Sorry, 2nd mediocre experience. Take out both times. Food is dull & this time we ordered Kung Pao Chicken, but rec'd a shrimp dish instead. So close to home but not worth a 3rd try.
(2)
Shane M.
Was very disappointing, the fried pork had bones in it that we couldn't see until we bit into it and the shrimp wasn't washed so it tasted like sea water. It also took the waitress almost 40 minutes to take our order.
(1)
John M.
Went here for dim sum. If you've never been before, it's a lot of fun. They roll several carts around the restaurant and you point at what you want. One tip though: be very assertive about what you do and don't want; there were a couple of times when we were asking about one of the items and the woman with the cart just put it on our table. If you don't want something, tell them no. The food was overall good, although a lot of it didn't appeal to us as westerners (e.g., chicken feet, fish balls, etc.).
(3)
Marco K.
The portion size is okay for the price and the food is not terrible, there are worse Chinese restaurants in Tucson. That being said, it is also not much better than only "not terrible". Nothing to come back for, nothing to suggest to friends for sure. The thing is, prices are about the same as Chopstix but Chopstix is in a totally different league, so why bother to come here.
(2)
David L.
I call this place "pushy dim sum" because they just start putting plates of food on your table, and keep coming with more like the energizer bunny! The dim sum is okay but not that hot. All the food coming out of the kitchen was warm. I prefer gees garden but this is a worthy competitor. Friendly staff and quick service.
(3)
Tim C.
In my opinion this is the best Chinese food restaurant in Tucson. The portions are large and very well priced. I love that they clean the black vain in the shrimp in all of their shrimp dishes. I recommend this restaurant to anyone.
(4)
Teresa L.
Weekend Dim Sum-- This is your typical Cantonese restruant. Family style your dishes, because the portions are too large for one person. On the weekends they serve dim sum in the morning. Because this is a smaller place, they don't make a lot of everything so you may have to wait a bit for something your looking for or order it; but at least the hot commodities are cooked to order-ish. The taste is alright, some technical problems with some of their dishes (but if you're no Chinese food snob you'll like it just fine) I'd come again, but it's no where near as good as California Chinese food.
(3)
Mark A.
I have mixed feelings about this place, I only go for Dim Sum on Sundays. While the Dim Sum is good they act like there is a world wide shortage of chilli oil and you have to ask for it repeatedly. They can be very pushy with the gross stuff such as the chicken feet and the tallow (this nasty rendered fat). Other than the gross stuff there is a wide variety of tasty morsels like the footballs and shrimp balls. If you stick up for yourself and have some adventures in funky food, you will do great. It also helps to banter back and forth, and know a little Chinese either Mandarin or Cantonese, it doesn't matter just makes it a little more fun.
(3)
Amy S.
I think that this is the best Chinese restaurant in Tucson. Had been going there for years. Wish I could find as good now that I live in Connecticut.
(4)
Shana M.
Ok we have pork buns every Sunday. I haven't put on weight. Skipped last Sunday I didn't want to get tired of them. Ruined my whole day, week. Who cares I want my hot buns on Sunday
(5)
C K.
My favorite Chinese restaurant in Tucson. They are consistent and food always tastes fresh. I order both from the regular menu and special menu which has dishes that I had when I was a kid. You know it's good when most of the Chinese community eats there as well. Love the dim sum. My favorites dishes are honey walnut shrimp, war won ton soup, house special chow mein with pan fried noodles, and Peking duck.
(5)
Karl S.
Unassuming store front at Oracle & Ina. Large open dining room. Honey Walnut Shrimp. Amazingly sweet and succulent. Kung Pao Chicken and lemon chicken. Served family style. No MSG. Good stuff.
(3)
Belinda H.
I come to Tucson several times a year and I always make sure I eat at China Phoenix. The honey walnut shrimp is absolutely amazing. They use large, fresh shrimp. A sweet sauce is carefully glazed over each crisp piece with crunchy honey walnuts alongside. The dim sum is also the best in Tucson and the chef regularly travels to places such as Los Angeles, Vancouver BC, Seattle and San Francisco to review the newest items and recreate them for his restaurant. The staff is also extremely friendly. This place is my favorite!
(5)
Monica E.
Congratulations, you have an insta-fan! No one talks about this place in my circles, and I had completely forgotten that I bookmarked the location months ago. I was in the area and, looking for a quick lunch, remembered it was there! Perfect timing for dim sum, too. I proceeded to have something of a comical experience when I arrived. The attendance smiled nicely, then asked, as if I were lost, if she could help me with something. Realizing that I looked to her as an anomaly, as someone who would never enter this establishment let alone by myself, I told her I wanted a table for one for dim sum. Surprised, she jumped right to business with a subtle "oh!" I even got the tell-tale question: Do you want a fork? While there, I saw four other table seated and none were asked if they wanted a fork. Ha! Considering it was only me, I didn't get a chance to sample the full suite of offerings. I found that the dim sum was very fresh and highly flavorful. It certainly doesn't compare to the dim sum I've had in, say, Los Angeles or San Francisco, but it's an excellent choice. And I was so pleased to see groups of families and groups of young friends enjoying their Saturday brunch. Dim sum is offered via cart service, but the servers are very open to bringing any items when the cart isn't present. In fact, I found that the cart service was actually pretty inconsistent. You'd see a bunch all at once, and then I nothing for 20 minutes. So I know that you may have to put an order in with your server. Also, as is typical of numerous dim sum restaurants, you will experience extreme up selling. You may have to repeat multiple times that no, you don't want the sticky rice, the taro cake or the chicken feet. You just want another order of the delicious har gow! But let's talk about the ambience: it's somewhat bland. I am accustomed to dim sum restaurants that look like they're always poised to celebrate a wedding or New Year's. This place is a bit more casual and homegrown. No white linens or cloth napkins. No sensual music playing overhead. No stylized uniforms. Just a nice and unpretentious space.
(4)
Monica F.
What you see is what you get! It's a standard looking Chinese restaurant with a menu that contains pretty much everything you'd expect. Food is decent, portions are of a good size, service is friendly, prices seem reasonable for amount of food. It was pretty crowded on a Friday night when we stopped in. We were seated in short order. The table, the booth, and the menus were slightly sticky, and of the 2 plates and 2 forks set on our table, 1 plate and one fork were visibly dirty. Water was served in sort of small glasses. The kitchen was fairly fast, particularly considering how busy they were. We ordered sesame chicken and kung pao shrimp. They were both tasty and decently spiced, although I got one bite of chicken where the flavor was off. The shrimp plate contain a nice assortment of vegetables--bamboo, water chestnuts, carrot, peas, and celery--but there was a lot more vegetable than shrimp. This is a good place for large groups, particularly if they really want Chinese food and are already in the area. Nothing blew me away about China Phoenix, but it's not bad.
(3)
Marc E.
We go here 2-3 times a month on the weekends for Dim Sum lunch(only on Sat/Sun with hours something like 10am-2pm, but don't quote me). We have a 1 year old, and the staff are EXTREMELY friendly towards him and us. They play with him, and they always enjoy it when we go. I almost feel like they enjoy watching him grow up! That being said, the real love of this place isn't the service, it is the dim sum! They bring by the carts and we pick out what we want. If they are missing something, we tell them and 5 minutes later they bring it out. Their food is great, and always enjoy it.
(5)
Ryan E.
The best Chinese food in Tucson. That is all.
(5)
Eric H.
After ordering chow mein they asked if I wanted something else and I said no and they still didn't give me what I had ordered.. They would not take cash even though I showed up 20 minutes before closing.. I would not recommend this spot.
(1)
Travis J.
This is my Grandma's favorite restaurant, so I eat here whenever I visit. Always tasty. Not too salty or MSG. Just good Chinese food
Some really good friends and I met up here for "Dim Sum" one Sunday morning. The word/term "Dim Sum" - (refers to a style of Cantonese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates. Dim sum is also well known for the unique way it is served in some restaurants, wherein fully cooked and ready-to-serve dim sum dishes are carted around the restaurant for customers to choose their orders while seated at their tables.) Not the greatest place for Dim Sum but it's pretty much down the street from the house (convenience). Didn't really get the whole Dim Sum feel/effect. The dishes were coming out of the kitchen on trays instead of servers walking around with them on carts. Felt like I was being bombarded by ten sales girls. The quality of the food was "A-OK" neither the best I ever had nor the worst. The service was "A-OK" as well. The only complaint/issue I had was - the waitress forgot about our hot tea and had to ask for it again. Overall it's an "OK" place to meet up if you're in the area, but I wouldn't drive across town for it. Do not walk in with high expectations; you will surely be let down. ^_^
(3)
Michael E.
Dim sum, crab puffs, monglian chicken, pork, and beef are my favorites here and the service is exelent
(5)
Shuang H.
Average food with above average prices. And the waitress tends to oversell the food so you end up with a big bill and lots of left-overs. Last time we wanna order half of a crispy chicken and she insisted we have an entire one. Guess what? Couldn't even finish half of it and the leftover wasnt crispy anymore the next day. Automatic 18% tip added for a party of four. I don't know if it applies to all bills coz we sure arent going back!!
(2)
Lauren G.
My daughter took me here for Mothers' Day yesterday. We planned to have Dim Sum. The first order that we received was ice cold pork buns and pork and cilantro dumplings. We had a couple of other items and some tea. But that was it. The servers never came around with their cart of food again. We would see them come out of the kitchen, make the rounds of a few tables, and then go back to the kitchen. The tables full of asian families seemed to be the ones who actually got service...this is the second time I've had this experience there. After sitting for an hour and watching other people eat, we finally gave up, paid our bill, and left. Okay, it was very inexpensive, only $14.40 including tax for two people, but I guess if you don't get any food, the bill would be cheap. It was completely disappointing and that is THE LAST TIME I will ever patronize China Phoenix.
(1)
Nicola V.
I was very skeptical about getting Chinese food Tucson, I mean, how good could it be? You walk in, and you can tell this place has not been updated for a good decade, maybe two, as the seating and walls are very dated. It's a pretty good size, so it would be good for big parties. All the dishes we got were very authentic and came in big portions. My very favorite dish of theirs is the fresh bean curd (tofu) with water sprouts - I can eat two plates of that easily. We also got a variety of their salt and pepper plates, both in pork chop and beef. Although the same title, both were prepared and tasted differently, good job. Nothing special about their chow fun or fried rice, pretty standard. Their walnut shrimp was delicious because it had a thick fried batter and coated with their sauce - good, but I can't imagine eating a lot of that is good for one's health. Their wonton soup was also good; their wontons, unlike some other Chinese food places, were packed with meat versus the wonton being mostly the wrapping only. This place is pricey (came out to about $100 for 5 plates), but because the portions are big, there will definitely be leftovers. Service is slow and it wasn't a surprise that we had to ask a few times for water.
(4)
Joe M.
Their lunch specials are a ton of food for a great price and every entree ive had so far has been pretty tasty. Their hot and sour soup is one of the best I've had and the service is always quick and friendly..Theyre also great for a work lunch break- they ask how long you get for lunch and will speed up service accordingly.
(4)
Joy P.
It's not your typical "person pushing a cart around" dimsum place. They actually take out trays with the food and walk up to you to ask you if you wanted it. They can be a little pushy but i'm a dimsum ninja and i can quickly give them the "no thanks" hand. Our server on the other hand (connie) is very sweet and nice and took care of us. I just wanted to try this place out and see how they pan out to the other dimsum place. I don't know if i'll be coming back here, not that i don't like their food, it's good! but it's a little out of my place. We shall see
(3)
J C.
$6.99 and $7.99 lunch specials. Above the norm. Clean, helpful friendly staff. Good food, not greasy or cheap quality. Decent value, leftovers.
(4)
Nathan B.
The service is extremely disorganized. My wife and I arrived for the dim sum lunch special on a Sunday afternoon. We watched as trays of dim sum were presented at one end of the restaurant, but never seemed to make it to our end. When we tried to speak to the servers, they seemed confused and were unable to communicate with us. Finally we ordered from the menu, but after three tries to bring us our order, we gave up. They could not understand us in the least. I left having to pay for items that I never actually ordered. I truly regret visiting this establishment, it was a waste of money and time. Finally, the food was mediocre at best.
(1)
Katie S.
This place was really tasty! But quite pricey for takeout or Chinese for that matter. We will eat here again but have to be a little frugal with our choices.
(4)
Tuyen C.
I was at China Phoenix (CP) recently and wanted to check in on yelp. So I opened up my Yelp mobile and searched for close-by restaurants. CP was listed next to Pei Wei, and I just about dropped my jaw. CP was rated with 3 stars and PW has a 4-star rating. Seriously people? That's like saying the Prius is sexier looking than the VW bug. While either one of them would be looked upon as sexy, the VW bug certainly has so much more character than the Prius. No disrespect for Prius lovers out there. Just couldn't resist a perfect example ... I come to CP only for their dim sum on Sundays. Not that there is anything wrong with their regular menu food, I just want dim sum on Sundays for lunch. SO this review is about their dim sum. This is a family owned restaurant and they have been in Tucson for years (or generations). The owner watched my son grow from a toddler to a 6-foot teenager, and despite how infrequently we go there, she remembers us every time. So they're friendly and nice people, how is their food? For the garden variety dim sum plates, this place has them as good as any other restaurant (even on par with those in CA). So for Tucson, that's saying a lot. You know you'll get the same thing with consistent quality every time. Their shrimp dumpling is fresher than most. Other than that, everything else tastes as I expect dim sum would. My son never leaves this place without getting his egg custards, and they remind me why Chinese pastry is the best kept secret in the food world. If you never had dim sum and consider yourself an adventurous eater, give this place a try. If you're one of those people who rated this place lower than Pei Wei, all I can say is "Really now?". Goes to show you can't believe everything you read on the Internet, but we knew that ... Finally, if you don't know what dim sum is, do you use Google?
(4)
ZÃcenina R.
it was wonderful to come across a decent dim sum spot out in the strip mall filled desert of north tucson/oro valley. the first thing they brought by was pork and rice that had been wrapped and steamed in a leaf - delicious. They tried to push several over-fried things our way but that's not what you go to dim sum for. We had surprisingly good chickens' feet; a few types of steamed buns, and a couple of things that were delicious but difficult to identify. there were three of us, and the price, including tip, came out to about $15 each.
(3)
Barnabas L.
Tucson this is your best Chinese food you got. It is a decent place to go eat if you are craving chinese food. Waitresses are nice, good service, good tasting food, i will make the longer distance drive to have some of the best chinese food in TUCSON. Regular price of a chinese restaurant. Cheap if you go with friends and do family style and go dutch with everyone. I go around 2 times a month. They have Dim Sum i think it ends at 11am. The restaurant is Family owned so its not diluted by distasteful influences. Drive a little further your stomach will thank you. or drive to San Diego and you wont regret it...good asian food is only a 5hr drive from tucson
(2)
Juliette W.
Delicious authentic Chinese cuisine served in a very friendly atmosphere. The dim sum is great, but my overall favorite is the Chinese broccoli in garlic sauce. Everything on the menu is fantastic!
(5)
Fringe O.
We went here on Christmas night and they were understandably overwhelmed. Sure, they could have planned better and hired more staff for this one night, but they didn't and my partner and I were much more gracious about it than many of the other customers we observed being visibly agitated by the slow service and order mix-ups. Again, I really don't hold this against the restaurant because hey, it was Christmas and it isn't normally like that here. I had the Kung Pao Tofu and it was great as usual. The vegetarian egg rolls I ordered were okay. I would venture to say they were frozen and not made on site though. The hot tea was okay, nothing great. For Chinese restaurants on the NW side you can't do much better and the staff is always nice to you.
(3)
RT S.
The restaurant is quite big and friend service. We ordered Mongolian beef, seafood and tofu hot pot, roasted duck and beef chow fun. Mongolian beef is sate with onion and green onion, fresh ingredients, lots of flavor and not oily. Seafood hot pot with tofu was a wonderfully light dish with the perfect seafood flavor. Duck was roasted perfectly with the spice and seasoned well. Not fatty duck. Beef chow fun is wide noodle with bean sprout and green onion. The noodle is soft and perfectly cooked, not greasy. Overall, the food were very fresh, well season and not greasy or salty. Would recommend to order for family dinner.
(4)
Michelle P.
This is by far the best Chinese restaurant in all of Tucson. All of the food on the menu is exceptional and comes in large sizes. My favorite thing to do in life is to go on Saturday or Sunday and have their dim sum. It is made fresh it is inexpensive and 100% the most delicious thing I've ever put my mouth. I highly recommend this over any other restaurant in town. There is a reason why they don't have delivery, and that's because the food is worth the trip. The stuff is kind and remembers you from when you come in. The service is exceptional you are never left one minute sitting at your table being hungry or thirsty. If you order to go they put everything in a brown box so it doesn't spill in your car. 100% by far awesome management. Whoever owns this restaurant must be making a killing.
(5)
Izzie W.
We went there for dimsum, it is oily and not fresh. The table felt dirty The waitress kept on selling things to you. It was really bad experience, never go there anymore.
(1)
Becca T.
Went here on Friday with a fairly large group was seated fast and our orders were taken food was brought out fast and was got egg rolls and shrimp kong pow had leftovers witch is unusual for me with Chinese food heated them up the next day they were just as good will come here again
(5)
Christine P.
Dim sum... Please Do!! Actually a lot of the dishes I've had here are delisioso!! Dim sum is only on the weekends and served from opening till 3 P.M. But if I were you the earlier you get there the better. The servers roll around carts with hot traditional Chinese dishes and you get to pick from the cart! The dishes range from fried or steamed vegetables, siu Mai, chickens feet, tripe, shrimp dumplings, steams pork buns, and a bazillion desserts. The sizes are great for the money. If you're a first timer, make sure to start off with one of each dish before you get more, the little dishes add up, and you'll be full by the time you hit the third or fourth one and you haven't had half of what they serve! On the actual menu, the Hong Kong Style noodles beef, pork, chicken and seafood with various vegetables is their top entree. It's definitely to feed a family. Their light white sauce drizzled over the thin crunchy yellow noodles is TOP NOTCH for my belly!
(5)
J L.
Amazing choices for dim sum, I recently got back from a trip to San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C., and the cantonese style dim sum here is comparable, if not better than most. From street rumors I've heard, they don't use MSG to flavor their food, which is a plus, considering how flavorful most of their dishes are. Carry out is easy and everything I've ordered tastes great. Dining in has always been a pleasure and the service is friendly. The only thing that holds me back from offering that 5th star is the speed of service to pay, as there is only the one person at the front taking all payments for the dine-ins, carry outs, and all other issues, so expect to spend an hour enjoying great food, then another 15 minutes to pay on a busy Sunday.
(4)
Andrea G.
I have eaten here a few times lately. Time for a quick review. This is Chinese food par excellence! Not sure if I am using that phrase correctly (I really suffer when trying to use colloquialisms) but you get the idea. Everything I've had here each time is prepared perfectly, tastefully and not skimpily, either. They have a large open dining room with 1 divider segmenting the room, filled with tables, some large round tables for big families or groups and some booths. It's a friendly, casual, not formal atmosphere. Gary (dear hubby) and I ordered egg rolls (delicious, crunchy outside), and a chicken moo shu and cashew chicken. Plenty of good food for us! The mountain of cashew chicken had plenty of crunchy water chestnuts, chicken, cashews and a few other veggies. The sauce was perfect. The moo shu (that's the dish where you slather hoisin sauce on a "crepe" and then pile on the dish and wrap it up and eat it like a Chinese burrito) was super excellent, with everything cut small enough and perfectly seasoned. It all came with white rice which was of course, a perfect complement to the cashew chicken (or you gluten-free eaters can skip the crepes and eat moo shu with rice, putting the hoisin sauce directly on the dish itself). Funny aside: The server recognized us from another restaurant she worked at years ago. She is from China. She calls my husband "Chairman Mao" because his hair and face have a slight resemblance to the ol' leader of China (he is Asian). To this day, she still teases him about it. Great memory. All of the servers there are remarkably friendly and have a great memory for repeat customers--even if you don't come in that often (or perhaps we just look weird enough to be memorable, ha ha!). Anyway, I observe the servers each time I come, and they are consistently friendly and caring--from the cashier/hostess to the server to the one filling the water glasses. I don't know if they ever had some customer service training, but whatever the case, other restaurants and retail stores could learn from them.
(5)
Mindy L.
Never back here for order dim sum! Waiting for over 30 minutes but I still not get my order. Worse ever !!!!
(1)
Mashia P.
Chicken lo mien is delicious! Service was great too! If we tried more dishes we would give it 5 stars.
(4)
Derrick D.
I first came here for dim sum on a date when I was a freshman at U of A. The date was unmemorable but the food was excellent and so I've been a regular here for the past 7 years. I'm not Chinese (I'm half-Filipino and don't look particularly Asian) and I usually come here with a bunch of Anglo friends, and the ladies know me, are very friendly, and we always get great service. Other friends of mine, adult white professionals, are also regulars here and love it as much as I do, so I've never experienced poor service because of non-Asianness. I've also never tried their noodle dishes or anything besides dim sum, so I can't speak for the quality of those offerings. I grew up in Chicago and got my M.A. at Berkeley and I have frequented many, many dim sum joints in SF and Chicago Chinatowns with Chinese friends. The har gao (shrimp) and other steamed dumplings, and pork buns here, at China Phoenix in Tucson, are the best I've had anywhere. Often, the rice wrappings on har gao are slimy, sticky, greasy and half ends up sticking to the metal steaming dish they're served in. Not so at China Phoenix--they are al dente and filled with plump, delicious shrimp. Many places serve steamed cha siu bao (BBQ pork buns) that are stingily filled with gristly cartilage. Here they are bursting with juicy meat. The shrimp fun noodles, turnip cakes, custard tarts, and deep-fried "football" dumplings are also delicious. No, this is not health food. If that worries you, go to yoga before and the gym after. Sometimes I do. Dim sum is served literally a la carte on weekends between 10am and 3.00pm. Yes, if you come at 2.45pm, your food may be a bit cold. If you come at 10.15am you may have to wait 15 minutes for the carts to come out and then end up burning your tongue on a hot dumpling. So come at 11.30am for peak freshness and temperature. The Chinese ladies may hound you to order vegetables. You may refuse, but trust me, if you don't get a plate, around 4.00pm you'll begin to lament missing out on the delicious, fiber-laden Chinese broccoli in garlic sauce.
(5)
Sung hee K.
Do you like 'Americanize Chinese food'? then, this place is not yours. But if you like authentic chances food, then is place is not your place, either. What I mean is if you like chinese food in the middle of Americanize choses food and authentic chinese food, this is your place. I've had food at 'China Phoenix' for two years; I do not have much complaint about the food; however I also know the food is not that much authentic chinese food. If you like good chinese food in Arizona, I recommend C-Fue or Tao Garden in Chandler AZ, However, if you like just chinese food, China Phoenix is yours. P.S. If you like food at PF Chang, I would say, they are not chinese food at all. PF chang's Food is american food; not, never, never can be chinese food.
(3)
Janice M.
As I was suggested from my fellow co-worker to check this place out for dimsum, I sure did stop by on a Sunday. As the cart made its way to us, we picked out Har-Gow, Sui Mai, Custard Buns, Scallops Dumpling, the usual which we always get at any dimsum restaurant. Har-Gow and Scallop's skin were extremely thick and hard? The fillings didn't taste too good either. Perhaps frozen and was re-heated to serve? Custard buns were just gross. Can't exactly pin-point why but it was definitely not a pleasant bite. Sui Mai was less than average, I expected better since it is not that hard to make. We ended up ordering stir fried gai-lan instead of having dimsum for our meal. The dish was alright, definitely better than their dimsum. I'd still prefer Gee's Garden over China Phoenix.
(1)
Paul T.
I truly love Chinese food. All the flavors and textures, it's an amazing experience if you "live in the moment" of it. The thing is, that in a lot of Chinese restaurants around town, much of the food starts to taste the same. A brown sauce is a brown sauce is a brown sauce...and they all taste, well, brown. This is NOT the case at China Phoenix. Of all the places I've been in Tucson, from the hole in the wall to the fast food joint, when it comes to Chinese food, this is the place to go. Why? Service: The folks there (especially our Patty!) is always there to greet us with a family-friendly smile. I usually end up there with at least a party of eight, if not more, and they always treat us, well, like family. The Food (which is why we're there in the first place, right?): Now, back to that brown sauce issue. At China Phoenix, the flavors are wonderful, and each dish distinct. While everything is bold and grand (as opposed to old and bland), I especially go in deep for the broccoli with oyster sauce (a veggie fave), as well as the honey walnut shrimp, which is an experience. The nuts are candied, crispy and sweet, and the shrimp are just about the richest thing I've ever tasted. Of course, all the standards are great, from the sesame chicken to the lo mein to the kung pao. If you're up for a bit of a drive to the northwest side, don't miss China Phoenix. How good is it? The best in Tucson, in my little red book.
(5)
Rebecca B.
I have been here twice and I enjoyed it each time. I always have left overs to take home as portions are generous. I ordered curry chicken this time and I have to say it tasted even better the next day. Very good Chinese food and worth the drive to try.
(5)
Saul G.
I ate lunch here today. The prices were fair with sizable portions, but I was very disappointed with the food. It lacked flavor, the meat was difficult to chew and overall it was really- and I feel bad for saying it- kinda gross. Perhaps it was an off day for them, but honestly I won't be going back to find out.
(2)
David D.
Another great dining experience at China Phoenix. We had several dishes but the Honey Walnut Shrimp was totally awesome. Service was great as usual.
(4)
Alma B.
China Phoenix is my favorite chinese restaurant in Tucson, specially for dim sum. Try the honey shrimp, they are delicious and will not disappoint!
(4)
Maynard G.
Been here a few times now. It's OK...for Tucson.
(3)
Betty T.
Very delicious. Great service. The Mongolian Beef is the best i've ever tasted. This is what keeps me coming back. Friendly staff. If you come in more than once, they remember who you are and welcome you back.
(4)
C C.
Went to China PHX for Dim Sum when my family was in town. Being a person who is very picky with Dim Sum, i thought the place was awesome! even my family liked it too!!! Their service was great and friendly. I'd love to try their regular menu sometime!!!
(5)
F. Roman C.
One good sign that this is a good place to eat is the presence of Chinese diners. I have been to China Phoenix for dim sum and dinner and can only rave. The food is authentic while not drowning in high sodium sauces. The portions are very generous, which is proportionate to the price. Four dinner/entree plates and soup, which we shared family style among four people, cost $65. Feed the beast at China Phoenix. The beast will not be disappointed.
(4)
Rose C.
The five of us stopped in here late one night after visiting relatives in the hospital all day. We were exhausted and grumpy and hungry. We were wary of the older strip mall look but didn't have the patience to go on- so we went in. We were seated at a large table and offered cheery, prompt, patient service. Chinese beer and apps were ordered as we negotiated what to get. We ordered a fish dish, a pork dish, and a chicken dish along with their special fried rice. The menu was typical Americanized Chinese but the food was tasty, fresh and light on the sugary syrupy sauce so common at other places. Thanks for saving the day!
(4)
Joan S.
I came here for dim sum because my friend and I were craving it. I haven't had dim sum in Tucson and wanted to try it. After searching for several restaurants that served dim sum, we came around this place. The dim sum was decent, it wasn't the best dim sum I have ever tried, especially compared to California. You could tell that the dim sum had been out for a while because it was cold and the rice cake dough of some of the dim sum were not fresh and a little harder than normal. Eating the dim sum, I felt as if I was eating leftovers that I would have taken home and ate at night. I wasn't impressed by their dim sum, but compared to any place I have been to, this place is the cheapest dim sum restaurant. Due to the price, I'm rating it a two. Would I go back? No.. I would honestly waste my money else where for a better dim sum restaurant.
(2)
M W.
This is some of the best Chinese in town! And strangely enough, it's situated in a nondescript shopping center in Casas Adobes. Yes, it's a little pricier than some of its inferiors and better-knowns (i.e. Rose Garden & Tokyo Rose), but that's because the food is of much higher quality. The honey-cashew shrimp is a dish I've never seen replicated better anywhere, not even in Chinatown of San Francisco. The mushroom and veggie dishes are great too. I recommend this place to anyone looking for good Chinese on the north side.
(5)
rubylee r.
Wait staff needs to understand that seated breathing customers take precedence over empty dirty tables. Two people asked us if we wanted a pot of tea, then they went off and did something else. One answered the phone, the other cleared two tables. When I asked her about it, she said that she needed to have it clean in case someone else came in. There were many other tables available.
(2)
Linda N.
came here for dim sum on sunday with the fam. food was alright. not as good as the dim sum back in sf but it was good enough. service was good. i would come back if i was in the area.
(3)
Eric J.
Don't bother. We went here recently on Christmas. We knew they got busy so had an early reservation and called early in the day to pre-order our food so it'd be waiting. We had young children with us. The food was not ready. They forgot to put the order in and then did not rush it. The service was very poor. It was very difficult to get anything to drink. In general, the food was only okay. A couple dishes were better than others but more were mediocre than otherwise. And, then to boot they charged us a lot more for the fish we ordered than the price said on the menu both online and in the restaurant. They could not explain it.
(1)
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Address :7090 N Oracle Rd,Ste 172
Tucson, AZ, 85704
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Brunch Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.
Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.
There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.
Cindy L.
Been going to for 20 years the best:)
(5)K R.
Sorry, 2nd mediocre experience. Take out both times. Food is dull & this time we ordered Kung Pao Chicken, but rec'd a shrimp dish instead. So close to home but not worth a 3rd try.
(2)Shane M.
Was very disappointing, the fried pork had bones in it that we couldn't see until we bit into it and the shrimp wasn't washed so it tasted like sea water. It also took the waitress almost 40 minutes to take our order.
(1)John M.
Went here for dim sum. If you've never been before, it's a lot of fun. They roll several carts around the restaurant and you point at what you want. One tip though: be very assertive about what you do and don't want; there were a couple of times when we were asking about one of the items and the woman with the cart just put it on our table. If you don't want something, tell them no. The food was overall good, although a lot of it didn't appeal to us as westerners (e.g., chicken feet, fish balls, etc.).
(3)Marco K.
The portion size is okay for the price and the food is not terrible, there are worse Chinese restaurants in Tucson. That being said, it is also not much better than only "not terrible". Nothing to come back for, nothing to suggest to friends for sure. The thing is, prices are about the same as Chopstix but Chopstix is in a totally different league, so why bother to come here.
(2)David L.
I call this place "pushy dim sum" because they just start putting plates of food on your table, and keep coming with more like the energizer bunny! The dim sum is okay but not that hot. All the food coming out of the kitchen was warm. I prefer gees garden but this is a worthy competitor. Friendly staff and quick service.
(3)Tim C.
In my opinion this is the best Chinese food restaurant in Tucson. The portions are large and very well priced. I love that they clean the black vain in the shrimp in all of their shrimp dishes. I recommend this restaurant to anyone.
(4)Teresa L.
Weekend Dim Sum-- This is your typical Cantonese restruant. Family style your dishes, because the portions are too large for one person. On the weekends they serve dim sum in the morning. Because this is a smaller place, they don't make a lot of everything so you may have to wait a bit for something your looking for or order it; but at least the hot commodities are cooked to order-ish. The taste is alright, some technical problems with some of their dishes (but if you're no Chinese food snob you'll like it just fine) I'd come again, but it's no where near as good as California Chinese food.
(3)Mark A.
I have mixed feelings about this place, I only go for Dim Sum on Sundays. While the Dim Sum is good they act like there is a world wide shortage of chilli oil and you have to ask for it repeatedly. They can be very pushy with the gross stuff such as the chicken feet and the tallow (this nasty rendered fat). Other than the gross stuff there is a wide variety of tasty morsels like the footballs and shrimp balls. If you stick up for yourself and have some adventures in funky food, you will do great. It also helps to banter back and forth, and know a little Chinese either Mandarin or Cantonese, it doesn't matter just makes it a little more fun.
(3)Amy S.
I think that this is the best Chinese restaurant in Tucson. Had been going there for years. Wish I could find as good now that I live in Connecticut.
(4)Shana M.
Ok we have pork buns every Sunday. I haven't put on weight. Skipped last Sunday I didn't want to get tired of them. Ruined my whole day, week. Who cares I want my hot buns on Sunday
(5)C K.
My favorite Chinese restaurant in Tucson. They are consistent and food always tastes fresh. I order both from the regular menu and special menu which has dishes that I had when I was a kid. You know it's good when most of the Chinese community eats there as well. Love the dim sum. My favorites dishes are honey walnut shrimp, war won ton soup, house special chow mein with pan fried noodles, and Peking duck.
(5)Karl S.
Unassuming store front at Oracle & Ina. Large open dining room. Honey Walnut Shrimp. Amazingly sweet and succulent. Kung Pao Chicken and lemon chicken. Served family style. No MSG. Good stuff.
(3)Belinda H.
I come to Tucson several times a year and I always make sure I eat at China Phoenix. The honey walnut shrimp is absolutely amazing. They use large, fresh shrimp. A sweet sauce is carefully glazed over each crisp piece with crunchy honey walnuts alongside. The dim sum is also the best in Tucson and the chef regularly travels to places such as Los Angeles, Vancouver BC, Seattle and San Francisco to review the newest items and recreate them for his restaurant. The staff is also extremely friendly. This place is my favorite!
(5)Monica E.
Congratulations, you have an insta-fan! No one talks about this place in my circles, and I had completely forgotten that I bookmarked the location months ago. I was in the area and, looking for a quick lunch, remembered it was there! Perfect timing for dim sum, too. I proceeded to have something of a comical experience when I arrived. The attendance smiled nicely, then asked, as if I were lost, if she could help me with something. Realizing that I looked to her as an anomaly, as someone who would never enter this establishment let alone by myself, I told her I wanted a table for one for dim sum. Surprised, she jumped right to business with a subtle "oh!" I even got the tell-tale question: Do you want a fork? While there, I saw four other table seated and none were asked if they wanted a fork. Ha! Considering it was only me, I didn't get a chance to sample the full suite of offerings. I found that the dim sum was very fresh and highly flavorful. It certainly doesn't compare to the dim sum I've had in, say, Los Angeles or San Francisco, but it's an excellent choice. And I was so pleased to see groups of families and groups of young friends enjoying their Saturday brunch. Dim sum is offered via cart service, but the servers are very open to bringing any items when the cart isn't present. In fact, I found that the cart service was actually pretty inconsistent. You'd see a bunch all at once, and then I nothing for 20 minutes. So I know that you may have to put an order in with your server. Also, as is typical of numerous dim sum restaurants, you will experience extreme up selling. You may have to repeat multiple times that no, you don't want the sticky rice, the taro cake or the chicken feet. You just want another order of the delicious har gow! But let's talk about the ambience: it's somewhat bland. I am accustomed to dim sum restaurants that look like they're always poised to celebrate a wedding or New Year's. This place is a bit more casual and homegrown. No white linens or cloth napkins. No sensual music playing overhead. No stylized uniforms. Just a nice and unpretentious space.
(4)Monica F.
What you see is what you get! It's a standard looking Chinese restaurant with a menu that contains pretty much everything you'd expect. Food is decent, portions are of a good size, service is friendly, prices seem reasonable for amount of food. It was pretty crowded on a Friday night when we stopped in. We were seated in short order. The table, the booth, and the menus were slightly sticky, and of the 2 plates and 2 forks set on our table, 1 plate and one fork were visibly dirty. Water was served in sort of small glasses. The kitchen was fairly fast, particularly considering how busy they were. We ordered sesame chicken and kung pao shrimp. They were both tasty and decently spiced, although I got one bite of chicken where the flavor was off. The shrimp plate contain a nice assortment of vegetables--bamboo, water chestnuts, carrot, peas, and celery--but there was a lot more vegetable than shrimp. This is a good place for large groups, particularly if they really want Chinese food and are already in the area. Nothing blew me away about China Phoenix, but it's not bad.
(3)Marc E.
We go here 2-3 times a month on the weekends for Dim Sum lunch(only on Sat/Sun with hours something like 10am-2pm, but don't quote me). We have a 1 year old, and the staff are EXTREMELY friendly towards him and us. They play with him, and they always enjoy it when we go. I almost feel like they enjoy watching him grow up! That being said, the real love of this place isn't the service, it is the dim sum! They bring by the carts and we pick out what we want. If they are missing something, we tell them and 5 minutes later they bring it out. Their food is great, and always enjoy it.
(5)Ryan E.
The best Chinese food in Tucson. That is all.
(5)Eric H.
After ordering chow mein they asked if I wanted something else and I said no and they still didn't give me what I had ordered.. They would not take cash even though I showed up 20 minutes before closing.. I would not recommend this spot.
(1)Travis J.
This is my Grandma's favorite restaurant, so I eat here whenever I visit. Always tasty. Not too salty or MSG. Just good Chinese food
(4)John N.
We have eaten here *many* times with friends, and C. P. is consistently good. Two nights ago we had big WAR WANTON soup for four people, plus eggplant sauté in garlic sauce. Yumm. But eggplant was not fully ripe, and we got slight MSG headache a little later, probably from the soup. I know they don't use MSG, but I think some of their purchased ingredients have it. Previous time with total five of us we ordered a bunch of stuff to experiment, items we had not eaten before. Noodle dishes were extra good with skinny rice noodles. Tiny salted spicy scallops were a little peculiar, but I liked them. We will continue to try this method due to their large selection of menu items.
(3)Don V.
Some really good friends and I met up here for "Dim Sum" one Sunday morning. The word/term "Dim Sum" - (refers to a style of Cantonese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates. Dim sum is also well known for the unique way it is served in some restaurants, wherein fully cooked and ready-to-serve dim sum dishes are carted around the restaurant for customers to choose their orders while seated at their tables.) Not the greatest place for Dim Sum but it's pretty much down the street from the house (convenience). Didn't really get the whole Dim Sum feel/effect. The dishes were coming out of the kitchen on trays instead of servers walking around with them on carts. Felt like I was being bombarded by ten sales girls. The quality of the food was "A-OK" neither the best I ever had nor the worst. The service was "A-OK" as well. The only complaint/issue I had was - the waitress forgot about our hot tea and had to ask for it again. Overall it's an "OK" place to meet up if you're in the area, but I wouldn't drive across town for it. Do not walk in with high expectations; you will surely be let down. ^_^
(3)Michael E.
Dim sum, crab puffs, monglian chicken, pork, and beef are my favorites here and the service is exelent
(5)Shuang H.
Average food with above average prices. And the waitress tends to oversell the food so you end up with a big bill and lots of left-overs. Last time we wanna order half of a crispy chicken and she insisted we have an entire one. Guess what? Couldn't even finish half of it and the leftover wasnt crispy anymore the next day. Automatic 18% tip added for a party of four. I don't know if it applies to all bills coz we sure arent going back!!
(2)Lauren G.
My daughter took me here for Mothers' Day yesterday. We planned to have Dim Sum. The first order that we received was ice cold pork buns and pork and cilantro dumplings. We had a couple of other items and some tea. But that was it. The servers never came around with their cart of food again. We would see them come out of the kitchen, make the rounds of a few tables, and then go back to the kitchen. The tables full of asian families seemed to be the ones who actually got service...this is the second time I've had this experience there. After sitting for an hour and watching other people eat, we finally gave up, paid our bill, and left. Okay, it was very inexpensive, only $14.40 including tax for two people, but I guess if you don't get any food, the bill would be cheap. It was completely disappointing and that is THE LAST TIME I will ever patronize China Phoenix.
(1)Nicola V.
I was very skeptical about getting Chinese food Tucson, I mean, how good could it be? You walk in, and you can tell this place has not been updated for a good decade, maybe two, as the seating and walls are very dated. It's a pretty good size, so it would be good for big parties. All the dishes we got were very authentic and came in big portions. My very favorite dish of theirs is the fresh bean curd (tofu) with water sprouts - I can eat two plates of that easily. We also got a variety of their salt and pepper plates, both in pork chop and beef. Although the same title, both were prepared and tasted differently, good job. Nothing special about their chow fun or fried rice, pretty standard. Their walnut shrimp was delicious because it had a thick fried batter and coated with their sauce - good, but I can't imagine eating a lot of that is good for one's health. Their wonton soup was also good; their wontons, unlike some other Chinese food places, were packed with meat versus the wonton being mostly the wrapping only. This place is pricey (came out to about $100 for 5 plates), but because the portions are big, there will definitely be leftovers. Service is slow and it wasn't a surprise that we had to ask a few times for water.
(4)Joe M.
Their lunch specials are a ton of food for a great price and every entree ive had so far has been pretty tasty. Their hot and sour soup is one of the best I've had and the service is always quick and friendly..Theyre also great for a work lunch break- they ask how long you get for lunch and will speed up service accordingly.
(4)Joy P.
It's not your typical "person pushing a cart around" dimsum place. They actually take out trays with the food and walk up to you to ask you if you wanted it. They can be a little pushy but i'm a dimsum ninja and i can quickly give them the "no thanks" hand. Our server on the other hand (connie) is very sweet and nice and took care of us. I just wanted to try this place out and see how they pan out to the other dimsum place. I don't know if i'll be coming back here, not that i don't like their food, it's good! but it's a little out of my place. We shall see
(3)J C.
$6.99 and $7.99 lunch specials. Above the norm. Clean, helpful friendly staff. Good food, not greasy or cheap quality. Decent value, leftovers.
(4)Nathan B.
The service is extremely disorganized. My wife and I arrived for the dim sum lunch special on a Sunday afternoon. We watched as trays of dim sum were presented at one end of the restaurant, but never seemed to make it to our end. When we tried to speak to the servers, they seemed confused and were unable to communicate with us. Finally we ordered from the menu, but after three tries to bring us our order, we gave up. They could not understand us in the least. I left having to pay for items that I never actually ordered. I truly regret visiting this establishment, it was a waste of money and time. Finally, the food was mediocre at best.
(1)Katie S.
This place was really tasty! But quite pricey for takeout or Chinese for that matter. We will eat here again but have to be a little frugal with our choices.
(4)Tuyen C.
I was at China Phoenix (CP) recently and wanted to check in on yelp. So I opened up my Yelp mobile and searched for close-by restaurants. CP was listed next to Pei Wei, and I just about dropped my jaw. CP was rated with 3 stars and PW has a 4-star rating. Seriously people? That's like saying the Prius is sexier looking than the VW bug. While either one of them would be looked upon as sexy, the VW bug certainly has so much more character than the Prius. No disrespect for Prius lovers out there. Just couldn't resist a perfect example ... I come to CP only for their dim sum on Sundays. Not that there is anything wrong with their regular menu food, I just want dim sum on Sundays for lunch. SO this review is about their dim sum. This is a family owned restaurant and they have been in Tucson for years (or generations). The owner watched my son grow from a toddler to a 6-foot teenager, and despite how infrequently we go there, she remembers us every time. So they're friendly and nice people, how is their food? For the garden variety dim sum plates, this place has them as good as any other restaurant (even on par with those in CA). So for Tucson, that's saying a lot. You know you'll get the same thing with consistent quality every time. Their shrimp dumpling is fresher than most. Other than that, everything else tastes as I expect dim sum would. My son never leaves this place without getting his egg custards, and they remind me why Chinese pastry is the best kept secret in the food world. If you never had dim sum and consider yourself an adventurous eater, give this place a try. If you're one of those people who rated this place lower than Pei Wei, all I can say is "Really now?". Goes to show you can't believe everything you read on the Internet, but we knew that ... Finally, if you don't know what dim sum is, do you use Google?
(4)ZÃcenina R.
it was wonderful to come across a decent dim sum spot out in the strip mall filled desert of north tucson/oro valley. the first thing they brought by was pork and rice that had been wrapped and steamed in a leaf - delicious. They tried to push several over-fried things our way but that's not what you go to dim sum for. We had surprisingly good chickens' feet; a few types of steamed buns, and a couple of things that were delicious but difficult to identify. there were three of us, and the price, including tip, came out to about $15 each.
(3)Barnabas L.
Tucson this is your best Chinese food you got. It is a decent place to go eat if you are craving chinese food. Waitresses are nice, good service, good tasting food, i will make the longer distance drive to have some of the best chinese food in TUCSON. Regular price of a chinese restaurant. Cheap if you go with friends and do family style and go dutch with everyone. I go around 2 times a month. They have Dim Sum i think it ends at 11am. The restaurant is Family owned so its not diluted by distasteful influences. Drive a little further your stomach will thank you. or drive to San Diego and you wont regret it...good asian food is only a 5hr drive from tucson
(2)Juliette W.
Delicious authentic Chinese cuisine served in a very friendly atmosphere. The dim sum is great, but my overall favorite is the Chinese broccoli in garlic sauce. Everything on the menu is fantastic!
(5)Fringe O.
We went here on Christmas night and they were understandably overwhelmed. Sure, they could have planned better and hired more staff for this one night, but they didn't and my partner and I were much more gracious about it than many of the other customers we observed being visibly agitated by the slow service and order mix-ups. Again, I really don't hold this against the restaurant because hey, it was Christmas and it isn't normally like that here. I had the Kung Pao Tofu and it was great as usual. The vegetarian egg rolls I ordered were okay. I would venture to say they were frozen and not made on site though. The hot tea was okay, nothing great. For Chinese restaurants on the NW side you can't do much better and the staff is always nice to you.
(3)RT S.
The restaurant is quite big and friend service. We ordered Mongolian beef, seafood and tofu hot pot, roasted duck and beef chow fun. Mongolian beef is sate with onion and green onion, fresh ingredients, lots of flavor and not oily. Seafood hot pot with tofu was a wonderfully light dish with the perfect seafood flavor. Duck was roasted perfectly with the spice and seasoned well. Not fatty duck. Beef chow fun is wide noodle with bean sprout and green onion. The noodle is soft and perfectly cooked, not greasy. Overall, the food were very fresh, well season and not greasy or salty. Would recommend to order for family dinner.
(4)Michelle P.
This is by far the best Chinese restaurant in all of Tucson. All of the food on the menu is exceptional and comes in large sizes. My favorite thing to do in life is to go on Saturday or Sunday and have their dim sum. It is made fresh it is inexpensive and 100% the most delicious thing I've ever put my mouth. I highly recommend this over any other restaurant in town. There is a reason why they don't have delivery, and that's because the food is worth the trip. The stuff is kind and remembers you from when you come in. The service is exceptional you are never left one minute sitting at your table being hungry or thirsty. If you order to go they put everything in a brown box so it doesn't spill in your car. 100% by far awesome management. Whoever owns this restaurant must be making a killing.
(5)Izzie W.
We went there for dimsum, it is oily and not fresh. The table felt dirty The waitress kept on selling things to you. It was really bad experience, never go there anymore.
(1)Becca T.
Went here on Friday with a fairly large group was seated fast and our orders were taken food was brought out fast and was got egg rolls and shrimp kong pow had leftovers witch is unusual for me with Chinese food heated them up the next day they were just as good will come here again
(5)Christine P.
Dim sum... Please Do!! Actually a lot of the dishes I've had here are delisioso!! Dim sum is only on the weekends and served from opening till 3 P.M. But if I were you the earlier you get there the better. The servers roll around carts with hot traditional Chinese dishes and you get to pick from the cart! The dishes range from fried or steamed vegetables, siu Mai, chickens feet, tripe, shrimp dumplings, steams pork buns, and a bazillion desserts. The sizes are great for the money. If you're a first timer, make sure to start off with one of each dish before you get more, the little dishes add up, and you'll be full by the time you hit the third or fourth one and you haven't had half of what they serve! On the actual menu, the Hong Kong Style noodles beef, pork, chicken and seafood with various vegetables is their top entree. It's definitely to feed a family. Their light white sauce drizzled over the thin crunchy yellow noodles is TOP NOTCH for my belly!
(5)J L.
Amazing choices for dim sum, I recently got back from a trip to San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C., and the cantonese style dim sum here is comparable, if not better than most. From street rumors I've heard, they don't use MSG to flavor their food, which is a plus, considering how flavorful most of their dishes are. Carry out is easy and everything I've ordered tastes great. Dining in has always been a pleasure and the service is friendly. The only thing that holds me back from offering that 5th star is the speed of service to pay, as there is only the one person at the front taking all payments for the dine-ins, carry outs, and all other issues, so expect to spend an hour enjoying great food, then another 15 minutes to pay on a busy Sunday.
(4)Andrea G.
I have eaten here a few times lately. Time for a quick review. This is Chinese food par excellence! Not sure if I am using that phrase correctly (I really suffer when trying to use colloquialisms) but you get the idea. Everything I've had here each time is prepared perfectly, tastefully and not skimpily, either. They have a large open dining room with 1 divider segmenting the room, filled with tables, some large round tables for big families or groups and some booths. It's a friendly, casual, not formal atmosphere. Gary (dear hubby) and I ordered egg rolls (delicious, crunchy outside), and a chicken moo shu and cashew chicken. Plenty of good food for us! The mountain of cashew chicken had plenty of crunchy water chestnuts, chicken, cashews and a few other veggies. The sauce was perfect. The moo shu (that's the dish where you slather hoisin sauce on a "crepe" and then pile on the dish and wrap it up and eat it like a Chinese burrito) was super excellent, with everything cut small enough and perfectly seasoned. It all came with white rice which was of course, a perfect complement to the cashew chicken (or you gluten-free eaters can skip the crepes and eat moo shu with rice, putting the hoisin sauce directly on the dish itself). Funny aside: The server recognized us from another restaurant she worked at years ago. She is from China. She calls my husband "Chairman Mao" because his hair and face have a slight resemblance to the ol' leader of China (he is Asian). To this day, she still teases him about it. Great memory. All of the servers there are remarkably friendly and have a great memory for repeat customers--even if you don't come in that often (or perhaps we just look weird enough to be memorable, ha ha!). Anyway, I observe the servers each time I come, and they are consistently friendly and caring--from the cashier/hostess to the server to the one filling the water glasses. I don't know if they ever had some customer service training, but whatever the case, other restaurants and retail stores could learn from them.
(5)Mindy L.
Never back here for order dim sum! Waiting for over 30 minutes but I still not get my order. Worse ever !!!!
(1)Mashia P.
Chicken lo mien is delicious! Service was great too! If we tried more dishes we would give it 5 stars.
(4)Derrick D.
I first came here for dim sum on a date when I was a freshman at U of A. The date was unmemorable but the food was excellent and so I've been a regular here for the past 7 years. I'm not Chinese (I'm half-Filipino and don't look particularly Asian) and I usually come here with a bunch of Anglo friends, and the ladies know me, are very friendly, and we always get great service. Other friends of mine, adult white professionals, are also regulars here and love it as much as I do, so I've never experienced poor service because of non-Asianness. I've also never tried their noodle dishes or anything besides dim sum, so I can't speak for the quality of those offerings. I grew up in Chicago and got my M.A. at Berkeley and I have frequented many, many dim sum joints in SF and Chicago Chinatowns with Chinese friends. The har gao (shrimp) and other steamed dumplings, and pork buns here, at China Phoenix in Tucson, are the best I've had anywhere. Often, the rice wrappings on har gao are slimy, sticky, greasy and half ends up sticking to the metal steaming dish they're served in. Not so at China Phoenix--they are al dente and filled with plump, delicious shrimp. Many places serve steamed cha siu bao (BBQ pork buns) that are stingily filled with gristly cartilage. Here they are bursting with juicy meat. The shrimp fun noodles, turnip cakes, custard tarts, and deep-fried "football" dumplings are also delicious. No, this is not health food. If that worries you, go to yoga before and the gym after. Sometimes I do. Dim sum is served literally a la carte on weekends between 10am and 3.00pm. Yes, if you come at 2.45pm, your food may be a bit cold. If you come at 10.15am you may have to wait 15 minutes for the carts to come out and then end up burning your tongue on a hot dumpling. So come at 11.30am for peak freshness and temperature. The Chinese ladies may hound you to order vegetables. You may refuse, but trust me, if you don't get a plate, around 4.00pm you'll begin to lament missing out on the delicious, fiber-laden Chinese broccoli in garlic sauce.
(5)Sung hee K.
Do you like 'Americanize Chinese food'? then, this place is not yours. But if you like authentic chances food, then is place is not your place, either. What I mean is if you like chinese food in the middle of Americanize choses food and authentic chinese food, this is your place. I've had food at 'China Phoenix' for two years; I do not have much complaint about the food; however I also know the food is not that much authentic chinese food. If you like good chinese food in Arizona, I recommend C-Fue or Tao Garden in Chandler AZ, However, if you like just chinese food, China Phoenix is yours. P.S. If you like food at PF Chang, I would say, they are not chinese food at all. PF chang's Food is american food; not, never, never can be chinese food.
(3)Janice M.
As I was suggested from my fellow co-worker to check this place out for dimsum, I sure did stop by on a Sunday. As the cart made its way to us, we picked out Har-Gow, Sui Mai, Custard Buns, Scallops Dumpling, the usual which we always get at any dimsum restaurant. Har-Gow and Scallop's skin were extremely thick and hard? The fillings didn't taste too good either. Perhaps frozen and was re-heated to serve? Custard buns were just gross. Can't exactly pin-point why but it was definitely not a pleasant bite. Sui Mai was less than average, I expected better since it is not that hard to make. We ended up ordering stir fried gai-lan instead of having dimsum for our meal. The dish was alright, definitely better than their dimsum. I'd still prefer Gee's Garden over China Phoenix.
(1)Paul T.
I truly love Chinese food. All the flavors and textures, it's an amazing experience if you "live in the moment" of it. The thing is, that in a lot of Chinese restaurants around town, much of the food starts to taste the same. A brown sauce is a brown sauce is a brown sauce...and they all taste, well, brown. This is NOT the case at China Phoenix. Of all the places I've been in Tucson, from the hole in the wall to the fast food joint, when it comes to Chinese food, this is the place to go. Why? Service: The folks there (especially our Patty!) is always there to greet us with a family-friendly smile. I usually end up there with at least a party of eight, if not more, and they always treat us, well, like family. The Food (which is why we're there in the first place, right?): Now, back to that brown sauce issue. At China Phoenix, the flavors are wonderful, and each dish distinct. While everything is bold and grand (as opposed to old and bland), I especially go in deep for the broccoli with oyster sauce (a veggie fave), as well as the honey walnut shrimp, which is an experience. The nuts are candied, crispy and sweet, and the shrimp are just about the richest thing I've ever tasted. Of course, all the standards are great, from the sesame chicken to the lo mein to the kung pao. If you're up for a bit of a drive to the northwest side, don't miss China Phoenix. How good is it? The best in Tucson, in my little red book.
(5)Rebecca B.
I have been here twice and I enjoyed it each time. I always have left overs to take home as portions are generous. I ordered curry chicken this time and I have to say it tasted even better the next day. Very good Chinese food and worth the drive to try.
(5)Saul G.
I ate lunch here today. The prices were fair with sizable portions, but I was very disappointed with the food. It lacked flavor, the meat was difficult to chew and overall it was really- and I feel bad for saying it- kinda gross. Perhaps it was an off day for them, but honestly I won't be going back to find out.
(2)David D.
Another great dining experience at China Phoenix. We had several dishes but the Honey Walnut Shrimp was totally awesome. Service was great as usual.
(4)Alma B.
China Phoenix is my favorite chinese restaurant in Tucson, specially for dim sum. Try the honey shrimp, they are delicious and will not disappoint!
(4)Maynard G.
Been here a few times now. It's OK...for Tucson.
(3)Betty T.
Very delicious. Great service. The Mongolian Beef is the best i've ever tasted. This is what keeps me coming back. Friendly staff. If you come in more than once, they remember who you are and welcome you back.
(4)C C.
Went to China PHX for Dim Sum when my family was in town. Being a person who is very picky with Dim Sum, i thought the place was awesome! even my family liked it too!!! Their service was great and friendly. I'd love to try their regular menu sometime!!!
(5)F. Roman C.
One good sign that this is a good place to eat is the presence of Chinese diners. I have been to China Phoenix for dim sum and dinner and can only rave. The food is authentic while not drowning in high sodium sauces. The portions are very generous, which is proportionate to the price. Four dinner/entree plates and soup, which we shared family style among four people, cost $65. Feed the beast at China Phoenix. The beast will not be disappointed.
(4)Rose C.
The five of us stopped in here late one night after visiting relatives in the hospital all day. We were exhausted and grumpy and hungry. We were wary of the older strip mall look but didn't have the patience to go on- so we went in. We were seated at a large table and offered cheery, prompt, patient service. Chinese beer and apps were ordered as we negotiated what to get. We ordered a fish dish, a pork dish, and a chicken dish along with their special fried rice. The menu was typical Americanized Chinese but the food was tasty, fresh and light on the sugary syrupy sauce so common at other places. Thanks for saving the day!
(4)Joan S.
I came here for dim sum because my friend and I were craving it. I haven't had dim sum in Tucson and wanted to try it. After searching for several restaurants that served dim sum, we came around this place. The dim sum was decent, it wasn't the best dim sum I have ever tried, especially compared to California. You could tell that the dim sum had been out for a while because it was cold and the rice cake dough of some of the dim sum were not fresh and a little harder than normal. Eating the dim sum, I felt as if I was eating leftovers that I would have taken home and ate at night. I wasn't impressed by their dim sum, but compared to any place I have been to, this place is the cheapest dim sum restaurant. Due to the price, I'm rating it a two. Would I go back? No.. I would honestly waste my money else where for a better dim sum restaurant.
(2)M W.
This is some of the best Chinese in town! And strangely enough, it's situated in a nondescript shopping center in Casas Adobes. Yes, it's a little pricier than some of its inferiors and better-knowns (i.e. Rose Garden & Tokyo Rose), but that's because the food is of much higher quality. The honey-cashew shrimp is a dish I've never seen replicated better anywhere, not even in Chinatown of San Francisco. The mushroom and veggie dishes are great too. I recommend this place to anyone looking for good Chinese on the north side.
(5)rubylee r.
Wait staff needs to understand that seated breathing customers take precedence over empty dirty tables. Two people asked us if we wanted a pot of tea, then they went off and did something else. One answered the phone, the other cleared two tables. When I asked her about it, she said that she needed to have it clean in case someone else came in. There were many other tables available.
(2)Linda N.
came here for dim sum on sunday with the fam. food was alright. not as good as the dim sum back in sf but it was good enough. service was good. i would come back if i was in the area.
(3)Eric J.
Don't bother. We went here recently on Christmas. We knew they got busy so had an early reservation and called early in the day to pre-order our food so it'd be waiting. We had young children with us. The food was not ready. They forgot to put the order in and then did not rush it. The service was very poor. It was very difficult to get anything to drink. In general, the food was only okay. A couple dishes were better than others but more were mediocre than otherwise. And, then to boot they charged us a lot more for the fish we ordered than the price said on the menu both online and in the restaurant. They could not explain it.
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