Mr Chen’s Authentic Chinese Cooking and Oriental Market

Their Lo mein is not good at all. It isn’t seasoned and the onions in it look like parasites. When I tried to take it back and get a refund they told me they did not do that. They don’t care about customer satisfaction, will not be going back.

Best Chinese Food In Town!!! We drive 20 minutes across town to get take out from here! Our whole family loves this place from our 11 month old, to our 7 year old. Steamed dumplings are delicious, general’s chicken is fresh and flavorful and lo mein and hot and sour soup are very good. We’ve never had a bad meal here and the service rocks!

My husband and I ate here several times since the Tuscaloosa location opened and frankly, we don’t know what to think of the place. Keep hearing all the rave reviews and such and so many people in town seem to love the place but we kept having problems with our food so many times that we quit going.
First of all, we’d go to eat there one visit and I would try my hubby’s dish and like it; saying to myself I’ll order that the next time we go. Only for that next time that I order that same dish, it doesn’t look or taste like what my husband had the previous visit. Sometimes the dish would look completely different from what was given the previous visit or there would appear to be flavors/​ingredients missing from the dish. Also there were times I’d order the same dishes since I liked them a lot and some visits they would also have the same problem in preparation, where dishes would not taste or look the same as they would have the previous visit. This also happened numerous times in ordering take-​out too, and that is a major problem to me.
What I could never figure out was whether or not the cooks were screwing up or the waiters were at fault and we were given the wrong dishes. Of course if it was the wrong dish, it would have been easy to know that, but since the food would be prepared differently practically every time we went to eat, you’d never be able to know if that was the problem or not.
Another thing too was that the last few times we ate there, the fried rice had a distinct funny smell and taste to it, like it was going bad. We’re talking about an overpowering smell like the rice was bad or something. Couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was off with that fried rice the last few visits.
All in all, this was why we quit going there which was a shame since we were liking the food at the beginning. There is some serious problems with the place in how the food is prepared and presented. I don’t know if they change cooks every few months or what, but they seem to not be able to remember or know how to make a dish the way it was prepared the last time you’ve eaten it and that’s not good in the restaurant business. Very iffy place to get Chinese in my opinion.

Let me be honest when I say that I’m completely ignorant when it comes to authentic Asian food and Tuscaloosa’s options are unfortunately limited when it comes to far-​east cuisine. With that said, Mr. Chen’s is the best Asian food I’ve eaten in town. They have a huge selection on the menu with straightforward pricing and options, the service is always fast, generous, and extremely kind, and to top it all off the food is delicious. So far, everything I’ve had had has been phenomenal! Another great thing is that after the meal, you can go rummage around the Asian food store that’s attached to the restaurant and buy some candy! Highly recommend going to this gem of Tuscaloosa!

I came here to get some really good General Tso’s chicken. It gets a lot of praise for how authentic the food is. The dish I got was alright though. The server I had thought it was orange chicken which made me think I was eating orange chicken the entire time even though he said he was wrong. This literally made me question General Tso’s chicken moving forward anywhere I get it because I think it’s just orange chicken. It wasn’t bad, but it was not anything special.

General Tso’s Chicken was not good. When we tried to return the dish, the waiter acted like he didn’t know what we were saying. He got the manager who proceeded to speak to us in a condescending manner, telling us how much of that dish is sold everyday, and if it wasn’t good we should have said something. I replied to her that we didn’t eat anything and were saying something. She tries to raise her voice and make us feel bad for returning the food («we don’t allow returns»). We will not be back.

The food is good, not authentic Chinese food, but not far away. The market there is very good, providing fresh vegetable and good selections. The price of the stuff sold in the market may be a little high compared to the supermarket in Atlanta, but considering that it stays in the small city Tuscaloosa, it is not very bad because of the transportation cost. Way better than the old Asia Market.

The service was really good; received lots of attention. The food was excellent. Can’t wait to go back to try another menu item. Generous portions and reasonable prices.

Great authentic Chinese restaurant. I went here after it was recommended to me by an international student from China, and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of food and the great service. Everything I had was great, but I highly recommend the roasted duck and any dish with pork. Service was fast and the server was very polite and attentive. Definitely the only Chinese food in Tuscaloosa that I would recommend.

We went for lunch, and one problem is that the waitress had trouble understanding English, so my daughter couldn’t really order what she wanted to order. I had a very good Kung Pao Beef (with egg roll & soup) lunch special, and my daughter had the Tempura-​fried Shrimp plate. All of the entrees and soup were delicious, the egg rolls were ordinary, and my daughter’s milk-​coffee was very fine, she remarked. I would recommend it, and go back.
RJT

Prices and food are both excellent for a cheap tasty lunch. I will be coming back again. I got the Mongolian chicken which was juicy and flavorful. Also the hot and sour soup is good as well. Make sure to save time after your meal to visit the attached grocery store and If you go make sure to pick up some king car tea it’s really good.

If you don’t know anything about Asian food and want to be as adventurous as possible with the guarantee of great tasting food, Mr. Chen’s gives you that opportunity that other restaurants in this area don’t have. Order the taro milk tea with bubbles as a drink, seaweed salad as an appetizer, house braised tofu with meat, and mango pudding as a dessert. Skip the lunch specials. You can order that at any other restaurant.
–Actual Review Below–
This is home away from home. A place like this wouldn’t survive in California, but I need a place like this in Tuscaloosa in order to survive. While Alabama may not be as culturally diverse as California, Mr. Chen’s does a reasonable job in making sure that diversity in this state remains.
The restaurant is pretty and clean. You feel calmer as you anticipate your meal. The service is good and attentive.
The vegetable combination plate consists of mushrooms, cabbage, broccoli, and more. It didn’t have much flavor but it also tasted very healthy. It may not delight the tongue but it sure delighted the rest of my digestive system.
For those familiar with Asian food, the seafood tofu pot resembles more like a non-​spicy ma-​po doufu filled in a metal tin pot. It wasn’t bad but it’s not what we expected.
They serve Quickly’s milk tea! Even if it’s powder-​based, it’s better than not having any. None of their options are customizable. If you ask the waiters anything that’s not printed on the menu (even as much as altering the sweetness or ice), they will be terribly confused. The pudding milk tea was good enough.
While this place isn’t necessarily 4 stars in my book, in context, it’s 4 stars. It’s also a great way to show people in this area that Chinese food is more than Panda Express!
They also sell sake! I’ll definitely be back to buy this!

Best Chinese food in Tuscaloosa. Staff is very friendly and attentive. I highly recommend the Mongolian Chicken.

Very Disappointed Mr. Chen. Yellow curry tasted like very disgusting Indian food. Egg fried rice had no trace of an egg. Very Very Disappointed…

First, I find the service here kind of mystifying. You and your table mates order your food and drinks. Then those items come out in no particular order. You may get your entrée three or four minutes before anyone else at the table. Your spring rolls and seaweed salads may come when you’re half way through the meal. Drink refills might come when your glass is still ¾ full or not at all.
Just the same, it’s easily the best place for Chinese food in town. The aforementioned seaweed salad is very tasty. The vegetable spring rolls are typical. There are a lot of great vegetarian options on the menu, but vegetarians would be well-​served to read full descriptions as several tofu items also contain meat as a default. Items are made to order, tho, so they can be adapted to be veggie friendly. I am a particular fan of the tofu with crispy bean blend, as it’s both slightly spicy and fried, although I do rather wish it had a sauce of some kind. The braised and sizzle tofu dishes are runners up.

Apparently there are 4 or 5 other restaurants from the same owner. They’re in Jackson (MS), Montgomery AL, and Birmingham AL. The guy didn’t know the names of the other cities. This is the only one that has hot pot and it’s only in the winter. Great food. Great service. Love the store. It was cleaner than the Jackson store.

While visiting my son and his wife in Tuscaloosa they recommended Mr Chen’s as they favorite Chinese restaurant. We tried it and were very pleased with the excellent Chinese food. They also serve vegan dishes, and have a complete Asian market with many hard to find items.

Food is always good and fresh here! I have tried many dishes and have yet to be disappointed. Best authentic Chinese food in town!

I love this place. I was in Tuscaloosa visiting family at U of A. I balked a bit when they suggested an authentic Chinese restaurant (in Alabama?!) my scepticism was met by a cute place with amazing food. We got the steamed dumplings and chicken chow fun, both good. For entrees, we got the chicken with black bean sauce, pineapple chicken, and squid in basil sauce. All were delicious. My only complaint is that the squid was over cooked and a bit rubbery, but the flavor was outstanding.
The restaurant is cute. It is inside a great Asian grocery mart, which you walk through to get to the restaurant. Everything is cute and has good ambiance.
Great Chinese food in Tuscaloosa. Try it if you’re in town.

Just ate here. Took my gf who is NOT a huge fan of Chinese. We both loved every single thing we ordered.
The pork dumplings were my favorite. 5 stars.
Kung Pow combo, great. 4 stars.
Beef bellies. 4 stars.
Great, clean, friendly atmosphere. 5 stars.
Asian market in same space, 4 stars.