Mark Pi’s Express

I ordered the gang pang chicken with rice. It comes with crispy chicken, jalapenos, onions, and carrots. They make it right in front of you. The chicken is pre-​cooked and then the cook adds it to a hot wok along with the sauce and veggies, which heats up the chicken again. The chicken wasn’t that great but was decent. I wish they had a brown rice option though. This is a good for a quick meal. The portion size is pretty large, if you are really hungry you can eat the whole thing, or save some for a snack later.

Great food. When you see the Chief of Police walking out with lunch and a fire inspector going into there for lunch it must be good, and it is! Decent lunch prices, great portions but most important they are extremely fast. Very friendly and open kitchen to watch them cook. parking can be tricky but usually spaces open up pretty quick.

Never a bad meal.
My favorite dish is the ABC. I also like Vegetable Deluxe with the white sauce.

I have never done crack, but I imagine the high you get off it and then the need for it after is pretty similar to Almond Boneless Chicken.
That is all.

Had my first experience here today, super quick, super and super affordable! Big box of rice and sesame chicken and a good sized box of Lo mein for $ 10, and done literally within 4 minutes! I didn’t even have time to play on my phone while waiting! And it was hot and really delicious! I’m a fan, no… I’m a believer!

All these pseudo Chinese take out places are all about the same… not Chinese in any way, but rather Americanized grub which is/​was expected, but this particular place has other hits…
Fried rice… no flavor. There are no peas, carrots or egg in it. In fact, Im not even sure it was fried. It taste like someone stirred in some Soy sauce and called it a day.
Portion size… small. I can usually get two meals from these kind of places, but not here. The protein portion of my General Tso’s chicken was small… with lots of rice/​veggies left over.
Veggies were under cooked badly. The place gets a line on occasion and methinks the cook rushes things out too fast. Some of my veggies were downright raw.
BTW, since when is broccoli not served with General Tso’s chicken?
And the apparently pre-​frozen egg roll was just nasty… soft and mushy inside with no real flavor.
Now I know Im not going to strike gold in the culinary sense at any restaurant that name ends with the word «Express», but even for what they are, they could be MUCH better.
I will most likely not return… I knew I should have stuck with my Phở on Lane Ave.

I don’t know what’s going on with these reviews at all; this place is a no-​go for anyone even slightly picky about their Chinese food. The dishes are all your standard Americanized fare but are quite obviously comprised of pre frozen, sub par ingredients. The sauces are way too sweet, and the egg rolls are a poor imitation of what they should be. Sure, it’s cheap, but it’s still not worth it.

This is one of those Chinese restaurants that most likely makes a certain Columbus Unilocaler shudder in authentic Chinese disgust or maybe he just says «Meh» and keeps on driving.
This place is designed to get you in and out as fast as possible. How do they perform this feat? Their secret is to stir fry and deep fry everything, splash sauce on it, put it in a styrofoam box and have it ready for you by the time you get to the end of the counter. Henry Ford would be proud of this production line.
The food here is value priced Chinese cuisine morphed to American tastes. It’s not authentic and it’s not particularly good for you, but for a quick Chinese food fix, it tastes pretty damn good. I’ve never had a bad meal here in over 15 years. I’m rather partial to anything there that has teriyaki sauce on it. The only thing I’d definitely not recommend? Hot and Sour soup — thin and bland.

I can’t get past the almond boneless chicken. I love that stuff! The service isn’t great and I know it’s probably made with MSG but I love that stuff! Just found this one closer to me and I can visit them more often.

I don’t expect much from a chain Chinese «fast casual» restaurant but this location didn’t even meet that low-​bar. I like the Mark Pi’s near OSU so I figured this one would be similar. The atmosphere of the restaurant is awkward — florescent lighting, loud TVs, and old furniture for the one other person getting dinner here. We ended up getting it to go. I ordered General Tso’s chicken, which was chewy and rubbery and not very spicy. The spring rolls were greasy. The employees were bored and bordering on rude. I don’t want Chinese food very often but next time I do, I will definitely avoid this place.

Get the almond boneless chicken, or ‘ABC’ if you want to show them you know what you’re doing (I do). I suppose you came here for the food. I did too, at first. Until I realized that there is something else at work in this Grandview haunt.
I order the ABC so I can watch the line cook chop the chicken with his cleaver. As much as the cleaver’s association with violence and gore has come to fascinate me, it’s the rhythm on the cutting board I crave.
THWOP goes the opening strike, snapping to it the eyes and necks of daydreaming patrons. In comes the accompaniment; a low roar and cautionary hiss of steam as the wok man, sweat beading on his weathered brow, begins to cook. The flames lick the steel as a marooned sailor licks the last moisture from a windfall coconut. The practiced ballet of the staff has already begun, unnoticed to the casual observer.
THWOP the cleaver lands again! The sound sets my salivary glands to work, a hundred million years of evolution ready to enzymatically eviscerate the birdflesh waiting to slide down my gullet. SCRANCH a styrofoam container is laid bare, the discordant screech perhaps out of tune in the unfolding symphony, yet it is the unmistakable signal that we have reached the climax. In the blink of an eye (and YES I do mean the blink of an eye) each component of the meal is assembled, packaged, and tied as expertly as could be asked of any man preparing a desperate Christmas morning gift in a meager attempt to save his disintegrating marriage.
And like THAT it’s over. Move along now, other customers are waiting. In my time no other has been as visibly spellbound as your humble author is to watch this ritual, born as it was from thousands of years of Chinese restaurateurs. It is at once as if I was here for a century, and a picosecond. At times, the unwary may try to resolve this paradox at the precise moment the polyethylene bag slides into their hands, but being a paradox, it is unresolvable, and such a person is apt to find themselves as I did, retching painfully in the general direction of the men’s room to deep peals of laughter from the wizened patriarch of the store. Is he Mark Pi? Or is Mark Pi the name of the ringing in my ears?
The egg rolls are alright. ⁴⁄₅

I use to really like this place then they started to precook their chicken and keep it in a warmer. Once they had the warmer I got sick from their food. Won’t go back now. They are constantly opening the warmer so I doubt it really keeps a consistent temp.

I feel compelled to write this particular location a well-​deserved shitty review. I must also note that I really like the Mark Pi’s on campus, and I remember the one in east Cbus being good when I ate there. What’s wrong with this location? Pretty much everything. The chicken is fried up in advance so its never fresh, not once. The other location fries the chicken to order. This location doesn’t even offer brown rice or some other menu items the campus one has. This location doesn’t even offer a nice combo deal like the others. The staff is not friendly or attentive and when you ask them for fresh chicken they still pull out the old stuff and serve it to you. Their hot and sour soup isn’t made right either. I’ve given this place many chances since I live closer it, but in the end this Mark Pi’s is super fail.

Let me preface this by stating that I only order 1 of 2 different dishes at Mark Pi’s. The chicken fried rice or the hot pepper chicken. And both are the bomb! I have not found a better chicken fried rice in Columbus. Every place else is dry and bland. Mark Pi’s has egg in it which makes it a bit more flavorful. If I am craving some kick I get the hot pepper chicken. It can be a bit oniony but still makes me sweat when I am finished eating it. The line is quick and effecient and the same 4 people have worked there for the last 10 years. Cheap, tasty, fast chinese.

Cheap food, on the quick! I got the sweet-​n-​sour chicken with an egg roll and drink. This was actually some of the better SnSC I’ve had. I liked that it was a little crispy.
Food that I don’t cook that is a little past done is always a safe bet. Typically, I won’t have to worry about spending the next several days yacking my intestines out because of some inconvenient food posioning.
I would go again, but would definitely try something different like the pad thai.

Mark Pi’s holds all sorts of OSU nostalgia for me, which is probably the real reason I love it. I miss the Union Mark Pi’s, which was always the best. It’s definitely fast food Chinese, but it’s tasty, cheap, and fast. I love the string bean chicken, or whatever it is that they call it on the menu now. This store is probably closest to the old OSU Union store, so I still try to stop in when I’m around.

Consistently good and fast Asian food, wok-​cooked to order. Easy to get in and out quickly or stay to enjoy. The staff is friendly and gives recommendations when asked. If you like it spicy, they’ll make it SPICY!

It is authentic Chinese food? No. Do I still love it? Yes!
I love the Almond Boneless Chicken with friend rice. Of the stores left, I think this is the most consistent with their sauce, and service.

Yes I know, this is not «real» Chinese food, but it is REAL good. HA! Anyway, I love the Almond Boneless Chicken here, its deep fried goodness over white rice with brown gravy that I know it simply terrible for every organ in your body. It’s delicious.
The service at this location has always been good, never a long wait, even when you see a line. Great for a quick lunch! The only downside to this location is that it is next to a Subway, which always makes me feel guilty not going with a healthier option, damn you Subway!