China Won — Restaurant in Fuquay-Varina

China Won, an example of great customer service.

I have been to many Chinese takeout places, and they are all generally the same. They have practically the same menus, and you can expect to be treated as just another person handing them money for their cheap and easy food. The quality of food can vary just enough that we can debate which place is better.

The family and I were headed over to the Peach Cobbler Factory, up 401 in that part of Fuquay that has a Raleigh address. It was after noon and we hadn't yet eaten anything all morning, so we decided to look for a restaurant before just eating a dessert. And of all the choices in the area, we chose the Chinese restaurant China Won.

One thing I noticed right away was that their lunch specials are under $8 and you have your choice of pork fried rice with a meal. Good price.

But one thing that really stood out to me was the man at the register. He smiled at me and was incredibly nice. I placed our order with him, and he told me that he would bring it to us. (Unlike the restaurant closest to me where they would hand it to me through an airlock door as they hide behind their plastic barrier.)

The food came out relatively fast. Now here's something else I noticed about this man: he did not simply give us our meal; he presented it. He brought my wife's first, opening the styrofoam container to reveal the food inside and setting it down as if it were some sacred treasure. It looked like a lot of food, and I liked how the rectangular container had her General Tso's chicken meal on one side and her pork fried rice on the other. He did the same for my meal, opening the lid slowly as he gently put it down in front of me. With a big smile he asked us if we needed anything else.

I have to say that this is a very unusual experience for me, especially at a takeout Chinese place. This one man gave me such a great impression of their restaurant, and the food was actually really good.

I suppose I say all of this because I am used to going to different fast food restaurants and being treated as if I am imposing on the lives of the workers, or as if my only importance to them is that I give them money. This guy was genuinely really nice and made my wife and I feel special, and because of that, I don't mind driving the 16 to 18 minutes to go there now.

China Won is, in my mind, appropriately named, because they have just placed themselves in first place among the Chinese restaurants...

UPDATE (12/15/21): THEY GOT ME AGAIN! 45 minute estimate, showed up an hour later, phone girl said ready, register girl said 20 more minutes, @ 15-20 ppl waiting. I canceled order and walked out. RULE OF THOM FOR CHINA ONE:

15 minutes or more means twice to three times as long or more!

The NEW phone order service people LIE about pickup time. (Girl on phone saying ready while girl at counter saying 20 more minutes.)

Trick you into paying before it's ready and then make you wait forever! When you check if it's ready don't pay until you see the food.

This is okay Chinese food, mostly of convenience, it's close and convenient. Reduced stars for having to walk around Harris Teeter when I don't need anything AND... because they were not honest with their pickup time. When I say not honest I mean WILDLY. I've ordered various nights of the week, not just weekends, given a pickup time of around a half hour only to find when I arrive a dozen or more people waiting for orders and my order not ready yet. Their usual non busy pickup time that they give is 10 to 15 minutes. I have found that if you get a pickup time of 15 minutes or more that it is definitely going to be double, triple that or longer. On my last two visits I was given a half hour, which was an indicator that they were busy, and each time I waited an hour to an hour and 15 minutes for my order to be completed. Other people waiting have identical wait times. When you arrive they try to assure you that it'll just be another 10 minutes, which it usually never is, and they have you pay for it upfront, which is a MIDSTAKE, you're locked in for an undefined time for your order. Perhaps if people walked out on such exaggerated time frames, disrespectful service, it might provide them with an opportunity for growth and change to their business practices.

So that is why I offer these tidbits of advice. If you are ever given a pickup time of 15 minutes or more definitely assume it's going to be double or triple that or longer. Don't trust the phone order people, it's not ready yet, and don't pay for your order until you see the food. Besides they already have your phone number to call you if you're taking too long but at least you don't have to waste time standing in a small lobby with a dozen other people...

New to the area and saw that this place was highly rated. Me and my wife both got sesame chicken w shrimp fried rice and an order of crab Rangoon. Upon opening the food it appeared that it might be good, we were sadly mistaken. The rice was flavorless, stale and had a weird taste to it. The chicken was extremely dry and also had barley any flavor due to the lack of Sauce on the plate. The broccoli that came on the plate was over cooked and hard. The egg rolls that we received with the meal was so Greasy that I had to dry it off with a paper towel. As far as the carb ragoon is concerned it was more crust than filling. I am not one to complain much about food nor have I ever had Chinese food that I did not like. This was the worst Chinese food I’ve ever had, couldn’t even push myself to finish it. I don’t know if it’s because we went a hour before close or if it was just a bad night but I do not...