Lui’s Wok and Grill

Place is closed.

Nice atmosphere, nice wait staff, food is not so great. We’ve tried them several times and the last takeout order was so bad that we didn’t eat much of it and it is the last time.

This place was amazing several years ago. They shut the doors for a few years and changed locations. The new experience is down right awful and the food is equally disappointing. Fruit flies in the dining room for the one dine in occasion. Delivery has been a nightmare.. my entire noodle dish was an overcooked mess, the noodles weren’t stirred when boiled and so came in large mushy unseasoned clumps that tasted like raw dough. Gross. I want the old Lui’s back!

I love Chinese food. I could eat it 7 days a week. Ok, maybe 5, as I’d miss out on Thai, Vietnamese, pizza, etc. You get the point…
We just moved to Erie and have been sorely disappointed by the lack of dining out here. But at least we have a good Chinese restaurant nearby. I tried Lui’s on the recommendation of a long time Erie resident, and am glad I did. The food was delicious and creative. And the takeout service was great. Very friendly. I had the intriguing sounding coconut chicken. Very tasty with plenty of coconut and vegetables. My GF and I also tried the beef with garlic sauce and Szechuan dumplings (appetizer). Both were very good. A thoroughly enjoyable meal in all. We will be back!
Second review. Went back. Good but not that good. And the prices are a bit high for Erie. Lowered rating from 4 stars to 3 stars.

I can sum up our dinner in one word: Blech! We had tried Lui’s years ago and weren’t impressed, but my family decided to give Lui’s another try and ordered delivery tonight. Won’t make that mistake again. I’d like to offer some suggestions for the restaurant:
1) Seasonings are your friend. Allow me to introduce you to garlic, ginger, soy, szechuan pepper, salt and pepper. Going by our meal tonight, you’ve never met any of them. Chinese food is not supposed to be as bland as baby food. My moo shu tasted like steamed cabbage with bits of unseasoned pork, and even copious additions of hoisin sauce couldn’t save it. The wonton soup was full of veggies, which was nice, but the broth was weirdly sweet. Maybe Lui’s should try hiring cooks who have actually tasted Chinese food before?
2) The textures were strange. The «wok-​seared» potstickers were so undercooked that the dough had the consistency of paste. The cheese wontons were crispy, but had clearly come from the freezer section at Costco. And we’re not even going to discuss the Szechaun potstickers, which came swimming in a still-​bland «spicy sauce» that dissolved the wonton wrappers into an unappealing mush.
3) Chinese stir-​fried food should not be served in pieces large enough to require a knife and fork. My son’s «chicken with broccoli» had 4″ long pieces of both. Invest in some kitchen knives. And again, still bland. When my son, who has hit the «eat everything in sight» stage and loves this dish at other restaurants takes one bite and refuses to eat it, your recipes truly suck.
4) Reconsider your prices. We paid $ 60 for this elaborate mess, and the only thing that didn’t end up down the garbage disposal was the rice, fortune cookies, and chopsticks.
Erie needs good restaurants. This is not one of them.

We go to Lui’s a few times a week. They have great prices, and an amazing happy hour. The food is quite enjoyable, as is the company. We love, love, love the fried cream cheese wontons and the calamari!!! Toni is a wonderful and friendly bartender. Lui and Jeanie are great people, and always take the time to chat to their customers.
If you have had a bad experience here, my best suggestion is to try again.

Just the worst Chinese place I’ve ever been to. How they have survived so long is a mystery. The community has stood behind them, too bad they can’t live up to the need.
Check their health department inspection, they failed. November 26, 2012

I am now writing a review because this is second bad experience with in the last few months with an otherwise decent restaurant. Tonight we waited over an hour for our delivery order, were told 35 – 45 min. When we called we were told the order should be here any min. Another 15 min. went by and no food so we ended up just canceling the order. (As a side note, our house is less than 5 min. from the restaurant; probably should have just picked up the order ourselves.) We have been customers of Lui’s for the past few years but unfortunately due to these recent experiences may reconsider our options when dining out.

See Autumn B.‘s post for the back story if you wish…
long story short… no one there, slow, dirty silverware, lipstick on the water glasses (yes plural), walked out… never had the food… sketchy at best

We use to order from here but after a series of really bad experiences, we will not be any more. We ordered take out once, and went to go pick it up. This was the first time we had been in this place and the place is filthy. It smells horrible. In addition, they took our food and had it delivered so we went there for nothing. The staff is rude and they look flustered with only a few people in the place.
As far as the food is concerned, save your money. It used to be decent but recently has gone down hill. I guess that is what to expect from a small town Chinese place.

OMFG… where do I start? SOMEONE DESPERATELY NEEDS TO CALL THE PRODUCERS OF ‘Restaurant Impossible’ (Food Network) TO COME IN AND SAVE THIS PLACE!!! If it were possible to give Lui’s ZERO stars, I would!
With that said… I have attempted to eat at Lui’s TWICE! Here is my story…(cue Jaws theme music…)
Attempt #1: February 2012– Took my sister and niece here to celebrate their birthdays and have lunch before heading to a paint/​sip studio down the street. 1. We stood in the bar for at least 3 full minutes before anyone ever greeted us to seat us in the back restaurant part. 2. It appeared they were very understaffed because it took 15 minutes for the waiter to bring us our beverages. 3. When my sister and I asked the waiter a few basic questions/​recommendations about the menu items, he had absolutely no idea what to say on anything. (I got the feeling they grabbed a random bar patron to help on the floor who had never waitered in his life…) 4. We waited 45-​full minutes from the time we placed our order before we had to leave to get to our next destination and STILL had no food, so unfortunately we had to leave without dinner. *The manager on duty did apologize for the inconvenience and gave me a $ 25 gift certificate to come back again.
Attempt #2: June 2012– Told my foodie boyfriend about my previous experience at Lui’s, but since we were in the Erie neighborhood, I suggested we give them another try so I could use the $ 25 gift certificate they gave me from my previous BAD experience. 1. My boyfriend and I stood in the bar for a good 3 full minutes again before being greeted and seated in the back restaurant area. (The bar was pretty busy and buzzing, but there was NO ONE IN THE RESTAURANT AREA EXCEPT US! Which is not a good sign… STRIKE 1) 2. The waiter came over to take our drink orders when we both noticed that both of our «clean» silverware at our place setting was dirty with dried lettuce and ??? on them. The waiter apologized and brought us both new silverware. (At this point my boyfriend is ready to leave –STRIKE 2– but I convince him to give them the benefit of the doubt and simmer down). 3. After the waiter brings us our ice waters and takes our order, we both discover there is obvious lipstick marks on my water glass! (If this is what we CAN see, what else is going on in the kitchen that we CAN’T see??? STRIKE 3!) At this point we just walk out.
SO…moral of the story, I have never had the opportunity to actually EAT the food at Lui’s because of the poor service and lack of cleanliness… which is probably a blessing! The bar area is kinda sketchy and the dining area is a joke. Nothing about the décor or atmosphere even makes sense when you think of Chinese food. Don’t waste your time or money here!!!

The only good thing I can say about this place is that I never gave them my money. We went there a fair time after the dinner rush at the suggestion of someone else, and we left without any service. We were never greeted by the bartender, there was no one around to seat us in the dining area, and there were only a couple sketchy looking patrons in the bar, no one in the seated dining area. No greeting at all is what put us off, and we won’t be going back.

We often order from this restaurant when we visit family near by. The food is good for Chinese in Erie but when we order they ALWAYS forget something. What’s sweet and sour chicken without sweet and sour sauce? What’s beef lo mein with no beef? And forgetting rice… So obviously you have to CHECK YOUR ORDER. This last time we let them know all this and they could have cared less! Guess we won’t go there again.

Marginal, across the board. The food we had was ok, so was the service, but nothing special. haven’t been there in a while, but wouldn’t rule out going back.

Lui’s is without question the worst Chinese restaurant on this side of the planet. In the 10 years I’ve lived in Erie, I’ve had the displeasure of eating Lui’s sorry excuse for Chinese food maybe 5 times. Every time, it was because someone talked me into it and kept claiming that my previous experiences were just bad luck, or they must have just had a bad night (on every night I eat there), or whatever. Plus…, «it’s so close and convenient».
This time, it was because my bride wanted some of their Fried Rice with Scallops. She has had them before (without me) and has enjoyed this simple dish in the past. Her previous experience involved pieces of large, succulent seared sea scallops. This time, it was small, hard, rubbery bay scallops with a sauce that smelled like something had died — a while ago.
I picked the Orange Chicken because it’s listed on the menu as one of Lui’s «specialties». I was also a bit curious to see how it compared to the frozen Orange Chicken we got from Costco recently. You’ll never guess which one was better. OK, maybe you will. The Costco stuff was hands down better. And I’m by no means making any claims that the Costco stuff was anywhere close to the best Orange Chicken I’ve ever had either.
I still think that anyone who gives this place a good review is doing so because they’re embarrassed that they had the misfortune of eating there. My advise would be to drive the extra distance to just about anywhere else. For takeout, Chef King is way better than Lui’s, but then, anywhere is better than Lui’s.

Best Chinese food I’ve come across. I travel 75% for work, often to the Bay Area which is well known for it’s Asian cuisine, but Lui’s remains my favorite. The sauces on the food are AMAZING. I recommend the beef with garlic sauce.
We have like this place since the beginning at the old location. The sauces are terrific and the portions are generous. We’re happy customers.

This had to be the worst Chinese meal ever. On top of that, the service is what really brings the score down.
Start the car… We’re outta here!!!
I mean, there’s no arguing. There is no anything. There is no beating around the bush. «You’re fired» is a very strong term.
This is not Szechuan, and Lui’s had no skill in making food.
The people who recommend this place do not know anything about Chinese food.

So i had the pleasure of dining here with my author and another librarian. It was a blast. Mostly because of the company, partially because of the great japanese beer, and lastly the food.
I had the chef special of the day, the lemon chicken. It wasn’t the typical thin breaded lemon chicken, but the a nice plump chicken breast with good lemon sauce. More rice on request.
The service was humored from the author and were on top of things.
i realy enjoyed my experience here.

Eh.
The food is pretty good, but the overall experience isn’t that great. The service is what really brings the score down, along with the somewhat seedy bar crowd attached to the restaurant.
Ordering to go might not be a bad idea, but make sure you have them read back your order.

This is the closest Chinese Restaurant to our home… excited that it is here. We’ve dined in 3 times now and did the «take out» thing twice.
New construction so nice inside & out… and they take care of the place. Consistently great food… although they still won’t make it as spicy as I like.
I need to say that my wife is the Chinese food critic in the family and specificly looks for lemon chicken to be very thinly sliced (I know picky). While she likes it… she has had better :) We have shifted some of our dollars to a chinese/​vietnamese/​thai restaurant in Lafayette as I needed a Phở fix… and provides variety when we’re feeling out-​of-​sync with each other.
Our 3 year old is getting harder to take out… so… not too many places are truly family friendly… but Lui’s staff made us feel welcome with our little out-​of-​control monster.
Solid service every time we’ve been there… attentive wait staff and comfortable environment.
We’ll be back!