Eat First Chinese Restaurant

Does anyone know if EF is coming back??? I can’t find anything comparable! The business next to it burned down, but EF didn’t. And the EF sign is still there. It looks like it is getting rebuilt. The strip mall at least. Please come back EF. We miss you!

Great for carry out. I always call 10 minutes before and pick up is always on time. It’s great Chinese food made by Chinese people. It’s kind of a hole in the wall so I never eat there.
I recommend the orange chicken, fried rice and the won ton soup. Delicious!

The food tasted pretty good. Based on all the reviews I was pretty excited. The only question I have… Why did I pull my egg rolls out of a Dairy Queen bag? 0_​O?
But again… The food was all pretty tasty. I just found that to be a bit unnerving… But hey! Maybe they just bought some extra bulk bags that Dairy Queen was selling. They might just be thrifty! Either way, I’m defiantly going to try more dishes out over there. Good hole in the wall place.

Love this place! Favorite hole in the wall. Been coming here for 15+ years. Delicious food, generous portions, fast service. Highly recommend!

We enjoy the food from this place, only ordered takeout and never have been disappointed. Give it a try, large portions and very good. Best prices on the Westside for Chinese.

Love this place! My family and I have been coming here for so many years now the food is always cooked to order and super fast and super Delicious! EF is a nice clean little place the employees are always so nice as well! Great Food!

I’ve been looking for a good Chinese restaurant since Liu’s closed down about a year ago. I found one restaurant that was amazing, but it was about a twenty minute drive. I was told to try out this restaurant and I was really excited since it was a short distance from where I live. Unfortunately, the excitement faded. When I first entered the restaurant, the person working behind the counter was very cold and looked unhappy. I didn’t have to wait long for my food, which was a good thing (I hope). Lastly, I was dissatisfied with my meal. I had ordered General Tao’s Chicken, which is one of my favorite dishes, but the meal was just unappetizing. I most likely won’t try this place again, which is a shame since I’ve heard from a couple of people that this is their go-​to Chinese restaurant.

Our family has been eating here for years. The food is always consistent. The portions are big and the sesame chicken is awesome. Our 2 year old daughter loves their wonton soup! I love the beef with veggies and are more than happy to make it spicy for me! Truly a hidden gem!

The place has good food and was busy during off hours. Not much for décor but I would call this one of my favorites if I lived in ABQ!!!

Fast, fresh, consistently good hot Chinese food. What more could you ask for? Never disappoints. Give it a try and decide for yourself.

I used to be a fan and would order out at least once a week. In the last year, the quality of the food has gone down hill while the prices almost doubled. Everything started tasting the same and they never changed up the menu.
Service is just o.k. They never show appreciation that we were paying customers, only would show frustration that they had to get up from watching t.v. to help the customers out.
Now when we want to stay on the Westside for oriental food we now go a few doors down from E.F. to Sushi Xuan. Much better food and service.

Pretty decent little Chinese restaurant. Portions are big and fresh. Sesame chicken was excellent, fried rice and egg roll were good. Egg drop soup was a little thicker (more like a gel) then what I normally have had in the past. Soda was from a can or bottle, instead of fountain. Restrooms were clean.

Holy moly 4 stars average? This place is disgusting! Guessing New Mexicans don’t know good Chinese food if it hit them in the face. Everything is way too salty and greasy. The eggrolls and chicken wings for appetizer were way too hard and completely inedible. All the dishes were just downright salty and tastes all the same! Fried rice is whatever too. I urge you take your money elsewhere.

Really good food! Always fresh and hot! Large portions of Fried Rice, egg rolls are good and egg drop soup is very tasty. You get a lot of food for the price. The Fried Rice has been «Americanized» with peas and carrots. I can’t stand that! The restaurant is small, but cozy. Just a nice place to stop and eat.

Majority of the dishes here taste the same regardless of the ingredients!.. same stir fry flavor.

Egg drop Soup was really good! It was good service too

I don’t know who to critique, the restaurant or the patrons.
On the one hand, the restaurant could simply be a reflection of the American standard when it comes to Chinese food, dishing up huge portions of sugary, salty, deep fried piles of entrees, which will surely find a fan base. I’ve had fare like this all over the country, from small eateries to buffets, it’s what we’ve come to believe Chinese food should be. And that’s a shame. Wild guess here, but I’d bet the average family in China doesn’t mow down on this stuff regularly.
The absence of a single, solitary vegetable was the biggest downer. I ordered sesame chicken — mistakenly based on a fellow Unilocaler’s suggestion — and it’s not like I expected a garden, but a slice of bell pepper would’ve been nice. The two pork ribs were nothing unusual, nor the egg roll, nor the egg drop soup. The fried rice was just that, fried rice, no carrots or peas. «You could get more nutritional value from that Panda place» my wife quipped. She was right. Her lo mein was lo-​veggie, too.
I’ll give it the three star treatment because A) it’s a cute little place, family-​run, sorely lacking in storage. To-​go containers pile a center table while supplies, like rice and sugar, line the walls from the front door to the bathrooms in the back. B) The portions were (not surprisingly) massive; my plate easily made for two gut-​busting meals, and when accompanied with some mango and home cooked broccoli, it was okay. Really, really sweet though, needing to be balanced with a major dose of soy sauce.
Bathroom check was fine, four stars, clean. For my dollar, thus far the only solid Chinese eateries in ABQ are Budai and Chow’s (and it’s been a while since I checked out the latter). I’m not looking for much, here, just a little creative influence and a recognition that deep fried food should be balanced with some bright, crisp veggies. I’m sure that’s why I love other Asian cuisine, like Thai or Vietnamese, so much more. Is that too much to ask?
Oh, almost forgot. If I ever do return, I’m going to try the entrée that’s missing an apostrophe. Check it out: General Taos Chicken. That sounds fascinating, eh?

The west side of Albuquerque isn’t know for it’s selection of great restaurants. But I think that there are some hidden gems. EF Chinese Restaurant is one of them. You’ll be entertained by the placemats at the table. They go through the different chinese birth year signs. The staff is friendly and the food is very decently priced. They have about 20 lunch specials that range from $ 6-​$ 7 from 11AM to 3PM. I decided to get something from the chef specials part of the menu. I had the Mixed Vegatables with Shrimp and Scallops. It was awesome! There were tons of veggies including celery and snap peas. They did not skimp on the scallops or shrimp. Lots of seafood goodness to be had. Not to mention that the serving that they gave me could feed 2 – 3 people easily. I got to take home a lot of leftovers. Good prices and good chinese food.

My husband and I have been trying to find a good chinese food joint since moving to ABQ in May. Finally, we found it! We got take out, so I can’t speak to the service of dine in. The staff was extremely friendly and double checked our order to make sure we got home with everything. The smell in the car on the short drive home was intoxicating and we couldn’t wait to dive in. Everything we ate was very good, but the vegetable fried rice and the sesame chicken were outstanding in flavor and freshness. This will be our go to place for chinese from now on!

My family gets take out from here many times. It’s the best tasting Chinese restaurant here on the Westside of Abq. The House Dinners are a real value whenever I get something other than the Mongolian Chicken or Mongolian Beef.
My sister from Washington DC, where ethnic foods are more commonly found, thought the food was great too.
The interior is a little rundown and not really a setting for a romantic night but the prices have not been inflated either. If nothing else, give them a try, get takeout and enjoy your dinner at home.