Chopstick Express — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

After years of disappointment with the Chinese food scene throughout Pinellas County, we finally gave Chopstick Express a try—and I have to say, it was one of the worst dining experiences we've had in a long time. I genuinely don’t understand how this place has managed to build up the reputation it has. I’ve seen people in local Facebook groups and on the r/StPetersburgFL subreddit recommend this spot as a “hidden gem,” with many saying it’s a small, no-frills place with surprisingly great food. Unfortunately, our experience was the complete opposite. Not only was the food subpar—it was borderline inedible.

Let’s start with the fried rice. This is a dish that should be relatively foolproof, even at less-than-stellar takeout places. But what we got here was shockingly bad. The rice was bone dry, flavorless, and clearly not fresh. It had the texture and taste of something made the day before and then reheated poorly. No seasoning balance, and not even the faintest aroma you’d expect from good fried rice. It was more like a box of old grains someone forgot about.

Next came the sesame chicken, which somehow managed to be both soggy and dry. The breading was limp and soaked through, as if it had been steaming in its own container for hours, while the chicken inside was stringy and overcooked. It was like biting into damp cardboard with overcooked meat in the center.

The bourbon chicken was another disappointment. While I’m actually a fan of fish sauce the flavor here was completely off balance. It was like someone dumped a bottle of fish sauce over the meat without any attempt to mellow or round out the flavor. Instead of the rich, smoky-sweet profile you expect from bourbon chicken, all I could taste was a salty, funky punch that completely overwhelmed everything else. It was unappetizing to the point of being nauseating.

Now, let’s talk about the so-called "chicken stick"—their version of skewered chicken. This was by far the most disturbing part of the meal. I hesitate to even write this, because I know how often racist and unfair stereotypes get lobbed at Chinese restaurants regarding the authenticity of their meat. But with that said, I cannot lie about what I experienced. The meat on this skewer did not taste, smell, or feel like chicken. I don’t know what it was, but it was unpleasantly gamey, oddly chewy, and left a funky aftertaste that lingered far too long. It tasted spoiled, like something well past its expiration date. It wasn’t just bad—it made me genuinely concerned for our health.

Oddly enough, the only item that wasn’t outright offensive was the egg roll. It wasn’t great by any means, but compared to everything else, it was surprisingly edible. It had a decent crunch and wasn’t completely devoid of flavor, which is more than I can say for most of what we tried. That said, one passable egg roll isn’t enough to redeem an entire meal that was, across the board, a complete failure.

But here’s where the experience went from disappointing to downright revolting. When we went to pick up our order, we witnessed one of the employees in the back grabbing bare handfuls of spices from open Tupperware containers and tossing them directly onto food—no gloves, no utensils, nothing. Who knows what else he had touched before doing that?

Now, to be clear: I’m not some food snob who demands Michelin-level sanitation. I've eaten incredible food in tiny, gritty takeout joints and hole-in-the-wall places where the health code compliance was questionable at best. If the food is amazing, I can overlook a lot. But when the food is this terrible and you’re also being unsanitary? That’s when I draw the line. A place has to get something right. Chopstick Express failed across the board.

TL;DR: The food was bad. The sanitation was worse. I truly don’t understand how anyone is recommending this place unless their taste buds are completely numb. Honestly, even mall food court Chinese is better than what...

Oh man, I am overwhelmingly impressed with this place! I searched for Chinese food near me and looked at ratings first and tried to catch a late night spot. When I saw this was drive thru i was hesitant of quality… it exceeded my expectations! Not only are the prices crazy affordable, the portion sizes of what you pay is more than plenty! My most highest praise goes out to the fact this is more Habatchi Japanese style food in the best way. Meaning My boyfriend and i was able to see through the window, one guy bringing portioned pans of fresh ingredients from the back to the one cook, who was clearly cooking our food right there!!!! I could see the fresh food being made and my soup as well, it was so impressive for what this establishment is… it’s so fresh my fresh squeezed lemonade literally has lemon seeds at the bottom of it. There was a cashier who was also exposing orders and another guy visibly cleaning. I really hope my big tip got distributed amongst everyone keeping this place a thing because I’m so grateful. This should be everywhere…. Also, their menu at the drive thru is limited compared to online because they have literally everything… I will say, hot and sour soup is my favorite thing in this world when I’m hungover and theirs has more cabbage and on the sweeter side than I was craving. It was delicious for sureeee but I seen some comments on here disappointed that this doesn’t taste like the Chinese food they are used too when it does say they are Chinese- Japanese style cuisine. I mean they do have sushi after all. Who ever the chefs are, god bless u! Seriously hope you guys succeed until the end of time because I’d honestly would pay more than what you charge gladly. My food was so inexpensive it’s wild. $30 for shrimp lo mein combo, moo goo, two large drinks, 2 large soups, and two egg rolls… and I mean these larges are superrrrrr sizeeeeeee. I...

This place is trash. About 6 months ago we ordered delivery from here which included sweet and sour chicken. They delivered the chicken without the sauce, which is kind of like the entire point of that meal. We called to let them know and they were rude, seemingly did not believe us, and acted like they didn’t understand why this was even an issue. I tried to explain that without the sauce, the meal is basically unseasoned fried chicken. After a lot of arguing, their solution was that we could drive up to get the sauce (after already paying for delivery and tip and our food has gone cold) or we could wait for a delivery driver to drop off the sauce. Estimate for sauce drop off? 45 mins. It was a whole entire argument to get a refund. They told us they would never deliver to our address again unless we had “enough” successful orders for the owner to decide to deliver to us again in a few months. (I was stunned). Today, out of desperation for convenience, we gave this place another shot (this time through the drive through) and I was reminded why I should have stayed away. I ordered a large side of fried rice because I thought it was the most unlikely to be able to mess up. Wow was I wrong. What we got was rice with literally zero flavor. No seasoning. No soy sauce. Not fried. A few peas. No eggs. Absolutely flavorless AWFUL food. I kind of thought it was a joke at first. The response when we called? Same as last time…. What’s the big deal? I told the girl it tasted like unseasoned plain white rice and her response was this is how we make it here. Told me to call back in half an hour to try to get a refund from the owner, called back and he has “just left” again. They took my number for the refund and then never called me back. Avoid this place....