Loading...
A & J Restaurant
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 11:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- None
277 reviews for A & J Restaurant
Review Highlights
Loading...
This is one of my favorite taiwanese restaurants in the Bay Area.
Their Beef noodles soup is really good. Their noodles are very chewy and the soup is very flavorful. Mr Bear remembered their noodles to be thicker and fatter but the one he got was still very good. The beef is well-cooked and the texture was right.
I ordered the Chicken Cutlet with veggie rice. I would like to have more veggie mixed in my rice but oh well. The size of the chicken cutlets were generous. It's sooo crispy! It's crunchy and flavorful. Compared to those "taiwanese restaurant" in San Francisco.. the chicken from this place is waaaaaay better. The rice also came with a bowl of MSG-soup which I did not touch.
We also ordered a some small dishes. Tofu and Black Egg... it's okay, nothing special. I like the thousand layer pancake, it's very fluff and buttery. Mr Bear said it's bland and added sugar on top hahaa. We also ordered chicken and cold noodles with sesame sauce. It was ok, nothing great and I think it's too little chicken and didn't worth the money.
Service is bad but I guess people don't expect much since it's a chinese restaurant. The waitress did not even notice we walked in and looked impatient when we asked her about the dishes. Anyhoo, as long as they have good food, I cant complain.
Oh, and remember to bring cash. No credit cards.
Their Hostetter location is the first place I ever tried spicy beef noodle soup and the standard for all my future beef noodle soup adventures. So I was really excited to come try the same thing at their main location.
It was good, but not as good as Hostetter. I think it was because the thick noodles weren't as chewy. Still excellent overall and the best comfort food on a cold day.
3.5 stars
I will definitely commend A & J Restaurant for their noodles. Their noodles are very generous portions, and it is handmade in the restaurant. My two friends and I came here after church and I was like, "Whoa, I've lived in the Bay Area my whole life and I've never been to Cupertino Square!!" OMG!! But seriously, I grew up in Fremont where there were lots of Chinese restaurants, and Fremont is also closer to Milpitas Square. But anyway, I was happy to be introduced to Cupertino Square.
So my cousin's girlfriend (super super smart gal!! Soon to be a doctor!! Wow!!! hehe) took my cousin and I here and we had to wait for a table. The wait wasn't too long because it was just 3 of us. So we sat down and the cousin's gf is great because she can order food for us in Chinese. So she asks us what we want and we stare at the menu but we finally decide. For dim sum (appetizers), we go w/ the zhua bing (aka "Thousand Layer Pancake"). I like how they make it here because it comes in an interesting circle shape and its pastry is light and flaky. We also order another appetizer but I didn't really touch that.
Finally our noodles came. Boy were they delish!! These huge bowls of noodles with soup. I got the noodles w/ chicken (along w/ my cousin), but Silvie probably ordered the best dish. She ordered the Taiwanese beef noodle soup (hong suao niu lou mian). Anyway it looked really good. The portions were huge so I took home like half of my soup (hehe).
I am giving it 3.5 stars and not 4 or 5 stars because: 1. the interior decor isn't pretty or anything (just a typical Chinese restaurant), and 2. the service wasn't super great. Like when I asked for my to-go containers she neglected to bring me the soup container. Hehe ~ but no big deal. Oh yea, it is also not four stars because they only accept cash (very inconvenient, I dunno, that's what I think @ least ~ like who really carries that much cash around w/ them these days anyway??). All in all though a great lunch & thank you to my wonderful, super-smart and cool cousin for treating me :) I would bring my parents here in the future, or also friends who dig Chinese noodles.
The food here is wonderful, especially the and the .
The problem is that there is no English menu for the good stuff.
I made up a translation a couple of years ago, which I admit is out of date, and the prices are old, and some menu items have changed, but I still take it with me when I go there, because it's still useful. It's at http://nordicgroup.us/...
As others have pointed out, the service here is awful, even for a Chinese restaurant, and the staff has an attitude problem. Still, they're not nearly as bad as the staff at Verde Tea Cafe where they've taken rudeness to whole new level.
One of the best beef noodle house...Get the thick noodle, its more satisfying. The appetizers compliment very well with the noodle soup so give it a try. I gave it a 3 star because the service is wack. Servers give you an attitude, ignore you or just don't give a hoot. Their tampons must be bloody red.
I first came here with a boyfriend in high school. Even though the boyfriend is long gone, I still come back here every once in a while for the spicy beef noodle soup. I don't really like anything else here, except for the beef noodle soup and the onion pancake.
It brings back memories of hanging out at Momo's stationary/fob store and pretending to be awesome AZN pride at Fantasia, taking sticky pictures and then sneaking to Qcup because you secretly like it better.
This place is disgusting. I had forgotten why I stopped coming here a few years ago, so the lack of memory brought me back today. As usual, it took forever to get seated, since the wait staff is either nowhere to be found or they just ignore you. The service doesn't improve any when you're trying to order. Somehow in the time between placing my order and actually getting my order, the person in the next table over arrived, ate, paid, and left. So perhaps they only give decent service to Chinese-speaking customers? They did serve tea without my asking, however they didn't provide a teacup. To top it all off, the food I ordered (pot stickers and vegetable dumplings) was just mediocre, and the restaurant reeks so bad I thought I was going to pass out. I left a generous 31-cent tip and I'll be sticking to my Trader Joe's frozen dumplings from now on.
I came here on a Friday night at around 6pm, and managed to get a table without waiting, although what the reviews say is true: it gets crowded at around 7pm. The bf and I got the famous beef noodle soup (I don't eat beef, sorry) and the fried chicken noodle soup. We also got a green onion pancake and pickled cabbage. I'd say that next time I'll skip the green onion pancake and pickled cabbage. The pancake was too dense and heavy for me and the pickled cabbage wasn't really special to me. I however thoroughly enjoyed the fried chicken noodle soup. The fried chicken was served on a separate plate and was very plentiful: I shared with the bf. The chicken was flavorful and crispy. I enjoyed my thin noodles in soup broth. Tasty. My bf said he liked his beef noodle soup and that it was comparable to the Irvine location. Delicious, and we will be back!
3.5 stars
The food here is descent! the price is fair, and the service is $@#$@#$
If you has minimal knowledge of Taiwanese food, you better come here with a Taiwanese, the menu could be confusing, and the staff provides no helpful feedback. If you don't have a Taiwanese buddy, here are my rule of thumbs.........
1.) always always try their beef noodles. the beef noodles come with either beef or tender. I prefer tender because it is more fat. you can pick either think or thin noodles. I like thick noodles better. But that just my personal taste.
2.) give the cold dishes a try, the portions are relatively small, and it is cheap. there is nothing to lose even if you don't like it. (The spicy wonton is my favorite!)
3.) if you don't like noodles, try their rice plate. the fried chicken one is really good.
Don't be surprised if you think the services and the staffs are rude ,they even ran out of the store to chase my friends for TIPs. (who does that?)
I love their beef noodle! The portions are a little small, but they aren't that pricey either. I also love the zhua bing (the naan like bread thing that peels off in swirl strips....) and it goes great with the spicy beef noodle soup.
I also love the porkchop rice here, it's hell fatty - just the way i like it.
I LOVE THEIR BEEF NOODLE SOUP!!!! I am very picky about my Chinese food but their beef noodle soup is really good! Get it with the thick noodles.
The green onion pancake they have here is only alright and it is also very oily.
This is your usual dirty Chinese restaurant. If you don't usually frequent Chinese restaurants then expect not so great service and not so clean dishes.
The beef noodle soup is really good and tasty. I think there is lots of MSG but what chinese food doesn't have any. The noodles are good and even though the beef broth is a little oily, it really hits the spot when you are craving noodle soup. The pickled veggies are good too. The prices are decent and its filling.
Beware.
Breakfast menu is all in Chinese. And no, the waitress will NOT HELP you either. So your stuck trying to read Chinese.
I was excited to learn that A&J has a location in Cupertino as A&J is a well known chain out of Taiwan which is known Shanghai & Northern Chinese noodles, dumplings and pan breads. Unfortunately the food quality and taste did not resemble the A&J in Taiwan. I had the beef noodle soup which I thought was okay, the radish cake which was good, the hand shredded pan cake, which was a bit dry and lacked flavor. This stuff is like crack if it's made right.... It's hard to stop eating it, but this didn't have that effect. I also ordered the scallion pan cake, which was also just okay.
The verdict: The beef noodle soup is better at Spices in SF (the original store on 8th) and at Darda's Seafood in Milpitas. The scallion pancake & other Chinese style pan cakes are better at Darda's.
Small room crammed with tables & wooden chairs. It's a quick & dirty Chinese eatery (literally), so crank up your "Service!" motions, wipe off the cup before you use it, & figure out what you want to eat before the waitress gets irked and pays even LESS attention to you than before. It's hard to maneuver in English but you could hash out a great meal with the following:
++ | Spicy Beef Noodle Soup |
Request "thick" handmade noodles. Comes with tender stewed beef in a thin but dark spicy soup with a bold full-bodied flavor. This is A & J's specialty; you'll see whole tables all eating the same dish. Do NOT order this if you can't handle heat. Some yelpers don't seem to get it, but spicy really does mean SPICY. Get the beef noodle soup in clear broth instead.
++ | Thousand Layer Pancake |
Fluffy crisp scrunched version of the green onion pancake that's made AMAZINGLY well here. It's made fresh and may take 15min to hit the table.
++ | Fried Chicken/Pork Rice |
Crunchy juicy fatty goodness. Comes with sour pickled veggies so you can cut through the fried taste for a momentary break. Great alternative if you don't feel like noodles.
The tiny place is PACKED at peak hours but is incredibly cheap:
Dinner for 4: $8/person
I enjoy eating their beef noodle soup with thick noodles, but WOWEE, service absolutely SUCKS here!
5 of us came for dinner this week and we ordered the following:
3 beef noodle soups with thick noodles
2 beef noodle soups with thin noodles
And we asked for one of each to not be spicy. And what do they come up with?
2 beef noodle soups with thick noodles
3 beef noodle soups with thin noodles
AND ALL SUPER SPICY.
We tried to get it fixed and they were so unwilling to do so! We were all so hungry that we just settled with what we had and ate it anyway. Our nostrils were on fire from breathing in the vapors and we all started crying, hahahaha!
If you can tolerate their horrible service, then this is a good place to go to get a hot bowl of noodle soup at a decent price. But if you're the type who often wants to strangle servers, then avoid this place.
One statement: Spicy Beef Noodle in Broth! Thick Noodles.
That's their specialty and I don't know anybody else in the bay area that makes a better beef noodle.
The taste: Spicy and flavorful
The noodles: Thick Noodles are the way to go.... seems almost hand-made
The Beef: You know that it's been stewed as the meat is soft and breaks up easily.... it's not frozen meat.....
I don't recommend anything else because I don't usually order anything else....
Dine in or take it home with you! Probably better to order this on a colder day.....
I recommend!!
I think they can have better customer service, that's fo SHO.
No frills here - no special spicy Chinese cucumbers with your meal. You have to pay for it separately.
I will only come back for one reason - the spicy beef noodle soup. HOLLA.
Beef noodles used to taste absolutely delicious here, back 4 years or more ago. At that time, service sucks big time. The waiters used to yell and throw plates around. The chefs in the kitchen would argue and fight.
Now, the service has gotten a LOT better and the wait persons are now more courteous. On the other hand, the food quality has gone WAY down. The cups are mostly washed with detergents or bleach and was never rinsed well. The smell lingers. Ask for styrofoam cups instead. the beef noodles and vegetables are not as tasty anymore. The soup are watered down. Once or twice, I'll find vegetable worms on the stir fried vegetables and they wouldn't care much about that. I'm not talking about small worms but a 1" length worms!!! Ewww!
I still go there at times. Yeah, I know...why do I bother. Well, there just isn't that many hearty beef noodle places around... Queens in Mt View is good but they taste a bit different.
I love coming here. And not because the place is amazing. Just because it's decent food at a decent price.
The beef noodle soup is by far my favorite thing on the menu. Although it may contain a lot of MSG, it's still delicious and tastes like authentic Taiwanese niu rou mien. I also usually get the thousand layer pancake and the sweet tofu dessert. Some of their other things on the menu are fairly good but I can't remember what they're called in English.
The reason I gave it only 3 stars is because even though the food is good, most everything else isn't. The place is small and always crowded. It's kind of a dirty/grungy place with cheap tableware. They used to not even have tea cups, just styrofoam cups. But now they do.
And the service is pretty bad. Even though recently it's gotten slightly better, I still judge it based on the majority of my visits. I think they distrust Asian-American teens because one time as my friends and I were shelling out the cash to pay, the waitress actually stood by our table and watched us and when it looked like we weren't gonna leave tip, she said "You know you have to pay tip here." in Chinese to us. Plus the way they talk, the way they slam your food down in front of you, and the way they take your order is just very sloppy and fast.
The prices are fairly cheap although they have slowly been increasing over the years. I'd still go there for a bowl of good beef noodle soup for a reasonable price though. The bad service isn't enough to stop me from going here (just tip a little less..) so yes I would recommend this place if you're okay with hole-in-the-wall good food.
I've only come here for the niu rou mien (beef noodle soup). It was AWESOME! The broth was tasty with just the right amount of spiciness, the beef was really tender, and it looked like they used knife sliced noodles (and a really big serving of it). I'd totally come here again for more ^_^.
The one con was the angry server lady who took our order. It was near closing time, so maybe she was tired, or maybe she's just normally bitchy.
It was also very amusing to see the chef walking around outside in his gigantically wide capri pants haha. Even if he has no taste in fashion, at least he got the niu rou mien done right ;-)
Excellent food, the onion pancake is superb, but the service is so consistently rude that I often think I'm eating at a place employing North Korean gulag prisoners forced to work. It's that bad and the employees that miserable. You get absolutely no pass for speaking Mandarin. Still, we return time and time again to eat good food and watch the horror show of service. These folks just don't care. If the service was merely obstinate they'd get 5 stars, but it's usually worse.
Food is great. Once you get over being an awkward turtle.
Went here with a pal for lunch. We're both ABCs with very, VERY minimal knowledge of mandarin (my homegirl knew canto, but that didn't fly with our waitress). The first thing that got us busting out our turtles was that we were shooed into sharing a table with some middle-aged dude. Now, this was a circular table--so one axis you got us two awkie-can't-chinese-talkie chicks and 180 degrees later, you got this man who kept staring at us while sippin' on his oolong.
To avoid his laser eye beams, we focused on ordering, which...oh damn, requires the knowledge of reading chinese. There were two menus: one in chinese/english and a white paper one filled straight up with chinese characters.. y'know, the boxes with lines and ish. The paper menu was for marking down which items you wanted to order (like a dim sum menu) and unfortunately, we struggled on this procedure like a pair of nearsighted dyslexic kids. It went down something like this:
M: Do you know what you're getting?
E: Yeah, the beef noodle ste--AUGH, I CAN'T FIND IT ON THE ORDERING MENU.
M: I CAN'T READ CHINESE.
E: AHH, NEITHER CAN I.
M: LET'S MATCH EACH CHARACTER ON THIS MENU WITH THE OTHER MENU.
E: OKAY.
We spent about 2 eye-squinting, finger-pointing minutes trying to "translate" the paper menu, then gave up and just told our waitress what we wanted in english...oh hey, it worked.
Middle-aged dude payed his bill then left, getting replaced with two young asian men. While waiting for our food, we overheard their conversation:
Guy 1: Dude, can you read this?
Guy 2: Naw man, my chinese sucks.
Guy 1: I guess we just have to match the characters.
...HEHEHE. Then we got our food.
MMMmm, I got the shredded pork with preserved vegetables noodle soup (or something like that..). I'm as chinese, culturally, as spaghetti so I'm no expert on how these noodles are supposed to taste like. But even through the ordeals of turtley thumb-wiggling, my meal was delicious. Not too oily. Good amount of vegetables and noodles. Cash only. Know chinese? More stars to you.
I love this place. My favorite spot when I'm in the South Bay...
I've been eating here (or the San Gabriel or Irvine location) since I was young. I love the porkchop noodle soup (skinny noodles), green onion pancakes, and the zua bing (not sure what it's called in english).
It's a hole in the wall that has GREAT, cheap food. Don't come here if you want a place with great decor and polite waiters. Come here for the food (it comes out quick, so come hungry).
To be honest, I go here more out of sentimental value than for the actual food. But the food is pretty decent as well, which is why I keep going back.
My mom is Taiwanese so this is one of the rare places where I have been able to find decent Taiwanese food. I usually get the Beef Noodles (spicy or regular), the onion pancakes, potstickers, and the Xiao Long Bao (little dragon buns, dunno what they are called in English, but they are the buns that are injected with soup).
The food quality is pretty standard for Taiwanese restaurants, it isn't spectacular. Basically this place is the quick alternative to my mom's cooking. Not quite as good, but more convenient.
1. Order the spicy beef noodles with the thick hand-pulled noodles and the thousand layer pancake.
2. Take a small piece of the thousand layer pancake and dip it in the beef noodle soup and eat it. It's like heaven in your mouth.
Be prepared to share tables with total strangers if you don't like waiting. The food is cheap, hearty, and delicious. It's a great place to go before/after shopping at Ranch 99.
I've only had togo from here but what I've had was great! Try fried chicken noodle, the chicken's great and served with an amazing tart green relish. Too bad they don't serve it with better noodles though. Also, green beans w pork is tasty.
The food is good and the price range is pretty fair. However, the workers here are THEE RUDEST people you will encounter. The worse part is they do not care if they are rude to you. One time I was upset at their service and decided not to tip them at all... and the lady CHASED me down and asked me to give her a tip. WHO DOES THAT?!?!?!?!?! Well these people do. The only reason I come back to this place is because they have pretty good food but you know.. I could live with out being chased down by rude Chinese waitresses for tips.
Went there several times. The good dishes are xiao long bao, green onion pancake and spicy beef noodle soup. The last time we went there, the noodle was not quite cooked. Maybe it was early in the evening.
The cleanliness here is questionable, even for chinese restaurant standard. I heard someone retching and spitting in the kitchen the last time we were there. I was seriously hoping that they were done cooking our food already before doing that. Eeewww....
The restaurant is on the small side and they take cash only.
Awww, I was so disappointed today! This place is one of my favorite restaurants and today I took my visiting parents here and had a bad experience.
First, after pouring ourselves some tea, we realized that our tea smelled like soap. At least they use soap to wash their dishes! But I don't like to drink soapy tea. I asked for new tea cups and they were wet with soap too and we could not "wash" it off with tea and napkins.
I ordered pretty much all my usual favorites and my parents and sister complained that the spicy noodle beef was lacking in flavor. My wontons in spicy oil were water logged!
I don't mind the poor service if there is awesome food so today the awful service bothered me.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
6/14/2007
Mmmm best Chinese Spicy Noodle Beef Soup that I know! (Hong shao niu rou mien)
I also love their… Read more »
I've been going to A & J ever since I was a pre-pubescent youngster on my visits to California and it was all about their beef noodle soup back then. I think it's where my obsession with beef noodle soup began. Now that I'm a good foot taller with some hair on my chest (just kidding, I'm Asian), their beef noodle soup still resonates within my memories and bring me back to a time when things were simpler.
Today at A & J I had their beef and tendon noodle soup. As a kid, I was turned off by tendon, but as my palate became more sophisticated, my love for textural differences became fully realized.
Different sizes of beef. It's part of the beauty of it all. No two pieces are alike. A fatty piece? A gelatinous piece? A super meaty piece? It keeps me guessing. And of course b/c it's beef and tendon, so it adds to the fun. If I wanted the monotony of everything being identical, I'd go to the boring store and ask for boring with a side of boring. I always get the thick noodles. They're fresh. And each noodle is different.
The beef is cooked well. It's soft, flavorful, but doesn't disintegrate with the touch of a chopstick.
The noodles are cooked well. Not overcooked and mushy and bland. Not undercooked with too much of a bite.
The soup is cooked well. It's got flavor. It's got love.
Cupertino Village. Bad Asian drivers. Asian parents talking really loudly to each other. Bubble tea at Fantasia. Hipster high schoolers trying to act cool. Cupertino Village.
Alright, so I've been prompted to update this review and clarify that A & J's MIGHT have been having an "off" day or something. I ate here with 7 other A & J vets that knew and loved the restaurant already. Every single one of them said it didn't taste as good as it usually does.
That being said - because I've never tried it before this incidence, my only experience with A & J's will remain what it is... a three star review.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
5/23/2009
On very positive recommendation, I had the beef noodle soup and the Taiwanese "hamburger". On the… Read more »
A & J is one of my favorite noodle place (although they have other dishes as well). The beef noodle (thin) in dark soup/broth is my most favorite. It's best to come with a small group of 3 or 4 persons, so you can share a few of their delightful side dishes such as onion pancake, smoked chicken, dumpling, seaweed, etc.
One of my favorite Taiwanese restaurants!
Everything on the menu is pretty good, but my favorites are the spicy beef noodle soup and their green onion pancake.
They would get 5 stars, but they get 4 for their horrible service and the long wait on weekends.
This is my first Yelp review. This is also the first restaurant that comes to mind when I am hungry.
First of all, if you're critiquing a cheap Chinese restaurant based on service, you're obviously not Chinese and have never eaten good Chinese food because of that.
Bring cash, order anything with the "thick" noodles (I usually get the fried porkchop noodle soup), get the stinky tofu, and you're golden. This is comfort food, and it's very very comforting.
I've never had Niu Ro Mien with thick house made noodles. Most impressive! The broth was really on point, the flavor was good, and the noodles along with the meat were PLENTY. I had dinner with a crew of my sisters friends tonight, we had a little bit of everything, potstickers, flaky pancakes and pork chop rice. Everything was solid, and well prepared. For 9 of us, the total came to $90, so it was pretty reasonable. I'll definitely come back when craving south bay beef noodle soup. Stoked!
So I came here... expecting more flavorful dishes, considering it's Taiwanese/Chinese food. I tried a couple of things that they are known for: the thousand layer pancake and spicy beef soup. Both were a little bland. I know that you can't expect much flavor from the pancake, but a little bit of sweetness is more on the typical side for a dish. And the beef soup was ok. Not the most flavorful and wholesome, but decent. I'm not familiar with Taiwanese food. But for an average person with an idea of what tastes good... I say this spot is a-ok. I left a bit unsatisfied. I really can't imagine myself coming back for more.
The food here is overall very good, but I especially like the noodle dishes. My friends tell me the service is better if you speak chinese. If the restaurant is crowded or closing the wait staff can be kind of rude. Well worth a try.
I LOVE their spicy beef noodle soup (with thick noodles Cho Mein) and green onion pancake. OMG talk about a foodgasm in your mouth! WARNING: You should wear a napkin bib if you're wearing a white shirt the splashing of noodles and beef isn't conducive to cleanliness....not in my case anyway.
The beef is tender and juicy oozing with flavor and goodness and the noodles are always perfectly fat enough to get a good grip with your chopsticks. I think this combination noodles with pancake are equivalent to the similarities of peanut butter and jelly they just go together, it just makes sense.
I usually end up sharing the noodles and pancake with one other person because we can never ever finish. It takes some effort to eat too since it can be a bit spicy.
Other items that I have enjoyed on their menu are their potstickers (hot, juicy, and thick!) and the fried pork chop with pickled veggies.
I only took off one star because of the service. What can you really do they serve you and want you to get out right away which is the point. It's a quick place to sit down and eat not to mention CHEAP!!! About $10 for noodles and a pancake.
Come hungry and leave dirty...unless you wore your protective napkin bib!
This place has become a standard go-to when friends from Socal visit me.
"What kinda food are you feeling?"
"Something with noodles..."
"A&J."
It's cheap, it's fast, and best of all, the noodles are GREAT!
Normally I waver between the fat and skinny kinds, but in all honesty both have terrific bounce and flavor. I stick to either their beef noodle soups or the "suan la mien" (I guess... hot-and-sour noodles?), which comes dry with a deliciously spicy tang.
Their appetizers are great too: any of them will come quickly and with great savory satisfaction. I like their meat buns or the green onion pancake.
The only detracting things about this place is that it is always PACKED, meaning sometimes if you are hungry enough, you will have to share a table with some other quiet Chinese family or lonely Asian engineers (I relate to both groups, so I ain't a hater). Additionally, the waitresses there are all typical Taiwanese - curt and fast. They prefer efficiency over being overly kind and polite, and while some people think this is rude, I think it's just a part of the experience.
One other thing is that the menus (at least the ones that I've seen) are all in chinese, so if you are not with a Chinese-speaking person, good luck! Kidding - try miming or pointing to other tables.
LAST THING: People sometimes get STINKY tofu which floods the entire room (it's a small restaurant) with the smell of a monkey's turd that has eaten one too many chiles. Anyway.
Great prices/food - potentially bad service and ordering = 3 stars.


