House of Chan — Restaurant in Smyrna

I had been a faithful customer of House of Chan for over 45 years!!! (In the '80 I worked up the street and ate there at least twice a week! I lived in Europe from 1987 to 1997, and still went to HoC whenever I was in Atlanta. Since then I would often eat there. My favorite dish was Dragon Horse Shrimp. A couple of years ago - maybe 2022 +/-, I went there and the dish tasted sweet. I sent it back: something I had never had to do before. It came back the same.. sweetish rather than savory. I visited about 3 times after that before I finally gave up lamenting I lost my favorite Chinese restaurant!

Periodically, I'd try other Chinese restaurants but none ever measured up to my memories of House of Chan. Several months ago the thought came to me to order "with no sugar!" And that seemed to solve my problem! I thought I was back in.

Unfortunately, today I suggested to a friend that we go eat at House of Chan. I once again ordered Dragon Horse Shrimp - " with no sugar"! What came out was like nothing I had ever eaten there before! It was totally disgusting! Looked and tasted like they had some kind of soupy gravy on it. It looks beautiful, but it tasted disgusting, and it actually tasted like gravy! I even questioned the waitress about how they had prepared it. I couldn't eat! Then I thought to order a different shrimp dish until I was told it was made with the same sauce. I have no idea who was in the kitchen! Finally I ordered some hot and sour soup, which was edible at least, even if not great. And I ordered some potstickers. The pot stickers looked pretty, But it was like they were uncooked and very doughy. I've never had a pot sticker like it in my life. I did bring them home with me, and will try to refry them to see if I can at least get them cooked through. I even questioned the waitress about if they used pre-made sauces or things. Finally I asked if the chef was Chinese even, and I was told he was.

Another thing I noticed as I was walking into House of Chan today is that they had some old ply board made into some type of door that was painted over. And then they had some handmade sign saying to pull the front door to open it. Both signs look like they were from a third world country. I have traveled internationally quite a bit. Did someone come and buy this wonderful restaurant with a steadfast and loyal clientele, and then change the recipes that Mrs. Chan had so lovingly and professionally crafted? Have they brought the class of a third world country and tried to transform this establishment to what they knew before?

PLEASE, new ownership, please return to what worked, what was successful, and what was delicious! It was so bad today and so unlike what it had been before, that I thought that maybe it had even been sold a second time more recently. Get a chef who knows what they're doing and who knows how to cook. Truly this was so far from what it had once been!

(I was encouraged in reading more recent reviews, that the new ownership had responded. Maybe there's some hope???? If so, please let me know, because I don't think I could...

When you first walk in, you can see an old award from (22) years ago. Well ... something must have gone wrong in the last (22) years. When I first try a Chinese restaurant, I try the fried rice, because, if you can't cook fried rice, there is something wrong! I went in today because the name is kind of catchy. Well I guess the cover to this book is misleading. They ask $11.95 for a box of Beef Fried Rice. While I was waiting for my take out order ... I had to use the restroom. I could see that the diners had nice looking rice, which brought my expectations up, knowing that my rice would be the same. Well, guess what? The price that they charge was not equal to the quality of the rice that I received. The rice was the white steamed rice. You know ... the over cooked, clumpy, starchy, bland rice that you usually get as a side order when you get stuff like egg foo young. This is the absolute worst rice that I have ever had. And I have had rice all around the world, and all around the United States. When I called back to let them know what happened ... it turned out, as they put it ... Not A Mistake! They told me to bring it back so that the chef could look at it. I live (15) miles away from their store. Its not worth my time and gas for them to tell me the same thing in person, as they told me on the phone. They said that it doesn't have to be today ... [Saturday], you can bring it back on Monday, Well ... you guys know that in (2) days ... the rice will be a different color. And further more, "Why Do I Have To Keep Rice For (2) Days"? Hey people ... don't waste your time and money. They claim to have been at that location for (40) years. I think that their time is up! This place deserves (10) thumbs down for the horrible food, and the jive excuses that they give to justify the high prices for the cheap products that they...

UPDATE: I wanted to update my review to accommodate the restaurant's bizarre response. 1. In their reply, they said they ATE our food after we returned it. That is weird, disgusting, and unhygienic! How in the world do you eat food that was returned to you? 2. When I returned the food last night, I made them all smell it, and they confirmed that it smelled really bad! One worker wondered what part of the dish had gone rancid. He asked "is it the rice, meat, or vegetables?" 3. "Half the rice was gone" because EVERY MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY TOOK SOME ONTO THEIR PLATE before taking a bite.

THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW A JOKE. We have been eating here for YEARS and the quality has completely fell off! Look at how the owner has chosen to respond to my review, even after when I returned the food last night the workers confirmed it was rancid, and also apologized and wanted to refund us. Thank God we returned this disgusting food that smelled rancid and spoiled. They ruined our night, made us drive all the way back to return our food (that was barely touched) and they refuse to take ownership here.

ORIGINAL POST: They served my family ROTTEN food! On Sunday 6/9/2024, we placed an order at the end of the day. General Tso chicken, pork fried rice, shrimp lo mein, order #51. Almost $100. All our food was SPOILED. My family, including young children, were eating this food when we realized something was OFF. It was very, very bad—rotten, even. Sure enough, I smelled the fried rice, and it smelled FOUL! This food was NOT cooked today. I can’t believe they would serve this to human beings. I wouldn’t even serve it to a stray dog. I do not recommend...