House of Chao

Excellent Chinese food in the Westville area. just wish they were open daily and late night hours like the Chinese restaurants in NYC. Regardless very tasty food!

Great food! Prices are right. One of my favorite Chinese restaurants. Sometimes they don’t open exactly at noon as they should.

Best Chinese food I’ve ever had. The Five Flavor Chicken is fantastic, as are the Dumplings and the Chicken with Black Bean Sauce. Everything is very fresh, home made, high quality and the price is reasonable. We usually order pick up/​take out as they don’t have delivery but if you go for a sit-​down dinner, expect to wait on a busy night. The service can be very slow when its busy, but the staff are very friendly and accommodating. The food is so good, that you completely forget about how long you waited to get it and it no longer matters!

To start, the service was great and friendly. Food was delicious. We ordered egg rolls and steamed dumplings for appetizers. Both tasted and looked freshly prepared. For dinner, we ordered ma po tofu which is szechuan bean curd with ground pork and beef with scallion. Both were excellent. First time for us and we will definitely go back! Thanks!

Long live House of Chao! My favorite Chinese restaurant ever… and I live in NYC! They’re non-​gristly all white meat take on General Tso’s Chicken is non-​paralleled!

I have been going to House Chao for over 20 years. I am a Chinese food snob and in my opinion, it is the best Chinese food in the New Haven area. Anyone who thinks otherwise may have a broken palate. All of the ingredients are fresh and identifiable and they typically do not skimp on servings. I feel full and satisfied when I am done, compared to fat, bloated and nearing cardiac arrest like when I venture to almost any other Chinese restaurant.
Customer service has been an issue from the beginning. I’ve learned that you can’t have your cake and eat it too when someone else is cooking for you, so I typically overlook wait staff issues.
On Saturday 11/​21/​2015 between 4:30pm and 6:00pm the phone was busy. I gave up and ordered elsewhere. On Sunday 11/​22/​2015, the same thing happened. On my way to my second choice, I stopped in to talk to Nelson, the owner. I noticed that almost every seat was taken. I went to the takeout counter at the back and immediately noticed the phone was off of the hook and beeping loudly. Nelson saw me and asked me to wait a moment, which I did. I asked him why the phone was off of the hook for the past two days? He replied, «He was too busy.» He insincerely apologized. I ignored his arrogance and audacity and politely left.
«Too busy?» I bet there isn’t a Chinese restaurant in the state that has had that terribly, wonderful problem. Nelson, keep up that attitude and you will be out of business in no time. I suggest you hire more help or raise your prices, but do not piss off your loyal customers. It’s hard enough that people have limited take out options. People make a decision to patronize you and then they have to wonder if you are up to the task of actually doing your job?
Chinese food does not seem like a difficult thing to do well, however most places can’t seem to figure it out. Nelson you have good food. For your customer’s sake, please ask someone you trust for advice on how to run your business better.

Definitely hands down some of the best Chinese food I’ve had since moving. I am looking forward to trying every dish on the menu. Slow service but obviously because the kitchen is super busy.

Wow best Chinese I’ve ever had. Better than the late Fortune Pavillion in Derby. Definitely recommend the sesame chicken, low mein, vegetable fried rice, and chicken and broccoli.
Update: It frustrating that they take the phone off the hook because they get too busy. They might need to upgrade somehow. Was at 5 stars, now at 4.

This place… not bad for me. The food is great.
The food knowledge? Not too good. My girlfriend is vegan. We made the waiter aware of this. I’m pretty sure it was moo shu vegetables she ordered He brought food with egg as an ingredient. I sent it back. It was prepared again. Still had egg in it. I asked to see the order ticket. Nowhere on the ticket had the waiter denoted «vegan». Said waiter then proceeded to throw a histrionic fit. I told him to forget the whole thing. He offered to take 50% off the items that I sent back untouched. I laughed. The owner came out to intercede as his waiter was screeching like a banshee and threatening to summon law enforcement (which only made me laugh harder).
The chef explained that the third preparation of my girlfriend’s food was nearly ready. I asked him to package it to go, which he did. The waiter had disappeard. I’m assuming he went somewhere to attempt to compose himself.
Guess what? When we got it home and opened it it STILL had egg in it. I ate it. Not bad. It would have been better with pork, though.
What kind of food service worker in this day and age doesn’t know what vegan means?
Anyway, I am giving it three stars. 1 for the waiter and 5 for the chef.
If you go, be sure to go in the first week of the month. That way you stand a decent chance of getting served politely and rationally, before the drama queen waiter burns through his 30 day supply of Xanax.
I had a very interesting and memorable experience, for sure. All this happened almost a year ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was considering returning today by myself and that is what prompted me to write this review.
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I went back for lunch recently. No drama queen waiter. I was served professionally by an older Asian gentleman.
He was kind and understanding to a customer that had some pretty severe mental health/​processing issues