By far the best Chinese restaraunt in the entire area. In fact, I haven't been to any Chinese restaraunts in Lincoln or Omaha that impressed me as much as this one, with the exception of the China Buffet/Mongolian Grill. Empire Express is not a chain but a local joint run by a Chinese family with good taste in food. The food is cooked fast and fresh, so you could say this place is fast food without a drive through. The food is dramatically better than your average Chinese fast food . Oddly enough, it's the only Chinese fast food in the entire town. So not only is the food exceptionally good, they don't even have any competition either. A pleasant surprise from a town that hates competition and delights in serving their pig slop to the locals. There are 50+ meals on the menu so there's a pretty big variety of choices, whether you like the simple meat, sauce and rice combination or lots of vegetables and meats. Most people that frequent there are pretty "choosey" about what to order, and that's because certain menu items are excellent and others are sub-par. I usually order breaded/fried chicken or pork with white rice. You have to specially request white rice because most of their meals serve a different kind of rice that isn't as good. The sauces vary quite a bit but are mostly good. They have the best sesame chicken out of any restaraunt I've ever ate at. If you like sweet sauces the orange and lemon chicken are good choices as well. The menu features quite a few spicey options as well. Stay away from stuff like "chicken-fried rice" because it's a bit on the bland side. Their new teriyaki chicken is a grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce and rice and is fantastic choice on the menu. They also have the best hot and sour soup I've ever had, and I'm not even that big of a soup fan. It's full of good flavors and quality incredients. Their crab rangoon is decent but could be better. The egg rolls are very nasty but then again I'm not a huge egg roll fan to begin with. Atmosphere - The place is really clean and pleasant to look at. I enjoy going in there in the evenings because there's usually not too many people in there. I don't know if that's a good thing because they should get more business at nights. They seem to be packed out during lunch time. Service - Very friendly and good at their jobs. A big plus in a town lacking good service. Overall, I give this restaraunt 5 stars. There's some hit and miss stuff on the menu, but you gotta find something you like. read more

It's over priced for the quality. It's just a lot of filler food drowning in sauce. Would not go back.

The food was okay at best. Barely 4 pieces of chicken in my king pao chicken. Almost $3.00 for a pop with $1.65 refills! Ugh! Won't be returning. read more

Very good if you want Chinese food, it is the best place for Chinese in the city of columbus power and progress

WAS hands down the best Chinese food we ever had in Columbus and then garbage Panda Expres moves in and well the rest is history. Sad day

I love this hot and sour soup, some of the best crab rangoon I've had, and amazing fried rice! Friendly service, fair price, good quantity for the quality. read more

This place is horrible. I ordered the General Tso's and it was by far the worst I've ever had. I also ordered the Crab Rangoon. There was almost NO FILLING on the inside. Unless you are from this area don't eat here. Go hungry before you eat here. If this is the BEST Chinese in the area go out of the area cause this sucks. read more

I really love this place very good food, low prices, generous portions. The staff is very friendly! The place is always spotlessly clean, and the food is prepared fresh right before your eyes. Never had a bad experience here yet. I do wish that they wouldn't charge for refills on soda. I really like the egg drop soup, I've never had anything like it anywhere else. read more

Not friendly. Guy at counter, order at the register. Wonton soup, no meat in wonton. Liquid tasteless. Shrimp lo mein floating in liquid. Overall, would give This no stars if possible. It was clean. read more

Wtf Columbus!! If you think this is "the best" you need to get out of BFE every once in a while. For starters, the young Asian female at the counter was very rude and snippy with me. Me: "Hi I'll have the..." Her: TO STAY OR GO?!? Me: Oh...to stay......ok I'll have the chicken and broccoli. Her quickly: ok your total is $x.xx. Me: (surprised she's already wrapping up the sale) does that come with an egg roll? Her: with a big sigh: no. Me: OK I'd like to add one. Her: OK your total is $X.XX. Me: um can I get a drink too? ..It was like I was bothering her and she was all too quick to end the transaction. AND I WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN THERE. .Fine I will deal with a rude interaction if it means delicious food...But imagine that...the food was bland and the portions were not in line with the pricing. GET REAL. read more

Best Chinese in Columbus. Very good and quick.

This place has very good food, service is fine. I would have given them 4.5 stars, but the atmosphere could be a little better, so take 1/2 point off for that. read more

Had the sweet and sour chicken and egg rolls. Very good. And the cashier was very nice.

I created a yelp account just because I wanted to express my anger with myself for wasting a meal here. The only reason I'm giving it two instead of one is because the place is clean and the food is served (disturbingly) fast. That is the end of the positives. I ordered a General Tso's combo, the only combo I've ever ordered that does not come with an egg roll. I ordered the eggroll and Crab Rangoon on the side. The chicken was cooked the way that you would cook it if you were to dip it in sweet and sour sauce, the pieces were very small and the sauce was not spicy (this is General Freakin Tso's!?) The rice was practically tasteless (think somewhere just past brown rice, a very pale imitation of chicken fried rice) The serving size was small for a Chinese restaurant. The egg roll was almost as lifeless as the rice. And the Crab Rangoon, you oughta order it just to see for yourself! I have never seen less cream cheese/imitation crab stuffing in Rangoon before, even at a cheap buffet! I'm sure that it is not entirely their fault as I assume they don't make their own Rangoon but get a different supplier. But I guess when your main clientele are a bunch of rubes who have lived in the same rural ass county all their life and whose idea of a long trip is driving 90 miles to a Cornhuskers game you wouldn't know even decent Americanized Chinese food from a hole in your ass. So to recap: Small portion size general tso's, egg roll, crabless crab Rangoon and a large drink for 11.00 and change. PS the fortune cookie tasted very sweet. Never tasted anything like that either. Not impressed. PPS I just don't see how anybody could have ever given this place more than 3 stars even if they had no previous experience with Chinese food. Either fake reviews or complete rubes (see above) read more

nasty!! serves sucked! food sucked just like serves! meat was gross, rice was dry, and the broccoli was uncooked. oh yea don't let me forget the drink, it tasted like water, not pepsi!. never again will i go back! read more