Auntie Chang's Dumpling House Chinese Restuarant

I am a Chinese and I had one of the worst meals in my whole life last night at this restaurant.
I feel embarrassed being in a Chinese restaurant that serves such low quality food.
I had the hot and sour soup that tasted like dark soy sauce+hot spice+vinegar+water+few shredds of bamboo shoots. The dumplings were poorly made and shaped, not to mention how bad they taste. Go buy frozen dumplings at the Chinese supermarkets on Bellaire and they come out 100 times better. The water to drink tasted like rusty tap water with ice and the crispy tea duck that I ordered just tasted "old". It was fried totally dry in oid grease and tasteless. The tea duck should be a flavorful and complicated dish that suggests a mild tea flavor. Instead, I burped old grease all night last night. Definitely one of the worst meals that I've ever had.
In addition, this restaurant is dirty, the sauce jars are sticky, you can smell the floor sitting down. I was on my way to Mai's located in downtown Houston for a wonderful fish soup (Lau Ca) and saw this dumpling house and decided to give it a try. My first and last time to this restaurant.
I would rate it a minus 10 if that rating was available.

Pros: Nothing

Cons: Everything

Posted 12/03/09

Nice and quick takeout/delivery. Only thing is I keep forgetting that they have sprouts in thier fried rice. Otherwise, all thier food is pretty good, and you can get a dinner for two for less than $20.

Pros: Reasonably priced, quick

Cons: Sprouts in fried rice

Posted 11/17/09

Great service from beginning to end. Very attentive staff!

Food is always yummy.

I can't say anything bad about this restuarant.

They have the best Fried Rice, any flavor!

Pros: Great soup! Yummy Dumplings

Cons: Can't really think of any

Posted 10/20/09

I love eating here, the service is excellent! The food is good. Great place for a quick meal.

Pros: Great Service

Posted 09/10/09

I love eating here, the service is excellent! The food is good. Great place for a quick meal.

Pros: Great Service

Posted 09/10/09

The food is always good, the staff professional. I recommend this place as it has a family run feel. The waiters are attentive and always remember us. Comfortable, low key

Posted 07/06/09

Auntie Chang was our favorite chinese place in Houston. The only unfortunate thing is their manager. Today we ate there after receiving a coupon at our front door. We went and ate and at the end, the manager decided that he would not honor the coupon, that it was some sort of mistake. a good place doesn't argue with the customer over a very small discount and risks losing repeat business over such dishonest demontstrations of poor integrity. I'm not sure why they give coupons out if they aren't going to honor them. Very bad marketing idea and why we will never go back.

Pros: was a great place

Cons: does not honor coupon

Posted 04/03/09

The sauces that come with the dumplings are fantastic, espeically the ginger garlic one. The dumplings alone were very good and the entrees were all excellent. The servings are generous and the price is SO amazingly cheap. Great family meal, we particularly enjoyed the Gen. Tso's.

Posted 03/12/09

Lately I've been on a dumpling craze, so I've been hitting up places all around the city. A friend said I should try this place out. So I went on a Saturday for lunch. When I arrived, I had to stand a good 10 minutes before anyone even acknowledged my presence. Of course, I ordered the dumpling combo, which came with a side of rice. Two spoons into it, I noticed a long black hair in my food. Utterly disgusted, I told the waiter. Typically, when this happens at other restaurants, your meal's on the house. Not at Auntie Chang's. They wanted to charge me for the rest of my food (which I didn't touch...for some reason, hair in my food kinda makes me lose my appetite). So I refused and offered to pay for my drink. The lady in charge seemed very irritated with me. She didn't even offer an apology. Since then, I have told all of my friends to avoid this place altogether.

Pros: Nice view of Westheimer and the parking lot

Cons: Dirty floors, dirty sauce containers, hair in food

Posted 02/22/09

I ate 2 dumplings and then my gf noticed a hair in her rice. We told the waiter we would pay for our drinks (we had 2 sodas each). He went to tell the manager and brought us a new ticket with the sodas AND ONE PLATE OF DUMPLINGS!!! We talked to the manager and her response to why we were charged: "Well there wasn't hair on his plate." REALLY!! After explaining to her that I wasn't going to eat after seeing that she took off my plate from the ticket as well. So in conclusion HAIR IN THE FOOD and the ATTITUDE was enough for me.

Pros: Cozy place

Cons: Rude and hair in the food.

Posted 02/17/09

I can understand where some of these reviewers are coming from, Auntie Chang's isn't fancy - but it doesn't try to be. This is not the restaurant I would take a first date to, but it is clean and the staff is always very friendly. I mainly order delivery from here and the online ordering is fast and easy, and they always call to verify my order. They do a great job of meeting special requests and they have never once gotten an order wrong, forgotten something or been late (which is rare in delivery). I have always found the quality of the food to be good and the value for the price paid to be a great deal. Again, we're not talking gourmet Chinese here (which there are several here in Houston but at twice the price) but Auntie Chang's can't be beat on value!!!

Posted 01/25/09

My husband and I had only tried Auntie Chang's once before in our 7 years of marriage and I swore to never go back because the dumplings were so bad. Unfortunately I didn't stick to that because we decided to give it another try. We went on a Sunday about 30 minutes after they had opened and there were only two tables occupied. I should have turned and walked out when I noticed how filthy the floors were (I guess they didn't clean up on Saturday night). We sat down and ordered soup, dumplings and an entree. The hot & sour soup was great but it went downhill from there. The dumplings were tough and bland. When our entrees arrived my husband asked me to pass him one of the sauces sitting on the table. I looked at the containers and there was long human hair dried to the outside of the sauces with hair going down into the sauce. I quickly pushed the sauces to the other side of the table along with my plate, my husband did the same. I make it a point of never going to the restroom in restaurants where I eat but since I wasn't going straight home I decided to go. BIG MISTAKE!!! That was the filthiest restroom I have ever used. I guess you can't expect a restroom to be clean when the rest of the restaurant is disgusting. I don't know why people in Houston think Auntie chang's has the best dumplings when the food is so bad and the place needs to be cleaned up. There are better places in Houston for dumplings like Feng Lings on Westheimer, the location past Beltway 8. Once you try their dumplings you will never go back to Auntie Chang's again.

Pros: There are none

Cons: Dirty and just down right filthy!! The food is bland and you might get some hair with your food.

Posted 10/29/08

Don't be deceived and think that this house of dumplings actually offers good ones. I ordered the shrimp and the veggie (spinach) dumplings. The shrimp dumplings were totally bland, the dough way too thick, with a weird frozen shrimp fishy taste. The spinach dumplings are literally a wonton wrapper around low quality frozen spinach, the kind that is all stems and no leaves-- and no flavor. I couldn't even swallow that dumpling, it tasted so bad. This place serves very low quality cheap food. They don't even give you chopsticks! The manager was nice and fair, and when he saw that I would leave without eating any of my food, he offered not to charge me for it. He was nice, but the food is so bad, don't go here.

Pros: none

Cons: terrible, cheap food

Posted 10/06/08

There's nothing to remember this place by: average decor, with no sign of Orientalia; no little pots of fresh tea and little cups on the table, average food. Service was excellent, but with so many great restaurants in town, it takes more than that.

Pros: Good service

Cons: Average food & ambience

Posted 08/28/08

I've been there 3 or 4 times. I don't usually like egg drop soup but my boyfriend ordered it and it was the best I've ever had! The prices range from under two dollars for soup to 10+. There is a large variety of items on the menu and lots of different spices on the table to try. My favorite part is the diet section of the menu. I can get frash steemed veggies and tofu with sauce on the side and not feel like a pig for eating out! Atmosphere is great due to the large windows and little bubbling coy pond/fountain.

Pros: good food, diet options, ambience, good prices

Cons: difficult parking

Posted 08/18/08

I have been to Auntie changs about ten time over the past 5 years or so. Its never anything that really wows you but you can always get a table and its never to crowded. The food is decent, this is not a place that tries to have a fancy presentation. When I go there I always get dumplings and maybe one dish to split with someone. They do not have a large variety of dumplings but they are good. If I remember correctly they have chicken, beef, pork, and maybe shrimp. The thing that I like about this place is that at your table you have a choice of many different sauces that you can use or blend together to make something special. They include, ginger, red chilies in oil, soy, a jalapeno blend, a sweet sauce, and one or two others that I can?t think of now. The place gets a good lunch crowd and is usally slower at night. The place is on the second floor of the shopping center but there is an elevator right in front of the location if you need it.

Pros: Easy, quick

Cons: nothing that make you remeber it

Posted 06/28/08

Auntie Chang's food is really cheap and thats all I can say about. The price you pay for the food is all, your going to get, seriously! If your into cheap food, that make you sick after you eat it this is your place. One good that I can say about this place, is that the delivery service is fast and very nice. But for my self I wont be going back to Auntie Chang's.

Pros: Really cheap.

Posted 03/28/08

I went for a late lunch, and there were three customers in the restaurant yet my meal took almost an hour. The food was disappointing, greasy and very salty. The dumplings were good with a good filling, but again were so greasy even though I ordered them steamed. For a better bet, go to Hunan River down the road.

Posted 03/16/08

The service was OK. The food was terrible. I felt like I just ate an entire container of salt. It's definitely not asian food. It looked like it but didn't taste anything like it.

Pros: Not crowded, lots of parking

Posted 02/13/08

This place is just a cheap chinese food w/ decent fare (at low prices). Do not go for the dumplings, as they are just average. I thought that a "dumpling house" would showcase dumplings. It does not.

The service was good and the people who run the place are nice - the food is average though (and average for chinese food - not average for food in general).

Posted 01/02/08

Excellent food at great prices is right! I've been three times and have had great service and lunches. The won ton soup really is the best in Houston. The assorted dumplings ordered were amazing.

Pros: Food, Service, Price, Parking

Posted 11/26/07

I have not been to this restaurant and I serious doubt I ever will. However, one evening I considered it as a dinner choice. Since I have never been there, I decided to call and ask what the dress code was and the wait time. When talking to the hostess she could not understand what I was asking when referring to the dress code, she became so frustrated that she yelled "damn you!" into the phone and hung up on me. How ironic it is that this lady couldn?t very well understand the English language, but she sure could tell me off for asking what I should be wearing if wanting to attend her restaurant. I am sure it was a misunderstanding and she thought I was saying something inappropriate, however her lack of composure, disrespect and rude manner can guarantee that I will never find my self sitting down to eat at Auntie Chang's Dumpling House. I think I would rather try to consume wood chips than deal with this lovely lady.

Posted 01/12/07

This is a ten---flavorful, fresh food at terrific prices. I've been twice now, once with my husband, and found the atmosphere charming and the waitstaff kind and attentive. The won ton soup included with the lunch specials for $5.95 (or you can get hot and sour soup) is cravable--home-made won tons floating in hot chicken broth, real comfort food. The waitstaff made no fewer than THREE inquiries if my husband was happy with his orange chicken (he'd requested they make it less hot for him), and he did indeed like it. The dumplings, six to an order, I ordered on my first visit were steaming and light; I got pork, but will try shrimp next time. Fantastic place for a quick workday lunch.

Pros: Ambience, service, location, PRICE

Cons: None I can think of

Posted 12/11/06

After a friend brought me to Auntie Chagng's for dumplings about a year ago, I discovered the wonderful world of dumplings. These little morsels (along with the six different dipping sauces .. try soy sauce mixed with plum sauce) are about the best thing I've had a in a long time.

The service is wonderful (very attentive, friendly waiters), and the prices are great!

I've made it a point to take all my friends there, and the central location and great prices have made it a wonderful meeting place for us!

Pros: Great dumplings, Inexpensive, Good location

Posted 05/06/05

this was a nice place ot eat on a sunny afternoon- cute decor, nice ceiling effect with afbric and lights... too bad the food was not very good.

the hot and sour soup was ...tasteless. neither of us ate it. the dumplings were tough and quite small. BF's general tso chicken was okay but was left unfinshed and on the table, the veggie fried rice was good, compared to the rest of the meal- but in it's own up against a nice vietnamese fried rice, it's just okay.

we wont go back.

Pros: location, pretty , nice people

Cons: food

Posted 03/13/05

I've been coming to Auntie Chang's for six years and they've done alot of improving within that time frame. The service was wonderful and the food is has always been consistent. The lunch specials are wonderful- tasty, inexpensive, and quick. One important detail- this place is super clean! I've been to a ton of other Chinese restaurants where the floors looked like it has not been swept in a year! Oh, and they deliver!!

Posted 02/27/03

I have been eating at Auntie Chang's for about 3 years now. The food is always great, and the prices are great too! They happily accomodate vegetable substitutions in any dish, which is important to me (I'm a picky eater). The chicken with eggplant is my new favorite! This restaurant is easy to overlook due to its upstairs location in the Flagship Randall's shopping center...but try it, and you will likely keep coming back.

Pros: great pricing, great flavor

Posted 10/25/02

Great Chinese food. I had the pork in garlic sauce (my favorite Chinese dish) and it was the best I've ever had. My girlfriend had the sweet and sour chicken, and it was good too: usually on sweet and sour chicken at cheap places the breading is really thick and overpowers the meat. Not here - the breading was light and airy, and when you took a bite you tasted white-meat chicken with enough breading to absorb the sauce, not a mouthful of bread. The pork dumplings were good too as an appetizer. You can watch 4th of July fireworks in River Oaks and from Downtown if you sit in a window seat.

Pros: inexpensive, good Chinese food

Posted 07/05/02