Silk Road Chinese Fast Food Restaurant

Jesus Christ! I went in hoping it was one of those unique delicious Chinese fast chain restaurants but boy was i wrong completely. Okay so this place serves 3 types of combos. I went in for the 3 dish combo which served chow mein, egg fried rice and salad. The chow mein was totally tasteless, i had to pour in huge quantities of salt, pepper and even some hot sauce for some flavor.
Fortunately to cheer me up, the egg fried rice was quite good. It was cooked well and smelt good and tasted well too. They serve chicken rolls but they have completely forgotten that vegetarians do exist in this world and so they only make egg rolls on Friday’s. I don’t see the point! The meat wasn’t good either which was told by my friend.
Coming to the ambiance of the place, there is nothing to talk about as this is a fast food chain. The customer service is satisfactory. They are happy smiling people. But they don’t give you a chance to select at leisure as they kinda nag you to order even before you make up your mind. As far as the quantity of food, my god it is a stomach full. They serve in good quantities.
So there you go, if you fancy some large quantity, not-​your choice, filling Chinese food on the go, look no further!

Worst ever I have had in the way of Chinese food in decades. Burnt egg rolls over cooked shrimp tasteless fried rice.

Sizeable portions. Reasonable prices. Delectable options. Friendly staff. This place is great!!!

Location:
It’s in the same location with the Fresh and Easy next to Nanay’s BBQ.
Décor:
It has a cafeteria/​fast food feel to it. With the tile counter tops and paper flyers on the wall.
Food & Drinks:
The food is not bad for the price. Not exactly very exciting either. They have fried rice, chow mein, orange chicken, broccoli beef, etc. Nothing too unique or that great. Still, they offer a very cheap meal and quick service. The combo they offer is nice as it comes with a soup and soda for $ 6.99!
Fast Chinese Food eating my friends!

This place was decent for having such low stars on Unilocal.I’m new to working in Sorrento Valley and there are many lunch options to explore, and I thought I’d give this place a try. I’ll probably come back because the BBQ chicken was excellent. I wasn’t starving and just wanted chicken and steamed rice and it was only $ 4.99
The only downside is that I saw flies near the food. which kind of grossed me out. Those pest are everywhere, so I didn’t hold it against them.

Most people don’t like this place. And its easy to thing its a crappy place to eat. Its dark, gross and no ones ever there. But the food is actually alot better than you’d think. I came in on a Saturday, and the guy actually cooked everything fresh. And it was quick. The orange chicken is really good. Give that a try!

I’ve eaten here and it is what you would expect. Alot of sauce on everything, huge portions, and overall not bad. Don’t expect fine cuisine for the price you are paying here. Service is friendly and fast. But the real question is… How does the owner of this little shop own a ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM that was parked outside with «Silk Road» banner sticker on the windshield??? I am definitely in the wrong business, are the profit margins really that great in so-​so chinese fast food. Geez, did he feed Mark Zuckerberg free chinese food anytime he came to San Diego and was repaid in stock in Facebook before it went public? I need answers.

Dirty Americanized Chinese food at its best. Run down and cheap décor, sub par food (But still edible — quick fix for its price you know), that really triumphs Panda Express by a long shot.
This place is so adorable, and the guy serving me was really sweet.

Well, they’re getting two stars because the service was quick and friendly. The food is horrible though. You’d be better off atPanda Express. I won’t be returning for the BBQ or orange chicken ever again, and the noodles tasted like fish sauce.

Bottom line is that at these prices you can’t expect a miracle and for $ 6.75 for a two item combo, I’m satisfied. The portion size is good and the quality is decent. It’s a good alternative to Panda Express and the service was great.

My family and I eat here about 2 times a month, and no one has ever got sick. the owner is very nice and the food is better than average. Is it a foodie destination that will elevate your palate to new, unbelievable places? No, but for $ 5.75 an entrée, it feeds the family when I don’t have time to cook. We usually order the orange chicken, lo mein or Kung pao shrimp. The beef entrees aren’t my favorite, but the above dishes stand out.
I agree that this food court has Some not-​so-​great places, but Silk Road, and Greek Bites next door are the best picks here.
It is fast, affordable and better than many of the Chinese places I’ve tried nearby.
Just to give some perspective: I’ve worked in many well respected restaurants (some 5 star) and you would be amazed at how many restaurants have had an issue with inspections at one time or another. Most home kitchens would be shut down if a food inspector dropped in on your cleanest day. I wouldn’t hold one bad inspection against an establishment. And it is open now, which means it had to resolve the infestation issue and had passed a new inspection.

Despite the two star rating… my son asked to «just» order food from Silk Road Chinese Restaurant because he was really hungry and craving some chow mein type meal. I normally would look at the rating before going to a divey place like this, but I opted not to this time just because «I didn’t want to know». Well, I wish I did especially after they were closed down for vermin infestation.
Anywhoo… our experience with customer service was superb (4 stars). The owner and his son manned the place and they were able to customize our order. My son wanted the rice noodles with shrimp and veggies, but the owner said they didn’t have rice noodles coz it’s a Sunday (say wha?). The owner said the food would take about 15 minutes to make so I told him I would wait in the car and return in 10 – 15 minutes. Well, at least I know the food is cooked fresh. 15 minutes later, the owner goes out to the car and delivers the food to us. Now that’s service!
Food wise, the noodle dish was packaged in a styrofoam container and was steaming hot. The noodle looked like the ramen noodles from the cup-​o-​noodle containers. Veggies (brocolli, carrots, and lettuce) were fresh. Shrimp was cooked perfectly. Only gripe my son had about the dish was that it was too saucy and salty. He drank three bottles of water after eating about half of the dish. He said he would give the dish two stars.
So to average the customer service, price, food… this place gets a 3 star from us.

I wish I had read the reviews and known of the health department issues before eating here…
The Good:
I didn’t see any vermin.
The Bad:
They have a soda fountain but refuse to give you a fountain soda with your combo; instead you’re given a CAN of soda!!! What kind of beezneez is that? I told the gentleman behind the counter that his non-​fountain combo is silly. I said,’ «Sir, your non-​fountain combo is silly.» He ignored me.
The Ugly:
I chewed on a single piece of orange chicken for roughly over an hour. Ok, maybe it wasn’t that long, but it certainly felt like that. So much so that I eventually gave up and spit it out. I’m a fat man; do you have any idea how questionable food has to be for me to spit it out? The teriyaki chicken was… edible-ish…as was the steamed rice. The chow mein was on par with the orange chicken, as to say, sub-​par.
Do yourself a favor next time, and stick with a gravel road… one that takes you the opposite direction from this place.

I had my first combo meal last week which composed of fried rice, beef broccoli and bbq chicken. The bbq chicken was muh delicious since I could taste the marination of the chicken. People there are friendly prices there are reasonable. With my combo box and a canned soda I spent about $ 7. What I like about the place is that they cook it fresh which is a plus. :-)

This place is not amazing, but it’s definitely ok (as a 3 rating is defined). It looks like a dump, but the food is pretty good. I like how you can get a takeout box and put whatever you like inside, and they will charge you based on its weight. It’s flavorful and not overly salty. I’ve never had any stomach issues like some of the other reviewers have mentioned. If you go during the off peak times, the owner can make fresh noodles for you and that was REALLY good.

Would not eat here ever again. Even the low expectations allotted for this type of establishment were not met.
I had a 2 item combo with teriyaki chicken, orange chicken, split chow mein and rice, and egg drop soup. My 2 chicken items weren’t bad; the chow mein was also decent. The fried rice however was absolutely INEDIBLE. It was small and grainy and flavorless, and it kind of looked like it was put through a grinder. Putting soy sauce on the rice did not help even slightly.
The egg drop soup was also INEDIBLE. It was so flavorless that it tasted like warm tap water with old egg scrambled into it. Once again, soy sauce was powerless in making it edible.

Years ago, when I worked in the area, once in a while my coworkers and I would get takeout from Silk Road. Since then, there’s new ownership and the menu’s changed… it’s got more of a Vietnamese feel to it.
I came here today for lunch while I was getting my car’s interior cleaned nearby. I opted for the 2-​item combo with half fried rice and half chow mein. While I liked the Mongolian Beef, I was a bit surprised that the Kung Pao Chicken didn’t have peanuts in it (still spicy, though). A bigger surprise? Instead of getting a fountain drink, they have canned soft drinks here. I’m not even sure if the soda fountain works…
The owner/​cook was friendly, though, and my food did hit the spot, so maybe a few more trips could be in the works if I’m in the area and in the mood for Chinese.

I would rather succumb to starvation then come back here for lunch!
I was on my lunch break and I came here to eat with a couple co-​workers. To be honest, I’ve been in this plaza before and I haven’t had ANY good dining experiences here. It’s such a helpless feeling where you’re stuck at the crossroads between two horrible places.
I walked into this so-​called Chinese restaurant with low expectations. But, damn, as soon as I walked in, I noticed the food was being served in a salad bar style buffet. Seriously? At least cover the food so you don’t have flies coming in from BOTH doors that are left open! I know it’s a Chinese fast-​food restaurant but it’s something that should be inevitable in ANY restaurant.
I ordered the lunch special that comes with rice and/​or noodles, 2 entrees, wonton soup, and drink. I opted for noodles only with orange and BBQ chicken. The chow mein looked disgusting! WTF! It looked like it’s been sitting there for a couple days! He grabbed the spoon for the BBQ chicken and just put 4 bite size pieces. Are you kidding me?!
I normally don’t write reviews to these places but I wanted this experience to be fresh in the memory bank.

Service has changed and the menu has changed. I don’t like it as much as I used to.

Silk Road is an abomination of Chinese food and the worst possible place anyone can eat in the Sorrento Plaza food court. When our disgusted hero bit into the sweet and sour pork, he found it was 10% meat, 20% sticky red sauce, and 70% cornstarch. The pork rolls were equally cheap, being made of about 30% random filling and 70% crunchy wrap; one cannot even taste the meat in it. Although there is a decent selection of food, it all tasted like it was bought from Restaurant Depot two weeks ago and microwaved. After having this thought, our hero looked down at his styrofoam cup and saw that it didn’t even have the Silk Road name on it… but a Restaurant Depot logo. Yes, this restaurant is so cheap it advertises for its restaurant supply company on the cups.
They don’t ever even seem to be open for dinner. Our hero has driven by several times just after 5 PM and it’s either dark inside or the door is closed. It would not be surprising to see this business close down soon.
PROS:
— They have a self serve by-​weight lunch buffet from 11 – 2, making it easy to try a bit of everything.
CONS:
— Some of the worst tasting Chinese food in San Diego. ‘Nuff said.