New Eatery Opens in Urbana
We noticed the Grand Opening sign when we went grocery shopping at Giant in Urbana yesterday:
Chop Stix Cafe and Grill
Located in the Giant plaza at 3531 John Simmons Street, next to The Painted Cone (on the side that faces the new library), Chop Stix has only been open a week or two. We decided to grab a carry-out menu and while we were shopping, we called in a lunch order to give it a try. We got the Wonton soup ($2.25) and Hot and Sour soup ($1.95) and an order of Pan Fried Pork Buns appetizer ($4.95). We also got a lunch special, which is served daily between 11:30 and 3:30, of Orange Chicken ($6.56). All lunch specials come with a choice of steamed rice or house noodle salad (a cold long pasta with strips of roasted red peppers and carrots in a sesame/vinegary dressing) and either a summer veggie roll or egg roll. We chose the summer roll which was fresh and crunchy and came with a sweet/spicy dipping sauce. Other lunch specials include General Tsao’s chicken, Orange beef, beef with jalapenos, and crispy eggplant. The Orange Chicken was very good, more like lightly breaded chicken breast cutlets than heavily breaded chunks of chicken I’ve had before. The pork buns (and dipping sauce) were also very good and similar to the wontons in the soup.
Dinner prices range from $9.95 for chicken and vegetarian dishes, to $11.95 for beef and shrimp dishes. We enjoyed everything we got and will go back again. Plus, for about $16.00, three of us had lunch and there was enough leftover for me to have for lunch today.
Hours are Sunday-Thursday, 11:30-9:30, Friday and Saturday, 11:30-10:30. (240)699-0008.
beef with jalapenos was very good. I want to try the crispy eggplant next.
I’ve been to Chop Stix 5 or 6 times now and it’s my new favorite Chinese food in the county. I used to think that China Garden had the best wonton soup, but now I think Chop Stix is better. The broth is chicken broth with a spicy chicken filling in the wontons. The ingredients taste fresher and their style of cooking is different than other Chinese food that I have had in this area. Less greasy for sure.
The other night, I took my daughter there for dinner. She’s a vegetarian and has tried a couple of the tofu dishes, liking both of them a lot. We both really like the summer rolls too.
I ordered something I never order the other night. I must have felt in need of some sort of comfort food and ordered the chicken fried rice. After my appetizer of the pork buns, I wasn’t really hungry for the rice anymore but when it came out I had to taste it. It seemed to have more chicken than rice! It wasn’t greasy and had large chunks of vegetables mixed through out. Plus, the order was large enough that I had leftovers for three other meals!
The restaurant hasn’t been very busy while I’ve been there. They seem to do a decent take-out business. Give it a try if you like Chinese food!
Chopstix now has their menu online.
http://www.chopstixurbana.com/md/Menu_App.html
Scroll down the right hand side for the choices in the different categories.
We went there last night for carry out and was very disappointed. The food was horrible. We ordered 3 different dishes and will never go back there again.
Can you be more specific? What did you order and what was wrong with it?
Hi Lizfrog,
I sure can. We ordered Egg Drop Soup, Hot & Sour Soup, General Tsao’s Chicken, Sesame Chicken, and Crispy Beef. The Soups was good but the rest of the meal had no taste to it and no sauce and was just very bland. If you want any other information let me know.