This is truly the best Chinese food around. Unlike the buffets where the food sits there for hours under a heating lamp. The food here is made to order. My all time favorite is the Green Pepper steak. They have the best pepper steak I have ever had. It is amazing. The service here is great. The owner is always there and on top of everything. When I get food for take out they always package it right so that there are spills. My kids love the sweet and sour chicken. Their sweet and sour sauce is fantastic along with the little fried Wonton they serve at the table. This is the only Chinese restaurant I will go to. read more

We have loved Formosa for years and especially appreciate it after moving back from out of state. I never realized how hard it is to find great Chinese food, but Formosa has pretty much nailed it. Dining in lately can be a little frustrating based on your server, but I would say we leave happy 95% of the time. General Tso's and veggie egg rolls are our go to order. Portions are great so you'll have plenty for lunch the next day. read more

Best Chinese around. Sweet and sour chicken is my favorite. The wife get beef with Chinese vegetables.

As usual, the egg rolls were really good. But this is where the good news stops. I've ordered from Formosa occasionally because they're cheaper and more convenient for me than alternatives, but I think I've about exhausted all the menu options. The egg drop soup is watery and bland. The roasted pork chow mein is so devoid of flavor and so overcooked that it's just sort of a grey, undifferentiated mass of flavorless sludge. The pork had absolutely no flavor at all. None. That said, the fried rice was adequate. The only menu item I can usually count on is the Princess Steak Kew, and even that is hot or miss. Done ordering from here. I'll just get Changs from now on, even with the extra cost; at least I get what I'm paying for with them. read more

This restaurant has been a staple of my entire life. My mom found it in college and we have been going ever since. Definitely recommend the Cashew chicken, Chicken lomein, and PoPo platter. Best Chinese food you will get in town! read more

Great service and food!would recommend it to all that enjoy Chinese food! Enjoy!!!!!!!

I got a plate of general tsos chicken. It came with a 1 : 4 tempura chicken to vegetable ratio. I wanted chicken and wasn't interested in frozen, oversized carrots and loads of onions. I ate all of the chicken and rice but it really wasn't worth the money I paid. Overall flavor - 5/10 read more

The food was excellent! Always been my favorite chinese food ever - white meat chicken and fresh veggies. Fried rice was a little blan but overall good. Service was also excellent. read more

This restaurant is the BEST CHINESE IN Chattanooga. Everyone worker there is so very friendly. The atmosphere is just delightful and relaxing. And the homemade hot mustard is to just die for. Not only is the food top grade a but the presentation is just amazing. I just can't say enough good things about Formosa. All I can say is, if you haven't eaten there, you definitely need to because it is well worth your time and money. Which the prices are very fair for the large amount of food that you are given. 100 STARS read more

Seems clean and the food was good . Although the person taking the orders was rude Sesame Chicken

I'm saddened to report this once fabulous Chinese restaurant's change of ownership has taken its toll. The food is now mediocre at best. My wife and I both ordered favorite dishes as we have many times. This time, neither was even close to what we previously enjoyed. Now, it tastes like nothing special - actually worse than most. 30 years was a great run - too bad the new ownership didn't maintain the quality and unique flavor that was the basis of it's longevity. read more

Ordered 2 entrees at lunch for pickup. Price was a little expensive in my opinion for lunch so I expected great food. It was $28 total for just the food. The portions were ok in size. In my experience, most chinese restaurants have larger portions. Finally the food. First meal was General Tsao's Chicken. It reminded me of something you might get out of the freezer at Sam's. It was over sweet and over salted. I've had better at the cheapest Chinese to-go places. 2nd meal was orange peel beef. This was really awful. Meat was burnt. Very salty and generally over seasoned-not spicy. The orange over powered everything else except the carbon/burnt taste. My son said it tasted like burnt orange peel and I agreed. Based on our experience, I would not recommend Formosa. read more

FALL FROM GRACE! During our last visit to Chattanooga, we decided to order take-out from this restaurant, (we had eaten from here on a prior visit and had a good experience). This time, the food was unrecognizable and did not have the freshness we had previously experienced. The chicken and vegetable dish was filled with corn which I usually remove and did not have the varied selection of crisp veggies I prefer. The rice was bland and the fried appetizer was burned and unrecognizable. I can forgive poor service because everyone has a bad night, but when the quality of the food diminishes, it is time to bounce! Unfortunately, this restaurant is no longer in rotation. read more

Best Chinese in town. I've been coming here for over 20 years and the food is consistenly good, affordable, and with excellent service. My husband and I just popped by for lunch - a hot and sour soup, egg roll, home style bean curd (the best!), generous helpings of white and brown rice...green tea, bill $19.24. Great value, great food, dedicated propietor. read more

Garlic chicken, so good!! I love this place. I have for years, and I miss it when I can't have their delicious garlic chicken. The beef with broccoli and fried wontons are amazing too. Sesame Chicken? Yum! Classic or veggie egg rolls? Yes please! The carry out service here is spot-on, and the dine-in service is executed promptly and well. If you're looking for a well-established, tried and true Hixson Chinese food fix, DEFINITELY add Formosa to your plans! read more

After we moved to Chattanooga a year ago, a friend of ours told us if we had to go eat Chinese, go to Formosa. My husband hadn't eaten Chinese in years due to bad experiences and poor quality food but our friend assured us that he would not be disappointed if we went there. So we went and the first thing I tried was the hot and sour soup. It was hands down the BEST hot and sour soup I've ever had in my life. Very fresh and flavorful and not syrupy like most other soups I've had. My husband got an eggroll with meat and I got the veggie eggroll. Both were excellent! Easily the best eggroll I've had. We shared the sesame chicken, which is a huge portion for 2 people. My husband loved it. The chicken was obviously cooked to order, hot and crispy! The sauce was delicious. Their fried rice was pretty typical of any other restaurant but the amazing entrees more than make up for it. The service has always been spot on. Everyone is friendly and on point. We have eaten there many times over the past year and I always find myself craving their food, especially the hot and sour soup! :) read more

The quality is not the same since the original owner sold this business. Lots of items have changed ingredients but are not updated on the menu. We ate a wide variety of items from the menu so know what's changed. Fried rice dried out or drowned in soy sauce, using red onions in next to everything- Mongolian beef with red onion?, egg rolls over fried, shrimp not cleaned properly, veggies that are bruised but cooked anyway, crab Rangoons mostly empty are some of the items that have declined. The dishes are average at best. I grew up eating at Formosa (over 35 years). I introduced my children to Formosa and it was a long time favorite place to eat. Sadly, even my kids say they are disappointed with the recent decline in quality and recipe changes. If I were the original owner, I'd be p*ssed that all the hard work put into growing the business and attention to detail has been thrown out the window. read more

First cool thing, they were open on Christmas Eve. Yay. And a real Chinese restaurant. One that even notes regions and does not try to serve the Chinese with sushi, pad thai, and pho. And sit down. NOT A BUFFET. And with vegan and vegetarian options. All good things. So we came on Christmas Eve and decided it would be smart to be early. Arrived about 5:00pm with plenty of empty tables. When we left, there was a crowd waiting, so yay for a good decision. We were promptly seated, either booth or table. Place from the outside looks like nothing. On the inside it really looks old school Chinese restaurant. And a bit aged too. But not shabby or dirty. Just like the place probably has not changed much over the years. Chinese Homey. Yeah, that's it. We were given water and asked for the hot tea, which comes in a steel pot. WHICH IS HOT. Waitress has to explain how she got yelled at by someone for not warning them. The dumbing down of the people continues.... She mentioned that they have veggie egg rolls that are large, not spring roll size. Awesome. Bring it! We got two. We also asked for the hot mustard as I like it more than the sweet sauces. The hot mustard is awesome... with loads of horseradish and will clean your sinuses out. Yay. We asked for recommendations on the veggie dishes and settled on the Spiced Japanese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce. The Bean Curd with Black Bean Sauce. And the Vegetable Lo Mein. The Mother In Law ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken. She proclaimed the chicken was wonderfully tender and moist, and this was a great place we must return to. We found the Lo Mein to be nicely done, with a smoky taste. The other two dishes were great. Waters were promptly refilled. We were checked on. I missed her name, but out server was perfect. In the end... is it great Chinese? Well... maybe not great. But it is very good and the best I have had in Tennessee. And with the vegetarian options (and you can ask almost any dish to substitute tofu for the meat), this is a winner. read more

This is not your typical Americanized Chinese restaurant and certainly NOT the cheap feeding trough either. This place has authentic Chinese flavors and sauces prepared in the traditional Taiwanese way. Dishes are meant to be shared with friends and family so they are served family style. The food served here is freshly prepared and all very good. I say good and not great because there are better Chinese restaurants that we've been to in the big cities (San Francisco, New York, ...) but this is hands down the best Chinese food in this area. Don't let the strip mall location fool you. This is a good restaurant that has been in business for 30+ years which says something. read more

The most impressive element of my first visit to this restaurant was how helpful and attentive the staff was. They were young, but very well trained and even comfortable in chatting with folks and making recommendations. I took my waiter's advice and had the Orange Beef. It was delicious! Nicely presented, very large portion, and I'd recommend it to anyone. They also give you the crispy noodles to snack on and have very yummy egg rolls. Give this place a try, and enjoy some throw back decor, too! read more

Do yourself a favor and go to rice boxx. This is the worst Chinese food i have ever had service is not bad but the food is the worst thing i have ever experienced. read more

Formosa Restaurant - Shanghainese Near Me - Hixson, Tennessee

This restaurant is wonderful I'm not mad at the restaurant I'm mad at this listing the listing says they're open till 1030 but they actually close at 10 that needs to be fixed. Made a plan to call in the order at 10 and pick it up at 10:15 so now no dinner read more

Where do I begin? How about with the decor, very Chinese to set the mood, but kinda of dark. Overall nice atmosphere with the fish tank but could use a update. Our server was very nice and attentive. The menu is pretty extensive, but we made a quick choice to do the dinner for two. It was a great deal, two entrees, two egg rolls, two bowls of soup, fried rice and two teas for 24.95. The wonton soup was good not great, the wontons with beef tasted great but the broth didn't have much flavor. The egg rolls are huge and full of meat and veggies. One entree was beef broccoli, very fresh and great taste. The broccoli and carrots were crunchy and meat was flavorful. The shrimp in lobster sauce was great. The shrimp were nice size, probably large shrimp, which is impressive for a combo meal. The shrimp were also cooked perfect, not rubbery or chewy, just firm and tasty. The reason for 4 stars and not 5, was the fried rice was extremely dry. You really needed some type of sauce to eat the rice. The wonton soup broth had no taste and they only offer unsweet Tea! Yes you heard me only unsweet Tea. We are in the south and for as many years as this restaurant has been open they should know in the south offer SWEET TEA! In closing if you like good, fresh, and tasty Chinese food, take your "cookies" to where you don't have to spend a "fortune" at Formsa. read more

Atmosphere is nice and relaxing. Service was good. A couple of times our tea got a little low. .but then again we're drinkers. Lol We got the combo for 2 people. That is a great deal with egg rolls, soup, 2 entrees and fried rice AND includes the tea. Overall a really good experience but here's why they didn't get 5 stars. The tea. . Why oh why don't they serve SWEET tea? ?? My hubby liked the wonton in the soup but didn't care for the broth. The other part that wasn't that good was the fried rice..the flavor was good but it was really dry. read more

Bear Chinese in all Chattanooga. Fresh. Great seafood dishes. !!! We drive 30 minutes to eat here . read more

Been coming here since it opened many many years ago. Never had a bad experience. My favorites include: combo egg foo young (the Gravy sauce is to die for), dragon horse chicken, Mongolian beef, and their appetizer barbecued pork. The owner is amazing and very personable. His long time manager is just as awesome. Great place. Nowhere else like it. read more

Formosa Restaurant - Egg drop soup (no onions). Love their crispy noodles and red sauce. - Shanghainese Near Me - Hixson, Tennessee

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Great food, nice portion size. All around nice atmosphere. If your thinking Chinese food you are wishing it was Formosa. read more

Formosa Restaurant - Nice and cozy - Shanghainese Near Me - Hixson, Tennessee

This place is awful, everyone raves about the great food and service. What a joke, waitress was maybe 16 and didn't care at all about how our food was she seemed to be more annoyed we were even there. Got the General Tso chicken all bread no chicken, rice was bland and awful and the so called "best" hot and sour soup was dreadful. Will never dine here again. 0/5 stars read more

Good food but an entree was not included in our takeout. When I called right after we got home, they said I wasn't charged for it Charge came through 2 days later and we were charged for the entree. So I called the restaurant AGAIN and had to supply order ID, email with the food ordered and charges, name on the order, etc even though days earlier I was told I wasn't charged. All that work just to receive a $16'credit for a meal I didn't get. Not accommodating at all for their mistakes!!! read more

Great food, fast service and great value. You even get a free meal on your birthday. Take that Provinos.. " They do that too. We had a super great and fast waitress and the food was well prepared and lots of it for the price. Over 100 menu items to choose from. I like the combination Chow Mein. My wife got the garlic chicken. Both were well flavored and came with fried rice and we also received a fortune cookie. It said.: Your meal tonight is free.." Just kidding.. In all this place cant be beat for food price and service. The young girls working there are smiling and eager to please. read more

Strangely, one of my go-to places when visiting or passing through Chattanooga. Yes, it's much like any other American-Chinese restaurant on the surface, but the food always hits the spot. And I like the old-school ambiance. read more

Not a buffet. ... really. It seems all of the Chinese restaurants in the South are buffet. This was a very nice place and very comfortable. Service was attentive and friendly. Food was very good. We will be back many times. Update - 100% our go to place for Chinese food. We eat in and do take out. Best Chinese in the area by far. We ALWAYS have the Sesame Chicken. read more

Best Chinese around. Being family owned and always a busy town favorite, I want everyone to know how hard the people at formosa work. Please understand its hard for everyone during this pandemic. There's a reason formosa has been the small corner restaurant for 45+ years read more

Formosa is probably the best local restaurant for Chinese food in Chattanooga. I have tried multiple dishes and they have all been good. I have been visiting this restaurant 10+ times per year for the last 15 years. The meat used is of a high quality when compared to other Chinese restaurants in the area, which have clearly been involved in a race to the dreadful buffet bottom. If you are from a larger city, you probably will not get too excited about this place, but it is a solid Chattanooga establishment. read more

If you are looking for amazing customer service and cheap prices with good food , look no further. This place is simi hard to find, located in the corner near planet fitness. Don't let the small size full you, they have some amazing stuff. read more

I don't quite understand the bad reviews because the good reviews say the exact opposite. I love Formosa and it has never once let me down. The prices are great for how large of a portion you get and it all tastes good. I'm writing this because I think Formosa deserves better than a 3.5 stars. read more

Heard a lot of great things about this place. Decided to give it a try. NEVER AGAIN. Wonton soup was just some greasy broth with a couple of frozen meat filled wontons and some green onion thrown in for color. The beef lo Mein tasted as if it had been seasoned with cigarette ashes. Needless to say it was all trashed. Way over priced also. I would give zero stars if that were an option read more

Very good food. Servers could be more attentive. Cozy surroundings. Will do a more detailed review next visit

My wife and I love this place. Excellent flavor and presentation. Everything is good, but the princess steak kew is the best. Not a buffet and there can be a wait but it's worth it. read more

Visiting from out of town, friends introduced me to Formosa. I was expecting "fast food" Chinese food, given the prices, but was pleasantly surprised. Good quality, fresh (and generous) portions, hot (heat hot) dishes, and quick and nice service. Ordered the Mongolian Beef, Sizzling Rice Soup, and friends ordered the off-menu Chilean Sea Bass. The Mongolian Beef and Sizzling Rice Soup were delicious....a little on the salty side, but delicious nonetheless. The Sea Bass, on the other hand -- was AMAZING. Never had anything quite like it. Absolutely amazing. Highly recommend the Sea Bass. Goes for around $15 (?) but absolutely worth it. Unfortunately wasn't able to get a picture of it...because the picture shown in this entry doesn't do any justice. Lighting was a little dim, restaurant music choice a little odd at times, but it was a hustling/bustling mom & pop Chinese restaurant. I can certainly appreciate the homegrown touch to the place. It's been open almost 30 years....you don't find many (or any) places like that anymore... read more