Very OK food. Good portion. Yellow fried rice? Why? Chewy beef and broccoli. Chow mein was OK. Look up a video and you can make it a lot better at home... same price probably You could spend what you spend here on groceries for an entire week of Chinese food... not coming back Lol Fast service and casual ambiance read more

Everytime I have gotten something from here, it has hit the spot...Last night was no different ..The full meal, soup, and egg roll were all delicious....And the Door Dash service was wonderful .... read more

Happy China - Chinese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Hadn't ordered from them in a while. Few months ago tried their lunch combination it was awful. I was really disappointed because I liked their food in the past. read more

"A cut above fast food American Chinese" Came here on a Thursday evening with a group of 10, my first time here. It's between Q-Shack and Saltbox seafood on Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd. Decent parking out front, and a fair number of tables inside. While we were there, there was maybe one other table occupied part of the time. The menu is VERY long, which was slightly overwhelming. We picked a variety of items: sesame tofu, garlic eggplant, general tso's chicken, a lotus root dish I don't remember, green beans, and more, along with a appetizers: vegetable dumplings and spring rolls. They nicely gave us extra spring rolls, too. The settings came with fork/spoon/chopsticks-- nice not to have to ask. Food started coming out maybe 10 minutes after we ordered. The dishes were quite good-- per my title above, "a cut above fast food Chinese". What I liked was that the dishes were not overly greasy, even the fried ones. They felt more fresh and light, which was lovely. A few of the dishes with something like a SUPER think sweet-and-sour sauce, which was odd (though tasted fine), but the garlic eggplant, sesame tofu, general tso's chicken, etc., were delightful. Even the green beans, which I was skeptical of, were good, and the lotus dish came in a little pot above a burner to stay warm and was super yummy. The veggie fried rice was super tasty too. Service was good-- they topped off our water regularly and checked on us. One small negative-- the cups for water were big styrofoam cups-- boo. The price was quite good-- it was about $135 before tip, which is great for 10 people, and we didn't even completely finish all the dishes we got! Overall, it's not "the best Chinese food" even in the area (check out Gourmet Kingdom!), but good, easy, inexpensive, and with good service... basically fast food prices for quality a cut above. read more

The good is good and the helpings are large. I also like the soup and the chips that come with it. Prices are reasonable.

We ordered out after realizing they had the eggplant in garlic sauce dish. I've been looking and looking for that! I grabbed said eggplant dish as well as General Tso Tofu. My mom got the Sesame Chicken, Vegetable Fried Rice, and Wonton Soup. The eggplant dish was exactly what I wanted. Exactly. It had the perfect amount of sauce, garlic, and an abundance of perfectly cooked eggplant. I will order this over and over again from here. The General Tso? Maybe not. There was a thin layer of sauce at the bottom of the dish. Although there was a lot of tofu, it was almost all dry. Very dry. Maybe they were having an off evening, and I ordered the dish just as they were running out of the sauce? I will probably try this one more time. It is one of my favorite dishes, after all. Mom says her sesame chicken was made perfectly. It had the perfect amount of sauce, and it wasn't too sweet. The rice was good, your normal vegetable fried rice. The Wonton soup was very, very salty. She won't order that one again. There was some leakage in the bags, but thankfully, they were not just in the paper bag but a plastic one as well. read more

Happy China - Eggplant in garlic sauce with white rice. - Chinese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Please DO NOT EAT HERE! I picked up take out today for first time. It was horrible, almost everything, except the white rice. Each dish is drowned in jellied slimy sauce, that oozes out of each container, all over the place. I cracked a tooth on the beef and broccoli?? How, I'll never know! There isn't a fresh element to any of it! I should have known when I saw absolutely NO ONE eating in the restaurant at 5pm on a Saturday!! Awful!!! I am hoping I'm not sick tonight! read more

It was absolutely AMAZING. I mean genuinely delicious and the portions were pretty big so you're going to be satisfied no matter what. The only gripe I have is that the owners' kid, I think his name is Kevin was too nice! If anyone sees this little asian boy, say "Great job kevin kevy boy!" The ambiance and overall look of the building was nice aswell. read more

Local anchor for foodies. High regards for their food. Disregard the trolling reviews. read more

Tried dinner at one of the few Chinese restaurants in Durham! They serve pretty flavorful Sichuan food that isn't too spicy with shareable portion sizes. We came here on a weekday evening and it was pretty empty for dine-in. We ate: Spicy Beef Dry Pot ($19.99) - Like hot pot but everything is stir fried! Pretty good. Mapo Tofu with Minced Pork ($13.99) - This is comfort food for me! read more

Happy China - Mapo Tofu with Minced Pork ($13.99) IG: michellelieats - Chinese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Last Saturday night went out dinner with family first time eat in happy China my grandson liked lo main noodle and all adults liked Peking duck seafood sizzling and fish fillets in spicy sauce everything was delicious service was smooth we love this place read more

Happy China - Chinese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Food was good! Staff was very friendly. We did takeout, so can only comment on food. We will dine here again when visiting Durham NC.

Still consistent with the limited dishes I tried recently. Gave this another shot despite the recent reviews and change in ownership. Service: Takeout only. Seemed harried - not an unpleasant experience, but more used to this in corner takeouts in Philly. Didn't tell me a total before I gave them payment, so I had to ask. Really? Food: Shredded Pork with Dried Tofu: Very good, with sliced garlic and celery. Wontons in chili oil: Really spicy and I used the oil for frozen dumplings the rest of the week. Singapore Mei Fun: Variety of protein and they did not skimp on the chicken. Spicy. Overall: I'd go back but be choosy about my dishes. Three stars are for the food. read more

Happy China - Shredded Pork, Wontons in Chili Oil, rice, Singapore Mei fun. - Chinese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

My housemate and I were SOooooo hungry, but she knew what she wanted, right away: General Tso's Chicken and House fried rice, no shrimp, with extra beef and chicken. I like, no LOVE quite a few Chinese American dishes, so it was a little harder for me. I decided to try something completely different today: Sour Cabbage with Crispy Intestine. The rest of the order was completed with Hot n' Sour Soup and Fried Chicken wings. Well, the Sour Cabbage was definitely sour, but delicious. The pieces of intestine, however, weren't crispy. Their consistency was more chewy than crispy. The dish was tasty, I don't like black beans in anything because they are bitter to me, so I knew not to eat them. Overall, I was proud of myself for trying a new Authentic dish that I liked. The hot n' Sour Soup was so good. If you're vegetarian, it is an amazing option for you. There's no meat in it. Some restaurants use tofu as well as either chicken or pork. It was spiced with just the right amount of spice too. I don't like it when it's so spicy that I can't enjoy it. The fried chicken wings were fried harder than I liked, but they were nicely seasoned. Everything was piping hot, and I am definitely going to continue to order delivery from them. read more

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Was hungry wanted some Chinese. Was near Happy China, ate here before so I figured I would check it out. Receptionist took my order. I figured it would be the usual 10 minutes or so. Little did I know I would still be here 25 minutes later still waiting on my food. Food is good, order ahead of time, as there is a long wait if you don't. read more

Worst food of any genre that I've had in recent memory. I used to love this place but hadn't been since before the pandemic. Everything was bland and uninspired, bordering on unseasoned. It was so bad that I didn't ask for a box to bring home what was left. I won't be back. read more

Ordered some take out, wasn't given a pick up time so I got there before it was ready. That's fine. But considering it was freshly prepared I'm pretty disappointed in the quality. Egg roll and crab rangoon had no crunch. Like they'd been fried hours earlier and reheated. General Tso tofu had the same issue, really dried out and under sauced. One bright spot was the Chili Wontons. Those were quite good. Maybe they just had an off night. Would consider trying their other (non fried) Szechuan dishes, but probably not for a while. read more

Kids loved the dumplings, Orange chicken and sesame chicken. Ambiance was a little lacking, but service was quick and it was clean.

Just moved to Durham and after a long day of unpacking etc placed a delivery order thru Door Dash. The app said the food was delivered but it wasn't. Called restaurant twice, and an increasing hostile man kept insisting they didn't have a delivery for me (never asked my name) and said they didn't use Door Dash. After driving through my neighborhood (thank god for photos) I found my food. the soup soaked thru the bag and at this point I'm too tired to eat. Tomorrow I will go exploring because I'm never using Happy China again! read more

The duck has more bone than actual meat. If you don't want to debone it prior to chopping it in pieces than don't chop it at all! At least that way I can debone it myself and don't have to deal with tiny pieces of bone everywhere. As it is now it feels like eating leftovers. read more

Happy China - Peking Duck - Chinese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Ok I redact my opinion. I can't rate a place 3 stars and go there every other week. There are now 6 things on the menu I give 4-5 stars and recommend them to everyone! -Sichuan Fish Noodle Soup (see earlier review) -Double cooked pork belly - they may have upped they spicy peppers game since I first reviewed because those suckers are HOT and give me LIFE. I drool just thinking about them. -Spicy beef tenderloin vermicelli casserole - this may be my new fave. Even more so than the fish. Spicy, flavorful, huge portion, tender beef, delicious noodles, cabbage - aka all things good. -Mongolian beef - Americanized but really good, super tender beef -Cumin lamb - nice and coming -Fried rice - so weird that this impressed me but it's so good and addicting Anyways, Happy China has officially become my go to Chinese restaurant in Durham so yay Happy China and yay me! read more

This review is strictly based on delivery and takeout from Happy China. As a grad student and part-time bartender in the Triangle, I am constantly searching for my go-to Chinese takeout place. Y'all, after 4 years, I finally found it! Happy China offers a ton of entree options for the carnivores and herbivores alike, which means everyone is happy when we order for late-night study sessions. I absolutely LOVE their steamed dumplings and order them every single time. I wish the recipes were less dependent on who is cooking them, as I've had some incredible versions of entrees and some just rather average. Clearly that hasn't stopped me from ordering from them again and again (just ask my Door Dash account lol)... Prices are very fair for the portions you receive and leftovers reheat wonderfully in the microwave, which is clutch for other fellow grad/professional students. read more

Ordered kungpao chicken and got received a container of chicken nuggets, called into talk to someone about the order and they were extremely rude. Won't eat there again read more

We finally decided to try Happy China this week after hearing about its authentic spicy Sichuan food for years. The interior is surprisingly nice for a Chinese restaurant with red and black accents, wooden blinds, and a unique slanted roof for the main seating area. The bathroom is clean and spacious. Our waiter somehow knew that I spoke Mandarin (is it that obvious??), so I was able to practice more of my Mandarin and order in half Chinese half English. Our food arrived pretty quickly. My husband ordered the pepper steak lunch special, which is an awesome deal for lots of rice, green peppers, onions, and steak in a tangy sauce, with a egg drop soup or hot/sour soup that comes with crispy won ton strips. His plate was a nice non-spicy balance for the dish I ordered, Fish Fillet in Spicy Sichuan Sauce, translated directed as "water-boiled fish". This is one of my favorite Sichuan dishes and though the name of the dish doesn't sound very enticing, it comes packed with red hot chili peppers, numbing peppercorns, cabbage, and tender fish filets. Happy China's version also comes with lots of cabbage. The waiter very kindly refilled my water cup at least 4 times because the fish was so spicy. I ended up taking the leftovers home and eating it for several more meals because the portions are generous. All in all it was a reasonably priced lunch, especially their lunch specials! I'd love to return to try more items in the Sichuan Specials section of the menu, like Mapo Tofu. read more

Happy China - Huge bowl of water boiled fish - Chinese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Of the authentic Chinese restaurants in the general area that I've tried, this one does not make the top tier by a fairly large degree. The Dan Dan Noodles ($6.95) falls far short of that at Super Wok, China Palace, or Gourmet Kingdom. The noodles are of the larger variety and dominant the dish here because the pork is sparse, as is the heat required in this dish, and there is an overwhelming taste of peanuts - not a dish I would order again. The Salt & Pepper Shrimp ($12) was just a very strange rendition of this dish. The Shrimp are very, very heavily breaded, and the salt & pepper tastes are so muted as to be almost undetectable, save for the few sautéed vegetables that accompany this dish. Another dish I would not order again. The Tri-Pepper Chicken ($12.95) was the best of breed of the dishes we ordered, but again was not in the same league as that at other area restaurants that offer authentic Chinese dishes. There was a decent amount of chicken, with decent flavor, but the entire dish was greasy, and the peppers were almost exclusively of the red variety, which really are not for consumption, but are to provide heat. Yet another dish I would not order again. The restaurant is well lit, nicely decorated, and the service is friendly, if a touch slow, and a bit unfocused - twice I had to ask for a water refill. The prices are high, even for the lunch specials, considering the quality of the food. There is much better food close by. read more

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A definite downgrade in recent years. I do not recommend mapo tofu (not spicy) and gong bao chicken (extremely dry...). I do recommend however the spicy szechuan boiled fish, it's some of the best in the area. Menu items are a hit or miss, but they do offer easy online ordering and timely pick ups. read more

I had a late night craving with 20-minutes before Happy China closed. I placed an order through yelp and arrived 10 minutes before closing. When I arrived, I told that person at the register that I placed my order online. She said that they tried calling me but couldn't reach me, although I did not receive any calls. She insisted that they will start cooking it right away, I didn't want to be bothersome so I declined since it was closing time. She insisted so I accepted. I ordered the dumplings and egg drop soup. They were both good; although the dumplings were tiny. Overall, it was good for a late night dinner. I am also appreciative of the effort that Happy China made to accommodate me. Thank you! read more

As a group of 4, the table we got was a bit cramped. I wish they seated us in a booth or a larger table. My mom had to flag down a waiter so we could order. It seemed pretty busy so it was semi-understandable. It was also way too cold inside. I was literally shivering in my seat and couldn't wait to leave. We ordered 4 dishes: ma po tofu, eggplant with brown sauce, sautéed green beans, and scallion beef. The eggplant with brown sauce was pretty good, but I've had better. The sautéed green beans were a little too charred for me. You could definitely see the black marks on the beans and taste it too. The scallion beef seemed like a mound of onions and a few measly pieces of beef. For the amount you're paying, I expect a little bit more meat. The ma po tofu was way too spicy for my tastes. I definitely had to chug some water after having one small piece of tofu. I also have to note that I'm from Dallas where there's an abundance of Asian food so for the limited variety here, it was okay. read more

Happy China - Scallion beef - Chinese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Ordered chicken with broccoli and cashew chicken last night. It was pretty bad. The cashew chicken was friend and salted, little flavor. The chicken with broccoli was bland. This is my first visit since pre covid and I don't remember it being this poor. read more

I ordered take out from here. Personally, I really enjoyed the food. I thought most of our orders were very tasty. However, some of them were different thank expected. For example, the chicken and cashews was made with a fried coating, a sauce that tasted similar to orange chicken and didn't have many cashews. The cold sesame noodles did not seem to look or taste like cold sesame noodles that I've had elsewhere. From a COVID protection perspective, this restaurant seems to have an EXCELLENT setup. Really impressive. They had our food ready pretty quickly. I used a Yelp discount coupon that they were unsure of but ultimately let me use it. I would order from here again although I may stick to the lo mein. read more

Happy China has quickly become a favorite Durham staple of my partner and I! During COVID, Happy China has been a fantastic take out option for us where we feel safe and comfortable with the health and safety measures the staff take. Not only is the comfort and safety a nice aspect, the food is just incredible! I have to restrain myself from eating my entire entree in one sitting if I want to have any leftovers-it's just so tasty! Happy China will always be our go to Chinese eatery in the Bull City! read more

First bad Yelp review. I only use this platform to try and add good reviews, but this is gross!! If I could give less than one star I would. AVOID. Worst take out ever!!! 1 egg roll and Dan Dan was more than $30 delivered. Do not order. Literally spaghetti noodles with cilantro do not eat here. I order out all the time and this was the worst experience, dry spaghetti noodles with a lil bit of cilantro. Again I only use Yep for good but I wanna spare someone from wasting their $$ read more

Happy China - Worst takeout ever. This is supposed to be Dan Dan. Don't waste your $ also this cost like $13 gross - Chinese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Happy China is a decent Chinese place in Durham, but coming from CA, I didn't enjoy it much at all. Menu The apps, entrees, specials, etc are all of the standard Chinese - American dishes - nothing especially exciting. They did a great job with spicing things properly and allow you to pick your spice level on your foods. Cost is pretty average as well, but I wouldn't recommend eating here by yourself. Food Vegetarian Dumplings: Edible, but not at all delicious. It came in this weird green-blue color, which seemed like fake food colouring? The wrap around the dumpling was about twice as thick as it should have been, so every bite tasted mostly of the carbs wrapping the food, rather than a good mix of both. Honey Walnut Shrimp: Wayyyy too sweet and sticky. I could just taste how unhealthy this was as I ate it. Dragon and Phoenix: They were very light on the meat with this dish. I didn't eat this (as I'm vegetarian) but was told it was delicious nonetheless. Service There was practically no wait, but I went on an off-time so this may not be reflective. The servers were polite, but failed to give us the check in a timely fashion. Overall, the service was decent - nothing spectacular but nothing great either. TL;DR An overpriced restaurant that is only worth it if you have a late night Chinese craving. read more

Happy China - Vegetable dumplings steamed - Chinese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

------ TL;DR Decent Chinese food. Great value if you come with friends and split the bill! My friends and my go-to place for a more authentic Chinese food experience in Durham. +FOOD+ - Dan Dan Noodles w/ Minced Pork (4 stars): These were delicious cold peanut-buttery(?) dan dan noodles. Hardly spicy. - Eggplant with Garlic Sauce (4 stars): A little oily but deliciously garlicky and soft eggplant. Not that spicy. - Seafood Soup (3 stars): Lots of fake crab pieces mixed with some shrimp, corn, carrots, and peas. Surprisingly has a good seafood flavor though. - Dry Sautéed String Beans (3 stars): These were not at the level of quality that they usually are. They were not crunchy like good dry stir-fried garlic green beans are. Regardless, the garlic flavor was good. - Fish filet in Spicy Sichuan Sauce (3 stars): Tender fish pieces with lots and lots of Napa cabbage soaking in a very spicy, mouth-numbing soup. Eat this on a cold winter's day. - Mapo Tofu w/ Minced Pork (3 stars): Soft cubes of tofu coated in more mouth-numbing spicy Sichuan sauce. Flavorful for the first five seconds before your mouth registers the capsaicin. - Pork with Hot Chili Peppers (2.5 stars): The pork was too dry despite having a nice bacon-y flavor. Don't eat the peppers or your mouth will be on fire for the rest of the night (if it isn't already from the other dishes). - Pork dumplings (2.5 stars): I think you could find better elsewhere. Pork filling was pretty boring. +EXPERIENCE+ I came here with myself and 6 other friends. Total bill per guest was ~$11 not including tip. For all this food, I'd say that's a pretty good deal! Service was adequate. It definitely helps if you speak Chinese. What was very impressive is the speed with which our dishes came out. Our first dishes (the green beans and pork) came out literally 5 minutes after placing our order. We finished our meal in about 1 hour after arriving to the restaurant. From my experience, Happy China is your best option if you're looking for authentic Chinese food in Durham and is close to Duke. Use your student ID for a student discount! (Bless.) I would come back here. I would not order as many spicy dishes, though! You need balance in a meal haha. Visited 2/23/18 read more

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Where to begin. This was one of the worst dining experiences I've had in a while. Happy China is a place I've been to a couple of times before, had solid service and good food. Today, we didn't receive either. It started immediately when I asked the server a simple question about how many people a particular dish served. I didn't get the impression that she knew what she was doing, and worse, that she knew the menu. Our food started coming out and a dish was missing and one completely wrong. We were sure the server wrote it down wrong and when we called them out on, they acted is if we did something wrong. In the end, they fixed the mistake, but it still rubbed us the wrong way. The food itself was okay. In the past, I remember it being a lot more flavorful. It's definitely changed for the worse. Here's the killer. The service. Not only was the server inattentive, but the manager didn't back her up and pick up the slack - and the place was empty. As a former server, this stood out to me. Drinks didn't get refilled, sharing plates had to be requested, and we generally felt forgotten. It's your job as manager to come to the table and apologize. To offer something to make it right. To put forth an effort. He didn't do any of that until we approached him. At the end of the meal, we complained to the manager. Would you believe his response was to not leave a tip. How is that an appropriate response? No, she didn't earn the standard 20%, but we weren't going to leave her with nothing. I found that response to be appalling and in poor taste. He took $10 off the meal. As a black man, I've always paid attention to how we're treated when dining out at various restaurants. We sometimes deal with the false perception that POC don't tip. This misconception impacts the service we receive in relation to the tip they THINK they will get. I think that false stereotype was at play in this situation. Do yourself a favor and find one of the many other Chinese restaurants in and around the Triangle. Poor service and bland food is a recipe for going out of business. There's too much competition in Durham for this type of experience. read more

Do not waste your time, money, or energy. This place is now under new management. The new owners have apparently only had the place for 6 months and they have already completely failed at the one reason the are open for business. Good food and hospitality. The food was terrible, the broccoli tasted as though it had not been cooked at all and the crab Rangoon tasted like plastic. I am not one to usually say something but after the manager did not take the time to come talk to me after politely telling the waitress that the food was not worth paying for (or it even being worth sparing to be thrown away) and only finding my feedback worth $5, I wasn't having it. I didn't want to say something in the first place because I don't want to be "that person," but I found the whole thing unacceptable. I didn't even fight the "discount" and that I failed at, but at least I didn't completely fail my new investment. Once what was a regular go to place to eat is now written off completely. read more

Very disappointed. Original owners must have sold out during pandemic because the building is painted gold now, no longer red. Food is no longer authentic. I ordered a dry-stir fried dish. It came out drowning in common brown sauce. The fried rice was sticky and bland. No better than what you can get at shopping center food courts. The manager/owner upfront will try to shortchange you. He will try to round the order up to the nearest whole dollar. Instead of $23.43, he will ask for $24 payment. If you give him a 50-cents, he will not give back any change unless you ask for it. Dubious character. At least I was comfortable that the food was safely prepared with fresh ingredients read more

this is the worst chinese food that I have ever had.... I have very low standards for chinese food, even the chinese food at the mall I enjoy, but this is just unacceptable. Ordered Kung Pow chicken and *no joke* what I received was tan colored soggy fried chicken nuggets with uncooked peanuts on top. no vegetables, no peppers, ZERO sauce... never have seen this before. I tried drenching it in duck sauce, but that added no flavor only calories. DO NOT EAT HERE read more

My family requested Chinese food for Christmas dinner. I have not eaten Chinese food since 2001 because it doesn't agree with my digestive system. However, since Christmas is all about giving, I decided to accommodate the requests from my wife and children. I was clueless about the Chinese food scene, so I turned to a subject matter expert: my neighbor, Adam, who is Jewish. Adam was thrilled to learn his Sicilian neighbor was going to partake in the Jewish tradition of eating Chinese food on Christmas Day. Adam said that Happy China was my best option. I placed an online order at 4:38 PM. The email confirmation from Happy China stated my order would be ready for pick up at 4:54 PM. I arrived at 5:15 PM to pick up my food. I walked into the restaurant and was startled to see 20+ people lined up waiting to speak with the hostess. However, I was comforted to see the majority of customers to be Jewish. It's always fun to see stereotypes come to fruition. The line consisted of people waiting to pick up their food or requesting to be seated. I went to the end of the line and waited for my turn to speak with the hostess. My opportunity arrived at 5:28 PM. I showed the hostess my confirmation email and expected to receive my food. She informed me the order was never placed. I told her this must have been a mistake since I have an email claiming the order would be ready at 4:54 PM. The hostess showed me a stack of 30+ pages of printed out orders from their website. She said, "These are all of the orders placed online after 4:00 PM. We got too busy, so we stopped processing online orders. We also disconnected our phone because it was ringing non-stop." I asked how I would order my food. She said, "I can place the order now and you can pay now. Be ready in 20 minutes." With few options, I reluctantly placed an order in-person for the food I ordered an hour ago. The hostess didn't apologize nor did she offer a discount. I paid the full amount and joined a congregation of disgruntled customers waiting for their food. I watched helplessly as the people behind me in line walked through the same timeline of events: Ask for their food only to find out the order was never placed. No apologies or discounts. Some customers walked out in disgust without placing their orders for a second time, but most people waited because they were left with limited dining options on Christmas Day. After waiting ten minutes for my food to arrive, the hostess yelled, "Take out orders will be at least another hour!" The incompetence of the staff at Happy China was unlike anything I had ever witnessed. It's like the Island of Misfit Toys was allowed to work at a restaurant on Christmas Day. Customers' orders were never placed. People with reservations were told their tables weren't available. And those who were seated waited up to 30 minutes for a waiter to approach their table for the first time. Customers waiting for take out orders were getting increasingly restless. Take out orders trickled out from the kitchen and were placed on a table behind the hostess counter. However, employees at the hostess counter ignored the incoming food and continued placing orders for exasperated customers. After spending 40 minutes waiting and watching the situation mushroom into a full-on grease fire, I decided to take matters into my own hands. At 6:10 PM, I walked behind the hostess counter and told the staff, "I'm going to help you." They were startled by my presence, but they didn't stop me. I went through take out orders one at time and read off the names for each one. People came forward to verify the order and I checked to ensure they paid for the food. I went through a dozen take out orders and the crowd began to shrink. The employee running take out orders from the kitchen to the hostess stand bypassed the table and handed the orders directly to me. Unfortunately, my food wasn't one of the orders. I waited well over an hour since arriving at Happy China. All I wanted was the food I allegedly ordered that was most likely going to induce diarrhea. At 6:44 PM, an employee from the kitchen emerged and handed me a take out order. I looked at the receipt and yelled out the person's name. "Gino! That's me! This is my food! THIS IS MY FOOD!" I waited 2 hours and 6 minutes for my food to arrive since I placed an online order. I pumped my fist in the air like a lunatic since people don't yell and pump their fists in the air when picking up Chinese food. But I did. You're God damn right I did. I exchanged fist bumps with the cheering crowd as I walked to the exit. One woman pointed and exclaimed, "You deserve that food!" Another jubilant man yelled, "Mazel tov!" When I approached the door, I turned around to offer my parting words. "Happy Hanukkah, everyone!" The crowd erupted in applause. I walked out into the night knowing I will never see these people again because there's no way in hell I will ever return to Happy China. read more

Happy China - This was my point of view from behind the hostess counter as I attempted to distribute take out orders to dispirited customers. - Chinese Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

We ordered general Tso tofu and Moshu. Our tofu and moshu were generally good. We received our tofu without any rice as is a part of the meal. We should have checked it before leaving the store. Too far to drive to go back and get it. read more