called here for a takeout order. I tried to order the cold sesame noodles but they said they don't sell that anymore and I must have been looking at an old menu. Real disappointment because I was looking forward to getting that. I ended up ordering eggrolls and chicken soup. The eggrolls were excellent. Chicken soup was inedible. It was like they dumped a bag of sugar into it. All I tasted was sugar. Bad. read more

Pepper steak not their best. The mu shu pork was very good. Had to wait quite awhile to get my food. Egg roll not so great.

Not bad for the price. I wish the Generals chicken was a littler spicier though. Fast turn around time for pick up orders.

Most of the food I get is pretty good but today I had the Bourbon Chicken and it was very, very dry. The chicken was not seasoned well and it looked like they just put sauce in the bottom of the to go box then laid the chicken on top of it. Probably just going to stick with the Rice and Beef & broccoli from now on. I advise not to get the Bourbon chicken. read more

I don't understand the recent bad reviews. I've ordered take out from here several times including yesterday and the food is very, very good and hot. The service is excellent and the the attitude is polite, friendly and with a need to please. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is because I've never ordered in so can't compare on this. This said, I highly recommend. read more

This place used to be good but has gone downhill after it was sold to a new owner. Now it seems like they spend more time scamming their customers than putting out quality food. Case in point- I ordered the lunch special today. While signing the receipt I noticed it was $4 more as she gave me the dinner instead. This has happened 3 times in a row now. She ended up giving me the eggroll and soda begrudgingly but then only gave me a tiny amount of food to make up for it. This is the 3rd time in a row it has happened. I will no longer be back. read more

Hate to write this review because when we first started ordering here it was good. It is as if they switched owners or something. They started going down hill from the 3rd time we ordered. The last time I ordered I found a bug in my soup which grossed me out! Sadly I don't think I'm going to order here again. read more

Place is crap delivery drive doesn't understand anything being said to him. Couldn't find our apartment after and hour called the store they said he went to a neighbor hood and couldn't find us. Clearly the wrong place. They said he would be to us in ten minutes 30 minutes later I call the store they said they showed up and called us and waited 30 min we never received a call customer service sucks guy over the phone at the store had a horrible attitude. read more

This used to be our favorite delivery place in the area, and we would order at last once a week. However, in the past two or three months the quality of both the food and service have fallen dramatically. For example everything is now cooked almost sickeningly sweet. Dishes that are supposed to be spicy aren't and instead sweet. Also I was recently told they no longer make common dishes such as Mu Shu. I'm sad to say that today's order is our last from this establishment. The food arrived cold, the soups were 2/3rds full, the Szechuan was again sickenly sweet, and we were given 3 duck sauce for 4 egg rolls. read more

Ohhh noooooo! The food tastes different! I have been coming here for 9 years, and I swore it was the best quick chinese food around! I got my order tonight and EVERYTHING tastes different! The chicken is in small balls and obviously pre-fried and looks completely different as if the ingredients are even from a different supplier. It does not taste fresh, has an after taste like stale rice crispies, all the base sauces are the same and things that should not be spicy are now spicy. I am so bummed out and heartbroken over this. We now have to find a new chinese place. read more

Many times I've ordered my food is never ready. I order online and I get there the child has the phone and order never received so they make it. Then I order by phone they never make the order until I get there and he's like oh Chicken wings take time! Dude! I called 20 minutes ago and still not ready? And I work in foods so 6 minutes maybe? For some reason my kids love the lo mein here so I only do delivery. Guest service is horrible!!! I refuse to actually go in there! They suck!!!! read more

Yummy and tasty. Their dinner meals can feed two people and delivery is great as well. They don't deprive you on the meat. You can see and taste the shrimp in their shrimp fried rice. Compared to the ones around, this is the best Chinese food in this town. Before trying them I had given up on Chinese food. Thanks to my friend Ellen for recommending them. Yum! read more

From beginning to end all 5 stars! They came to our dealership to introduce themselves with some items on their menu. Food was great! We ordered from them today for our Saturday luncheon, and there is so much food, and the quality is great. Their lo-min is awesome! Set it up and everything! Great savings too! read more

We've been ordering here for years, but tonight was the last straw. Chicken was raw. S&S Pork was mushy and a bit spoiled. Fried rice was hours old and bone dry. Lo mein was a greasy, mushy mess. After initial tasting, our entire order went right into the garbage. This place has been hit or miss for a while; but with new ownership/management it has gone straight into the dumper. We ordered at 8:30 pm tonight; so I believe most of what they served us would have been discarded at closing time anyway. Never again. read more

Just moved to the area and have to give rave reviews to this establishment. We tried another Chinese restaurant the weekend we were moving in and ended up very disappointed. So, when the craving hit us tonight we went searching for something better and we hit it here. We stopped in to have a look around and grab a menu. Very clean and appealing. As soon as we found out they deliver we decided to wait and order when we were ready to eat freshly cooked and hot. Delivery was quick and the food was fantastic! Fresh, and fantastic flavor. By far the best Chinese we have had ever! Everything was on point and we are now dedicated patrons to China Star. Played it safe tonight with familiar dishes but feel very comfortable to explore the menu and try everything! read more

Love their food. Always our go to Chinese delivery. But I just went to call and order, and a recording said they are closed due to personal matters from mid April until May 8th. Now I'm left hungry and will have to resort to pizza delivery. Grrrr read more

I have orders here twice and both times have been great! Fast service the food was fresh and very hot!! I would absolutely recommend this place to other people... read more

Worst food ever. I had the orange chicken and it tasted like cough medicine. I will never get food from there again.

I moved from NH and haven't found a good chinese food that does it correctly. That was until I came here. I would give more stars if I could. First place I've found in Florida that can cook fried rice correctly. Everything I've tried is juicy, tender, and well prepared in a timely manner. A million thanks and keep it up. read more

Quality and taste of the food, 9 out of 10. The place is absolutely clean, you could eat off the floor. This is essentially a take-out joint with four little tables on which you can eat your take-out if for some reason you don't want to take it home. Service was fast, food was tasty, definitely a go-to choice for Chinese. read more

Do not order from this place unless you are not really that hungry. It will take 1 1/2 to 2 hours for your order. it sucks because it is only 5 minutes away and I can cook in 30 minutes.... read more

Great food, great value. Generous portions of fresh food. Very friendly quick service.

very clean & appealing place. Food is pretty good. i recommend that you try the egg rolls. Defenitely will come back

Has been our absolute favorite establishment for Chinese food for many years. The food is always excellent and delivery is usually very quick. Order over $25.00 and you receive free Chinese donuts - and they're really yummy! Have tried many of their dishes and none have been less than wonderful. Highly recommended. read more