First Chinese Express

Hole in the wall goodness! Use to come here all the time when I lived in the area! My favorite is the crispy spicy chicken wings and fried rice! YUM! I also enjoy the combo chow mein. I have the place on speed dial, people! And I pick up my orders on my way home from the gym and it work! Just sayin!

It wasn't what I expected but the food was ok. Definitely if you're looking for a quick bite for a cheap price this is your spot but not my first choice.

I just spent $82 via doordash including tip. I knew it was a gamble and I take ownership for that, but I was feeling adventurous. I lost this bet. The house chow mein was soggy and bland. The orange chicken was heavily battered (think excessive Tammy Faye Baker eyelash thick) which made it even harder to be palatable when it was hella soggy and industrial strength sweet (and I have a sweet tooth!)--and, yes, I know orange chicken is sweet! The Mongolian beef so sweet = "Do I feel a cavity coming on?" The mapo tofu was the most palatable, but why so sweet? Again, I don't mind sweetness in my Chinese food but, dude...c'mon, this is not okay. How y'all gonna murder food like that?? The egg FY was the next palatable; yet, the bbq pork sauce accompanying it was a pure travesty. Seriously, man, my food soul died a little inside. I'm with the one reviewer and will have to trash this order not because I'm wasteful, but because it simply is not palatable...and I eat cold pizza because I like it, stale chips, and semi-flat soda when lazy--this says a lot. I am not a too picky piggy. To be fair, I could rinse the beef, noodles, and tofu then re-cook them with edible seasonings, but that defeats the entire purpose of using doordash. Now I'm thinking of how many whoppers I could've gotten with the same amount of money. Yes, I love cold whoppers too. Save your money. Trust my hedonistic tastebuds, please. I tell you no lie. Don't do it. (I attached a pic of my doordash order associated with this unsolicited review.)

I had to change my review. The search is back on to find a local Chinese place as good as back east. This place started out good but as I order more foods I had to r change my review. They have really gone downhill with each thing I try. My husband still loves the General Chicken but I'm use to a crispier chicken so that it's still crispy when I get it home. The orange "crispy" chicken was the same (lightly fried and soggy). The Mongolian beef was great the first time I tried it but not so good the second time. Meat quality went down and it was not as tinder. I've tried the beef and broccoli and even lower quality and it was breaded and soggy from the sauce. Worse thing ordered from there. Well that pounded piece of mostly bread shrimp that came with it was not good either and they put the freaking egg roll in with the food so it was a soggy mess when I got it home. Very disappointing.

First off the lady who took my order was extremely rude. You have to order your food off a complex lengthy menu outside of the restaurant. Took over 15 mins to get my order. Finally got the food and it's the nastiest most bland Chinese food Ive ever eaten. I ordered $33 worth of food and it's all getting thrown away because I can't even stomach it. I ordered the "crispy orange chicken" which was soggy and bland. And same with the sweet and sour chicken.. the bbq-pork fried rice was no different. Bland, no flavor. I will never come back to this place

Food quantity is nice..but lacks a lot of flavor. I got the chicken chow main and there is barely any flavor to it. I've had them before ordered some other items and they were lack luster was hoping this time around it would be better. I don't think I'll be going back.

I finished my taxes at Jackson Hewitt so decided to stop by next door to grab something to eat. First, customers are not allowed in the building. The entrance is blocked by 2 tables and the lady takes your order then runs back & forth to process your payment. Very 2020ish. But anyway, I ordered the BoBo platter and took it home. The cream cheese wontons didn't have any cream cheese, literally just 4 fried wonton wrappers. The shrimp were edible, just flavorless and heavily battered. The egg rolls were nice & crispy but bland in taste like the shrimp. The foil wrapped chicken is where they decided to go heavy on the seasoning. Listen, $8 isn't a lot of money but geez can I get 1 decent item in the platter?

The day was April 6, 2024 at 3 pm on a Saturday and I walked in on a 80 plus year old black woman, a customer being harassed and yelled at for wanting her money back for food she had ordered and was unsatisfied with. The establishment workers at First Chinese Express a woman and a man never mentioned a policy of,(or a signage of ) if you open the food you can't return it. They continued to yell and belittle this old black woman for wanting to return her food, in exchange for her money back. I was the next customer in line and I immediately tried to deescalate the situation and calm things down. However, the two employees then turned on me and said, " Mind your business" I was shocked and appalled at their behavior. I explained to the elderly woman calmly that if you leave an establishment with food then taste it they won't allow a refund. I also told the the workers/owners that what your doing is horrible customer service and how dare they yell at the elderly. I will never purchase any food at this establishment. The order process is very Covid19 you can't enter the location. Tables are blocking your entrance it's takeout only. However, the service is very unacceptable and very unprofessional. I will NEVER return or referrer this location to anyone.

I've been coming here for years. Service is always great and the food is delicious every time. My favorites are the chef's special spicy chicken and the spicy chicken wings.

This was my first time eating here. Dirty looking inside. You have to use take out. No seating inside yet. I guess because of covid. My friend ordered over $53.00 worth of different items. They were all tasteless. Including the sides of rice. Lack of sauce on every item. The fried items were not heavily battered but soggy. The extra sweet and sour sauce we got was also tasteless. Way to pricey for the quality of food. The lady that took the order was rude. I will not be returning. I ate at Lucky Chinese in Santee for years. I recommend eating there.