Cathay Chow Mein

This is my first review. Went to cathay for the first time. ordered the sesame chicken today and the sauce tasted almost like ketchup. Upon inspection I found NO chicken, and bits of dark mystery meat. The fried rice was EH, and the egg roll was weird. For a place that’s been around for the 24 years I’ve lived in this community, I am surprised that they are still open. the lady at the front was nice, I wish the food was actually food.

It’s quick. It’s edible. You get what you pay for. They are friendly, but it’s takeout only and they never seem to turn their lights on.

STOP here for the BEST and I mean the best won tons and chicken wings. They give you a tiny amount of sauce and it is AWESOME SAUCE. We ordered a full order of wings $ 3.90 for 9 crunchy, fresh wings! We also had an order of won tons $ 3.40 for 10 won tons that were honestly the best won tons ever. Crispy, fresh and plenty of cheese. Strictly carry out. Worth the trip.

This is the 2^nd and last time I will frequent this business. The lady working there is very nice. There is no restroom, so you need to use Best Steakhouse next door. Today I ordered Sesame Chicken lunch meal. The chicken obviously came from a frozen bag and I got the last of the bag because there was literally 3 chunks of chicken and the rest was fried batter. The chicken was hard and fried crispy. I felt fleeced. The fried rice was ok. The egg roll tasted frozen and deep fried also. The first time I came here I ordered chicken chow mein, which was good but not spectacular to write home about. Will I return or recommend? No.

Love, love, love this place. My son refers to it as «the rice place». Best pork fried rice and egg rolls! We also like the pork chow mein and the chicken lo mein. It’s true that some of the dishes aren’t as good and aren’t super authentic. But once you find a few that hit the spot the price and the friendliness of the staff are well worth it. The lady at the front is amazing and we love supporting the local business.

Absolutely love this place! I have eating here for about 7 years and I can honestly say it is so consistent! The food is amazing and the family is even better! Trust me it’s worth a try cause you won’t go anywhere else!

My family has been going here for years. I’m 27 and it’s the only take out I order! Love them and the lady is wonderful and friendly!!!

My family has been going to Cathay Chow Mein for decades. Not once have they ever disappointed us. The food is to die for, and the service is excellent. Bonus: they carry VitaMN. Oh, and the lo mein is phenomenal. That is all.

I’ve been eating this Chinese food since I was little. Our family started going here when I was super young and I’m now almost 33 years old and it’s probably the best Chinese take-​out I’ve ever had! It literally is a hole-​in-​the-​wall, but the food is amazing! Everyone I know that has tried it agrees. I live in Uptown Minneapolis, so there are plenty of Chinese take-​out places near me. I have yet to find one nearly as good. The woman behind the counter is always very friendly and the prices are good!

I have been taking out food from here for so many years and I am finally reviewing it! Cathay is AMAZING, the bang for the buck is fantastic. I get close to 4 meals out of one order of the chicken lo mein. The service is outstanding! The woman who rings you up will remember anything you tell her, so that the next time you come in you feel like a «regular.»

I ordered over the phone for pickup to get sweet and sour chicken, some cream cheese wontons and a mongolian beef.
I had no idea that this place was literally take out only! There are no tables there. That was odd but if you can support yourself without tables, well, it has to be good. Maybe.
My sweet and sour was overloaded with just a crazy amount of breaded chicken that was quite good. We didn’t have enough rice between the two of us, but man, I had enough chicken.
The Mongolian beef, my wife said, was pretty good but the vegetables left something to be desired. I felt the sweet and sour sauce to be decent with also, the vegetables leaving something to be desired. I loved my chicken though.
The wontons were small but my wife loved them. She said some of the best ever.
It’s worth another shot, I’ll give them that. While waiting for mine, three separate people ordered the Chicken Subgum. I have no idea what that means, but these men looked like locals and since I’m new to the neighborhood as of a year ago, I think that’s what I’ll order next time.
I’ll update this review after a second shot. They earned that.

Cathay has the best pork fried rice and chicken chow mein ever. Have tried many chinese takeouts and this is my favorite!

Nic surprised me today with some Chow Mein Takeout, and it was great! I mean I was going to eat a cold lunch, and the hot food was definitely way more pleasant giving the state of our metro, weather wise.
I can only go off of what he said for the inside, for he brought it to the teachers lounge, which I stare at every day and is nothing special. He said it looks like it would just be for take out even though the sign says eat-​in. Very small, chairs against one wall, no tables, and an extremely friendly staff!
Sometimes I think even if food is bad, free hot food is free hot food, but this was delicious! He ordered a size 2 (It appears to be entrée sizes anyways ranging from 1 to 4, with the prices increasing with the size) Meatless Vegetable Chow Mein for a whopping $ 6.75. This chinese takeout box must have weighed around 5 pounds, it was huge! Along with the chow mein came a wee little serving of rice and a huge bag of the chow mein crunchy noodle things. Definitely an affordable lunch, he had about half of it left for whenever!
Now upon opening the vegetables, it was a little frightening, for it was the GREENIST meal I’ve ever seen. It was composed of the most celery I’ve seen in one place, green peppers, pea pods, onions, mushrooms, and diced up red peppers. It was slimly yet satisfying to copy Lion King, but tasted fresh. Interesting flavors, great smell and taste.
The only thing I was disappointed with was the fact that there was no spice to it and since I was unaware of it’s appearance, I didn’t come prepared with hot sauce. I will definitely go back, prepared with my Sriracha, to try something else!

Loved their Shrimp fried rice and mixed fried rice that my husbad got. Did not like the chicken chow mein but my daughter did. I would go there again, the staff is very friendlly and the place to wait for the food is very clean. Next time would call ahead knowing that it is takeout only.

This hole-​in-​the-​wall Chinese Take-​Out joint has been in business for over 60 years, and it’s easy to see why: They have a menu of only about 25 items, no more, and they do them exceptionally well. Don’t expect any place to sit and be served… this storefront is takeout only, and only has a few chairs in which to sit while your food is being prepared behind a wall whose paneling must be at least 40 years old. You can expect your food to be hot, fresh, thick, eggy, gooey, salty… in other words… PERFECT! I grew up on Chinese Take-​Out like this back in Queens, NYC (the HOME of proper hole-​in-​the-​wall Chinese Take-​Out, thankyouverymuch!), and this surprise find here in Minneapolis compares quite favorably and is now a must-​get for me whenever I’m in town on business.

We live in the neighborhood and I understand this place has been around forever, so I really wanted to like Cathay… but I have to say our takeout last night was a total let down.
We had the sesame chicken (not sure there was even chicken in it – mostly crunchy batter), and chicken lo mein (bland, and where were the vegetables?), cream cheese wontons (overcooked, small), and egg rolls (probably the best part, but certainly nothing to write home about).
We each had a plate and we threw the rest away. It certainly wasn’t inedible or anything, and I suppose I’ve spoiled myself since Rainbow on Nicollet and 27^th is usually my go-​to Chinese place… but honestly, I’ve had better in a mall food court.
Maybe we just ordered the wrong things? I’ve seen people mention the egg foo young; maybe I should have I tried that. Since this is a neighborhood place (and I want to support my neighborhood businesses), I’ll probably try it again and different items. but our first impression was not a good one.
On a positive note, the guy behind the counter was super nice, the people coming in and out while we waited for our food seemed like regulars (a good sign I suppose), and it was only 10 minutes from the time we walked in the door until we left with our food. Fast and friendly service, most definitely.

It’s been awhile, but I remember a drug rep bringing in a lunch, and wanted it to not be from the generic places. My most vivid memory was the egg foo yung, and it met my high standards for that item.

I’ve lived in the neighborhood for 4 years now and had yet to try Cathay. So yesterday, after the new restaurant up the street was full, my wife and I decided to give it a go.
If you plan on patronizing Cathay, be aware that their sign does not lie. ‘Cathay Chow Mein — To Take Out’ means just that. The store is just a waiting area and a cashier’s counter circa 1970. Which isn’t that far off considering we later learned the joint has been open for more than 65 years! The owner/​operator is very nice and seemed to know everyone that came in.
The food was just fine. I’ve had better and I’ve had much worse. I had the sesame chicken and my wife had the chicken and broccoli. Both were good. The cream cheese wontons were small and could have used a bit more cream cheese, but considering we got them for free, I’m not going to raise too much of a stink. The egg rolls were AWESOME! I could have easily eaten 20 more and suggest giving Cathay a try based on the egg rolls alone.
Overall, everything was to be expected. It is very nice to know we have some good Chinese take-​out right in the neighborhood. It’s friendly, good, and you get a lot of food for the price. I will be going back!

Oh Cathay, I had such high hopes for you and you let me down. I’ve been searching and searching, trying place after place to find a local take out spot I can keep coming back to. You, Cathay, are not that place
–sigh–
Pretty standard order: chicken chow mein, pork fried rice, sesame chicken and two egg rolls. Now where shall I begin. Let’s start with the chicken chow mein — not much to say, just very… bland, flavorless. Moving on, pork fried rice — not much to say, just very… bland, flavorless. Egg rolls — not much to say… you can see where I’m going with this.
The sesame chicken, however, was…(drum roll please)…bland, flavorless and way crunchier and choke-​inducing than sesame or any chicken for that matter should be. I’m not kidding here folks, my girlfriend choked on a piece/​shard of sesame chicken and had to cough it up, really kind of scary actually; i had never witnessed someone choking on food before let alone my woman choking on a hunk of overly crunchy poultry.
Soooooo, yeah, back to my search for a worthy take-​out place. Sorry Cathay, you’re just not my cup of green tea, or choke-​inducing chicken, or chow mein, or fried rice, or…

I am a sucker for some good ol’ take home Chinese (the only way you can get it here). The food is higher quality and more affordable than most, but the standard menu is still applicable. Most of the time won-ton’s are part of the package and the fried rice is a must-​buy, every time. Food is always ready in 5 minutes or so.
The owners/​operators are some of the nicest people you will meet. If you happen to frequent this place, they will remember you and appreciate your business more and more every time.
Careful when you plan for taking out here. They close early on Sunday and are not open Monday.
Since I can see Cathay’s sign from my sidewalk, there is no doubt that I will be back for some not-​so-​guilty indulgence!

Dont be fooled by this little noodle hidden in South Minneapolis between a steak joint and a new Christian science bookstore. The service and food will quickly have you look past the décor and see that the food produced out of this little place probably ranks as high any take out venue in the Twin Cities… hands down!
I think the rule of thumb of judging the quality of the types of products a Chinese restaurant uses is the quality of rice they use. The rice here is why i drive over 20 min one way for a $ 5 box of beef fried rice for the last 15 years. The consistency is another reason I stay loyal to this small business, ive never had a bad output of food in 15 years which says something being a chef and food snob myself.

My family and I have been ordering take out from here since the late 1980’s! it is fantabulous!!! Great chicken chow mein! LOVE LOVE LOOOOOVE IT!

I’ve been taking out food from Cathay for years (It’s take out only). I’ve heard that it’s been around for 50 or 60 years… and there’s a good reason for that… it’s much better than you’d expect from its down-​scale exterior.
This is a classic throw-​back Cantonese joint with excellent Chow Mein, Chicken Almond Ding, Egg Foo Yung (order it «well done»)…all the good stuff. Their Shrimp with Lobster Sauce is not to be missed!!!
Look here… they have the best «classic» fried egg rolls in town. They’re the old style, seriously deep fried, so you have to be able to take a bit of oil, but they’re tremendous. Also, their cream chees won tons are savory. They’re light, crispy and not over-​laden with cream cheese. And if you spend over $ 18 (or $ 16…I can’t remember), they give you a free order of them.
Some of the dishes are a bit oily… you just have to hunt and peck for the good ones. But Cathay is worth the trip.

Ordered takeout from Cathay for the first time simply based on web reviews and was very pleased. Chinese takeout restaurants can be a little scary to try for the first time… they don’t seem to care about what images the ordering area may conjure up… this local joint is no exception. I would have never tried it were it not for the web. Anyway, the food was hot, fresh, and delicious, although next time I will ask them to kick up the heat. Portions are huge. Prices very fair. THEIR EGG ROLLS ARE THE BEST! Also, this place has been in business, same name same location, for 65 years. They are doing something right.