China Cafe — Restaurant in Town of Manlius

I have been going to China Cafe for a very long time and will never go back. I called to place an order 2 combos and Crab Rangoon basic order nothing complicated. I placed my order to the rude woman who usually answers the phone. When I’m done ordering she just says ok thank you and hangs up with no time estimation. It usually takes 10-20 minutes and we arrive in 15 minutes. We get in and go right to the counter as usual and give my phone number and she says just sit down. I sit for 15 minutes before the lady yells at me across the restaurant “can I help you? What are you doing here?” So I walk up and say “yeah I’m here to pick up my order, you told me to just sit down” she asks my phone number and I give it to her she walks towards the back and talks to another girl and she says just a few more minutes. I sit back down with my daughter and wife. 15 more minutes go by and I go back up to the counter and she is clearly avoiding me and calls someone else’s number. The guy walks in front of me and takes his order. Most places would have at least acknowledged me and apologized for the wait. I ask her how much longer and reminded her of my phone number. She walks back and points down and says this is it. I stand at the counter for another couple of minutes while it bagged up. I WAS NEVER EVEN REMOTELY RUDE AT ANY POINT BY THE WAY. I reluctantly pay because my pregnant wife is starving. After I pay she says is this your first time here? I said no I have been coming here for years (10 years actually) she said oh next time tell us when you’re here. I was astonished at how rude she was not to mention it was my third time at the counter. The food is good here but this experience was so terrible I will never step foot in there again....

Ordered over the phone, the person who took my order was pleasant. I was told 20 minutes for my order, it was ready and waiting on me precisely 20 minutes later when I showed up. The atmosphere was clean and cozy with a clear view of their kitchen. There was a little condiment and utensil station that was very clean and well stocked with the usual variety of sauces, as well as disposable spoons, forks, and chopsticks. The food was packed extremely well! I'm impressed at how full they made the containers without spilling sauces all over them. The food is much better than we were anticipating! The vegetable mix in the lomein isn't just the boring, average assortment, and tastes as if it's fresh instead of frozen like many other places. The sesame chicken is very crisp under the thick sauce and has almost a smokey flavor. The curried chicken is fantastic and I'm not a huge curry person. The rangoons are filled well and shaped in an easy to eat triangle instead of the crazy flower shape. The pork fried rice was the only thing we got that could have been a little better, but it was still great, but overshadowed by how incredible everything else is. I regret not getting photos of the food before ripping into everything like...

Like any restaurant, you have to order what they are good at. Suppose you won't know till you try. The weirder and less conventional sounding, the better it usually is though. Sesame chicken is ok, but try some squid sometime! Or those crunchy noodles soaked in the sauce. Yum 😋 (pan fried noodles under chow mein) Yeah people usually cook the dishes they like the best. I'm sure those chefs aren't excited about the American dishes. I'm going to try the duck today!!!!

Don't sit inside. The lighting is bad and the tables aren't in a warm atmosphere. They probably don't want to clean up after you. Why would they, you arent going to tip and the food is cheap for the quality. Eat it in the comfort of your home.

If only they...