Tony Lin’s Restaurant

I go here strictly for the chicken shrimp curl appetizer. Everything else is good, but that is my favorite thing on the menu.

Bad. Really bad. At least the place was clean and the staff were courteous. Food was bland, overcooked, and tough. Had the General Tso’s chicken lunch special. Should not be a difficult thing to get right. Will not be returning.
Even the mustard didn’t have any flavor.

Overall: 2 stars
Ambient: 4 stars
Food preparation: 4 stars
Portion size: 2 stars
Meal value: 2 stars

dont know about all them negative reviews but i have to share with you that tonight i did order carry out the seafood special (spicy) with a hot & sour soup it was absolutely delicios i would definately give these guys a 5 *

We ate there on ¹²⁄₂₄ because two other places closer to our house had long waits. It had been a few years since we had been there. The food was fantastic. We will be back.

DO NOT ORDER DELIVERY!!! I waited for an hour and twenty minutes for my order. At the one hour mark I called the restaurant to inquire about my order and was told my order was on the way. The restaurant is 1.5 miles from my house and I used to work across the street– it is a 5 minute commute. I’m sorry I waited, because the food was pretty bland. I won’t be ordering from Tony Lin’s again.

Bland, bland, bland. The General Tso’s was the only dish out of the four we ordered that had any flavor. I had high hopes for one of their specialties — chicken with basil, ginger, and garlic — but I was so disappointed in it that I didn’t even want to take my leftovers. It just had no flavor, which is surprising and a travesty considering the ingredients.
There weren’t many customers in the dining room, but they seemed to have a brisk carry-​out business. Maybe if you know what to order, this place could be good. I’m just not willing to give it another try.

Happy THANKSgiving Unilocal FAM!
Even though I partaked in the prepping of food I no longer consumed, I still enjoy the fellowship of THANKSgiving.
I had to decide on my meal as I negated a catered special meal this year… hence Tony’s Lin.
I always pass by Tony’s Lin when I’m out walking to window shop & popped my head on for a mental note for future dining.
Well that day came yesterday when I opted to try them out for my THANKSgiving meal.
There were two options for me. One, the Salmon Filet with Salt & Pepper. However I wanted my Salmon quick fried & lightly tossed in General Tso Sauce. If that request was not doable, I was going to order the Kung Pao Tofu as my other option. So I placed the order with special instructions:
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS If the Salmon can not be fried, cancel the order & go to Option 2. THANKS!“
Well lo & Lin behold, the manager called, started off by wishing me a Happy THANKSgiving & told me he be so happy to make my special order.
He then said to make sure I call my ordering App so I could get a refund since my card was charged for a full order. LOL, I was already on it! I got my credit almost instantaneously with my next phone call.
My food arrive within 45 minutes from submitting my order, which wasn’t bad at all.
DELISH! The Salmon was cut into good size pieces, fried to perfection & the General Tso Sauce was very close to the best sauce I’ve tasted in years! I always ask for Broccoli to avoid wasting the other veggies, & it was simply tasty for my meal of THANKS.
Heck some of the Deep Fried Turkey eaters wanted to taste my Chinese Food & I had to them «No Thanks». But I did share the Take Out Menu with everyone to do my part of fellowship while I consumed my delicious concoction of Flash Fried General Tso Salmon & Spring Rolls… those rolls were very light & non-​greasy, the yummy perfection combination.
Happy Thanks to Tony’s Lin for allowing me to enjoy very tasty food & prices while celebrating the holidays with FAM!

Sticky tables, dirty bathrooms bland food. Seriously bland food. Beef was extremely chewy!

Honestly am unsure of the legitimacy of these reviews… have been coming here since 1997 or 1998 or so… My grandparents lived in Grosvenor and this was THE Chinese place we always went to. 18 years later and we’re still going back. Hot and sour soup is delicious, service is extremely quick, everything is always hot, quality is really good. No MSG, delicious options… lemon chicken, lo-​mein is noticeably better than other places… it’s just really really good. The place is dated 90s but embrace it. Just my 2 cents.

Sweet and sour fish was delicious — lightly fried, crispy fish filets in sweet and sour sauce. Yum. It was my favorite thing I’ve tried at Tony Lin’s.
If you go here for lunch with a group and do their lunch deal — 3 dishes plus a soup for slightly over $ 20 together, it’s a great place. Unfortunately, depending on what you order matters because I’ve had great things here and some other dishes that were overly salty or very bland.
The first time, I got the sweet and sour fish, the rice noodles, chicken and broccoli (not the typical broccoli, the Chinese broccoli or something), and the hot and sour soup. The rice noodles were the thin rice noodles and it had a variety of veggies and meat in it. That was okay. The sweet and sour fish had some bell peppers and such, and it was very good. The soup was alright, not terrible. The chicken and broccoli was decent, but I didn’t like the taste of the chicken too much. The seasoning was great, so I didn’t understand why this place had such low reviews.
The second time I came here, I’ve understood. My parents came to visit me, and we took them here. We went for dinner and the place was empty. They did the ordering — fish with veggies, string beans, rice, chicken with spinach. It was expensive– over $ 50 for sub mediocre food. Everything was overly salty and the chicken was very salty yet bland. I felt horrible that I took my parents here, as it was the worst Chinese food I’ve had that night.
I’m only coming here for lunch from now on, and I’ll know what to order. It was an easy 4.5 stars upon my first visit because of the seasoning and the amazing price for so much food, but it went down to 1.5 stars during my second visit — overpriced and sodium for days.
I hope you get the good experience here. I’m unsure who are the chefs, but such inconsistency baffles me.
The décor was traditional, and they gave tea. That part is good, but I’d love to see this place at least half packed for once.

Food was good, tea was great. Moms favorite Chinese was pretty good but not anything that shocked me in a good way.
Very simple and the place is really huge and has been here for a long time! I guess as a child your just happy to do dinner out so it’s fun but now being an adult, wine was bland but orange beef was decent
Nevertheless an average Chinese place with decent prices for a sit in Rockville restaurant.

What happened?
Tony Lin’s was a really special place for my family… My sister and the fan club even had dinner with Andy Lau here!
Yes over time, it’s become dilapidated and uninspired but their weekend taiwAnese breakfast kept us returning (even if just for carry out).
We just got some as our standard special weekend treat and… Obviously chef/​recipes have changed. The spicy wontons used to be delicious and had the BEST sauce… Now it’s literally a puddle of salty salty soy sauce. They don’t make the you tiao or sao bing anymore. And their yummy radish cakes, which were the best in the area, are blah.
My fam and I are super sad but never coming back. Quality is just too terrible.
Giving 2 stars for the memories :/

Stopped by here the other day because my boyfriend and I were craving some Chinese food and for some reason most of Rockville was closed due to ice rain and snow even Taco Bell! Snow you do not scare me! I’m from Nebraska! Haha.
Anyways, came inside and was quite surprised this restaurant served both an «Authentic Chinese» menu and «Americanized Chinese» menu. Very unique, but decided on some «Americanized Chinese» food. Just ordered some Beef Lo Mein, crab rangoon, and orange chicken.
The food overall was pretty good, but not the most amazing Chinese food, but they do however give you A LOT OF FOOD. I ate it for two whole days… literally. I was amazed at how long it lasted.
But, the crab rangoons tasted funny to me, so probably won’t order those again. I’m not sure what kind of wrap they used, but wasn’t very scrumptious.
Maybe I’ll give the authentic Chinese menu a try some time… They have so much to offer here!

I have been coming to this restaurant since I was a kid. Really, I’ve been coming here for as long as I can remember. The same family has owned and operated this joint for all these years.
As with many Asian restaurants, you have to know what to order. Their menu is large. So no, they won all be winners. If you want Americanized chinese food like general tzo’s chicken, or some junk dish like that I’d probably stay away from this place. However, if you want authentic chinese food, this place is amazing.
The reason this place thrives is because there are regulars who know what to order and know what not to order. This hole in the wall has been there for decades.
I would make recommendations on here, but I don’t know the name of the dishes in English. Sorry. Next time I go, I’ll grab a to go menu and amend this post.

One must know why some Chinese restaurants seem to thrive even with bad service — value. A selection of 3 dishes and a soup, with hot tea, water, and at less then $ 22, that’s value.
If you know what to order, you’ve a good chance of getting something you’ll really enjoy.
One of the three choices was a bit salty for me, but the vegetable and tofu soup really made up for the difference.
I noticed there were several retired couples eating there… hmmm justifies my view of why it is value that keeps customers coming back.

Toooooo slow.
There are four tables in the whole restaurant and we waited more than 20 minutes to get out first dish after we asked the boss why the other table who ordered after us got their food first…

I wanted, so desperately, to find a good Chinese restaurant in this area. There are a lot of Chinese people. You’d think someone could have a restaurant with tasty food. Once again, epic fail. The fried noodles were stale. We ordered hot and sour soup, wonton soup and egg drop soup. All bland. Fried rice, bland. White rice, eh. It’s white rice. Lemon chicken, not bad. Sweet and sour chicken, breading was hard and chicken was stringy. Chicken and broccoli, broccoli was stalks and limp leaves. Chicken tasted funny like it was old. Even the water tasted funny. Someone else posted that it smelled like a nursing home. Agreed! The only thing that tasted good? The fortune cookies.
I should have not gone in when I read the other Unilocal reviews and when I saw a server in the kitchen put his foot on a shelf of dishes to tie his shoes. Bathrooms are kind gross too.
Now I have a stomach ache.

乾炒牛河 is my favorite; theirs were okay. The one I like in Philly is still the best (in a Chinatown grocery market)

We’ve ordered from this place on Sunday night a few times and usually the food is okay — not great but it gets the job done.
Anyway, I decided tonight to try something new and got the Crispy Shrimp with Pineapple. I didn’t expect much but what I got was soggy battered shrimp and a container of mayonnaise with a few chunks of canned pineapple in it. Mayonnaise? Seriously? WTF? How is this food?
I…I just can’t with this. There are no words.