Wok & Roll — Restaurant in San Marcos

I first tried to drop in for a late lunch before an appointment, and thought I had just enough time to grab a bite. I was sat promptly in a booth in the far corner when the place was basically empty. I live in Buda, so this was my first time here, but I was drawn in by some good reviews on here and the fact that I don’t get good Chinese food that often. After taking a decent while to peruse the menu, I still hadn’t been approached by a waitress to even ask for my drink order. I start obviously looking around the restaurant for someone’s eye contact. I see a group of at least 4 waitresses in the corner by the kitchen chatting with each other. I finally look back at the time and realize I’m not sure I have enough time to deal with potentially slow service before my appointment, so I leave. After the appointment is done, I’m really starving now and still had high hopes to fill my craving for some decent Chinese food, so I decided to give them another shot. This time the service was prompt, so I’m assuming maybe there was a shift change and nobody informed the waitresses that I had been sat the first time around. I already knew I wanted the “Spicy Mandarin Shrimp” based on the description on the menu so I ordered immediately. The description said something about fried shrimp with a spicy sauce and fresh vegetables. The entree arrives and it’s plain battered shrimp on a meager bed of shredded iceberg and carrots. No sauce. I ask the waitress if I ordered the wrong item and she went back to the kitchen and brought back a small ramekin of sauce. The waitress was very sweet but didn’t know much about the menu at all. Seems like you need to train your staff on the menu or else include photos/better descriptions of what comes in an entree. All descriptions were very brief and didn’t give any indication of what kind of vegetables would be in the dish. Even on sight of a side of sauce, I was very disappointed that “fresh vegetables” meant a pathetic salad under my food. Iceberg lettuce is not something I expect in Chinese cuisine. This is probably the 3rd time in my life I’ve ever asked to send food back and order something else, but this was really really not what I was wanting. The server was very sweet and offered to box up the other dish for me or at least let me try it no charge. I knew they would just throw it away in that case, so I did try a few shrimp with the sauce. First, I will say, the shrimp were tempura fried very nicely, but the sauce tasted most exactly like Mae Ploy Thai sweet chili sauce that I can buy in my local grocery store. It is a tasty sauce and maybe this chef has his own recipe, but this is hardly something I expect to find on a “house specialties” menu. I explained to the waitress that I’d like something with some spice and a good mix of meat and cooked vegetables. It was clear that she didn’t really know a lot about the food. I’m guessing she was pretty new and I don’t blame her at all. I blame the restaurant for failing to educate your servers on your food. I went with a pork dish and it was palatable, but not anything to deserve even 4 star reviews. If I come back, I think I’ll go for the sushi and see if that’s what you do better. Maybe I just got the wrong entrees, but I think a lot of that is the failure of the menu to convey what...

From the atmosphere to the food- this food just sells Chinese buffet. This, of course, has its ups- fast food, fast service, and hefty portions, but on the downside it has low quality food, taste, and questionable prices. I think Wok N Roll is great for a college town like San Marcos with broke college kids who don’t know quality, but if you’re an out of town foodie- I wouldn’t put this place on my recommendations list.

Now here’s what I got-

The milk tea boba (2.5/5)- questionably gummy boba balls but the tea itself wasn’t half bad, just a little too sweet (~ $6.00)

General tso chicken with fried rice (3/5)-

Extremely saucy chicken with an okay taste- nothing memorable or exciting but the portion was huge! Came with an egg roll (this was the most enjoyable part) and super bland/dry rice (~ $14.00)

Mongolian beef with steamed rice (2.5/5)-

The veggies seemed raw (I’m not sure if they’re supposed to be cooked or not, but just don’t expect them grilled or anything) but the crunch to them actually made the dish 5x more enjoyable. The meat was saucy (just like the chicken dish), but super chewy- my brother said it was “fake meat” (like the cafeteria stuff). Again, this dish came with a heaping amount of food, an egg roll, and some steamed rice (considerably better than the fried rice because the fried rice just seemed so bland and dry, and although the steamed rice wasn’t much better you just can’t blame it because how else are you gonna make steamed rice?) (~ $14.00)

The Shaggy Dog Roll (1/5)-

I’ve tried a number of sushi in my life from many different (questionable) places, but this has to be the worst sushi I’ve ever had. It wasn’t bad because it was ridiculously gross or anything, but it just lacked flavor and structure- I was honest shocked because I have never had “bad” sushi before. Even if I did come back to this place (for some reason), this is a menu option I would NOT recommend- even if they did lower the price (~ $14.00)

Service-

Extremely fast and good service. We didn’t have to wait for a table and our server was very attentive. The food came out ridiculously fast too, kind of like it was just sitting back there waiting for us and all they had to do was pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes then bring it out (which I wouldn’t be surprised if this was actually the case), but something about the speed of the “making of the food” was extremely nice- because who doesn’t want to go to a restaurant and just immediately get what they ordered.

Conclusion-

Overall, if you’re feeling explorative and just want to try what San Marcos has to offer then you should try this place, you might find a better menu option for you than I did, but I can promise that no matter what you won’t leave feeling that sense of happiness and satisfaction you get from quality, good food- you won’t be grossed out or anything either, you just might leave feeling a little empty or like something is missing. However, if you want extremely… like ridiculously fast it’s questionable service then you’ll...

For years I've driven past this place and not stopped. Today our usual spot in Kyle was closed so we decided to try something new and Oh My goodness I'm so glad we did. This place was sooooo incredibly good. First off, the atmosphere is beautiful, well lit, cozy, beautiful decor and clean restrooms. Secondly, the food was so delicious. We ordered: steam dumplings, hot & sour soup, wonton soup, The Hot Jenny Roll, Beef Lo mein, Twin Flavors, and Beef and Vegetables. Everything was to perfection and so flavourful! We have 4 kids and they ate some of everything and declared this their new favourite spot. I'm not usually a sweet and sour chicken fan myself but decided to try it since it was at the table and I ended up becoming a fan, the texture and flavour was perfect and better than I've ever tasted. Lastly we had the nicest server. He was quick, fun, professional and a genuine delight. My kids really liked him and I wish I had gotten his name. A great server makes a difference, they can take a good place and make the experience so much better, he did that. He even brought us a slice of homemade Strawberry Cheesecake at the end and oh my dear Lord, I must've died and gone to heaven. I have not ever tasted cheesecake that good! I would not have ordered it myself but then was blown away and can't wait to get a chance to order it next time. I can't believe all these years we've just driven past this gem not knowing what glorious food and service was inside. It was a hit all around and I already cannot...