No. 1 China

The best Chinese food in all of Philly!!! And the fastest delivery too! Everything comes to the door still hot and they have great specials!

Ordered delivery through here. They came in 30 minutes on a sunday afternoon. The food was terrible (or as Charles Barkley says «TURRIBLE!») the general tso’s chicken was mushy and did not taste like general tso’s sauce at all. The pizza roll was flavorless. The dumpling was the only thing that was decent. There’s far too many other quality chinese delivery spots to settle for this joint.

My favorite dish here is the Singapore noodles! They make it a little spicey and with egg, chicken, shrimp, and pork. I like how they make their fried rice too. I my opinion, fried rice should not have diced carrots!

My boyfriend and I ordered from here last week. I’ve ordered from here other times and have not had a problem. But last week I ordered sweet and sour chicken and my boyfriend ordered Chicken and Broccoli. The delivery was fast and when we opened the containers my boyfriend received Shrimp and Broccoli. Neither of us eat shrimp so I called and the woman on the phone said she would send out the correct order. So we threw out the shrimp and broccoli and when the delivery guy came with the correct one he asked for the shrimp dish back. I was appalled! I told him we threw it out and he demanded it back. What would they have done with it?! They should not be wanting it to resell it to someone. After arguing with me for 10 min he finally gave me the correct dish and went on his way. I am now skeptical ordering from here as I don’t know where my order has been previously.

I would never return to this place.
I got chicken lo mein. There wasn’t a lot of chicken, but the chicken that was there was decent. What bothered me was how dry and tasteless the noodles were. They were essentially plain. There were also little to no veggies. Maybe a carrot here and there.
Go some where else!

Their food is okay but they handle deliveries in an annoying way. I pay a delivery fee and tip the drivers well to get food delivered to my door. They insist that their drivers not enter an apartment building. Forcing us to climb down 5 flights of steep stairs and back up because they are unwilling to accommodate a consistent customer. Won’t be ordering from them again because of this. Poor business approach.

Had Kung Pao chicken delivered tonight and it was dry dry dry. Called and the lady on the phone couldn’t have been more indifferent. Not only was there a lack of ‘any’ sauce but the chicken was terribly overcooked. I’ve ordered here many times but the INDIFFERENCE of my call to express my displeasure — well that is when I call it quits on the customer relationship/​experience front.
Crab Rangoon — skip it. Nothing but ordinary. Only order them bc they never had them in Central NJ.
HAD my concerns been given a thought, I would be pixxed bc of the dialect — thought the total was 17.77 and it was 13.77 — I gave the driver $ 21. No one said a thing.
Time to find a new Chinese restaurant — hmmm can’t imagine this will be too hard. Hear the #! Han Dynasty is down the street.

I only had the crab rangoons but there was literally no taste of crab whatsoever. For less than $ 4 I wasn’t that upset but it was still disappointing. It just tasted like fried cream cheese, kinda gross. My roommate had the General Tso’s meal and said it was okay, but he probably wouldn’t order it again. Not so great.

I like their fried calimari

The food came a little late. The food was not hot, it wasn’t even really warm. The rice was mushy, the shrimp was mushy, and really had no taste.
I am not sure about some of the raving reviews on here. NOTHING I ordered from this place was close to a five star… Honestly, they got one star just so I could write a review.
I threw out more than half of the food.
Never Again!

I have ordered here many times. The food is always good, no frills, standard Chinese takeout. Living in the neighborhood, I always see the owners’ children playing outside. Sure, it’s aesthetically unappealing but the food meets the requirements and I like to support a little family owned business.

The food here is pretty sub par. It tends to be really greasy and somewhat bland. The chicken is overcooked and low on meat/​high on breading. There is another Number 1 Chinese restaurant on South Street (But how can that be???) We tried there and it is much better.
If you are in the area and really want to try it, go for it. Just make sure you do delivery. Don’t do pick up. You don’t want to see it.

Do yourself a favor and read the inspection reports on this place before eating there (Phila Public Health — Food Safety website). After finding out this place has been dumping their grease down city sewers for years, I was invited to see their attempted grease collection efforts first-​hand. The kitchen and food prep areas are truly despicable – enjoy the free egg rolls that they cooked hours prior and left sitting out in huge batches unrefrigerated!
If you want great chinese, spend a few more bucks and go to Mustard Greens up the street

I love this place. It’s just around the corner from where I live, so that’s convenient. I haven’t ever had any complaints, and it’s always a fast pick up if you call beforehand.
I have a tradition of eating Chinese takeout for New Year’s Day, and we’ve done that 2 years in a row now, from them. We do order from them otherwise, if we don’t feel like cooking.
I will still be coming back for more because the food is delicious each time.

Wow, I really don’t get where all the negative reviews for this place are coming from. I’ve been ordering from No. 1 for around 10 years and I’ve only had a handful of minor complaints about the place the whole time. It’s true, every once in a while my order would be on the bland yet greasy side, but honestly I’ve experienced that at every single Chinese food restaurant I’ve ever ordered from more than once. Guess it depends on who’s cooking that day. That’s not to say it’s excusable but, oh well, it happens sometimes and I don’t believe it’s grounds for a 1-​star rating.
I have yet to find a better vegetarian General’s chicken and their veggies are always fresh and steamed just right. The fact that they will substitute any meat item on the menu with a vegetarian option, AND for a 10% discount, scores lots of points right there for me. Also, they are one of the only places that have the light, green dumpling shells as opposed to the thick, doughy white ones most other places offer (blech). And yes, their delivery is pretty darn speedy, even on weekend evenings.
Another thing I don’t get is why people complain and deduct stars when they go to an Americanized Chinese food restaurant and receive Americanized Chinese food. What, you can’t tell from the menu before you order that the dishes are not going to be «authentic?» The Super Happy Flying Jade Triple Tiger Phoenix lunch special didn’t give it away for ya? If you want roast pork belly or yak blood cubes, come on, you know you’re not going to find it at the strip mall joint with the typical red, black and green menu with the dragon/​panda/​fans & cherry blossoms clipart on the front. But, I digress…
Anyway, for a dinky little hole in the wall, I can honestly say this place turns it out and I’m sorry to hear that some people just don’t dig it. Different strokes, I suppose. I’ll continue to patronize No. 1 as long as they keep doing what they’re doing.

Fast delivery! Sesame wontons were good. Shrimp fried rice okay. Wonton soup okay. Convenient and nearby.

You might be number 1, but not for Chinese food.
As a connoisseur of General Tso’s chicken, and have had it at dozens and dozens of places, this place falls VERY short. I gave it 2 tries and both failed. Their sauce was chunky and as anyone knows, it should be dark colored and syrupy. This chicken lacked the taste also.
You’ll still get a one from me but it wont be for the food — it’ll be for your Unilocal rating.

It is what it is… No frills chinese-​american take-​out.
The delivery is fast & free, the food is decent.
It’s perfectly fine for when you want somehting quick.

This place is pretty awful. It always gives me a tummy-​ache (2 times now). Nothing special about it as far as Chinese food goes. Plus, after reading Rob’s review, it’s no wonder I always feel sick after eating here– see below.
The only plus is proximity to my apartment, but I think from now on I’ll walk the extra block or two to get something better.

Food was okay, normal quality Chinese food. It was quick and close, so I’m a little biased to give it three stars.
Interesting note, while I was there a woman was sleeping on the counter. Literately.
Sleeping beauty finally woke up when I was leaving…