Dianne Nguyen

Love the atmosphere here. I was surprised to find a dining area with booths. I ordered the shrimp lo mein and fried rice. Love the noodles but the veggies were bland. Overall: Good

Susie Hale

Clearly a place for locals. I don't like many Chinese restaurants, but this was decent. The staff was awesome though. Food was alright. I would go back simply because how many good Chinese good restaurants are in Georgetown, Texas?

+5

Ramirez Family

Our visit to Shanghai Express was a bit spontaneous, and while we briefly considered choosing another spot, we decided to give it a try. I ordered the crispy sesame chicken, which looked absolutely delicious but unfortunately didn’t taste that way—the sauce was thin and lacked flavor, and I couldn’t finish it. My husband’s veggie dish was fine, but nothing memorable. The wonton soup was very bland (I actually had to add salt), and when I asked for a few crispy wonton strips, a full plate arrived with a surprise $3 charge—something I’ve never encountered before. Another downside was the 4% credit card fee added to the bill, which I’m not a fan of. Overall, the experience felt more like mall-style Chinese food than a sit-down dining experience. It works in a pinch, but it’s not somewhere I’d rush back to.

Jeffery Odonnell

No receptionist. We stood at the receptionist table waiting for a while. The person at the bar saw us, but we had to go up to him and initiate the conversation in order to order our food. He was helpful afterwards. But it seemed strange that we had to take the steps to be waited on in order to get service.

Jazmine N. Gulezian

I cannot recommend this place. We did not like most of the food we got, and there were only a few items that were really good. The only good items we got were the steamed dumplings, the dumpling sauce, and the sweet and sour sauce and I really do recommend trying these items. As for the rest... The teriyaki beef sticks had a very weird chewy texture and had an off taste. They did not taste like teriyaki at all and we couldn't eat it. The pork spare ribs had almost no flavor and were very dry and tough. The beef in the beef lomein had the same issues as the beef teriyaki, and the noodles weren't normal lomein noodles, I swear it was linguine, which was overcooked and almost mushy. The fried rice was okay, but pretty bland and I wouldn't get it again. The chicken from the sweet and sour chicken was very dry and a little tough. The egg drop soup wasn't bad, but was pretty bland. It also had meat in it which I did not expect, and it didn't look right so I didn't continue eating that. The crab rangoon was a huge disappointment as there was almost no filling whatsoever. And the filling that was there tasted like nothing. Some of the dishes came with broccoli, and it tasted like it was almost bad / about to go bad. And lastly, the general tso's chicken didn't have any distinct flavor, had no spice, and was really just sweet chicken. A lot of the pieces were unpleasant to chew and were very fatty. I'm sorry to leave such a negative review, but I really cannot recommend eating here.

Joshua Kane

“Shanghai (Not) Expressly What I Hoped For” Being new to the Georgetown area, I had high hopes for Shanghai Express. Locals online spoke fondly of it as a long-time, family-run spot that’s been serving up favorites for over 15 years. With that kind of hometown loyalty, I figured we were in for a solid, comforting Chinese takeout night. We ordered early on Halloween—Teriyaki Beef Sticks, a few soups (Egg Drop, Wonton, and Hot & Sour), General Tso’s Chicken, Egg Foo Yung, Lo Mein, and a couple others to share before the trick-or-treaters descended. The good news? The order was ready exactly when promised, piping hot, neatly packed, and everyone we interacted with was kind and efficient. Unfortunately, that’s where the magic ended. The food itself felt like it had already lived another life on a buffet line somewhere before making it into our takeout boxes. The Beef Sticks were more “protein jerky” than “teriyaki,” the Hot & Sour Soup was mostly “lukewarm & confused,” and the General Tso’s Chicken (for which I even paid extra for white meat) was a soggy, sticky mystery of sweet gelatin and lost potential. The Lo Mein noodles were cooked al dente—an unexpected twist, but the flavor never showed up to the party. The Egg Foo Yung, meanwhile, seemed to have lost its way entirely: more like a vegetable pancake that briefly met a ladle of gravy and went its separate way. To be fair, maybe they were having an off night—Halloween rush, ghosts in the kitchen, who knows. I want to believe the glowing reviews are real, that this is normally the beloved neighborhood treasure others describe. But for our $100 family meal, it felt more trick than treat. Here’s hoping it was just a case of the restaurant’s spirit (and spice rack) taking the night off.

Dr. Jon's Guitar Repair

This is the most putrid excuse for food I’ve ever had put in front of me in my 40 years on earth. The chicken and beef are sitting under grease and smell and taste rotten. The fried rice is soupy and smells like an old sink sponge. The egg drop soup is thicker than paste and smells like wet dog. I’ve never ordered food my children couldn’t bring themselves to eat. Called the manager and told me he doesn’t give refunds. Update: I can show you the phone records

noah giddens

My girlfriend and I decided to try a new place today and it was not a good idea. The service was not great, waiter took a long time to get to us, didn’t check on us after we had got our food. The food is the star of the show, it is AWFUL. It takes a lot of skill to make food I don’t like but they succeeded. This was the worst Chinese food I’ve ever had. Absolutely bland, not a single grain of salt or pepper to be found. Lots of oil. The bell pepper on my sweet and sour chicken was the butt of the pepper cut in quarters. The chicken was fried to shit and didn’t have flavor. My girlfriend ordered the chef special with shrimp chicken and beef in a brown sauce and it looked like it came out of a horror movie. All sorts of meats and vegetables and soaked in sauce but everything tasted the same. Not to mention it was $1.50 extra for fried rice and there was no difference in taste compared to the white rice. We will never come back, how do yall give this place 5 stars you’re WILD

Stella Z

Food was cold. Chicken was thin and chewy and the sauce was leaking in the bag. Food was mixed even though we stated for it to not be. Very disappointing

Susan Sledge

I picked up the food and took it home. We ordered three meals, soup, and rice. We had wongton soup and it was tasteless. The hot and sour soup was not hot at all and was mostly broth that had no taste, the pork with hot garlic sauce tasted like vinegar, the beef and veggies was very chewy, and the sesame chicken was not crispy. The fried rice didn’t have anything in it a little soy sauce and maybe a little bit of egg (I think). We all threw more than half of our meals out.

wonderfullymaide

I came to this area for a work conference from the Houston area. I thought the reviews meant this place would be up to par for a small Chinese food place. I was wrong! I ordered the most simple meal one could request: chicken and veggies with a side of fried rice. When it came it was so bland. It tasted as if they boiled everything in water without seasoning and threw it on my plate. I later asked the waitress if I could switch out my dish for something I would actually eat. She told me she would work on it. 20 minutes later she returns to ask if everything was ok (she had forgotten my request)! I reminded her, and instead of putting the order in for my new meal she opted to bring me some sauce to add to the bland food (which did not help)! I told her I was ok and would like to remove the meal from my tab and I no longer wanted another meal. She left for another 20 minutes and came back with my tab that included a 50% employees discount. Finally, I requested the manager. He assured me he would remove the meal and get me a new ticket. We waited another 20 minutes before finally getting up and walking to the front to pay for my coworkers food on our own. The manger that had promised me a new ticket was filling up his water jug when we walked up. So, I reminded him about the ticket before he apologized saying, “I forgot!” The worst experience I’ve had at a restaurant in my visits to Georgetown. I would never recommend this place.