Combo Restaurant

I used to frequent this restaurant because of the huge portions and decent prices, however I immediately stopped eating here when I used the restroom. It was filthy and pee seeps up in between the tiles when you step on them. About a week after that incident I was talking to a family member who also used to eat there and she told me that she was served chicken that was clearly passed its pull date.

I love this place. When I was growing up, we ate here about weekly. We tapered off as I got older, due to some *changes made to the menu. When I moved away, though I found a good fancier Chinese place, I had trouble finding a good «hole in the wall» Chinese place, which is what I craved.
A few months ago, on a visit home, I decided to stop back at The Combo and see if it was as good as I remembered it, and if I still liked it.
I haven’t stopped craving it since!
So I went again last week and stocked up. I ate for 4 days on the side of almond chicken and side of pork fried rice that I ordered. They were both delicious with every single bite, and I STILL haven’t stopped thinking about them!
*My only complaint is that all my favorites used to come together — Almond Chicken, Sweet & Sour Pork, Pork Fried Rice, Beef Chow Mein. Now instead of Pork Fried Rice, it’s Chicken, and you have to pay a dollar extra to get the Pork… even though they are the same price when bought individually. The same is true of the Chow Mein. Little details like that are the only thing forcing me to hold back a star.
The Combo serves big portions for low prices, and is greasy in the best way possible. I definitely recommend this dive. :) I will be back again as soon as I return to the area!

The very senior crowd in this place should have given me a clue to the spice level of the food. This was American Chinese which was closer to what I might expect to have served to me at a senior center. The brown gravy added over my meal was just odd.

Our families favorite restaurant for over 28 years! For those family members that are residing out of town we still make this a stop every time we are in town.

As a broke college student I am extremely grateful for restaurants like these to exist. Where else in Bellvue can you get a decent meal for $ 6.00 that will last you two days? Seriously.. . From what I understand this place has been around for over 20 years. This area had a predominantly white population back then and they created a menu to cater to the simple white pallet, because if they didnt hardly anybody would have gone. Thats probably the reason there food is the way it is, because there was a demand for Americanized chinese food. Can’t blame the family for making greasy comfort food when it is what’s helped keep there business running for so long. I think the food is tasty, doesnt make me sick ’cause I know better not to scarf it all down. The owners are very sweet and deserve a good turn out.
This other chinese restaurant near by uses gravy that taste just like mayo, this places gravy is atleast real gravy. LOL

Basic Chinese grub, basic prices, no frills (but plenty of variety). Family-​owned/​operated I believe, cozy/​divey atmosphere, hole-​in-​the-​wall kinda place. I’ve been dining here ever since college at BCC (the reasonable prices drew me in initially) over 10 years ago, and haven’t been disappointed yet; no joke. Yes it’s greasy (gasp!), so if you’re OK with that then you’ll be fine. The homemade egg rolls are huge and awesome, easily my favorite item.

So I been going there over 20 years good food but they just raised prices. Not worth it any more service is fair won’t go back !

I have been coming here since my children were little. All five of them are adults now. This is the only Chinese food they will eat. The atmosphere here is very hospitality. and family friendly. The owner is Linda she memorizes everybody’s order and when come she already taking order. I have never tasted almond fried chicken Like hers. Now my children are all adults and they take their families here. With a family of 7 we all got to eat here as a family dinner at one time. The prices here are so affordable that my children are allowed to invite their friends. We would even have our birthday parties here. The food is delicious. And Linda always with a smile.

We came here even after reading some reviews hoping that we would have a different outcome unfortunately we did not. One of the things that was absolutely off putting was the fact that their grease, oil or whatever they use to fry was so dirty you can taste everything in one bite of food, my husband had an egg roll which tasted like fries, I also had some noodles which had a very dirty oil flavor we could not finish our food it was a complete waste and we hope that you think about that before you visit here. Yes they are nice but not enough for me to overlook the terrible food. We won’t be returning. Glad it works for others but not us.

This is my all time favorite Chinese restaurant. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and have had so many fond memories here. I moved to Orlando 7 years ago but make sure to fit in a meal at Combo on my trips back.

I feel bad writing a negative review because the lady/​owner was nice, but I feel the need and responsibility as a consumer to let others know. The biggest issue I see is that it seems they use the same oil to deep fry both American and Chinese dishes. Also, because oil is expensive, it seems they reuse this same oil over and over. For other restaurants with high turnover, this is not much of an issue, but I imagine it makes it difficult to justify from an economic standpoint at this particular restaurant. I ordered the almond chicken which was deep fried but tasted like fries and fish and chips. There was some sort of gravy that seemed more appropriate for mashed potatoes than Chinese food. The one positive is that they give you a lot of food.
I had a stomach ache for a few hours afterwards, but I didn’t formally complain because it was nothing serious, and again the lady seemed nice.

The combo is a great dive Chinese restaurant. You will definitely be filled up with leftovers from this neighborhood establishment. Linda is welcoming and always remembers my favorite combo. I stated coming here more than 15 years ago while attending BC…

Completely worth every penny! My favorite dishes full of vegetables are crisp and flavorful. My husband loves the Almond Chicken and it hasn’t changed in 18 years.

My Favorite Chinese American Cuisine Is Egg Foo Yung, And Was Thrilled To Find A Restaurant That Served It. Reasonably Priced Too! My First Visit Was 2010, The Kids Said Their Food Was good, All I Tasted Was Dirty Grease. The Gravy Was A Color I Have Never Seen, Gray! The Food Is Greasy, But Not Bad. I Stopped Visiting After Several Visits The Owner Seem To Have An Attitude. On The Last Visit I Came In With Family, Her Demeanor When We Had QuestionS About The Menu, We Turned Around And Left. Couple Years Later… We Returned… The Owners Attitude Was 10X Better! Not So Much The food. Same Ol Gray Colored Gravy, And Burnt Grease Taste. I Rather ContInue With My Usua Place, It’s Cost Slightly More, But Well Worth it.

10 years ago, someone said to me: «I know this really good and cheap Chinese/​American food place.»
Since that meal, I have been forever changed, I am not the same person that I used to be. Never have I been so thoroughly gastronomically raped and violated, I will never feel the same about anything again. The fact that this meals still haunts me so vividly, is a testament to the sheer level of disgust that I endured a decade ago. Shell shocked for the rest of my days.
Hunger is the best spice, a quote from Cowboy Bebop that I repeat to myself in my head when I eat especially terrible food. I usually pride myself in my ability to go on eating/​finishing cheap or free terrible food (to my wife’s disgust), I have an ability to lift the boundaries that cloud mere mortal men and with great fortitude to withstand the shakes that tremble those to their core.
So believe me when I say this, what appeared in front of me made Safeway China Express look like a 3 Michelin star restaurant in Hong Kong serving the most delicate, sophisticated and masterfully prepared Chinese cuisine at the pinnacle of our civilization. I don’t actually dislike Safeway China Express, once in a blue moon I will eat some. The first bite from Safeway is always so delicious, each bite after that however is an exponential drop in taste and flavor but an exponential increase in regret and self-​doubt.
I had ordered what I thought would be the safest passage thru this hell. I soon learned that after it arrived, there are no safe passages here. I had ordered some sort of egg omelet with fried rice and fried chicken. Taking the first bite, the rape and massacre of Nanking flashed before my very eyes, this Chinese food was subject to such horrors and brutality not seen for over half a century.
1. The omelet, if we can even call it that, were eggs with a bunch of bean sprouts, not even properly dried yet somehow still burnt on the outside, soggy inside. A wet burnt mess of the worst kind. Worst omelet I have had yet in my life. My molestation would not end here.
2. The fried rice, you ever had those cheapest money can buy microwaveable fried rice meal packs? Me neither, but if they do actually exist and I tried one, I would imagine this would be what it would taste like, but much worse.
3. The fried chicken was more like fried batter with clumps of what might be chicken in the middle. The oil used to fry it was clearly older than me and would make the finest bio diesel. Just the smell, you knew the oil hasn’t been changed or properly filtered in god knows how long.
4. I almost forgot about the gravy, it was almost aged out of my mind, but seeing the picture just brought it back to me like the vets hearing gunshots bringing them back to ‘nam again. Have you ever had the most artificial tasting, bland yet extremely heavy and thick disgusting sauce? This is not it, this is much worse than that. I don’t know if it’s some sort of battery acid blended with their cooking oil but it did not taste like anything that was raised or cultivated on this planet.
This was just one plate of incredibly bad food that I just couldn’t finish. The first and hopefully last time that will happen, the pain just wasn’t worth it anymore. My hunger is the best spice loop in my head was out of steam, like a coke addict that reached the threshold of pain exceeding pleasure, I committed gastronomical suicide and just paid and walked out, a cardinal sin, I know. I always either finish or get it to go, my parents told me all the time that the kids in Africa are starving so with that instilled in me I always finish or get it to go. Couldn’t do it this time, glared at by the owner/​waitress/​chef/​diablo, not budging this time. Just. Can’t. Do. It.
Do yourself a favor, if you crave really crappy chinese food on a budget, go to Safeway. If you must dine here, take heart of this wise abridged Nietzsche quote, «When you gaze long into the void, the void also gazes into you.»

If you want greasy, «American style» Chinese food, Combo is the place for you.
I’ve gone home with 3 huge boxes of leftovers after ordering a two person Combo to share. The financial damage? Less than $ 20. The damage on the scale? I’d prefer to keep that to myself… Combo is where I go when I want to eat my feelings.
Really though? It’s no exaggeration to say that I love this place. The family that runs it is sweet beyond sweet, the food is a gutbomb but it tastes great if you’re in the mood for something you know is unhealthy. Most people will probably look down on me, but if I have a hankerin’ for almond fried chicken or chow mein, or I’m sad, or poor but don’t have the energy to cook for the next week, I come here to fill up on carby goodness and get showered with affection by the lady who runs this place.

I’ve been going to Combo since the late 1980s; my brother has loved this place since about 1985.
I don’t come here for health food, and I don’t come here because it’s authentic Chinese food. I DO come here though because Linda and her crew (Joe used to be part of the crew too!) have always been so friendly and nice to me, my family and friends. The food is very inexpensive, I think it’s tasty as hell, you get a great portion, and I’ve NEVER fallen ill from eating here. Personally, I like the ‘Americanization’ of their food; I like to refer to it as a Chinese diner and think that it’s kind of kitschy.
Way back in the day when I’d walk in, Joe would greet me and my friends in Spanish, ‘Buenos dias!’ he would say. KISW would be playing on the speakers in the ceiling. I have such great memories of this place!

Real basic, greasy, Americanized Chinese food. Almost everything is fried, everything seems to be covered in some odd ‘gravy’, and not much flavor from that either.
The almost dirty table with a cut up bench seat added to the overall impression!
The prices were low however, and I didn’t regret eating here later; just not something I would repeat.

Do not come here expecting Chinese food. You can, however, expect a large quantity of relatively edible food for a very small amount of money.
I went with the beef and broccoli and almond chicken combo that other reviewers had mentioned. These had no resemblance to other renditions of the dishes I’ve had in the past. Both items were covered with gravy (?!), and the beef tasted a little weird. The fried rice had no flavor. The chicken was tasty and well-​fried, though.
My friend, who used to be a regular at this place, went with a dinner combo that included BBQ pork, egg drop soup, almond chicken, and stir-​fried vegetables. The vegetables were more authentically Chinese, so maybe that order would have been a better way to go.
Service is spotty… I think it’s just one woman and sometimes it takes her awhile to get around to you.

As the name suggests, lots of inexpensive combo Chinese dishes — both family style and individual.
Been driving by here for years wondering what this restaurant was all about. Since Dr. P. was up for eating here today, the wondering came to an end.
Combo is a smallish restaurant in a turquoise cinderblock building. The inside has a positive ambience, not as divey as the exterior would suggest (as long as you ignore the booth seats that have been mended with black duct tape). I do like the ribbed Ikea-​ish windows they have set between the booths.
There was just a couple of other people in there besides us.
Wasn’t sure what to expect because when I indicated to the waitress that we needed a few more seconds to pore over all the combos on the menu, she laughed hysterically and walked away. Ten minutes later we flagged her down to take our order.
My egg flower soup was good, made more hearty by chicken and snow peas. Dr. P. said her hot and sour soup was, well, sour.
I ordered the Almond Chicken. It came with brown fried rice and breaded chicken with an American-​style brown gravy. Also came several pieces of fried shrimp. It was decent, though the shrimp put the «fried food» index of the dish to an awfully high level.
Penny ordered the tofu and steamed vegetables that comes with a bright red and vinegary dipping sauce. She gave her dish a thumbs up.
We also split an entrée of Mongolian Beef. It was very good, but different than what you usually picture when you think of Mongolian Beef. It consisted of a very thin, almost chipped beef. It was dark, like roast beef, not reddish other Mongolian Beefs. Combo’s Mongolian Beef came with an American-​style brown gravy flecked with little bits of chili.
We’d probably come back.