Red Lantern — Restaurant in El Paso

I’ll just jump the main points. I ordered the Pad Thai with shrimp, and Mongolian Chicken, and both were so bad that we only took a couple of bites, and threw the containers away. They give you larger portions, so it was such a waste.

I get that we’re right on the border, but adding Jalapeño slices to any Asian cuisine is just not right. The jalapeño peppers just took over the Pad Thai, which had tons of mini shrimp that were rubbery and basically had no flavor outside of the jalapeño taste. It’s the tiny frozen shrimp that you can buy in a big bag in the frozen section at a Walmart. Very cheap. If you are a Pad Thai lover, do not order this! In their pictures, by the way, it shows typical sized shrimp, with the tail left on. Perhaps they ran out and had to get the mini (size of a nickel) shrimp.

The Mongolian chicken had lots of bell peppers, chicken pieces, sauce, and mushrooms, I think. Let’s not forget Red Lantern’s favorite accoutrement, jalapeño pepper slices. Unfortunately, all we could taste were the jalapeño pepper slices. Yes, again with the jalapeño pepper slices.

This place is almost like a Chinese-Mexican fusion restaurant. If you like that sort of thing, great. Even if I could get past the Jalapeño fetish this place has, the food on its own is just isn’t worth the trip. But Red Lantern shouldn’t advertise themselves as a Chinese restaurant because patrons who are expecting authentic, quality Chinese cuisine are and will be greatly disappointed.

We’ve given Red Lantern a second and last shot.

High points - large servings and comparable prices. It’s a good thing they don’t overprice...it would have been a real problem for me after having to throw the food away. Oh, and their Hot and Sour soup was...

This place was highly recommended by a family member who stated that the atmosphere was nice and the food was great. Well, I had the worst experience as soon as I walked. It all began with the hostess and ended with the cashier. The hostess was not welcoming, did not smile and even though I told her it was my first time, she handed the menu without eye contact or letting me know if they had lunch specials or any information. All she said was, "when your ready order over there" (pointing to the cashier). When I got to the cashier, again, no customer service (did not greet, nor did she smile) she took my order like a robot, and told me it would be 15 minutes and that my number will be called out. I sat there for about 20 minutes while the waitresses, hostess, and cashier passed by and did not acknowledge me or asked if I had been helped. The cashier made eye contact with me and at one point, I even thought she was going to the back to check on my order (since she left to the back), but she came back only to continue talking to the waitresses. I finally walked over to her to ask about my order,. and she tells me with an attitude, "let me see your number" (checks the number), and says, "your order is right there" (pointing to a bag on a table). I was so upset I snatched the receipt from her hand because of her attitude towards me, having no consideration, no customer service, and because no one called out my number. As I was walking out, both the cashier and the waitress gasped in surprise on how upset I was. Seriously, I do not know how people can hire these young girls with no personality, and no people skills, unless they are related to the owner or...

This place has a bad vibe. You walk in and you can feel a darkness. I sat down to eat anyway cuz I was craving some good Chinese food. The menu prices were very low so I decided to order spring rolls to give them more business! Aren’t I nice?! The server came over, an elderly grey haired very unfriendly and unhappy and unhelpful woman. I asked questions about the various meals offered to which she abruptly replied, “How would I know. I never eat here.” That should have been my hint to get out of there Muy pronto!!! Well I foolishly stayed and ordered the Kung Pao Chicken and I asked just to be sure if it was white meat. I told her that I couldn’t eat slimy dark meet. She guaranteed me that it was. Well, the egg drop soup was excellent for starters. When the spring rolls came out and I took a bite and oil/grease gushed out and puddled around my dish. Disgraceful. Then I dug into the Kung Pao and my first bite made me gag. It was slimy and grisly dark meet. So, I waited for at least 15 minutes for my server to come check on me. I finally had to get the cashier to bring her over. I showed her several pieces of the meat that I had dug out of the now tepid dish. She looked at it and barked at me and insisted that it WAS white meat and the sauce turned it brown. I told her to take it back and bring me the check for the rolls only. 10 minutes later she dropped off to the cashier. No apology. No explanation. Nothing! Bubkiss! First time in over 20 years I left no tip. I’ll never go back and...