Lai Inn

Ordered beef with brocoly coudnt even finish it… Feels like it expired. Would not recommend to a friend

Terrible food and terrible service. Their sesame chicken was actually battered chicken with sweet and sour sauce added as a side with sesame seeds. And the Kung pao was DISGUSTING. Never going here again. Terribly overpriced. The rice sides are the size of a shot glass.

Excellent food. My family has been coming here for 20 years.
I currently live in Chicago and there’s nothing comparable, I try to order it whenever I come back to Minneapolis.
Their food is fresh, hot, and perfectly prepared. The chicken lo mien is my personal favorite and you won’t be disappointed with any of the appetizers!

Best seasame chicken and dumplings! We also had the fried chicken wings which were crispy and hot. Smaller quiet family owned resturant, so its authentic Chinese food! I will definitely be returning to this restaurant when I’m back in town.

Been here twice and have had great luck. The food and service are top notch. The shrimp are AWESOME. It is a hole in the wall feel, but the food really is good. Portions are good sized (the shrimp are large and not-​not the low quality stuff you normally find in these places.) They only accept cash. (which usually places that don’t take plastic are very good, for reference) This place is no exception.

Possibly the worst restaurant I’ve ever been to. I am just going to sum it up
— Messed up our order
— Took their menu home & was told the price was incorrect and charged us an extra $ 8
— Ordered 14 cheese wontons and gave us a TABLESPOON of sweet & sour sauce
— Their sesame chicken is fried chicken in batter with a tub of of ‘sesame sauce’ which is orange chicken sauce with sesame seeds.
— They will ONLY take cash. Don’t bother going in with a card.
— The only reason they are in business is because it’s the only Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood.
— Food is mediocre at best.
–Take the extra 10 minutes and visit the surrounding Asian restaurants.

I really wish I could give it 2 ½ stars.
The food was fine (read lackluster) except there was no rhyme or reason for the spicy levels. We ordered somethings as spicy as possible and some things with no spice to accommodate a big group. The things that weren’t supposed to be spicy were as spicy as the things that were supposed to be.
Had they hit the spicy levels as we had given them, the review would have been higher as the food wasn’t half bad. That and when we ordered over the phone no one mentioned anything about cash only. I had to make a second trip.
CASH ONLY!

Awesome egg rolls

I’ve been here once, and probably won’t return. There are simply too many better options for Chinese cuisine in the area, with better tasting food that take credit cards. If you are going to be cash or check only, you need to have food that blows me away to get me to come back.
The service was good, and the place was immaculate. The buffet looked a bit underwhelming when I looked at it while waiting for my take out order of Kung Po Chicken.
The Kung Po tasted more like Kung «No». There were a smattering of chilis in the meal… but overall it was just bland. Additionally, I hate it when places are so obvious with using green peppers and onions in abundance to cover up the fact that they are cheap with the meat. I was eating green peppers in bland suace by the end of my meal. The only redeeming quality the meal had was the absolutely gargantuan chicken wings that came with it, and the fried rice with what appeared to be pieces of sausage… interesting.
I just can’t see myself going back in light of these facts.

This place is just down the block from me, so its unfortunate it has gotten on my «never go to again» list. No delivery, which was alright since like I said, I live down the block, but then I find out when I get there (they don’t have the courtesy to specify on the take out menu) that they don’t accept credit cards. Only cash or check. Nobody should be writing checks these days, and I’m definitely not going to support a business that is too cheap to pay the nominal fees to accept CCs and expects ME to suck up the ATM fee (Wells Fargo ATM across the parking lot in SA).
Especially when the food is overwhelmingly mediocre. I got special combination J — tiny portion of rice, 1 egg foo young with pretty terrible gravy (I ended up giving most of it to my dog, and I have to admit, she loved it!), and a fast food-​like egg roll. I also got the dumpling soup — it had enough msg to make it fairly edible. There was nothing «fresh» about any of the food.
I will definitely not be returning, and this place was bad enough to inspire my first ever Unilocal review!

I’ve been here many times and I love to go here for great chinese at reasonable prices. It’s a small hole in the wall type place but it’s very good. I like the chicken chow mein and fried rice. It comes with an egg roll too. It’s been a while since I’ve gone because I usually go to another place for Chinese but if I want to go somewhere close to my house I’ll go here. I suggest it for lunch for people on a budget, great lunch prices!

I grew up eating the Lai Inn and look forward to getting its take out every time I come back for a visit. The family who owns this restaurant is amazing and knows everyone in the area. They have a fairly extensive menu, but the food is really fresh and delicious. I have a special place in my heart for the chicken cashew ding, any of the chow mein, and the cream cheese won tons (someplace that omits the crab thank the lord). I realize after relocating to San Francisco, more authentic Chinese exists, but the flavors this place produces are to die for and just down right delicious.