China Bear

Reviews 4

MR

Mr Tejano

Been there a few times! Has been good overall but yesterday I went and had a terrible experience with the waitresses that work there. MANDY and (cant really remember her name starts with an L. Cant look at my receipt since the cashier didnt give it back to me) I think her name was LOAN. Well both of them gave me a horrible experience yesterday. My friend and I went with her little baby girl. Food was OK like always NOT GREAT NOT HORRIBLE just OK. Well I grabbed some Crawfish and asked LOAN if I can have some of CAJUN POWDER and she tells me to ask MANDY. Since theyre both ASIANS AND HAVE THE SAME HAIR STYLE AND HEIGHT ( not being racist here) so I then go ask MANDY and she says OH WE NO HAVE. I said OK, started eating my crawfish but they felt plain without that CREOLE POWDER so I get up and ask one of the girls who are refilling the food trays. She goes ahead and gives me some of the CREOLE POWER that "WE NO HAVE" so I went up to the waitress and said EXCUSE ME MAAM THIS IS WHAT I WAS ASKING FOR. I wasnt being rude or anything I just figured she didnt understand much English but she completely ignored me. Then I told her again MAAM EXCUSE ME she gave me the hand and said ITS NOT MY JOB TO GIVE YOU THAT. Of course I get angry and tell her yes it is, you work here. When I went back to the table where I was sitting my friend tells me " dude that waitress is rude, my daughter waved at her and told her ice cream is delicious and the lady just frowned like she didnt care". I got even madder and went to complain to the manager, (which after the complaint made me think theyre probably related). And he says YES THATS WRITE WE ARENT ALLOWED TO GIVE CUSTOMERS ANYTHING THATS NOT IN THE MENU BECAUSE WE CAN BECOME LIABLE IF YOU GET SICK. Which makes sense, but I told the manager OK THAT DOES MAKE SENCE BUT THE POINT HERE IS HOW YOUR WAITRESSES RESPOND TO THEIR CUSTOMERS and he tells me YES TRUST ME SOMETIMES THEYRE IN A BAD MOOD THEY EVEN RESPOND BAD TO US IN MANAGEMENT YOURE NOT THE FIRST PERSON WHO COMPLAINS ABOUT IT. I UNDERSTAND YOURE A CUSTOMER BUT CUSTOMERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE CANT GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU WANT THATS NOT THEIR JOBS. I couldnt believe what he was saying I just got up and told him WELL DONT EXPECT TO SEE THIS CUSTOMER HERE AGAIN.

GR

Greg Rumpff

Visited China Bear on a Friday about 3:30, a bit early for most to be eating dinner but the lot was reasonably full. This was a good sign. Also a fair amount of large families suggesting reasonably priced fare. Clientele seemed largely Hispanic and China Bear catered to that with some signage in Spanish and Latin music for ambience. This also explained the presence of chicken quesadillas and fried plantains on the buffet. There is a gimmicky gift shop out front (lots of bamboo plants) where you wait to be seated. Unsure if the bare-breasted statue in the lobby was an attempt to "class up the joint" or if it was pre-existing in the building from an earlier (failed) business venture. I was seated in under 5 minutes. There was an expansive selection of offerings. All your usual expectations (Generally Tsos chicken, sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken, kung pao, fried biscuit), soups (egg drop, pork wonton, hot and sour and about 7 others), about 10 kinds of sushi, fruit and desserts. If youre bringing young kids with unadventurous palates, they do have options like chicken nuggets, pizza and cheese sticks and ice cream for dessert. Downside is this also does mean youre likely to encounter kids in need of adult supervision. (Im a father myself so I feel entitled to be a bit "judgy". Control your kids!) Lots and lots of seafood meant things I dont typically find at an Ohio Chinese buffet: squid rings, clams in wine sauce, baby octopus and calamari prepared several ways as well as eel in the sushi area. Kimchi and a Thai mushroom soup was also a surprise. Beverage-wise they offer sake, a limited wine list and some imported beer (Sapporo, Tsing Tao). They also listed Heinie and Corona (yes, theyre technically imports but not exotic in any way). In the end, its like most buffets: quality varies from dish to dish and if you come in at busier times theyre restocking more often meaning fresher items. But for $13 pre-tip, its a pretty good deal. As others have said, kids love the koi pond out front and fish food is $2 in the gift shop. 3.5 stars

SP

Spring Kwok

I absolutely love China Bear. It is an inexpensive buffet that really is your moneys worth. The exterior of the place is fascinating. Theres beautiful koi fish everywhere. Who ever bred them did an absolute wonderful job because there are over hundreds and theyre all beautiful. Now onto the gift shop... They sell little knick knacks from jewelry to beautiful wooden structures. Granted its not the best quality gift shop, but what do you expect. Theyre always interested finds like little crystals, chinese robs, and nice paintings. And lastly theyre bamboo plants and bonsai plants are one of the best quality ones I can find in all of Houston. Theyre inexpensive and yet nicely grown and groomed. Every time I go Im urged to buy another one lol. This restaurant is huge and so if their buffet options. They have lots of foods, from sushi, stir fry, crawfish, and now oysters. I went the other day and theyre oysters were literally the biggest oysters I have ever seen. The food I personally think is delicious. Its not fancy, creative, and gourmet, but its good, homey food. They have delicious mac n cheese, green beans, fish, and more. People just need to understand that this isnt meant to be a five star restaurant. its meant to be a family styled buffet that offers a bang for your buck. For less than twenty dollars per person, everyone is full and happy. Theres even ice cream and desserts. China Bear is worth it and delicious, and I will stand by it forever because not only are my children and husband happy, my wallet is. Now the only cons I would say is the service. Most are Asian and cannot speak English very well, but all they do is give you your drink and occasionally fill it up. The food is all self- served, so I personally dont think their service is anything to cry about.

ME

Merilee Peterson

The one star ratings on here make me wonder if they werent from the competition... This was my familys first time here. We were sat immediately even though they were super busy (this restaurant is huge)! The restaurant consisted of three dining rooms that were all filled with, I venture to say, hundreds of people and not one looked unhappy with their experience there. People of all races and walks of like come here to eat. The gentleman who sat us was polite and smiling. The waitstaff was very attentive; used dishes were always immediately removed and drinks were refilled before ever being empty. Most of the time when eating at buffet style restaurants, I have to set a side a few plates before finding a clean one, I didnt notice any dirty dishes here. All of the food was fresh and each item was kept full. One thing I am always concerned about is fried food tasting like other dishes were fried in the same oil. Here, fried shrimp tasted like shrimp, fried wontons tasted like wontons and fried vegetables tasted like vegetables. The green beans and broccoli were tender and bright green. All of the fruit and sushi looked fresh and the icecream was sweet. My Husband and Daughter enjoyed everything they put on their plates, the steak was their favorite. No one complained about feeling bloated or thirsty after eating. After eating we looked through their store and walked through the garden and looked at the Koi fish. We had another customer offer to take our picture as we were trying to take a couples selfie. The lady running the shop was very friendly and helpful in finding an oriental robe in the color we wanted. All in all, it turned out to be a very pleasant experience and a nice ending to an otherwise dreary day. *I will try to add some of the photos we took*