China City — Restaurant in Kent

Food is OK, large portion and price is reasonable. We used to order take-out or dine-in when we wanted Chinese food. The owner is very nice. But two horrible experiences with their staff completely turned us off. Now we prefer to drive farther and pay more just to get better service.

One time we ordered soup and we told them not to add any shellfish due to the food allergy. The waitress serving our table assured us there wouldn't be any shellfish but when she brought us the food, I saw crab meat in our soup. I told the waitress and she said they would make a new one. She didn't apologize but appeared quite annoyed and then she quickly brought us the new soup within a minute or so. It was so quick that I suspected they just took the visible crab meat out instead of making a new dish. So I asked her just to make sure they made a new dish as she said. She was very irritated and rude when answering my question, which made it more suspicious. When she put the soup loudly on our table, a little bit of soup was spilled out. She saw it but didn't say anything. I didn't want to make a scene, so I let it go. I paid the soup at the full price with tips but I didn't want to touch it because I didn't think she was honest. And she didn't bother to ask why.

Then this Saturday night we ordered some food over the phone. The girl who answered the phone had a terrible manner. She was very rude, impatient, and unprofessional. She even didn't know how to place our order. I asked her to talk to the owner who is always around the restaurant and he knows what it means. She told me the owner was not there and she had nobody else to ask for help either. We ordered the same food for a few years and nobody had a problem placing our order except her. We used the same name and the same term that the owner and their other employees had told us. It was not our fault she was not familiar with her work or their menu. But instead of solving the problem, she preferred arguing impatiently in a very unfriendly and loud tone. She was so irritated, impatient, or lazy that she didn't want to ask other staff in the restaurant to help her understand what a customer wanted. Moreover, she became very mad at me when I simply reminded her of her manner towards a customer. She tried to blame me and she raised her voice so high almost yelling over the phone, which hurt my ear. I didn't want to quarrel with her so I ended the call without ordering anything. How awful and ridiculous was that! I just wish the owner were there listening to how she just pushed his long-time customers away forever with her unbelievably unprofessional, horrible, and...

A colleague and I ordered lunch there today. This is my first and last time since the new ownership.

The dish I ordered has curry on it, I asked for light curry. There is no curry what so ever.

The customer service is AWFUL! I picked it up our order, I thought my colleague had ordered the same dish as me, as that is what we talked about. While paying, I say to the man behind the counter, please charge 1 singapore noodle and crab rangoon on my card and the other singapore noodle will be paid for in cash. He said, "you need second Singapore noodle? I said yes. Then he put my food on the counter and I see that my colleague ordered Lamb instead. I tell the man, oh I'm sorry, I see he ordered the lamb instead of the Singapore noodle, it's all good, we do not need the second singapore noodle. Take the lamb out of here," and I hand him a $20. Now he says "you pay for second Singapore noodle." I said, "No, I just told you within 30 seconds that I do not need it, I was wrong he ordered the lamb instead of the second singapore noodle. He got mad at me and said, "you already ordered the second one, and they are cooking it now." Apparently he ordered it through his register. I said, "Well please cancel it, I do not need it. I explained to him that I thought my colleague had ordered the noodle and he did not he ordered the lamb instead. It was less than 30 seconds that I realized it and told him. He insisted I pay for the second singapore noodle. I told him no. He kept insisting and was getting angrier with me. I finally looked at him and said, "Look I have my food, I have paid for it and I will never be back here again!!!" He said, "fine, don't come back." I thought Mr. we live in America not China and we and customer service can make or break a business. You my friend have a lot to learn about it! HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! His lack of English is a hindrance to his communication skills. You DO NOT BULLY people into purchasing something.

I miss Ann! She...

Working in Kent, I've been going to China City for years. Always found it to be convenient, no waits, never too crowded, decent menu selection, fair prices for what you get -- which was essentially run-of-the-mill mainstream Asian food, just a cut about the usual mediocre quality you find at strip mall Chinese food outlets.

Heard that the management had changed, so tried the place the other day for the first time -- and it's much more authentic. Around here, you have to go to Cleveland to come close to authentic -- so I think this is a great thing for the area. Not going to submit a big review here, since I've only been to the new place for lunch so far -- but I will say the recent reviews, sadly, are pretty predictable. In a nutshell -- when most people in this part of the country seek out "ethnic food," they aren't really looking for an authentic experience, so much as a packaged, Americanized version. So, I wasn't surprised to hear people saying "the place has changed! -- it's not good anymore."

More accurately, it's not the same anymore -- in terms of good, it's much better now. But if authentic Chinese isn't your thing, then China City won't be your place anymore....