Urban Wu — Restaurant in Atlanta

I’ve been eating here for about 4-5 years. I finally felt compelled to leave a review after my experience today. In 2019, this place had solid Sichuan food. Not the best Sichuan in Atlanta by any stretch, but still a solid mix of Americanized and authentic Chinese food. Recently in the past 2ish years, the quality of the food has dropped significantly.

The one dish I want to focus on is their kung pao chicken/beef. Since they offer a lot of the standard braised/cumin Sichuan dishes, you’d expect some basic Kung Pao to be a cakewalk for them. PLEASE, if anyone at Urban Wu is reading this, for the love of all that is good in the world, you need to fundamentally change that recipe. The food is drowned in this absolutely terribly bitter and syrupy sauce. I can’t even describe how absolutely awful this sauce is. They’re trying to combine spicy and sweet (not in the good way at all) and the result is something that immediately makes you want to wretch. The thickness and taste of the sauce makes it feel like there are artificial chemicals in there, no joke. It feels so heavy and gross and completely ruins the taste of the protein and vegetables. I have grown up on authentic super spicy South Asian and East Asian food, so trust me it’s not that. I have just spent the day letting my stomach recover from whatever the hell they are doing to their kung pao.

I still order every so often because the location is convenient and I’m always hoping that the food will go back to the original quality. But I continue to be disappointed every time.

The people working there are awesome and great. But it feels like the owner is no longer investing in any management system or a manager to make sure there is quality assurance. I have not seen a restaurant manager there in years.

It feels like they may also be opting for cheaper ingredients. Overall food quality has tanked. They need to refresh the menu as it is wayyyyyy too large right now and they’re trying to do too much. Cut out all underperforming dishes and review the ingredients and recipe for EVERY SINGLE item on the menu. Please. Let this place become a reliable spot for...

Unfortunately today I had a bad experience. The previous times I've been here or ordered delivery from here the staff has had a great attitude. Today was just a to go order with the owner who was working the counter. I ordered the peanut salad only to go (it's really good, I've had it a dozen times). I asked for extra peanuts and he said we don't do that. I told him I have gotten it in the past and I volunteered to pay for the extra peanuts like the times before...he said if you've gotten it before, show me the receipt. He also said we have never done that before, you have to buy two orders. I said, I'll just take one.

I didn't think it would take long for a small order so I stood near the front reading their certificates behind him. They recently had a really bad health score (72...ouch) but today it was a 99! He asked me to take a seat in the sitting area. I stood but eventually sat in the first booth facing his counter so I could get my order and dash. Another customer's to go order was ready and he walked it over to this customer that was in the to go area. When my order was ready he said "Sir, here." and left it on his counter. It was not a disrespectful tone but I came and picked it up and told him his attitude with me was bad from the beginning and showed him the difference between how he wanted me to come get my food but he walked the previous customer's order over to him (the guy was double the distance from the counter that I was when my order was ready). He started to argue about the peanuts and I told him this is just about respect. I am sitting here outside the restaurant leaving this review I told him I will leave purely from his attitude. I also wished him success when he asked me never to return again. This same guy refused to tell me his name. Treat your customers with...

This place was delicious! I honestly had little to no expectations. How much more different could “Chinese food” be? Especially when we pulled in, being in a Kroger plaza I wasn’t expecting a dine in experience, figured it would be a Togo spot.

Opened the door to feeling it was some sort of an inception scene. Like I said - was not and had no expectations.

Simple but clean interior. A little sticky on the tables but what’s new there.

Looked through the menu and you saw the usual “hunan chicken” or the “mapo tofu” so we ordered a hot pot, Peking duck, lettuce wrap (shrimp) and the long soup? steamed potstickers.

I love food but I like to keep it safe down the menu if it’s a first time. If the basic known dishes aren’t good then that kind of lines up what to expect with the remaining dishes on the menu.

The Peking duck was to be set out 20-30 minutes so right off the bat it was promising. At least the food is fresh!

Seriously. Fresh and delicious. EVERYTHING. I wish you could try exactly what we had. The hot pot was flavorful, you tasted everything the crispness of the veggies was STILL there. Texture and flavor.

Then came the lettuce wrap! Freshly made. Again you put it in your mouth and you got the coolness of the lettuce and the hot flavorful mixture just happening.

Soon after followed the Peking duck with the wraps and veggies to fill. I must say. I expected food to be too filling and greasy but it was clean. After food you don’t feel groggy or heavy or SLEEPY as much as the usual “Chinese food” spots.

Lastly the steamed soup dumplings. Mind-blown. Just take my words don’t bite into it, put the whole thing into your mouth and when you bite into it ♥️ o-m-g. WARNING!!!! Hot as it not spicy hot but STEAMING HOT HOT!

I am going DOWN the menu. You will not be disappointed. At...