Having moved to WI from San Francisco there are a few things I have had to do without, and good Chinese Food is one of them. Until now. Fortune is a tiny, kinda dumpy restaurant in West Allis a good 20 minutes from where I live on the east side. Don't let the decor fool you this place is very very good . You will not find your typically greasy Sweet and Sour Pork here. We waited a good 10 minutes for a table at 5:30 on a Sunday night, the place was filled with off the boat Chinese, both are always a good sign. We started with the Whole Fried Flounder. Delicious! Light, crispy, delicate fish, if a little salty. It looked beautiful when it arrived at our table. Next came the Mixed Vegetable Tofu in a Casserole dish. This was the unexpected surprise, we were going for a more vegetable oriented dish and this was a savory, pork laden mixture of silky tofu and vegetables. The flavor was sublime, if you have an issue with soft texture foods than this is not your dish. It felt like every bite was infused with essence of pork and had the nice contrast of some bitter greens. Our final two courses were Beef Rice Noodle and Honey Walnut prawns. My wife and I have missed thick Chinese Rice Noodles since moving to the Midwest and these satisfied that craving. They are delicious thick rice noodles of a soft texture that just absorbs the sauce it is cooked in. This dish was made with tender strips of beef and green onion shoots. It is a salty savory dish I highly recommend. Honey walnut prawns are lightly fried shrimp with a sweet white sauce reminiscent of mayo but not quite. They were perfectly fried with just the slightest crunch underneath the sauce and firm but not overcooked. They come with candied walnuts and is served over steamed broccoli. The service, well, its lacking. Slow and inconsistent and a bit terse but I think a lot of that is language barrier. The decor is awful but they are remodeling and frankly with food this good I don't care. If you are looking for a more authentic Chinese dining experience Fortune is the only game in town. read more

This place gets 4 stars from me with the caveat that I'm grading on a curve. I came to Milwaukee from San Gabriel Valley, CA which is an absolute haven of Asian cuisine - imagine Chinatown and expand it to include an entire sprawling suburb and you get an idea of what many cities in the SGV is like - so finding a place in Milwaukee that compares to home? Very difficult. But on a curve, this place is more than acceptable. Atmosphere: Comfortable and spacious enough. Service: Fair. The servers are polite and service was always pretty fast when I came here. They aren't chatty but I don't necessarily expect them to be. Food: Many reviewers have mentioned that there are two menus here, an American one and an "authentic" Chinese one. I have never seen the American one (they always give me the Chinese menu, maybe because I'm Asian-American?) but I do agree that their Chinese menu is pretty good and their food is probably as close to authentic Chinese as you can get. I like their salt and pepper squid and their braised tofu. Overall, definitely recommended for anyone looking for good Chinese food in Milwaukee. read more

Fortune restaurant is my personal favorite. Their food is very good. They have a more authentic Chinese menu that sounds delicious, although I have not yet ordered from it. That's my plan for next time. Their lunch combos are very good and fairly priced. Give them a try. read more

SUPER RUDE service! There's this lady didn't catch her name since she never said it and a guy there as well. HORRIBLE PEOPLE. Please please spend your money elsewhere. Unless you want to be treating like s^*t. We literally walked up and left because the way they looked at us, the way they talked to us...they acted like if we wanted to eat there for free. We had a group of 10ppl!!! read more

I had shrimp stir fry. The shrimp was good but the only vegetables were bok choy and a few mushrooms, but mostly all bok choy! It was very plain with no sauce at all. My husband had seafood medley and he asked for chowmein noodles instead of rice and got rice, the waitress never came back to ask how it was so he couldn't switch it. read more

We've gotten take out several times from here and I always love the veggie dishes I've had... all were great, I'd say best in town. But... then.... ouch. Upset stomach, every time. I'm really healthy, I travel to China quite often, I rarely get sick but every time I eat here. Damn. My husband has tried several meat dishes, chicken/beef, etc... hasn't found his favorite there yet. He only got upset stomach a few times, not every time like myself. Not sure what it is, tastes good... but not sure it's worth it! :( read more

Best. Crab. Rangoons. Ever. I love the unique way that they fold them like little flat envelopes instead of the four-cornered pouch. I have always hated the non-filled crunchy corners on typical rangoons, so for me this was perfection. I'm dying to go back just for those babies! It's generally a good sign when you walk into a Chinese restaurant and the clientele are primarily folks of Asian descent. Lots of larger family groups. The service was fine - pretty quick and brusque, but not rude - they were just very busy. There was a woman who seemed like she was the manager who was seating people, and she seemed pretty curt and stressed out. The guy who filled waters and bused tables was really nice and friendly, though! The menu is more authentic-looking than most other places I've seen around here. Also, they have french fries which were actually very, very good and held up nicely even as cold leftovers. Not something you can say about a lot of fries! We ordered a weird assortment of stuff - a side of rice, the beef-on-stick, the rangoons, egg rolls, and french fries. Everything was good. I had a hot tea - they bring you a whole huge pot for very inexpensive, which was awesome! The tea is pre-brewed, as well. Nice flavor - not too strong, not too weak. You get the usual orange wedges and fortune cookies with your bill, which I always enjoy. They have a lot of big round tables for groups, but not as many booths for parties of 2-3, so keep that in mind and make a reservation if you are planning a special outing for two and you don't want to wait. It's also worth noting that they have a drive through! I am not sure how that works, but I assume you call ahead for a take-out order then drive through to pick it up. That's pretty awesome! read more

I was excited to try this restaurant because of the good ratings. Maybe they have better things on their menu but the items we tried tonight weren't great. :( We tried the chicken and broccoli and the beef and broccoli both were lacking flavor- VERY bland! :( They give great size portions which would b awesome if there was more flavor. We ordered crab Rangoon and that was AWESOME, if the rating was only on that I'd rate them a 5 but everything else had little flavor. I would b curious to try the authentic Chinese here- maybe better?? read more

I usually protest against eating Chinese food bc most times we go to the buffet. This place is not even comparable. It's actually delicious! It's a dine in place, not too fancy looking and thus within an affordable price range. We had the dinner for 2 special which included a crabmeat/egg drop soup, 1/2 a crispy chicken and black peppered green pepper beef, oh, and also stir fried tofu w veg n pork. Yep, all for $33.95! It was really enough for 4 people! All the food tasted good and had quality. Not overly sweet, salty, saucy- just perfect. I will definitely go there again. read more

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I really enjoyed the food here. It was authentic, and once ordered, arrived at our table quickly. Similar to food I would get at home. And this is what I am basing the majority of my rating on because I wasn't in a rush and just wanted good food. ------ Stuff that I care less about but are very important to others. Service was not good. As I was waiting to be seated another table actually left because they were not getting any attention. It seems like this is a family run place and they were very short staffed. We were seated soon enough (at the recently vacated booth) and as we weren't ready to order right away they forgot about us for 25 minutes. The building itself is also currently undergoing construction or expansion. There is a temporary wall in place and the rain was leaking in. None got on me or any other customer but it was very... present. I'll keep looking for better Chinese out there but as it stands, this would be a good choice for getting take-out. read more

Even though the restaurant looks closed, it's just under construction and fully functioning on the inside. For the amount of food you get, their lunch meals are a good deal. However, you have to be very specific with what you want or don't want. For example, if you are vegan/vegetarian/kosher, you need to clearly explain your needs. I'm glad they accept credit cards! read more

I have to admit...I can be shallow - especially when it comes to little restaurants that aren't aesthetically pleasing from the exterior. I used to pass by this place and think, "Dude...why would anyone go there? Looks like a little hotbox for cockroaches." Well...I decided to risk my health and well-being of my entire family and follow the yelp reviews. I was surprised that this small restaurant was brimming with authentic Asians! People were talking to each other at the top of their voices in a foreign language...and I felt suddenly at ease and at home. My family decided on the Combo Meal for 4, which turned out to be pretty tasty. My parents, visiting from Cali, were surprised by how good it was. - Seafood Superior Soup: well-flavored with fake crab, dime-sized scallops, and thick consistency -Pork Chop in Peking sauce: all meat, no fat and good sauce -Spicy Salt & Pepper Shrimp: yumm! Love the shrimp heads :) these were perfectly done -Stir-fried fish with veggies: not bad...again well seasoned -Crispy Skin Fried Chicken: skin was crispy, meat was dry -Clams in Black Bean Sauce: ehh...gross. The clams were definitely not fresh and you could taste it. (We had subbed this for the beef tenderloin dish which actually looked pretty good.) (We had all the dishes w/o additional MSG) Service: not too shabby. Food came out fast and furious. I'll be back again to try more - I vow that my shallowness shalt not be a hindrance! read more

We had a terrible experience today with someone from the restaurant. We were waiting for the drive through window to open at 11 am. One man came out and yelled at us for waiting in our car in the parking lot. When we said we were here to order and subsequently called in, he was extremely rude on the phone and hung up on us. If this is the behavior towards an obviously respectable couple driving a luxury SUV, I wonder how he is with others. Never going back there again. read more

Parking is easy, but area can be crowded. Menu offers many fantastic dishes at a medium price point. We had moo shu chicken, green beans, and chicken & veges. All were excellent, as was the service. Highly recommended. read more

My brother and I had to make a quick trip to Milwaukee and the only restaurant my cousin in Madison recommended was Fortune Chinese Restaurant. I found it to be a bright, pleasant establishment in a small shopping center. The menu was quite large for a not-in-Chinatown restaurant. We ordered steamed fish with tofu in black bean sauce and steamed chicken with special sauce. My brother and I were questioning whether 2 dishes was sufficient, but it turned out that the 2 dishes were very large servings. The fish dish had a generous portion of chunks of tender fish. The chicken dish turned out to be exactly like Hainan chicken I had eaten in Singapore. It was excellent and cooked perfectly such that the meat was thoroughly cooked, but still very soft and juicy and not chewy. I loved this pleasant surprise in a town not noted for it Chinese restaurants. I will have to make more trips to Milwaukee and will definitely head on to Fortune Restaurant again. Oh, we ate only about half of both dishes and had enough leftovers for our lunch the next day. read more

This was my 2nd time going there within 1 year. I took my wife yesterday for Valentine's Day. It wasn't as busy since we got our seats within mins. We ordered 5 dishes about 6:40pm and didn't get our FIRST dish until about 7:10pm. I stress first because we didn't get all our dishes at the same time. They slowly came out. By the time we were full we only had three of the 5....about 7:40pm. Who knows how much longer it would had taken to get the other 2 dishes. So by the time we order to when we were done eating, 1 hour later, we only got 3 dishes! The food was great but the timing sucks! This isn't a restaurant that serves specific dishes at a time like high end restaurants. This is a chinese restaurant family style with all the dishes served at the same time. This happened the first time and again the 2nd time I was there within the year. Told my wife this will be my last time unless I do take out. read more

Very shady business. Make sure to save your receipts. Whenever we dine in, we would tip. However last time we just ordered out. Luckily we saved our receipt! They added in a 20% tip BY THEMSELVES that was not authorized. read more

Just have to say tonight I was disappointed in the food here. The wait was UNREAL. Granted it was Christmas day but still 1 hr 40 min wait. Don't get me wrong they do have Hands down THE BEST Crab Rangoon. Warning they are sweet, but oh so good. The servers are like others say are very curt and make you feel like you are a bother. Most normal days they do have very good dishes, try the casseroles. Try something from the authentic menu, you won't be sorry. Husband loves the seaweed soup... me not so much. My favorite dish is Beef tenderloin in black pepper sauce. Enjoy the food not the service... :) read more

I have to echo the reviewer below who said that if you didn't like Fortune, you probably ordered the wrong things. Take a few minutes to look at the conventional AND the "Chinese" menu--you'll find everything from egg foo yung to tripe, all of it delicious. Over the years my favorites have been the salt and pepper shrimp, eggplant with plum sauce, Mai fun noodles with pork, steamed whole fish, chicken with cashews, shrimp with broccoli and honey walnuts, and whatever steamed greens are in season. Not all the servers are fluent in English, but in more than 10 years I've never encountered rudeness or had a problem ordering. Why else would I bring friends from the East Side to a strip mall 30 minutes away? read more

Roughly mall food court quality food. I was surprised this place had been recommended to me by several people. Maybe in the past it was better / there were less options. read more

They gave me a balance on my bill and when I paid they slipped $2 extra on my balance without telling me!

After having a delightful lunch recently here we decided to take a party of eight for dinner tonight. What a disappointment, waitress was just terrible. The food was worse. The waitress went around the table pointed at each dinner and said "what do you want?" not even a smile. I could go on about the painful, horrible service, but I won't. Off the special Chinese menu we ordered baked pork spairribs.. They were breaded and deep fried , tough and tasteless. The orange pork chop was deep fried strips of though tasteless meat. The sweetsauer chicken was tough and the breading was under done. A $26 service charge was added to a $130 tab. and an additional gratuity was expected. This place is famous for its bad service, but great Chinese food. But not on this night. read more

Absolutely terrible! Probably one of the worst chinese places I have ever had. Don't waste your money.

Order always consists of: Walnut Shrimp Fat Rice Noodles Fortune is a place I tend to frequent relatively often. I would say those are the only two things you have to absolutely have to get. You could mix it up and grab something new as a second meaty option. The shrimp is the best in the city. Although I do think DanDan's would be a very close second. The fat noodles are also really really great. If you like smokiness and carbs then get them, you won't be disappointed. Fortune is the restaurant that introduced me to Chinese food, so it does hold a special place in my heart. I have to give full credit to my girlfriend (because I know she'll read this, because I'm going to show her). I used to only order sweet and sour chicken before her, but she introduced me to these two dishes and I haven't looked back. 5/5 Fortune may just make Chinese your favorite food too. read more

Best Chinese food I've had period. They have a menu for the less adventurous like orange chicken and stuff and the authentic Chinese menu too which has a great variety of dishes better than the ones on the regular menu. The portions are big even though they have shrunk over the years. Great family style dining. Delicious food and not too greasy. Definitely recommend trying the food here once. read more

So many good memories of this place! I have been coming to this restaurant for many years now and it has never gotten any worse. The fried shrimp, squid, and fish is amazing! i will always get this dish every time i come here and you must try it out if you come here as well. Recently I have also been getting a spicy boiled fish which is really really delicious! I LOVE this place and I almost always come here when I drop by milwaukee! read more

I ate here 19 years ago and I would have rated them 5-star. I returned last week to this restaurant. Food quality has deteriorated to one -star. In fact, I would have given it a no star. The tofu dish I ordered was like cardboard. Sweet-sour pork was hard as stone. read more

This place sucks! first and last time here. Supposed to be a chinese dish and all I got were deep fried seafood. Really? If i wanted deep fried fillets, squids, and other seafood, I would have gone to an american restaurant. I went to other chinese restaurants and the same type of dishes were actually chinese. Food sucks. Service and waitress sucks. As bad as it was, i left $5 as tip. Worst part was, the waitress (name Libin) had to nerves to demand a total of $7 for tip. I wasn't gonna be an ass so i gave another $2. GF might get mad. Since when do you think you have the right to earn a certain amount of tip? I was a customer there on 10-9-15 @ around 6:30pm. Place sucks ass big time. Most asian restaurants are so damn cheap that they demand tips. Stay away. Gonna blast this cheap place all over the internet. read more

Be ware! Don't let them charge you 18% for a tip if you go with a party under 6! Bc they will and they will include it, even with take out they'll try to add 18% in there. And ask for prices that says "market price" bc they will rip you off. And the servers are all rude! They don't deserve any tip at all. read more

Just ordered take out, food was super hot and delicious. All employees were wearing masks which I appreciate. One of my favorite spots.

I agree with the reviewers who point out that a lot of Chinese people dine here. When I was there, 8 out of 11 tables were Chinese. I soon found out why....the food is some of the best in Milwaukee! Here's the bad part: the service bordered on ridiculous!! Our server's name was Fang. Before we knew her name, we called her sourpuss. It was rather warm in there and our ice was melted by the time our food arrived. All of us but one were afraid to ask her for ice. When we did, she sarcastically said, "ice?" She was so bad we made lemonade from her lemons and now she is a standing joke among our group. EVERYTHING with her was like pulling teeth...sigh! Avoid Fang if you are able!! I would have given 4 stars if not for her!! read more

We went there on X'mas , it was really busy inside the restaurant. It took 30 mins for waitress coming to take order and it took additional 30 mins to get all dishes we ordered. Horrible! All waiters/waitress were not happy at all, they didn't smile at you or greeting. They looked upset, maybe no one wanted to work during holidays. Food was so-so. We would not go back. read more

Yes it is authentic but is it GOOD authentic Chinese food? It's a hit or miss. This is the quandary I'm finding in Milwaukee. It's one of the few authentic places so I have to give it four stars? But if I were say in Chicago, New York, San Fran, or Philly (yes I've been spoiled with awesome Chinese food), I have to give it three stars... I'm conflicted. Three stars it is. The Good: - Crispy salt and pepper seafood is definitely one of it's signature dishes. Since it's fried, you don't taste the lack of freshness as much. - Eggplant and salted fish casserole was also quite good but had too much MSG. The So-So: - Wonton Noodle Soup (So sad... as a Cantonese a good Wonton Noodle Soup is must! Alas I haven't found one in Milwaukee) - Duck dishes (I've learned you need to really go to the places where there is a duck actually hanging on the window. Alas again, none around here) The Bad: - The seafood is sometimes not fresh. We ordered steamed flounder once and I barely could eat it. Lots of their seafood combos have imitation crab and frozen shrimp (as mentioned by a past reviewer.) Scallops have been OK. Can you get good seafood in Milwaukee? - Lots of MSG? Oh DEFINITELY ask them to NOT put MSG or else you'll be drinking water all day long. The service is what it is. Unfortunately a lot of the authentic places will have bad service cuz 1) they have more recently immigrated therefore their English is not as good 2) service is just not as high a value back in the homeland unless you're at a really upscale place (like at a hotel). Yes I've gotten yelled at many a time by servers in Asia. Remember there are two menus - One with Americanized Chinese food and one with the more authentic stuff. read more

I love the make-over, Fortune. This is some of the best Chinese food in Milwaukee. As I quick tipped, order from the traditional menu, because that is the good stuff. The crispy chicken, beef rice noodle, and jelly fish really could not be done any better. The chicken fried rice is really good. Focus on the food and not the service. read more

i have been eating here for 20 years, where lobster with ginger sauce does not cost me $75 dollars and peking duck is $50! this is outrageous! please ask for prices before you order! and the food aren't good like it used to be anymore! please watch out for the pricing! $75 dollars for a lobster! it's more expensive than a fancy restaurant u went to! read more

Fortune Restaurant - Overpriced! $75 lobster and $50 Peking ducks! - Chinese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This is an authentic Chinese restaurant. When I ask my mainland Chinese friends what Chinese restaurant they like, they always say Fortune. I have been eating here for 5 years. It's not like the other Chinese restaurants that I generally eat at in Milwaukee because there is always an "American" spin on the food. The food has a flavors that you cannot experience anywhere else in Milwaukee. It's definitely worth the try. read more

I had lunch here yesterday for the first time. I ordered from the Chinese menu as so many people said it was the way to go. I was very disappointed. I ordered the Sezchuan Shrimp. I like spicy food and this was NOT spicy at all. The shrimp were coated with a batter that you would use for orange chicken: the sauce that covered the vegetables was definitely orange sauce. It was as if they realized they made a mistake at the end and just threw the hot red papers on top. I've had Sezchuan chicken and beef before, and what I got was NOT Sezchuan.I have NEVER had Sezchaun chicken and beef that was covered in an orange sauce! The rice served with it tasted old, like it was saved from the previous day and just reheated. I will say, the shrimp were plentiful and large in size, properly cooked but that's where it ends. I also ordered the spring rolls which were pretty good. The hot mustard is really good; I'd say it was home made. I've eaten Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai food a lot. Fortune is not the 'best'. There are far better Chinese restaurants in the area. The server was nice and very efficient. The restaurant itself is neat and clean. All in all, it was just OK. I might try it again but definitely won't get the so-called "spicy" dish. My rating is 1.5. My quest for a great Chinese restaurant continues. read more

Owner Chef Frank knows his Chinese cuisine. To me, the only authentic Chinese restaurant in MKE. Service is sincerely friendly and they recognize you upon your return. Beef Tenderloin with Mushrooms, Salt & Pepper Squid, Cantonese Seafood Noodle, Potstickers, Duck & Enoki mushroom soup, Beef Chow Fun Noodles are my faves. Filled with Chinese customers say it all, ha! read more

I love American Chinese food very tolerant of a lot of things...I went with my wife and my 5 yo daughter and my mother-in-law and my wife's aunt. I know they were remolding at the time but that does not excuse poor service. The first menu they gave me nothing really look good. As we were talking we decided to go some where else. As we were getting up the server came over and yelled ...yes yelled at us to sit down and she said we have the Chinese menu and gave us the American menu. Then we ordered the food was ok but I have had a lot better. I took forever to get the food. When it was time to pay the bill...they told my mother in law that would be an automatic tip...I know I not normal but I do not tip for bad service and so...so food. I love Fortune for carry out but I do not think I be back to dine in. read more

The service there is horrible. everyone including the owner had attitude. all i asked was a dish i wasn't sure about the name. and the guy said "we are busy. why didn't you find out before you came to order?" the owner at this moment came out for something. I smiled at him and said "excuse me, uh...." he immediately waved his hand and said "I'm busy, don't ask me" and walked away. I don't care how good the food is. this kind of customer service doesn't deserve any customers. I will never ever go there again!! read more