I wanted to like the food, but just couldn't. The wait staff was very nice. The food was maybe warm and the selection was lacking. Most of the food honestly did not taste good. I'm not a picky eater, but won't be back.
(1)
George N.
This place is perfect if you are on the run..........from the police. Hell, the kinds of characters in this place are enough for you to first wok in the place and then wok out. One guy who was 500 pounds was there as if he were competing at the Olympic games for eating. Wanted to stop here to feed my face with a good old fashioned chinese buffet, I really wasn't expecting anything special; Afterall, this place is dangerously close to Sunset Hills. The Buffet is pretty darn expensive, $10.95?? really. The plates they give you are tiny. I had to make 5 trips to the buffet bar. But in all , food wasnt bad. It did the job. The buffet bar wasnt the cleanest, but they did have a few of your famous Chinese dishes out there, and they tasted OK' pretty good. Dont think the food warrants the high price; but bottom line is, i mogged down, and i'm now full. But nonetheless, its your typical suburban chinese restaruant. The staff was really friendly, and hard working, and for that we can appreciate their effort. In all, this place is good to eat at if you are drunk , or just hungry for anything.
(2)
Lynn S.
Stopped here over the weekend. Not a good choice. Unfortunately, the food was not very good at all. Most of it looked like it had been sitting out for hours and had a film over it. I wanted to gag but was with a friend who will eat anything, so I kept my comments to myself. Thank goodness they had a salad bar so I could at least eat that, but that didn't really do much for me either, just iceberg and store bought stuff. They did have a cookie kind of dessert with powdered sugar all over it which was very good.
(2)
Amanda Z.
I went back and forth between 2 and 3 stars on this one. While the restaurant is clean and the staff is incredibly nice and attentive, (three stars) the food is just not that great and having to cut a quick left onto Watson, (two stars) well, it just made for a confusing star situation for me. I'll admit I am a Chinese Food snob. I will admit even more that I have been severely spoiled by the perfection of the Hunan Royal in South County. But... I can still find positives in other Chinese Buffets, so here's the lowdown on this one: The food is incredibly greasy...I know Chinese isn't exactly health food, but this stuff leaves grease on your plate. (two stars). Also, they have one of those weird buffets that seems to have more American food than Chinese. (two stars) Tons of chicken wings, pasta dishes, etc. The crab rangoon wasn't the worst my friend had ever had, but again, incredibly greasy with no traces of crab to be found. (two stars) But, they have a full salad bar which is great for a vegetarian making their way through bins of deep fried chickens of various flavors and pork filled dumplings. (three stars) Also, it's pretty darn expensive for a Chinese buffet. Dinner I believe was around $14 a person. I'd be more than willing to pay that for quality Chinese, but not sub par mall quality Chinese food. (two stars) That's just....well...not worth it. Of course they do have the standard soft serve ice cream machine...this does up the anti a bit for me....(four stars???? see how I rounded this one up??)
(3)
Leslie S.
This is a decent value at only $9-10 pp for a buffet. It was convenient to get in/out of, and the employees were extremely friendly and nice. In fact, the service probably surpassed the food a bit. The food was ok. The crab rangoon was particularly good. There wasn't much variety of sushi, and it looked like it may have been sitting for a while. I had some cucumbers and pear slices from the salad/fruit area that tasted pretty fresh. There was a decent selection of entrees, and I wasn't disappointed by any of them. They let the red sweet and sour sauce pretty much run out, and some customers had to point it out to get them to refill it. But all in all, I'd definitely come back. I loved how friendly the staff was; this makes a huge difference to me.
(3)
David J.
Gross, gross, gross!!! Went there on a Sunday, was charged $11 for food that had been out for way too long. Most of it tasted like soggy gym socks. I couldn't finish ANYTHING....so gross. I informed the hostess about my disappointment and she did nothing. Will never go back and would not recommend this place to ANYONE!!
(1)
Cyborg B.
Update: (12/11/11) I like their noodles station where you can choose the ingredients and the chef will cook it for you. Again, this is still my favorite Chinese restaurant. Update: (11/22/11) Sweet pork is back! I think they only cook sweet (honey) pork if the particular chef that cooks it went to work, otherwise almost all of their food sucks without him. Anyway I'm happy that the last time I went here, the food tasted really good. I did NOT know that they have a Noodles station where you can pick you own ingredients and a chef/cook will cook it for you. I told them how come you guys never tell your customers. There are no signs and no instruction. PLEASE clean your restroom! It really stinks. Old Review: What happened to the sweet pork???? How come you guys are not cooking it anymore? Old Review Better than china buffet because they have sweet pork. It would be a lot better if they serve roast duck. PLEASE clean your restroom! EWWWwwww...... Please improve your WOK ethic! Jk! Lol! I got this from http://damnyouautoco rr... Old Review I love their Fried Shrimp, peppered beef, chicken wings, and their BBQ pork. Yumyum! I think they only have these specials on weekends ($10/ person). I would go here again but please clean your restroom and put a divider between 2 urinals. If they clean their restroom & serve roast duck then I'll give them 5 stars. This is my fav Chinese restaurant in MO. « show less
(4)
Janet M.
Gross!! Only giving 1 star because I can't rate 0 stars. This place didn't have much food on the buffets, but what was there looked like it had been there for quite some time. Everything we had enough courage to try, was about as bad as it gets. The table was sticky. They had Spongebob on the TV, and I think they had the volume up as loud as it goes. Don't waste your time or money here.
(1)
Rich V.
It's kind of funny I waited until now to review First Wok. Had I done it a month ago, it would have received a 4 out of 5 from me. However, after some changes made in the last month, it has now dropped to 2 out of 5. I have been going to First Wok for a couple fo years. Co-workers and I used to go once a week until we moved into a new sight that was too far away from First Wok. As a result, I usually go twice a week or so between my two jobs and get the buffet to go. This had worked great until the above mention changes, which I will get into now. The three main buffet items I get were the General Tso's chicken, the orange chicken, and the First Wok chicken (chicken in a sauce that tasted like a combination of Soy and BBQ). First, for some odd reason, First Wok only offers General Tso's chicken on certain nights. It used to be an every other night pattern, but about a month ago it has turned into more of a "when we feel like it" schedule. This was a drag as it is really good, but as long as they had the orange chicken and the First Wok chicken, it wasn't a big deal. Second, about three weeks ago, the First Wok chicken disappeared and was replaced by Burbon Chicken. I've eaten burbon chicken before, and this does not taste anything like that. It isn't bad, but the fact that I have no idea what the sauce is made from is a bit disappointing. Again, not a big deal as long as the orange chicken is there and the General Tso's is there once in a while. Third, and this one isn't related to the buffet selection, about two weeks ago, the carryout containers got significantly smaller. This was total crap considering that they are still charging the same price as before. The old containers were enough for a full meal. The new ones, pardon the pun, are so small I'm hungry again in an hour. Look, I have perfected the art of filling these containers to the point where they just barely close, but this is crazy that I have to do this to get a full meal. It is also sad that for the same price I can go to any number of places nearby (non-buffet) and get a full meal, but I like variety, so the buffet is more of an appealing choice. The final straw was going by three nights ago. Big shock, no General Tso's chicken. Big shock, still no First Wok chicken, just the "burbon" chicken. Big shock...no orange chicken. It had been replaced by some kind of chicken I have never heard of before. I ended up leaving with a container of rice and noodles because there was nothing else available that I would eat. I really hope someone that works there reads this. If you don't want to go back to the old containters, fine. At least bring back the food that people like. Believe me, I'm not the only one that feels this way. You get one more chance, then I'm taking my business to one of the five other chineese places that are within three miles of your place.
(2)
David S.
You know how, sometimes in the middle of the work day, you suddenly have a craving for crappy Chinese food? Well this place fills the bill perfectly. Sushi on the salad bar is gummy and hideous, vegetables and products on the steam tables are all overcooked and limp. They got their only star because the crispy chicken wings were actually tasty - the only item on the buffet I would recommend. If crappy Chinese food is what you crave, then by all means stop at First Wok Buffet, otherwise, take a pass on this one.
(1)
Bobby Ray H.
Crab Rangoon and a few chicken dishes were very good. Fried rice was very good as well. Their egg foo was offensively poor. Dry, bland, sopping with grease, and had been setting out a long time. Everything else was run-of-the-mill and/or could have been pretty good if it hadn't been out a long time. The food could be really good, as the smaller selection seems to demonstrate concentration on quality rather than quantity. But there were too many shortcuts for me to recommend this place to others. SOCO Hoosiers will love it I'm sure. But it misses the mark for me for sure.
(2)
Karla C.
After literally almost 20 years of going here and loving their food. ..especially their hot and sour soup...the end is here! Disgusting old food, hard as a rock and just downright nasty on the buffet. My mom got sick the next morning. I'm done.
(1)
Theresa S.
The guys from my office love this place! This is the only Chinese buffet in the area we'll go to because they have a lot of selection, most of it is pretty good, and it's a great price for a nice sit down lunch. Even though there isn't usually a big lunch crowd they manage to keep everything pretty fresh and there's a lot of variety. My coworkers love that they have a large fruit and salad bar to have some selection that isn't fried. Definitely worth trying if you haven't!
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : 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.
Lulou D.
I wanted to like the food, but just couldn't. The wait staff was very nice. The food was maybe warm and the selection was lacking. Most of the food honestly did not taste good. I'm not a picky eater, but won't be back.
(1)George N.
This place is perfect if you are on the run..........from the police. Hell, the kinds of characters in this place are enough for you to first wok in the place and then wok out. One guy who was 500 pounds was there as if he were competing at the Olympic games for eating. Wanted to stop here to feed my face with a good old fashioned chinese buffet, I really wasn't expecting anything special; Afterall, this place is dangerously close to Sunset Hills. The Buffet is pretty darn expensive, $10.95?? really. The plates they give you are tiny. I had to make 5 trips to the buffet bar. But in all , food wasnt bad. It did the job. The buffet bar wasnt the cleanest, but they did have a few of your famous Chinese dishes out there, and they tasted OK' pretty good. Dont think the food warrants the high price; but bottom line is, i mogged down, and i'm now full. But nonetheless, its your typical suburban chinese restaruant. The staff was really friendly, and hard working, and for that we can appreciate their effort. In all, this place is good to eat at if you are drunk , or just hungry for anything.
(2)Lynn S.
Stopped here over the weekend. Not a good choice. Unfortunately, the food was not very good at all. Most of it looked like it had been sitting out for hours and had a film over it. I wanted to gag but was with a friend who will eat anything, so I kept my comments to myself. Thank goodness they had a salad bar so I could at least eat that, but that didn't really do much for me either, just iceberg and store bought stuff. They did have a cookie kind of dessert with powdered sugar all over it which was very good.
(2)Amanda Z.
I went back and forth between 2 and 3 stars on this one. While the restaurant is clean and the staff is incredibly nice and attentive, (three stars) the food is just not that great and having to cut a quick left onto Watson, (two stars) well, it just made for a confusing star situation for me. I'll admit I am a Chinese Food snob. I will admit even more that I have been severely spoiled by the perfection of the Hunan Royal in South County. But... I can still find positives in other Chinese Buffets, so here's the lowdown on this one: The food is incredibly greasy...I know Chinese isn't exactly health food, but this stuff leaves grease on your plate. (two stars). Also, they have one of those weird buffets that seems to have more American food than Chinese. (two stars) Tons of chicken wings, pasta dishes, etc. The crab rangoon wasn't the worst my friend had ever had, but again, incredibly greasy with no traces of crab to be found. (two stars) But, they have a full salad bar which is great for a vegetarian making their way through bins of deep fried chickens of various flavors and pork filled dumplings. (three stars) Also, it's pretty darn expensive for a Chinese buffet. Dinner I believe was around $14 a person. I'd be more than willing to pay that for quality Chinese, but not sub par mall quality Chinese food. (two stars) That's just....well...not worth it. Of course they do have the standard soft serve ice cream machine...this does up the anti a bit for me....(four stars???? see how I rounded this one up??)
(3)Leslie S.
This is a decent value at only $9-10 pp for a buffet. It was convenient to get in/out of, and the employees were extremely friendly and nice. In fact, the service probably surpassed the food a bit. The food was ok. The crab rangoon was particularly good. There wasn't much variety of sushi, and it looked like it may have been sitting for a while. I had some cucumbers and pear slices from the salad/fruit area that tasted pretty fresh. There was a decent selection of entrees, and I wasn't disappointed by any of them. They let the red sweet and sour sauce pretty much run out, and some customers had to point it out to get them to refill it. But all in all, I'd definitely come back. I loved how friendly the staff was; this makes a huge difference to me.
(3)David J.
Gross, gross, gross!!! Went there on a Sunday, was charged $11 for food that had been out for way too long. Most of it tasted like soggy gym socks. I couldn't finish ANYTHING....so gross. I informed the hostess about my disappointment and she did nothing. Will never go back and would not recommend this place to ANYONE!!
(1)Cyborg B.
Update: (12/11/11) I like their noodles station where you can choose the ingredients and the chef will cook it for you. Again, this is still my favorite Chinese restaurant. Update: (11/22/11) Sweet pork is back! I think they only cook sweet (honey) pork if the particular chef that cooks it went to work, otherwise almost all of their food sucks without him. Anyway I'm happy that the last time I went here, the food tasted really good. I did NOT know that they have a Noodles station where you can pick you own ingredients and a chef/cook will cook it for you. I told them how come you guys never tell your customers. There are no signs and no instruction. PLEASE clean your restroom! It really stinks. Old Review: What happened to the sweet pork???? How come you guys are not cooking it anymore? Old Review Better than china buffet because they have sweet pork. It would be a lot better if they serve roast duck. PLEASE clean your restroom! EWWWwwww...... Please improve your WOK ethic! Jk! Lol! I got this from http://damnyouautoco rr... Old Review I love their Fried Shrimp, peppered beef, chicken wings, and their BBQ pork. Yumyum! I think they only have these specials on weekends ($10/ person). I would go here again but please clean your restroom and put a divider between 2 urinals. If they clean their restroom & serve roast duck then I'll give them 5 stars. This is my fav Chinese restaurant in MO. « show less
(4)Janet M.
Gross!! Only giving 1 star because I can't rate 0 stars. This place didn't have much food on the buffets, but what was there looked like it had been there for quite some time. Everything we had enough courage to try, was about as bad as it gets. The table was sticky. They had Spongebob on the TV, and I think they had the volume up as loud as it goes. Don't waste your time or money here.
(1)Rich V.
It's kind of funny I waited until now to review First Wok. Had I done it a month ago, it would have received a 4 out of 5 from me. However, after some changes made in the last month, it has now dropped to 2 out of 5. I have been going to First Wok for a couple fo years. Co-workers and I used to go once a week until we moved into a new sight that was too far away from First Wok. As a result, I usually go twice a week or so between my two jobs and get the buffet to go. This had worked great until the above mention changes, which I will get into now. The three main buffet items I get were the General Tso's chicken, the orange chicken, and the First Wok chicken (chicken in a sauce that tasted like a combination of Soy and BBQ). First, for some odd reason, First Wok only offers General Tso's chicken on certain nights. It used to be an every other night pattern, but about a month ago it has turned into more of a "when we feel like it" schedule. This was a drag as it is really good, but as long as they had the orange chicken and the First Wok chicken, it wasn't a big deal. Second, about three weeks ago, the First Wok chicken disappeared and was replaced by Burbon Chicken. I've eaten burbon chicken before, and this does not taste anything like that. It isn't bad, but the fact that I have no idea what the sauce is made from is a bit disappointing. Again, not a big deal as long as the orange chicken is there and the General Tso's is there once in a while. Third, and this one isn't related to the buffet selection, about two weeks ago, the carryout containers got significantly smaller. This was total crap considering that they are still charging the same price as before. The old containers were enough for a full meal. The new ones, pardon the pun, are so small I'm hungry again in an hour. Look, I have perfected the art of filling these containers to the point where they just barely close, but this is crazy that I have to do this to get a full meal. It is also sad that for the same price I can go to any number of places nearby (non-buffet) and get a full meal, but I like variety, so the buffet is more of an appealing choice. The final straw was going by three nights ago. Big shock, no General Tso's chicken. Big shock, still no First Wok chicken, just the "burbon" chicken. Big shock...no orange chicken. It had been replaced by some kind of chicken I have never heard of before. I ended up leaving with a container of rice and noodles because there was nothing else available that I would eat. I really hope someone that works there reads this. If you don't want to go back to the old containters, fine. At least bring back the food that people like. Believe me, I'm not the only one that feels this way. You get one more chance, then I'm taking my business to one of the five other chineese places that are within three miles of your place.
(2)David S.
You know how, sometimes in the middle of the work day, you suddenly have a craving for crappy Chinese food? Well this place fills the bill perfectly. Sushi on the salad bar is gummy and hideous, vegetables and products on the steam tables are all overcooked and limp. They got their only star because the crispy chicken wings were actually tasty - the only item on the buffet I would recommend. If crappy Chinese food is what you crave, then by all means stop at First Wok Buffet, otherwise, take a pass on this one.
(1)Bobby Ray H.
Crab Rangoon and a few chicken dishes were very good. Fried rice was very good as well. Their egg foo was offensively poor. Dry, bland, sopping with grease, and had been setting out a long time. Everything else was run-of-the-mill and/or could have been pretty good if it hadn't been out a long time. The food could be really good, as the smaller selection seems to demonstrate concentration on quality rather than quantity. But there were too many shortcuts for me to recommend this place to others. SOCO Hoosiers will love it I'm sure. But it misses the mark for me for sure.
(2)Karla C.
After literally almost 20 years of going here and loving their food. ..especially their hot and sour soup...the end is here! Disgusting old food, hard as a rock and just downright nasty on the buffet. My mom got sick the next morning. I'm done.
(1)Theresa S.
The guys from my office love this place! This is the only Chinese buffet in the area we'll go to because they have a lot of selection, most of it is pretty good, and it's a great price for a nice sit down lunch. Even though there isn't usually a big lunch crowd they manage to keep everything pretty fresh and there's a lot of variety. My coworkers love that they have a large fruit and salad bar to have some selection that isn't fried. Definitely worth trying if you haven't!
(3)