Wok Express — Restaurant in Hot Springs

Me and my girlfriend have personally visited this place numerous times in the past year and a half. Almost every day/every other day/ if not AT LEAST once a week. I also deliver DoorDash for this place almost daily. From this assumption, you’d figure they know me and my order well. (We always order takeout)

The food is in large quantities for the price they give you. I always feel as if the food I get is high quality and plenty of. HOWEVER, considering this place started as strictly takeout, they are very busy, so it’s highly likely your order won’t come out the way you want it to. It comes out fast, but perfection dies in the face of expediting.

What also doesn’t help is the fact that when me and my girlfriend come here, we’ve gotten the same dish for the past year: Mei Fun. We always get it the same, hers without onions or scallions, a chicken Mei fun, while I get a plain Mei fun, cut the egg (vegetarian), and add noodles and broccoli. Every time. Sometimes we get an amount of spring rolls that vary.

Out of the numerous times we’ve ordered this and continued to do the same order and make it as simple as we can, same phone number, same name, the order only comes out correct 1/5 times. It’s either me or her that end up upset, if not both. What’s more frustrating is it’s always different, one day it’s green onions, the next it’s egg in my food, or a pork egg roll instead of a spring roll, or I don’t get my extra noodles, or they forget to even put some of our order on the ticket. My girlfriends order in itself was wrong 3 times in a row once and we stopped eating here for a couple months.

I’ve decided I won’t be eating here anymore, as much as it’s my favorite place in Hot Springs. I’d rather make it at home to assure its correct. They’ve gotten my order wrong so many times in so many different ways that I’m just tired of picking stuff out of our noodles, as much as I love supporting the restaurant.

SUMMARY: The food is excellent. The staff is always kind and polite and quick. The cooking is quality. If you’re coming here to try the food or you’re traveling and you pick this, you made a good decision, double check your food though and be ready to ask about having them remake it. If you’re trying to find a place to take your family, or to keep coming to eat by yourself/on a date, go to World Buffet. It’s more likely they’ll get your order right than The Wok will. I even ended up with a pork egg roll instead of a spring roll more than once. Absolutely irritating when all you want is to order the same thing from the same place almost, if not, every day.

WHY IT’S 1 STAR:

When it comes to takeout, the first and most important thing is that the order is made correctly, especially when you’ve confidently packaged everything in a blank bag and have it stapled shut to prioritize heat over order visibility. Seems very flawed that the only way to confirm your order is the receipt, and even then, there’s still a chance it was made wrong and you won’t know unless you open it yourself or already are home and open it. My recommendation would be to clip prepped bags with the proper receipt and review the order upon customer arrival. Once all items were confirmed, you could staple the still-clipped bag, and take that clip off to use for other bags. Takes more time, but overall would save more time fixing errors. Very minor investment that would...

I am honestly so sad to be leaving this review since I’ve been coming to the Wok for years and it was one of my favorite places to eat in Hot Springs. I ordered take out for me, my husband, and my mom. We ordered a shrimp fried rice, two sesame chicken combos with steamed rice, pot stickers, and two extra egg rolls. When we got home we realized that they gave us regular fried rice and left out both steamed rices along with a whole order of our sesame chicken and a chow mein that we did not order. I called when I got home and was told to come back. 10 minutes after leaving our house we were called back and told to bring the food back, I explained that we already left our house and the person on the phone said that was okay. When we got there I was told by the manager that he “watched the cameras” and saw that all food was put in the bag. I explained again what was missing in our order and he continued to get ignorant with me. Eventually he attacked my character and said that me and my mom have done this 2 or 3 times now (we have never sent food back at the Wok and we have been eating there 8+ years. I also live in Bryant so I haven’t been to the Wok in probably close to a year and a half). When I asked to watch the cameras to see where all the correct food was put in the bag he no longer offered that as an option. I FaceTimed my mom so that he could see what came in the bag and he finally agreed to give us the shrimp fried rice and the sesame chicken. We still walked away still missing one order of steamed rice.

Is the food at the wok good? It’s nothing extravagant compared to other restaurants in Hot Springs. However, supporting a business that gaslights, insults, and lies to long term customers is not worth spending your money here. If you care about supporting a local business ran by good hearted people, take your business to...

OMG BEST DISH I HAVE HAD SO FAR: Bourbon Chicken!!! (Second new fave: BONELESS RIBS! 🔥) So flavorful and the chicken is nice and juicy, falls apart. Great portions and good prices. If you are a meat eater, the bourbon chicken and the ribs are where it’s at for texture and quality. This is a place where you order counter style and they bring it to you so it’s more laid back. I have been a customer since I was a child and the place has only gotten better with time. Be prepared to be overwhelmed with the extensive menu, it all sounds so good it’s tough to make a decision. I see why buffets are popular but let’s face it, hot springs does not have good Chinese buffets and this restaurant is the real deal and has been for as long as I can remember. The staff is kind, the dining room is small but cozy and there’s a massive aquarium in the back that gets a lot of attention. This time we tried the General Tso’s shrimp (crispy and saucy), spicy veggie Lo mein (my all time fave- I request spicy), shrimp mei fun, and the General Tso’s chicken (large crispy chunks). It was all sooooo good! Fresh, hot and perfectly seasoned. If you are craving Chinese, you gotta try this place. Note: as far as cuts of meat go, the chicken seems to be better texture wise over the beef. The Mongolian chicken had great flavor and the spices were on point. The Szechuan beef was okay, it’s a sweet tasting dish which is not my favorite and the beef is a little on the chewy side. I always recommend the veggies or shrimp, they are always on point. Also whatever kind of cut they use for the bourbon chicken, that’s the cut you...