Great Chow

My friend from California was here so we made reservations for New Year’s Eve for 7pm. Got there at 6:50pm. We knew it would be crowded so we packed our patience. Told the harried hostess we had a 7pm reservation. They had 2 open booths that could have been utilized but instead they used it for setting up the to go orders. That’s fine, I get it. At 7:10 we asked when we’d be seated, she had no clue. She pointed to a booth and said we’re sitting you there. There was a couple sitting there with their food boxed up to go. After another 5 mins I asked did you ask them if they were all set. I have eaten here MANY times and it takes them forever to cash you out. She said they are all set. To be honest, that couple was extremely rude to just sit there. They had no drinks, they were done. They can see a fully packed restaurant, so shame on them. They FINALLY got up and another host went to seat someone (who we saw come in after us) at that same booth just as our person was taking us over there I said out loud oh HELL NO. So I pointed to a booth at the other side of the restaurant where some other ppl had just left and said seat us there. My friend & son mentioned that there was hardly any wait staff running around, yet there were 8 ppl standing behind the register area. Seriously this was the most messed up experience ever. Now having eaten there a lot we knew the drill they take your drink order then don’t come back for another 15 mins to get your meal order, so this time by the time the drink taker came we already knew what we wanted and we also knew that they never come back and do refills so we decided to order 2 diet cokes per-​person. She acted like she didn’t understand us. We said we want to place our food order too. She wrote it down on a NAPKIN! 10 mins later supposedly our regular waiter came by to take our order. We told him we gave it to the lady that was taking drink orders. By now our patience was gone. Then one of the people behind the cash registers came over and said here is your bill. We were like WHAT??? We haven’t even received our food. My friend from CA wadded up the receipt and said we’ve been patient long enough. Our drinks come, then no food, still no food. We asked the waiter when our food would be out, he said soon. My son’s food came out 1^st… chicken fingers, COLD (been sitting awhile), we told the waitress she said she would take it off the bill, then my food came, COLD, then lastly my friend from CA’s food came. He asked for Chinese hot sause, the red sauce, which they had no idea what he wanted, they brought him TABASCO sauce. I saw the mgr walking around, I asked him if I could talk to him. Oh and also we saw 2 different tables be seated only to get up and leave due to the lousy service. I was explaining the whole experience and he kept interrupting me, and said «what do you expect me to do it’s New Years Eve?» I said well pull in more wait staff for one. Again he kept interrupting me finally I said forget it, we will NEVER be back. And I won’t be. He never apologized, he was rude and a complete asshole. The food is not that great, the service is lousy and the mgr is an ass. They didn’t take off the chicken fingers so we had to tell them too. The sad part is that for New Years Eve they bring the bill with 20% gratuity already on the bill, which is great for them, not so much for you because you tip for crappy service. Stay away. Go to Rockland to China Plaza. Good food, great service and friendly staff.

The restaurant is very good size with plenty parking.
Large bar with plenty TV. We were seated and waitress immediately take our orders. We have no problem about items on the menu but the waitress is very helpful to fill up area we have questions. She come back often to see how we are doing with drink refill, excellent service.
The food are great and yummy especially appetizer Pu-​Pu platter. It is a good choice.
We enjoy the crispy fan fried noodle with Beef and Veggies, I recommended General GAO Chicken which my husband enjoying very much.
We were out of town for visiting family in the area, Glad to have a good dinner there.

We definitely will be back before leaving town.

The restaurant itself is very appealing. Modern design, very clean, spacious, plenty of parking.
We were greeted upon arrival and said they’d be right with us, they were finishing up processing someone picking up their takeout order. We were then seated. Waitress was there immediately to take drink orders, and she was very knowledgeable about the menu and able to answer our questions thoughtfully since we were first time patrons. After we placed our order, it seems like they had three people taking care of us, which was a bit odd because it wasn’t crowded. It was fine, we were well attended to, just confusing cause we weren’t sure who to signal to for a drink refill, etc.
Food was yummy. We got dinner combinations and then shared bites. We got pork chow mein, beef with peppers and onions, pork fried rice, chicken wings, chicken fingers, boneless spare ribs, and beef teriyaki. The beef teriyaki came out burnt to a crisp, which the waitress noticed and immediately said she’d get us a replacement. Everything was very fresh and hot. You can tell it hadn’t been sitting somewhere for hours. Wine was poured generously.
We’d be back, atmosphere is better than our local Chinese place. We’d do takeout too but it’s a bit too far.

Placed a large take out order for a party at work (12 people). Everyone ordered their own meal. Food was overall subpar with one meal that was practically inedible. A coworker ordered Pad Thai and it was so spicy she couldn’t eat it. I switched with her because I can do spicy, but it was a yellow mess of overcooked noodles with tiny shrimp and red pepper flakes. Not sure what the yellow color was. They also forgot rice with the curried shrimp order. Very disappointing!

Disgusting and dirty. Went in for a happy hour cocktail with a friend and we were lucky to even get served at the bar. The bartender barely spoke English and couldn’t understand what we were asking for. She called someone else over to help with the wine which was very sour/​bad once we got it. Tons of fruit flies and when my friend ordered a spring roll it came frozen in the middle. Will not be going back.

We went there for a party and it was buffet style. Buffet was never refilled. And food was standard. Also, there were 2 servers — found out later they were placing tips on the cash bar. I understand tip included for the food bill due to the large party, but not when individuals are doing separate cash bar checks. I noticed this after the bill was paid and I saw someone else bill. When I asked the waitress if I double tipped her, she smiled and walked away. I ended up going to the manager and asking to see the itemized receipt something not given to me when I paid the bill. I asked for the ‘double’ part of my tip back.

Since my review 3 ½ years ago, the wait service has improved somewhat, but not enough. Nobody bothered to check what was empty on the buffet, until we commented to the staff TWICE. The buffet is set on banquet tables, with no special lighting, and NO SNEEZE SHIELD. I also question whether the food is maintained at required temperatures. Most of it was lukewarm at best.
The food itself is quite tasty, and well prepared. Unfortunately, as aforementioned it should have been hotter.
The side of the restaurant where the buffet is served seems hollow and empty… absolutely no ambience. In fact we felt like we were the last two remaining people at a function that was over an hour before. The restaurant appears to have been maintained quite nicely since opening several years ago. No hurry to go back there.

The food was good, hot and cooked made to order. I had the pupu platter lunch size with egg foo young, it didn’t come with rice. I was a little surprised but forgot to ask about it in the end. The waiter was nice and polite. They do charge extra for substitute combinations not on the menu.

I’ve been to this joint a few times over the past 5 – 10 years or so, and every time I come here, I have a bad experience. The first time I came here, I sat at the bar to have a meal. I waited about ten minutes, and the bartender, who was standing right near me behind the bar, never even said hello nor offered me a menu. But I was surrounded by a bunch of young drunks, though. That’s the clientele that comes here.
The second time, I was with a couple of friends, and we sat in the dining room. I had brought my bottle of water with me, since I like to drink spring water for health reasons and I never leave home without it. I was told by the waitress that I wasn’t allowed to bring it in since the town had a bylaw against people bringing their own alcoholic beverages into a restaurant or bar. I told her it was water. She said it didn’t matter. We ended up going someplace else. Are you detecting a pattern here?
Then tonight, I went with a couple of friends with the plan to place a takeout order and bring it home with us. This was the final straw. When we got to the parking lot, we could hear music blaring from a band that was playing tonight. Loitering near the front entrance were some pretty sketchy people, probably drunk. One of them was a middle aged woman smoking a cigarette. Real classy.
When we got into the restaurant, the music was so loud, it hurt our ears. Plus the place was packed with people you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. We turned around and got the hell out of there as quick as we could.
Great Chow has another restaurant in Quincy, and I’ve always enjoyed going there. But this place is completely different. Lowlife clientele and bad service. I aint returning anytime soon.