Dragon Express — Restaurant in Mount Pleasant

I've been going to Dragon Express for over 20 years (not exaggerating.) It has been my go to, most visited place since I got my driver's license and could decide for myself where to eat. It was always fast, delicious, a great value, and a very friendly, family owned place. (5 stars for the old owners.) Then I noticed things starting to get moved around inside and found out new owners were on the way. "Keep an open mind, it'll be okay," I told myself, but sadly it's been a marked decline in all respects.

The new owner has no business in the service industry. He constantly has an airpod in his ear while watching his tablet that's on the counter. He makes no effort to communicate well with his customers mumbling badly his broken English when taking orders then rudely yelling "ORDER READY" to no one in particular even when there's 10 people waiting for food. He takes multiple orders at a time then messes them up half the time. And he never asks if you need anything else (like soup crackers or chopsticks which are now hidden behind the counter like they're made of gold.) Even the employees that have have been there and were always friendly seem just miserable now (can't imagine it'd be enjoyable to work for him.) The new way of ordering makes no sense. You walk past the steam table then order at the register and get chewed out if you step back to look at your options, (Imagine a subway where you have to order at the register.) They no longer keep the food ready on the steam table (why it's still there I don't know) even at consistently busy times. It's made fresh but it takes much longer and I can't tell the difference. Portions have gotten a little smaller. It may just be that the magic is gone but I don't think it tastes as good as it used to.

I'll never understand this; why do people spend good money to buy a long standing, incredibly successful business just to change everything abouti it, if it works just don't mess it up. The first time I met the new owner I told him "people love this place, just don't mess it up" but I've already noticed less and less customers everytime I come in now.

Food 4 stars (orange chicken and hot and sour soup are still amazing)

Price 5 stars (not quite what it was but still great)

Owner Service 0 stars (button up your shirt... no one wants to see your chest hair!)

Employee service 4 stars (I...

The food tasted awful. The Szechwan chicken didn’t have any flavor and was grey. I told the girl and she brought some red sauce with peppers over. The sweet and sour pork was awful and the sweet and sour sauce was rationed out, not enough for half of the entree. Again the food was grey. Things were pricey, egg rolls were greasy and cold and the hot and sour soup was in a tiny little styrofoam half cup and cold. Majority of the items were left untouched and still, the stomach problems, about an hour and forty five minutes later, stopped our outing. You can go to the China One Buffet, on Mission St., get all you can eat fresh food and at less than half the price of Dragon Express. I feel sorry for any unsuspecting students ending up in the Dragon...

Gigantic portion of very questionable/foul tasting food, for very cheap. Pros: extremely friendly staff, huge portions of food, very cheap, fast service. Cons: did not taste normal and will make you stay at home for the night in fear of imminent bowel problems. Disappointing because this place used to be really great, maybe they have new management or something? I'm not sure if we got a bad batch or if the quality has decreased dramatically over the past few years, but the fried rice honestly tasted like a future visit to the bathroom within the next two hours. My partner also ate something hard as a rock in his orange chicken.. If you're constipated, maybe try this place out for a good clean out. 2/5, would not...