Uncle Wen’s China Express

Wasn’t sure whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. First let me say, the woman answering the phone/​ringing you up is as nice as can be. When I went to pick up my food, I got the grandmother vibe from her (She’s not that old), and that felt nice.
Next the food. I ordered a lunch special of General Tso’s Chicken which comes with rice and eggroll. The food was good (I’m not a picky eater), hot and quick to order. I also ordered some Chinese Doughnuts which were just great! Best I’ve had.
The portions on the other hand, is what makes me wonder if it deserves a 3 star. The food comes in a takeout plastic container (the ones that everyone uses), which of course have 2 holes for side dishes and 1 larger area for the main dish. Normally any Chinese place I go, they always fill up that container with rice and main dish to the brim. But Uncle Wen’s sadly does not. The portions didn’t even fill up the areas they go in. 2 small scoops of rice, and like 5 – 6 actual pieces of the General Tso’s. Their lunch prices are $ 5.50 so I’m not too mad, but I probably won’t be ordering from there since I’m a big boy and need more than child servings.
I haven’t tried other dishes so I can’t comment on that but if you don’t mind the portions, Uncle Wen’s isn’t bad at all.

Don’t waste your time or money here.
I had the Kung Pow beef and it was deplorable. The meet was tough, the sauce was tasteless and it was so spicy that I couldn’t taste anything after the first bite. The prices are fair, but given the quality, I would pay anything at all.
Bottom line: get your Chinese food fix somewhere else. It’s no good.

This is the best Chinese restaurant that I have visited in Sarasota. The food is cooked to order and is exactly what I want out of this type of restaurant.

Below average Chinese food. We ordered 2 wonton soups and they were both a different colored broth. Food was horrible and I would never go back or reccommend.

Had a dish comparable to one I get elsewhere. Uncle Wen’s was truly lackluster and bland.

Ordered some food for pick up. Was one of the worst meals I have ever had there. The meat was dry and hard. The lady who was making food was sneezing which was disgusting. I used to like Wens but the food has gone downhill.
I’ll give them another chance cause I like the people and the food is usually pretty good

For the big hype they had on there door I was completely dissatisfied with there food and service. The male that picked up the phone didn’t listen to anything I said and then I had to go back for missing food after I was told that it was going to be there. I find that this male was incompetent and needs another job.

After waiting for over an hour for my food to arrive I was hoping to have the amazing food that I read about here in Unilocal.Alas, It was lukewarm, goopy, standard American-​Chinese faire that wasn’t worth the wait or the money.
The driver doesn’t speak a word of English which, while I appreciate living in the grand melting pot, is not a desirable trait of someone trying to find your house to deliver something. After 4 phone calls back and forth between the store and my house and me calling them out on their poor service and communication skills my food arrived.
I had the «Dragon Meets Phoenix» which is supposed to be the chef’s special. It’s a combination of General Tso’s Chicken and a Spicy Shrimp dish. The Chicken was chewey and there were 3 shrimp and about 50 water chestnuts for the shrimp side.
The soup was good, but how hard is Egg Drop Soup to make, really?
I don’t think I’ll be calling them again.

Great food i always get sesame chicken. 5 year customer and probably another 5 years to come

We usually get delivery. The food comes well packed and hot. There’s plenty of food. The dishes that we have ordered are great.

I tried Uncle Wen’s because they deliver, and I work by myself. So I try anything that delivers to my area. I’m posting this as a service to anyone who is in the same predicament.
It’s better-​than-​average Chinese fast food. But only because there are some things that are sub-​standard, and a few things that are awesome: it’s a roller coaster of quality that averages out to «pretty good.»
I’ve ordered their $ 10 minimum-​for-​delivery several times, trying a different dish each time, hoping to find at least one outstanding entrée. I haven’t found it yet (and I’ll keep trying), but I have found an outstanding appetizer: the Szechuan Wonton. Described as «wonton noodle splashed with seven flavor sauce,» it’s actually several wontons wrapped around a meager meat-​and-​onion filling, but swimming in a rich, savory, spicy sauce that I just want to drink by the glass. This one dish is enough to recommend Uncle Wen’s over most other local Chinese take out. If I could, I would just order the sauce to dip or marinade other things in.
Or possibly bathe in.
Everything else is kind of hit-​or-​miss.
The Orange Chicken (usually the standard that I judge Chinese take-​out by) was tasty, crispy and moist, but was marred by burnt, leathery, bad-​tasting jerky-​like bits that I can only hope are burnt orange peels (tasted like ruined fried Birkenstocks). The description on the menu said «served over a bed of broccoli.» There was one lonely piece of broccoli placed on top :|
The standard-​issue side of pork fried rice has no veggies at all, not even an onion. Not a carrot or a pea. Just stock red-​dyed pork and rice, with a mere suggestion of a lace of egg.
Kung Pao is delicious and savory, as is Mongolian-​whatever-​meat with lots of green onions. Both had lots of tasty sauce in my box.
The egg rolls are usually mushy inside, though with a crispy and tasty shell. Maybe they’re better when they’re fresher, served at the table, as opposed to delivery? It’s so weird, they’re almost outstanding (outside), but instead they’re meh (inside).
My very first order had a fortune cookie that was so stale and limp, I unfolded it flat to get the fortune (every one after has been fine-​to-​slightly-​stale).
Every order comes with prerequisite bargain-​basement soy sauce and orange sauce packets, and a bonus side of fried noodle bits that has ranged from crispy, warm, and awesome to stale, chewy, and gross.
Hot and Sour soup is pretty familiar, with the usual bits of unidentifiable mushroom, soy, egg, and whatever, but spicier and richer than most places. You don’t look for innovation in Hot & Sour soup, though, and this is some of the best Hot & Sour soup in SRQ.
Service is pretty great. Delivery is within a half-​hour (usually much sooner). If you eat in, servers are awesome, and they get to know you (my girlfriend had left Sarasota for a couple of years, and when she came back, they recognized her and asked her where she’s been!) Really cool people, it makes me ashamed that I wrote less-​than-​flattering things about their food :(
Is it possible to feel passionately ambivalent about a restaurant? I want to love this place, and they come so very close to perfect comfort food… but they have failed me badly sometimes, too. So: I’ll settle for a compromise: not the best in Sarasota, but certainly the best in this zip code.

Read about Uncle Wen’s on another rating site so tried it because we wanted delivery. Delivery time was short, portions very large, food very tasty. I have no idea about the ambiance because we were never there. We will definitely be regulars since many meals are only $ 8 and big enough for two meals.