China Saute

When my normal cheap Chinese place failed me tonight (how can a Chinese joint be closed on Sundays — Lai Lai Express?!), I had to find a nearby replacement. Thanks to Unilocal mobile search, this is my closest alternative, and with pure faith I headed over to China Sauté and hoped for the best as I was determined to satisfy my Cheap Chinese craving and to get my friend her much needed dinner.
I have driven by China Sauté many times, always looks empty. The eat in area is quite huge for a mainly to-​go place. I can only imagine dining in during lunch for convenience… there’s not any décor to speak with. I am guessing it’s a family business with parents in the kitchen, younger daughter at the counter taking orders, older daughter being the delivery person and a young boy who tags along with older sister when not playing with his scooter at the restaurant or asking patrons random questions (ex. What’s my favorite wild animal?). I didn’t mind any of the informalities as a to-​go restaurant but it’s not good for dine in experience.
The menu offers the standard; prices are average. $ 4.85 for 6 wings, or $ 5 for 6 dumplings look a little higher than my normal joint. I asked the young girl who took my order about their Five Flavors Beef which was one of the dinner combo, she wasn’t a talkative type, so I went with Sa Cha Chicken to be safe ($ 8.25 and it comes with fried rice, egg roll, a chicken wing and soup of choice). I also had a large order of Beef Lo Mein ($ 6.75, vs the small order which is $ 5.25) and a sweet tea for a total of just under $ 18.
The wait was longer than what I’m used to, about 25 minutes. That’s when I realize they have quite a bit of delivery business. By the time my order was ready, I was impressed by the sheer size of the brown bag that was holding my food.
VERDICT: The food smells good, looks solid and of great quantity. I was impressed by my Sa Cha Chicken; it was more a dry sauté and not covered in sauce, which is more Sa Cha like than any other places I could recall. Just enough heat (aka spicy), not overloaded by random veggies (I HATE uncooked carrots taking up all the room, and there was barely any), good flavor overall. The lo mein met expectation, tons of noodles, can use a little more meat. The one wing that came with the combo was good, but can’t say the same about the spring roll… the filling had an odd flavor I couldn’t figure out. The hot & sour soup was ok, very liquid-​y and doesn’t have much substance. Sweet tea was a good balance of sweet and tea.
CONCLUSION: for a last minute substitute, I was impressed. And as you can expect from a legit cheap Chinese place, I think I just consumed an illegal amount of MSG, but they have low/​no sodium/​oil option… but then why bother to have cheap Chinese if you are skipping the 2 things that define it.
SUGGESTION: Order ahead and pick up. Drink lots of water afterward.

The food is okay, there is better and less expensive Chinese food out there. I did a carry-​out order and was appalled when I walked in and it smelled like garbage. There were three children working behind the counter handling the phones and taking my order and it was really hot inside, which made me question the quality of the food, we didn’t get sick, but I doubt I’ll go back.

Trust your gut or your gut will let you know you’ve made a mistake. I walked in and there was no one inside, the place looked filthy and no one was at the counter.
I walked back out but because of the convenience, my craving for Chinese, and the ability to run a few nearby errands while waiting, I went back in. I was finally greeted and made my order.
There isn’t much more to say. I’ve had better sesame chicken at Panda Express. I didn’t get food poisoning but I was feeling ill afterwards.
Some people work out or do yoga the morning after hard night of partying to sweat out the toxins. I was up at 5:15 for a 5-​mile run to unload this experience.

So, fighting a little cold, I wanted wonton soup & my go-​to craving when I don’t feel like cooking and want Chinese delivery. After passing China Sauté the other day, I was excited to see they delivery, with only a $ 12.00 minimum. So, I ordered a spring roll, wonton soup, chicken fried rice, and beef with broccoli. I was quoted 40 minutes and they were here w/​in 35, and everything was warm! The egg roll & soup were great and hit the spot. The fried rice was ok, I was looking for a little more egg& veggies and there were definitely a few shady pieces of chicken. The beef with broccoli was great, fresh broccoli in a nice brown sauce, although I wish there was a little more. Strange, but I love pouring the sauce over my rice. Overall, everything was ok & I will definitely order from them again.

Terrible. The Hunan chicken and the general tso’s were the worst I’ve ever had

Have been there several times and find Fried rice and Lo Mein are pretty good. Service is good too.

My boyfrined loves this place. We always order by phone and pick up. Its pretty inexpensive. The service is always great.
The only thing is if you order on a Friday night, order an hr or 1hr ½ in advance… they get really busy, so it takes a while…

Should really be 3.5 stars, but we’ll round up bc I was surprisingly impressed.
Unlike my last Chinese takeout adventure, I checked out the reviews on Unilocal!before picking a spot to fix my Chinese food craving. While the reviews were at both ends of the extreme, I thought there was enough upside that it was worth the risk… and I was rewarded.
What I really liked about this place is that they have captured the essence of Chinese takeout. While I didn’t think that anything here knocked my socks off, it did meet expectations. Shrimp w/​mixed vegetables was tasty and still had texture. Shrimps weren’t rubbery and the flavoring was not too salty, which I can appreciate. The hot and sour soup is kicking with the right flavors and the viscosity is perfect (see other Chinese place that messed up this soup).
Missed out on ⁴⁄₅ stars because the delivery was pretty slow – try 1.5 hours. I gave them a slight pass, I had the heads up that the delivery would take a bit over a hour. While this is generally not acceptable, they were in a bind. Shrug.
It was a lot of food for two – a dinner special, small side, and soup is more than enough for both people to get their fill. I’ll probably be ordering from this place when I have a craving for some good ol’ Chinese takeout food.
dmo out.

Best Chinese food around! I feel bad for the couple of people who had an off-​putting experience — don’t let that deter you from this place. It’s family run and operated; the kids all chip in and help. They were a life-​saver when I was sick — they delivered hot, steaming food within 20 minutes of ordering several days in a row. The flavors are spot on. Waaay better than the other Chinese restaurants in the area. Fresh, quality ingredients. This is GOOD, honest, fairly priced, delicious food.

The Not Yet Famous China Sauté of Dilworth! Don’t let the appearance of this place fool you — Hands down, the best Chinese I have found in Charlotte after moving here two years ago. What a journey it has been to find decent Chinese down here!

CLOSED! The quality of their food is WONDERFUL! My family and I have been going here for several years. Great family ran operation. Authentic Chinese fast food. Whenever I have the choice of some «high-​end» chain chinese restaurant, I always choose China Sauté (and a picnic in the park) instead. Good Food!

OMG! So I call this restaurant for delivery and they pick up and hang up… Ordinarily I would say it was an accident but after the 5^th call and they hung up, of course I just kept doing it until i got a fast busy… awful

My favorite Chinese food delivery in Charlotte! The are quick and the food is amazing. I have tried several things from here and they are all good! Not to mention, it’s cheap! I love this place! If you’re looking to have food delivered this is somewhere you should consider.

If you are in the mood for bland room-​temperature delivery that takes 2 hours to get to you, this is definitely the place for you! All that and the delivery lady yells at you trying to tell you that she is in front of your house when she isn’t even close. Yup, this place is pretty much the worst place on earth.

Great food, decent prices, the family that runs this restaurant are very friendly and kind. Delivery is quick and the food is always hot and fresh and made to order. For quick take-​out/​delivery Chinese food this place cannot be beat.

This is a great Dilworth neighborhood Chinese place. This is mostly a takeout place, but there are a couple of tables for dining in. Great food, good prices, and the family that runs the place are wonderful. Give them a try!