Asian Star — Restaurant in Sandy

There is no Sushi here, despite various advertisements and mentions online of it. Seems like maybe they used to have it but not now. Considering we went here specifically because my wife wanted Chinese, and I wanted Sushi, it was disappointing. Another small family simply left when they found out.

The food is good, with the exception of the gross egg roll (It's a deep fried spring roll). Although it's pretty pricey for what you are getting.

The service wasn't great. Nothing bad enough to stop me from going again, but it was a 'weird' experience. We got there and there was no host to greet us. Finally a worker came out and we told them we had a party of two and they vanished. 2 other workers, each a minute or so apart did the exact same thing. Finally a 4th showed up and took us immediately to a table within view that no one had been clearing. It was very confusing and unorganized.

When we were greeted by the waiter, I asked about a Sushi Bar menu, and he seemed irritated. Maybe they've been getting that a lot, which is likely annoying, but that's not my fault... I said "no worries" and just said I'd need a minute with the menu.

My wife ordered her dinner combo, and I ordered some pot stickers, a dinner combo, and an extra side of white rice. Again the waiter just gave me this bizarre, and irritated look. He paused before adding it to the list and went to put in the order. My wife noticed it too, and the only thing we could think of is "Side of white rice" isn't technically on the menu... but... it's such an incredibly normal thing to order... It's like ordering a glass of water.

Our dinner combos came out, and I realized there were no chopsticks at the table. I know I sound like "that guy" but I'm not eating chinese food without chopsticks. I'm certainly not eating all this rice I got without them. So I had to flag down another waiter and ask for some. I wouldn't take off ANY points for this, because it happens everywhere, but you shouldn't have to 'ask' for chopsticks at a chinese place. They cost like 2 cents a pair. Just leave some on the table...

Anyway we started eating and realized our Potstickers never showed up. Our waiter was completely MIA the rest of the dinner at this point, and it wasn't until we were almost finished eating that some other person asked us how the food was and I was finally able to mention. He ran off to check on them, came back, and asked if we still wanted them... I just said No, not at this point.

While we are boxing up our food, like in the middle of it, they are trying to clear off the table. If they were super busy, or had people waiting, I might understand, but there was no one in the lobby and plenty of open tables, so I don't understand the rush. I'm trying to hold my dish above my box while they reached over/around me. It was just weird.

Lastly, the final person comes around to get payment and just seems like he is so annoyed he had to come to the table. No "How was your meal. Thank you for coming." nothing. Just "ung... thanks"

Like I said... these aren't things that would make me not come back, but it was WEIRD. It was weird that so many different staff members were unorganized, and seemed irritated by strange things like asking about an advertised food item, or a simple side of rice, or even just collecting payment.

Maybe it was just an off day for the staff, things happen... but hey, at least the Pon Pon Tofu was crispy...

When we came in, the restaurant was basically empty. We looked past the red flag but were disappointed nonetheless.

Service was inattentive; the busser was more active in filling our waters and you could hear the servers were in the back chatting and laughing. We were also seated by the busser. Menu was confusing and vague so ordering was a hassle, but our server was patient and kind about it but wasn’t much of a help as they didn’t explain the menu to us at all. They smiled and took the order and that was all. The menu has red font on black background which made it hard to read. They divide their dishes into two sections, we got “House Special a la carte” dishes which was around ~16.50$ and it comes with steamed rice and whatever you order. Under the sections’ texts there are photos, and then a list of dishes to order. There are no descriptions nor descriptors on the food and some of the dishes did not even have complete names and there were no price tags on the dishes. It took us two tries at ordering but we finally figured out you’re supposed to pick a section, then the dish you want, and then that dish is priced at the price point of the section price point. I’m still not 100% sure if that’s how it works.

Food was nothing special even though the reviews are raving. I think they changed ownership or perhaps we didn’t order the right things since we didn’t order much, just orange chicken and kung pao chicken. We had a starter salad that was a hand-sized plate of sliced carrots and shredded lettuce with a drizzle of sesame/vinaigrette blend; this was a very sad salad and it made me feel bad eating it. Orange chicken was dry and the sauce was so sweet that it tasted more like candy than orange chicken, it lacked any depth in flavor nor good crunch/crisp. Kung pao chicken was okay and about the same quality and flavor profile as panda express. I don’t have many complaints about it other than the chicken was a little too tender for my taste, but I wouldn’t order it again. Not very bad, not very good. The prices are unjustified at around 16$-20$ a plate. The boasting they do about the quality and authenticity of their food I can just tell you flat-out that it’s an attempt to goad you through the door.

Atmosphere was clean and presentable though nothing really stands out and nothing is too memorable. They have several fish tanks which are nice. They are trying to hard to present themselves as a “clean, upscale, authentic Chinese place” for people who don’t know better; other than that, the atmosphere fails to assert itself and bring a good time to customers. Looking around, I’m not even sure that the tables are set up properly for server sections which is a concern.

To me, it seems the restaurant isn’t necessarily bad as much as it is ineffectively structured and managed. It feels like a restaurant that is ran by a new restauranteur. I wouldn’t suggest coming here unless you’re drunk; in which case the food would be very satisfying for munchies with how much sugar was in everything. 1 star for the reasons...

My family has eaten at Asian Star dozens and dozens of times over two decades and have followed them from when they were in Holladay, Cottonwood Heights and their current place in Midvale. We’ve always loved the food and have been there with groups, date nights, etc. If you eat somewhere enough times, there’s bound to be one that’s just “off”. Well we had one of those nights where the food wasn’t vey hot and it tasted a bit different. We’ve been there enough times to know what to expect. No big deal, it happens. After bringing out the food, our server never came back to check on us so we could voice our concerns. When she did finally check on us, she got the owner, Gary, involved and we asked what he does in a situation like this. It was his suggestion that dinner was on him and asked that we at least leave a tip for the server, which we did. A month later we were feeling like some good Chinese food and went to Asian Star where we were seated by Gary. A few minutes later he came to our table and said “Before we get started, let me just say that if there’s a problem with the food, let me know before you eat it”. Obviously he’s been stewing over our last visit and must have us on his Asian Star most wanted wall. Well, how are you supposed to know if there’s a problem unless you eat it for one thing? The other thing is, why would you bring that up? Sometimes things happen and we totally get it. We weren’t looking for or asking for a free meal. That was Gary’s offering. When I said we’re there to have a nice meal and aren’t looking for any trouble, Gary told us to leave and eat someplace else. Really? What just happened?? It’s obvious that Gary rules with an iron fist as we’ve noticed a lot of employee turnover over the years and now it’s spilling over into customers. It’s sad that he felt a need to even bring that up and couldn’t say something positive like “So glad to see you again! Please let me know if there’s anything you need and hope your food is great” Instead he had to make a big deal out of something we were over and it was HIS solution to cover the bill. This is NOT how you treat customers Gary, but sadly I don’t think you...