China Palace — Restaurant in Lake View Township

Something told me that it might not be the best idea to check out this place, but venture forth I did. China Palace is your typical hood Chinese food served with an extra helping "I couldn't care less" from the staff. Walking in the place is a dump. Every surface is sticky, there's food on the tables and chairs, grease spots on the floor, etc. I ordered my usual item to test the waters which is the orange chicken dinner special. Upon asking the cashier if it came with a soda, he spoke unintelligible words. After trying to understand him, I came to the conclusion that he was trying to explain that the specials come with either an egg roll or drink. When I asked to include the drink as extra he proceeded to roll his eyes as if it was that much difficult to just add a drink to the order.

My order was ready in just a few minutes which isn't a good sign. They serve the usual large portions for under $12. While I was waiting I ended up cleaning the table myself after I realized there was sauce spilled on it (see pic for how dirty the cloth was after just a small wipe down.) The soda I ordered was lukewarm...not a great start. The egg roll is your typical egg roll made with peanut butter. Crispy, but there's definitely better rolls out there.

The orange chicken started out a step above the dreaded "orange sponge." It was piping hot, crispy in some areas and had some spice to it. Still, it was just another orange sponge once the ridiculous amount of sauce soaked in. The fried rice is definitely over seasoned yet trended towards good.

After just a few bites my stomach started going so I got out of there. They definitely need to do better.

2...

Horrible experience!!! We ordered from here primarily for the Bubble Tea(one of our favorite things) and talk about MAJOR disappointment! First, the food was late. We ordered delivery and we ordered through Grub Hub and our estimated time was over an hour..so we waited knowing it was a Friday night we gave them the benefit of the doubt. well, we waited and waited and waited some more...FINALLY our food shows up, late but what ever that was the least of my worries at the time. The first thing we unpacked was what was supposed to be our bubble tea because it is an iced drink. Well, the drinks were spilled everywhere it didn't even look like there was effort put into keeping our drinks contained and then THEY WERE HOT. It was NOT what we ordered! So we called to ask if the ordered could be fixed and talk about horrible customer service! The lady who answered the phone did nothing but get upset with us and argue, completely wasted phone call! So then we get to our food, we had ordered Orange Chicken, General Tso Chicken, and Kung Pao Chicken...and keep in mind we all can take a little bit of heat with no problem BUT this stuff was all so spicy that it wasn't tolerable..we couldn't even enjoy our food after all that nonsense, really? NEVER ORDERING...

Food: tasty and affordable family style chinese food. The kind you pass around the table, every takes a spoonful, and at the end you marvel at how 'this was too much food'. The food we got was excellent. Extra almonds were ordered, the dish was exploding with almonds. The egg rolls were crispy and delicious even after transporting them home.

Service: There was a goof-up at the pickup window. I had a hand in it, honest mistake with two similar names/orders at the same time. What struck me was how they responded. Professional and polite; accommodating! We had ordered for pick up, when they noticed the mistake they called and offered to deliver. Classy! The response to the honest mistake was stellar, I would absolutely trust they will make things right.

Atmosphere: the interior decor is not the draw. I rate it 5 stars because if you're looking for the neighborhood chinese take-out restaurant... you found it. You know you found it the moment you walk...