Chen's Noodle House — Restaurant in Austin

I finally visited this place on the recommendation of a Chinese friend and some of the reviews here pushed me towards eating here as well. I am not sure why it took so long to get around to trying Chen's as it is near my home, but I am am glad I finally did.

This is what I would term Chinese comfort food. According to my friend, Fang, her hometown about 3.5 hours drive South from Beijing has food much like this as does Beijing. It's often delivered or picked up to go at a street stand sort of like our food trailers.

I was not expecting much in the way of decor or ambiance as I was told it Chen's is a tiny place where the owner often prepares the food for customers. The authentic homemade noodles are what most come for. I asked what was recommended and the proprietor suggested the beef noodle soup which was on my short list to begin with, so it was included my selections.

The hand-cut home made noodle soup with beef was excellent. It looked like the Chinese equivalent of a basic, American beef soup. The main difference being Asian veggies in the broth instead of the American norm. When you order to go, the soup is separated from the noodles and you combine the broth and meat with the noodles yourself. You'll notice they are uneven as they're cut from a huge noodle ball as they're ordered. After I finished the huge container of soup, I still wanted more. This is a good sign for someone who does not eat soup often at home or dining out.

Another item I enjoyed were the lamb skewers that I saw the owner begin grilling up on a tiny hibatchi-looking device after I ordered. There was the most amazing spice rub on the meat. I am not even sure what was in it besides white pepper and salt. I'll ask next time because it would be fun to try to duplicate the recipe on the grill at home.

I also ordered the green onion pancake which was good but a little greasy. Overall, Chen's was both enjoyable and authentic enough to make me want to come back and inexpensive enough that I felt I...

Rewriting my review from a year ago because Chen’s has changed my life. The food here is so consistent, authentic, and delicious. Mr. Chen is a great guy by the way. Remembers his customers, what they like, and even asks inquisitive questions. I used to go to Xian Famous Foods in New York all the time and since leaving the city, I struggle to find hand-pulled noodles in Texas. Chens’ menu is a perfect mix of Gansu, Shaanxi, and Xinjiang-inspired food. My go to dishes are the lamb with hand pulled noodles, the beef noodle soup, and mala beef noodle soup. You cannot find this food anywhere. And if you do, chances are, it won’t be that good. Skewers are also fantastic. When you walk in, as I did everyday for the last 4 days on a trip to Austin, you’ll see folks from the part of the world that this food originates slurping on noodles without a care in the world, which is a tell-tale sign of how great this little restaurant is, but lately I’ve been seeing a more diverse crowd and I just get happy seeing the maturation of other people’s palettes! The food should be enjoyed by all! Chen’s is a 5 out of 5. Highly-recommended! Oh, the change the life part. I decided to book a trip to China and travel to some of the places in the country where this food originates. Yeah, it’s happening, so thanks Mr. Chen!

Old review: George is a great guy and his noodles are even better! I thought it was Xian-styled food, but it was actually Lanzhou! Even better. I had the lamb noodles spicy, along with the Mala beef noodle soup and the skewers!...

I've heard so many wonderful things about this place so I decided to give them a try.

The first thing that I noticed upon walking in was the pile of dishes to the left side of the register on the people side not the cook side. The dishes were probably 2 and 1/2 ft tall of stacked dishes that needed to be taken in the back to be washed. This right here was an immediate red flag for my wife who now did not want to eat.

Secondly the tables were a little too close to each other and every one of them was dirty. I understand space is an issue, But then again so is cleanliness.

I ordered the chicken stir fry, dumplings, and wonton. At first we were going to eat it there but after the whole dish debacle, my wife decided that she was out and went out to the car to sit. Meanwhile I sat there and waited for my food to be ready.

Once my food was prepared and ready to go I grabbed my bag and headed back out to my car. Drove home, opened everything up, and started to dig in. I felt that the noodles were very bland and literally had zero taste. The wontons were delicious and so were the potstickers.

But due to the fact of the unkempt facilities we feel that we probably won't come back. And I also didn't take any pictures of my meal which is a total shame because everything looked great It really did. But they do say looks can...