Red Dragon Express — Restaurant in Phoenix

Well, well, well, if you don't know decent or good Chinese food, then you will probably enjoy this place. At one time and a few years ago, this was a very popular restaurant to order Chinese food. The price was excellent, and the quality was excellent. The establishment was so so, and I see it hasn't changed much. Last night we ordered to go and we asked for chicken chow mein. Chow mein does not have store-bought noodles sort of like Top Ramen. That part of the meal was horrible, and then I got into the teriyaki chicken. That was another bad choice as the chicken was not tender at all, and the sauce was budget sized for a large container. Then, the shrimp fried rice. The last time I ordered shrimp fried rice, it did not look like chocolate, and this time, for some reason, it did. The only decent thing that came out of there was the white rice, and no one can screw that up, or at least I hope not. I think whoever is prepping the meals back there needs to get some refresher courses or take some more time and effort and put the quality back in the food and not so much the quantity. I'll be back in a few months to see if anything has changed. I hope you guys fix this because you were a reputable Chinese restaurant at one time. Thank you, and...

UPDATE: I've continued going every now and then since there aren't really a ton of alternatives and it seems to have greatly improved. I previously had issues with service in the mornings, but it's seemingly completely turned around and the food has been amazing. I'm really glad to see things having improved so immensely.

You can continue reading for my original review.

OLD: The morning crew is absolutely horrendous. The food is always hard and overcooked, and I've yet to be able to get food in the morning well after their opening time.

If you go in the evening, the food is usually great, but I went at opening and got told the food would be another 20 minutes. So I waited 20 minutes and went back in just for someone else behind the counter to tell me the food would be another 20 minutes before being ready to serve. So I left.

I came back the next day, again at opening, go inside, and nobody was even there. No food was prepped, the kitchen was seemingly empty.

If you want food here, don't even bother the first half of the day. I'm sorry to the evening crew for the poor rating, but whoever is running the place in the morning is terrible and is...

Incredibly inconsistent, but when the food is done well, it's extremely good. I eat here weekly and only two times have I been disappointed by their food. Honestly, most of the riff-raff comes from their ready-made food, which I avoid regularly.

Instead I eat their General Tso's Chicken. When it's done right, the sauce is amazing with a savory, full-bodied garlic flavor. The chicken is light and crisp with a perfect texture. But, at other times, it comes overcooked and dry with a rather strange taste to it.

I find the staff to be friendly and professional, but they typically don't open up past purely professional until you become a regular. Regardless, they do service with a smile, so I can't fault them there.

Overall, it's not a bad place, but sometimes you have to go multiple times just to see how good their food and the people can be. The prices are extremely good: 10 dollars for a quart of food that feeds me for 2 meals, essentially what becomes a 5 dollar meal. I can go to Panda Express for half the portion with even less meat for...