Chao Zhou

We ended up leaving, just after being seated.
Extremely awkward and unwelcoming atmosphere. No air conditioning (not as much as a fan) on a 90 degree day. Waitress was crabby and didn’t seem to care if we were there or not.
I wouldn’t recommend this place and definitely would never return.

I had a high expectation for this restaurant based on the reviews on Unilocal.Well… I was quite disappointed. Everything I ordered was super salty except the Dim sum (Chicken feet), which was lacking favor.

Shu mai dim sum was EXCELLENT! I ordered the Tiawanese spicy beef noodle soup and it tasted much different than what I expected. Not bad, just different. The soup has a sourness to it and was kind of sweet as well. It was very well-​seasoned and was pretty hearty for a soup. I didn’t finish it because I wasn’t really a big fan of the sourness but, I’ll definitely be back to this place to try a different soup (and more dim sum). The staff and service was professional and very friendly.

Ok, let’s just start off on the fact that we’ve been searching for Chinese food that reminds us of home (CA). When I found them on Unilocal and they had dim sum we had to check them out.
We ordered the cha siu bao, har gao, and siu my. First bite of the siu my and we were thinking woo hoo we finally found something that reminds us of home and definitely making this on our list of restaurants to frequent. We also ordered the mapo tofu, it was OK, I should have tried the noodles instead. My husband ordered the eggplant and was super happy. It was very flavorful and made delicious leftovers. They are also pretty generous with their portions. We would definitely come back and try other items.

Went with friends, one of whom is Chinese, and was impressed that we were the only non-​Asians there for lunch. Everything seemed slightly different in taste from many other Chinese restaurants, not adjusted for western taste, but in a good way. I ordered Szechuan Chicken and my wife ordered BBQ Pork Ramen. We also split an order of Potstickers. Everything was excellent, portions are large, and the prices are reasonable. And it is a short distance from home. We will definitely be back.

I came here for Dim Sum with my siblings. Ordered the usual: shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, fried shrimp balls, shrimp rice rolls, and steamed rice. Everything was okay, nothing great. The servers were nice and you can be seated relatively quickly. I’d go back to try other items.

First time trying based on reviews. Had some dim sum — shrimp and pork rice crepes. They were good and larger than other places. Had beef brisket soup with thick noodles. Beef was awesome. Tender and flavorful. The soup was savory but a tad bland so I added some white pepper to bring it back on point. Generous portions, good taste, service good, overall good. Most patrons were Asian — a good sign. I will be back. See you there?

This place can be hit or miss… When it’s good, it’s good and scratches the itch for traditional Asian fare. They don’t cater to non-​Asians since they don’t really speak English and the food might scare the uninitiated away… Chicken feet, tripe, tofu dessert, and even braised beef tendon. However, their less «scary» foods of soup noodles, rice congee and dim sum are pretty tasty.

Very good food!
Every time we come here, the service and the food is excellent. We always try different dishes. Usually it’s the dim sum.
Their spicy salted squid was perfectly lightly battered. I’m always trying to find a good place that makes it right.
The dim sum short ribs were so good, we ate them before I could take a pic.
Roasted duck was moist and well done.
My bf said the sesame chicken tasted great.
Lots of seating, it can get packed when busy.
Looks like a mom and pop place.
Wish I knew what they wrote on the board, it’s all in Chinese. :)

I’ve heard this place is a sister restaurant of Golden Harvest, but I’ve never had a chance to try it until now. I’m glad I did, but I’m also not glad I did. Here’s why.
Pros:
+Rice is better and fluffier than Golden Harvest. GH rice is dry and tastes cheap.
+Water is on point.
+They have a lot similar dishes to GH, including spicy squid.
Cons: (Where the fun begins)
–Very hot inside restaurant. They have a small fan, but it’s all the way in the back by the staff. Thanks for that.
–Décor is plain and dark. With the open windows and light, they could invest in brighter paint and décor to make the place more inviting. And what is it with the koi paintings and Asian restaurants?
–Spicy squid didn’t look as appetizing as GH, and the lettuce they put it on was old. The edges of the lettuce was starting to discolor, but it wasn’t from cooking (Because it wasn’t cooked).
–Do not get the shrimp balls. They are MUCH MUCH better at GH. Here they don’t even taste like shrimp, and seemed to be full of filler. Wouldn’t be surprised if this was frozen in a package.
–Shrimp dumplings better at GH. It’s hot here, but too much dumpling coating and not enough shrimp inside. GH tastes meatier.
I didn’t try the noodles, but I don’t really care to. I wasn’t impressed by this place at all. GH needs to revamp this place and have this place serve more similar dishes to them, rather than the cheap imitation that they have now.

noodles are good. i came here during the weekend of a family wedding.
I ate here for lunch. This is good.
the spicy noodle was good. It was really good. i had it twice. for the third time, meh. could use some improvement

This place used to be decent but now it’s getting worse. Not sure if they change kitchen staff or what, now everything is sweet. Ordered Taiwanese beef noodle soup and the beef is sliced not chunk style, tastes like the sliced beef used for cold dish. Soup base is not even close to the real thing. Ordered beef stew rice with egg, beef stew is also on the sweet side and the daikon is bigger than tea cup… peppery pork chopn is only dish that was on par, though it is still on the fatty side with lots of tendons.
I will not come back here on my own money.

I met up here with a fellow Unilocaler a few weeks back. We both ordered the Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup and it was as good as it looks in the pictures you see on Unilocal.Best aspect of this soup, imo, are the bites containing pickled cabbage. Such a delicately tart and sweet flavor which seems unexpected in the context of this soup but it magically ties the whole thing together. The portion was very large and very filling, so no need to order anything else. However we couldn’t resist picking up a couple random dimsum items all the same which were decent if not remarkable, no lasting impression left.
Went back in today with a coworker and tried the Beef Brisket Noodle Soup. The brisket itself was fantastic, very tender. I’m not a big fan of the tiny thin yellow noodles in the broth and the broth was rather one-​dimensional as well. I think I’d like to go back and order a different brisket-​centric dish because the tasty meat really didn’t shine in this particular dish.
I love the fact that this is an authentic Cantonese restaurant run by proud Chinese folk who don’t even bother to placate the Americanos by suffering themselves through a bunch of tired gringo chop suey and sweet & sour chicken type dishes. That being said, I’m not sure if it’s just a cultural disconnect but the staff do not seem entirely comfortable waiting on adventurous Americanos either. There have been quite a few other reviews mentioning a disconnect in the service so perhaps the issue is simply that they’re not comfortable waiting on people, period. No clue. But not really a big deal either way as I’ll take good food over good service every single time. Service here is not bad and the food is pretty tasty. Not quite so much dimension of flavor as I prefer, based on the two dishes I’ve tried. But simple can also be good, when you’re in the mood for it. I will definitely be back.

Had a hankering for noodles to go along with some smoked pork, bok choy, and snow peas stir fry I made the other night. Chao Zhou was on my way home, I made a quick stop to order the Singapore Noodles. The to-​go order was ready very quickly, and it was reasonable. Got home and ate it with my pork dish. The Singapore noodles are very fine, almost like Filipino pancit, with vegetables and a little shrimp & char siu. Won’t mind trying some other dishes at Chao Zhou, including the dim sim. Nice little neighbor Chinese restaurant to repeat and recommend!

Was recommended to eat here by my fellow Chinese foodie friend. I was not let down. This place had delicious dim sum!(though not served off the carts)
It’s a small humble but authentically delicious Chinese restaurant.
Probably my #1 pick for most genuine Chinese place to eat in metro Detroit.
If you want real Chinese, eat here.
Their xia chao-​he-​fen (fried rice noodle with shrimp) was also super de-​lish.
This is a must try!

The food here is pretty good, and I don’t really have any complaints. The dim sum, noodle, and soup dishes are all delicious and well worth coming here.
On the other hand, service is where this place is severely lacking. For most of the waitresses, it seems that English is their second language and they can get a little short with customers who have trouble understanding them. Even more so, on a few occasions, I’ve gone with family/​friends, and requested boxes to go, tea, etc., and have been left waiting an extremely long time. When you try to get their attention, anyone’s attention, it’s incredibly difficult and you have to remind them again. At times they seem annoyed that you even bother to ask again.
All in all, it’s worth coming here for the food, but it may require some patience with the staff.

This place was recommended to us by our family who own their own Chinese restaurant. I have to agree with other reviewers who see this as authentic Chinese food. Each dish we had could’ve been served by my grandmother (from the Guangdong province in China). Perhaps for those who think it is not, they are thinking of other regional cuisines? In fact our beef brisket hot pot was almost exactly the same as one of her specialties. That said it isn’t the best authentic Chinese in the area and is not the widest selection.
We did get shui mai, which was good and if their other dim sum is similar, I would rate it higher than other small dim sum places around here.
I gave it the fourth star because average but authentic Chinese is better than average Americanized Chinese in my book.

Chao Zhou — Madison Heights, Mi
I had been wanting to try this restaurant for a long time. Its seemed like whenever we were out that way, we always went to Fuju Buffet (another excellent place).
The atmosphere is simple and all the signage in the place is in Chinese along with all the customers. I was the only non-​Asian in the place. My wife is Filipina.
We sat down and within a minute, they pulled the Dim Sum cart up to our table. Wow !
They presented us with the various Dim Sum selections and we chose the shrimp dumplings (yum), pork dumplings, steamed sausage roll and steamed pork with onions. All very good.
Next they brought us a menu and we had congee, Taiwanese beef noodle soup and another order of shrimp dumplings. My wife was looking for the congee to taste more like lugaw (Filipino congee) although it was blander. Still a good taste to it. The Taiwanese beef noodle tasted like Vietnamese Phở soup. Not bad at all.
This is read-​deal Chinese.
Their menu is in both Chinese and English.
For us that can’t read Chinese, I just wish they would translate for us the daily specials written.
For all the food we had, the price was only $ 29.
Food = Very good, Service = good, Atmosphere = simple (who cares)
Looking forward to my next dinner there.

I’m at 3.5 stars. So for Michigan, I give it 4 stars– but if you had authentic Cantonese food– it’s more like 3. But– this is best that you can get in Michigan without driving to Toronto or Chicago. It drives me crazy that people think Chinese food is some greasy Egg Foo Young, Almond Chicken, or Egg roll/​spare rib plate. This place gives me HOPE!
The restaurant is small– but it does fill up on the weekends with Chinese people.
What to get:
Beef Chow Fun
Wonton Noodle Soup with Beef Brisket
There is dim sum (no pushy cart feeling and it’s not bad– but I wouldn’t come here for Dim Sum).
All and all, I would def. come back and it’s next to a Chinese Market!

For my first visit I ordered a bowl of congee with pork and preserved egg, pork dumpling (which turned out to be sio mai), and beef chow fun. All were very good, and service was friendly, if not exactly quick. Second time, my girlfriend and I tried the Beef Brisket Noodle, which she raved about, and the Gai Lan with Chinese Sausage, which I raved about. And on my third visit, I had a bowl of the wonderfully spicy Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup– out of this world. I was surprised to find a lot of ingredients other restaurants leave out of their Taiwanese beef noodle, like pickled mustard cabbage.
I’ve since eaten there at least 30 times, and I’ve never had a bad experience. Favorites, in addition to those listed above include Bean curd skin dumplings, which are filled with pork and are heavenly, the Ma Po Tofu, and the seafood noodle. But really, everything is good.
I’m puzzled to read some reviewers complaining about the service, which I’ve always found to be attentive and very warm and friendly. I suppose if you come in at the peak lunch hours, and you have to get back to work in 30 minutes, you might get impatient. But even when the restaurant is busy I’ve never had to wait an unreasonable amount of time.
I also notice that some diners unfamiliar with the cuisine have given this place low ratings. This is real Chinese food, not the sweetened glop you get at the typical Cantonese-​American restaurant. Don’t order a side dish of Gai Lan and Chinese sausage and complain that it’s not sweet-​and-​sour pork!