What a find!!! As someone who usually likes to elaborate and write detailed reviews, I'm keeping my review simple and brief for Paupau's, I guess primarily because after trying out what was offered in CDA and repeatedly getting disappointed, I didn't think I'll ever find a place that comes as close to something like in LA & SF Chinatown... Chicken Chow Mien, Kung Pao Chicken, Szechuan Beef and the BBQ Pork Fried Rice...Absolutely delish!! Plain and simple, The best I've had in Northern Idaho... (Thank you Christine and Elizabeth for introducing us to this place!) P.S.: Don't forget to try the egg flower soup! read more

Just great, fresh food and nice people. It remains our "go to" Chinese even though somewhat out of the way.

I love there quickness in getting out the food and their hospitality. There so kind and always have a smile's on there face's.

We moved out of Hayden back in 2010 and have not been to Paupau's Kitchen since then. We just came back this summer and ate there the other day and nothing has changed. The food is excellent, made with quality ingredients. We love the owner and she remembers us well. It was great to go back to visit Paupau's Kitchen and we will definitely go back before we head out of town. Highly recommended for take-out as well as casual sit-down service. read more

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Always an excellent dining experience, the owners are so friendly! The food is so very good, we are regulars!

The chicken and veggies is very light and delicious. The war wanton soup is amazing here. We order not battered -stir fries and love all of them. Truthfully, they are our favorite Chinese place in cda for take out. read more

I really love this place the food is amazing. I will keep trying different items as I come in. Very well worth a visit!

Best Chinese meal in town. We've hunted near and far for a good Chinese diner and have found it! (finally).

We go out of our way to come here. We also have friends that come from Spokane valley also just to come here. We love the food. Always super fresh and not oily and heavy. Veggies always light and crisp. read more

Best Chinese food establishment I have found so far in the CDA area. What it has going for it: - large portions - food is not overly salty or drenched in sauces - good value, pricing on par with other similar establishments - friendly staff What it has going against it: - decor, or lack thereof Thought I was going lose all hope of finding a decent Chinese food place.....then found this place. May not be the prettiest place to eat but the food is good and portions are substantial. read more

I love Pau Pau's! This is a small family run Chinese kitchen-- great for takeout or you can eat there. Lunch menu is smaller than dinner and they are closed on Sundays and most Holidays. They are cash only and this is a clean and fresh... I worked there in high school and can vouch for how clean the kitchen is! Pau Pau's faves: Spring roll Potstickers Wonton Soup (Chinese dumplings + veggies in a clear broth) Szechuan Beef (or combo dinner D which comes with fried rice and a spring roll) The Pau Pau's Special Noodles: lo mein noodles w/ all the meat + shrimp Curry chicken (I love that the veggies they make this w/ includes cabbage) read more

Absolutely one the best mom & pop home cooked Chinese restaurant in our area. Unlike some pretentious Asian places that sprout between Hayden and CDA, I am glad that there's a place like Paupau's where the taste and flavor of each individual meal are memorable and an experience on its own. Have you been to that fancy so called "Japanese-Asian-fusion" restaurant in CDA? Uhm yeah, Paupau's food has variety and flavor distinction...millions of miles away from the monotone high priced gunk that those people serve. Authentic Chinese food doesn't mask everything using all the same sauce in every single meal...and they are not all sweet. What Paupau lacked in ambiance, the dimmed light and the cushy couch-like seats like the high priced "Asian" restaurant in CDA they definitely compensated with the quality and amazing taste of food. Cheers! read more

I would spend more time writing my review but I'm too busy shoveling this rice into my face. So here is my review: O M G best Chinese in years. They have won "Best take-out of North Idaho" 2 years in a row, I see why.. read more

Paupau's Kitchen - Szechuan beef and chicken fried rice. - Chinese Near Me - Hayden, Idaho

True Chinese food! Pau Pau's doesn't need to win you over with fancy tables and uptight service. They will woo you with their home style Chinese cuisine that is straight off the streets of Asia! Authentic and fresh, you cannot find anywhere else in town! Pro- Authentic Fresh ingredients Affordable Large Menu Owner June is hilarious and generous Con- Not the most visually appealing location or seating area. Very hole in the wall style. Owners speak Chinese, decent but broken English (can be hard to clarify orders) ***note: owners can seem standoffish, this is a cultural difference. They mean no disrespect and are VERY VERY friendly when you get to know them :-) read more

We've driven by for years and never tried them. Shame on us! I started reading Yelp and decided to give them a try. We ordered a family combo meal for two and had enough for four! It was delicious! We drove over from Post Falls and got it to go. When we got home the food was still piping hot. Our meal had chow mein, rice, almond chicken, and kung pao beef. We enjoyed all of it and look forward to our leftovers tomorrow. :) read more

First off, cash only, so make sure you have some on hand! That being said, you don't have to have a ton of it. Prices here are incredibly affordable, and portions will have you heading home with leftovers. This is pure and simple Chinese food with little flair, but it is incredibly well-done (especially for Coeur d'Alene area). The restaurant itself isn't flashy and there are few decorations, but this is for sure a locals establishment. I ordered a lunch combo with sweet and sour chicken and lo mein, and it was exactly what I was craving: perfectly fried white meat chicken chunks and flavorful noodles, with a great sweet and sour sauce to top it all off. Finished it off with a can of soda and had enough food leftover for another whole meal. read more

Very yummy chow mein, fried rice, broccoli and beef was so fresh and vibrant. Soup was a little bland but added soy sauce it was good. Make sure you have cash.....i loved that i got a can of RC lol blast from the past. read more

This place has awesome food and service. Was referred here by a co-worker and a little hesitant when we walked in. It is basically a hole in the wall type of place and was quite busy when we walked in. The food we ordered was all great. The woman at the front was attentive and thankful for the business. We will be back for sure. read more

I've lived about a mile from this restaurant for 20 years and have never tried it before! After reading the reviews, I decided to order some take out for dinner. I ordered the Mongolian beef and it was great! A little spice and lots of onion/green onion. Besides the carpets, the place looked very clean and my order was ready in about 5min. I ate a portion for dinner and will probably have enough food for at least two more meals. I will definitely be back and am excited to try a new dish. read more

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This place came highly recommended, but unfortunately didn't meet our expectations. We had combinations C and E, which were sweet and sour pork, almond chicken, chow mein and fried rice on the one and cashew chicken, sweet and sour pork and rice on the other. The sweet and sour pork was good, but needed more sauce. The almond chicken didn't have much flavor. The cashew chicken was pretty good. We tried China Inn a few weeks back and thought it was better. read more

The BEST chinese food in the cda/Spokane area. Everything was so deliciously fresh. It came out hot and fast. The two people there ( I assume the husband/wife owners) were so friendly. I'm amazed that we were the only patrons-granted it was 7pm on a Monday. This will be our go-to dinner choice before pizza or sandwiches from now on. read more

Would be a better place if they ever got the order right. We used to pick up there all the time. "Almond chicken" (not great) is picked up as ""sweet n sour"? I've had it, no more. read more

Paupau's is my favorite Chinese food in town. It's a very small dining area, but service is good and food is delicious. My personal favorite is the almond chicken and fried rice. It's the most authentic Chinese food that I've found so far, and we always have great experiences. read more

Best Egg Foo Young I've had in years. I love the white sauce. So much better than canned brown gravy.

This is absolutely the best Chinese food available in this area. I have NEVER had anything that wasn't delicious. I have eaten in and carried out and served their food for a party. Not the cheapest food around, but the quality is in the food. This is a Mom and Pop restaurant and they do it all! Cash only, unless they know you. Home checks are accepted. NO CREDIT CARDS! read more

Bland, very bland. Gave it 2 stars only because the won tons were hot, and the pot stickers were good. The almond chicken was a deep fried piece of chicken with some tasteless white sauce and sprinkled with crushed almonds. The chow mein had no taste, so disappointing. read more

Bland, dry food. Should have listened to the reviews. This place is terrible. Definitely not authentic and will not be returning.

Anyone who says the service sucks, must just be an a******. These are the nicest people and do everything to make you dinner exceptional! Food is outstanding as well!!! read more

Yes, the people were nice, but the food was atrocious. If you are looking for Chinese like what you get in San Francisco, you won't get it here. The pot stickers were boiled. In water. To a tasteless sogginess. Not browned in oil. And with an iffy sauce with no particular flavor, not even soy, just dark. The mu shu pork lacked all the ingredients that make it so good: ginger root, green onion, water chestnuts, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili oil. Not even a hint of those. Very few shreds of pork. Basically a heap of steamed cabbage. Tasteless. No matter the night of the week (Monday), there's no excuse. And the staff should have known better than to allow this. If the cook couldn't make it in, they should have closed. read more

Was looking forward to eating here but they don't take debit cards. Seriously? In this day and age how can you consider yourself a legitimate business if you don't take cards? Look, I get it, the bank/credit card companies charge you a nominal fee. Pass the fee on to the customer if you don't want to absorb it. read more

Always the go-to Chinese place! Very authentic & the owners are very nice. 10/10 would recommend. Usually my whole family gets an order to go and we get the beef & broccoli, mandarin chicken, and the mushu pork. The only downside is that they only accept cash and checks. read more

Service was bad food rotten just over all didn't even get close to any of the other panda express I've been to.

The lady serving us was very friendly. The dinning room is very poorly decorated with extremely cheap decor, you sit under what feels like bright cafeteria lights. But who cares right? If your going to get amazing Chinese food like most of the reviews before me claim!!!! I ordered off the combination menu and received an in-edible spring roll, shrimp fried rice, and sweet and sour chicken. First of all everything was deep fried, the shrimp, the chicken, everything had that fried oily taste. Not much wow in the rice and the spring roll was soggy and over filled with cabbage. It was a $12 dollar meal. The food was fresh it did not feel like it came out of the freezer, there was no MSG which was great, but all I tasted was there fryer grease from the shrimp and chicken. There was no unique deep Chinese flavors. It was all bland and greasy. Overall I'm happy I crossed it off the list of places to eat in Hayden. It is in Hayden Lake, not CDA. I am most likely not going to ever return unless I'm looking for fried bland hang over food. It is DEFINITELY not the best Chinese food in CDA, but it is definitely not the worse. Marginal experience. Very nice ladies though serving. read more

BEST CHINESE FOOD IN ALL OF IDAHO PERIOD!!! Can't go wrong with the dinner C plate. Get the sweet and sour chicken it's finger licking good!

An amazing restaurant with amazing food, waitstaff, and atmosphere. Very reasonably priced authentic Chinese food. I would offer more stars if possible. Amazing food and people. :) read more

I love Pau Pau's. It is authentic Chinese. It's not over salted or sauced. Very fresh and high quality ingredients. The atmosphere leaves a little to be desired but we like to go and visit with the owners who are very nice! The egg fu young is fantastic! read more

I l9ve the food here! The place could use a little love in terms of visual appeal but the food is great! I LOVE their sweet and sour pork, pot stickers, pork fried rice, and their soups! read more

Didn't want to cook so I stopped in. Place is cash only, and they're plenty snotty about it. Food is fine, and I don't regret eating it, but sorry, this is 2019 - join the digital age or you deserve to go out of business. Will never come back. read more

I've been eating here since the mid 90's and it's my FAVORITE. Best Chinese food ever. Fresh ingredients - you can taste each veggie, rather than the whole dish tasting the same. The stir fry noodles are craving worthy and the Kung Pau shrimp is a delicious favorite. We have found people either love Pau Paus or hate it. I have no idea how you could hate it though. Mmmmmmmm. read more

Service here was fast and friendly. It's a mom and pop place, and the mom always remembers me and asks about the family. The food is just amazing, the best tasting Chinese by far in all of spokane and cda. I always get the Paupau special noodles, but the other dishes are good too. My friends usually hear about this place from me... A hidden gem read more