Bill Lee's Bamboo Chopsticks Restaurant — Restaurant in Bakersfield

Six of us eat weekly at this restaurant mostly to keep the family tradition going since the restaurant opened. Also every Christmas Eve and New Years Eve we order close to or a little over $400 on both of these nights as huge family celebrations for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid (I'm 66 now). That is a minimum of $800 in one week. Until now!

We have 14 people here right now that at first we're planning on having Bill Lees deliver at five or 5:30pm like every year. I always call around noon and put in an order to be delivered. As close to five as possible. This year I called the first time at 11:30 AM to just kind of get a feeling of there would be enough food for a big delivery order if you're still delivering this big order. As they have in the past. Well, it's yes to all those questions but they have a new role that they no longer take delivery reservations on Christmas Eve. Then she told me there would probably be a two hour wait for delivery when I will call to place the order. I'm thinking two hours. OK I will call at 3 o'clock and order the food and if it doesn't get there till five that's fine if you get there early, I'll keep it warm. So I asked her if that sounds about right that I call it three. At that point, she tells me oh we're not taking reservations for delivery for tonight between 3 PM and 6 PM. If you want your food later than 4 PM you need to call after 6 PM at your food will probably arrive by eight or 8:30 PM. WOW!

So I called all the family. Everyone said that was fine. We play games before instead of after and just kind of flip the itinerary around. Well, I start calling at 6 P.m. I had my alarm on my phone set for 5:58 PM. Twice I was on hold for over 15 minutes so I hung up and called again but all the rest of the times the phone was busy. Finally at 7:04 someone answered and actually was ready to take my order. Or so Ii thought. Guess what! They are no longer taking delivery orders because deliveries are two and one half hours behind. I quickly told her that arriving late late is fine but it was their fault I couldn't order earlier.

The food quality has consistently declined over the years but we kept coming back for the memories and to continue what our past relatives, who are no longer with us, had begun so long ago. Well sorry to all of them, our grandmother who passed at 96 in 1989, Ain't Eva who died in 1992 and my mom who died in 2020 at 94. There are many more to name but those were the heart of keeping the tradition alive.

I'm not sure where we will Order next week on New Years Eve, Maybe Panda or Pizza. I am sure that none of the 14 here tonight will ever step foot in...

This place is probably one of the places I visited over many years and though they are consistent on one or two things their inconsistencies on several others are just too hard to forgive. The highlighted this place for the last 20 years that I’ve been in Bakersfield has been there crispy noodle chow mein. It is the only thing I order when I go here as honestly no one in Bakersfield that I’ve tried went in and out of business can raise a fork to the best crispy noodle chow mein. I’ve had since moving from New York. also, their pork at foo young is another staple in which my wife orders every time we go here so we stuck to those two dishes as The remaining menu food (which I’ve tasted from other peoples plates ) is mediocre BEST. I don’t know how else to say it. One other note if you go to their bar order their mai tai it is literally one of the best drinks they make probably downtown. It’s only one other place on the east side that can compete. I’ll do a review on that place later. The service has always been exceptional and you’re always greeted with a smile. The Inside is outdated and needs some refresher paint as well as some lighting inside. The restaurant is pretty dull/dark. I don’t quite know what to say about this place. It is really going downhill as far as a couple of aspects. I will let you decide when you get there first and foremost. I think their biggest issue is they just haven’t changed at all sinceI arrived in Bakersfield in the early 2000s they have not changed a thing about their place or their food and it doesn’t seem like their menu is changed either. This is only my opinion and I don’t know if anyone else feels the same, but if you want to continue supporting this place as I will, when I am in the need for crispy noodle chow mein I will be there, again. That is the only thing I order because it is the one menu item they have that has not changed over the years. That is...

It is unfortunate that this established restaurant of Bakersfield is having to hire unprofessional staff - which despite how great the food is - can ruin a name.

I placed an order at 5:33 pm. I was told one hour. I called to find status of the order when I had yet to receive it after 1.5 hours at 651pm. I asked the first girl to check with the kitchen to see how much longer my order would be. The first girl said she couldn't tell me because the cooks do not speak English. I asked for the manager at this point. Another girl then got on the phone by the name of Cherish. She heard my complaint and told me the kitchen got backed up and my order would be delivered around in another half hour to 45 mins. This means I would be waiting for 2 to 2-1/2 hours. It was not until after she heard my complaint that Cherish disclosed she is not a manager and that Francisco is the manager and he does not speak on the phone with customers on Tuesdays. I then told her she led me to believe she was the manager and I wanted to speak to the manager. She said, "They try not to bother him." I told her clearly they have not been trained well because I asked to speak to a manager. She continued to be combatitive. I canceled my order.

I hope this restaurant finds better help to assist their customers. I hope they find a manager who speaks to customers when asked for on Tuesdays. I hope the kitchen is trained to speak to the other staff when asked about orders because apparently the girls disclosed the chefs, just complete orders as they deem necessary since no one can communicate with them.

I HOPE THE OWNERS READ THIS REVIEW. They have worked too hard to allow and have room for rude service, whether it is in the restaurant for dining, pickup,...