Golden Phoenix Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Covington

We have an affinity for phoenix-related anything, so naturally we had to give this a shot once we found out it existed. Unfortunately, our excitement ended there. There was nobody waiting when we arrived, but it took someone approximately 10 minutes to take our order. No big deal. But then when we asked if we could substitute the soup for rice on one of our lunch combos, she practically bit our heads off yelling NO before we could even finish the sentence. At that point, she rushed us through the rest of our order, apparently having better things to do in back than take customer orders... She told us it would be ready in 15 minutes and she'd even bring it to our car. That was neat! So we popped next door to Safeway to grab a couple things while waiting, and got back to the car exactly 12 minutes after ordering. She did not come out with our food for another ~15 minutes or so, and practically threw two bags that were already dripping into my arms and scurried inside again.

Y'all, I've had some disappointing Chinese food experiences before, but let me tell you... This is hands down one of the worst meals I've ever had the misfortune of spending $40 on! The pot stickers are those gross frozen ones you can buy at like the dollar store, with the thick chewy breading. I have no idea how they tasted though, because there was a LONG CURLY HAIR inside the styrofoam container they were in!! 🤮 The crab rangoon had like NO crab in it and was just a bunch of cream cheese smooshed into stale fried wrappers. The rest of our food was just not good. If it wasn't way too spicy for the sake of being spicy, it was bland, greasy, soggy, and made with less seasoning than Safeway's China Express uses.

The only reason they got two stars was because I personally didn't mind their fried rice, and after carefully inspecting it for more surprise "goodies", that's pretty much all I could stomach.

I'm planning on calling to request a refund, but do not have high hopes in how that will turn out considering the level of service we've received thus far. If they are able to make it right to my satisfaction, I'll edit this to 3 or more stars.

TL;DR Find somewhere else to sate that chow mein craving, or at least triple check your food for hair or other surprises...

Been going here for 17 yr. ALWAYS LOVED It! Today, we had the WORST experience we've ever had at any restaurant - and it was the Golden Phoenix- still can't believe it! Had to wait longer than usual to be seated, but when the front end person came out, she had plates of food, so no big deal. After a while, the waitress took an order for the only other people who didn't have food. The waitress disappeared. About 5-10 minutes later, she served the table their soup, and then disappeared. At this point, I asked my husband, "What's going on? Shouldn't she be taking our order?" 10-15 (possibly longer)minutes later, the waitress served the other table their food and THEN came to take our order. After taking our order, she came back asking us what soup we had ordered. She then disappeared, and a party of seven came. After awhile, that party was seated and we were brought our soup. We ate our soup, two prior parties left, so there was the one party before us, my husband and me, and the party of seven. After about 10-15 minutes, we were served our food and the waitress seated the new party, without taking the party of seven's order. I had no crunchy noodles. My husband tried to get the waitress' attention and literally had to take my plate and follow her to get her attention.She said she was sorry and would bring them. But she acted bothered, and all of us saw and heard it. She disappeared. While she was gone, I'm thinking that this weird, our food is getting cold- my husband should at least start eating, but we came out to have a dining experience together, not to have one watch the other eat. So the waitress returned, and took the order for the table before party of 7 table, while bringing no crunchy noodles. I got...

This is a good go-to Chinese restaurant. The owner is usually at the register and/or serving tables. She knows her stuff! She's nice and keeps her employees motivated. The food comes out lightening fast and is the typical Chinese style that you anticipate. Even the hot and sour soup is good (not everyone gets it right).

The normal servers (not the owner) are fair to ok. They are always nice but this is obviously their first job. They are learning how to be in the workforce. Enough on that, everyone has to start somewhere and at least they are making an effort. It would be totally different if they weren't trying.

The bad part about the restaurant is when the owner is not there, it's a totally different restaurant. This is very unfortunate. The dine-in times along with the to-go order times triple to quadruple in length. You have to check your to-go order before you leave. I always have a mistake in my order when she's not there. It's not like I'm going to drive back from home to correct my order.

Who knows the real reason for this issue. Family members running it when she's away, employees taking advantage of the lack of supervisor, or inadequate training of managers (if there is one).

I'll be back for sure. I...