My friends took me this place on Saturday for lunch, and I wish I knew this place earlier! I went there with four friends and ordered the food my friends recommended. We ordered roasted duck, BBQ pork, wonton soup, crispy noodles, crispy shrimp, and water spinach with garlic sauce. All food tasted so good! My favorites were BBQ pork and crispy shrimp. The duck was very fatty and greasy, but tasted good. Wonton soup was great. The crispy noodle was huge! i mean, huge! Crispy shrimp was very big and seasoned very well. BBQ pork was a little sweet, but I liked it a lot! The service was okay. It’s a Chinese restaurant, so you can’t expect a good service anyway. Personally, I really liked the food. I would definitely visit again soon! FYI– It’s cash only, so make sure you bring cash!
Ngoc N.
Place rating: 2 Plano, TX
What’s up first Chinese? Today is 06÷16÷16. I ordered salted squid but where is the salt? The breading on the squid tasted old. Like left over from 3 days ago and ya’ll reused the container. Roasted duck, BBQ pork, crispy pork was served room temperature ! Wth. Why ya’ll serve food room temp… not even crispy at all either. Where the other manager that’s usually here. Y’all chefs getting lazy. Better to get Chinese elsewhere.
Tom K.
Place rating: 1 Wylie, TX
I work there b4… feel so bad for people who eating there. That place so dirty in the kitchen
Dian N.
Place rating: 3 Irving, TX
I frequented First Chinese in Dallas and Arlington locations. The food is always good, as expected and the price very reasonable. Don’t expect a decent device though. Usually they just ignore you. No greetings at all when you get inside.
Ivy D.
Place rating: 3 Plano, TX
Food here is definitely good, but their service is bad enough to affect the dining experience. Example: My dad goes here almost every week for their wonton noodle soup. One day, he was extra hungry and ordered 2 bowls… They were in so much disbelief they wouldn’t give it to him. After interrogation, they gave in(stubbornly) and brought it out, but can’t a man just eat his food without judgment?! Also, cash only(remember that). Even though it’s a 3/5, my whole family(including extended family) is a regular to say the least. We like this specific location, too. The quality and taste is better than the Richardson location. Being Asian, we also run into friends all the time because this is the place to get good, consistent Chinese food. Recommendation: wonton noodle soup, beef flat noodle, BBQ pork, water spinach or Chinese broccoli sauteed in garlic, pan fried noodle, fried tofu with shrimp on top, salt & pepper(jalapenos, not black pepper) tofu… trust me, we go here a lot
Tracy T.
Place rating: 5 Plano, TX
Love this place. I would consider myself a regular because the waitresses recognize me, right after they ask where Ive been. My favorites are the wonton soup, beef soft noodles, spicy pork chops, a roast chicken dish with this amazing ginger oil rub that comes on the side, crispy tofu, Chinese string beans, their Chinese mushrooms in black bean sauce. Ive had some so so dishes to, but I kinda have a knack for ordering whats good. As in Ive never tried orange chicken here and dont intend too. This is Chinese Chinese not American Chinese. Cash only, you know how they roll.
Guangshuai Z.
Place rating: 1 Houston, TX
The worst service I have ever experienced!!! No one came for any service or cleaning.
Chelsea M.
Place rating: 4 Little Elm, TX
Though I find the service to be a little lacking, I personally really like the food! I’ve eaten a ton of different dishes here that I can’t really remember but everything is always good food pretty much. My favorites are the shrimp dumpling soup, the fried tofu, and the pork dish that is cooked with an egg and put over rice-not sure what it’s called exactly. I LOVE their chili oil that is set out on the tables!
Jessica P.
Place rating: 1 Dallas, TX
Called ahead of time, they took my order, but when I arrived they insisted that there was no order of mine. Like everyone already said, horrible service.
Shirley A.
Place rating: 4 Frisco, TX
I’ve only dined in once but have drove by to pick up a to-go order multiple times. For about $ 10(cash only), you can get a pound of the BBQ pork, which tends to last us through dinner and lunch. Great bang for our buck when we feel too lazy to cook! I’ve also tried their shrimp wonton soup when I dined in — pretty good, and to-go’ed duck, chicken, and crispy pork before. There’s almost never a wait so you can walk in, approach the counter, and leave with hot, yummy food within ten minutes. As noted from previous reviews, they only take cash. The gas station next door has an ATM if you really show up empty handed!
Debbi J.
Place rating: 5 Frisco, TX
I always get their fish in sweet and sour sauce(A7), and I’m not a fish fan, but I love this dish, better than any sweet and sour dish I’ve ever had. My other favorite is #415 thin rice noodle Cantonese style with bbq pork and mini shrimp. It reminds me of the noodles I used to get at my favorite place in Houston. I haven’t been able to find this rice dish anywhere else in Dallas, and believe me, I’ve tried in the 25 years I’ve lived here. We often get the Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce too which is a good veggie dish to complement your other main dishes. I’ll be honest and say I’m not a fan of their fried rice. It’s ok.(My favorite place for fried rice closed in the last 4 years). As for service, I’ve never had any problems with it. I was surprised to see low rating for poor service. Someone mentioned the language barrier, so maybe that could be part of it. They only take cash though, so be prepared. I’ve been going to this location for over 10 years. If you have a bad day, try them another day to see if it’s a fluke. I recently took a friend from out of town there and he really enjoyed their food. He wants to come back to try their duck.
Katie H.
Place rating: 1 Manhattan, NY
my family loves duck so whenever they visit, we always eat here because they have the most flavorful, crispy duck i’ve had to date. service is more focused on «fast food» rather than customer satisfaction, but it was negligible for us because we love their duck. however, the last time we were here, our beef dish was so hot that not only was it sizzling/popping, but the oil also burned my brother’s eyelid and chin and made him cry. when my dad and i confronted the waitress and owner about it, they literally said«it already happened, let’s forget about it, okay?» totally unacceptable, considering they clearly weren’t remorseful about the situation or that had he required medical attention, we would, i don’t know, bring in legal aid. overall, i honestly feel conflicted about this place considering they made my brother cry yet also have the tastiest duck i’ve had to date. but, my brother(who loves duck more than anything) isn’t even willing to come back so that’s saying something.
Tinman T.
Place rating: 3 Plano, TX
1st Chinese always Solid on the Duck Game as well as Wonton noodle Soup. Seafood is on point as well Do not forget Ca$h ONLY!!!
Ignacio L.
Place rating: 5 Plano, TX
I’ve often heard you can judge the strength of a Chinese restaurant by how many Asian families are there. Rest assured this place is PACKED with Asian families. It’s in my top 3 all-time faves for Chinese food. The Orange Peel beef is amazing. The outer crust on the beef is wonderfully crunchy. It makes me smile just to think about it. The FLAVOR in this dish is OMGGOOD! Think fireworks. One of my favorite dishes for«cheat day» on my diet. The portions here are great. Being single I can usually eat three meals from one of their to go dishes(unless it’s the Orange Peel Beef and then I eat it all). My kids LOVE the Yung Chow Fried Rice. I have to get two orders when we go as they DEVOUR it. The BBQ Pork is $ 6.95/lb if you take it to go. It has an incredible savory flavor and is an incredible value at that price. Take a pound home. You’ll be glad you did. Another favorite of mine is the Vegetable Delight. I always ask them to add BBQ pork to it. Wonderful. I’ve read other reviews that talk about the crazy service/waitresses. I’ve never had a problem except for sometimes there is a language barrier. I view that as a good thing because if you want authentic Chinese food you should be prepared to have a few language snafus.
Eric E.
Place rating: 4 Plano, TX
Order for take out Food was outstanding. Only drawback was for the Wonton Soup, not enough for 2 people. Plenty of Won Tons. And ONLYCASH.
T. S.
Place rating: 4 Aubrey, TX
Being from Miami, Florida, we are used to a certain kind of chinese food. So far we have disliked every chinese restaurant we have tried in the DFW area until now. Wow, the barbecue pork wonton noodle soup is to die for here. We also tried the half roast pork and duck, but we didn’t care for the duck, it was really greasy and fatty. But the roast pork was awesome, so we just added more of it to our amazing soup. The cash only thing was annoying, but I have seen other restaurants that do this, but at least those have an ATM in the restaurant so you don’t have to leave and find one, this one does not and there weren’t any nearby ATM’s so it was inconvenient.
Katina D.
Place rating: 3 Dallas, TX
I feel like this place is more of a 3.75 stars out of 5 and not exactly 4 stars. The Plano location would have to be the best one out of the chain. The flavors and everything are more consistent and the restaurant tends to be a lot more cleaner compared to the other First Chinese BBQ. My cousins and I ordered the wonton noodle soup, chicken pan fried noodles, water spinach, and the deep fried tofu with a shrimp on top. The wonton noodle soup is usually very bland at other locations but it has plenty of flavor in the broth itself. The chicken pan fried noodle is a NEED when coming here and it was okay. The deep fried tofu with a shrimp was forgettable and I would probably suggest ordering the tofu and greenbean dish. The deep fried tofu has a fish sauce and sugar flavor and it is amazing. Caravelle has a dish thats very similar to my description. The duck is amazing as well so make sure you order it as well. Overall: I would recommend coming here with the family if Caravelle is having«another wedding.» My family and I have enjoyed coming here for years so Im sure other people will enjoy it as well.
Alvin H.
Place rating: 3 Frisco, TX
I soooo badly wanted to love this place. Good reviews, place only takes cash, and lots of asian diners… all ingredients for a great chinese find! Assuming the owners are from Hong Kong(they spoke Cantonese to each other) I had high hopes. A good menu with a lot of traditional Chinese favorites and a few Americanized dishes(general Tso!), my wife had the wonton noodle and bbq pork, I did the beef crispy noodle, we also did a plate of roasted pork and roast duck. The wonton noodle was the best thing by far — great broth with a subtle hint of fish/shrimp flavor, the wontons were nice and flavorful, noodles wasn’t overly done. The bbq pork was a mess, it was fatty, was cut waaaayy to big and not in small slivers as most other places serve them. Flavor in the bbq pork wasn’t there either, not enough inherent sweetness or barbecue flavor. My crispy noodles was devoid of a lot of sauce, so the noodle texture(deep fried so extremely crispy) made eating this dish difficult. Couple that with again way too thick of a cut of beef, it was chewy and hard to eat! At least the vegetables that came with this dish saved it from being a total despair. Roasted pork was decent, wasn’t crunchy as I wanted them, but it was 400x better than the roasted duck that screamed LAME. The meat was mushy, the duck had no texture, little flavor and after eating 2 pieces each, we left that dish untouched. Ordered a yang Zou fried rice for the kids, it was pretty good! Not traditional(they added duck, chicken instead of just BBQ pork and shrimp), but solid flavor and was enjoyable. If you are coming, definitely do the wonton noodle soup and maybe try something else that I didn’t :) I’ll try the stir fried noodles next time…
Richard T.
Place rating: 4 Dallas, TX
I come here all the time, but on Sunday something seemed different. I don’t if they got a new owner or new wait staff, but everyone was way more friendly and useful. Typically anyone who comes here knows the food will always be pretty good, but the staff is normally awful, rude, provides poor service then asks for a bigger tip! Sunday was probably my best experience in 10 years of going here. Hopefully they keep it up. Also worth noting that they have fountain soda w free refills unlike most Asian places. Typical dishes I order: BBQ pork crispy noodle Beef flat noodle Crispy pork chop Cheese shrimp
Dominic C.
Place rating: 4 Flower Mound, TX
This is the place for authentic Cantonese food. They have the best roast duck in DFW. When I want to reminiscent my childhood, I come here to get the crispy noodles with shrimp or a bowl of wanton noodles. Another one of my favorites is their oyster omelette. You can’t go wrong here. They’ll have something for you. RTE many times.