Chan An Restaurant

Been eating here for over 20 years! Always good, hot, and fresh no matter what you get!

My favorite local Chinese take out. I have been visiting for years and have been pleased with the service and the food is good.
I just wish they delivered and the place didn’t look like such a dump.

Always been my go to for Chinese… best gen. tso I’ve had other than New Dragon. The hidden gem is the sweet n sour chicken but you have to order the sauce on the side n dip em!!! The lo mein is one of the best! Awesome place for the price!

After living in the area for so long and never trying Chan An, I decided to give it a go a few weeks back. Glad I did, because I’m now a fan.
It’s definitely better than Phong May House (see my review if you want to compare). I think my initial reservations about going here revolved around what it looked like from the outside, and to some degree what it looks like on the inside as well. It’s in the Crafton Ingram Shopping Center and it looks like a dive. But it’s a great dive. There are tables for dine-​in eating, but I’d say more than 90% of Chan An’s business is take out. They don’t do delivery.
But that’s no big deal, as the food is always ready in about ten minutes, unless they’re really busy, in which case it’ll be twenty. So what’s good here?
Well, for starters, I love the wonton soup. Chan An uses a dark broth that is actually packed with flavor, unlike all the other Chinese eateries in the area which stick to a chicken-​based broth, which is always flavorless for the most part. I don’t get how that happens. Someone please explain it to me. The lack of flavor, not the base, that is.
I’m a fan of the sweet and sour pork here, as well as the cashew chicken. I’ve noticed Chan An likes to use lightly battered dark meat pieces of chicken with a darker sauce when it comes to some of their dishes such as the cashew chicken. It can sometimes be a little salty, but most days it’s right on the money. Plus they also throw in water chestnuts, which I love and wish more Chinese restaurants would do.
The egg rolls are really good. Not greasy, not overdone, but just right. The fried wontons are good and the beef on the stick is amazing. It’s not your usual beef on a stick. Well, it is, but then they wind up deep frying the beef before skewering it, and I’ve never had it like that, but it’s really tasty. It bring out the sweetness of the beef really well.
The people who run the place are super friendly and they’ll do their best to accommodate your tastes if you want something made a little differently. The prices are good and in line with other affordable Chinese restaurants. So don’t let the look of the place fool you. Chan An does a lot of business and I’d say that’s mostly down to the quality of their food. Convenience is nice, too, but that doesn’t always make for tasty eats. So give these guys a try if you’ve been on the fence about ‘em like I was. I dig their vittles.
UPDATE: 12/​22/​2014
I’m upping my review of Chan An’s to five stars (from four). It’s become my regular go-​to stop for quick and tasty Chinese food. The whole place is like one big happy family between the employees and the clientele. Everyone who goes is pretty much a regular.
A couple nights ago, I went and after I came in and placed my order, a small army arrived behind me. It got rather crowded quickly with everyone standing around waiting to get their takeout. At one point, the cashier was trying to tell one of the customers where the various sauce packets were and saw that there was one packet of soy sauce left in the bin. I offered to help him restock, and he directed me to where they kept all the packets. I was soon refilling the bins as fast as I could. It was amusing. It’s that kind of place.
I returned again last night and te same guy and I talked a bit while I was waiting for my order. He had gone to the Strip District earlier in the day and bought some cheese. So we started discussing our mutual love for cheese, and I directed him to Wheel and Wedge and their great cheeses. He sliced off a piece of his Strip District cheese and handed it to me to share. It was tasty. I know this has nothing to do with Chan An’s food, but it’s this sort of laidback and enjoyable experience that keeps me coming back as much as the vittles.

If you have to read the menu, then you may never have been to any take out Chinese restaurant in the past 30 years. They must keep printing costs down by using it in 1000s of restaurants across the U.S.
Prices are ok. You will be just under $ 10 for a combo with fried rice, egg roll, and drink.
The General Tsos here is actually a little different than most. The sauce is not as red and sweet as some. It’s more brown and spicy. It was different than expected but good.
The service was very good. The lady that took my order was polite and attentive. After arriving I decided to eat in just to save time and she immediately brought my drink and egg roll over to my table. It was crisp and not greasy. But good.
The rest was served in the tiny silver takeout tray. At first I was surprised, but when I realized I wasn’t going to finish my meal, it made sense to serve it this way. When she noticed I wasn’t eating anymore she brought over a lid and a bag to take home.
They stayed fairly busy while I was here and quickly served people and got the take outs quickly turned around.
There aren’t many other options in the area but if you want take out, this is worth a try.

I’ve been ordering from this restaurant for many years. We love their food. I love the people who own the restaurant; I’ve literally watched their children grow up as I would go to get my pick up order. And in all these years they have never made a mistake in our order. You know exactly what you’re getting here every time – tasty food, inexpensive, and prepared quickly.

Not bad.
I work and live very close to this place and have orded about 3 or so times here in the past couple of momths. Take out i add… i wont eat inside lol kind of germy and not my cup of tea when it comes to dining.
last i ordered the general tsos chicken dinner portion. These people hook it up when it comes to portion. Chicken was good, too much sauce though. sodium heaven. I would def keep ordering take out here. Although if i wasnt living in the area i probably would forget about thia place.

Yum yum their food is cheap and fresh I love there garlic chicken and their steamed dumplings!

I’m not sure why this place is listed in the North Side and has the wrong zip code, but all of the other info is correct, which is good!
My co-​workers and I ordered from their lunch menu yesterday where all meals were under $ 6! When I went to pick up the food I received a box filled with food for $ 20. I was in disbelief!
When I got it back to the office I saw that they threw in 2 free egg rolls, a nice touch for an egg roll fan like me!
We were all impressed with the quality and quantity of our meals!
We’re already talking about ordering from there again this week!

I have been ordering here since I was little. Their Generl Tso’s is my favorite. Other favorites: pork fried egg roll, fried won ton and the Sweet and Sour Chicken. The lunch prices are awesome. The dinner is more expensive but the same portion as lunch — so try to get there during lunch hours. My only complaint is that they do not deliver.

Chan An is a hole in the wall establishment tucked into a corner of the unremarkable Crafton-​Ingram shopping plaza. That being said, Chan An serves up some of the best Chinese food you can find in the west end. I am very partial to their bean curd, it is delicious (it’s all I usually get!). Their egg rolls are also some of the best I’ve had, very light and crispy, very fresh. The dining area itself is nothing special but is very clean.

My husband and I have been getting chinese food here since I moved up iin June. It’s our favorite chinese food place. We love the seafood options and the added bean sprouts in the fried rice and other dishes is a great texture change from the places where I used to live. (Eastern Panhandle, WV).
We try to go once a week, and to order over 10.00 for the free egg rolls!
The staff is nice and I would recommend giving them a try if you’ve been wary of it until now.

Chan Am of Crafton. A So-​So Chinese restaurant. Absolutely nothing special about this place. The Lunch Special for 5.35 isn’t too bad, though. I tried the General Tso’s (of course) and it was not the tastiest I’ve ever had (–1). They are eat in and pick up only (–1).
All in All, if I’m desperate I might order again, but probably not.