The Fortune Gourmet

I’m new to area and tried the Fortune for the first time. This is a nice family owned restaurant within walking distance in the city. Staff was friendly, the food was hot and fresh and the prices were competitive. Tony was my server. He was polite, asked me about my day and was quick with my meal. I enjoyed the calm atmosphere of the restaurant and it’s patrons. I especially enjoyed the oriental music (sort of a mix of modern and old school songs) and the ambient lighting was soothing. Additionally, Tony did not make me feel rushed and he always came by and checked on me. Good job!

We ordered for delivery last night for the first time.
We have walked passed this restaurant so many times and always see people walking in excited or leaving happy. So we decided to give it a try.
It did not disappoint. It was very good. Probably the best Chinese food I have had in a few years!
We were shocked at how much we spent, but were very pleased when we saw how large the portions were.
The husband had the Orange Chicken, even though the menu says it’s spicy — it’s not. The husband loved it.
I had the Sweet & Sour Chicken, the best I have had in a long long time.
And we both ate some of the chicken fried rice, also good!

We’ve gotten food here for years. By our count, it’s the best Chinese in town, with fresh produce and quality ingredients. They’ve never gotten our order wrong, and are always fast with delivery.

I was always a go to for Hunan Garden but decided to try this place. I love their crystal sesame chicken as it has such a different flavor than most Chinese restaurants. Another special is called crispy duck which is not on the menu but similar would be Peking duck except the crispy is chopped. SO GOOD!

I typically try to let the food do the talking at restaurants I visit, but the cleanliness of this place (or lack there of) cannot be overlooked. The bathroom was one of the most disgusting I have seen in this area. The dining room had not been detail cleaned in quite some time.
The service was inattentive and lacked any lasting impression at all. I honestly do not think this establishment would still exist if it did not reside on Caroline Street downtown. We used to order from here by means of delivery and I am wishing we stuck to that plan. Having seen the inside and experienced the service, we will not be giving them any more of our business.
On a positive note, the hot and tangy dumplings are incredible. A perfect blend of heat, garlic and Asian flair. It is a shame that I will not be having them again.

I ordered delivery from here while on business in Fredericksburg.
Service was very fast and the delivery person was extremely nice.
I ordered a lots of soups and rices so from what I can tell from those, I really liked the place.
Will order from again while in town.

I’ve eaten in and have received delivery so many times. The food is usually pretty good. The service has always been terrible. I keep going back because it’s what we know and again the food doesn’t suck. Tonight the food sucked and I’m disappointed. Out of the 4 containers we received 2 were room temp or colder and 2 were piping hot. My main course had absolutely no seasoning, I added salt to Chinese food for the first time in my life. That’s all. It was bad. Consistency is important and I’ll think twice before I spend my money here again.

The reviews led me to believe that this was a pretty good place. Perhaps the waitress was having a bad day and that’s why she threw the spoon into my soup after waiting several minutes for one. I don’t know why the food lacked the generous flavor of most places. The MSG hangover was not fun. The waitress stayed in the back of the restaurant where I could not find her when I need her.

My friends and I had a routine ritual of hitting up this place in college, particularly after we all turned 21. The food is considerably better than most take-​out chinese spots, especially for the price, and the «volcanoes» are legendary. We eventually came so many times that we worked out a bit of a relationship with the main server/​host. He still recognizes when any of us come in, which should tell you something as as we all graduated at least 4 years ago and are rarely in Fredericksburg anymore. He could be seriously obnoxious and offensive at times, but we were young and just poked fun right back at him. It earned us more than our fair share of extra strong/​free drinks, which, for all of us poor college students, was perfect. Now the behavior is a little less charming, but the place still brings back memories and we’ll stop in for a volcano once a year when we all find ourselves in town.

Yum! I ordered the sweet and sour chicken lunch combination which comes with fried rice and a drink. For $ 5.45 this is a great value. The food arrived hot crispy and on time. The food was garnished nicely. The flavors are very good. The wonton soup was very enjoyalbe. They were considerate and included a cute little packet with additional sauces, utensils and fortune cookies. The delivery driver was very polite and arrived on time. They have a new customer because am definitely going to order from them again.

This has always been my go to Chinese restaurant in Fredericksburg. The food is delicious, but I just can’t ignore the poor service anymore :(Far too often we have ordered and had pieces missing to our dinner (entrees and condiments). Twice, I’ve had a rude delivery driver :(I’m sad, because I enjoyed the food.

Went to visit a friend in Fred and she insisted on going here.
AMAZING.
They had this drink called a flaming volcano. The staff was so pleasant and amazing to us. They were attentive and funny. The bill was cheap. Food good. So good.
Definitely recommend!

First, I would like to express that I have ordered Chinese from The Fortune Gourmet religiously since I moved to Downtown Fredericksburg in 2010. They have always been fast, the food is great, and the employees knew who I was when I called. Recently, however, I had an incident with them which has prompted this review.
Last week I ordered from The Fortune Gourmet and included in my order was two orders of fried wontons and a chicken fried rice. For the first time in 3 ½ years, our order was wrong: we received two orders of fried dumplings and no fried rice. I called and explained the situation. Apparently we had not been charged for the fried rice. Easy enough, I gave them my card number again and paid for it. They said they would send two orders of fried wontons and the rice. Now, maybe I’m crazy but in every other instance I’ve encountered like this, you just scored free food due to their mistake. Awesome! Two free orders of fried dumplings! Right? No.
The driver arrived a second time with the food and after signing my credit card slip, he asked me to have the fried dumplings back. What? Our conversation went as follows:
Me: «You want the dumplings back? I don’t understand, isn’t that a health code violation?»
Driver: «No we are not going to re-​serve them.»
Me: «I don’t understand then. What are you going to do with them?»
Driver: «We will throw them away.»
Me: «I don’t understand. Then why can’t we keep them since you messed up the order in the first place?»
Driver (becoming very irritated with me, he begins to raise his voice): «People lie.»
Me (maintaining a calm tone): «Do you think I am lying? I order from you all the time. I can get the containers and show you…»
Driver (cutting me off, yelling at me, and starting to walk back to his car phone in hand): «I didn’t take the order! I didn’t mess up the order!!»
Me (finding his attitude completely unacceptable): «Whatever. I’ll get you the containers.»
I went back up to my apartment, got the two containers of fried dumplings, and returned to the doorway. Still by his car, I held up the two containers. This, is when he started screaming at me.
Driver: «Forget it! Just forget it!!!»
Me (still in a calm tone despite being royally pissed off at this point): «Don’t you even want to look in them? I’m not lying to you.»
Driver: «Just forget it!!»
And he sped off. Needless to say, I will never order from The Fortune Gourmet ever again (and neither will my friends).
**Update: we just ordered from Hunan Garden and it is absolutely fantastic!!! We’ve been missing out for the past 3 ½ years.

Eating at Fortune gourmet is a confusing experience because the food is great and there’s usually a lot of it for under ten dollars, but the terrible service makes the experience almost not worth it. There’s usually only the two waiters and they don’t seem to mind making you wait ten minutes for almost any request and are surly and unfriendly when taking your order. I eventually just had to check out and leave after ten mins of waiting for a to go box and the waiter obviously neglecting us for larger tables.
Good choice for students who don’t care about good service or are just in it for the volcanoes. Otherwise, try somewhere else.

I am absolutely in love with this place! This is the go to place when you are downtown on a saturday! My friends and I always have to start at Fortune when we plan on hitting all the local bars. The Volcano bowl is amazing! I’m sure if you have looked at any of the previous review’s you will already know what this is. The only food I have had from here is spring rolls, sweet and sour chicken, and lo mein. It’s better than most chinese places I have tried in the area. Not super greasy or heavy, very flavorful and a large amount. It is usually packed saturday nights so make sure you come a little early if you have a large party. I would def recommend this place to anyone coming to the downtown area!

Fortunes is know for their (im)famous drink, the Volcano. It’s a right of passage to have had one, but beware.
Their food is good and their chines doughnuts are to die for. Its family owned and the waitstaff is friendly and fun. If you’ve been before they’ll remember you.
Definitely a must do in Fredericksburg!

I originally started going here because of the infamous Volcano, a massive alcoholic drink. But I’ve continued coming because their food is surprisingly good! Most chinese food just makes me feel bloated and like I’ve drank a gallon of grease, but theirs is awesome. Also the folks here are incredibly friendly. This is my official go-​to chinese restaurant.

Good cheap chinese. The deliver quick. Great to for meeting your Chinese fix.

Despite the countless Chinese restaurants in Fred (which have slowly shifted to different Asian cuisines such as sushi or fusion) Fortunes has a strong hold, for a good reason.
When I was in school at Mary Washington my four roommates and I would order from them way too often, usually without consultation with one another only to find the same delivery guy at our door multiple times in the same day. Even in the few times Fredericksburg was blanketed by snow, the delivery guy was guaranteed to show-​quickly at that.
Their food (I guess that’s what this review is about) is pretty dece. Their lo-​mein/​chow mein sweats with grease, the fried rice is very simple, and their run of the mill dishes are exactly what you would expect. It is dependable Chinese food, and it’s hard to argue with more than that for a place that offers $ 6 lunch combos with fried rice and egg roll! Egg drop soup is very good.
It is rare that I dined in, however each time I couldn’t resist ordering a volcano. It seems a review can’t be written without mentioning the 151 spewing beast of a drink, but hey– you want to have a fun time eating Chinese food?-get one! If you wanna have a blurry good time, get two! Unique drink is a catalyst for a fun get together with a couple friends.
Usually the smallish restaurant is understaffed with only one or two waiters, however the staff is very friendly and welcoming whether you are going for carry-​out, eat in, or a night of getting mo-​crunk off volcanoes!
Cheap, convenient, and fulfilling, this is a weird 4 stars, but in some sort of emotional tie of the eternal satisfaction I get from Fortunes, I can’t give em 3.

Surprisingly good Chinese food. When I shop in the Old Town area, this is a good place to stop by for lunch. The food is fast, cheap and really good.
They have a lunch buffet, but I’ve never tried it. The lunch menu is nice though.
Like all Chinese restaurants, the food here is very salty though. Get some water to go!