Pick Up Stix

Well I am not sure maybe 2-​stars is too much. I give them two stars for marketing. the food really looks good. My first experience I had kung pow chicken with brown rice. It was ok. The next time I had salmon. The salmon itself was quite tasty I just put lemon on it and had the sauce on the side. I paid $ 2 more to substitute rice with chow mien. Wow that was a mistake. The chow mien was just noodles. Nothing else, no onion veggies seasoning nothing, except and this is a big EXCEPT, the sauce. The sauce tasted like syrup mixed with brown sugar. I did not even taste the noodles. It was literally like I was eating maple syrup and brown sugar flavored with noodles. It was beyond terrible. Yuk! Maybe it was seasoned with CCC (Cheap Crap from China)! Yuk!

It’s been several years since I patronized the Pick Up Stix in Huntington Beach and as I recall, the food was quite decent then. Not anymore. Today, at the Porter Ranch location I ordered the thai curry lunch special with chicken and noodles. Emphasis on the word «curry.»
After waiting (ten minutes, I was handed the food to go by the cashier. I took a quick peek inside the plastic bag and thought I was given the wrong order. I expected the chicken curry to be in a separate container from the noodles but no, what I was given was simply chow mein with a few pieces of chicken and vegetables thrown in. I asked, «Where is the curry?» The cashier said, «Sorry, it’s not like the thai restraurants’ curry.» Huh? Why not? Did Pick up Stix discover a more exciting way to make thai curry?
Apparently this Pick Up Stix’ version of thai curry is to slather about 4 tablespoons (or less) of some sauce that tastes vaguely like imitation curry onto the noodles, making them slightly soggy, add chicken and veg and call it a day! According to their official website, however, the Thai Coconut Curry comprises «White chicken with fresh green beans, red peppers, carrots, white onions and broccoli in our creamy Thai coconut curry.» Excuse me? CREAMY!!!

Slow slow slow. It was only 2 guys working the beginning of lunch rush (and they appeared to be fussing with each other) I ordered the firecracker chicken. Nasty. I didn’t even finish it. It was over breaded, fried really hard, and it wasn’t spicy at all. Not really flavorful but salty. Weird. The cream cheese rangoon… good. Other than that… a waste of $ 8. Overpriced, especially for the amount they give you. I use to come here for the freshness and I remember this place being good. I dunno what happened. It’s has been awhile so maybe it’s me. Whatever it is I won’t be back.

For some quick Chinese food, Pick Up Stix promised to be fresh and authentic. I was rather excited to try it for the first time! However, my meal wasn’t as great as I’d thought it would be…
I went in for some lunch, and got a lunch special plate with «General’s Orange» (which is basically Orange Chicken) and chow mein. Instead of the 2 creamcheese wonton sides, I asked for a veggie spring roll. The service when I ordered was good, but not very friendly. My meal took a while to come out, with the wait being about 10 minutes. It was lunch time, and the store was a tad busy, so I decided to overlook it. However, when my meal arrived, I was disappointed: I was given 1 veggie spring roll, which was decent, but the sauce from the orange chicken had soaked all over the chowmein, making the noodles very dense. Further, the chowmein had no vegetables in it – it was literally just pasta. The chicken was dry, and lacked flavor, leaving me very disappointed and unsatisfied. The portions for the lunch special were decent, but I left still feeling a bit hungry.
I’d love to give this 3 stars, but the chicken just killed it for me. I probably won’t be returning any time soon.

I have no complaints about the cleanliness of the restaurant, restrooms or the staff. I didn’t have an altogether unpleasant experience here, but I won’t return for several key reasons.
We decided to try this place in lieu of our usual Panda Express visit, for a different experience. The menu looked really promising and I had high hopes.
The shrimp and meat we received in our entrees was in bits (not appealing bits), and sparse. It was way over sauced for my taste, and I was a little shocked at the portion sizes considering the price.
Our party didn’t finish our food and we ended up still hungry and quite let down. I’m not sure if this is the norm for this restaurant, or if we just came in on a bad day. Panda Express has definitely won out.

Jose was really helpful even though they were about close. My friend and I didn’t have enough money so he waited patiently while we looked for a quarter.

I’ve always seen their commercials but I’ve never been here until recently. Their food is fresh because they make it as you order which is great and they give good portions. Place is clean, staff is friendly and place could get packed but luckily it wasn’t when I went. Definitely coming back.

Took too long for the food to come out. No where to sit, you should just take out.
The person at the register was touching money, then without cleaning their hands would go to fill rice and other food and bring food orders to people waiting for take out and those waiting to eat. Very disgusting and unsanitary.
The food was (rice and noodles) soggy and (Thai Chicken and beef broccoli) over seasoned. Not worth the money!
Something nice they did was bring a bowl of chocolate fortune cookies around for people to eat but the guy who did that was cleaning tables with a rag just before, and yes you guessed it never washed his hands.

I’d have to give this Pick Up Stix location a sub-​par (par is * * * Three Stars to me) rating making it below average.
I ordered a lunch special and was given a choice between an egg roll or the cream cheese won ton’s, and opted for the egg roll, for which when my order was rung up, prompted upcharges not disclaimed. So, I opted out of the egg roll, and not liking the cream cheese won ton’s declined those, so at the end of it all, I paid for a lunch special, was offered something that cost more without disclosure, opted in, then upon discovering the fee, opted out, and wasn’t given what I’d say would/​could have been stellar customer service of a substitution option or to be honest, just throw in that egg roll, call it even, and keep a customer coming back.
My credit card was charged for the overcharge in full, so they supposedly cancelled it, and then charged me for the reduced and correct price as a second transaction. I’ll let my review here on Unilocal tell the follow up tale to whether or not that wasn’t done correctly and if I was overcharged (twice) or not. Let’s hope and assume it was one correctly ‘tho.
So, that’s how Pick Up Stix went from * * * * or * * * down to a * * and can possibly be reduced to a *
As for the food, I do like Pick Up Stix, it’s good, not great, when you compare to fresh cooked Chinese Food from a non-​chain restaurant.
Despite Panda Express using steam tray styled displays and scooping up the food, and Pick Up Stix cooking meals fresh to order, I still like Panda Express slightly more than Pick Up Stix from the price/​value to portions and taste standpoint, factoring in all of those considerations.
Parking was easy in Porter Ranch.

Came in here and place order to go, surprisingly it didn’t take long. The girl at the counter was quick and attentive. The place was spotless, that’s always a good thing when ya work with food! The food was a good sized lunch portion. The noodles for some reason tasted sweet. :/​About a half hour after the food was cooled down I moved the leftovers to the side and saw it all swimming in soy and sweet oily sauces. No thank you! Sorry arteries.

Service was slow and the place unkept. The food was salty. It will be awhile before I return.