Caravelle

Just hosted my mom’s 70^th birthday here for approximately 40 people. Food was excellent, staff was very accommodating to all that comes with surprise party unknowns! And the price was right. Will always be back!

I took my family of 4 on a new year day. Servers talked nice but service is terribly slow. Seated and waited until we requested for the menu. Yet, foods are not good as they are used to be. My kids were surprised with the careless way a server put out the foods on the table where you would not find in a big American restaurant like TGI Friday, Chili’s, Apple Bee… They charged 18% gratuity to my bill even we had only 4 people and ordered 3 main items. The auto gratuity is supposed to apply only when there is a large group of 6 or more people.

We went the evening of Christmas and the place was busy. We were able to get a table within 5 minutes since there were two of us. Our server came and we placed our order. We did receive our food within about 45 minutes. We ordered the orange beef and combination lo mein. It looked good and tasted good. However, a few hours later food poisoning. Sadly this has ruined this place for us.

Crispy pork chops, fried tofu, cheese shrimp, & green beans!
Everything is delicious! The staff is incredibly sweet!

Caravelle is always a good place to go to celebrate an occasion or eat a nice dinner. However, this restaurant is family style, similar to Buca Di Beppo, meaning that the dishes are large enough to share between 2 – 4 people so the price will reflect it.
My favorite dishes are:
Beef with Snow Pea leaves
String Bean with Tofu
Cheese Shrimp
Hot and Sour Soup
Our family comes here a lot for weddings, graduations, birthdays, etc. It is a great place to get some good food for a good amount of people. Service is not always the greatest but sometimes you get lucky. They are traditionally Chinese/​Vietnamese so don’t let the culture scare you. Familiarize yourself before you judge too quickly. I would definitely recommend coming here for your next occasion! They have round tables that can accommadate up to 12!

I came here the first time and the food was delicious.
I came back again with my husband and bro in law to grab lunch on our 2^nd visit and haven’t return for almost a year. Due to the fact, we had order 3 dishes for the three of us, but the owner recommended an additional dish to us (fried fish) So of course, I am not picky nor I normally ask how much would it be. Cause I figure it shouldn’t be no more than $ 20. Our first 3 dishes we originally order came out first, and we were pretty full from it but still waiting for this fish. Finally, the fish arrived. It was a 3 course meals, and in my head why would she recommend to this to me when we order plenty of foods already? Sure enough, when the bill came out, it didn’t disappoint us at all. $ 65 for the fish itself, we spend $ 100 for lunch. Expensive! Didn’t return to this place over a year.
Came back yesterday (the reason why I bump them back up to a 4) lol, here we go again, she recommended me a fish fried rice with egg (12.99 Thi time) satisfied and happy. The food here is good though, I’ll return again. So be careful when you ask for recommendations, end your question with «how much it is?»

I haven’t written a review for this place? So hard to believe but I really like this place. It’s my go-​to restaurant for friends birthdays because we can have a later family style dinner before «heading out on the town.» Its BYOB! And the ladies will give you a teapot full of ice so you can pour your liquor into, super cute and hilarious. The food well it’s delicious!
There are dishes I always order and those lucky few are the crispy pork chop (extra spicy order), the fried tofu with string beans and the Chinese brocolli. The crispy pork chop is delicious and the batter is used lightly so you just get a small layer if seasoning fried into it. The fried tofu with string beans has lots of garlic and onions which I love. The Chinese brocolli is healthy, light and makes you feel better about the other two fried dishes, haha.
There are many others that I like including the combination crispy noodles. For those with a seafood allery get another version like the pork because there shrimp, scallops and I believe squid in this one. If you don’t know what crispy noodles are they’re fried thin noodles with the other items pour on top so that they become softened. You’ll get bites that are like normally cooked noodles, some bites with still crunchy noodles and some that’s a mix of both.
They typically give you a plate of fruit at the end of your meal before you get your bill and fortune cookies. You’ll definitely get better service than other Asian restaurants, for those that follow me you know I dislike the Asian restaurants that have good food but terrible service.
I will be back again.

We try to go here whenever we want true chinese food. We Always get the thin beef with snow peas tips and prawns with lemongrass amd onions. Today we also got crab soup with asparagus an fish fried rice. You cannot gonwrong with the beef fishes.
The service is superb in asian standards and it is hardly crowded except when they have wedding booked.

Caravelle is the best. I think my family has been coming here for around 17 years! BYOB and great Chinese and Vietnamese food. If you’re adventurous, get the crispy salty prawns with the shell and the head. Eat the whole thing. You won’t be disjointed. Other faves are the crispy fried tofu with green beans, the fresh spring rolls with shrimp, and any of the Vietnamese dishes where you make your own wraps.
I even come here every December with a group of close friends, and we have our «Caravelle Christmas» where we eat great food, enjoy the booze we bring, wear goofy xmas hats, and do a white elephant gift exchange.

The best Chinese/​Vietnamese food in Richardson and maybe even the dee eff dub. Yes, it is slightly more expensive than your typical Chinese but it’s worth every penny. Portions are big. The food here is AMAZING, cooked to perfection, and great quality. Need a list of what to order? I gotchu.
1. Beef with snow peas leaves — I don’t like eating vegetables (I’m a child, I know) but the way they cook the snow peas leaves makes eating vegetables effortless. GREAT flavor. This dish is poppin’.
2. Fried pork chops — best pork chops I’ve ever had, hands down. Crispy, greasy (but not give-​you-​a-​headache greasy), and flavorful.
3. Fried tofu with green beans — it’s rare I’ll find a dish that does not have meat or seafood that I enjoy so this says something.
4. Fried shrimp balls — these babies are huge and delicious!
Those are my mains. The other dishes are pretty solid too but the 4 I listed are MUST orders. You won’t regret it.

I have been wanting to try this place for a while and finally had the opportunity to go this past week. We ordered several dishes including crispy noodles topped with beef, walnut shrimp, fried tofu with green beans, and orange chicken. The crispy noodles had a good sauce on it, however they were very stingy with the beef. There was hardly enough for the amount of noodles given. Even the chinese broccoli felt like it wasn’t enough either. The walnut shrimp had reallyyyyy good candied walnuts. They weren’t too sweet yet very crisp. However, the actual shrimp was not that great. I know one of the main ingredients of walnut shrimp is mayo, however here, it was like they literally just poured mayo over the shrimp. The shrimp itself was cooked very well but the sauce was not good at all. I’ve definitely had it better at other places. The orange chicken came in huge slices, they were crisp and meaty but not impressive. The fried tofu with green beans was a wonderful surprise. The tofu was so crisp with wonderful flavor! The texture was great as well and this dish came in a huge serving. This was definitely my favorite out of all the things we ordered.
Overall, I don’t think I would come here when I’m craving Chinese, although if I do come back, I’ll for sure get the tofu & green beans!

This place was highly recommended when I visited relatives in Dallas recently. After experiencing their food, I don’t think the food here is good at all. We ordered quite a few items and the only one I considered good was the salt n pepper pork chops, everything else were either bland or full of MSG. Actually the tofu and string bean wasn’t bad either.
The lobster (sautéed with green onion and ginger) was very expensive, salty and full of raw MSG. The soup was bland, the shrimp didn’t look fresh.
One thing I noticed was kind of unusual for a Chinese restaurant is their service was excellent. They were very nice and accommodating.
Overall, I might visit it again if I’m in the neighborhood but would not drive out of the way for it.

My friend was feening for some crispy pork so he made me come out here. I wasn’t too excited until after I looked up the Unilocal review first and saw the acronym BYOB in flashing lights. Sold.
We ordered the crispy pork chops and combination fried rice. Pretty delicious. I’m not a huge fan of Chinese food much but yeah — good stuff for what it’s worth.

They are giving this strip mall a face lift. But do not let this dissuade you from eating here. This place is excellent.
Service 5
Food. 5
Atmosphere. 4
Price. 5
Excellent Vietnamese Food
For non Asians this is a friendly place with authentic dishes

Greeting: They could’ve been telling me to leave, and I would not have known the difference.
Vibe: ‘A Christmas Story’, Christmas day
Service: Helpful with the food selections, really helpful, very, very helpful. Any more helpful, and I would have filed a restraining order.
We chose chicken egg rolls for our appetizer. That was a first (chicken egg rolls?), and they were unbelievable.
Entrees were served with sticky rice that was cooked perfectly!
Spicy szechuan chicken was way different than what I’m used to. It was chicken, chopped water chestnuts, and more chicken, a lot more chicken and, a few veggies sprinkled in. It was extremely savory and really good.
The star dish was Jayne’s custom ordered (with helpful lady’s help) dish. Beef (siroin?), snow pea leaves, and tons of long stemmed mushrooms. Words cannot describe.
I want to come back with a party of 8, sit at one of the big round tables, fill the lazy susan up with crazy food and spin that sucker all night long.
Sunday afternoon 11:30 — 1:00, expect a bunch of kids from the after-​church crowd, dressed really nice, actually it was cute.

Although Garland offers so many Asian restaurant options, Caravelle has always been one of my family’s favorite place to come eat. The prices here are reasonable, the portions are generous and it’s also BYOB so what’s there not to love.
Generally, we would order as many dishes as we have in people and that would be more than enough for everyone to walk out with happy bellies. The main reason why we go to Caravelle is for their cheese lobster. Their cheese lobster is amazing and you will not get cheese lobster anywhere else in Dallas that’s better than here. My personal favorite though are the shrimp balls with sweet and sour sauce. Aside from those two items, the fried tofu with green beans and beef with snow peas are great staples. You honestly can not go wrong ordering any of these dishes.

This place is great for family style dinners/​parties. Just order a whole bunch of dishes and share with friends or family. A lot of people host their weddings here because the food is really good. My most favorite is the fried cheese lobster. YUM!!! Their walls and decorations are so stuck in 1980. Christmas lights on all year round lol and not to mention PINK walls. They don’t cover that up for weddings either. You bring your own decorations and cover it up yourself. lighting is terrible for pictures fyi. Hire good photographers.

I would suggest dining here in a large group since their portion is bigger than most restaurants. Whenever I’m here, I always like to order their famous fried tofu lemongrass with green beans, crispy pork chops and snow pea leaves with beef. They also have great seafood choices.
Food is great but I get so bloated from all the added msg afterwards. Food coma is worse hence why I suggest coming here for dinner so you can sleep in the car on the way home.
One thing to keep in mind, if ordering a certain dish and asked by the waiter if you want their special mushroom added, think twice because they charged us an arm and a leg for just a simple dish. Wasn’t worth it.

Def one of my Chinese/​Vietnamese favorites in the Richardson area. The fried tofu is to dieeeee for! This place is more nice than the typical Chinese restaurant. I’ve been going here since I was a youngin!
If you can’t speak Chinese or Vietnamese, I would strongly suggest u to show the waitress the food pics from Unilocal so that way there is no miscommunication. Sounds funny but just letting y’all know!

Caravelle is a Chinese & Vietnamese (mostly Chinese) restaurant in Richardson. Located in a predominantly Asian shopping strip in Richardson, Caravelle is a great choice to enjoy a family style meal with a large party.
My Overall Rating — 4 Stars (Atmosphere, Service, Food, Return)
Atmosphere — As stated above, you’ll find Caravelle in a shopping strip. Inside you’ll find a very spacious restaurant filled with large round tables covered in white table cloth. Caravelle is also commonly booked for Asian weddings, hence the large tables. There’s also a stage (for events), but otherwise it’s a pretty plain restaurant without much going on. It’s also cleaner than the First Chinese BBQ chains. ½ Stars.
Service — There’s usually never a wait since it’s such a large restaurant. You’ll usually be seated immediately. Take caution, as if you’ve never been you’ll encounter a HUGE menu. Most of the time we already know what we want, but if it’s your first time don’t let them rush you. The servers like to get orders in immediately, but the good news is that food comes out fast too. No complaints here. 1 Star.
Food — I’ll be honest, I visit Caravelle and order the same items every time because 1) No other restaurant makes it 2) sometimes I just crave their dishes, and 3) I’m with a big group and we want to eat family style. Here’s a list of items that are my favorites:
Fried tofu with green beans — Perfect crisp and slightly sweet tofu bites
Beef tips with snow pea leaves — Tender strips of marinated beef (shaken beef alternative)
Cheese lobster — a whole lobster fried with cheese powder
Salted fried squid — lightly battered and tender
Clams in oyster sauce — tossed in garlic. Salty but perfect with steamed rice
These are all large family style portions meant to be shared. Occasionally I’ll get a hot and sour soup but the items above are main stays. Bring a big group, order the above, and if you don’t like it… well…there’s a Pei Wei somewhere near you I’m sure. 1 ½ Stars.
Will I Return? — Yes. In fact I come here every few months and order those exact items above. When it comes to dining in a big group that wants Chinese food. Caravelle tops the list. It’s a little pricey only because these are family style dishes. If you come here by yourself or as a couple, you’ll either over order or you won’t be able to get the full experience. Do yourself a favor and bring a big group to share the experience. 1 Star.
My Unilocal Rating Scale (Sum of all parts):
1 Star — Atmosphere — Is it a cool dive? Perhaps an upscale place? No matter the type, atmosphere plays a big part and I’ll give a star if I like it or thinks it has great charm.
1 Star — Service — You can have a great meal with bad service. But that’s also what can make a five star joint drop to four. It’s important to the dining experience that service is great and on point.
2 Stars — Food — I’ll award up to two stars for the food, since this is the main reason we dine out. Sometimes the extra star is given for value, but it’s really all about the food.
1 Star — Will I come back? — If I know for a fact I’ll return, I’ll give this a star. A place has to make an impression for me to return.
Each Category can be given up to 1 star except food (2 stars) because I consider all these categories important to the overall dining experience. I will sum them up to provide my final Unilocal score.