My mom used to buy me their amazing chicken rice soup whenever I was sick as a kid. This place is super nostalgic to me and I still enjoy it today. Everything was great except the spring rolls, but even then they were just alright. Highly recommend :^) read more

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I just left the restaurant and I cannot believe I am about to write these next few words. Let me start by saying the food here is absolutely delicious. Almost anything you get is going to be fresh, hot, well seasoned, amazing authentic food. We arrived and were seated immediately. Ordered drinks and a few appetizers: egg rolls and house pancake thing they are known for. Our egg rolls came out fairly quickly and were really good. As I look down to start to prepare my iced tea (lime/sugar, etc...) I look down at my drink and find a ROACH! And it's one of the tiny ones that would imply they have an infestation. To make matters worse, the waitress was LESS than apologetic and merely said "ok, let me get you another iced tea." My friend who I was with stormed out. The waitress INSISTED I pay for the egg rolls, drinks and the pancake that hadn't arrived. ARE YOU INSANE! I just found a roach floating in my drink! She went as far as calling a manager and followed us to our car!!! Not only do I not want to eat here, but how dare you insist I PAY! Wow...needless to say once the manager was involved we left and will absolutely never be returning here again. I wish I could rate it higher because the food is amazing, but I cannot in my conscious mind rate any restaurant that has a roach problem anything more than a 1 Star. read more

If you are having a hard time deciding what type of Asian cuisine you crave, head to Tan Tan - their menu has it all and then some! This is seriously one of the largest, most diverse menus I have ever seen; the hard part becomes deciding what to get. I ordered the fried dumplings and the bell pepper steak - both were delicious and with large portions, so there is plenty to take home. Staff was friendly and attentive. Plenty of parking, too! read more

Ordered pan fried seafood noodles, specified no mushrooms. Food came with mushrooms, and when I asked someone about it (she seemed to be the manager of the place), she claimed that those were a different type of mushroom and told me to stop arguing with her. That aside, the rest of the dish was obviously not fresh-- the squid was tough and the fish balls tasted awful. I'm not sure what goes on in the kitchen but the food, servers, and management all get one star. read more

First time here with the fam last month, and ordered a few staples that a few other Yelpers recommended. Bot Chien: 3/5, definitely was expecting the vietnamese street food version and these were not it, however it wasn't bad. The bot chien pieces were crispy and light, which is most important for me, the sauce was very boring, I think it's just a mixture of soy and vinegar? Overall this was pretty boring, one plate was enough to share for four people, wouldn't order again. Stir fried flat rice noodles with beef & Chinese broccoli: 5/5, this is my go to when visiting any Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant and it definitely did not disappoint here! They created the perfect smoky and savory flavor all throughout the dish, and the rice noodles were of perfect texture as well. The beef and broccoli was well proportion with the entire dish, couldn't stop eating it! Peking duck: 4/5, we got the half order, came with sweet steamed buns and the signature sauce. The duck was tender and perfectly cut/juicy, the color was nice and skin crispy. I love eating this stuffed inside the buns and dipped in the sauce! However the sauce was a miss for me, it was just way too sweet, although nothing that couldn't be fixed with a little mixing. The duck was good enough for me to keep coming back for more. Trieu Chau noodle soup: 5/5 YUMMY! The broth was soon delicious, so much flavor without the grease! We got this with thin egg noodles and it's the perfect combo, topped with some fish balls, and honestly a few things that I can't recall the name of, it is pictured below though! Highly recommend this if you're in the mood for noodle soup. The service and overall cleanliness of this place was a 3, the staff weren't rude, but also weren't very attentive, would stop by again when i'm in town next to try a few of their other dishes. The table next to us ordered hot pot and that looked really good. read more

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Good food, fast service. Pricey but worth the time. I definitely recommend giving it a try

Sesame chicken is amazing! I've came here ever since I was about 10 yrs old and this place never disappoints. I love their food, the manager is so nice and will make sure everyone is taken care of. If you want good Vietnamese and Chinese food you can't beat it! read more

Tan Tan - Sesame chicken - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

A classic. I've been coming here since I was a little kid. Just landed from the airport? Tan tan. Just got out from a late night concert? Tan tan. Family party? Tan tan. So many memories here. We still come because the food is always consistent and the service is always fast. We've tried so many things on the menu. The most frequent things we order are : salt & pepper squid, house special rice cake, & fried rice. Sometimes when we're feeling soup, their wonton noodle soup is always a hit. Their menu is just overwhelming and you'll always find something for everyone. It's the perfect place to have a casual dinner read more

I'm not even sure why people don't like this place that much. The actual definition of their reviews are unhinged. My family and I always go here to eat when ever we do, the food always pleases us. I would recommend coming here every now and then for a good and quick meal. The waiters never disappoint us with their exceptional speed and service. I really like this place and come here to have a good time. read more

What DELICIOUS food. I loved it. We were there with another couple. We ordered 5 dishes. Each and every dish was DELICIOUS. Wow! Most definitely be back. I've been going to the wrong places. Service was good. Most of the service people were very nice. The lady that took our order could use a little more patience..we ordered 5 dishes or 6 dishes- she showed she didn't like waiting for us to decide. STILL the food made up for it. read more

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Absolutely Amazing food and service. Always interesting to see what delights are coming out of the kitchen. Highly recommended!

If you've lived in Houston your whole life, then you know that this is the only restaurant that you ever want to go to with your parents. It's one of the classic Bellaire restaurants that serves cheap Chinese/Vietnamese food. This place was also the go to place after a night of drinking -- I believe they used to open till 3-4am but not sure if they do anymore -- there's also always security at the front. Some of my favorite items include: - House Special Rice Cake/Banh Bot Chien/A1 - classic and must have for every meal. Literally what Tan Tan is known for because I haven't found a place that's comparable. - Wonton Noodle Soup with egg noodle - basic but yet so good - Chicken Noodle Soup with flat rice noodle - been getting this since I was little and their flavors have not changed. Overall, I would recommend this restaurant to anyone in Houston or even if they're just visiting Houston. Food and service are both fast and efficient. read more

How? How in the world am I only just finding out about Tan Tan? I go to a Korean church. I know that doesn't mean much to almost everyone reading this review, but Korean churches serve lunch after service. On Christmas day, they ran out of food, so the entire English speaking college age congregation was not served. Our pastor agreed to have the church pay for our lunch, but where in the world are you going to find an open restaurant on Christmas? The obvious answer was China town because most Asian cultures don't celebrate Christmas. I had the sweet and sour short ribs. Honestly, I wasn't a big fan, but I realized that I got the most Americanized thing on the menu. Looking around, I saw tons of Chinese families enjoying authentic meals. The live lobster, tilapia, and dungeness crab in tanks by the front door and the family style meals made me think that this place was legit and worth another shot. I cannot express how glad I am that I dragged myself back to this restaurant! The food is so moderately priced, your wallet will sing (lobster dish for $15-ish? Holla!). I had the broiled fish in clay pot. I swear to you, take that tender flakey fish and sauce and mix that with your white rice and you'll never look back. Tan Tan has made me a faithful, repeat customer and my mouth waters when I look a clay pots. ... is that weird? read more

This place looks like an OG spot in Houston. Definitely a favorite of the locals. It's Vietnamese/Chinese food here. We ordered a few dishes. The signature Banh Bot Chien which is a deep fried rice cake with eggs. The crispy pan fried egg noodles with meat. And we also got the wonton soup. The Banh Bot Chien is the stand out dish here. Very hot coming out and the soy sauce dipping makes it amazing. It's so good! It's not the cleanest place but it's the place to go to for good homestyle cooking. Great hangover food for sure! Recommendation: Banh Bot Chien read more

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Just came back from Tan Tan. My friend and I literally drove around Houston at 11pm just now looking for some good, cheap, late-night grub. She just moved here, and I'm visiting. I looked up "restaurants that open late in houston" on Google on my Nokia N82, and sure enough, Tan Tan on Yelp showed up on the first page of results. We called and was told that they closed at 3am! We had no idea what kind of Asian food it was (naturally, based on the name, we guessed Chinese). On yelp, it had 14 reviews and an overall 4.5 stars. It must be a hit. We couldn't care less because we just painted an apartment and hadn't eaten since 2pm! We greeted by someone who wasn't Chinese, but we knew this place was a hit because of all the Asian (and non-Asian) patrons. You can smell all the food right away. Their menus were printed in color with photographs. The choices were endless! From Vietnamese plates to live seafood. They literally asked us 4 or 5 times if we were ready to order, because we took so damn long to decide. When you do order, the food will get to your table faster than you can unwrap your wooden chopsticks. They have one of the MOST efficient staff we've ever seen! I swear they have eagle eyes. They all wear ear pieces like the Secret Service. If anything or anyone needs attention, they're there. They refilled our waters several times. I'm not sure if they really cared about us as customers, or they just wanted to maintain their record turnovers. Oh, and the food was great. Having grown up in Hong Kong and Northern California, I know good Chinese food. For the price (~$6-8/dish), the food was very commendable. Not too salty, oily, spicy -- not overly anything. Makes me want to move to Houston, because nothing opens until 3am in San Fran. :( And this place is HUGE! UPDATE (6/30/08): Believe it not, my friend and I went back AGAIN! It was 10pm on a Sunday night. Nothing is open on Sundays here. Even on Sunday nights they need the two cops protecting the joint. Inside was a very good mix of people of all ages, ethnicities, and levels of hotness. :) And it's 10pm on a Sunday night! This time, we ordered spring rolls, porridge (jook), and beef stew with wide egg noodle + wontons. The wontons were not as fresh or "song how" (Cantonese for crispy, in an elastic kind of way) as I had hoped. The soup was uber thick -- more like a paste -- but pretty flavorful (read: MSG). I should've ordered a large, because I finished the bowl in less than 3 minutes. Then, 5 minutes later, the spring rolls came. A lot of the tables ordered hot pot. The ingredients looked very fresh. I peaked over to the South Asian family next to us, and their seafood fried rice was HUGE and looked mouth watering. This Chinese couple nearby ordered the stir-fry macroni. I've never seen that in my life. I must order that next time. One thing everyone gets is the iced/sweet tea. They come in the same beer-mug-sized cups as your water with straw. Service was still good. The neon lights reminded me of cheesy but eye-catching restaurants in China. My friend also pointed out the giant fainted waterfall wall art where the water appears to flow. Classic old-school Chinese restaurant decor. :) The large bathroom was surprisingly VERY clean and didn't smell bad atall -- very rare in any men's restroom, especially at a cheap-Asian-food establishment. I'm definitely coming back before I fly home to California. read more

Tan Tan - Stiry-fry flat rice noodle + Chinese broccoli and chicken, Hunan beef, garlic ong choy - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

You remember those nights when you would come to Tan Tan all buzzed after a good night out? Do you remember that one time that you ordered something but ended up falling asleep on the table? Do you remember those nights when Tan Tan actually opened super duper late on the weekends? Well, remember them. Because Tan Tan now closes at midnight everyday. Even on Fridays and Saturday nights. This mean, no more coming here for a good meal after a good night out. The food quality hasn't changed - still oh so delicious. Their three flavored rice is still the bomb! The wonton noodle soup is still the bomb. The one thing that has kind of changed, I notice, is the banh bot chien (rice cake). It's a little bit more starchy/chewy these days. I mean, it still tastes great, but I don't like the texture as much. The service is still what to be expected at an Asian restaurant. They provide minimal service and expect a huge tip. Tan Tan is now more of a "to-go" place for me. I call it in, I drive in, pick up my food, and leave. If I wanted to dine in, I'd rather go to the Westheimer location since they actually do provide better service over there (I live pretty much within the same distance to both locations.) Similar food quality with similar service, but no more late hours? Sorry Tan Tan, I'm going to have to penalize you for that. My fellow Yelpers, pay attention to the new closing hours. Don't drive here all the way from Midtown/Downtown/Washington area expecting to have a good late night dinner. You'll be disappointed. read more

We are in Houston on business and Tan Tan was recommended- before going we read all the negative reviews Must say after dining here and the great experience we had - I do not think the folks writing these negative comments visited this place The service was magnificent- our waitresses were polite- punctual- professional and the food was awesome We are going to be here a week so we decided to do a sampling and carry the leftovers to enjoy We ordered both the duck and hot and sour soup- the serving was literally enough for 10 people!! We ordered the egg rolls - fried and plain rice- and cheese puffs We had a most enjoyable and delightful meal and took enough with us for 3 more meals A 5 star or 5 rating does not truly relate our satisfaction with Tan Tan and its service and professionalism Therefore- we give it a 7 Dale & Linda B Fort Worth Texas read more

THE place for banh bot chien. The rice cakes are crispy, not at all soggy, and the fried onions just makes it so fragrant and delicious. Peking duck is served with steamed buns, hoisin sauce, green onions, and CUCUMBERS. Yasss! There's an option for half a duck which is cool if you're dining with a friend or two and not the whole fam. Snow pea leaves with garlic is so so good with steamed rice. The house fried rice was good but a bit on the bland side. There's a good variety on their menu. I probably should explore other restaurants when I'm in town but when I visit Houston, I crave good Chinese/Vietnamese food and I usually end up here! read more

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I just took my parents and friends here for dinner. While I was a fan, my purist hapa-hapa father who was seeking Cantonese-style only was disappointed. My Cantonese mother, who can appreciate most southeast Asian food and therefore could appreciate the slight Vietnamese infusion, loved this place. My Americanized friends thought it was great, too. The house favorites here are: - the pan-fried (crispy) noodles (read: Hong Kong style chow mein, bird's nest noodle) - the house fried rice w/ lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and cha siu (BBQ pork) - the "rice cake" - a sort of omelette with chow fun and veggies on top In addition to these, I ordered Cantonese style beef ball soup for my mom by her request. She kept raving the whole evening how that was the best beef ball soup she's ever had. (Her dad was a chef for the US Navy's Admiral of the Pacific during WWII; she's got standards.) Again, I love Tan Tan's late night hours. You can't go wrong with this food at 9 or 10 o'clock. read more

First things first, the odor you smell right when you walk in is super unpleasant! It was this sour and musty mists that just hits you. It was quite unbearable. But whatever.. Alright so the food.. Tan Tan come on.. You've been around for so long yet you couldn't even get the food right? I left so dissatisfied and feeling even more hungry than when I first came. So we got the lobster specials 2 for $19.99.. Great price but the lobster was poorly executed. Barely any meat inside, and completely drenched in sauce. I asked for the ginger & scallions but it felt like I had the lobsters drowned in oyster sauce! So disappointing! Combination hot pot wasn't bad, but the veggies were extremely wilted and just lifeless. For some reason the meatballs had a weird sour taste to it. Ugh. I'm not a fan of the fried rice cake (banh bot chien) was probably the only thing that tasted decent for tonight but it's not even one of my favorite. Only reason why I didn't give it 1 star bc the service was actually on point. My drinks were always refilled, and they attentively kept taking dirty plates away. Not too shabby! Ooh and I liked how they blasted the AC! Felt good while eating hot pot haha read more

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One of the worst and expensive flat noodle plate that we got, thank god we ordered only one dish because their food is not worth more than $10....we got the seafood that came with shitty frozen crab sticks that tasted like they were a year old soggy....we barely had any seafood in it, not even scallops...this place is a rip off, so many better Chinese places around the area Do not come ! read more

Tan Tan - Terrible seafood flat noodles for $12..... - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

I only eat two things when I am here. The House Special Rice Cake for appertizer and the Wonton Noodle soup. But really, I can the the Rice cake all day. This is the only place that has it and it's very tasty. The day I flew back home, I stopped by and ordered 3 and had to ziplock them so they won't stink up in the airplane. So if you are in town, give the Rice cake a try. And if you live in VA, make sure order one to go for me. read more

I like this place and understand that Asian restaurants doesn't give good service but this is a big no no. My group had to repeat to the waiter five times to take out the flat noodles and replace it with the crunchy fried noodles. He rolled his eyes at us and gave that nasty attitude. After taking our orders we never saw him again, on top of that my water had some noodles in it! After that incident, never again am I coming back here. read more

Whenever someone says we should grab Chinese food, first place that anyone mentions is Tan Tan, didn't know what all the fuss was about, but now I do! The food is just good! I guess a busy restaurant is a good problem to have because there are tons of people waiting outside and huge families eating together as well. I didn't get that famous A1, but when we got the crispy noodles, pork ribs, and salted toasted squid, all were so yummy! I didn't think I was hungry but man the food just made me wanting more. You won't be disappointed with their food, it's delicious! The only downfall was that our waitress really sucked, the other bus boys and waitresses were more helpful than ours, probably they saw us trying to wave her down but she just kept walking away or not even turning our direction. read more

Tan Tan - Popular yummy crispy noodles - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

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This is a no frills Viet/Chinese restaurant. Don't expect amazing service but you can always expect consistent quality food. The house special rice cake is sooo good. I get it every time. They're open so late too which made it amazing for my late night munchies. Their hot pot is awesome! My parents get it every time they come here. Tan tan is a great Houston staple! read more

Food was amazing and huge portion size. The rice cake was phenomenal and the walnut shrimp was amazing

Their pan fried noodles are awesome and their shrimp are huge and very tasty. I also love their beef tip and vegetables.

This is pretty much our "go to" restaurant after going out, or funny enough, if I come into town on a flight flight/pick someone up at the airport late. I say its funny because this past Thursday, I flew back (on a 6 hour delayed flight.....) from Canada and we drove straight to Tan Tan. While walking in, we noticed another table there with huge suitcases beside them.. haha! For reference, if you are coming in from a flight, I wouldn't be too worried about leaving your items in the car. There's always ample security here, especially at night, and a long line of parking spaces in front of the store. That way you have visibility while you're eating. Like everyone else, we ALWAYS get the A1. I swear, it always comes out within 5 minutes of us placing the order with the waiter. Unfortunately, other dishes tend to take longer. But for the price and the late hours, it's worth it!! If it's your first time, don't get overwhelmed by the extensive menu. Order the A1, and a vietnamese rice plate or noodle/vermicelli dish. They do everything here very well. read more

Tan Tan - A1 - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

Tan Tan by far is one of my favorite restaurants in Houston! The food is impeccable! I wish I could give a 5-star review, but the hit-or-miss service takes 1 star away. The banh bot chien is simply amazing! My other favorites include: walnut shrimp, house special fried rice and the wonton soup! Its a bit sad to see the portion sizes shrink over the years, but Tan Tan is still my go-to place! read more

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Bánh bột chiên and century egg congee! This is my go to place for these items. Lots of other great items as well!

I still like this original location for many reasons. For one, it's the original, they seem to have an over abundance of staff...and just seems to be more authentic than the Westheimer location with the large mix of people. Here it's mostly Asians, of course. Parking never seems to be a problem the times I come, the restrooms need a little updating, but they're not terrible by any means. As far as food, I stick with the basics that you can never go wrong with: House Special Rice Cake Simmered Clay Pot Fish Walnut Shrimp Salt Toasted Chicken Wings Diced Beef with Scallions Chargrilled Pork, Shredded Pork, and Egg Cake with Crushed Rice Sizzling Beef read more

Banh bot chien/rice cake is the best I ever had! That's a must order here. We did the hot pot... The menu says it serves 2, I'm pretty sure it can serve 3-4 people. They serve fresh coconut juice or at least during the season I visited. Service here is average like any other Chinese restaurant. read more

Tan Tan - Hot pot - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

I always come here when I'm craving their house special rice cake and some egg noodles with bbq pork. This is your typical Asian spot. Mediocre but fast service (usually), cheap, and decent food. I usually stick to those two dishes but I used to also order the grilled pork with rice. I really enjoy their house special rice cake when they make it extra crispy. As for the egg noodles, the noodles are made well and if you want more bang for your buck, I would advise for you to just order the wonton noodles. I don't really eat wontons much so I just order the regular bbq pork. I haven't really explored the menu aside from those items as I prefer to eat at other restaurants for specific dishes but if you need a quick, cheap meal...I would definitely try it. read more

I highly don't recommend to go here. Food is pricey to deal with the rude cashiers. I ask for more pepper and they roll their eyes and throw the pepper at me. I am not begging for food. I drop 12.49 for a bowl of noodle to go. Never come back. I will make sure tell every one about their attitude read more

Tan Tan - Chinese Near Me - Houston, Texas

Had lunch there last Sunday and here is my review. This is a good size restaurant and we got a table right away. The servers were nice and friendly. I told them I need a bit more time to look through their big menu and they did not bother me for taking some time before I made order. We only ordered three dishes: sausage and shrimp fried rice, eggplant in basil source, and beef with scallions. The fried rice was ok, not impressed and not disappointed. This is a typical dish and it tasted like a typical fried rice that you can get anywhere else. The eggplant dish was a disappointment. The eggplant did not have much flavor. It tasted like the two ingredients: eggplant and basil source were prepared separately and then put together before they were brought out to you. The third dish, beef and scallions, wasn't much better then the eggplant dish. The flavor was ok but I did not see any scallions at all. It was a bit of a disappointment with this visit. I am not sure that I will be back again. read more

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From the outside, all you'll see is the bright vibrant light "Tan Tan Restaurant" I have been here many times before, this time I came in to try out the hotpot. I also always get the House Special Rice Cake, it's just so good to pass up. The hotpot I ordered was the combination hot pot, which came with imitation crab, chicken, thinly sliced beef, fish balls, tripe, and some filet of fish. Coming into this I was hungry, and by the end of it I was satisfied. Although the fish filets wasn't really my cup of tea, I still enjoyed my experience here. With those 2 items, my bill came around $45~ish, read more

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I've never written a bad review on Yelp for any restaurant before. However, I'm so angry by my incident. They overcharged me. If they were innocent, they would have shown me the clips on what was brought out to the table. In addition, a staff splashed water on me and didn't even apologize. I've been going to this restaurant since I was young, but I am truly disappointed by how they treated their loyal customers. There are many restaurants in Houston, and I hope Tan Tan truly reevaluate their customer service skills. Thanks for reading y'all! Please check your receipts whenever y'all go here so you guys don't get overcharged. read more

Great food. I like going here with friends it has a huge menu. The Chinatown location is total chaos. It's very noisy and they have done nothing to stop this over the years. Prep and food pick up area are too far from dining areas. They make a lot of mistakes. But overall always good food. read more

They take almost 30 minutes to 45 minutes to make the food; it all depends what you order. But overall the food is great all the time.

A1 (bot bo chien) is what you come for. A1 will leave you happy in all sorts of ways. This place has the best bot bo chien that I've had anywhere. Period. For those of you unfamiliar with the dish, it's essentially pan fried rice cakes with egg, pickled radish?, green onions, and some bits of fried flake goodness. Everything about this dish is great and it's no wonder that there is usually one on every single table in the restaurant. As far as the other food goes, it's all decent. I wouldn't say I've had any other "great" dishes there, but you definitely can't go wrong with some of their noodle soups. Also, this place is open late so it's a late night diner's best option if you're in the area! read more