Rice Xpress — Restaurant in Arlington

NEGATIVE 5 stars...

The egg rolls from there were our favorite and one of the main reasons we order. They were bigger than anywhere else and had amazing flavor. In fact this comes from someone who hates egg rolls and thinks they taste nasty. They’re now half the size and taste absolutely disgusting!

Another reason we liked this place is because they had a really good sweet tea that they give for free as a special with any order of $25 or more. I’ve even paid for it when we don’t spend the minimum to get it free because it’s been that good. After serving our food last night I opened the tea to serve some for my youngest daughter and myself and noticed right away that there was a greasy film floating on top, it was warm and 10 times darker than normal. I chalked it up to being the styrofoam cup and decided to drink from straws and figured they used a different tea type. We drank it and it tasted bitter, was barely sweet and didn’t taste like it had any lemon. So we added a bit of honey and considered it drinkable.

All day today I’ve been feeling queasy and served dinner We made here and my daughter asked for some tea again. After having sat in the fridge all day I decided to give the cup a whirl to stir up the contents before pouring some into her cup. Well out pour these black chunks of something and so I was like wth? Thinking they must’ve had a busted tea bag I decided to dump it back and then used a strainer to pour it instead. I wanted to find out what exactly was in there and poured the rest of the tea through a filter into my glass. I look into the bottom and there’s food. Gross!!

I called the restaurant explaining the situation and how upset, grossed out and sick I was feeling. I asked for a full refund of $50 to see if I needed to go in or if they could do it over the phone. They said they could only give me a small credit for next time. I said no I don’t want a credit because I’ll never be ordering from them ever again. She placed me on hold and came back and said I was going to have to give them proof if I wanted a refund because it was unheard of.

We drove down there with the filter, glass, tea filled cup and all (10 min drive one way). I demonstrated the exact thing I did at home with the swirl and pouring it into a clear glass through a strainer and all of them behind the counter looked confused and discussed what it could be. Well then the elder lady (I’m assuming the owner) laughed in my face and said oh no I’m sorry that’s my mistake I made that for me and it’s a dessert tea. I said ummm it tasted gross and nothing like dessert. You’re not going to fool me. She brought out some packaged Chinese foods that looked like lentil beans and beef jerky that they could used for their steak dishes. I said no that’s not tea (thinking that tea normally comes in leaf and herb form not beans). I asked for a refund and said it was unacceptable for them to laugh at me and try to pass that off as “dessert tea” especially since we felt sick from it. She said no it’s good for you and doesn’t make you sick.

So why did I demand a refund? My youngest daughter drank some not once but twice!! I felt sick and thought surely doctors bills would be a ton more expensive than $50. The second reason was because they’d ruined our family dinner after getting sick to our stomachs! It wasn’t just any dinner...this was $30+/lb Wagyu prime ribeye steaks (4 of them cut about 1.5” thick) that we’d just picked up from the butcher shop earlier. So cheers to $200+ dinner wasted over some disgusting Chinese food tea. Never ever again will we get...

Is Recycled Restaurant food a thing now?

They got the order wrong despite a lengthy call with several repeats and confirmations. We have gotten delivery from this place for years and substitute Tofu for the chicken. (We eat chicken but their chicken isn't that good). They always accommodate it.

This time a new employee took the order but the owner was helping him. I heard her say - just ring up chicken but we will make it with tofu. The delivery was chicken. Hungry we tried it but no, the chicken just tastes bad, flat and tasteless. I called and told them it was wrong. The owner verified remembering my order and helping her new employee but blamed him. She verified the order again and 30 minutes later delivered it herself.

She asked for the chicken entrees to be returned! WHAT??? I thought I misunderstood but she said she wanted the chicken dinners back. I said we tried them before calling, didn't like them and threw them away. She insisted I return them but again I told her we ate from them and threw them in the trash. She got made, shook her head and threw her hands in the air. She said, Why would you throw it away.

I told her this was poor treatment, they messed up our first order - which is frustrating but happens - and she is on my door step giving me grief for not returning an hour old meal that we ate from. She walked away while I was still trying to talk to her, waving me off and shaking her head.

GUESS WHAT - My wife and I were hungry but to afraid to eat the second batch - so we threw away 4 Rice Xpress dinners tonight. ARE RECYCLED DINNERS...

We used to order from this place fairly frequently as it was right around the corner and the food was fresh and made as requested. I had had medical issues that made it so I could no longer eat spicy hot foods but I still craved the flavor. I could request that they make certain dishes that are traditionally spicy hot to be made mild so I could eat them. The only issue was that it was sometimes very salty. My family just ordered again last night for the first time in a few months and the food has changed dramatically. We ordered my food mild as usual but when it arrived it had hot peppers in it so obviously not what I ordered and my husbands dish was General Tsao's with orange pieces in it. Not right at all. He called to let them know he would be bringing it back for exchange and they had it ready for him when he got there. They gave him a free spring roll for the trouble. When we began to eat, mine was no longer spicy hot but instead the chicken pieces were so hard I had trouble even piercing them with a metal fork. It was crunchy and really hard to chew. My husbands dish was the same. Needless to say it was almost impossible to eat our dinner. I don't know if they changed cooks or what the issues were but I think it's time to find a new chinese delivery...