Only chinese restaurant I would eat in town, the restaurant has been around for decades. Service is always decent, love the food and how quiet the place is. For the price tag of under 9bucks on most of the dishes, you can't go wrong. My family been eating at Cathay house for generations, we will keep coming back! read more

The food is great, with very little wait. I will say that the atmosphere is very quiet making it hard to converse without whispering. Main dish, fried rice, soup, and complimentary appetizer for around $8 read more

Best in Waco. It's not a big feat to be best in Waco when it comes to Chinese food. It's good food but compared to places I have been in other states and cities, It's ok. The service is pretty friendly when they are not busy, when they are busy they are efficient but not friendly. The orange chicken can be a little chewy. The szechuan chix is REALLY good! If you can travel to another city with known good chinese, go there but for Waco, this is the BEST read more

This is one of the (if not the best) Chinese food restaurants in McLennan County. You can go order for about $8 and get a Drink, Soup, Complimentary Appetizer sticks, Egg Roll, and Main Dish. The quantity is BIG and the quality is good. The lady (I assume the owner) who is always working the cash register is very nice. I do not care for the restaurant itself, in regards to the decor and just construction. The place looks like its not very well kept and has a very dark atmosphere. This is why less 1 star. I mostly order to-go anyways, so I'm very satisfied with this place. read more

The food here is pretty good, it's nothing special but it's consistently tasty. The lo mein is very salty for my tastes, but the lemon chicken is delicious. The sauces are very thick, however, and sweet sauces come across as cloying sometimes if you don't use the rice to cut down the amount of sweetness getting in your mouth at once. The service is usually good and the owner is a very nice lady who makes sure you're happy with your meal. Prices are very fair and portions are usually large enough to divide in half and take some home for later. read more

This place is pretty good. Seating is slightly crowded but not a big deal. My food was hot and tasted great, and don't even get me started on the portion size. They give you so much food, I was feasting my eyes! Service was also good. I would recommend! read more

I've frequented this place since I was a kid and can remember the old glory days of Cathay house. The food was good in a nostalgic, first experience trying "Chinese" food sort of way. Way back when I was inexperienced and ignorant to what real Chinese food is supposed to be. Not bad but OK, but lately within the last 10 years the quality had gone down a lot. It may have something to do with the management. I believe the daughter of the original owner now heads up the restaurant. I'm sorry to do this but the 1 star will be given to the chicken and rice soup that hasn't really changed much, everything else is mediocre to just plain terrible. Go to happy wok or the original chopsticks for your Chinese food craving instead. The Only the thing Cathay house has going for it is the old school building and decor. Maybe the cheap lunch specials but I wouldn't recommend eating there. read more

Kung pao chicken was not spicy at all but was but overly salted and lacking veggies. Appetizer chips were stale. The rest of the food for my group was good. They will not give refund for poorly made food, only 10% off your check. ... And they will neglect to take off the 10% unless you ask about it. read more

I was so disappointed today when I picked up my food order at Cathay House... It's no longer Cathay House in my opinion, they've sold it. I thought "well, maybe the good will still be good" I'll give it a try. So when I got home and unpacked I smelled the food... It didn't smell the same. I tried it... It didn't taste the same. Ok, so it didn't smell or taste the same but was it good???? NO IT WAS NOT GOOD. So dang disappointed, even Michael didn't like it and be liked every food, ever! We've lost a great "staple" restaurant in Waco. It was my go to for Chinese at least once a month. So sad... read more

There was a change in ownership and operation earlier this year. I heard that the previous owner took all of the recipes (though basic) with them. The food has gone downhill fast. read more

We were confused by the other reviews which seemed to love or hate it, so we decided to give it a try from recommendations from my husband's coworkers. We went on a Friday night and it seemed pretty busy. The dining area is much smaller than expected. There were only 2 waiters that were scrambling to cover the tables. The first thing we tried was the wonton soup. The wonton was rubbery and empty. Normally there is something inside of them. The broth was nearly clear like water. Next we ordered the shrimp cheese Rangoon. There was no cheese in it. It appeared to be crushed water chestnuts and a piece of shrimp. The egg roll had just cabbage inside of it. Nothing else. I ordered Mongolian beef and swapped carrots and celery for onions. The flavor was OK and the portion was generous. The fried rice was plain like another review mentioned. No flavor, no vegetables. My husband ordered cashew chicken. The flavor was bland like the sauce was watered down. Chopsticks Chinese has better food hands down. We haven't had great Chinese food since we have been in Waco. Unless you like single ingredient food, I would skip Cathay house. We always take leftovers home but left them behind. read more

We have lived in Waco for 10 years and up until about a year ago we loved to eat there at least once a week. Their food was always served hot and very tasty and at a great price. I'm not sure what happened. We have had mediocre food the last 6 months that we have eaten there. I always order the Moo Goo Gai Pan. I would be embarrassed to serve it in my home. It's very strong on the garlic side now (it wasn't before). It's usually a very mild sauce with some vegetables and white meat chicken. This past week we went in hopes that the food would be better. But, it wasn't. We will not be going back. I don't see how that can stay in business. I'm so sad. We really liked this place. read more

Food quality has really gone down. Wonton soup barely had any taste in its small teacup, there were bits of undercooked rice in the bland tasting cold fried rice, and they forgotten the eggroll that was included in the lunch special even though it wasn't busy. Was also disappointed in amount of serving. Wouldn't recommend this place. read more

Out of all the Chinese restaurants I have tasted in Waco, this place is the best in my opinion. The interior is clean and the food is pretty good. read more

Update: We've moved back to the Waco area and rebooted our tradition. The place is still as good as it was 4 years ago.

This is the only place we will go to for Chinese Food in Waco. We used to go to a place in Houston that had such good Mongolian Beef, we could never find an equal, until we went here to the Cathay House. Also, the hot and sour soup is great but need to add just a bit of soy sauce. The 5 flavored shrimp is so tasty and the shrimp is always cooked exactly right. The sauces are fresh tasting every single time (we've found the sauces at the buffet style restuarants to have a funny taste, like reconstituted mixes.) But the cooking is always consistantly good here! No wonder that they get the Waco Best Chinese Restuarant award every year. Highly recommend. A++++++ read more

New owners took over and boy have things gone south, they are rude if you call and complain about the quality, they mess up your orders but they get all aggressive about it and the food just down right sucks, I would find a new place to eat, when the older lady use to own it it was down right delicious but the new owners have screwed it all up...good by Cathay house you will be missed read more

We have been coming to Cathay House for many, many years. They are very consistent in their cooking, it always tastes fresh, the meats tender, not overcooked, same with the vegetables in the stir fry. Best of all, the flavors are just amazing. Never have we been disappointed. I think they must always have the same cook as it never falters! Highly recommend! Great service, very polite and attentive! read more

Very good and the right amount for lunch. Egg drop soup very good. Shrimp chow main wonderful. Quite atmosphere, no rush and able visit with friends. read more

I visited Cathay House after a many year absence. The food was as good as I remembered but the atmosphere was not good. I like to go out to eat to relax but not here. I think they are the owners/managers and I understand the constraints of children but they allowed their small children free reign/run of the restaurant. I don't go out to eat to watch children run up and down and yell for their mother. They were even allowed to go to tables while the mother was taking orders and just hang around the table. I am not sure I will be back. read more

I would just say this place was okay. The staff was good. The exterior is missing shingles and I saw water stains inside...little concerning. The lo mien was better than other places we've had here in Waco, but the noodles were over cooked, but not to the point of being inedible. The noodles were also pretty oily. Had shrimp wantons that were decent. I'd prefer a little more cream cheese, but they were decent. They serve fried wanton dough on the table that everyone seemed to like. It comes on the table like chips do at a Mexican food restaurant. Their sesame chicken was good; probably the best thing on the table. The chicken fried rice and egg drop soup was liked too. There was a chicken soup of some sort but couldn't get myself to try it. There was rice in it that was so broken down that I thought they accidentally served me tapioca at first. Prices were very reasonable. I'd bring the family back to try a few new things. read more

Great Chinese food! Best in town! (That I've tried)

Nasty tv dinner food, which came to out table cold! When I tried to hail a waiter, I was told that there were only two and that I would just have to wait. Staff was rude, food tasted like it was removed from the dumpster the evening prior!!! Will NEVER eat there again!!!! read more

The reason I went to Cathay's was because of the reviews. It was TERRIBLE. It was one of the worst Chinese meals I've ever had. I ordered - orange beef. The beef was over fried and it was tough. The fried rice was nothing but white rice with soy sauce on it. When the waiter asked how my meal was I told him it was over cooked. He said he did not know. When I was asked if I wanted the left overs I refused. At the register I told the waiter it was terrible and that I would never return. Customer satisfaction was not something they offered. read more

The food is good but only if you enjoy having terrible service. I asked for a soup and the waitress threw her hands up and shook her head as she walked away from my table. When we asked for the manager she said no I needed to go get her my self! read more