Happi Wok

I’m the type of guy who sticks to one Chinese restaurant due to the fact of not all restaurants making their food as equally good. Every restaurant makes there’s different in their own way. I took a chance with this place. I had a sudden urge for Chinese. Boneless Spare Ribs in particular. All said and done gotta say this place was pretty good.

I have been going to Happi Wok since 2010. Great Chinese food with both the typical American Chinese offerings and optional authentic Chinese version (ask for the Chinese menu or just look at what other customers are having). I can only speak to the Chinese menu although my American friends like their food as well. Yes, it is probably won’t impress your date (you might want to try Dim Sum at Yummy House on Hillsborough for that), but the ingredients are always fresh and made to order. Service is ok and definitely gets better over time. My main reason for going is to get good spicy Chinese food at a reasonable price and for that this place stands out for me within a 20-​mile radius. My favorites are: twice-​cooked pork belly with leek, flounder fillet with ginger and scallion sauce or Hu-​Nan pickled hot pepper sauce, and sliced beef/​veggie in hot-​chilly soup.

Typical chinese place; small and not very clean. I called ahead and ordered a bunch of things including 4 large fries, pretty easy right? Well when I got there that I took everything and checked there was only one fry, I said that I had ordered 4 and as expected I had to wait for them to make the rest. After waiting for 10 mins the guy gave me two more fries, making it a total of three (asked for 4) I got so mad that I told them to give me my money back because how hard is it to understand FOUR FRIES jeez, never going back.

Based on my first time eating here I would totally give this place a ⁵⁄₅ rating. The lo mein was some of the best I’ve ever had. But the other times I’ve ordered here it was either okay or not really good.
On top of their food not being very consistent, their customer service is lacking. I’ve called ahead twice and when they answer the phone all you get is a «yeah?»
So if you’re looking for a decent Chinese place — keep looking.

check this place out. Better than usual hole in the wall… try the steamed dumplings, which are beautifully seasoned, sesame chicken, and noodle dishes. the sweet meat dishes, eg orange or lemon chicken, are a little too sweet for my taste.

Normally I would not eat at one of these greasy hole in the wall take out Chinese places in a million years, BUT I did it just this once to be a good sport for a relative who wanted me to grab take out for dinner. I called ahead to order pork spare ribs, won ton soup and a dish of shrimp egg foo young to go. While on the phone, the lady taking my order sounded huffy and snappy. Not sure if it was just a language barrier issue going on or if she was actually aggravated with my questions about the menu and item sizes, but it rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. Regardless, I ordered any way and was told it’d be ready in 15 minutes.
When I arrived 5 minutes later, sure enough it was all ready to go. HMM, awfully quick, eh? Inside, the environment is typical hole in the wall strip plaza Chinese: outdated, grubby, minimal seating, lack of cleanliness. Oh boy. When I got my food and asked for an extra empty soup bowl to go, they charged me for it. After spending $ 20 on sub-​par chinese food, they still charged me for a bowl worth 5 cents? OOOOOk then …
So when I took my food back home and gave it a shot, it was pretty much what I expected: not all that great. The soup broth was very dark yellow and salty. There were no little pork strips like most chinese places usually include. The pork spare ribs were probably the best items, although they were messy to eat with a ton of sauce on top, the meat and taste itself was not bad. The shrimp egg foo young was not something i even wanted to try and my relative that did eat it said it was just «ok».
Overall i was definitely not impressed with this place and likely would not come back again, at least not if it’s up to me next time!

A nice, cheap little Chinese joint. I’m glad I found it :)