Pick Up Stix

Pros: I come here quite a lot because they are gluten-​free and have gluten-​free curry which is hard to come by. The food is good, good enough that I eat lunch here every other week. I wish they offered a fuller gluten free menu with more choices. Meat is a good quality, too.
Con: Food presentation is so-​so.

Pretty disappointed in the lack of protein in the lunch combos.
Quality is better than Panda Express but that’s not saying much.

First visit to this chain was disappointing. Not everything was bad.
Atmosphere
I echo the sentiment that the space is «pleasant». I wasn’t sure it was a chain until I walked inside. Slick, corporate, not mom-​n-​pop. Exhibit A: the sterile-​looking bar area. Last place I would go to relax and have a drink. But then mom-​n-​pop doesn’t exist in the newest round of Conejo Valley strip malls. If I was kidnapped to this place and told I was inside the Houston airport I would have no problem believing it. But as fast food goes, they’re looking dapper.
Staff
Courteous and efficient at an off-​peak hour.
Food
While I waited for my order to come out I watched the kitchen. Two men emptied plastic bladder after plastic bladder of brown liquids into stainless steel containers. I came to realize that they go through a lot of that stuff. It is the liquid in the pool in which your food swims. The garlic chicken (for here, not to go) was delivered in a cardboard carton. In it was a mix of chopped chicken (some with grill marks, most not…) and vegetables. The veggies were fresh and firm, not steam-​blasted mush. The chicken was cooked earlier that day. Only way to explain how fast it got to the table.
WHAT IS THAT GOO?
The garlic chicken arrived in a cardboard jacuzzi of high fructose corn syrup and soy sauce. You know how certain sugary foods can actually make your teeth stick together while you are trying to chew? Funny, it always reminds me of Halloween when I was nine. So this is Chinese food. Why doesn’t China have an obesity epidemic like we do here? You see where I’m going with this.
The Company’s Published Nutrition Info…
states that what I ate amounts to 220 calories (I declined any rice or noodles). No way. The half-​pint of sugar-​broth on it’s own is surely more than that. I tapped every chopstick-​full of food against the empty plastic plate I was provided, in order to shake off the saccharin goo. I’m guessing that that one dish comes to 500 – 600 calories if you empty the box into your mouth.
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These suburbs are increasingly populated with LA urbanites who whipped the Hollywood horse for a while, won, and sought a quieter homestead in which to nest. When will they demand the culinary quality to which they are accustomed? Who will answer? Not Pick up Stix. Does anyone care?

You guys paid for the new retail space but are not willing to pay for appropriate staff. They are always friendly but the service is terrible. I have been to this place 31 times (It tracks you when you enter your phone number) and 12 out of the 31 times my order took 25+ minutes and more than once they have forgotten my order completely and have to come up to me and ask what i ordered. I do not know if your system is terrible or your employees just dont care. With so many food options in the area I would think customer service would be a high selling point for you guys… apparently not. If it wasnt for your house chicken, I wouldn’t be coming back!

WORST SERVICE EVER! To get a pad Thai with uncooked chicken, uncooked onion… not awesome. Been here before and not this bad. The thing is they had plenty of opportunity to fix this, yet no apology. The only thing I was told was that I was wrong the chicken is precooked! If you want to be sick by all means eat here.

Smell Great! Looks Great! Nice Layout!
The food… not so much
Chicken Entrée + Chow Mein…
*Non of the veggies cooked just had a grill mark or two
*entrée was drenched in teriyaki sauce — ‘soup-​like’
*waited an extra 5−6min for a side of sauce
*spent just under $ 10 and I didn’t even get a drink

I was SO happy with this place when they opened but now the staff have become slow, perhaps bored. No apologizes for when they have made mistakes. Twice now my internet order was not ready when I went to pick it up. The first time I thought it was a fluke. Now I just won’t be able to order that way. I even had delivery confirmation via email. There is one person who doesn’t move like a slug (of the few staff I’ve noticed) and he almost makes up for everyone. I don’t know his name but he is tall. Young and dark. Best worker there. To top it all off there are no won tons in my won ton soup and the container is ¾ full. FAIL

Easily the worst Chinese I have ever had. Ordered Delivery off of their confusing website to get an email that I needed to pick up.
Cream Cheese wontons have a foul strange taste to them and did not come with a dipping sauce. The containers of soy sauce were broken open and completely spilled out into their carrying bag. Mongolian Beef is charred and look like burnt scrapings off of the grill. Received the wrong kind of rice, and my house beef was bone dry and flavorless. Will not be eating there ever again. Blech.

I like their chicken fried rice, the price is also very reasonable. They have a bar, don’t quite get that but why not, fried rice and whiskey.
Give it try, it’s better than Panda Express, everything is made to order.

First and LAST time… waited over 15 minutes for take out (soup, salad and 1 entreé) only to find out the five people who ordered after I did, got their food before me. When I asked why, I was told they ran out of broth in the soup. I WITNESSED them pouring in plain hot water trying to make more soup. I should have walked out but instead had to endure the ghastly stare down of the sweaty cook with 1 tooth… yeah, it happened. WORST salad ever! Who effs up salad??? Chicken was like jerky, lettuce wilted up and limp, and if there were any peanuts in this Thai Peanut Salad, I never saw them. Thai Chicken Coconut Curry was a crapfest of over cooked vegetables drowning in a gritty sauce. Unbelievably terrible in so many ways. NEVER again.

No, no and no. Went there to try someplace new and was utterly disappointed. Took for-​e-​ver to get our dirty (see pic) bad plate of food. Panda Express is even a step up from here.

Nice place. Tasty food, good interior, healthy options and diverse menu. Good execution and decent value too :)

The bald dude who helped me out was very informatice, friendly and of course; helpful. Way better than the Calabasas Commons location where the people there were stuckup and didnt care to provide any additional info.

I don’t know why this place has such bad reviews. The staff was helpful and kind and the food is quite good. Tastes cleaner and healthier than Panda Express. It’s obviously not the best Chinese food in the world but it’s good for what you expect.

It was my first time at a Pick Up Stix, so not sure what to expect. Cooking the food fresh is not a bad concept, but each order comes with only one item, so if you’re used to being able to get 2 – 3 items at Panda, you’ll miss the variety. My portion of kung pao beef was tiny, literally ½ to a ¹⁄₃ the size of what I saw some other people getting, and the sauce was cloyingly sweet while the beef was low quality and tough.
The cream cheese rangoons that came with the combo were tasteless and barely warm, dipped in an equally tasteless sauce.
Not going back to Pick Up Stix, since Panda provides more variety, better portion control, and more authentic flavors. Which, if you think about it, is a pretty sad commentary on Pick Up Stix…

Went there on a Monday night, and it took 20 mins to get one order. My teriyaki chicken had some kind of fried pieces of chicken in it, not all grilled meat. It was good but not consistent with the dish – more like they used leftovers. Service unfriendly and slow.

Went to pick up Sticks for lunch this afternoon. This particular location has a bar believe it or not. Wasn’t much of a line and we placed our order quickly
Ordered the Lemon Chicken and Firecracker Chicken. Both were brought out in to go containers and plates even though we were eating it there. The Firecracker Chicken was burnt and the Lemon Chicken was terrible. The only good thing was the sample of the edamame Hummus. Even the Ice Tea was weak and watered down.
Service was good but the food and quality of the food was not.

Pretty good food. Consistent with the other Pick Up Sticks locations. Located in the Target sopping center in Westlake Village. Can get crowded at lunch and dinner time

While this is not the best Pick up Stix location I have been to, the food was still pretty good.
I had the salmon with brown rice (extra charge but worth it) and veggies and enjoyed it.
The veggies were still pretty raw, I would have preferred them cooked a bit longer but the salmon was great and the portion more than fair for $ 10, I had plenty of rice to take home for later.
Service was super nice but slow, it did take almost 20 minutes for my food to come out, while I do appreciate that they cook everything to order that is just too long of a wait for being a fast food type place.
Worth joining their online club as they offer BOGO meals every couple of months which keeps me coming back.

It’s fast food American Chinese… it is what it is. It’s way better than Panda Express both in taste and preparation… this is made to order… not sitting out for God knows how long in the cafeteria-​type service, but not quite as good as Pei Wei.
The Interior is something to be noticed. They’ve really tried with this new location to make it nice, even sexy. Rustic, artistic, lots of accents color, a even a child’s area with electronics to keep them busy. Best yet, a bar with TV’s and draft beers — I like a lot.
1. Chicken Thai Sweet Chili Noodles ($ 7.79) — Fresh green beans, red peppers, carrots and onions in a sweet garlic-​chili sauce tossed in not-​so wide rice noodles. Good chicken, a little sweet, and I didn’t like the noodles so much. (3.5 stars)
2. Shrimp & Vegetables ($ 9.99) — Shrimp with vegetables in a white wine sauce. (4.0 stars)
If service was bagged on the first few weeks they were open, they’ve improved on that. Very nice and knowledgeable about the menu, which is filled with $ 7 – 10 options for value-​priced options. For what it is, 4.0 stars is given.

We love the food here. The décor is nice and the staff is pleasant. Our food was a bit slow coming out but it isn’t premade. This location has a bar and TVs everywhere. I’m not sure that is the environment that I expect at an Asian restaurant but ok. I guess the bar would be good for the wait time if you are picking up food. Some seating available outside witha view of the parking lot… and mountains beyond.

I gotta say, Pick up Stix has stepped up their game! Interior is pretty nice now with booths, décor, etc. and the food is relatively good. We had the lunch specials that comes with entrée, rice, and side salad, and it was perfect for us. I’d recommend!

I really enjoy the food at their new store but the service is horrible. 1 star for service and 3 for the food. We came in on a Saturday at 1:30pm with very little crowd. It
Took 25 minutes to get our food at a «fast food,» place. The other two visits here were also in excess of 15 minutes.
So the food is good but be prepared to wait for your food to come right when you have to go back to work!

I stopped by this place after a lunch gym sesh to replenish my bulging muscles with much needed protein. Being in full beast mode, the only logical choice for a meal was the Grilled Teriyaki Chicken & Vegetables lunch combo. I placed my order and patiently waited for the food to arrive while picturing myself devouring this puny creature at the bottom of the food chain. When I got back to the office and opened the container I was shocked to discover that my meal consisted of all but 4 pieces of chicken. It’s now clear to me that the people in the kitchen don’t even lift, bro, because if they did they would have the strength to dip the serving spoon into the chicken tray a few more times.
Pick Up Stix? More like pick up a dumbbell so you won’t get exhausted so fast you girly man.

Save your money. The food had no taste. I ordered the chicken egg roll and it was cold and flavorless. Also ordered shrimp Kung Pao that was just bland and below average. The only palatable thing about the place is the price. And considering I got no value for my money I’d give that a second thought as well.

I really liked the food and atmosphere when they moved to the new location but now every time we’ve been (about 3 times in 2 months) the food is just okay and it really bugs me that there isn’t a changing table in the bathroom. I even had one time where my bourbon chicken was burnt and I told a really nice girl cleaning about it (she was cleaning tables) and she said sorry but that’s it. We will probably go back because we spend a lot of time at target but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

The staff can’t tell you if the food is vegetarian, the service has gone seriously down hill in the one month they’ve been open. But seriously, a cashier told me it’s vegetarian because it has chicken in it so it’s not vegan. UGH!

Ordered lettuce wraps and Wonton soup for two. The lettuce wraps were good. The Wonton soup was cold and tasteless. How you serve soup cold is beyond me, hence the two stars.
Good service. They gave us a certificate for a free entrée to make up for the awful soup. Better than a jab with a sharp stick.