House of Chen

house of chen is the best in the area, they are usually pretty friendly although they might not seem as such over the phone, its because they are busy, and rightfully so, the food is damn good, and the delivery guy who is always smiling and courteous is a refreshing change from all the other places where the employees act like you’re bothering them. general tso’s. sesame, sweet and sour and the hot braised are fantastic, and it always tastes like chicken, no mystery meat! if you’re in the area and want some good, good chinese food, do not hesitate, eat at the house of chen!

I’ve been coming here for years but haven’t been in in a while. The servers are friendly and helpful, the food is excellent, and the menu is extensive.

I love that a Chinese place actually delivers. I never had a place near me that would!
The food is pretty standard… the only thing that’s stood out to me is that the fried rice is a little softer than most places. Pretty good! Crab Rangoon here is not sweet like Panda down the road. They’re creamy, savory and nicely over-​stuffed. One nice thing about this place is the portion size. All of the other options in the area charge a couple of dollars more and double the amount of food… which can be nice, but for portion control, it’s helpful not to have the option of eating myself into a coma or having mushy leftovers for the rest of the week.
As one reviewer before me said, the reason I’m not giving more stars is the phone etiquette. I never ACTUALLY know what I’m going to end up with when I place an order here. The lady who answers the phone is always very short with me — forget asking questions about menu items. Today I had to call back after placing an order because I was trying to keep up with her and I forgot to request those yummy crab rangoons. The three things she said to me on my call back were «House of Chen» «What you order?» and «Ok bye.» I mean, it’d be cool to know how much the new total owed is, but I guess that will be a fun game to play when the delivery driver gets here!
PS– I know everyone else has said it, but this place ONLY takes cash. We keep some around now specifically for this purpose.
EDIT: The Chow Mein does NOT come with noodles. It’s meat and veggies (very tastey) and fried wonton strips. Don’t expect any sort of noodles with this dish.

Grew up in the area and have been sitting down to eat & eating take out ever since I can remember.
Best crab rangoons I’ve ever found. Our standard order is vegetarian fried rice, hot & sour soup, broccoli & chicken (for the picky eaters in the family), the empress chicken, and an order of crab rangoons. Comfort food at its finest.
Very reasonable priced, and the staff is very friendly.

I love this place! I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. Everyone is so nice and they even try to remember your order! The food is affordable. Cash only! You can dine in or carry out. They also deliver! Over never once had a complaint about this place. Absolutely amazing!

I have been a regular customer for over 16 years and still love it! 99%of the time I have it delivered and at times I will pick it up if I am out and about. They have the best fried rice in STL. I love their Sweet and Sour Chicken (ALL WHITE BREAST MEAT-​Breaded) and their Beef and Broccoli is amazing! My husband loves their Sesame Chicken which they allow him to specially order it «hot and Spicy». They are family owned and are great to us! Recently there was an issue with our order (1^st time in 16 years) and the owner came to our house to apologize!!! Incredible food at a great price and you will not be disappointed. If you are looking to eat in, this may not be the place for you. They have a few tables but their core business is delivery and pickup. Typical «hole in the wall» = hidden treasure.

I’ve been a regular for the last sixteen years. The staff are very friendly, always a pleasure! The fried rice is excellent and you should try the Mongolion Beef. Truly a hidden gem.

Compared to the few other Chinese restaurants I’ve had in the area I think house of Chen is the best so far. I by no means have eaten at all of the Chinese places in the area, but for the area just south of the St. Louis airport, I think this is the best one. Sesame Chicken /​Chicken fried rice is good.
Pro: Decent food, decent prices, better than China Moon.
con: CASH ONLY!!!

Yum! The best around! Thank you for always hot, always quality delivered Chinese with a friendly smile! Never disappointed yet!

I really like the House of Chen. I can see where a previous Unilocaler rated ‘House Of Chen’ a 3, a solid but not outstanding place. I understand it, but disagree. House Of Chen has consistently been a place I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Is it stylish or ‘fusion’… In a hipster neighborhood? No, no and no. And not any where near my neighborhood either. «Authentic?» Well, probably not. I’ve personally never been to China, so I’m probably not the best judge of what is authentic or not. I’ll leave that to folks native to China, or that have traveled there extensively. I’m not rating Chen on that anyway, but whether I enjoy it. Besides, nearly any ‘Irish’, ‘Italian’, ‘Mexican’… OK, you get the idea. Nearly ANY restaurant of any ‘ethnicity’ in the States is going to have it’s own verying local spin to it, some more that others. My point is, why hold a ‘Chinese’ place to a standard that it must be ‘authentic’ when we seem to overlook the fact that you’d be damn hard-​pressed to find corned beef & cabbage on the menu in any restaurant in Ireland? And since I brought it up, go ahead and order a Black & Tan in a neighborhood pub over there. Better, an ‘Irish Car Bomb’ to drink. Let me know how that works out for you. lol
I have been coming to Chen for I’m guessing 10 years. I initially started coming here with a co-​worker. It would sometimes be 5 months between visits, and Mr. Chen (OK, the owner, not sure if that’s really his name), always remembered us and what we like to order. Is this some sort of Jedi mind trick? «you’ll have General Tso’s chicken, Crab Rangoon and fried rice.». Yes, Mr. Chen. And we’ll love it! Is it health food? No. Is it authentic, probably not. Is it fresh and hot? Yes. Is it delicious? YES! So, when I started traveling, and when I’d be in town, all my friend would have to say is ‘Chen?’ when she’d want to invite me to meet for lunch. Yes, please! Later, she moved to another company, and it’s been over a year ago since she’s moved out of state. I picked my friend up at the airport yesterday, and our 1^st stop was House Of Chen. Mr. Chen greeted us as we walked inside, saying” «it’s been so long!», then «The usual?» He also remembers that my friend likes Sprite, and that I want a hot green tea, with an ice water chaser. I seriously do not know how he does that! (BTW — I didn’t NEED to have lunch, as I was going for the 2^nd day of family Thanksgiving get-​togethers, but this was too good to pass up. I just held back on the turkey and cranberries later in the evening — lol).
So yes, we all agree, House of Chen is probably not what you’d find in downtown Chóngqìng or in the countryside of Xinjiang. Fortunately, you CAN find the House of Chen in an inner-​core suburb of Saint Louis! Enjoy, preferably with a friend. Call it Chinese”-ish” comfort food, if you’d like.

Speaking of getting around to reviewing this place on Unilocal… We’ve been getting carryout from House of Chen for over seven years now and the only thing I have to complain about is the phone etiquette… everything else (that I’ve tried-​nearly) is great and most importantly its priced very well. After we moved to the area friends and neighbors told us this was the Chinese place to go in the neighborhood for quick, good, inexpensive carryout. I don’t know about authentic Chinese food because I’ve never been to China but if you’re talking about traditional Chinese dishes served in St. Louis then you can’t go wrong. Their ingredients are always fresh and the sauces very consistent over time. We personally like eating off of the combination plate menu since you get a a bit of everything without the big commitment of a whole order. The Mongolian Beef is excellent and so is the Hot Braised Chicken (white meat only is my favorite). The Veg Lo Mein and fried rice never has a bad day and the rangoon is the way they should be. Just remember, they also do their egg drop soup a little differently than others so if you like it loaded with vegetables and shrimp then you’ll get right on otherwise, get more ‘goons instead. Also, they have no problems customizing your dish either-​no bamboo shoots, no sprouts-​whatever, its always good. And you can’t beat the price!
I would’ve given it 5 starts if the dining area wasn’t what it is but its a little shop and if it helps keep their costs down then I have no problem getting it to go. Just have it delivered and it won’t even matter. Oh, and they are a CASH ONLY business so be sure to use the credit card in the ATM before you pickup.

So I’ve been getting takeout from here for a while now, and I’m finally getting around to reviewing this place. First let me just state that if you are going here expecting anything authentic just don’t bother. This is pretty standard fare Americanized Chinese food. But they are relatively high quality Americanized Chinese food… for their price. I enjoy their hot braised pork, their house special Lo Mein is definitely worth trying, and they actually have decent fried rice (I am usually not a fan). But there are some dishes that just don’t work too. I wouldn’t recommend trying the curry anything, and the dragon and phoenix though sounding impressive is just underwhelming.
This place does have a sit down section, but from what I’ve seen you may as well just order takeout or delivery. The service isn’t particularly friendly and the dining area furniture doesn’t look comfy. Also, if you are ordering takeout, remember to bring cash as they don’t take anything else.
All in all, not the best Chinese food you can get, but certainly not the worse either, and the price is right. Best value in the area from what I can tell so there is that.