Chinese Bistro — Restaurant in Menifee

I've been to this restaurant several times with mixed results, but now based on today's experience, I will never ever go there or recommend it to anyone, despite how good the food may have been in the past.

First off, they have always opened at 11:00AM, which is listed online and even on their take-out menu, yet when I showed up today just before 11:00, employee/owner arrived at 11:00 and told me they don't open until 11:30AM.

I decided to wait on comfortable bench out front (big mistake), and at about 11:20AM, two female customers went in and came back out and I told them the owner/employee told me they don't open until 11:30AM now, even though it is advertised as 11:00AM (and, by the way, NO POSTED hours near the front door entrance, which is lame).

One of the ladies got tired of waiting, so we went in and sat in the waiting area. The owner/employee wouldn't even acknowledge us. She and her friend remarked how high the prices are (e.g., veggie lo-mein $10.50 and lunch specials at around $8.50), she had a limited time for her lunch break and expressed she was unhappy being ignored.

At around 11:30AM, two other customers arrived and still no one would greet us. At about 11:35AM, we were all greeted.

Since I was one person, I was asked to sit in a small two-seater booth. I am a large man, but not huge, by today's standards. Only half my ass fit on the booth seat and it was very uncomfortable, so I got up and went to a larger booth. Similar problem there, not enough space between the table and seats for even an average person to fit comfortably.

I asked the owner/employee, "Don't you have a table where I can fit or are they all the same," and he claimed they were all designed the same way. With my stomach pressing against the table tightly, I got up and said, "No thank you, have a nice day."

This place in no way can accommodate anyone who might be the least bit disabled, let alone larger people, and that is a shame. I'm going to find out if they are violating ADA requirements for public establishments, because I've never had to walk out of an establishment because they couldn't accommodate an overweight person!

As I was fixing some typos in same review posted on Yelp, I saw pictures on Yelp where CLEARLY they could have seated me on a chair with a table, but they didn't offer that to me. For sure, that is discriminatory under California law, so I will be filing a complaint with the appropriate state and federal...

Getting this out of the way, the exterior has got to be the coolest thing I've ever seen in this entire county of Riverside! It's original, it's unique, it's a damn Train!!! A real live Santa Fe Railroad Train! A train that was converted into a restaurant, basically it is an H shaped restaurant with the kitchen in the middle of two passenger trains. If you like trains, train memorabilia, and or old school Chinese restaurant fixtures, please check this place out. it was worth it.

The next thing is the service. The servers and managing staff are very attentive, warm, and personable. I overheard the owner of the restaurant talking to various customers who had seemed to be returning customers. This to me meant people liked it and wanted to go back. I overheard a couple saying that the food should cost more for what it tastes like.

The decor and fixtures seemed to be an eclectic mixture of Train Memorabilia, old-school Chinese decorations, and a Buddhist statue in the front with old school looking fixtures. Everything in the cabin looks like a fancy old dining car in some old 1880s cowboy and western movie. It appears to be very fancy. This is an example to me in my opinion that shows multiple aesthetics and older fixtures looking good rather than dated.

Last of the review is the food. I ordered Chow Mein, Orange Chicken, and Fried Chicken Wings. The Chow Mein was surprisingly really good. You can taste many of the components that make chow mein stronger and fresher than regular Chinese food. The Orange Chicken tasted like someone had put a batter on fresh white chicken. It was surprisingly really good. The Chicken Wings were very seasoned and tasted just as good as the orange chicken.

However, as with all Asian themed restaurants, it is a can of coke when you order a coke. It's not a big deal to me, and I expect it. Sometimes I even order two cokes if I am eating something spicy, but I like to inform people about this. It always seemed like a way to cut costs and not have some soda machine you have to maintain...

Concluding the review, I am pleased with the service, the food, and I love the environment and atmosphere of this restaurant. it is a textbook example of how to make an aesthetically pleasing restaurant with different styles. If you ever visit towards Hemet or any city along California State Route 74, I recommended stopping by the "Chinese Bistro" for some...

To my surprise, it is under new management. Been coming here for a decade and since I live in Temecula, couldnt come by as much as I wanted to. The menu changed to a more streamlined traditional dishes compared to previous management. We always have our usual dish that my family of 5 eat here so I will based my review on them and establishments upgrades.

Hot and sour soup - good amount of spiciness and preferrable less on soy sauce

Salt and peppered porkchop - garlic, green onions toppings are thumbs up. However I didnt see much pork meat, it is more in the fatty side, sweet and sufficient 5-spice flavor. It comes with one little bowl of rice but family size pork-chop platter so expect to pay extra rice if you eat rice a lot with this.

Salt and peppered fish - my husband liked this but not me. Not the flavor I expected. Even my kids did not eat much of it, and they love anything fried fish. Again, it comes with one litttle serving bowl of rice.

Shrimp chow mein - flavorful but a bit overcooked noodles and can add a little bit of green onions or cabbage for appetizing color.

Love the upgrades on establishments such as front door, seats, windows, painted yellow car, service crews.

I miss the original flavor and charm from the previous management. However, I will give this new management few more chances as there is not really much choices in area to pick from unless I drive to OC, San...