China Max

I tried a sample after they forced it on me, and even though I was craving Chinese food it was so dry and bad I said no. The woman seemed so upset that even though I tried it and still didn’t want it she started accusing me of warring fake designer clothing… Which I wasn’t, but even if I was why the hell would I buy from her now…

This is probably the worst mall Chinese food I’ve ever had… And I eat A LOT of mall Chinese food. I would almost go as far as to say I’m a connoisseur of it. Anyways, let’s get to the point: THIS PLACE SUCKS. The staff was very rude and basically cut me off when I tried talking to them. They also rushed me through my order and tried putting things on my plate that I didn’t ask for. They also tried to coax me into adding a few extra items which should’ve been a hint that their business is slagging. (I ended up giving in and added fried dumplings) I also asked for water and the cashier ran my card without verifying that I was asking for tap water. She then handed me a bottled water that i didn’t ask for. Putting two and two together I can surmise that this place is desperate for money. After eating the food, I can fully understand why. The chicken was so oily and sticky that it tasted like fried glue coating a piece of gum. The rice tasted like grain you would feed to chickens in a chicken coup. The dumpling was like a flavorless, oversized fortune cookie stuffed with Philadelphia cream cheese… AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS if you don’t want to waste your money or spend the next two hours in the bathroom.

The ONLY reason I’m giving this place 2 stars is because I was CRAVING really bad Chinese food when I ate here. It’s like that time you’re on a diet, but as soon as you walk by the Sbarro, you know your eating schedule is gonna take a pause for the next 30 minutes so you can stuff your face with greasy, cheesy goodness.
Well that is China Max. By no means is it a good Chinese place. The chicken is (besides the nameplates in front of it) otherwise unidentifiable, the rice is dry and crumbly, the vegetables look like they were cooked last week, and everything is cooked in enough sugar to make a bag of Skittles look like a spinach quinoa salad.
However, when you are craving that junk food Chinese, when you NEED that mystery chicken goodness swarmed in fried black pepper batter in your life, you’d better believe that the ladies at China Max will be there, equipped with toothpicks and free samples.

Vile. Dry, burned, sickly sweet, disgusting. Worst food I have been exposed to in a long time. Not too clean either. Avoid this place like the plague. Which it probably carries.
You don’t expect grand cuisine from mall Chinese, but this dives below even the minimum standards for edibility. Would not feed to a dog, at least not one I liked much.

Family ordered while I was checking neighboring options. They hated it
My 1yr old refused to eat it– spit it back out
Told me to eat elsewhere — so I did

This is bad, even for a mall food court. And they yelled very loudly even while I was already ordering. The other places in the food court were not yelling, but alas, it’d already tried their bourbon chicken and it was the driest, which I like.
But their lo mein was actually brown spaghetti. I wish I’d known before I spent those 7 bucks.

I know I’m not adding much to what has already been said here. This restaurant is improperly placed on the map: it is actually in the Food Court at Southpoint Mall, a few miles to the south.
The sesame chicken was more breading than meat and doused into a pool of very watery sauce. Partway through my meal, I noticed a hair floating in the liquid sauce. Upon closer inspection, I saw several more pieces of hair scattered throughout the dish.
I will not be returning.

I’ll keep this short since many other reviewers have the same gripes…
My husband and I ordered sesame chicken, mine with lo mein and his with rice. When we started eating my husband comments the chicken is spicy for sesame chicken. I try mine. He’s correct. We decide to deal with it, continue on, until our mouths are literally on fire. My esophagus would have torn away from my body and ran the other direction if it could have. This was clearly not sesame chicken. We complained and got 1 free meal (1 meal mind you, not 2) but I don’t think we’ll be trying this again. The noodles were swimming in oil, and I’m honestly not even sure if the few pieces of meat I ate were really chicken. Maybe this is why they decided to slather it in Satan sauce.
Apparently they have a pretty good history of ripping people off, not sure if it happened to us or not as we trashed the receipt.

I don’t usually eat at the mall food court, but when I do I eat at china max. I felt a bit cheesy when I decided to review this place and was surprised at how many reviews it already had and how bad they are. I think people need to manage their expectations based on the setting they are in. it’s a mall food court not a fancy restaurant! I find the service here to be pretty much in line with that of any similar food place in any food court in any mall I’ve ever been to. They pretty much push samples on you, rush you, and talk loudly. That seems to be the standard for this kind of place, so I don’t hold it against them. What I have observed is that their food tends to be less greasy and the chicken less sweet than the similar places in this food court, so I prefer them. They also give you 2 dumplings for free which is more than I could say for the other places.

Gross food! So gross I threw it away and went to nearby chick fil a! I do not recommend this food. The customer service was below standard too.

Horrible, oily food & the rudest customer service EVER! Portion size: a five yr old could eat what I paid 10. bucks for. If you want chicken and not mostly breading, go to any other place but here!!! Sneaky, pushy loud mouths and a huge rip off!
YUK!!! This place is in the food court in the Southpoint Mall in Durham.

I got ripped off here too. Tell all your friends stay away form this place, They added an egg roll I didn’t want. It was horrible. They gave me a large drink without asking me. When I complained they told me I was a big person so I needed a big drink. Food mediocre at best. I paid and told them I would never be back. Thsi place needs to be reported to the better business bureau

As a user below said, they will either overcharge you or put stuff on your plate that you didn’t ask for and try to charge you for it at the cash register.
Today, I asked for one rice and one side of vegetables. I was wondering why they charged me so much (and why they gave me an extra large portion of vegetables). Only later did i discover they charged me for 2 sides and gave me 2 servings’ worth of (gloppy/​old/​overcooked) vegetables.
It’s not so much the food as the sense that they’re trying to take advantage of their customers. I’ll take my business somewhere else.

Shady sales techniques. My wife ordered the combo with one side. When she didn’t respond quickly to the server’s question, the server added more meat and said «8.99, ok?». Both of us didn’t notice this until we got to the cash register.
After we got home, an extra $ 1.99 charge was on our card (two transactions, though I only signed for one). Stay away from this one — you’ll end up paying more than you thought (or signed for).

This place will rip you off. Avoid eating here. Watch what they charge you. I bought 1 entry (1 meat, 1 vegetable, 1 rice). The advertise price $ 5.49. The worker put in two wonton. I told them that I did not want it. They stated that it was part of the meal. I got charged for a two meat entry for $ 6.99. I bought a bottle of coke only later realized they charged $ 4 for a 20 oz. bottle of coke! Nowhere do they tell you that it was $ 4.

I was at the Streets of Southpoint mall around noon on a Sunday. Probably the worst possible time to try to get a bite to eat in the food court, but my son claimed he was starving, so off we went.
As Chuan said below, some of the tactics this place uses are a bit offputting. There were several women behind the counter hollering for people to come try the food. A man was using a wooden noisemaker to attract even more attention. Then to seal the deal, they were waving shiny plastic swords at kids walking by– the toy included with their kids’ meal.
They suckered a lot of little kids in with those swords, too, including mine. When all was said and done we ended up getting noodles, teriyaki chicken, and two «bug juices» (also temptingly displayed at kids-​eye-​level near the cashier). For lunch for one child (plus a drink for the other), for $ 10, it darn well should come with a sword.
Unfortunately the food was substandard. The noodles were oily and he said the chicken was «gross». I got him to eat enough to sustain him until we could get out of the mall, but that was it.
He did enjoy the sword, though. Marketing, it works!

First — for all the Unilocalers looking for a fast-​food Chinese, this is place is in SouthPoint Mall’s food court. So don’t expect to roll up for a quick and convenient take-​out meal.
Second — for anyone who doesn’t want to be treated like crap or eat crap, please — don’t set foot near this place at all.
The service at this place is completely horrible — the worst I’ve seen anywhere. You don’t even have to be a customer. Walk through the food court and you’ll have at least 5 Asian or Hispanic women yelling at you to try the food or yelling at you for declining. They’ve even resorted to using loud noise-​maker toys to attract attention. The owner of the place rung it beside my ear while trying to attract other customers. You literally feel like you’re being shoved through a slaughter house as you make your food selection. Take a second to look at the items and you’ll hear all the cronies yell «What you want? What you want??»
Alright, well let’s say you put up with the rudeness. Check out the photos I’ve uploaded. The food is completely horrible and unsanitary. This is the dirtiest Chinese place I’ve seen in my life. I ordered pepper chicken and there was nothing but breading! I checked each and every single piece of fried batter and there was no chicken in there. When my mom (more outspoken than I am) went to complain, one of the ladies yelled «You want meat? Here, take it. Bye! Don’t ever come back to this mall again!!»
Check out the reviews on Urban Spoon for this place. I know it’s just a place in the food court, but I was so offended and dissatisfied that I had to write this review.
Please, if you respect yourself at all, don’t go here at all. The other Chinese place, «Le Bön Bistro» or something to that effect is run by some really nice people. Vote with your money!
UPDATE: I received an angry message from the restaurant after posting this review. Classy!