China West Express — Restaurant in Tustin

Gosh where do I begin. I ordered food off of Chow Now because I received a flyer in the mail and though, why not try something Local. Ordering food was fine I ordered a family meal with orange chicken, orange beef, plain fried rice and wontons and then , a side order of egg flower soup and chicken chow mein. I get a call from the delivery guy that I NEED to come downstairs and get my food, no big deal, people get lost in this apartment complex all the time, so I go downstairs with my 8yr old to pick up the food from the driver. Upon meeting with the driver, he starts telling me that why did I leave him such a small tip, becoming argumentative and super hostile, he scared my son so we went back inside. On TOP of that, I got inside and the rice is missing. I send a complaint through the ChowNow and they call me to ask what happened. I repeat everything and they get me on a three way call with the manager of the restaurant, Ricky. Ricky was not rude, but didn’t really seem to want to lose any money. Our conversation consisted of a lot of awkward silence and “oh I’m sorry, really? Are you sure they forgot the rice? The driver was probably upset because it’s been a busy day. If you want I can re deliver the rice (which would have arrived well after dinner) or I can refund you the cost of a fried rice. “ I opted for the refund because obviously, why should I pay for something I didn’t receive. Furthermore, we get off the phone, my family sits down to eat and all the food is super super oily/greasy, like they were in a rush to get it out and sent it out straight from the oil to the plastic containers they came in. No one ate their food, so again, not only did I waste my time waiting for the food, I got a hostile delivery person and my food order wasn’t complete on top of the food not being good. It’s disappointing, and literally money thrown away because we had to throw all the food away. I won’t ever order from here again or recommend this...

I can only give this place 3 stars because it is overpriced based on the portion sizes. The food taste and quality were OK, not great. I can say this because I am Chinese and know what good quality and good tasting Chinese food should be.

So, let's get back to the portion sizes. My basis is for just slightly more at a sit-down Chinese restaurant, and there are plenty in Irvine, the portion sizes and quality, taste, and presentation are overwhelmingly better.

I decided to try this place because inflation has caused price to go up everywhere and was trying to save some money. Since this place is primarily takeout and their prices were just a little less, I was hoping to find quality Chinese food at a decent price.

After receiving my food, I realized why their prices were a little lower than traditional sit-down Chinese restaurants nearby. The portion size is significantly smaller. So, the slightly lower price and lower quality is achieved by drastically reducing the portion size for all of their food.

Their profit margins are huge based on the portion size, storefront size, rent, etc. when compared to a traditional sit-down restaurant with waiters/waitresses, tables, cleaning, dishware, etc. I know this because I've been in the restaurant business.

I'm not trying to bash this place but, to me, it's definitely not worth the money for what you get. I'm just looking for a fair and reasonable amount of food for the price being charged. As I said the quality and taste were OK, not great, which is acceptable if the portion size matched the prices they charge.

I won't be recommending this place to anyone not, will I...

Short version-- excellent food, quick service, competitive process, dynamite customer service.

Long version -- Went to Rockin Jump for my son's birthday. The gf and I wanted to eat, so I searched the area and found these guys, which was nearly around the block, literally 4 mins on the GPS.

Started to order online for pickup and there was a coupon for free eggrolls with a $25 purchase, just enter a promo code. Code wouldn't work, so I dialed up the restaurant and spoke to a gal who gave me to a manager. She said, "No problem, give me your order, I'll honor the promo."

Ended up getting the shrimp fried rice, wor wonton soup, egg rolls, spicy fried calamari, cream cheese fried wonton, & chicken chow mein. Whole shrimp in the rice, nice size and actually spicy calamari, seriously cheesy fried wonton.... The food was excellent.

And the gal's promise? Honored. Not that it was expensive at $4 and change, it was that she honored the coupon and made it right, even if I couldn't finish ordering online.

Would totally recommend to anyone looking for good Chinese food. And the quantities were a...