Chin’s Szechwan

We brought a guest here last month. The food was fine, but the service was terrible.
The restaurant was busy but there were some empty tables and no one but the three of us waiting, and waiting and… waiting. Finally we got a table after flagging the host down again. Had he forgotten us already? Then our waitress was horribly rude. She was exasperated that we ordered the pot stickers and said in a huff that they would take 20 minutes, apparently trying to discourage us from having them? So we demurred and then did not order them. Ok, so I don’t believe any appetizer would take 20 minutes to cook, so I thought it was weird. I wondered at her hostility over a menu item. We order our entrees and she’s gone. Ten minutes later… here comes the pot stickers… Sooooo, what was that all about? I don’t need a passive-​aggressive waitress. It’s not cheap to eat there so I don’t expect to be treated like crap! I’ll never come back again. The one that they closed in Oceanside was way better anyway.
They get two stars because the food is actually good.

The place looked nice, friendly greeting, sat us at a nice booth and said they would be right back with water and to take our drink order… Never spoke to another person, two different servers walked by and completely ignored us. After 10 minutes, we saw another table get seated, when someone walked over and took their order we decided to walk out. Get it together Chins — you deserve a ZERO for customer service !!

Was in the mood for Chinese food so we stopped at Chins in Escondido. What a mistake!!! The place was less then 50% full, we asked for a table and not a booth and the hostess said there wasn’t one available, we saw 5 empty tables, so she attempted to seat us in a booth, we declined and then a guy came up over to us and got us a table. So we sat at the table for about 20 minutes while we waited for service. Didn’t even get a glass of water! Serval servers walked by us and just ignored us, finally we walked out! Never will we go back there again. Drove thru weinerschnitzel and had chili cheese dogs. This place sucks… Chins that is!

I’ve been searching for beef and broccoli for 9 years in san diego. Never returned to a place until now. This is my go to spot for broccoli beef. Everyone was so nice! Chicken wings were really good too.

Had the Spicy Honey Mushroom… Really good! Reminded me of Walnut Shrimp. I look forward to trying more.

Went to Chin’s last night, not gonna lie it tasted good until I found what looks like an earwig or some kinda bug in there.

My husband and I had a wonderful meal and dining experience at Chin’s this evening. Our egg flower soup was the best we have ever had, filled with veggies and many yummy things. My Moo Goo Chicken was very flavorful, and included broccoli, snow peas, mushrooms, and a delicious sauce with lots of chicken. Huge portion, too! My husband ordered chop Suey House Special, included variety of veggies, beef, chicken, and shrimp. He loved it and said, «This is on my list of favorite restaurants.» Service was very attentive and kind. Very reasonable prices and lovely atmosphere.

The food was good but the customer service could improve. I felt rushed and was always cut off when I ordered or asked for anything. The older lady waiter made are table feel like she was doing us a favor by serving us. She was always just standing there waiting for us to finish and give us the bill and she circled the tip to make sure that we gave it (this was my first time here). I like Chins restaurant but they need to improve on how they serve there customers.

My posse and I stopped by for dinner and ordered four of the build-​your-​own meals, and were greatly rewarded. I can say only good things about the crispy beef and mu shu pork, and the Honey Walnut Shrimp impressed me, despite my previous bias against crustaceans. It was also nice to have an abundance of space and a comfortable atmosphere. My fortune cookie was a bit generic, but hey, I’d be happy if it came true nevertheless.

Really good sit down Chinese food. Love their soups. I always get the Plum Tree Beef with a good amount of spice.

The place was beautiful, with low music. Very quite untill we got there due to my lady that’s hard of hearing, I was talking loud. Staff service very good, and friendly. Reasonable prices you can’t go wrong they did have a extra area for huge family’s or party but I really got the couples vibe there with the lights dimmed down and candles at every table. I appreciate one of the servers assisting my lady with cutting up her noodles but I think since there wasn’t a lot of people in there she was wayyyy to focused on us an our conversation. Had lots of leftovers. I would definitely go back.

Chinese food its really delicious. This place has it. Friendly service too. Prices are. A little over priced. Wait time wasn’t long.

I agreed to visit this restaurant after passing it on our way to pet smart one to many times. It easily goes unnoticed because one is more focused on making a successful turn into the parking lot. The neon sign always says open and from outside you see no one go in or out. I was wearing basketball shorts and a t shirt thinking I was just going to grab some Chinese food. Upon entering I was flabbergasted on how elegant it was! White table cloths, fancy chairs and beautiful table settings. I was immediately uncomfortable because I was EXTREMELY underdressed, or so I thought. The host didn’t look at me any less and seated my wife and I. The waiter came out and suggested dishes and was very nice. Our food came out perfect and I was delighted that the portions and prices were reasonable. We ended up paying 30 bucks for a beautiful dinner. I’m rating this restaurant 5 stars, I had a wonderful experience! Basketball shorts and all. Although next time I will at least wear jeans and take my wife on a beautiful, fair priced dinner.

BEST BEST BEST Chinese food– hands down! The Hon Hon shrimp cannot be replicated! The mu shu pork is pretty good too– This is our go-​to take-​out Chinese food. I have tried other places and they just don’t even come close.
Try the hon hon shrimp– you will not be disappointed!

This is a good place to eat. My favorite dishes are ku ting crispy shrimp and pao hu. Both have lots of flavor and the portions are good. Been coming here since 2003 and have never been disappointed. I guess the reason I don’t give it 5 stars is because the prices are pretty high, especially for dinner. Over the years I have seen a few different managers… they are all pretty friendly but they seem to be too nosy at times…

Great food! Great atmosphere! Plenty of room to seat guests!
My husband and I came here on a double date, and we were seated as soon as we got there. It wasn’t too terribly busy, it was a Sunday evening.
Our waiter was either not very perceptive or a little flustered, maybe a bit of both. He asked us what we wanted to drink, as he brought out waters, I asked for hot tea, and instead of asking anyone else what they wanted to drink, he power walked to the next table. We looked at each other and I jokingly said, «And I think the guys want beers», then my husband replies sarcastically, «Yeah it must be super busy.» He comes back one minute later and says «Do you know what you want to eat yet?» It felt a little bit like we were being rushed. I said «No, I think we are still deciding, but I think they want beer, too.» So he then looks at my 8-​month-​pregnant friend and asks her if she wants beer too… Really? So she laughed and patted her belly and said «No, I’m good.»
One of our appetizers (Dumplings) supposedly took a long time to steam, so we didn’t get it until we were almost done with our main courses. So it was more like a dessert.
We will definitely come back, the food was really good. We ordered:
–Sesame Chicken
–Beef and Broccoli
Portions are family style!

Everything was delicious. We had the Mongolian Beef, Wonton Soup, Cream Cheese Wontons and the Chicken Chow Mein. So good. Our server an older Asian women wasn’t nice at all but then another younger Asian gentleman came to help and he was very nice.

We came here for a family birthday dinner and had groupd of about 15 mainly adults but there were two kids and one baby. Other than us the places was not packed but it had a decent amount of people but the waitors and hosts seemed like our group was too much for them. Service wise it was terrible. There was one lady who seemed nice and at least tried to keep up with our party
(her name was kathy) but the rest just seemed annoyed with our group due to all the questions we had about their menu. Another thing was that half of our party got their food while it took the other half 30 min to get which lead to half of our party done and ready to leave and the other hald not even been served yet. The food was pretty good though. I recomend the low mein chicken and pot stickers. Although the food was good i couldnt get the fact that the possibility of our food was spit on due to our party being an inconvience to the waiters. This place gets 2 ½ stars.

I’ve been coming to Chin’s Szechwan for years. Most of the time I come here with my family on special occasions (birthdays, graduations, reunions, etc) and we have an early dinner here or sometimes we take out.
Our favorites we always order is
–wonton soup (very tasty broth)
–imperial soup (a seafood soup similar to egg drop soup but with crab)
— house special fried rice and low mein
They do have a bar and TV in a separate area from the main dining.
The service is always good during the time with big parties during dinner.
As for lunch, my experience was not so great as dinner. I recommend coming here for dinner.

I was surprised by my experience at Chin’s today and, sadly, not in a positive way.
Whenever I’ve driven by this place in the evening, it seems busy so I wanted to give it a try when I had a lunch craving for Chinese today. It was decidedly less crowded for lunch (probably ~10 tables in service on Thursday at 12:30). I was sat promptly and the host offered me hot tea, which I declined in order to get something else. The waitress returned within a moment or so with my beverage and asked whether I was ready to order yet. Quick, but maybe just a tad too quick on that, toots. Could I get a minute to browse the menu, please?
Anyways, when I was ready to order, I asked for the beef lo mein lunch and the waitress immediately started to head towards the kitchen (really, she just turned and started to walk away). As she was leaving, I asked whether I could get egg drop soup also. She replied that it was the soup today and that it already came with my lunch. She then resumed her rush to the kitchen. Um, okay? I guess I won’t want any egg rolls or won ton appetizers either…
This was when the cascade of disappointment began in earnest. The egg drop soup was hot, to be sure, and it did have the right color and plenty of chunks of tofu. However, no egg (at least, no visible remnants of any).
The entrée was a bigger letdown. The beef lo mein was served very quickly, right after I had finished the soup, and was piping hot… on the outside. Once I got past the outer edge of the food, it was lukewarm. The speed of delivery, along with the temperature variations implied to me that this was certainly reheated in a microwave. I’m so confident of that that I would have gladly accepted a wager for quadruple or nothing on my meal on whether that had been nuked before being served. To make that indignity worse, the dish was completely bland — no taste whatsoever. The beef consisted of small strips of very well-​done beef that more closely resembled beef jerky than juicy morsels. In addition to being reheated, I would estimate that the dish may have been prepared and stored for 2 – 3 days before it was served to me.
Along with the main lo mein, came a cup of rice. The waitress didn’t ask whether I wanted steamed or fried rice when taking the order, so I guess fried is what you get. The fried rice was room temperature and actually inedible. I picked thorough it a bit to see whether there were any bits of it that looked appealing. Only saw a few peas and carrots, no fried egg, and all of it was just dried out and flavorless.
Curiously, the lunch dish came with a single deep-​fried chicken wing. The chicken was actually decent, although it, too, tasted like it had been reheated from, at soonest, the day before. The dish included a helping of sweet and sour sauce, as well as hot mustard sauce. The sauces, I assume, were meant for dipping the fried chicken but it was weird that they were both served in a single sauce dish which made them mix together as soon as either was disturbed.
The plate was finished off with a half orange, sliced for sharing. It smelled ok, but the skin of the orange was actually yellow, which gave me some hesitation. I’ll concede that maybe I just didn’t see the color right because the décor inside is rather dark and tinted red, so my eyes may have deceived me there.
I think that the service was lacking, but not really rude or inattentive. They just came off as inexperienced in not allowing time to look over the menu, forgetting to ask questions to confirm the order, and in repeatedly asking me whether I wanted more soda when I had been drinking iced tea. The décor gives a more formal feel to the restaurant but the food, at least at lunch, doesn’t live up to the atmosphere.
In conclusion, I’d go ahead and give Chin’s that second star, only because it is priced so low ($ 11, before tip) for lunch. However, I would gladly have paid double that for a tasty meal that used fresher ingredients. Hate to admit it, but the taste actually compared unfavorably to Panda Express. I’m hoping that I just caught their lunch staff on a bad day. After this visit, though, I would only be willing to give Chin’s another chance during a dinner service where they’re busy. Lunch-​time visitors, beware!