Red Orchids Review

In my opinion the best of any Asian type restaurant in West Ashley hands down.

Sad experience tonight. It was my first time, but we went because my wife had gone a few years ago and enjoyed it. Service looked to possibly be short handed, but we were ignored quite a bit even for that. Food was bland and gummy, never a good combination. Water was good, but couldn't get it refilled... Finally, we actually had to walk up to the bar to check out. Really disappointing, and likely won't inspire a repeat trip.

My first visit was last Sunday and it was amazing. We had pork buns, lumpia, and dumplings for the table. I had the honey glazed shrimp and walnuts. Excellent service and great food. I will definitely be going back...sooner than later :)

Wonderful atmosphere, the food is to die for. My favorite is the Singapore.

$31 for food that i wouldn't feed a starving person. Very disapointed.

Awesome good. I always have a hard time trying to pick what I want. Tangerine Chicken and Korean Beef excellent. Mixed drinks are not that great.

Not great. The service was really good, but the food was just mediocre.

I wouldn't go so far as to call it "imaginative," but it's certainly a couple of steps up from a standard Chinese place. Chicken dishes seemed particularly well executed, but the sauces were generally pretty bland. The service takes it from 3 to 4 stars. You can tell they really put in the extra effort. And yeah, the ice cream is delicious.

Just order 50.00 worth of food. Between all three chicken meals that I ordered I might have gotten 1.5 ounces of chicken. Paid 50.00 for some noodle and a cup of rice and 10oz of green peppers. Was trying to support a local business in these tough times and got ripped off. Thanks

Amazing! The food was great and the service was great as well! Will definitely go back again in the future

Great food and ice cream. Love the strawberry and goat cheese

I don't know who's the chef here, but each dish has its own flavor.... unlike most other Oriental restaurants, where it all tastes the same. Excellent wait staff, also. I've dined here 6-7 times, the food has been consistently excellent. But the meal is just the prelude to the dessert. Real homemade ICE CREAM! And not your run of the mill stuff either. Flavors like Chocolate Cayenne, Vanilla Black Pepper, etc. The combination of tastes knocks your socks off!! Ya gotta try it.

Food was okay but I wouldn't go out of my way to go again unless I was in the area.

We where there for a larg group gathering. The servers and support staff did a really great job getting food out in a timely manner, but they really didn't know who anything went to and would just go down the tables until someone would say it was theirs. Fried rice was a little clumpy and dry otherwise great food.

This is now the only place I will go for Chinese food. Everything tastes extremely FRESH. You don't know what you're missing until you eat here. The portion sizes are a little lacking and that would be my only complaint, however, they do have some amazing dessert options.

My new favorite spot. The staff is super friendly and attentive. Food is great. Lots of vegan and vegetarian options which is a huge plus for me. Love it here!

Absolutely delish! I have eaten from here three times in the past month or so and am actually ordering again tonight. The owners are as delightful as the fare that they serve. I am not from this area but when I visit, this has become a must-have! I especially love the Shitake dish because it is full of bean sprouts <3 -Keep up the good work & stay strong in these crazy quarantine times.

An experience isn t only about the taste of food that you receive, it s also about the vibe and presence of the staff you encounter. I ve frequently visited Red Orchid numerous times during my 10 years here in the Local Charleston Area. Today was by far THE WORST experience I ve had (and I ve yet to taste my food). Katie, who claims herself to be the manger there, was so mean and rude. She unfortunately got my order wrong and while explaining to her what it was that I wanted she grabbed the bag and stormed off to the kitchen. Initially I assumed I read her vibe wrongly so I ignored it and when she came out I asked her if she understood what I was trying to explain to her. She yelled at me and said I understood . I was taken back and pretty much offended because I was unclear what was wrong. I asked her if I did something wrong and explained to her my intentions weren t to upset her or offend her. Katie rolled her eyes and ignored me as she proceeded to wash her hands with gloves on. I then asked her if she was she okay. Only because I m sure working under these circumstances could be stressful. I understand with being a healthcare worker the stress is right now. Katie then Slammed her hands on the bad and sarcastically asked are you okay!? Without even responding to my question.... Katie then walked away, went to the kitchen. I stepped outside to let my husband know what was going on (at that point I was in tears) and I turned around to Katie slamming my food on the chair that was holding the door open and walked away. I ve honestly never experienced anything like that before. I m truly so bothered. I wish there was someone else there to voice my concerns with. As of now I don t foresee myself going back there anytime soon.

Amazing!! The food here is off the charts, yum-mee!! If you are looking for fresh, delicious Asian cuisine in the Charleston/Tri-county area, look no further!! The ambiance and warm staff alone make this place a gem. I hope Tony is behind the bar when you visit. He is the liquor whisperer!! Every drink is perfection!!
Thanks Tony and Staff for always delivering on a fabulous dining experience!!

Good food and atmosphere. Service was very good and no pressure to leave.

Red Orchids China Bistro on Sam Rittenburg Boulevard in West Ashley is great place to go for all things Chinese food as everything on the menu is delicious, fresh, and well prepared. I have had a really good experience every time I have been here and they have impressed me on all aspects. It is well worth a visit here for a relaxed and quality meal.

Great food, big portions and quick service! They have express lunch, we ate, paid and where out the door in 30 minutes! Definitely try it out.

Really going downhill. We arrived for an early dinner at 6:00 and although it wasn't very crowded service was very slow, although the waiter was friendly no apology that we waited so long.

Absolutely horrible service. Placed an order in the restaurant. Waited almost an hour then asked how long on my order. Owner told me it was a 45 minute wait but no one told me that when I placed the order. Then asked the owner why someone who came in and sat at the bar got their food in less than 30 minutes and he informed me that dine in service is served first. No one mentioned that prior to my order nor were any signs stating as such.

Avoid for service. Hope the food is decent after that ridiculous wait and terrible service.

*All of that for delivery quality Chinese food.

The Short: Still the best Chinese food in the greater Charleston area. Lamb, Snapper, & Flounder dishes are my favorites. The environment here is casual but not strip mall "China Wok/Bowl/Fun/Other Dumb Word" casual. You are more than welcome in your yoga pants and jogging shorts...your just gonna feel a bit weird. I only mention this as I watched it happen the last time I was there. Yes, it was hilarious!

Original Review: I have eaten at the Red Orchid many times and frequently order takeout from them. Today I decided to write them a review and on a whim I read their other reviews before doing so. I was surprised to find as many poor reviews as I did but after reading them I have to admit that a few are true...most however are not. They just miss the servers who made average Joe's feel as if they were regulars.

Food: Excellent except for one thing but I will get to that. At the Red Orchid the Chinese and Chinese/American classics you know are made with high quality ingredients and prepared with care. Their dishes do not contain last weeks half moldy onions, soaked in sauce, and covered in oil. The natural flavors of the food are allowed to shine and shine they do. Their snapper, flounder, and lamb dishes are among my favorites in the entire Charleston area. Now with that said...Red Orchid, your stand alone fried rice is awful, it has always been awful, and will continue to be awful until you actually fry it. That or please just rename the dish.

Service: I do agree with some other reviewers who stated that the overall level of service has declined a bit. The servers that made the Red Orchid such a great overall dining experience seem to have moved on and their replacements just aren't as knowledgeable or engaging. I will never forget the second time I dined there. I was seated and I recognized my server from the first time but by no means were we familiar. He however remembered me and asked if I would be having the same brand and type of sake that I had ordered almost two months before...This is the kind of service you generally receive at restaurants with Michelin stars people. This level of service was common at the Red Orchid until not too long ago. It is really what turned a very good restaurant that I liked into a great one that I recommend. Although I miss that excellence the newer wait staff have never provided bad service, not once, not a single time. Unfortunately they still lose a star over it...

Love their food! I generally don't like "Chinese" food, but their food is always delicious! Their icecream is the best part though!!!!! There should be a 6th star to rate the icecream! Chocolate cayenne and black sesame are my personal favorites!!!

Having eaten here several times, this is my favorite Chinese Restaurant in Charleston............. for Dine-In. Today was my first experience with Take-Out........... I don't know what the issue is, but not the same quality. Very disappointed with their take-out.

Always a consistently excellent meal with great ambience and knowledgeable servers. Don't let the strip mall scare you off! My wife and I's date night place of choice.

One of our favorite Chinese restaurants in North America. We live in Los Angeles but try to get here as much as possible! The mandarin chicken is amazing.

OMG, the Singapore Pancit is my kryptonite! I always say I'll try something new, but... I never do, lol.

I have stayed in various places around the city because I come in usually on the weekends for work. I have stayed at this hotel on two occasions and I intend to stay again. Great customer service and clean. Good quality for breakfast, larger than most menu. December 24 and 25, we had room 371-C, we requested a hairdryer and...

I always shop in this plaza at the Big Lots, which is next door to here, and i decided to chrck this place out. And im super excitef i did. First, the restaurant is small and intimate, which i love and can appreciate. As soon as i entered, i was greeted by Tony, and he was unbelievably awesome.... His personality shined immediately and made me feel welcome and in good spirits. He placed my order and not even 7 minutes later, my food was delivered to me hot and ready to go. Wow! I have never received such spectacular service like i did here. EVERY staff member was nice, polite and professional. I wish i could give this place more than 5 stars because they truly exceeded my expectation. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to everyone! :-) Follow my reviews at #ayterrell

The food was fresh and great. The ice cream was a great ending to the wonderful dinner.

Me and my wife went into red orchids there food is horrible, I had General tos chicken, I had dragon chicken, I also order fried rice it wasn't fried it just white rice with soy sauce on it with no favor, food not hot!! Not fresh at all when you order food it should be hot, We paid 29 dollars very expensive and very nasty!! I'm very disappointed. The staff was very friendly. They need to do better.

My server Madi was amazing and the veggie lettuce wraps werebthe best ive had! Thank you ill definitely be back!

Sesame chicken is my go to favorite meal, pretty hard to mess it up. I don't even know what this place was thinking. Whatever they gave me was hands down the worst I've ever had

Great food, great staff. Give this restaurant a try. You will not be disappointed.

Kelly and Tony Chu operate a first class restaurant. Staff remembers you, the food is fresh, the beverage selection is expansive and the place is spotless. Lunch can be served in and out for a half hour or staff do not mind if you linger and enjoy your guests company. It is also so nice at dinner to have some different seasonal items offered. Kelly's ice creams are epic as well.

I just got back from lunch (again) at Red Orchids and it never ceases to be outstanding. I've been eating at Red Orchids for a while now, and the owners, Tony and Kelly and the staff are AMAZING. It's definitely not what you'd expect to find between a Burlington Coat Factory and Big Lots. The food is very good. My recommendation is the Korean Style Steak-- it's smokey, sweet spicy flavor has everything you could want. It has just the right amount of chili oil for a slow spice and just enough sweetness to cut through it. Other favorites include Tangerine Chicken, and Blackbean Flounder. The lamb chops are awesome as well. Everything I've had there is good, but my least favorites are the typical ones that you can get from any strip-mall chinese place (like sesame chicken and general's chicken). While they are tasty, they are at the bottom of my favorites list. The service is what you'd expect at a much more pricy establishment-- very attentive and accommodating. Probably my favorite place to eat.

Very good food and amazing service by our waiter. Even the owner came by and said hello to us! A very friendly atmosphere and great food; I would highly recommend.

Love this place. Everything tastes made fresh. Can't get enough of the wasabi mustard.

The crab rangoons were disappointing - they had very little filling in them, and the server took my plate before I was finished eating. Overall, the quality of the food was just OK. The hostess and others were friendly though.

One of the most disappointing meals. No veggies or egg in the fried rice, bland and came out cold. Broccoli undercooked. The meat reminded me of something that they got cooked and then refried when ordered. Dry and chewy gross bits in meat. I ate one of the sweets and sour chicken and boxed the rest but threw it straight in the garbage when I got home. Fast food Chinese is better than this. The lumpia was alright. $60 down the drain.

Fantastic eating spot great service and delicious meals.

Throughly Enjoyed Dinner, The meal l was perfect and our service was Second to none. Our Waiter "Mike" was Great We go there about once a month and The Food And Service Is Great .
Thanks Rocky

looks really sketchy from the outside, but this is by far the BEST Chinese food in Charleston!!

The food is consistently great and the customer service is excellent

Best Chinese food I've had! Very fresh! Great service, owner should do a standup comedian show! Delightful!

Food is amazing. Ask your server for advice and take it!!!

The food is familiar Chinese but possibly the best you've ever had.
The black bean flounder is fantastic.One of the gems of Charleston.
The staff is very helpful and alway friendly. Obviously I would highly recommend
The Red Orchid.

This has become one of our favorite spots in West Ashley. Convenient, just off 26 in the first major shopping center with Publix and Big Lots. Food is great and staff amazing. Dragon wings are AMAZING and spring rolls worth ordering every time. Not the best in town, but it keeps us coming back. Great atmosphere, very intimate. Portions are large and filling.

The red and black snapper, omg! It was amazing. We enjoyed everything else also.

Good, not great. The best option for the area though.

Just left there, Excellent, Excellent Excellent. Didn't know what to on expect, just stumbled on it, had not heard of it or read any reviews. I talked with the bartender and asked for a take out menu. We continued to stumble around Charleston, back the first timein 15 years, this and the hotel we are stayi g in have been the highlights of our trip. Not knocking Charleston at all , nice city and will be back, just things have had a way of going wrong this trip.
Getting back to Red Orchid, service was very good and what we had was excellent. Everything fresh cooked to order and hot. We had the sampler for 2 which consisted of Dragon wings, spring rolls, crab wontons, chicken teriyaki, and Firecracker Shrimp. We also had house fried rice and house lomein. Our waitress was very friendly and informative. We will be back to Charleston more often now, only a 4 hour drive, and Red Orchid will be a must place to eat.

Authentic Chinese in West Ashley! We're new to Charleston, and can't say enough about Red Orchid. Where to start.... well... all the apps are delicious!
I think our favorite dishes are the Tangerine Beef and the Hunan Shrimp!
And for dessert.... well I must say, that their house made ice cream is some of the best I've ever had! (And I'm a Pastry Chef) the pistachio is to die for!! They sell it by the pint!! In all of our experiences, dine in or take out, they have been wonderful!

Pleasantly surprised, will be back for sure! So good!

I'm not usually much for Chinese and apparently that's because I just never had really good Chinese food! Joking aside, this is the best Chinese food I have ever had. It doesn't look like much from the outside and the atmosphere is marginal but it food is absolutely amazing and againIt is seriously the best that I have ever had! Even my children approve and anyone that has children knows that is saying something :)

For $21 there was very little food and the fried rice was basically white rice with some soy sauce dumped in it. The "dragon" wings came with no sauce and were mediocre. I had to douse it all in sriracha just to make it edible! Will NEVER order from here again

I'm confused. I've been to Red Orchid twice and I don't think is deserves a score this high at all! Sure, the service was great and the decor was good but the food was terrible! The chicken was dry and overly floured; in fact it, thinking back on it, maybe it wasn't chicken, just a ball of flour. The fried rice was terrible and cold and the spring roll was sitting in a pool of oil when it came to the table. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I'm done with this place.

Great for vegans and vegetarians! They have many choices if you don't want you eat meat and not just salad either!

Tony and Kelly have an awesome place. They serve high quality food, with unique dishes and flavors. The atmosphere is good, and the service is usually pretty great. The wine is also often unique. Tony specializes in having unique offerings and is slays kind about a tasting. This is often where we go for special events. If you love Chinese food and wine, you will LOVE Red Orchids.

Awesome lunch. Had the sweet and sour chicken and it was great. Actual white meat chicken and hand breaded. So happy I found this spot. Will be back very soon. Wanted to leave a picture but I ate it so fast I forgot.

We had the hunan beef and the house pancit noodles. Both were better than what we've had around her at other Chinese places. They were delicious. No more bad Chinese for us; we've find our spot.

My favorite spot for freshly prepared Chinese food. The staff is friendly, the food is great. Pan-fried dumplings, hot sour soup, sesame chicken, and maybe a shot of Blanton's and I'm at peace with the world!

I have always loved this place. It's a must for any one wanting great Chinese food in Charleston. Classy Operation, great service, and even better food. They used to have live jazz piano on Thursdays. Never had a bad meal or experience here.

Got their Orange Chicken to go. It looked like fried orange peel with orange sauce instead of normal orange chicken. Absolutely disgusting, I couldn t believe it! Also the rice was dull and tasted like it had some weird ginger seasoning that didn t come close to the flavor I was hoping for.

My wife and I ate here a couple weeks ago... I ussually do not post reviews.
But i can not get the experience out of my head.

I had never eaten there before but have heard great things about them.

So when we arrived the on a week nigjt the dinning room was empty. But the take-out was you g like crazy.
We were greeted right away and seated and given water and drink order placed.
The waitress came back and explain ed specials and a quick history of Red Orchids.
We ordered the steamed BBQ rolls(?).
And our entrees my wife Shrimp Pancitt, me Tangerine Chicken. The waitress had mentioned they had crispy brussel spouts in a house seasoning... But passed. Thou I kept thinking about them, I love b-sprouts. Our rolls came our quickly but not TOO quickly. They were very good. Then our e trees came but then, I ordered sprouts as our entrees arrived. They made them before we were half way done. Very impressive!

Everything was amazing! We will be going back for our 19th wedding aniversary tonight.

The only thing better then the food was the service.

Great job guys n gals.
Jim n Ann Marie

Not buffet, but seriously good, cooked to order, Chinese food.

Super fast and nice service. With fresh food to a great atmosphere. Got the house noodles and rice. Amazing! I will see you again. Thank you.

Great food, excellent service. Will definitely return.

Overly priced for bland, tasteless food great atmosphere horrible location and food

Service was excellent and the food was amazing. I got the General Chu chicken with white rice. Food came out and was hot and perfect.

The best Chinese take out in west Ashley...highly recommend. Fresh ingredients and great service.

Hands down best in the low country! We came in for the awesome reviews and we were not disappointed. The calamari was fantastic! We will definitely be back!