Chef Express

If you love chicken, get on over and try Chef Express out!
Chinese takeout is very meh in the Garden Grove area, but this place is my favorite out of all of them. The orange chicken is different from the usual Panda Express style orange chicken in that instead of having the sweet and sour sauce glazed thinly over the chicken, it is a very nice tangy thick sauce. I absolutely love the orange chicken, but the thick sauce may not be your cup of tea.
Typically, the food will be better if you come during lunch and dinner times when the trays get freshly replenished often, but I still enjoy it when I come at odd times like 8pm.
Oh, the lady who works here is super duper nice and gives big portions!

Best jalapeño chicken ive tried. Everyone there treats me like family and boy are they generous! ¹⁰⁄₁₀

This has got to be one of my favorite go to places for when I’m low on money. I absolutely adore the woman working here, she’s very sweet, polite and generous with the food portions. I love how the chow mein is cooked with little oil and with eggs in it! The eggs make the chow mein taste so much better. I’ve been to many fast food chinese restaurants but this one is my all time favorite, the food is delicious and the customer service is fantastic!

Like previously said, only dish that wasn’t chicken was the beef and broccoli. Not a bad place, no need to avoid it. 2 different kinds of orange chicken was nice. Teriyaki chicken — chicken was good, teriyaki sauce was bland. 3.5 stars

Told we were ordering from the spicy side and both of my choices were not spicy at all. One of my picks was called jalapeño chicken but it was a breaded chicken that had a few slices of jalapeño thrown on top.
Everything was chicken except for beef broccoli. Which was fine with me, but pretty blah. She gave us a huge to go box stuffed with food but I didn’t finish or save it. Won’t go back.
Prices were just ok for the lack of taste. And I was starving when I ate this and still couldn’t get excited about it.

After reading Bill T.‘s convincing review of Chef Express, I drove right down to Chef Express for lunch. The siren call of the succinct «Chinese Food» title on the list of the stores in the plaza prevented me from overshooting my target as I swerved into the parking lot.
The place was still empty when I entered and most of the trays were still not out. There were enough selections for me to test out, however. I was greeted with a smile and just as Bill T. had mentioned, Sonja is a very courteous host. She was very patient in describing some of the dishes to me and was even thoughtful enough to wipe the side of the take-​out boxes of excess sauce before bagging them, something rarely seen in fast-​food places nowadays. Her care and hospitality are enough to make you forget that you’re essentially at a fast-​food joint.
You can order pre-​prepared combo dishes (they’re listed on the menu), create your own, or get items in smaller stand-​alone boxes at a very reasonable price (i.e. $ 1 for a small carton of fried rice). I opted to create two two-​item combos and managed to nab a good amount of staple American-​Chinese chicken dishes: Orange Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Kung Pao Chicken. My final selection of Broccoli Beef rounded out the sides. My starch of choice was chow-​mein for both combos.
The quantity of food is pretty decent and certainly a great deal more than most fast food chains will offer for the price you’re paying (two item combos are $ 4.59 at the time of this review, which is a bargain). Sonja was extremely generous with the sides and the chow-​mein quantity was also slightly above average. She definitely makes an effort to give you a good amount of food.
The chow-​mein was standard American-​Chinese fare; that is, the noodles were long and fairly thick, with little to no-​texture or bite. There were a few chunks of whitened-​green cabbage sparsely spread across the field of browned noodle, giving the slightly floury bites of chow-​mein a crunch. There was notably less grease in the noodles than at most chains, which resulted in the noodles being less slick and easier to manage with your utensils at the cost of a little less flavor. It was an appropriate vehicle for the stronger flavored sides characteristic of American-​Chinese cuisine, and I for one enjoyed them.
The orange chicken was a blast from the past. A mysterious, slightly sweet yellow batter surrounded the seemingly fried chicken pieces. Though there is lack of crunch, the chicken pieces are large enough and the orange sauce is tart enough to satisfy. The sweet and sour chicken is a different story as it still had a crispy brown exterior on the skin, while the shamelessly revealing white meat was doused in a syrupy sauce that was more sweet than sour. Sonja mentioned that there was meant to be a spicy kick that I could not detect when I ate them and it likely would have made the dish a bit stronger. The kung pao chicken also lacked fire but was loaded with a fair amount of bell peppers and onions. The chicken dishes all had fairly good cuts of chicken (i.e. no gristle or random bits of fat) and were easy to eat. The sauces were a bit more watery than what I’m used to from Chinese fast food but fortunately they didn’t leak and mingle with one another in the box. The broccoli beef was done well, with florets of bright green, crunchy, fresh-​tasting broccoli and thin slices of tender beef.
So the final verdict? Chef Express is an average to above average takeout place that is sure to be convenient for those in the area. The food is fairly standard fare but it’s better than some chains and the feel-​good vibes you get is worth the visit alone.

I have been a customer of this place since they opened in late 2005, I believe I was the fifth customer she ever served. I worked within walking distance in the area for about 3+ years and loved it, in fact I gained about 35lbs enjoying her food. :-) Anyway I’ve been to many Chinese Fast Food places in my day and have had it all, and nobody comes close to Sonja and her husband’s food in this category.
They have a varied menu filled with MANY different kinds of choices, including types of options that you wouldn’t see at every Chinese fast food place. There are the staples like teriyaki chicken, orange chicken, Kung Pao chicken, broccoli beef, and the like, but it’s the stuff that you don’t see normally that makes this place special. Like the «Mandarin Chicken», Jalapeño Chicken, and the «monthly flavor» just to name a few. They are located right on the corner of Santa Ana, Westminster, and Garden Grove and since these two aren’t part of a chain they have some artistic license and can vary their menu according to what’s selling.
Heck over the past couple of years I have had her make special dishes for her menu just to see if they sold, and they even met with some decent success! :-)
Sonja also doesn’t skimp on the portions. When you order a two item combo she gives you enough food for 2 days in that combo for only $ 4.25, it’s incredible!
Now Chinese Fast Food can be hit or miss on the quality of the meat in your dishes, fortunately you get good stuff from here. The chicken is moist and tender, the Chow Mein is long and fat (my Chinese GF didn’t appreciate it as much as I do, but I am white, and apparently white guys don’t like the small hard skinny noodles). The vegetables in the dishes are crispy and fresh. I’ve seen the shipments they get in, and everything comes unprepared, so I KNOW FOR A FACT that they chop all the meat and veggies in the kitchen.
She is a very hospitable hostess and remembers who you are and is very grateful for your visit. I once walked there and it started raining REALLY HARD, the chef actually stopped cooking, and drove me back to work so I wouldn’t get caught in the rain. You just don’t get service like that from most places. So if you work in the area, and are looking for a very satisfying lunch that will also be lunch the next day for under $ 5.00 this is the best place yet.
Unfortunately I no longer work in the area, and don’t get to see her as much as I would like, but sometimes, when I’m in the area I’ll go out of my way to make sure to drop in and get a couple of boxes for the week.
If you go there, let her know the «motorcycle guy» referred you. It will make her smile, I guarantee it.