China Star Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in San Antonio

I have been going here for years and I can say the food is good and I have recommended this establishment for some years now to my colleagues, butttttttt today was not a good day at all. I like to order ahead and pick my food up but on this day there was what I would call a communication berrier and miscommunication definitely was a major issue. I picked up my order and went home because usually I've never had to check my order. To my dismay this was the first time my order was incorrect. I called back and I'm far from someone to complain but wanted them to be aware that items I requested were not included in what I asked for. This is where it gets dicey. The woman that answered the phone was rude, asking me well what do I want? I explained what had happened and she was non accommodating to say the least. She nicely told me (not) how much it was going to cost me to fix the order and to bring the full plate back ...which I did. All I asked was strictly for the gas and time spent reasons to comp the Lo mein and egg roll that I requested and I would come back and grab it no matter my time my gas etc! OMG this woman hung up in my face. I tried to call back to speak with a manager and guess what no answer. So I grabbed the food just for the principal of the situation you don't treat customers like that. I politely entered requested a manager the woman said we'll talk to me which I did. I never not once cussed, yelled, insulted anyone and I was treated like straight trash! They literally argued with the customer, some young Asian dude with nothing but disrespect towards me andddd the woman that hung up comes out yelling at me that I yelled at her as an excuse to hang up on me, guess she figured there would not be any consequence to her foul actions. They eventually ended up correcting the issue which I figured was so easy to fix. Nope the lady that hung up in my face when I took a second to pause and keep my cool and hung up on me and accused me of yelling at her... and then some young Asian guy says she was on the phone with me for 10 minutes as that I guess is so much of a problem to fix the customers issue which should have just been fixed in the first place. Eventually after arguing me down, guess it's the way I looked or was dressed "wink wink" they finally corrected the order and provided me with what I actually ordered and hey still gave my money back along with the food. My thing is in no way no shape or form should any customer be treated with so much disrespect no matter race color or creed and unfortunately for me this is the ugliness I experience in what we call America. Not my first rodeo and I'm sure it won't be my last. Thanks China Star I regret telling anyone I know to patronize your business because today is my last day coming there no matter how good the food is. Customer service should always be #1 when running...

This was our first visit. We chose dine in style. The restaurant is very small and dim lighted. For someone like me, it was hard to see anything, especially coming in from the bright sun. Most of the tables were dirty... meaning sticky and had previous customer's rice particles.

We ordered from the lunch menu: *Sesame chicken with steamed rice Egg drop soup Egg roll

*Mongolian beef with fried rice Upgraded wanton soup Egg roll

Both of us drank sweet tea.

The Egg drop soup was very salty but tasted delicious. Some of the best I've had. Usually places water it down but this one was on the thick side so if you don't like that slimey thick egg yolk texture then you won't like this one.

Husband said the wanton soup was also salty and claimed it was good but he's had better. Did say the noodles were cooked just right but the flavor was lacking.

Sesame chicken was plentiful and looked amazing full of sauce. Unfortunately, it had no flavor at all. It was spicey but even that you couldn't taste. You could just feel the nice little burn it had. The chicken didn't have any salt either. I had to put chili oil, soy sauce, sweet and sour sauce to try and help the flavor but nothing helped. The chicken texture was cooked well done. Some pieces were crunchy other were tender. The breading to chicken ratio was perfect on my plate. I had more chicken than breading, which is always a positive.

Mongolian beef, hubby said it had no flavor as well. The fried rice tasted bland as well. He said even the vegetables didn't add anything to the dish. Some meat was chewey, he said. He did like the portion size. He also said it was sauced up very well but said there was no other flavor than the spice hitting the back of his throat. His plate had a plentiful amount of beef to vegetables ratio. Which again is a win.

Egg roll tasted delicious to us with the sweet and sour sauce. This egg roll does not have ginger in it like many places put now. It tasted subtle but at least had some flavor. It was crunchy and cooked perfectly. Pretty much the star of the lunch.

The sweet tea was perfect. Not overly sweet and a nice light tea flavor. Very refreshing in this heat.

Our waitress was extremely nice. She kept her cheery attitude even with some rude customers. She was the only one running the tables and did an excellent job. It seems majority of the people that go there are regulars and she remembers them all. I like that makes it feel like you're visiting a friend or family. The lady at the cash register is plainly business so she can come off as rude or cold.

Overall I give it 4 out of 5. I had to dock a point because the flavor of the food is bland. I do recommend if you are on a tight budget and need a lot of food. I think the price is amazing for the quantity you receive.

Total...

From the parking lot the big China Star sign looms large over the parked cars like the salt water worn and faded name on the side of some old dockside merchant ship. .I.e., I think the restaurant has been here for a while. I had to check twice to make sure we were in the right place upon entering as the speak easy level of the interior light had us quickly doffing our sun glasses or risk bumping into the furnishings. New diners entering the place would send a short burst of searing sunshine through the dining room . And to read the menu, I was fortunate enough to have a flashlight app on my cell phone.

We were quickly seated by a young Asian girl, our waitress, that I nicknamed Mercury. During the meal the service she provided was nothing less than fleet of foot and, showing my age, more like a 45 lp playing at 78 rpms. This description applies to both motion and speech which was not displeasing as proferred with a smile.

The interior looked a little tired and worn, but it was in keeping with the era from which the prices were established on the lunch menu. Where do you get a glass of tea for $93 and most plates for under $5 or $6!!!

The hot and sour and wonton soups were good and very usual. The egg rolls were also good although they were a slimline version; rather the size of the spring rolls usually served by Vietnamese restaurants. The fried rice was unusual in that it was very moist and did not seem fried at all. The beef lo-mein noodles were good, but the beef was a little tasteless. The Mongolian beef was seasoned well in its brown sauce, but the meat could have been a little more tender. And the serving size . . . let's just say that if you leave the place hungry either you are Adam Richman or it's your own damn fault.

I would venture to say that if the restaurant does not change its prices, continues to save on electricity, and maintains the same ambiance, it will probably be here for another 30 years or however long it has already been in...