Lin’s Express

Ordering takeout from Lin’s (via Mr. Delivery) was so complicated that by the time we were done I told my husband that the food would have to be really great to make up for the ordering process.
(Which involved placing the order, getting a call from the third party delivery service saying that one of the menu items was no longer available, trying to call them back several times, finally calling the restaurant and speaking to a nice guy who had no idea how to add something our order to replace the unavailable item.)
The food was nothing special, and the teriyaki chicken was pretty much tepid jerky on skewers. We won’t be back.

OMG more amazing asian food in east lansing! the waiter brought us an english menu with the usual american chinese dishes, but everybody else in the restaurant was eating things that looked much more interesting. i asked for a non-​american person menu and the waiter was like «you won’t be able to read it.» he said they’re getting it translated though. so i pointed to some delicious looking glass noodles at another table and out they came a few minutes later. fucking amazing. the most perfect chewy/​tender noodles with tons of pickled turnips and pickled mustard greens and ground pork and ginger and spice and fantasticness. the waiter said they were called «green bean noodles.»
the place loses one star for the not super friendly attitude towards clearly non-​asian me… the waiter also attempted to take the chopsticks without asking and seemed to think it was impossible that i would know how to use them and he just seemed overly shocked at the fact that i might want something other than sesame chicken. also the ambience is just whatever (it feels like you’re in a burger king or something). anyway the food is worth it though. just point at what you want on somebody’s table and you will be in food heaven.

The taste was OK, not too authentic but passable. It was kind of expensive for the quality.

It seems like the biggest complaint people have about this place is the service. Well, I got takeout, so I didn’t get a good sense of what the table service is like. The girl who took my order and gave me my food was nice though… so no complaints there.
As for the food, it was pretty good. Not the best Chinese food ever but I would call it a bit above average in my experience. The garlic chicken could have been a bit more spicy but it had good flavor. The shrimp egg roll was very tasty and stood on it’s own, no need for any sauces. Also, I appreciate that their lunch portion is actually a lunch portion. Too many places serve up lunch portions that are too big for lunch, but not big enough to have leftovers worth keeping… this was just the right amount of food for lunch and at a good lunch price.

Not a bad place, especially if you order from the authentic menu. It may require some translation, but when I’ve gone during slow times, the staff has helped me pick some winners!
Lin’s is the third restaurant in as many years to occupy this space. Like so many Chinese restaurants in the area, there is an «official» menu with Americanized Chinese dishes, and a not so «official» Chinese menu. As with many of the restaurants in the area, stick with the unofficial menu; there is better, spicier food on that menu.
Recently, I’ve had a fish in a spicy sauce and a spicy pork with peppers. Both dishes were quite good and filling. The staff took what I had to say into account, and then provided recommendations. They were patient and relatively pleasant to deal with. However, I did go during off-​peak times, so perhaps they just had more time to deal with me.
In general, I enjoy this place. I’ll need to try a few more dishes before I increase the number of stars, but for now, they are «A-​OK.»

This is my first review because I found human hair in one of today’s dishes!!! And their waitress take our food before we actually finish it because she thought we have finished!!! Don’t want to say more. Will never go there again.

The waitress is too rude, that’s enough. I will never came here if I don’t have the gift certificate. Even after I used the $ 5 gift certificate the price of the food is not cheap. The beef noodle soup I would like to say just like the instant noodle in the super market which ytou
When I checked the other review, I found there are 4 1-​star reviers with 2 5-​star reviews. Is this strange? I noticed that the reviewer with Chinese name said she ordered the General Sao Chicken (I guess if she really like it she should know the right spell should be Tso not Sao), as a Chinese I would like to say most Chinese people dont like to eat General Tso Chicken as it is regarded as American Chinese food. Another reviewer give this place 5-​start review said:“After my visit, I now know there is a game changer in town; the East Lansing Chinese Restaurant Option will never be the same.”. Noticed that this one is the first to review, ans game changer? I guess this restaurant may be one of the worst Chinese restaurant in East Lansing. I just doubt these two 5-​star reviewer are paid to write the positive review for the restaurant.

If I had the option to give this restaurant 0 stars I would. I don’t live in EL, but I came in with my girlfriend solely because they were advertised on hooked for, and I quote, «20% off order.» Long story short, they wouldn’t give the discount and were extremely rude throughout the stay. To be fair, the waitress was okay. However, the lady who claimed she was the owner got very angry and combative and told us we should have gone to McDonald’s instead. Other commenters have mentioned the racism… I think that was where she was heading with the Mickey-D’s comment lol. Honestly, it actually would’ve been better or at least if I had a McProblem the manager wouldn’t have been rude TO THEIR ONLY CUSTOMER. I have never been treated so poorly at any place of business. People might be picking up on the terrible quality and service because it was empty while we were there. On the flip side, if this is how Lin does business we’ll have a new option in town before long. If you want to spend too much money on some semi-​decent Chinese food, I suggest take-​out. Otherwise, go to Hong Kong. They’re by far the best choice in the area and know how to treat a customer. Usually when something like this happens I get upset, but honestly the circumstance was so absurd in retrospect it was hysterical. If you’re in the mood for an Ed Debevic’s type of experience where the waitstaff goes out of their way to be rude to the customer and treat them poorly, you will not be disappointed.

We used to go here weekly when it was Sultans (then Saffron’s) we were sad when the owner sold and moved to California, but the kids had an attachment to the location so we thought we’d try it as the Chinese restaurant.
We’ve been there twice, though I really don’t want to come back. The food is good enough, comes out piping hot, pretty good portion sizes.
The service is the absolute worst. It is almost laughably bad, like actively maliciously bad. You know people go to those restaurants that are supposed to be bad, like «Eds Last Resort» or whatever its called where the waitresses are surly, only they’re doing it on purpose? They have better service than this place.
First of all, the menu (for us locals anyways, they have two menus, one for chinese, one for us) is inaccurate. They straight up told us «Some item on menu different price, more expensive, some item not available. Price might change.» I think they ganked a menu from another restaurant and are just using it.
Okay… great. thanks. So when you actually get the bill you might realize the portion size is not quite the value you thought it was going be. We used to eat as a family here at Saffron’s grill when it was middle eastern food for $ 26, and I know it was $ 26 because we went here maybe 50 times, it’d be $ 23 if it was a tuesday and wraps were on special. This trip to Lin’s $ 42, to feed the same family in the same table.
The first time we went the kids got lemonade, It came in cups. The second time they got lemonade, it came in cans. The first time we didn’t get any water until we asked AFTER our food had come, second time I got a half glass of water, seriously, she filled it half way. Never came back to check on us, I got up and refilled it myself.
Took forever to get the check, the waitstaff thinks its their job just to sit in a booth and chat with their friends. Maybe that is how it is done in China, I won’t assume to know standards of service for restaurants in China, but in America this is not how restaurants work.
So Saffron’s/Sultan’s before was a great restaurant, and it was them who did all the décor with the granite tables and everything. The staff was always welcoming and friendly, so was the owner. Food was good, healthy, and priced right. But it was quick service. You would order at the counter, take a number, and they would bring your food to you. It was not table service.
This new Chinese outfit changed it to table service, which is weird considering they don’t have a single employee who knows how table service is supposed to function. They should be quick service as well, counter ordering, let guests get their own drinks (waitstaff being incompetent at doing it) let it all be paid for up front so no waiting on the bill, and let the waitstaff handle just bringing the food to the table, and ideally in a few years perhaps a robot could take over that job.
Oh, ya so the food is good enough, most of it seems fresh, not from frozen, which for chinese is good. But last time I got Mongolian beef, and it was just swimming in oil, I imagine its all cheap hydrogenated oils too (transfats). Bleh. Also ordered crab rangoons/​wontons. Were good, home made, didn’t taste a drop of crab, it was all cream cheese, but very tasty.
When you finally get your bill you get fortune cookies, and that is why the kids ask to go back (rice and fortune cookies, what else do kids want?). I need to do my best to convince them otherwise, because I really don’t want to frequent this place.
I hope they go out of business and something better takes their place, it really is a good location, and another option for the area is good.

Food is alright but the staff is the service is shit. Ladies who work or own this place is a complete bitch.

The food is great here, but the staff are racist against non-​Asians. They always remove the place settings when they seat me. I asked why, and they told me that the settings are for Chinese. I asked my server if they did this in my case because I’m not Chinese, and she said yes.

I’ll start by saying I’ve never given a Unilocal review in the past, but felt compelled to do so by our experience today.
Our first clue should have been how empty the place was when we arrived at noon on a Friday. Two groups DID come in about 15 minutes after we arrived. Lin’s lunch menu seemed very reasonably priced — $ 5.25! The Special Combination Dishes, which the menu said came with fried rice and a spring roll weren’t too bad either — generally $ 6 – 8 each. My husband ordered Hunan Beef from the lunch menu, I ordered roast pork with Chinese vegetables from the «Special Combination Dishes» menu. My son ordered Moo Shu Beef ($ 8.25) from the main menu. My son and I had hot tea, as well.
Clue #2 was when the waitress came back to our table and told my husband that Hunan Beef wasn’t available as a lunch special — even though it was printed as a lunch special on the menu. Her explanation was that the cook said he would only make it as a main entrée — even though it was listed among the lunch specials. So, my husband changed his order to Szechuan Beef, which was also on the lunch special menu. Then we waited. And waited. Food for the group of Chinese students who came in well after us came… we waited some more. Finally, my dish came out. It was very salty and the meat had an «off» flavor, but the vegetables were crisp and the fried rice was good. There was no spring roll — but we figured that had something to do with our waitress telling us that we were getting the «lunch specials» (rather than the «Special Combination»). About 5 minutes later, my son’s moo shu came out. It was pretty good. Another 4 – 5 minutes later, my husbands Szechuan Beef came out — it was actually pretty tasty, although not the least bit hot in terms of spice. Everything was very salty, however.
We needed to get back to work, and tried to wave down our waitress. Finally, my husband gave up and went to the counter to pay. They ran his credit card and then brought the bill over to our table for his signature — it was for more than $ 25. He asked the waitress if that was a mistake — two $ 5.25 lunch specials + one moo shu beef at $ 8.25 shouldn’t have been anywhere near $ 25. The waitress said the pot of tea was $ 3 and insisted the total was correct (even though, by our count the cost — even with the overpriced tea — should have been $ 21.75 + tax = $ 23.05) She argued with my husband for another 5 minutes. Ultimately, because we were running late by that time, we simply paid and left. And won’t be coming back. Fortunately, there are plenty of good Asian cuisine restaurants in the East Lansing area — if you want good Chinese food — both the Americanized version and authentic Hong Kong — I recommend Golden Wok.