China Express

The food was average… The lady who was serving the food at the hot case was coughing and kept clearing her throat. Yuck. They didn’t even give me a fortune cookie! Wtf! Better off with Panda Express.

It hurts my heart to write this … But nothing is the same anymore!!! I miss the delicious fresh orange chicken they used to have… Unfortunately I will not be stopping here anymore. & to the last owners… HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US!!!

Stumbled across this Chinese take out after driving around trying to look for a new place to eat that is close to work. A co worker had mentioned this place to me so I decided to give it a try, and I was really impressed! It’s a small location but as soon as I walked in I was greeted very warmly, very reasonable price for great homey Chinese food! I would highly recommend this place and every time I go in I’m never disappointed !

Honestly I always believed that the best food are the food that are homemade and handmade. I would always choose this restaurant over any Chinese restaurant in Novato or Marin county. I’ve been coming here since high school. Sure it’s not a fancy restaurant and the fact that it’s in a small business complex.
BUT the price is always good and the food is good. You can either pick box meal A or B depending how hungry you feel.
The staff there are extremely friendly. Mostly the son Martin, the owner of the store. He puts a smile on my face every time I come here.

Ok so let me start off talking about the chow mein, it was dry but it tasted soo good, the orange chicken was hard and not even a little soft tasted a day old. I wouldn’t recommend this place if your picky person

I used to really like this place before they switched owners. Their food used to be the best in town… full of flavor and pipping hot even after you brought it home. Now, it seems the food lacks flavor, it’s cold when I get it home, the broccoli isn’t cooked… pretty much raw in the beef and broccoli. No flavor in the chow mein or chicken. I can’t even give it another try. :(

This food is disgusting!!! Thought I would give it a try because it was conveniently right near my work and I was in the mood for Chinese. I ordered the lunch plate with Beef & Broccoli, Orange Chicken and Chow Mein with a side order of egg rolls. Everything was absolutely disgusting and had no flavor! My coworkers and I had to add soy sauce & sweet & sour sauce (which was very thin & watered down) just to give it some taste and flavor! The broccoli was over cooked and was a mushy brown color, the orange chicken was soggy and had no orange flavor to it all and the chow mein was very bland. Panda Express has way better food then this place and that’s not saying much!
I will NEVER be going back to this place again and would not recommend this place to anyone! Waste of money!

No, just no. The food at this place tasted 2 days old, and was super hard and chewy. I wanted to give it a chance since it was close but overall it tasted worse than what you would get in a food court.

This is definitely not the place to go. All of the employees inside are pretty rude, and the food is way over priced for the quality of it. all of the food is either burned or undercooked. I have gone there a couple of times to because some people say it is good. But the very last time I did and ever will go in there one of their employees charged my debit card for a $ 20 dollar tip and they tried to lie about it and say that all the money paid to them was for my food I ordered but $ 35 is way to much for 2 box #A meals. Don’t go here they will RIP YOU OFF!

I may have caught this take-​out place at a bad time. I ordered one of their chicken dishes and chow mein. The chow mein deserved a passing review, but their chicken entrée had the taste and the texture of food sitting in a hot tray for quite some time.
The take out places I have encountered that have lasted have generally always had fresh offerings, this isn’t one of them.

i always order the tofu and eggplant. the chow mein is delicious and inexpensive. Just too hot inside the cooks are sweating so much you could see it when they pour the food on the hot plate.

FOOD POISONING! I ate lunch here recently: got the chow mein and green beans. Later that day, was throwing up and very miserable. I know it was this meal and nothing else that I ate that day.

Pork and garlic sauce is off the hook. Food is fresh and not greasy. Best prices in novato. Our go-​to place for Chinese cuisine everytime.

I don’t want this review to veer people away from this place. But the reason why it tastes so different all of a sudden, is because it’s under new ownership. The family that ran China Express for so long retired: (

It is still horrible. I saw someone walk out of there with toilet paper hanging from the back of their pants… was it an accident from the greasy food? HMMM?

Have been going there for years. The place is a true family business with dad, mom, son, and daughter working. Martin, the son, has become like a friend and is always very cheerful and friendly.
The food is actually very good, considering it’s a very «humble» place.

This place is a solid 3 ½.
Food is pretty good.
Owners are friendly people.
Sauce for the fried chicken is really good.
Compared to all the places I’ve been to all over the bay its on the pricier side for fast food chinese food.
1 item = 5.00 + tax
2 items = 6.75 + tax

I’ve been going here since I was in high school. I love this place because:
–it’s fairly priced
–the chow mein/​fried rice are piled into the take out box
–portions are huge
–packs in the flavor. I feel that a lot of Chinese food I eat is bland and lacking in taste. This place isn’t.
My favorite Chinese food in Novato by far.

You know my 5 stars are rare but here I am giving one for a small place in Novato that otherwise may be overlooked .
We do not live in Novato but we drive out here for Costco. One day my spouse and I tried to find some Chinese food because we are starving. We park outside of China Express but there are so many people crowding in we decide to wait for another day. I hate crowds. But for a food place that can be a good sign.
Before we pull away
A Chinese guy pulls up, gets out of his car and gives us the biggest, happiest smile and then walks into the place. I tell my husband who is also Chinese, that we have to come back based on that happy smile.
He agrees.
We come back when the sister is working.
She is very talkative and informs us about the food, how and when it’s made etc which I appreciate, my own family having owned a food establishment of their own.
We go back again and this time Mom and brother are working .
They make a awesome team and know what awesome customer service is.
They make you feel like part of their family right away.
Yes, you heard me, family .
The Mom reminded me of my mother in law giving us Cantonese lessons while setting up the order and the brother was just like the brother I always wanted, Happy, positive and friendly .
Now on to the food–
I am limited since I do not eat meat or egg so I get chow mein, egg rolls, chow fun and azuki sesame balls.
You can taste that this food is fresh.
I am sensitive to salt and MSG and did not have ANY reaction so I don’t know what dish that other Unilocaler ordered.
I loved their egg rolls and chow mein the most.
Spouse orders the orange chicken and he liked it both times.
The chili sauce was mild last time but hot this time which we like it hot.
Anyhow for a small food establishment it’s clean, fast efficient, SUPER friendly, and good food. Family owned is a huge plus! Put back into your community by eating here instead of Panda.
One last thing,
I am always suspicious of Unilocalers who leave mean unsupported reviews and only have 1 or 2 reviews under their belt.
It makes me think they are fake, just being hateful or the competition.
In a world where customer is a long lost art, China Express brings it back the forefront. We should know, we have over 40 years combined customer service experience.

QUIZ: WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE:
1. A LITTLE BIT OF GREAT FOOD
OR
2. A LOT OF MEDIOCRE FOOD?
I’d been hearing about this place for some time by raving fans. I have to say it was a bit of a let down. Food was OK, but nothing super special. I think the biggest draw must be the food to price ratio. You get a lot a food for your dollar, but for me, I’d rather have a little bit of great food than a lot of mediocre food .
What was lacking for me was flavor. Things felt a bit undersalted or on the bland side. Part of the bland came from a bit too much oil that masked what flavors might have been there.
Compared to the new Panda Express, this place tips the scale for friendly service and good value. However, my preference for Chinese food, at least for Novato, is China Palace.