Hula Inn

Great little family run Chinese restaurant tucked away in a small shopping center in Sterling. I’ve ordered from here many, many times… From Chow fun, lo mein, Kung pao to salt and pepper shrimp, it’s always good and tasty. If you never tried them, give their chicken wings a shot. Some of the best I’ve had anywhere!

This place is DIRTY… PERIOD… nothing more to be said. I had a cooked cockroach in my Combination Lo Mein. Called to complain and they couldn’t even give me my full money back. This place is disgusting and disrespectful. They tried to make me seem like I made it up, when it’s clear as day mixed in with the food and the sauce. I am so sick right now, I can’t believe I was eating this. On top of it all I am currently 6 months pregnant, and I cannot believe I choice to eat this crap! I ordered it from work, and I promise you everyone will hear about this… NEVER EAT HERE!!! THEY NEED TO HAVE THE KITCHEN AND RESTAURANT CLEANED! They deserved to be shutdown!

Originally was in this location because there was supposed to be a deli on the corner, but they weren’t set up yet, so I walked around the corner and found the Hula Inn. Opened the door and the place was pretty hot from lack of AC. A soap opera was showing above the bar. They had a single customer. After a few moments, a bored looking Chinese lady came out from the kitchen. I asked her if the sushi was any good, and she just shrugged. I told her that wasn’t much of an endorsement, so I looked over the menu and settled on something simple. Good old General Tso’s. I asked if I could have white rice. She ignored me. I asked her again if I could have white rice. She said, «If you want.» I then decided to risk it and get some sushi since I’m always on the lookout for some hidden gem. I got the sashimi ($ 6.25) and settled in to watch some soap opera and wait. About 15 minutes later she comes out and hands me the bag, but forgot my drink. I open up my bags in the car, and there are three of the vilest pieces of sashimi I’ve ever seen. The presentation is awful. The wasabi is dark green and dry. I try it and it’s awful. I open the General Tso’s. Typical cast-​off-​chicken pieces drenched in sauce. On a gigantic bed of brown rice. The egg roll was spongy and tasted of unchanged cooking oil. I threw ¾ of it in the trash. Almost gave it to the crows eagerly flying overhead. The only good part was the price. I definitely didn’t break the bank.
If you’re starving or have no standards, you’ll like this place. Otherwise, drive up the road towards Herndon and there are plenty of other better options.

I ordered lunch. It didn’t get here for an hour and fifteen minutes. I only tipped the driver a dollar he asked me why such a crappy tip. I told him because it took you over an hour to get it here. The driver said I only get paid my tips and if you ever order from here again I will spit in your food. I Called the restaurant and a man picked up who told me he didn’t speak English. Then A women got on the line and started yelling at me about how it wasn’t their fault. Eat at your own risk.

I wish I could say I loved the food here, but I can’t. The people working there are phenomenal, so it pains me to write a slightly negative review about their food. But it was pretty disappointing. However, if you like overly Americanized Chinese food, this would be a great place for you!
The «fried rice» was just white rice with soy sauce, no lie. No egg, no veggies. The sweet and sour chicken and general tso’s shrimp were presented in a rather unusual way too. The proteins were in a separate container from the sauce. At first I thought this was exceptionally clever so the batter didn’t get soggy, but after trying it, it just wasn’t as good as when it all gets mixed together and the flavors soak in. It reminded me of serving macaroni separate from the sauce, which is a big sin to me.
Also, there was too much breading on the shrimp and they were shaped into rings, which wasn’t at all optically appealing. I felt like I was eating a shrimp donut and started dipping them in the separate container of sauce like I do with a cookie in coffee. I looked incredibly American eating it that way. But I did it because I wasn’t keen on their general tso’s sauce. It was tangy, but there was no heat to it. The shrimp-o’s tasted better without it. Maybe that’s why everything was served separate from the sauce…

I come here just because the location is close for lunch. For a price of under $ 8 for a buffet, you get a surprisingly tasty meal. As I mentioned this place is small maybe seats up to 16 people. The buffet selection is not a lot but what lacks in quantity makes up for QUALITY. I hate salty Chinese food and this place is definitely not bombarded with MSG. All of the dishes taste great even the crab wonton (not just cream cheese) and hot and sour soup (perfect balance of sour and spice).

This rating is for my lunch today.
Hula Inn is always a go to place for my coworkers and I when we don’t want to step out for lunch. We call for delivery. We like this place. Today, boy am I so in love with my meal. I ordered Singapore rice noodles with chicken and a hot & sour soup. The noodles were oh so DELICIOUS! I ate every strand of noodles, every piece of chicken, and even the onions too. The dish is perfectly seasoned. The amount of curry seasoning used was just right. The hot & sour soup was definitely cooked with tender loving care. Every spoonful of soup is like a perfect marriage. Well mixed and cared for. Unlike when you tried other hot & sour soup you can taste the vinegar the restaurant used to make the soup taste sour, but Hula Inn, they use more than just vinegar (if they use vinegar at all). My stomach is full and my taste buds is happy. Now, I just hope I don’t fall asleep.

I normally do not make reviews. But this is a absolute disaster. I placed an order for carryout/​delivery as I did not cook tonight. I have despised most restaurants in Herndon, VA because the food sucks.
I have pictures of what is to be called fried chicken. I have never seen fried chicken look like this. I will be finding a way to have this fixed.
This is the last straw. I never seen chicken like this. I will throw it away. Back in NY, DC and MD the Chinese restaurants are known for frying chicken. What happened?
Disgusting.
This is why I order Domino’s Pizza always.
Nasty.
Repulsive!
Gross!
Burnt!

Hula Inn has awesome food at a great price. It’s the best in the area. It is not for dinning in. If you are looking to dine in go somewhere else, but for take-​out or delivery it is awesome.

This is our #1 pick for take out or delivery Chinese food. We’ve never actually dined in at Hula Inn, so I can only attest to the food, not the ambiance. The food is consistently good quality and the portion size is pretty generous. Our go-​to is the combo lo mien, General Tso’s chicken, and sesame beef. We’ve ordered from Hula Inn at least 20 times in the past year and have never been disappointed by anything. It’s worth noting that delivery is really fast (an average of 20 minutes from the time we order to the time it arrives at our door)! Definitely give these guys a try!

This rating is only for the lunch buffet. The cheapness in me is coming out, my father would be proud of me. Come on, what do you expect for $ 7.50 with tax?
As most said, this place is pretty small, only a few tables if you choose to eat in. I’m assuming they are doing some dine in business because they have a liquor license. Get some hard booze and cheap chinese food. The buffet bar has about 10 or so dishes on there. Most of them are chicken dishes. The have lo mein, fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, chicken and broccoli, triple delight, general tso chicken, egg rolls, spring rolls, crab ragoon, friend dumplings, and a few other dishes and 2 soups. Of the soups, I only tried the hot and sour, and to be honest, it was actually pretty decent. A little too much thickners, but still had a good flavor.
The rest of the dishes tasted like most Chinese buffets, everything taste the same. Though these all tasted pretty good. You really can’t get much cheaper than $ 7.50 in Herndon, unless you get subway or fast food. The food does go fast. This place is frequently visited by contractors coming in for takeout and going back to the worksite. So they load up and run. There is a person watching the food levels and calls back the dishes as the levels get low. The good thing is, most of time, the food hasn’t been there too long.
Ruth C., I know you think I’m crazy =), but that’s o.k., because I am crazy. =) If a place is cheap and decent, it’s O.K., in my book =)
If you are starving, want a cheap lunch, and don’t care that the place is old and grungy, then come on out here. I might even take some co-​workers here, I hope they don’t get scared away. =)

I give this place a strong EHHHH?! Service was great, portions above average, price reasonable but the General tzo’s Chicken and Chicken and string beans I got were virtually tasteless. Very bland.

This restaurant is a joke.
A few weeks after they told us they would not deliver to Coutryside, we found an ad on the door…
Liars…no more Hula In for us!

One and a half stars would be relatively generous. I feel like I’m betraying my heritage for knocking a place whose front of the house is run by real live Asians, but wow. Even with charity points for its awkward location in a small strip on a side truck route, walking in and smelling stale urine despite a sign stating «No Public Restroom» sort of set the tone for the whole visit. No problems with service; a little too long to clear plates occasionally despite being able to count the number of tables on your fingers, but very attentive with opening questions and water refills.
$ 7 lunch buffet. You almost don’t get what you pay for: one stand of about eight or ten hot trays and two soups. At first glance the pupu options looked the most appetizing, but the cream cheese in the crab rangoon tasted slightly off despite a decently done wrapper, and both the spring rolls and eggrolls were uninspiring in flavor and filling. The illusion of acceptability continued with the sweet and sour chicken with the lightly puffy exterior but slightly tough, almost freezerburned meat within. The egg drop soup was palatable, though the fried wonton noodles on the counter and a dash of finely ground black pepper at tableside practically make this a highlight. Triple delight and general tso’s chicken went fast, leaving behind the unsightly tiny nuggets of hunan chicken for the other carnivores. Fried pieces of bone-​in chicken were a tad a underdone at the core, yet perfectly crisp on the outside. Barbeque beef dumplings are rightfully hard to mess up, though greasier than necessary. Curry chicken was almost delightful after everything else tried, without help from the mushy fried rice. Fried donut balls were way too sugary on the outside. Poorly flavored squid-​shrimp-​celery stir fry. At this point I didn’t care to try the hot and sour soup.
Sorry but no one who’s had the real deal would eat here. Won’t be back when the highlight of the lunch was the super kawaii zodiac placemat.

I’m giving this 3 stars for the atmosphere and that they sell Tiki drinks with the glasses, which made me feel like Giligans Island.
They have a 3 seat bar with a small television and two older ladies were sitting there and happen to see Za Za gabore on Entertainment tonight (I was sitting near them). One lady reminisced about how she used to wait on Za Za at the airport restaurant in 1950. Ok a bit funny but then from her pink lipsticked and cigarette stained lips said at least 4 times that she really enjoyed waiting on Buddy Epson and then full tangent mentioned what she would do to Sarah Palin’s son inlaw. Yep very creepy but funny! funny! funny! I couldn’t stop laughing and there were tears in my eyes.
My dinner (Hula Special) wasn’t good. It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve eaten but if I could have gone back in time…
it was some sort of General Tao Chicken with deep fried dark meat bone in chicken. Normally this would be alright, but I wasn’t expecting it and it was a great deal of fat and skin.
Its cheap and sometimes when you go cheap you deserve to get a cheap meal.

Very dodgy looking place in a below par strip mall on the back end of Herndon? Check.
No marketing budget, no signage change when the place became a Chinese buffet lunch place? Check.
Maybe 4 or 5 tables inside and a grungy bar full of 1970s Nattie Boh memorabilia? Check.
What does all of this add up to? Honestly, perhaps the finest Chinese lunch buffet place I have ever eaten at. The food was magnificent, It was like eating in somebody’s house (and in fact probably is). Two types fo soup including a delicious hot and sour, about 7 or 8 different types of entrees, including a pleasant curry, spare ribs and other sundries. Even had some massive dessert thing.
Cheap, authentic Chinese street food. A far cry from that Red Panda chasin that is in every mall and thank god for that.

This place was pretty grungy. I washed my hands after I left. the interior was dingy and everything looked pretty outdated. It was only 7 bucks for their lunch buffet, and the food wasn’t too bad. Okay who am I kidding– even as far as cheap Chinese joints go, the edibles here were extremely salty, oily, and guaranteed to make for a fun night of heartburn.
Not to mention my boss and I were the only people in the place (should’ve been hint #1 to ball out), and the wait staff managed to neglect filling our water glasses several times.
Something about this place just screamed «1990s» to me… it was like the Quantum Leap of chinese food. I’d probably say skip this place, unless you’re low on funds and feeling ballsy: x