Sunrise — Restaurant in Abilene

Abysmal Service! Yesterday just after noon, six adults, a small child, and I sat down at a table in Sunrise, a Chinese restaurant on South First Street in Abilene, TX. About four other tables soon were also occupied, with one or two diners at each. We were aware that the drive-up window service was active. Only one waiter was in the restaurant, which is the consistent staffing pattern at Sunrise. We do not know what role, if any, the waiter had regarding the drive-up customers. He came to our table and took an order for a spring roll and an appetizer dish of fried chicken wings, and then left us sitting. He did not ask what we wanted to drink, and we were served no water or other drinks. He never came back to finish taking our orders. One of our party went to the owner and told him we had not been served water nor had our orders been taken, and soon the waiter brought us water. Eventually he delivered the spring roll and appetizers to our table, but we had no plates to put the appetizers on for each diner, so we used paper napkins to place appetizers in front of each diner. He still did not ask for our orders. After waiting a bit longer, one of our party went to the owner and placed our orders with the owner. Soon the waiter came to our table and yelled loudly at us in Chinese, with a distraught expression on his face, “I am so busy.” We had been waiting about 35 min. By that time we had had enough of the appalling lack of service. We offered to pay the owner for the appetizers that had been brought to our table. He said, “Forget about it.” We left the restaurant...

Ok, I will try to break this down as well as I can. The service and atmosphere were fantastic. The food was good. Now, let me explain why the food was only good.

The flavors were excellent. The food tasted amazing. But it still left me feeling like it could have been better. You see, like all Chinese restaurants, the menu is enormous. I was there on a Saturday night at 5:30 pm. The middle of the dinner rush. There were only two or three other tables seated the whole time we were there. The only way a restaurant with that size menu, with that many options and with that few customers, could possibly survive is to cook everything from frozen. Like I said, the flavors were on point. The chef who cooked the food knows what he or she is doing and is a talented chef. They are just working with food that stays in the freezer for to long because there aren't enough customers to support a menu that size. The food tasted great, but it also tasted frozen and reheated.

Overall, I will be going back, and I encourage everyone else to go there too. Sunrise needs more business so they can keep their stock rotated and put out the excellent quality food I know they are capable of doing. I would love to see this place packed with a waiting list every weekend night. The kitchen deserves to be recognized for putting out food that tastes that good even with the problems. I would love to see what they can do with fresh ingredients that haven't...

Love it! Wonderfully prepared, delicious entrees. If you are tired of blah, wilted buffet food, please give Sunrise a try.

We've had Sesame Chicken, General Tso's Chicken, Moo Goo Gai Pan ( My favorite), Spicy Shrimp with Vegetables, and quite a few more. All have been served hot, fresh, and delicious.

They will custom adjust the spice ( read Hot) levels for spicy meals, but even if you request "3 chili pepper hot" it's not that hot. Well, maybe for native Texans... (That's a joke! Lighten up!)

It's a small, possibly family owned and operated establishment with great service, good prices, and food that causes future cravings. All it's lacking is a lot more customers.

Warning: Portion sizes are large. Seriously. If you are health conscious and calorie counting, stay home and eat lettuce.

If I wasn't such a glutton, a single dinner meal would be more than enough for two people, but then you'd have to fight over the egg roll.

Inside decor is old school Asian restaurants stereotype. Heavy on the red, firecrackers, and lanterns. But I don't eat decor. I go for the food.

The only weird thing is that the restrooms do not seem to be hooked to the Air Conditioning. No idea about the heater yet, but in August the restroom is amazingly warm.

If you eat there after reading this review, please write a review yourself and spread the word. I'd really like to see them...