China Star

Came here for a quick lunch during a weekend workshop. Food came out hot and quickly but not a lot of flavor. Restaurant didn't have the cleanest feel to it. Big portions. Egg roll was mushy on the inside.

"Well above-average fast-food Chinese, with delivery"This is our fall-back, "I'm-in-a-rush-and-need-something-to-take-home," take-out restaurant. Conveniently located near Duke University, this small restaurant at the end of a Food Lion strip mall is both inexpensive and pretty good. The food selection contains all the standard fast-food Chinese favorites, but with more variations possible than in many comparable establishments. For example, appetizers include egg rolls (regular or vegetable), shrimp rolls, spring rolls, shrimp toast, fried wontons, spare ribs, dumplings, crab rangoon, etc. The menu has, literally, 140 options overall!We typically get some vegetable egg rolls, a few main dishes like chicken with broccoli, sesame chicken, and string beans with garlic sauce (all dishes with white or chicken fried rice since we ask- they default to pork), and some free fortune cookies. The quality is surprisingly good- there are other similar fast-food Chinese places throughout Durham, and none have food as good as this one (though still don't expect gourmet). The price is great- dinner portions of most dishes are around $7 or $8. The food is also clearly made fresh, as you can ask for variations from the menu, and they accommodate without taking any longer. Finally, there's no MSG.What's most impressive is the QUANTITY of food you get. We've fed dinner to a group of 6 people with 3 entrees before, and no one was left hungry. Given that, you can feed a lot of people on very little money.They also have various specials, like free wonton soup with $20 order, and they sometimes give a discount to Duke University employees.We usually order by phone, and they say the food will be ready for pickup in 10-20 minutes, and they've always been ready when I stop by the restaurant. Recently, they've started delivery, too ($1 charge), but we haven't tried it yet.

I have been to this restaurant twice in the past couple of months. Both times the lady at the counter was pissed about something. Yelling in Chinese at other workers and shoving my bag at me without comment.Then got home and the order is wrong.Uber Eats from this point forward. Chinese food with no Chinese 'tude.

I'm currently on a quest to find the best Egg Foo Young and fried dumplings in the Triangle. I have a gold standard on each, but both places closed down after many, many years in business. (Charlie's Chinese & 35 Chinese, both in Chapel Hill.)First of all, I'm learning that finding egg fu young in this area is a task in itself! After doing some research found it on the menu here so made a special trip to try it. Nice that it's offered on their lunch menu, with two patties. Most of the other selections are very fairly priced, under $6.00. The portions are huge, come with choice of rice and an egg roll. Each patty was sizable and had pretty good flavor of pork, onions and veggies, but they served the sauce/gravy on the side. I'm used to a very dark rich sauce that's already on the patties, made by Charlie Two Shoes in Chapel Hill, who has been retired for several years. China Star's is medium in color, thick, and not very flavorful. Oh well, onward!Their fried dumplings come eight to an order for $5.15, which is more than fair. They were fried nicely, but rather than the usual thin dough oblong shape they looked more like the ball sized dumpling you see in the bamboo steamers on a buffet. They were extremely doughy, which overshadowed the wonderful flavor of the meat inside. The dipping sauce could not have been more delicious, so it was a real toss up. Overall conclusion, way too much doughy taste and texture overrode the winning flavor of the meat and sauce.I will continue my quest...

Good solid fast food style Chinese food for the money. I order here a few times a month and it's always the same good quality.

I've been going to China Star for over 20 years and have always been very happy with the quality and consistency of the food. It's my go to place for Chinese takeout.

I'd ordered from China Star about a month ago. Food was excellent. Better though was the service. I used a gift card to pay but got distracted by a phone call and forgot to get my card back. Didn't realize my gaff for a few days (I was back in Pa by then). Completely my fault. Card had about $80 left on it and anyone could have used it. About a week later, I was back in the area and took a chance and went back to China Star and asked whether they still had the card. I expected that the card and $$$ were long gone. But, the young woman who took my order initially went to her notebook and had my card. She was extremely apologetic that she was not able to call me to say that I'd forgotten my card. I was amazed by the honesty demonstrated. The food is excellent and I will definitely patronize China Star based on the honesty and integrity of the staff.

A stranger in the city for a funeral, I read the reviews and should have stayed away. However, this place was near where I was, and my sister felt people always write things from their perspective. We were so wrong. We got in after 8 pm and did not even notice the small sign at the side of the door (until they pointed it out after rude and aggressive service). While trying to order and determine the size of orders to ensure that we have food for everyone (we probably would have spent 100 dollars plus there), the male owner started to rush our order, be abrupt about our questions on sizing, and then proceeded to ask us rudely if we don't know he closes at 8:30 pm. If Don't we see signs. Mind you, he was not the one taking our orders. And besides, how would we know? You have no writing on the door, a regular write paper on the side, and you think someone who has spent all day at a funeral will be looking out for a small landscape writing. We told him no thanks, and we started to leave, but he could have treated us better. Who screams at customers for closing time? We called out his bias and him being rude. He could have just told us when we walked in that they were about to close. So simple!This owner even got in my personal space to the point where I started to record him. We told him you shouldn't treat customers with bias, which was apparent from some of his words. I told them to place the door sign and inform customers when they walk in. How do you leave from behind a counter and follow customers outside because they call out your rudeness and bias? How am I supposed to know you are closing when you don't hAve the notice in the viewing eye, and you have your light on saying open and no alert was said that you are closing? Mind, you, he was not the one taking our order. My sister was mainly his target because he looked at her being plus size. Called her "you American" as if that is a problem. As we were asking about the sizing of portions to determine how much we will need to purchase for the entire family, he kept targeting her, but she addressed his mannerism.The owner needs customer service and anger management help. This is no way to treat customers. Mind you; we went here out to get food for a 79-year-old who had just buried her child. I was excited to treat her to Chinese because she loves Chinese food. Coming from around so much love today to an abrupt owner who believes staying in business 20 years gives him the right to be belligerent. God help us all. Above is one of the reasons businesses fail after 20 years!

Everyone complains about the lady. She is nice to me though. This is the only place I go on this side of town and reasonable prices. Unlike others up the road with higher prices and and no flavor.

service sucked. food was pretty good. hard to find good Chinese in Durham so far. have not ordered a "combo"