China Palace Restaurant — Restaurant in Rochester

Will never give this establishment my money again. I waited an hour and a half for my order to be delivered, only to find a part of my order wasn’t in the bag. When I called I was told they could not refund me my money for the food that was missing from my bag that I had 2 options, I could either drive to them to get it or I’d have to wait another hour and a half to two hours for it to come to me. I explained to the gentlemen on the phone I would just want a refund that I wasn’t going thru the hassle of driving to them. He refused and told me that they could not do it and when I asked to speak with a manager he told me to call back later that she wasn’t there and hung up the phone on me. Obviously aggravated at this point I call back and he puts me on hold! .... I wait, hang up and call back again to have another girl answer the phone, I calmly express myself and told her if I can’t get a refund I will just wait for them to deliver it to me instead (as they originally offered) then she said no we can’t do that now we have 15 orders ahead of you and it’s going to be at least 2 hours. I said that’s ok I’ll wait for it, and she told me no we just can’t put in your order right now because we are so backed up and told me to call again later to speak to the manager..... (unbelievable) Of course I paid cash for this order and or id be disputing it with my bank, at this point I’m considering it a wash but hoping this review will find a future customer and help them decide AGAINST ordering from China Palace. Not only for poor customer service but also the only part of my order I did receive was disgusting, do not order the chow mein!

I know it’s hard to find employees these days for businesses but keeping staff like that answering your phones is only going to make you loose business!! You can guarantee you’ve lost any future...

Do not eat at this restaurant. My son and I both got sick but the manager was very rude, implied we were lying and wouldn't even give us a partial refund. It's pretty obvious that the food made us sick as we were the only two who ate that dish and the only two who got sick. We've been eating there for years, and even though the quality kept going down, we wanted to support them. Never again. We also filed a report with the health department, which the manager said was our only option.

The scallops & shrimp chop suey is what made us sick. My son didn't realize that the seafood had gone bad at first because his sense of smell isn't very good. I only took two bites from his plate before realizing something was very wrong and smelled the food in the takeout container. It was awful, it smelled like low tide and the seafood was definitely bad. (Even if it hadn't been, the whole dish was a manky mess of grey, overcooked vegetables.) The manager claimed that nobody else complained that day (that means nothing, many people don't bother, they just don't go back) and that the kitchen staff had just opened that container of seafood (again, that means nothing if the seafood in the container has gone bad).

Of the rest of the food we got, the boneless spare ribs were ok, but were really fatty. The General Tso's chicken was fine but nothing special.

However, the sweet and sour chicken was disgusting and not like any other version of that I've ever had. It was just 4 really doughy chicken fingers drowning in a pink syrup (which tasted like straight corn syrup), with no vegetables, 1 small piece of pineapple and a bunch of maraschino cherries. It was shockingly bad.

We aren't able to get take out very often and were hoping for a special dinner that night. Instead, we got atrocious food and got sick. Don't make the same...

I grew up in Rochester so had gone to this restaurant many times. Moved from area, hadn't been here since late 70s! I happened to be in Rochester and was happy to see it still there. It features what's referred to as "American Chinese" food, the standard favorites like lobster sauce and egg foo yong. They have a very large menu. I ordered the pupu platter for 1, expecting to get a plate with 1 of each item, maybe a total of 4-5 things. Wrong! This platter was so big, I could only eat half, and I hadn't eaten anything all day so was hungry. One customer even commented that I wouldn't be able to finish it, and he was right :) I sat at the bar and it was so homey. It was Mai Tai Monday and the bartenders make the drinks right in front of you, and mine was strong. Not pre-made out of a bottle. The bartenders are talkative, and even other patrons will talk to you. Many customers were hugging the bartenders on their way out and the staff knew just about everyone by name. That's not the case in many places; people only talk to their specific cliques and bartenders serve your drinks, but otherwise do not engage you. I felt so comfortable here, as though it was still the 70s. Speaking of which, the decor is the traditional Tiki Chic, the bar has almost a Tiki Hut/beach bar feel. 2 patrons told me how much they loved the food there, and I concur. All the plates I saw going by had huge portions and everyone was walking out with boxes. If you are looking for Sushi, Asian fusion or Thai-type foods, or a contemporary decor and cool vibe, then this is not the place for you. This is old-fashioned, honest Chinese food in the same house it's always been in, where the locals like to go. Prices are very reasonable, including the alcoholic beverages....