China Bowl Bistro

I have to give this restaurant a 5 stars because of the combination of value and tastiness of the food. This is truly a sleeper, and the food is unexpectedly good. The small negative, although they have tried, and the interior is cute, the atmosphere is a bit strip mall-​ish, but not bad.

First of all stay away from this place, food is just alright, but most of all eating our food and watching the poor fishes that are to big for the little tank they are in, made us lose our appetites. (poor fish need a bigger tank, or let them be free in there habitat.) NEVER AGAIN!!! If I could give no stars I would!!!

Picked up some vegetable chow mein — huge portion for a good price. Not my very favorite but I have had way worse.
There is a giant koi fish in a fish tank that seems really small for such a beautiful creature. Poor fishie.

Very good. Exactly what I’ve been looking for. Happy we found this place. We had a great Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner.

Good value Chinese food. There aren’t too many decent Chinese restaurants around any more where we can feed a family with appetizers and have food left over for around $ 30.
I think the food is good. I’m still experimenting with different dishes to find my favorite, but I really like the General Chao — I know, such cliché Chinese American cuisine, but damn if that garlicky peppery sauce isn’t amazing! I like the way their menu is efficiently laid out — it really makes me wonder why more Chinese restaurants don’t use a similar layout.
The service here is courteous and competent. The ambiance is ok. The parasols are cute and help spruce up an otherwise unremarkable ceiling.

Love this place. The sauces are all amazing. Don’t come for ambience. Nothing special, but the food is really, really good. They do a lot of take-​out and portions are good for the price.

No thanks! Sorry but this Chinese food is mediocre. I’m not sure how all these people are giving these great reviews. No need to eat here when Royal China is in the shopping center next door. Now Royal China is the bomb!

As a Chinese living in NYC, I am especially picking when it comes to Chinese food. However, I can honestly say that this restaurant has exceeded my expectations as the food is both authentic and delicious. Bravo to you!

WOW! My mom and I were just in to pick up some dinner and we could not be more impressed. The woman behind the counter was so friendly and talked to us the whole time we were waiting for our food. The portion sizes are huge and the food is delicious! I can not wait to go get more. I’m almost sad I have to wait a couple days to finish the food to go get more. I really recommend this restaurant and will DEFINITELY be going back soon!

The food is garbage. For $ 46 for 2 to eat I would expect good quality food but instead I got the most disgusting chines food possible. Weird flavors. Over priced and gross.

The service was fabulous. Ryan was very engaging and informative. The food was excellent. I liked the «simplified» menu and loved everything we got and ate.

Oh my gosh, this resturant is so bad! I have been here several times giving them chance after chance to get it together, but these people know nothing about running a restaurant!
The server always tries really hard, but there is only one cook and if you have more then two people in your party half of the table will get their food 20 to 30 minutes later. I have actually seen the server tell people they should come back another time because it will be an hour till they can put an order in since they already 4 tables of people in the resturant. The food is cheap here, but very poor quality and it’s dirty.
There is now way that any patron would give this place a 4 or 5 star review.
This is the first negative review I have ever given a resturant on Unilocal

This place is great. Huge portions and very good prices! The flavors are good. The inside it a little out dated but that doesn’t matter to me as long as their food is good. The young waiter was also very nice. This is definitely the place we go to in town when we want Chinese food.

The food was very good.
The décor inside looked like a restaurant from the 70s
The dining experience was odd to say the least. The staff acted befuddled, reserved and confused. I felt as if maybe the real staff was tied up in the kitchen at gun point and these were robbers just trying to play it off.
We sat at our table only diners in the place for almost 10 min. Uattended to. And had to ask to be brought a menu.
Now that I think about it maybe someone should check to see if there is people tied up in back.
Take out only for me from now on from here!

We were driving around late one Sunday evening, from Forestville to North Santa Rosa looking for Chinese food, getting frustrated, when we noticed the China Bowl on Piner Rd. What a pleasant surprise. (They are open till 9:30 pm Sunday through Friday, Saturdays till 10pm.) We have been back a few times because the food is fresh and tasty, the prices right, and the staff are so friendly we feel like old friends. They just today opened in the morning on Sundays, serving only Japanese Ramen till 4pm, at which time the full regular menus is available.
The Ramen is amazing, several kinds offered, cooked to order and served hot. I had the BBQ pork and Joe had the Seafood.
I am always enchanted by the big Koi who greets us a we arrive, the pink and green silk umbrellas hanging overhead, and the warmth of the staff.

I read through the reviews and am reminded that my reviews are just an opinion and retelling of my experience. It’s interesting how a place can have so many 4+ reviews when I barely can hand over 2.
I’ll chalk it up to a difference of taste for the various items ordered. (They are our go-​to choices so we’re comparing apples to apples.) Server/​owner seemed genuinely desirous of our assessment and was bold enough to ask specifically if there was something wrong with the soup. First time asked, I said it was «fine», Second time, I just offered my excuse that it’s an usual version for us and that’s when he went on to explain. I clearly didn’t know how to respond because for the countless times I’ve ordered this dish, it’s the first time I’ve had it taste/​look that way.
Wor Won Ton Soup — apparently this is a more traditional Chinese (and/​or San Francisco) version than we’ve ever tried — thick broth, bolder flavors, packed full of many food items, etc. We packaged up 90% of it to bring home because we felt bad leaving it there, untouched.
Pot Stickers — 6 in an order. Perfectly crisped bottom, perfectly tender-​steamed wrapper, overwhelming ginger in both the sauce and filling itself. 3 diners, 3 pot stickers leftover. I joked that a better name would be «Ginger Stickers» so, again, a taste preference. If you love ginger, you’ll love this appetizer. I did not.
Spicy Orange Chicken — My son enjoyed it. I felt the thick sauce lacked any flavor. If I hadn’t ordered it, I’m not sure I would’ve known it was «orange» chicken. Anyhow, again, just a taste preference.
So, next time I’ll wait till Tuesday when Royal China is open. :(

No food in the house and I decided I wanted some Chinese food. Unilocal helped me find this place, no menu posted so I took a chance and drove over the check it out for a take-​out order.
$ 30 for egg rolls (5), chicken chow mein, General Chao beef, and Kung Pao chicken. Friendly service, had a good giggle with the guy at the front of the house about their giant koi fish who likes to follow people all around the tank. Gave me ice water while I waited 10 mins for the food so no complaints there.
Got my food home and got straight to work on scooping up my plate, everything was good but I wished my Kung Pao and General Chao were spicier, I’ll just ask next time or get more hot sauce. Good deal guys!

I used to love this place. I’m not saying I still don’t like the memory of the food but I’ve tried to order delivery twice without result. I’m stuck at work and can’t get to the restaurant. They say they deliver but both times I’ve called they say «No driver tonight». I think they need to change «delivery» to «maybe if we feel like it delivery».
Try Go Go Chinese next door, they always deliver.

I definitely enjoyed my to-​go orders from here during my time in the Santa Rosa area. Family-​owned, their service is prompt and friendly. I have tried a couple different dishes here and haven’t had many complaints about them:
Black Bean Sauce Chicken (just the right amount of black bean sauce, really good with a side of rice)
Mongolian Beef (good amount of spicyness but wish there was a bit more meat)
Shacha Chicken (garlic-​y and yummy, reminiscent of the Chinese cuisine I’m used to back in the Bay Area)
Hong Kong Style Crispy Noodle (great for my craving however some of the noodles were a little burnt)
Overall, great choice and an authentic blessing to have in the area :)

I was craving Chinese so I went to my helper Unilocal,in Windsor for the holidays and I saw this restaurant.
I called in the order in while driving to the restaurant, Ryan (owners son) was extremely helpful to all my questions and gave some great suggestions. While waiting for the food;
— Potstickers
— Sesame chicken
— House fried rice
— Eggplant special with beef (xtra spicy)
I was offered some really great Jasmine tea!
Overall the food was extremely filling and great as well as the customer service.