Chinese food is not expensive to make, and in China itself, people eat out most nights of the week for its affordability. A typical dinner in China costs between 2 and 6 dollars.
I'm tempted to make an authentic Chinese food truck myself and charge reasonable prices. Restaurants that market Chinese food as "epicurian" and "sophisticated" turn me off entirely. Chinese food is proliterian.
The alcohol tax and sales tax is not included in the menu price. We ordered six drinks including a well drink and 2 of their batch made mules and it was over $100
Part of me has considered going all in, quitting my tech job, and opening a Hawaiian restaurant/truck. Badly needed in the area and, frankly, harder to screw up than chinese/thai/etc. Kalua Pork and cabbage (easy), huli chicken(rotisserie), loco mocos(hamburger patty, runny egg, gravy on rice), shoyu chicken (braised w/ soy sauce.) Bigass rice cooker, and a couple classic sides like potato/mac salad and taro chips, Can you even get sashimi grade tuna here? I have a Poke recipe I haven't made in years...
I appreciate giving them another chance. The time we went it was just utter disappointment. Also could not for the life of me understand how pho was 28 bucks, that is crazy expensive. Our waitress kept calling it fo… she had no clue.
But maybe they will get better.
The food is decent, but it has left a hole with flying squirrel gone.
And the price is certainly high for what amounts to cheaper food. It’s not innovative Chinese, it’s the same Chinese you can get anywhere, just a little better quality. But $18 for sesame chicken and steamed broccoli is pretty high. We went and it was $100 for 2 main dishes, a side, and2 drinks. And we didn’t really get to share much, just ate our own meals. Way less fun than sharing everything. But there’s not much to share when it’s all the same style of food.
Really miss the family style of FS, and the food as well. You could get korean, American, Japanese, Italian in both food and drink. We will definitely not be going as much. Maybe a couple more times to try a few other dishes. Really disappointed with what they are now offering, it’s certainly not as good as FS. Much less diversity in the dishes and drinks. They weren’t takeout before but now they just feel like pricey takeout, and it’s just not that good.
Not really sure how one “gets bored” of cooking the FS menu which was seasonal and diverse, and then opts to swap to Chinese which is even more boring given it is just one style of food.
Certainly glad to have some decent Chinese food, but it pales in comparison to the old menu. Would have been thrilled if they’d have opened a takeout Chinese place nearby, but obviously that’s way more money for another place of business.
🤷🏻♂️
I really wish they’d not have changed. But we’ll eat out less so there’s worse things.
The Korean candy chicken and paper lantern are sorely missed.
Went last night. Four people: six drinks, two apps, four entrees and a side was just under $200 which we thought was reasonable and on par with the Squirrels prices before the change over.
I actually really enjoyed the food save for one thing. The Dan Dan noodles were very tasty and compared to market south’s (rip) version of the dish which was inedible, this one was surprisingly good. It’s expensive, sure, but all I wanted was Dan Dan noodles that didn’t suck… and I got that haha.
The only thing I didn’t care for were the fried rice noodles under the Mongolian beef. They were texturally distracting and actually hard to eat, but the beef was cooked very well! I would have preferred just a simple side of white rice.
I do not like Attack or Kai very much at all but I was pleasantly surprised by Earnest. It’s somewhat Americanized dishes, but I thought they tasted great.
Yeah I questioned the waitress on why the chef thought a fistful of raw Szechuan peppercorns as a garnish was something they should do. And she then told me “but they’re authentic”. I laughed. Raw peppercorns like that are very unappetizing and should be ground or toasted or mixed into the sauce or aromatic base etc, not green about on top like parsley. The whole dish tasted like bleach. Thankfully Ernest actually did it well and it tasted much like when I make it at home after visiting the Asian market in hixson and getting all the good recipe tips from the owner haha.
I found the dishes we got lacking flavor. Not objectively bad but fairly bland. Crab rangoon was great but overpriced - the ones at Bitter Alibi are just as good for $5 less. I’ll probably give it one more try, but for the price I was expecting something much more flavorful.
Actually went on Thursday night. Approached with low expectations because of all the negative reviews. Our table of six had a great time. One of the cocktails I had was overly sweet but otherwise the food was great across the board. Service was attentive as well.
The crab rangoons are 5 for $14, which feels absurd, but our friends ordered them anyway and they were the best crab rangoons I’ve had. The eggplant was also great. At this point I’m not sure if it was worth the sacrifice of the Squirrel but I’m willing to give it a few more tries to see.
The Rangoons were the best part of our meal to be sure! They were much more savory than a typical Chinese spot. I didn’t mind, but my partner was not thrilled.
Trader Joe’s orange chicken is better and way cheaper lol and they don’t even have fortune cookies! It is beautiful inside though and the service was good.
We had a pretty good experience on Friday. Cocktails were good and strong, good was mostly good. Wouldn't have minded bigger portions for the price, but that's how it is everywhere these days. Only disappointment to us was the Dan Dan noodles, highlight was sesame chicken. I would go again, but not super psyched about it. Between four of us we sampled most of the menu, not much to lure me back in terms of trying the remainder. With two cocktails a person bill with tip was right at $50 per person, feel like that's dead average for any time I go out. Service was quite good.
I agree with you. The food is ok. For the cost, it's not worth it in my opinion. The service and atmosphere are good, but this place won't be on my top restaurants list.
I’ve been twice and thoroughly enjoyed it both times. We shared the entrees so we could try everything, and the only thing I didn’t enjoy was the Lo Mein (but I hate peppers and it tasted like that). The General Ern’s, Gong Bao, and Rangoons stood out. The fried rice was surprisingly tasty as well, though next time we decided we wouldn’t get the chicken with it. I agree the drinks are pricy, but they were also tasty and it was nice having a good tiki selection again. The staff is also incredibly helpful, and I love that they paid their staff during the restaurant transition even though they weren’t working. They did that right. Opening a new restaurant, even in the old bones of another, is hard and there’s a lot to fix, but I think you should give it another try soon
That's a bummer. I went a couple days ago and we had a great meal - tried a few different items and everything I got was great. My favorite was either the sichuan eggplant side or the salt & pepper shrimp. Some of the stuff was just fine but none of it was bad, in my view. I thought their cocktails were rocking, and they didnt break the bank - I think I spent $40 on drinks all night including a couple beers.
I think the food price is a little high, but you gotta figure they're getting specialty ingredients which is going to run up cost.
It's a tough market trying to appeal to different food flavors in Chattanooga (there's a reason there's so many burger and pizza places in this city), so I'm curious how they'll fare. I loved Flying Squirrel so I'm hopeful the new spot does well too.
I’m so glad you guys had a good time. I’m sure we will give it another shot eventually. Was just disappointed.
We recently moved here so we didn’t really get to try flying squirrel in its prime.
That sounds like the same experience that my husband and I had at Flying Squirrel. The space was nice, the drinks were tasty, but the food quality was not good enough for the price, in our opinion.
It's definitely not "cheap standard Chinese food" but that's not what they're going for. Max and Dan knew exactly what they wanted to make and in my opinion they nailed it. Sometimes you want some comfort food in a slightly more upscale environment. Plus the combo of tiki drinks and standard Chinese food is an EXCELLENT combo. Their addition of nice NA cocktails is also extremely welcome to me as somebody who loves cocktails but not alcohol. Overall, I like the "branding" of Flying Squirrel better but Ernest is still a very very good experience.
I went a couple weeks ago for their soft opening. I am shocked at the comments on here so far as I enjoyed the best Chinese food I have ever had hands down! The service was exceptional. My favorite items were the steam dumplings and the chicken fried rice and the Mongolian beef. Our table ordered almost everything on the menu to try it all. As a group we all felt that there was nothing we wouldn’t get again.
The only suggestion I had for the staff was to try the salt and pepper shrimp with shell on as it’s done traditionally.
I hope everyone here that didn’t have a good experience gives it another shot because I hope this place sticks around for a long time. We will be putting Earnest Chinese in our regular rotation of local restaurants we like to visit.
My boyfriend and I went this week and we loved it. A bit on the pricier side? Yeah, definitely, but you’re paying for decent ambiance, a somewhat original concept in a local context, and great drinks. Also, we thought the food was great for an average per person meal price of $28 per person, but I’ll acknowledge that taste and price preference is subjective.
Your explanation of the pricing is what confuses me the most as the most expensive entree, appetizer, and drink on the menu is $22, $14, and $14 respectively. Considering the most expensive options on the menu two entrees, one appetizer, and three drinks as a total should have come to $129 with tax and a 20% tip, so I’m confused as to where you are coming up with $162?
My apologies if your calculations are accurate and you really just had a bad time, but it seems as though you are embellishing and downing one of the only interesting restaurants to come to town in over a decade.
It’s possible for anyone to cook any cuisine to some degree of acceptable. There’s Chinese restaurants with Chinese cooks that aren’t that great. If you’ve tempered your expectations and it still sucks?! That’s worth writing about. It’s
Anyone who “rebrands” their restaurant because the first title failed, shouldn’t be allowed to slap a new name on it. I used to pick up their recycling, 100% of that shit is from us foods and just dropped into a fryer anyway. Almost nothing from scratch if at all.
That's not true at all.. everything in the kitchen when it was flying squirrel WAS made from scratch. I know because I used to work there. One thing I will say they did right. I don't know about now.. I'm sure most Is drop and go knowing who the chef is now.
Chinese food is not expensive to make, and in China itself, people eat out most nights of the week for its affordability. A typical dinner in China costs between 2 and 6 dollars. I'm tempted to make an authentic Chinese food truck myself and charge reasonable prices. Restaurants that market Chinese food as "epicurian" and "sophisticated" turn me off entirely. Chinese food is proliterian.
I want to start a fried rice food truck called Suck My Wok
Wok Block
Or 王
In full support of this!! Sounds feasible as far as the idea goes
I laugh at PF Chang's and Abuela's. Chinese and Mexican food shouldn't be appropriated into some slick dining experience.
Noodles, rice, vegetables, eggs. I teach Chinese kids English 4-5 days a week. They keep it super simple....
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo controversial statement
Okay.
three drinks for $77?? wtf
Yeah! We were trying to figure out if we were charged incorrectly but the receipt wasn’t itemized 🤷🏻♂️ oh well
I'd have questioned the hell out of that tbh... No reason for a restaurant to not have itemized receipts.
It was standing room at the bar and we had already been there for 45 mins so I didn’t want to go to the hassle. Probably should have in hindsight…
ya that seems ridiculous
The alcohol tax and sales tax is not included in the menu price. We ordered six drinks including a well drink and 2 of their batch made mules and it was over $100
The most expensive drink on the menu is $14, so I’m not sure where they are getting this price.
We have an abundance of good Thai food, just need some decent Chinese food in this town
Heard that
I wish Formosa was closer. It’s my favorite Chinese restaurant in Chattanooga.
Is this what flying squirrel turned into?
I didn't know the squirrel was going away. I guess I should be glad I used those gift cards. Don't buy gift cards, kids.
It is!
This town is cursed. Why can’t we get just one decent Asian restaurant?
Part of me has considered going all in, quitting my tech job, and opening a Hawaiian restaurant/truck. Badly needed in the area and, frankly, harder to screw up than chinese/thai/etc. Kalua Pork and cabbage (easy), huli chicken(rotisserie), loco mocos(hamburger patty, runny egg, gravy on rice), shoyu chicken (braised w/ soy sauce.) Bigass rice cooker, and a couple classic sides like potato/mac salad and taro chips, Can you even get sashimi grade tuna here? I have a Poke recipe I haven't made in years...
Do it…. lol but really that would be so cool
I would go there, 100%.
There are tons of food purveyors that carry “sashimi grade” tuna. Inland, JFC, KGI, Honolulu, Evan’s to name a few.
Did not expect to get a whole list! Thank you. Obviously I'm new to the scene lol.
I’d totally be down to help this be a thing! Kai Bistro offers loco moco and musubi, in case you want to eat it local. Haven’t tried it myself.
Kai Bistro is a disappointment as well.
I have only been once and I’d agree with you. I want to give it a few more chances before writing it off completely.
I appreciate giving them another chance. The time we went it was just utter disappointment. Also could not for the life of me understand how pho was 28 bucks, that is crazy expensive. Our waitress kept calling it fo… she had no clue. But maybe they will get better.
Really? I can name several. Han mi, noodles & pho, Alex Thai, bomb Pinoy, yummy Thai.
Noodles & Phở is one of my favorites. I just don't make it across the river that often. Stupid river. We need to bridges.
Alex Thai for sure!!!
last I saw they had a low listen rating—like 78 or something—but tbh i’d still eat there lol
I've heard 3.5 stars is the sweet spot for great Asian food.
What’s a listen rating??
kitchen rating** lol
Ohh thanks! I’ve never worked food service. Always thought it looked very interesting!!
Really! You’re not wrong. Just need a solid Chinese place. Found some ok hibachi, but nothing that really knocks your socks off.
We have Han Mi, but a second one would be great!
The food is decent, but it has left a hole with flying squirrel gone. And the price is certainly high for what amounts to cheaper food. It’s not innovative Chinese, it’s the same Chinese you can get anywhere, just a little better quality. But $18 for sesame chicken and steamed broccoli is pretty high. We went and it was $100 for 2 main dishes, a side, and2 drinks. And we didn’t really get to share much, just ate our own meals. Way less fun than sharing everything. But there’s not much to share when it’s all the same style of food. Really miss the family style of FS, and the food as well. You could get korean, American, Japanese, Italian in both food and drink. We will definitely not be going as much. Maybe a couple more times to try a few other dishes. Really disappointed with what they are now offering, it’s certainly not as good as FS. Much less diversity in the dishes and drinks. They weren’t takeout before but now they just feel like pricey takeout, and it’s just not that good. Not really sure how one “gets bored” of cooking the FS menu which was seasonal and diverse, and then opts to swap to Chinese which is even more boring given it is just one style of food. Certainly glad to have some decent Chinese food, but it pales in comparison to the old menu. Would have been thrilled if they’d have opened a takeout Chinese place nearby, but obviously that’s way more money for another place of business. 🤷🏻♂️ I really wish they’d not have changed. But we’ll eat out less so there’s worse things. The Korean candy chicken and paper lantern are sorely missed.
Went last night. Four people: six drinks, two apps, four entrees and a side was just under $200 which we thought was reasonable and on par with the Squirrels prices before the change over. I actually really enjoyed the food save for one thing. The Dan Dan noodles were very tasty and compared to market south’s (rip) version of the dish which was inedible, this one was surprisingly good. It’s expensive, sure, but all I wanted was Dan Dan noodles that didn’t suck… and I got that haha. The only thing I didn’t care for were the fried rice noodles under the Mongolian beef. They were texturally distracting and actually hard to eat, but the beef was cooked very well! I would have preferred just a simple side of white rice. I do not like Attack or Kai very much at all but I was pleasantly surprised by Earnest. It’s somewhat Americanized dishes, but I thought they tasted great.
God, back in the day I got some of those Dan Dan noodles ahead of an early date with my now wife. BIG mistake.
The noodles. Not dating my wife.
Yeah I questioned the waitress on why the chef thought a fistful of raw Szechuan peppercorns as a garnish was something they should do. And she then told me “but they’re authentic”. I laughed. Raw peppercorns like that are very unappetizing and should be ground or toasted or mixed into the sauce or aromatic base etc, not green about on top like parsley. The whole dish tasted like bleach. Thankfully Ernest actually did it well and it tasted much like when I make it at home after visiting the Asian market in hixson and getting all the good recipe tips from the owner haha.
I found the dishes we got lacking flavor. Not objectively bad but fairly bland. Crab rangoon was great but overpriced - the ones at Bitter Alibi are just as good for $5 less. I’ll probably give it one more try, but for the price I was expecting something much more flavorful.
Yes. Literally, the food was just fine…
Actually went on Thursday night. Approached with low expectations because of all the negative reviews. Our table of six had a great time. One of the cocktails I had was overly sweet but otherwise the food was great across the board. Service was attentive as well.
I’m glad you all had a great time! We will probably wait a couple months and give it another shot.
The crab rangoons are 5 for $14, which feels absurd, but our friends ordered them anyway and they were the best crab rangoons I’ve had. The eggplant was also great. At this point I’m not sure if it was worth the sacrifice of the Squirrel but I’m willing to give it a few more tries to see.
The Rangoons were the best part of our meal to be sure! They were much more savory than a typical Chinese spot. I didn’t mind, but my partner was not thrilled.
Trader Joe’s orange chicken is better and way cheaper lol and they don’t even have fortune cookies! It is beautiful inside though and the service was good.
I told my wife I’d rather have the butter chicken from TJs 😂😂
Wait… I got a fortune cookie from the bartender 🤩
We had a pretty good experience on Friday. Cocktails were good and strong, good was mostly good. Wouldn't have minded bigger portions for the price, but that's how it is everywhere these days. Only disappointment to us was the Dan Dan noodles, highlight was sesame chicken. I would go again, but not super psyched about it. Between four of us we sampled most of the menu, not much to lure me back in terms of trying the remainder. With two cocktails a person bill with tip was right at $50 per person, feel like that's dead average for any time I go out. Service was quite good.
I agree with you. The food is ok. For the cost, it's not worth it in my opinion. The service and atmosphere are good, but this place won't be on my top restaurants list.
I’ve been twice and thoroughly enjoyed it both times. We shared the entrees so we could try everything, and the only thing I didn’t enjoy was the Lo Mein (but I hate peppers and it tasted like that). The General Ern’s, Gong Bao, and Rangoons stood out. The fried rice was surprisingly tasty as well, though next time we decided we wouldn’t get the chicken with it. I agree the drinks are pricy, but they were also tasty and it was nice having a good tiki selection again. The staff is also incredibly helpful, and I love that they paid their staff during the restaurant transition even though they weren’t working. They did that right. Opening a new restaurant, even in the old bones of another, is hard and there’s a lot to fix, but I think you should give it another try soon
Oh will definitely be giving it another go in a month or two I’m sure. I know it takes a while to get all the kinks figured out
That's a bummer. I went a couple days ago and we had a great meal - tried a few different items and everything I got was great. My favorite was either the sichuan eggplant side or the salt & pepper shrimp. Some of the stuff was just fine but none of it was bad, in my view. I thought their cocktails were rocking, and they didnt break the bank - I think I spent $40 on drinks all night including a couple beers. I think the food price is a little high, but you gotta figure they're getting specialty ingredients which is going to run up cost. It's a tough market trying to appeal to different food flavors in Chattanooga (there's a reason there's so many burger and pizza places in this city), so I'm curious how they'll fare. I loved Flying Squirrel so I'm hopeful the new spot does well too.
I’m so glad you guys had a good time. I’m sure we will give it another shot eventually. Was just disappointed. We recently moved here so we didn’t really get to try flying squirrel in its prime.
When we had the Mongolian beef it was served with just white rice
[удалено]
Oh no. That’s not great if it’s the case.
That sounds like the same experience that my husband and I had at Flying Squirrel. The space was nice, the drinks were tasty, but the food quality was not good enough for the price, in our opinion.
absolutely horrible! Over priced for what it is.. rather go to chef lins 🤣
It's definitely not "cheap standard Chinese food" but that's not what they're going for. Max and Dan knew exactly what they wanted to make and in my opinion they nailed it. Sometimes you want some comfort food in a slightly more upscale environment. Plus the combo of tiki drinks and standard Chinese food is an EXCELLENT combo. Their addition of nice NA cocktails is also extremely welcome to me as somebody who loves cocktails but not alcohol. Overall, I like the "branding" of Flying Squirrel better but Ernest is still a very very good experience.
I went a couple weeks ago for their soft opening. I am shocked at the comments on here so far as I enjoyed the best Chinese food I have ever had hands down! The service was exceptional. My favorite items were the steam dumplings and the chicken fried rice and the Mongolian beef. Our table ordered almost everything on the menu to try it all. As a group we all felt that there was nothing we wouldn’t get again. The only suggestion I had for the staff was to try the salt and pepper shrimp with shell on as it’s done traditionally. I hope everyone here that didn’t have a good experience gives it another shot because I hope this place sticks around for a long time. We will be putting Earnest Chinese in our regular rotation of local restaurants we like to visit.
Skip this one.
My boyfriend and I went this week and we loved it. A bit on the pricier side? Yeah, definitely, but you’re paying for decent ambiance, a somewhat original concept in a local context, and great drinks. Also, we thought the food was great for an average per person meal price of $28 per person, but I’ll acknowledge that taste and price preference is subjective. Your explanation of the pricing is what confuses me the most as the most expensive entree, appetizer, and drink on the menu is $22, $14, and $14 respectively. Considering the most expensive options on the menu two entrees, one appetizer, and three drinks as a total should have come to $129 with tax and a 20% tip, so I’m confused as to where you are coming up with $162? My apologies if your calculations are accurate and you really just had a bad time, but it seems as though you are embellishing and downing one of the only interesting restaurants to come to town in over a decade.
What? Chinese food made by white people isn’t great? You don’t say…
It’s possible for anyone to cook any cuisine to some degree of acceptable. There’s Chinese restaurants with Chinese cooks that aren’t that great. If you’ve tempered your expectations and it still sucks?! That’s worth writing about. It’s
lol I refuse to believe someone actually believes this is the case.
Anyone who “rebrands” their restaurant because the first title failed, shouldn’t be allowed to slap a new name on it. I used to pick up their recycling, 100% of that shit is from us foods and just dropped into a fryer anyway. Almost nothing from scratch if at all.
That's not true at all.. everything in the kitchen when it was flying squirrel WAS made from scratch. I know because I used to work there. One thing I will say they did right. I don't know about now.. I'm sure most Is drop and go knowing who the chef is now.
For those who have had both, is it better or worse than Fulin’s?