Express Wok

Customer service was bad, my chicken tasted fishy. Took two bites and just left. Not coming back

We drive from Fullerton to come here every time we want Chinese food! The food is always cooked to perfection and the NOODLES are amazing!

Quite honestly the most delicious, fresh food. All the chef specials are made for you fresh. Worth the small wait. My boyfriend and I are vegetarian and they have always gone out of their way to make fresh food. Friendly service always! We love the mabo tofu & their chow mein is the best I’ve ever had!

Like another reviewer mentioned, if you don’t come here expecting high quality Chinese food, then you can leave here full and satisfied. I’ve tried plenty other quick and easy Chinese food places that have tasted better, but I’m giving Express Wok 4 stars based on their made to order food (and their service) rather than the under the heat lamp food. To be honest though, I usually order 1 of 3 items– their hot and sour soup, their egg drop corn soup, and/​or the shrimp and chicken combo.
Portion size: PLENTY. Even if you don’t like the quality of the food, you wouldn’t leave here hungry. My husband always orders the shrimp and chicken combo which comes with fried rice, chow mein, and veggies, and never once has he felt like he can use more food after eating it. I always order the large size to-​go soup and it holds at least 4 servings, if not more, worth of soup. Can’t complain.
Quality: Because this is different for everyone, there’s no wrong or right answer. Simply put, 80% of my meals are Chinese food related, and I personally have liked everything I’ve ever ordered. Yes, I mainly order soups, but I have tried their veggies, fried rice, chow mein, and their beef with broccoli, and had no problem with it. Likewise for my husband, who also thinks the soups taste great. He always seems to enjoy the shrimp and chicken combo without fail, and because he orders it repeatedly, I’m assuming taste is a thumbs up for him as well.
Service: The lady owner there is ALWAYS super sweet and she knows what repeated customers like to order without them having to remind her. Pretty neat. I witnessed it several times where people after me would walk in, be greeted by her, and she would say the order that they usually order. I wouldn’t say I’m a regular there but the every so often time I would go in, she knows exactly what I want without me even having to order it, and she would ask me if I’m picking food up for my husband as well. If so, then she would put his order in without me having to mention it.
I eat pretty good Chinese food often-​like legit restaurants in Rowland heights, Alhambra, Monterey Park, etc, but I love helping mom and pop stores as much as I can-​so for me, Express Wok does the trick when I don’t want to drive far for Asian food.

Im giving this place 4 stars, because I already know going in, it’s not going to be panda express quality. and anyone going here should know that as well. If you expect to get great cuts of meat, you’re either delusional or naïve, perhaps both. However, the food I’ve gotten has always been fresh, the woman who works there is very friendly, efficient and accommodating. I take my food to go 99% of the time, but the place is always clean when I go. My favorites are the orange chicken, broccoli beef and bbq pork. Overall, for cheap chinese, this place is pretty great,

Possibly the worst «Chinese» food ever if you want to call it. The lady is nice but food is awful. Never going back.

I came here and got a two item combo. I will never be eating here again.
The fried rice tasted like it has been sitting out for days. The chow mein didnt have much flavor. The orange chicken had soggy breading and dry meat inside. I asked if they had sweet and sour pork, they said they did but needed to make it. Except when they made it, they used the wrong sauce, and it was nasty.
If you want disgusting food, this is the place to go. If not, then avoid at all costs.

Two item plus soda is $ 7 but lady hooked it up for $ 5. Extra yummy for the kindness (^^)

After the 99 cent store left me feeling cheap and dirty I checked the time and didn’t have much of a lunch break left to I went to Express Wok for a quick bite to eat. Slightly depressing inside and a little dirty. Against my better judgement I decided to proceed because I had images of orange chicken in my head. Do was met by disappointing choice after disappointing choice and finally settled on the most flavor neutral teriyaki chicken with sauce on the side. Brought it back to work to eat. Almost gagged on the first bite but had to choke it down as someone came by and said they liked the place. Although lady behind the counter seemed nice enough I will never go back.

The little takeout restaurant is clean and the lady behind the counter was very pleasant and helpful. The food, however, was mediocre, and none of the dishes were labeled behind the glass panel. The egg fu yung was good.
I doubt I’ll be back. Everything was edible, but it’s hard to get excited about mediocre food.

A nice local chinese place similar to Panda. Good place to stop by for some lunch or cheap food!

I always pass by this place on the way home. I figure I try it. The worst decision of this century.
I ordered the chicken here. Some of the chicken comes with skin. Not only does the food taste bad, it also gave me horrible stomachaches all afternoon even after avoiding the skin. Now I really regret coming here. If you value your digestive system, avoid this place at all cost.
Someone should really call some public health authority on this place.

As much as I love Chinese food, I seldom pass on an opportunity to try out a new place when I come across one. Unfortunately, today’s stop for lunch turned out to be here. This is one of those type of places that you try once and never return… This restaurant was positively filthy. Food all over the floor. Food all over the few tables available for seating. Garbage pails overstuffed to the brim…
The food, itself, was okay. Nothing to rave over. Portion size was adequate (just barely). And the cost was under $ 7.00. So, at least that was good. But, would you believe that this hole in the wall actually charges 50 cents for a refill on your soda? Are you kidding? Free refills on soda are virtually standard for fast food restaurants everywhere in the area!!!
I suppose that the vast majority of their repeat business must be take out. Because after eating in, I just can’t imagine anyone enthusiastically returning…

inexpensive Americanized Chinese food I sometime crave for.
1 item combo $ 4.50
2 item combo $ 5.50
Egg roles $ 1 (2 pcs)
BOBA milk tea $ 1.99
$ 5.50 combo (1 item combo, 1 egg role, and soda) for lunch.
Food is ok. I stop by here for BOBA often since it’s hard to find BOBA in Brea area.
This is locally-​owned place I want to support like John mentioned in his review.
Nice people and you don’t have to stay in line forever during lunch time :)

Since I didn’t walk in with too high of an expectation, I didn’t walk out the place with too big of a disappointment. This is basically how I feel about the place.
1. The place is clean.
2. The price is fairly cheap.
3. The food is not the best and definitely not the worst.
So if you are in the mood for some not-​at-​all authentic quick Chinese food, but you don’t have a lot of money to spend, this is a good choice.

SUPER YUMMY SOUP!!! :D with EXTRA EXTRA sriracha sauce!!! :P Mmmmm!

I’ve stopped coming here on my lunch break.
I think I may have been lured into this place because it has become increasingly difficult to find a decent Chinese Take-​Out place these days. I was stoked about Express Wok, but it’s just a little too dirty for me… maybe I took off the rose-​colored glasses for a moment and realized that the chicken didn’t look that great, the rice was just barely on par with what I like.
I’m finding the open containers of chili sauce a little more inexcusable.
I still wish there were more Chinese Take-​Out places around here, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that it just seems a little too dirty.
But, again, their sweet, sweet Domo dangler machine saves them from a dreaded 1-​star review. It’s not all bad – but it’s not all that great either.

So I’ve been sampling the various Chinese Fast Food places around my shop for the «best of the best sir with honors» but so far everybody is pretty middle ground. This place definately had a more jovial host than the others that I have been to. Their steam table was totally loaded, at the time I went, with food that looked and texturally felt as if they’d been there for about an hour. But I’m not going to knock them for that, I’ll test them out a few more times to see how the rest of their options stack up.
My 2 item combo w/​drink came out to $ 6.80 which is about $.80 more than the other place I’ve been going to more often, however you don’t get anymore food than you do at the other place.
They are very welcoming people and I’ll be happy to return, especially since this place is a little closer to the shop.

Express Wok is a great place to eat affordable, tasty Chinese food in Brea. I work in the adjacent business park and have eaten here at least once every-​other week for the last 4 years. The owner is very friendly and the staff is quick, helpful and always in a pleasant mood. The restaurant itself is small and cozy and not that fancy but it is always clean.
The food is good. I particularly prefer their rice bowls topped with Orange, Sesame or Teriyaki Chicken. I pay less than $ 5 for a rice bowl topped with chicken, a fortune cookie and soft drink — and I leave with a full tummy. That to me is a bargain.
I prefer to support my locally-​owned restaurants and businesses rather than franchises or chains and this place has better food than the biggies anyway.
I love this place!

When I first walked into Express Wok, my first impression of the place wasn’t a great one. The establishment looked dingy, and it felt like everything had that thin layer of speckled grease that settles on horizontal surfaces over an extended period of time. Say what you will about judging based on looks, but I feel that when it comes to restaurants, the presentation can be an important factor in whether you order your food with anticipation or hesitation.
Before we talk about the food, I want to be fair and mention that I walked in later in the evening, around 8 to 9pm, so they may have been getting ready to close up for the day.
When I walked up to the counter, it seemed like most of the food was gone, but the food that remained looked like it had been sitting there for quite some time. I ordered a Number 3 combo (a main dish and 3 sides) with half fried rice and half chow mein, orange chicken, mushroom chicken, and broccoli beef.
The portions were generous. For $ 6.50, you will get a styrofoam takeout box stuffed with fried rice, chow mein, and two of your three sides. The third side goes into a separate, smaller styrofoam container that she fills up to a little more than half-​capacity. There is no drink included, but that was fine for me because I remembered that I had some soda at home.
When I looked at the register, the price came out to $ 7.70, but the owner only charged me $ 7.00. That MAY have been because the digital readout on the register was broken, but she seemed very nice, so I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt.
The food itself was palatable. The fried rice was a little bland, but a quick squirt of soy sauce remedied that easily enough. The chow mein was greasy and salty — everything you would come to expect in a proper Americanized Chinese restaurant. The sides were lukewarm and okay, but a wash of soda after every bite helped it go down all right.
All-​in-​all, I would go to this place if I was really craving Chinese but had not many other options. The owner seemed very kind, and I feel kind of sorry giving the establishment a poor review, but the food was lackluster at best.
tl;dr — Food was whatever, but the owner seemed like a really nice lady.