Hometown Chinese Food

Hometown Chinese Food is located in South Davis and is considered by many to have the best tasting Chinese Food in Yolo County. It is one of the few places in Davis that does both Americanized and authentic Chinese cuisine well. The beef noodle soup, meat gravy over rice, porkchop over rice, and garlic eggplant seem to be the most popular dishes.

Mister Lee, known to his friends as Steve and his wife Jean are back. Formerly on Lake Boulevard in the current location of Shanghai Town, but are now located in South Davis. The deal to sell Hometown Chinese Food didn't work out and he's the owner again. He did get to make a trip to Taiwan and he brought back some tasty new menu items. Located where Norm's Pizza used to be. The display trays are only filled during lunch hours (11:30-2pm). Otherwise, all your food will be made-to-order; and obviously all food items that are not in the display trays will be made-to-order. Please note that Mr. Lee cooks all the dishes by himself (with one assistant during dinner) so this is not "fast food". Speed tends to be a bigger issue during dinner hours (5:30-8pm) - there will be TONS of people so you will have to wait quite a while even if you pre-order by phone. Either get there early, or buy your food earlier during the day and save it for dinner.

2008-04-13 Menu Page 1

2008-04-13 Menu Page 2

Dishes

Steamed Rice with Pork Chops

Taiwan Style Rice Noodles Eggplant in Garlic Sauce Beef Noodle Soup Chicken drumstick with Meat Gravy over Rice

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• /2008 Reviews

2009-03-09 11:58:42   best Chinese place in davis. —Raydiant

2009-03-17 19:14:25   This place is sooo good, they practically feed me three times a week. You guys should try their tomato beef, oh and there hock meat is also really really good. Defintely the best Chinese food place in Davis. —3balls

2009-04-22 21:02:00   This place is WAY overrated. I went in tonight around 8 to get some take out. I guess they were cleaning up or whatever, but there was no food out. Anyways, I got the special of rice, chowmein and sweet and sour chicken. I asked if I could substitute fried rice instead of steamed rice and she said "no its too hard for him to make just a little bit." which is understandable, I guess.

So then I come home, open my food and see that it's basically noodle, rice and chicken coated with sweet and sour sauce you can buy at safeway. neither the chowmein or sweet and sour chicken had ANY VEGGIES in there. "chowmein" was basically just noodles, oil and pepper. it had no taste so I actually had to use some soy sauce with it.

Sweet and sour pork was pretty gross too. He probably just fried the chicken (that's been coated with whatever that is already) and then just pour some sauce on it.

that thing cost me 7.07. "reasonable prices" my ass. I can get like a 3 entree dish at panda express for less than that. I was very angry and disappointed. That's seven bucks I'll never see again. I wonder if they do refunds or do "customer service" type of thing because I really want my money back. It's probably the worst chinese food place I've ever been to in my life. Will NOT be returning there unless they give me my money back or give me a free dish. Ugh. —JFountain

Wow, you're dense. Coming from someone who has worked in a Chinese restaurant before, it's true, making a small side of Fried rice is not very economic, because the amount of labor that goes into cooking Fried Rice is more than you think. The easiest way is to make a large batch. You're the type of person that creates a hard atmosphere for Chinese cuisine to work. If you want bastardized Chinese food, go to Panda Express, but don't spout your inexperience of Chinese cuisine on a page that deserves more uplifting responses. By the way, Panda Express uses this same fashion to cook their Sweet & Sour chicken, it's a batter around chicken pieces, deep fried, and then coated with Sweet & Sour sauce. Before you criticize a business's method of creating a cuisine, how about you educate yourself in how the dish is commonly prepared? -IdealParadigm

• So I guess my first question is why didn't you try to resolve this issue before making a smash-and-grab anonymous post? That would have been the right thing to do. But since you didn't, I took the liberty of asking Jean and Steve if they would give you your money back. They said yes, of course they would. But then, likely as not, it doesn't matter because you'll only be using daviswiki to trash businesses anonymously and can't be bothered with a dialog, either here or with the Lee's. -JimStewart
  

• Esp for those who went to the "Talk" page of this comment: I had no intention of "smash-and-grabbing" their business. I guess it came out rather harsh than it should have. I am not sure where some readers thought that I left a "one line criticism", because I provided as much detail as possible. I was very disappointed with the food, and did not get a chance to address it to the owners because I didn't open it until I got home, sat down to eat it. I wasn't "taking advantage" of the fact that it's over the internet and it could be "anonymous". It was more of a rant, and most likely giving the readers of daviswiki the other end of the restaurant, coming from my experience. All I could find on the page was very misleading to my experience - most, if not all of my experiences with other restaurants based on daviswiki has been pretty much accurate. This one was not. I suppose whoever disagree with my comments can express their own opinions. —JFountain
  

• Dear JFountain, we apologize for your displeasure. Sweet and sour chicken is just deep-fried battered chicken drizzled with sweet and sour sauce and that is how we make it. If you are willing to give our establishment another chance, we recommend something more authentic that you can't get from say, Panda Express. If you want your money back, then please stop by and we will gladly return it. Once again, we apologize for your negative experience at our restaurant. -Steve&Jean (Owners)

2009-05-07 12:09:22   Hometown is the real deal. Been a fan since 96' Its a shame to see someone compare the quality/prices of food to Panda express(the americanized fastfood of asian cuisine) you probably think Taco Bell is real mexican food too. Thats a shame "if" your service was bad, I dont see how, they are truly nice people & make excellent food, sesame chicken & the eggplant are awesome. as with any good food there is sometimes a wait & the place can be packed at times, but then again thats a sign of good food.

—TheTruthHurts

2009-05-07 12:18:54   Because this place had gotten such stellar reviews on the Wiki, my husband and I decided to try it. Maybe we ordered the wrong things, but I wasn't very impressed. I am used to Chinese food not being the healthiest cuisine with its sugary sauces, but the grease level in the dishes we ordered was almost shocking. We ordered a couple chicken dishes (sorry, can't remember which), and the eggplant in garlic sauce, which came highly recommended. Everything was greasy, but the eggplant really took the cake. It was actually unedibly greasy for me. —AmLin

2009-06-15 00:58:26   ate there the other day with a friend during finals week...and the food might've been good if it didn't take almost an hour! when we got there it was busy and i've heard there's only one person (or 2 people at night) cooking so i can forgive it taking a bit of time, but our wait time was ridiculous. we watched SEVERAL people come in after us, order their food, and then leave with it, and we were still waiting! my friend had to go remind the lady at the register to make ours...and guess what, 5 minutes later we got our food. like i said i think it was good but we ate so fast b/c we had to go study that i dont really even know what it tasted like...but i'm willing to try it again, maybe when its not so busy. —KTFreeman

2009-06-23 21:35:52   This is by far the best and most authentic of Chinese cooking in Davis - dripping with spicy oils, and full of delicious flavors. And yes, it's in a gas station. Who cares? It's spotlessly clean, and the service isn't service, it's order at the counter. Who cares again? The food is awesome. Hilarious that someone could compare this to Panda Express — just because your taste buds desire high fructose corn syrup and piles of sodium doesn't mean that others won't be able to appreciate a kick-ass dose of some Szechuan chilies. If you want fried rice and potstickers, go wherever. If you want the most authentic cooking in Yolo County, try Hometown. —jmofro

• Well said —JimStewart
  

2009-07-07 15:01:49   I am completely surprised by the negative reviews. I've eaten here for at least three years. Jean and Steve are always consummate hosts. Even though they often are serving thirty people and have many long-time clients, they always try their utmost to attend to you. Those who've had bad service need to remember that, at any restaurant, the squeaky (but polite) wheel gets the grease. They've always made sure I had the right sauces, boxes to take food home, and when the restaurant is closing have checked up on how I'm doing. I've eaten Chinese food in ten states in two countries, and this remains the best place I've ever had the pleasure of eating at. It's authentic, delicious, holds up in the refrigerator... And I've brought more than twenty of my friends here, all of whom love it. It's not for everyone, but it is amazing food. I know a few friends who prefer this place to locations in the Bay Area!

And, frankly, for those who complain: There is not a SINGLE item on the menu that's more than $10. Even if you get three entrees, you can feed mammoth-size eaters for less than $20. Cheap, fast Chinese food that's served out of a gas station with only a few staff? Even if you don't like your experience, you're only out a pittance. This is especially true considering that the food holds up in the fridge, so any leftovers are far from wasted.

My recommendations? The Singapore Curry Noodles are best chilled. Get them to go and have them the next day. Their Fried Pork Chop is flavorful and tender both over rice and on its own. Their over-rice dishes are some of the best deals you can get in town. I'm a fried rice connoisseur, and the fried rice here is delicious without being greasy. Bites of fresh-cooked egg suffuse every part of the rice. The Beef Noodle Soup is spicy (and, again, amazing the next day chilled), with giant chunks of well-stewed tender beef. The Black Pepper Beef and Szechuan Beef have kick. The Garlic dishes have amazing kick to them. And, since it's in a gas station, you have dozens of beverage choices at a nominal price to choose from. I typically go for the $1.99 for the 64 oz soda.

My only complaint is about the wait during rush time (which only goes to show how good and authentic the food is). To avoid this problem, come later than 8:00 or, preferably, before 4:00. FredericChristie

2009-08-02 12:23:53   i love chinese food more than any other food in the world and i have to say this was some of the worst chinese food i've ever had. To the people who said it was the best in yolo county, its not even the best in davis and you apparently you've never had good chinese. Atleast i can the say they didn't screw up my white rice, however even that would be hard to do. Avoid this place, its not good americanized or actual chinese —jewbaca

Yes... let's insult people that come straight from Taiwan/China about their cuisine because apparently you have more experience with Chinese food, EATING it rather that PREPARING it. Good call there. -IdealParadigm

• "...apparently you've never had good chinese." It is unfortunate that you did not have a good experience; but please do not mock the people that come from China/Taiwan or those who grew up in Chinese homes that have eaten authentic Chinese food their whole lives and vouched for this place —BenLee
  

• What BenLee said. Hometown is usually full of people who would appear to know what good Chinese food is. Comments like yours make me wonder if you might somehow be related to Hometown's competition. —jimstewart
  

• As someone who did not grow up eating authentic Chinese food, I have to ask: Is authentic Chinese food so greasy? The times I have been to HCF, the food had a lot of oil in it. That's not what I prefer, both for health and for taste. And no, I am not connected to any of HCF's competitors. —CovertProfessor
  

• If it is too greasy for you, you can go ahead and request less oil or salt. The chef has no problems cooking to request as long as its nothing very tedious during busy hours. BenLee
  

• Hmm, you didn't really answer my question. It wasn't rhetorical; I genuinely would like to know the answer. —CovertProfessor
  

• Just like most cuisines, there will be dishes that are greasy and dishes that are not. I grew up eating vegetable dishes that were not oily and meat dishes that were mostly oily and heavy. This was balanced out with plain steamed white rice and soup with little salt. —BenLee
  

• Ah, ok. I had always been told that Chinese food with lots of oil was Americanized Chinese food, and that authentic Chinese food was much healthier. Perhaps others on this page who don't think the food at HCF is authentic have the same misconception that I did. Does HCF serve any non-oily vegetable dishes (other than one you can request specially)? I don't think I've seen them on the menu. It would be a welcome addition, from my perspective. —CovertProfessor

• Chinese food is like any other food, it can be healthy or unhealthy, but there are several different styles. Saying that food is "Chinese" actually covers a wide range of foods. It can be Schezwan, Taiwanese, etc. America just has classified all these types of food to be "Chinese" and thus there are many misconceptions on just how wide the food spectrum that label covers. In the scheme of things, Professor, any food can be healthy, it's just a matter of how it is prepared, what's in the food, and the cooking/baking/stewing process, not the origin or possible cultural attachment it may have. -IdealParadigm
  

2009-11-04 01:35:13   I was wondering, is this place moving? Because I saw the exact same restaurant name on this (currently) closed store in Mansion square. —Eirin

I've wondered the same thing because my chopsticks had an address in Mansion Square on the wrapper. —NickSchmalenberger


• The restaurant will be closing at it's current location by the end of November. The one at Mansion Square is the new location and should be up and running by January 2010. —BenLee
  

2009-11-10 16:00:49   I don't know if this place is the "best" in Davis (I'd probably vote for Jade Garden)... but it's pretty darn close. Very authentic Chinese food, no complaints from me.

This is probably the only Chinese place I've ever been to, where I'm satisfied with the food in the "buffet" warming trays. It's usually cooked very fresh (no more than 15 minutes from the wok during lunch hours)... and tastes great. My only gripe/complaint/hope: more variety. Seems like it's been the same 6 dishes all week. —ChonT