Won Stew House

Cupertino the crispy chicken steak tasted really bad!!! The owner is very rude. I won’t go again!

The worst customer rude service in the entire world. The owner kicked my boyfriend out and screamed at him. Unacceptable and so rude. They don’t deserve business, which the way they treat their customers. This is the shittiest restaurant I’ve ever had the misfortune to encounter. I hope they read this review. And if the owner of this disgusting hellhole is reading this: Your attitude is shit as is your restaurant, bitch!

Food: 2
Décor: —
Service: —
My parents get take-​out here often. Food’s not that great, and it’s disappointing to see them cut corners to save costs (eg: no longer give out boba/​drinks and smaller portions).

Terrible Service. The owner kept making lots of excuses regarding the bad tasted food and lied to the customers.
I bought 4 lunch bento and turned out that the food was bad. Especially for the deep fry pork chop bento and our whole family got very bad food poisoning. My husband got terrible diarrhea.

My friend and I went for lunch, and decided to sit down to eat, which means none of the bento specials.
The service was spotty, and extremely slow. It took around 15 – 20 minutes for our food to arrive, even though the waiter had told us it would only take ten minutes. He made up for it by bringing some pickled vegetables.
They started us with a nice simple corn soup that was actually quite nice and warming.
The pork and chive dumplings were nothing special — the dumpling wrapper was thick and doughy, and by the end of the plate was coming off as a mushy mess.
The «hot sauce chitterlings» came with ample amounts of tofu and congealed pork blood, and a decent amount of chitterlings. The blood tasted a little off, but the sauce had a nice hit of Sichuan peppercorns.
I’d like to check the place out again for the bento specials, but I’m feeling so inclined to go back.

Got a very, very bad food poison episode right after eating at this place. Food and service were both good. What a shame…

They have soooo many selections for your lunch bentos! My favorite is the sausages. IF your a big fan, to save money, you can buy their booklet with gives you 11 for the price of 10 bento. Great steal!
ps the guy worker there is extremely cute! so another bonus to go try great food and also some catch eye right? hahaha

I ordered a chicken cutlet bento box here the other day. The food had a nice flavor that made me fairly nostalgic about Taiwan. There is a $ 15 dollar minimum for cards (that’s absurdly high) but the lady at the register made an exception for me because it was my first time (woo hoo!).
I got my meal to go but the restaurant itself seemed fairly clean and nice. Overall a pretty average experience.

Preface: I don’t like to give places negative reviews unless I’ve been there more than once. This place is pretty «meh» in my experience. Oh my goodness, I did not know you could make pearl milk tea/​boba that bad… I think even the pmt I make at home tastes better than it does here. Half the time, they don’t even have pearls here, and when they do, the pearls are really hard and not even chewy in a good way. They’re like little rocks of flour. And the actual teas themselves are no good. Bland and flavorless, and I’m pretty sure they come from a mix. I think they’re just lazy and tell people that they don’t have any pearls or any teas/​drinks. I don’t even come here that often, but you can’t be out of pmt every single time I do come here.
The service is also kind of spotty. I can speak Chinese, but I prefer to order in English. That’s fine at most places, but here, when I order in English, sometimes the people at the register don’t really seem to understand me or they give me funny looks that seem to say «What the heck? Why don’t you speak Chinese?» I’m sorry, do you only serve Chinese speaking people? Customer service fail.
Two stars because the bento boxes are not bad and the things they keep in the deli fridge (like the fu qi fei pian) are usually pretty good.
tl;dr: Not worth it. Decent bento boxes, but really nasty pearls in their pmt.

This place specializes in the take-​out «bento» meals, although they also have some other stuff. At first I was confused because «bento» is, well, Japanese… but the food here is alllllll Taiwanese! Yum! :9
What they mean by «bento» is that it comes with a hearty mix of food: your stewed meat of choice, a bed of rice, steamed veggies, stewed hard boiled egg, and tofu. Some people have said that the flavor ain’t all there… but I beg to differ. I thought the meat was not only tasty, it also tasted like it SHOULD. That distinctive Taiwanese stewed flavor. I don’t know what the hell they put in there but there isn’t anything like it. I’m not saying that this was the BEST I’ve ever tasted, but it definitely hit the spot and satisfied that craving.
Plus, it was affordable. I think it was around $ 7 for the whole meal. The downside is that there is a $ 15 minimum for credit cards… The lady who ran the place got kinda cranky when I said I only had card and muttered something about going to the ATM, but eventually just gave in and swiped my card «just this once».
The ambiance and service are similar in that they are both lacking, but they also serve the practical purpose of simply getting your food to you. And because I like the food, I will keep coming back… when I have cash.
I hope to try their pork and chive dumplings, 20 for about $ 6. Or I could just buy them from the freezer section at Ranch 99.

This is the new /​old HC dumpling house that was previously at the Ranch 99 Cupertino. I’ve been so disappointed compared to their old restaurant. Now they are a café with food to go. Their dumplings, while reminiscient of their old recipe (same owner and chef), were sadly out of the fridge and basically reheated! Prices were, thank goodness, reasonable given the lack of food preparation.
Btw, Don’t get the boba. It’s premade mix that settles to the bottom!

My family buys from here a lot. I’m not sure why, especially when it seems kind of dirty. There’s always traces of grease on the badly wiped tables. We’re going to stop.
The bento box is supposed to include a free pearl milk tea. Over time, as they kept saying they ran out (lying in our face and gave a few to people right after us…), it turned to tea. Then red bean drink. Then caprisun. It’s kind of funny, but also annoying.
Other than that, the rice is low quality (high quantity!) and vegetables aren’t thoroughly cooked so half the time they’re bitter. The milk tea is powder, but that’s fine with me. The soy egg & tofu and meats are a little less than okay.

This place has an unfavorable review mainly due to perceived sanitation issues and staff indifference. We were originally lured into the place because the sign said «HC Dumplings here», of course, they did not have any so we stuck around to order their other items since we were already familiar with the Won Stew House franchise.
About the sanitation: tables were clear but looked like they were wiped with a greasy rag… I did not want to place anything down on the table. The chairs had the same problem but with the addition of small pieces of food from the previous customers. We had to convince the staff that the chairs could use a touch-​up, but even then, they only cleaned the one that was the ‘dirtiest’. I sat on the edge of my (uncleaned) seat for most of my stay.
If this were not a sit-​down place, and if I were to rate the place as a ‘to-​go’ establishment, I would bump the rating up to 2.5 stars. The food is okay and relatively on par with the other Won Stew house places. Not very healthy food, but then again, they don’t claim to be… it’s all about a convenient lunch or dinner. The pork chop was greasy, but had decent taste. We could have used a knife to cut it, but none were readily around and the staff seemed preoccupied. The veggies (not the pickled ones) were a bit salty. My wife wanted to order a milk tea, but I subtly warned her about the sanitation issues I was seeing and advised her to look elsewhere.
They provide water if you don’t order drinks, but the provided cups are damp and in close proximity to their main garbage can.
As for dress code, bring clothes you don’t mind having to wash shortly after, or learn to sit on napkins… don’t put your elbows on the table.
And back to the HC dumplings which they didn’t have, I am reading from the other reviews that they are not up to par. I suppose if Hu Chiang were a dead person, they would be turning in their grave.

Hmm didn’t expect this place to be a 2 star on Unilocal!Here I am to boost up the points a bit–
My family likes to order take out cold noodles here– pretty big plate for about $ 7 and tasty too. A little pricy IMO but thats what you get for being lazy and not making this simple dish yourself =P
Location is nice with lots of parking and the Cupertino Library just across the street. Staff isn’t exactly friendly or attentive but they get the job done.
Quick and easy meals served here but nothing spectacular.

I’m a true Taiwanese and this place is pretty good!
Food is tasty, peals can be less mushy (and should be soaked with caramelized sugar), and overall a good place to be for a speedy quality lunch during the weekday.
I had the HC dumpling and while the meat itself was good and the dumplings were perfectly steam– the skin didnt hold up very well, it broke before I bit into it. But it was still delicious!
Would like to try more of their stew items like the hog feet next time.

Location sucks, slow service, quality is low and there are few places to sit (and not feel awkward). I wouldn’t really call this place a «restaurant». Their boba (especially the pearls) are awful.
The only reason why we keep coming back is because we bought a punchcard a while back. Don’t make the same mistake.

It is all about the soup dumplings here.
I guess my review isn’t an accurate representation of the restaurant since the dumplings are pretty much the only thing I tried. I had been told that the HC Dumpling that closed down in Cupertino Village had relocated to nearby the library, so we drove in circles, not realizing it was just part of Won Stew House. In terms of ambiance, it’s your typical casual Taiwanese café — they give you menus and you can fill in how many of each item you want. There weren’t very many people there for Sunday lunch, possibly because of the sucky location. It’s also a lot more casual than the old HC Dumpling, with a counter where you can order take-​out.
They have Taiwanese food and of course, soup dumplings. Tried their pork dumplings and the dumplings with crab meat instead. YUM. The dumplings were juicy and flavored well. We also tried the green onion pancake with beef, which was a bit of a disappointment.
There were only two girls working at the time, but they came by to refill our tea cups (which were tiny) many times, which was a plus. I think if it were in a better location they might have more business, but I’d definitely come back for the dumplings.

The new HC Dumpling has combined with this place. Really weird. It’s not like they’re taking over — the menus have been combined, and I don’t think the original chef is still with HC because the xlb here were not very good. Not savory, something was missing.
This place has a serious identity crisis. The dinnerware was very fancy, white, modern, but the place is as casual looking as you can get. Some of the original HC staff are still here too, and still scowling. We ordered 2 pearl milk teas — 1 came without pearls for some reason. We didn’t bother to get it fixed.
Overall, location sucks, atmosphere sucks more so than your average place, and the xlb were not as good as before. Won’t be back.

Second visit to this bento place reveals that they *DO* speak English and that when the place is not as crowded, they do treat you fairly well.
We decided to buy the $ 65 frequent card which gets you
— 10 bento boxes (priced at $ 6.50 each) and 1 free
— You can get drinks for $ 1 extra
— When you purchase the card, you get a free drink (at $ 2.50)
This time wife tried the «grilled chicken» which is nothing more than teriyaki chicken and I had the fried pork cutlet.
Not bad, guess we’ll be going back at least a few more times to use up the card :-)

I’m not sure what’s with all the poor reviews at Won Stew Houses across South Bay but they must be doing well if they keep opening up new locations. Most Taiwanase people that shop at their local Chinese markets know that if they want a wider selection of fresh deli foods, they head over to Won Stew House afterwards. Perhaps most people new to Won Stew House are just ordering the wrong things. I’m a regular at the Saratoga location but when this location opened up, I was more than happy to come here for my deli needs instead. Don’t bother with the «Stew» aspect, Won Stew House is a made to order deli shop first of all, and second a Chinese TAKE OUT bento shop. Speaking Chinese goes a long way here when ordering, it helps work out the kinks in communication but most of the menu is in English.
The main reason why I drop by Won Stew House is to get a bento, or special lunch box as they call it. For $ 6 – 7 you get a take out box with one main dish you get to order from their selection of 24 main dishes. It comes with the usual rice, egg, vegetables and tofu that most Chinese bentos typically contain. I personally prefer ordering the Chicken steak or Grilled Pork/​Chicken, they are all pretty tasty. If you somehow have rice at home or available, you can actually ask the workers to skip the rice, tofu and other extras and just get meat only. This will definitely suffice for future meals as you’ll be taking home a ton of meat, they stack it high. By the way, milk tea here is only $ 1 extra if you order a bento compared to the usual $ 2.50, however it’s not very sweet tasting and is more on the watery side.
The other reason to come to Won Stew House is for their deli goods. They have a wide selection of deli that’s made to order or prepared already if you wish to peruse their selection. I personally order the beef shank to go, it’s great for snacking or with rice. Any of their simmered goods here are pretty decent and match up well with rice, or can be used further by Chinese cooks to make something better. Check their selection, I was pretty impressed the first time I went.
In comparing this store to the one located on Saratoga, this one is a lot bigger and cleaner, it did just open up recently. The food is the same, there’s really no difference between the two locations besides convenience. Oh for some odd reason, this place is called I.S. Stew House on the outside, it’s located opposite of Cupertino Library/​City Hall.
Tip: Won Stew House offers a prepaid bento card where you can buy 10 bentos and receive an 11^th for free. This card can be used at any of their 5 locations and they allow you to upgrade from the $ 6 bento to the $ 7 bento usually when you order.
EDIT:
Tip2: Apparently speaking Chinese helps more than expected and helps you get you more food, so if you plan on getting only meat in your bento, ask for it in Chinese «ro only.» This doesn’t affect the Saratoga location apparently.