China Cafe

So this is an American style Chinese takeout. Nice owners, large portions, great price, great value. I have had people from out of town request this for dinner and even take it on road trips (don’t ask me how you eat Chinese food and drive).
When I feel like being fat, I order the pork dumplings, pan fried of course, sweet and sour chicken or the lemon chicken, and some chow mein. The mushu pork or chicken isn’t bad and neither are the crab ragoons. I don’t get any of the seafood dishes here so I can’t comment on them. The kungpao chicken, general tsaos chicken, and orange crispy beef are nice.
I have never eaten anything healthy here so I can’t comment on those dishes.
If you pick up instead of deliver the food is usually done in 10 – 15 minutes.

My favorite place for take-​out General Tso. It’s been consistent for years now. Granted, totally American-​ized Chinese food, but when I want General Tso, that’s the type of non-​Chinese Chinese food I want and this is where I want it. Spicy, good chicken to breading ratio and spicy. It’s also nice that their fried rice has veggies.
Other than that, expect nothing. The staff aren’t friendly, their menu is hit or miss and price-​wise they’re average for takeout/​delivery. Have always done takeout myself since I don’t live nearby.

Really disappointed with this place. Ordered the orange chicken, steamed dumplings and egg drop soup. The orange chicken was dry and stringy. The batter was soggy and the sauce was bitter. The steamed dumplings have far too much dough and the egg drop soup was far too gelatinous. I will say the portions are huge but mine all went in the trash.

General Tao is horrid and doesn’t bring it to your door. Makes you go to the lobby. What’s the point in delivery

this is one of my favorite Chinese carryouts. the food is consistent and very good. they even will make vegetarian food if you request even though it isn’t on the menu.

The chinese food here is better than in most chinese places in the area (for me at least). I have ordered their orange chicken (³⁄₅), sweet and sour chicken (⁴⁄₅), moo goo gain chicken (I didn’t like this dish), and most recently I have been getting the garlic chicken, which I like the best. For all of these dishes I always order the sauce on the side. I like to be able to manage how much sauce I want in my food, most chinese food places add too much sauce in their dishes and I don’t like that because then your meal is floating in it. I like to have the power to decide how much sauce flavor I want in my food! Plus the limited amount of sauce affects the flavor in the dish– for better.
My husband always orders the same thing, crispy beef, so I guess he is happy with it. I like it too but sometimes it has been dry. The last couple of times it has been better so I wonder if they got a new cook or if he decided to be more consistent with his cooking.
Oh, we always get vegetable rolls (2.5÷5) and the «crabmeat» rangooes, it comes with 6 of them. I really like their rangooes but I never had them before until I tried them here so I can’t compare it with other rangooes.
Also, we have never asked for delivery, so I can’t comment on it. However, they have always been really quick with our order. We ordered it on the phone and by the time we get there to pick it up (~15mins) it is packed and ready to go. I always ask for extra fortune cookies and the lady has never said anything mean about it. I recommend picking your food up if you’re able to.
I agree with other people that their customer’s skills aren’t exceptionally good but we have never had a problem with the service either. The clerk doesn’t have a very warm or welcoming personality but to be fair I haven’t been to many chinese restaurants where I have felt welcomed either. Most of the time I feel they are kicking me out as soon as they see me putting my fork down (as in done eating).
Anyway, overall I am content with the food here and until I get lucky enough to find a better Chinese food place, I will keep buying here.

First time going last night. Big order, so they gave us free chicken Lo Mein.
We ordered four different dishes, all were good but my mother-​in-​law kept raving about her dish, and since she is a self-​proclaimed «orange chicken expert» so we all tried it.
Ummmm, maybe she is an expert because it was amazing.
Free delivery (which we didn’t use, but still)! We are going to add this place into the rotation.
Four dishes, with eggrolll and soup, with free Lo Mein for 45 $. We had leftovers too.

The lady behind the counter has no customer skills whatsoever. She is rude and impatient. I made a mistake on my order and asked her if I could switch to something else which was withing 2 mims of her swiping my card and she said no. I was like that then let me have my money back then. She told me «fuck u» and I went crazy and told her she was stupid. I will never return there. Food isn’t that great anyway!

best veggie meat. good lo mein.

This is my go to place for Chinese takeout… It’s close by, the food is good, and the prices are low. Only problem is the awkwardly spaced parking lot if there are more than 3 cars.

I’m a frequent customer at China Café thanks to their consistent, yummy food and their super quick delivery times. I’d highly recommend their wonton soup, which is out of this world, and their perfect-​amount-​of-​spicy Kung Pao chicken.

I love China Café! It has become our go-​to Chinese restaurant. They’re always consistently good. The food is very inexpensive and still of high quality! I usually order the hot and sour soup (large) and it is filling enough for a meal! I also love their beef with broccoli and their amazing egg rolls. It’s hard for me to ever tire of China Café. It’s truly a gem in this area.

I view this as standard American Chinese food. Nothing awesome about it, but nothing bad in my opinion either. I think its standard for Chinese take-​outs. Most of te food that I have gotten has been pretty good– some of it is a bit overkill on the grease– but it’s Chinese food, that’s what should be expected.
The parking lot is… weirdly laid out so its easy to get stuck behind someone, or not be able to get out if someone comes in behind you. Place looks kinda dirty from the inside too. Food preparation seems clean enough but nothing fancy at all and could use a fresh coat of paint.
I do like going here due to the convenience of how close it is to my apartment complex and reasonable prices. If you want ‘fancier’ Chinese food (even at take-​out) there are some nicer places in the area.

Service: is a ok. The lady behind the cash register is very rude and impolite when you order. She does not even give me chopsticks or napkins. When I asked for chopsticks she was really unhappy and texting on her cellphone.
Food: tastes like regular American Chinese take-​outs. Nothing special. Fried rice is just white long grand non-​sticky rice (cheapest rice you can buy) stir-​fry with soy sauce. Worst ever. And it was $ 1.00 extra. I ordered pepper steak– the dish has too much onion with a little bit green bell pepper and a tasteless brown sauce. I can hardly find any piece of beef. The beef is paper thin and not a steak quality beef. It should just be called «Pepper & Onion with beef flavor». I tried the fried chicken too, but I really don’t like it. It has too much oil and the chicken cooks really old. Hunan Bean Curd with mixed veggies is better, but it has too much MSG.
Overall: I disagree with the reviewer who gave this place a 5-​stars review. I’ve lived here for almost 10 years and tried most Chinese restaurants and takeouts if not all of them in the area. There are many better takeouts than this one. Seriously, it’s really hard to make Chinese take-​out food below average, but China Café managed to do just that.
I don’t think I will return to this restaurant again unless I’m super hungry Even I’m super hungry, I don’t think I should come back to torture my taste buds.

This is a forced one star review. 30 minute delivery on a Saturday night was the only thing that exceeded my expectations. This is yet another Chinese place in NOVA with somehow absurdly inflated reviews. The chicken broccoli was the most tasteless version I’ve ever had the misfortune of having. The food was swimming in this oily brown mystery sauce that had zero flavor. It wasn’t even salty for crying out loud.
The prices are absurdly high for the small and flavorless portions. I could’ve had a much better meal elsewhere for $ 12 (came with no sides!). Customer service over the phone was majorly lacking.
I always make the mistake of getting optimistic about trying local Chinese takeout places out of nostalgia for my favorite NY/​NJ spots but in the end, my conclusion continues to be the same every time: NOVA seems to be a lost cause.

The Bottom Line: Best Chinese takeout in the area with great prices, huge portions (3 dishes can serve 4 – 6 people depending on the crowds apatite), fast service, good quality and a great taste.
Why 5 stars you ask? Well I am bundling all of the aforementioned items together for this rating. This is NOT PF Chang’s, Peking Inn, or Duck Chang’s which are all great dinning options, but it is the best Americanized Chinese delivery in the area and that is why I give it 5 stars.
I have tried the completion andI alway wake up with a dry mouthed Chinese sodium induced hangover, but NOT from here.
Ignore the few low scores given by people who couldn’t distinguish great takeaway from a freezer Chinese meals from your local supermarket.
I like the crispy beef, peppered beef, seafood soup, dumplings, and anything Kung Pao!
Order now or you will be behind me, which may be a nice view for you!!!

We ordered four dishes, two egg rolls and four dumplings. This might be a 2.5, but rounded down to a 2.
The good: Sweet and sour chicken… but really, that’s practically impossible to screw up. I thought the orange chicken was yummy, and the vegetable fried rice, but those decisions were not unanimous across the dinner table. I think the egg rolls and dumplings were enjoyed by all.
The bad: Szechuan beef. Way too many onions… it was a bowl of saucy onions with a couple of pieces of beef. And the flavor was mediocre.
The ugly: The garlic scallops were horrible. I tried one and could hardly swallow it. We couldn’t even eat them — we just threw them out. They smelled really bad… I guess seafood at a Chinese restaurant in Arlington, VA isn’t the best choice to start with (my bad?), but at least deliver something edible.

The sesame chicken I ordered was all filler/​breading with very little chicken. The fried wonton strips were stale and the egg roll had a strange taste.

Decent food with decent pricing. They don’t charge a delivery fee, but the delivery minimum is $ 10. Tip your delivery driver accordingly. I had the child fried rice with crab ragoon. Both were filling and tasty. I totally get why they have a high rating because they’re certainly worth it.

This is the only Chinese place I order from in Arlington. The food is good, offered in sizable portions, and the quality is consistent. I’ve been ordering from them for a year or two and the delivery has always been on time. I live relatively close by, so if the delivery consistency ever changes, I’ll still be willing to drive there for carryout.