Mr. Chen — Restaurant in Florida

People, you have got to try this place.

I know I put this place off because I do not like, at all, the way the take-out combination dinners are packaged with the main course and rice in the same container as I explained in my previous review, but the food here is still just so good.

I put my aversion aside and even after having been here for a number of years the food is still AWESOME. I have not had any quality Szechuan food like this since I moved to the Pensacola area and nor since. But for some actual quality over buffet, for some actual flavor over bland and greasy, THIS IS THE PLACE!

I don't care if I have a problem with the packaging or not, it just cannot take away from the quality of the food.

When it comes to a standard test for Asian food, my test is the Lo Mein. If the Lo Mein is good, the rest is usually right there with it. If the Lo Mein is typical, bland and greasy, then the rest of the food is usually just as low par. So, needless to say, the Lo Mein is flavorful and awesome. I say so from experience because I just ate some. Good lord it is good.

The other thing I want to add, is the pork fried rice that came with my main course. It was not just good, It was perfect. It has the pork flavor and the pork that anyone expects to be in a good pork fried rice, but it is also cooked well. Most American consumers expect their rice to be fluffy. Many do not realize that the Asian way is to have the rice clumped together. Well, the pork fried rice at Mr. Chen's is not clumpy, but they have still found a way to get it so that the rice is perfectly right "in-the-middle". It's nowhere near being clumpy, but it is also not overly fluffy or dry at all. How they have managed to hit this perfect mark on the rice each and every time I have had any food from them is beyond me. It is quite easy to mess up rice or drift from one aspect in quality to the other, but they have managed to keep the quality of the rice here consistent each time.

There is one word that comes to mind whenever I purchase food at Mr.Chen's.

That word is "Quality". And I hope they never lower it, because it's a jewel of the Pensacola area...

05/25 update. Great service. Friendly. Place is take out only. Well maybe door dash delivery too idk. Food was yummy. I ordered sweet and sour chicken which isn't my usual but I got it after reading a review about how good it was here and it did not disappoint. Fresh fried. Not greasy tasting. Crunchy and delicious. Good ratio of dipped breading to meat. Good quality chicken pieces. Very yummy! Friend ordered shrimp egg foo Yung and said it was really good too. Prices here are reasonable as well ! Place looked clean. Not a long wait at all for lunch on weekend. Hot & sour soup was good better then most places we have tried Past post -- the food was so so good! Some of best I've had since moving here. I love the honey chicken and fried rice and cream cheese wontons . Hot & sour soup wasn't my favorite. Prices are very reasonable. They were short staffed and we placed a take out order- quoted 25 min but in reality I got there after 30 min and had to wait in line to pay, then wait for my food for 50 more minutes! They were working their ass off back in the kitchen tho,& food didn't taste "rushed" or thrown together even tho they were slammed. and it's the busiest I've ever seen it. Just think maybe they shouldn't take any more orders while 25 people are waiting or at least accurately quote the wait time to avoid me and the 25+ others standing around for nearly an hour after our food was supposed to be ready. Like I said tho- food was awesome and the staff was wonderful, just the wait which was...

This is the Chinese take out that I judge all the others by. Most of the time it is cooked to a certain standard. Sometimes it is not quite up to that standard, and sometimes it is better than that standard. For example, most of the time the teriyaki chicken is slightly overdone. But sometimes, it is perfect.

You might see my references to Mr. Chen's in other reviews. I love oriental food and often want to get take out. But the thing is, in my mind I always compare it to Mr. Chen because that is the place I get take out from over half the time even though there is a Chinese restaurant across the street that I could get if from that is a lot more convenient. They are not the best at everything, but most often if they are not the best, they are second best. My wife orders very different food from me and this is very clearly her favorite Chinese takeout so it works out well.

Their prices are generally speaking the best in town. If you want A LOT, go to No. 1. Probably in the big scheme of things you get a better deal with them when you add it up. But most Chinese take out places have similar take out containers so you pretty much get the same quantity from wherever you go with the...