Tao Asian Restaurant

Nothing really special. The chicken Lo mein was plentiful but quite plain. Ordered Chinese food off the menu, maybe their sushi better. Prospects of ordering here again are very low.

The best Chinese restaurant I have ever visited. Price, service, taste of food, ambience, and any other category you can imagine. I try to eat here any time I’m in town.

I found them online and called in a delivery order, I ordered the duck summer roll and the diced chicken with hot green peppers. About 5 minutes i get a call back saying they did not have the duck roll and If I want something else. I changed to the shrimp roll. They delivery came pretty fast about 30 minutes. The shrimp roll wasn’t very good I don’t think it was fresh. The diced chicken was good even though there was no green peppers in it and that’s hat it’s called in the menu. Could be willing to give this place another shot.

Wanted to try as I pass each day. cold upon entry. seated at a booth that was situated too far from table. Water was plentiful. we weren’t offered drinks menu or to start with appetizers. Noodles with orange duck sauce provided. Ordered boneless spare ribs they were 50 percent fatty. Miso soup was fishy and returned it for egg drop. egg drop was at least warm. grilled chicken and broccoli was not plentiful. Mentioned of we want Bruce extra charge and we agreed to that extra charge only. Fried Rice was ok. Sushi presented well. Never asked for dessert or tea. a disappointment

Have been eaten here for couple of times. Food is great and taste authentic and great! Service is good as well! 3 cup chicken is the best around! I would say its one of the best Chinese food around here. Highly recommended.

Ordered delivery from Hao tonight. I last went during the hurricane and had a good meal (it was Tao then I think). I haven’t ordered from them since I always find it pricey for delivery but since I had a coupon thought I would go for it. Honestly, I was disappointed.
Dumplings– came with no sauce and were think and oily.
Crab Rangoon– not good at all. Can’t even explain why. I had these last time and really liked them
Sesame Chicken– soggy, not worth it
Vegetable Moo Shu– this was good actually and the only thing I kept, threw the rest out.
Disappointing meal for the money and most went in the trash.

It’s generally best to go to Tao (Dao? Hao?)
for lunch; while the food is very good, the dinner menu is kind of overpriced. For lunch however, you can get a great entrée for ~$ 7 or a sushi roll for ~$ 4. The dining room is kind of tacky, so you’re just as well taking out as sitting down.
I’ve had takeout from here dozens of times, but I confess I usually stick with the chicken and broccoli or general tsao’s chicken, which come with soup/​egg roll. These mainstays are always excellent; the chicken is moist and whatever sauce they use compliments the meat/​vegetables and rice very well. If I’m feeling a light lunch I go with the spicy tuna roll, which beats the hell out of supermarket sushi for around the same price.
Overall, great place to go for lunch or takeout for lunch.

I had dinner here with a few friends and we ordered the XO Fish which was very flavorful and fresh! I was a bit hesitant to try the shrimp w mayo sauce but it was actually a pleasant surprise. The mayo wasn’t like Hellmans, it was actually light and sweet. The shrimp was crispy and served on a romaine lettuce leaf. Last dish we tried was the 3 cup chicken with white meat. The server told us this dish traditionally comes on the bone, but we ordered the boneless version. The chicken was tender and the sauce was delicious with nice pieces of garlic. Overall we had a pleasant meal and we will return!

I work just down the block from this place and well today we had our last work group Birthday Lunch there — We’re DONE… SO LONG Tao, or is your name DAO now!!! …so confusing!!!
Let me start by saying that for YEARS my work associates and I would come here on an almost monthly basis to celebrate each others’ birthdays… In the past year alone, this place has changed names from Empire Szechuan Kitchen to Tao, to most recently DAO (I like that they only changed a letter!!). **(minimal effort into the name change should be the DEAD GIVEAWAY HERE!!)**
We walked in at 12:05 — NO ONE was standing at the door and we were told to just sit wherever, yet we kept saying that we were 9 people total. Finally, we get a table and there is no one else in the dining room other than this table of older Asian ladies enjoying conversation and lunch. Since we have been here time and time again, they are usually very quick about serving lunch patrons (NOT TODAY!!) This also seems because with the new name came with NEW STAFF that doesn’t speak clear English and is IMPOSSIBLE to understand.
We finally had our orders taken — since a bunch more of the lunch crowd came in, had their orders taken while we sat and waited at least 15 minutes to even put our food order in. We expressed to the waiter that we were on lunch and we were limited with time… this seems to work AGAINST us and only made food come out slower! I can’t say my egg roll was hot, it was warm, and that fried rice I had on the side of my Chicken & Broccoli could have been at least cooked all the way, and I ended up just eating the chicken and broccoli, since how does one eat under-​cooked, crunchy rice!??
Now, you ask, why the 1 star — If I could go negative in stars I would… The inside of this place needs a paint job BADLY — Can we have one shade of pink on the ceiling? The service is the absolute WORST and they should ashamed to even be open on this high-​traffic area of Jericho Turnpike in Syosset — With mediocre food that is BLAND and really leaves a bad feeling in your stomach about 2 hours after you have eaten it… (and look at that — right on time!!)
This location would and could be a goldmine if the food, service, décor didn’t all suck, and I don’t suggest a Restaurant Makeover overhaul team to come in, if they do — tear it down and start ALL OVER AGAIN!

My family has been looking for another authentic Asian restaurant to supplement our near weekly cravings since we can’t always get to Orient. Reading the reviews, I was hoping this could be that place, but it didn’t meet our expectations.
Simply put, most of the food was on the bland side of things, the soup especially. I got the sushi/​chicken teriyaki combo. Sushi was fresh & fine, but nothing amazing. The teriyaki was uninspiring. My mother wasn’t impressed by their Peking duck and admittedly, their pancakes tasted kind of funny. My sister was not thrilled with her vegetable dish, which is disappointing because part of the reason my family loves oriental food is that even the blandest of vegetables are made so flavorful. My father wasn’t particularly blown away by his dish either.
All in all, not bad. Better than most chinese takeout places on Long Island, though that doesn’t say much. Many authentic «options» but the flavors are still a long way from any chinatown style cuisine or even Orient. Worth coming back to since we live reasonably close, but I wouldn’t recommend anyone go out of your way to come here.

So far, noodles are stale and I’ve been waiting a while. Language barrier a problem. OK, so first impressions… well — let’s give them another go. The table was sticky, they were confused about wine, the menu says NO SUBSTITUTIONS, but they substituted. I was happy with my meal. Very Happy. Not sure why I was looking for a fail, but they certainly did not. The tom yam soup was incredible and way too big for me to finish, as was the $ 12 sushi roll of which I don’t recall the name, but I substituted ingredients and no one had a problem. The noodles put on the table asa first impression were STALE, so i didn’t eat them, but I did not miss out on a fabulous meal. The menu is full of typos. I;ll be back — work out your bugs, you have alot of potential. Every meal that passed my table had a distinct DIFFERENT scent and I’d like to try more!

Ok me and my boyfriend was driving pass by and saw this place and went in. This place is causal attire. You can take a date there but I really dont get the feeling its made for a romantic date type thing. You don’t need a reservation. They have their own parking lot. The place is quite and clean. They also have a sushi bar. It’ combination Japanese and Thai. They should really pick one and focus on that menu. Instead of trying to infuse them. The service is quick and the food is brought out fast. The prices are reasonable. However the food lacked flavor. I mean so much basic flavor that made this place unbearable. I took the food home and I had to add spice to it on my own. The food lacked flavor may be because it was like 45 mins before closing but the pad Thai needed something more. My boyfriend ordered the teriyaki chicken which was way too sweet in my opinion.

Tried the Chinatown style pork, duck and chicken over rice to be on the safe side, as recommendated by the manager. Duck was ok, but the rest was less authentic. Looking at other tables, looked like ok Americanized Asian food which isn’t my cup of tea.
I would be hard pressed to find a real chinatown style restaurant near by unless I want to hike it to Orient or Fortune Wheel.
Hate to be so harsh, but I’m one and done here. There’s so many other places to choose from.

Used to be called ESG. Same tacky interior but still good food.
Only go for lunch since its a great value. Manager there is very friendly as well. I recommend. It seems a bit less greasy than most places

Yawza Tao-​za. What happened to the ‘new and improved’ Empire? I had a pretty poor meal here tonight. If I’m going to pay $ 20 for a Chinese dish it better be good in quantity or quality (is it too much to ask for both?). This food was lacking in each category. The beef noodle soup, the whole reason why I came here, was huge but really lacking any depth. I asked for it spicy and the waiter says ‘its always spicy’. Naturally, it wasn’t spicy at all. The beef wasn’t tender. The broth was average. I would never order it again. Major fail.
Oh, and the iced tea came in a can, the fried rice came out late and the spicy tuna roll was bleh. $ 55 for average Chinese food for 2? Nah. I will not be returning here.

I had to go back again!!! The stir fried crab was amazing, garlicky goodness sticky crab which you can’t stop eating! Shrimp with mayo was great! (was on a leaf of lettuce which made me feel not so guilty about eating it). I might have to stop writing reviews for this place, the place was packed on a Sunday night, guess I’m not the only one who thinks this place is amazing.

The best beef noodle soup I have every had!
From the outside, this restaurant looks like any other chinese restaurant that you will visit complete with a karaōke/​private room off to the side, fish tank, and sushi bar. Upon entering, the hostess was friendly and seated us quickly. One thing I liked as we were getting settled is that they use skylights to help light the dining room. As a result if this, it was nice and bright in the main dining area. Since it was a nice day out, this gave it a clean and warm feeling.
When I asked for a recommendation, my waiter quickly suggested the beef noodle soup. The beef noodle soup came out in a few minutes and had very large and tender (two things that are not usually combined) chunks off beef. The broth was very clean, we’re not talking a fat cap of oil, and the noodles were a flat noodle. As I gazed around the room, only then did I notice that a number of other diners had ordered the same thing, apparently they knew something I didn’t! After taking a couple of bites and sips of the soup, I was not disappointed. The taste was just as good as the presentation!
The owner, I think, came over to our table and chatted it up for a few minutes, Nice touch! All in all, a great meal. I will be back!

This restaurant replaced emipre. Empire sucked. This new place surpassed my expectations. Good service food was excellent with good portions.

Love the Three Treasure rice. I can’t seem to get past it, I order it every time. Happy to see that the new menu offers more Taiwanese dishes. Can’t wait to try!

Was anxious to see that the great establishment was under new management and renovations, as the décor was much needed from the old dated look. The place has come a long way and I can definitely say I wouldn’t want to pass this place up for some great authentic Asian. They have assorted types of cuisines that it should accommodate everyone’s preference which I found very surprising to have so many different cuisines in 1 place, especially when all the dishes came out extremely scrumptious.
We had a party of 10 and did family style so we could try a little bit of everything, and the only thing that was disappointing was that we all were too full to keep eating… seriously. I figured this would be like the old empire szechuan, which was already great on the food, but now it’s even better. It’s got that home cooked goodness feel to every dish, with a fusion and play on other cuisines that make an interesting explosion of oral pleasures… and that’s what she/​he/​they all said.
Dishes of the night:
1. assorted sushi — hard to go wrong, as long as the fish is fresh and high grade, can’t really mess this up, and the sashimi pieces are thick cut, tender slabs of awesome.
2. assorted cold dish appetizer — fresh and plentiful, the szechuan style beef tendons is awesome if you like that szechuan style numbing oil, very authentic taste.
3. Fish with XO Sauce — Best dish of the night. Fillets of flounder, fried and coated with a mildly sweet xo sauce with a nice kick of spice that might make you bead a sweat or two. Definitely the crowd fave.
4. Jumbo Prawn wrap in Lettuce — Great presentation, great taste, can’t go wrong with anything jumbo prawn
5. 3 cup Chicken — A Taiwanese favorite, was a bit skeptical on how well this would taste as it’s got to have the right balance of all 3 sauces to get that authentic taste, and they nailed it dead on. Chicken was moist and full of flavors, and the basil and garlic only bring out the flavors more.
6. Thai Red Curry — Thai? yea that’s right… they have thai here too, and it was a pleasant surprise of rich creamy blends of spices that will make you go for your second bowl of rice.
7. Beef Filet with Shrooms over Veggies — Extremely tender cubes of steak with cap mushrooms over a bed of I believe either Spinach or Watercress, don’t really remember, but I do remember the plate being cleaned off in a matter of minutes.
**this is where the pants button came loose**
8. General Tso’s Chicken/​Prawns — A typical favorite whether you’re asian or not. Chicken pieces were fried perfectly and were still moist and juicy. Prawns as well, not over cooked to rubber and still juicy tender goodness.
9. Thai Beef Casserole — Interesting and full of great flavors. Different fushion of korean and thai mixed, as there was kimchee in it as well. Not something I think most people would enjoy as much as the other dishes unless you were really looking for authentic tastes of what Thai flavors offer.
10. Salt & Pepper Prawns — Yes, we had multiple prawn dishes, and were not one bit sick of it. Fat juicy critters of the sea, fried and salted with minced peppers. Dericious.
11. Pineapple Fried Rice — Not like your Thai style, more like infused with Cantonese style fried rice, and surprisingly worked well. Lots of pineapple flavors with every bite with small dices of chicken. Rice was not overdried like most fried rices in any restaurant which was to me, one of the many small reasons that set this place apart from any other place.
12. Assorted Ice Cream — I have no idea how we even had room for dessert, but man it was so worth it. It was definitely bought, but it was the best bought ice cream I’ve had at any asian restaurant. The 3 biggest hits were Pistachio, Red Bean, and Green tea. Pistachio and red bean were like none I’ve ever had… they’re a must get.
Great additions from the old place, is that they have a full sushi and liquor bar now. I see the liquor bar being a great addition since the wait to get into this place once the word is out, will come in handy to hold over the long wait to get a seat.
Conclusion:
It came down to all the small things that this great place has to offer, where I can say it sets it apart from other restaurants and would make you a loyal fan/​customer of this new establishment. They’re off to the right start, and if it continues like this, I see this place being a pain to get into for dinner time. Some dishes may be too authentic for the typical chow’er who could get their satisfaction from a chinese take out box, but that’s not what you’ll get here… Now if you’re looking for great authentic asian, this is the place to go without a doubt. Especially for those who can’t get to Flushing conveniently, the food here is as good or better than Flushing in my opinion.
staying fat is the way to go.