Magic Wok Chinese Restaurant

Good food, good service at a good price. Can’t get any better.

There are time Unilocal ratings just places wrong. At the time I write this Magic Wok rated just three stars. I have to giggle at this because it is woefully underrated. Now let me tell you why…
There are two menus at Magic Wok. You have your standard, Americanized idea of Asian cuisine menu (the green menu) and then for those who are adventurous enough to try, there is the authentic Szechwan menu (the white menu). I have only ever ordered from the white menu since I have been there.
Now I LOVE going outside my comfort zone so I was enamored with the place from the start. My first time there I tried the Pickled Mustard with Fish and the Beef with Szechwan Spices. The fish was just beyond delicious. It tasted of comfort and home with just the right amount of heat. I had leftovers of it cold for breakfast the next day and I wish I could do that every day. The beef was something special and I can honestly say I have never had better beef anything anywhere (and yes I know that is a bold statement). The second time there I had the duck with an appetizer of beef tendon. Again both were amazing!
The portions are huge. Two to three people can eat off one dish and still have leftovers. The food comes hot (or cold depending on the dish) and well prepared. The staff is incredibly friendly and amazingly attentive.
If you want a new experience you will not soon forget and will look forward to repeating often then I highly suggest this place.

This place is TERRIBLE. Food is below average. What really seals the deal here is the service, nasty bathrooms and God only knows what lurks behind those kitchen doors. Place is disgusting and the lady (I assume is the owner) should hang up her server shoes. She is rude and acts like she can’t be bothered with you. Thumbs way down.

Somewhat decent food. By far not the best. I had their vegetable soup and egg roll which was delicious. My daughter and I shared the shrimp fried rice (nothing special). Service is absolutely terrible. Be cautious with the condiments on the table. The hot mustard we had was so old a crusty I had to get another one and it was worse. I question how often they change the sauces or clean out the containers. (Shrimp sauce, duck sweet sauce and hot mustard) even the soy sauce bottle was sticky and dirty.

This is probably the worst experience I have ever had ordering Chinese food, and after this probably the last. It was overpriced, undercooked, cold and just all around disappointing. Don’t waste your money or calories.

This is a real deal! Didn’t expect this level of authenticity and wok skill in this area. I’ve lived near LA & Chicago areas. This is one of the best Szechuan food. My stomach can’t handle spicy foods as much as before so they toned it down for me. Still, I can taste the aromatic spices burnt in high-​heat-​wok. Try it; you won’t regret the authentic Chinese dishes.

«The best Chinese restaurant in Johnson City»? I would not know. And I guess if I had read the reviews here before stumbling into the place I would have known to order from the Szechuan menu. Inside and out, it looks like a small cheap diner. Service was perfunctory. I had a luncheon special, cashew chicken, and it was a little short of being tasteless.

The food here is REALLY good, on point, awesome Chinese food BUT after eating here about 10 different times and as many take out orders I have to write this post and really HOPE someone in management of the place reads this. The service is not consistent, I have many times got home to find my take out order missing items and the service inside is slow, they really need to do a facelift inside the place too and consolidate their menu. Also I tried to order the lunch portion for a dinner take out one time, telling them I would gladly pay the dinner price, I just like the smaller portion with the soup instead of the eggrolls with the dinner, the guy on the phone, to his credit, went and asked the owner who I guess was the cook too and he said no, wow, I will gladly pay but no, just shows that the wrong person is making the decisions around there. This place could easily be 5 stars and do more business with a little front of the house improvement and thus make more money which at the end of the day is why the guy opened the place, seems like a little bit of soup nazi stuff going on. So the food is great, the experience, ehh, very mixed.

This is the best Chinese restaurant in Johnson City, and one of only two goods ones in the Tri-​Cities. Ignore the regular menu and get the Szechuan menu, then be adventurous. Yes, it’s fatty and fried and probably not healthy for you, but the food is darn good. As another reviewer pointed out this is where all of the ETSU Chinese students go, and there’s a reason. My recommendation: Beef with Soft Bean Curd, which is enough to feed two people and is really delicious.

Your mission should you choose to accept it: The next time you want to grab a budget meal, skip the hamburger joints, go to Magic Wok and order the shredded pork appetizer from the Szechuan menu. Then check with your taste buds and your wallet, and report back to me. This is where the ETSU Chinese students go to eat. Quick, get your photographic memory into operation. because this review will self destruct in 10 seconds… and wait… I forgot tell you… take someone else with you because they might want —
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Magic Wok is Szechuan cuisine restaurant with a southern twist. They have regular Chinese menu and Szechuan menu, so make sure to ask for later, because house specialties are listed with spiciness indicator.
When you are here, better not expect anything über-​healthy, because everything good comes fried… there you go, that’s is the southern twist. That said, fried mushroom (which was the special of that night) was AWESOME. Fluffy, juicy, and loaded with spices, and when paired with steamed white rice, I felt like I could eat just this forever.

Very good place to eat. Reasonable price. Nice waitress. Oh and don’t ignore the pink sauce on the table.

This is a quiet little out-​of-​the way Chinese restaurant that has been in south JC for years. In the past 2 years, they have acquired a new chef who has in turn added a new Schezuan menu and overhauled many of the original menu options as well. Both myself and my partner, native born and raised Chinese (didn’t move here until after college), have come to love this new chef and his creations. It is without peer in JC in terms of being the best prepared and authentic Chinese and could hold its own with some of the Chinese food we have eaten in places like Honolulu, San Diego, Chicago and Washington, D.C. A word of warning: The Schezuan is AUTHENTIC… in other words VERY spicy and salty and could be a bit wild for the average east TN palate used to the sweet and sour glop at your typical steam-​table buffet affair. Having said that, we think it is AWESOME!!!

I really enjoyed myself at this quiet, cozy, very comfortable little chinese restaurant. I also like that it is less than 10 minutes from my place. I also like that the waitress couldn’t understand me if I spoke to quickly. I like that my fried rice and sasha’s lo mien came in these raised stainless steel serving plates with lids. The crab rangoons were a bit skimpy on the filling they should reevaluate the portioning there. Other than that and god awful christmas music blaring (that’s probably just me) it was really nice. I ordered the «triple crown with a hot garlic sauce» and it was spicy! The triple crown included shrimp, chicken and beef. It also had snow peas, zukes, carrots, chestnuts, and bamboo shoots. All that for $ 8.95! That would be 16 to 17 bucks at crappy stir fry. And to top it all off they gave me my two egg rolls for free! A christmas gift from the certainly most magical wok in eastern tennessee. Well done.