I visited Peter Chang's with some friends and our overall experience was good. We arrived at the restaurant around 915PM because this place is usually packed, so you either go early and wait or arrive late... but this late arrival showed us the negative aspect of the service at the restaurant. Once we arrived and asked for a table, even though there were other diners seated, they said we cannot get any food. Then the host came back again and tried to convince us to order for take out, but finally he seated us. After our experience with the host, everything improved. The service at the table was spotless. Our server was prompt, and very helpful with recommendations. In addition, he was very attentive to our drinks to make sure we were always satisfied. Also the food came very quickly, I am not sure if this is because the restaurant was not too busy, or if it is typical. But now lets focus on the star of the experience, the food. The dishes at this restaurant are big in size, you can easily order 1 dish and 1 appetizer for 2, or 2 dishes and 1 appetizer for 3. With servings like these, the cost per person will be around $15, which makes this experience not the typical asian restaurant. As for the food itself, I wouldn't say any of the dishes we tried are amongst the best I have ever had, but they were all tasty and very well spiced. In addition, the spiciness of the dishes are very very very well balanced, by this I mean you can have the kick from the spicy without having your mouth numb to actually savor the food. Overall, the highlight of the food, was overwhelmed by a spotty service. read more

Lackluster service, and my duck had so much fat on it it was almost inedible.

Wow! The lamb kabobs were spicy, and I can't handle spicy food, but I couldn't resist! They were so good! My husband couldn't help but laugh as I kept helping myself to the spicy lamb and following it with water. And the shrimp w/ pastry tarts were light, but oh-so filling! Loved it! Big ups to the waiter who was full of suggestions about the food and the wine! What a great ending to a long day! read more

Peter Chang's China Grill - shrimp w/ crispy tarts - Chinese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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We went knowing reviews on service were bad. And it is pretty bad. Went early at 5:30 weeknight thinking we might escape it. Weird thing is how you can sit at your table for 15 minutes and no one even acknowledges you. And staff standing looking around doing nothing in dining room. Even one of owners was sitting at large table doing busy work. So we knew when someone did come to the table we better be sure to put in whole order for everything. Which we did. Only 3 white wines available. One we ordered was out. We got our food in decent time. All comes straggling out. Lots of food! Big portions. We ordered 8 items too much food. Eggplant has great texture but Very hot. And I like hot food. My younger son really enjoyed his sesame chicken.Pretty much all food was spicy. Needed a "recovery" dish. Food is good, but not sure I will be rushing back. read more

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We were really excited when we heard that Peter Chang was going to have a presence in Charlottesville again. The early bad reviews and the inability to get a reservation kept us from going -- until today. We went for lunch, figuring the crowd would be smaller, and got there early. We were rewarded with an instant table. Having read about service problems and long waits, I came equipped with my iPhone's stop watch. We placed our order for appetizers and entrees about five minutes after we were seated, and our appetizers -- dry fried eggplant and hot and numbing beef -- arrived 11 minutes later. The eggplant was fried crispy on the outside and meltingly tender on the inside. It was dusted with chili flakes and dotted with chunks of fried garlic. It had a nice, steady heat and a lovely flavor. A very nice dish. The hot and numbing beef was spicy, as advertised, but had a surprising underlying sweetness. There was a strong flavor of star anise that we both found a little too much. It was a good, but not great, dish, and one that I like wouldn't try again. Seventeen minutes later, our entrees arrived. We shared cumin lamb and Shan city chicken. The lamb dish is one of our favorites, but one that we have not always found well prepared. Here, it was excellent (though we both agreed it was not the best we had ever had). The lamb was tender and the sauce was spare -- as it should be. The best cumin lamb, I think, is dry, not swimming in sauce. The cumin flavor was pleasant and hot, and there were added chilies to kick up the spice quotient. The Shan City chicken was fried little morsels of chicken and just as many -- if not more -- dried chilies, chili flakes and szechuan peppercorns, with some cilantro sprinkled in for good measure. We had never had -- or heard -- of this dish before, and it was a heat explosion. My nose was running and my eyes were watering, but I kept going back for more. As with all the dishes that we had, the heat was like a bass note, not like the treble, flashy spiciness of tex-mex or chicken wings. It hits you in the back of the mouth, and is a pleasant, well balanced spiciness. But be warned -- when the menu says something is spicy, it means it. Overall, we were very pleased with our meal and took home a ton of leftovers. But while it was very good, it was not life-changingly so, and I think that the Peter Chang hype has left some diners disappointed. I must also add that I have had several meals just as good, and some better, at Taste of China, where there is never a wait nor a need for reservations (and they do take out!). Still, this is a nice addition to the Charlottesville scene, and we will be back as the restaurant matures. On a side note, I overheard two tables around us making strange special requests, like, "could you make that without cilantro?" In my opinion, let the kitchen do what it does; if a dish has ingredients you don't like, order something else. read more

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I have to come here everytime I visit Charlottesville. I first heard about Peter Chang back when he was known as the nomadic chef, who gained a cult-like status among food seekers who would track his location as he moved from restaurant to restaurant. When I found out he was opening a restaurant an hour away, I knew I had to visit. Since then, this restaurant has become a necessary stop anytime I am in Charlottesville, and we've even made trips to Charlottesville just to eat at the restaurant. I feel like this is the first real place where I got to try Szechuan cusine, and thanks to Peter Chang, I am a huge fan. The following are the dishes that I've tried, and that I'd recommend. There is still a large portion of the menu that I haven't had a chance to try since I can't stop ordering my favorite dishes: Scallion Pancake: Worth ordering for the presentation. You get two, giant puffballs of bread served with a curry sauce. I think the curry sauce is a little weak, and would be better if it had a stronger flavor, but that is my personal preference. Fish Coriander Rolls: Delicious egg rolls filled with tender fish and herbs. The flavor is light and delicate, and a nice contrast to the szechuan spiciness. Beef Tendon and Tripe: I order this everytime I go. The chewy, beefiness accompanies the szechuan spices well, and the cilantro provides a cool counterbalance of flavor. Ma Po Tofu: The best I've ever had, in my limited experience. It has a mellow spiciness, and the use of silken tofu is genius. I have to order this everytime I go in, and we rarely have leftovers by the end of the meal. Hot and Numbing Hot Pot: Like the name of the dish suggests, you'll get a real kick of the famous szechuan flavors, along with perfectly cooked fish, beef, and chicken, of all things. Everything else we've tried has been amazing, with the exception of this pepper fish entree, which was a disappointment. One thing that I love about Peter Chang's China Grill is how consistent they are at cooking the fish. The texture of the fish is always tender, which is something that many restaurants don't pay attention to. Even the chicken is perfectly cooked. If you're going for the first time, I recommend going in a big group in order to try as many dishes as possible. Stay away from the fake-Chinese food, and try to be adventurous. We've had our best luck with the appetizers, although the entrees have always been great as well. read more

Peter Chang's China Grill - Ma po tofu on top, beef tendon and tripe at the bottom - Chinese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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Solid. Didn't expect Chinese food to be this good in Charlottesville! Highlight was the bubble pancake. Ridiculously huge and delicious. read more

Peter Chang's China Grill - Chinese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Every item in my order had hair in it. I called to get the order remade, but because I ordered through Uber eats (which they forced me to do after I called them directly to order) they were completely unwilling to accommodate me in any way. Absolutely terrible customer service read more

Vegetarian review : I visited Peter Chang's for a friend's birthday. I like trying new (to me) restaurants in the area and heard great things from my school friends. I ordered the vegetarian hot pot - no tofu, just veggies sans mushrooms. I explained to the waiter I am vegetarian and apparently that's the best option so I went with that. I love some kick so really enjoyed the "mouth numbing" sauce and even added more red pepper to it. After about three bits I noticed tiny pieces of something brown that didn't resemble the burned red peppers. I asked for no mushrooms so knew it couldn't be that. It was hard to taste what it was exactly, since those pieces were the size of a couple of millimeters (although everywhere) and the spiciness was overpowering. I called over the waiter since I suspected it was beef and it was. The waiter was apologetic and very kind, asking to replace it right away but I was quite turned off by the whole experience. I actually liked the sauce itself and thought the atmosphere and service were nice, but sadly I will not visit this place again. If you have no dietary restrictions, go for it. read more

Service was fast and awesome. Appetizers came in very fast! Hot and sour soup was one of the best I've ever had. Plates are Plenty to serve two or three people. read more

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Some of our dinner tasted like it was prepared the day before. The eggplant and soup were fresh, shrimp and chicken were not. The service was good. I will not be going back. Panda Express is much better. read more

Peter Chang's is a classic northeast Chinese Restaurant with a more traditional Szechuan menu. It was definitely an interesting and different experience. We got the dry fried eggplant and scallion pancake, as well as more traditional fried rice and spicy shrimp. All the food was tasty and not greasy. They specialize in a specific kind of spicy achieved from the Szechuan pepper - it was cool to try that out. Our service was friendly too. The ambiance was very much a classic "restaurant" like you'd see on TV. The chef and his cuisine are much more prolific than the restaurant would lead you to believe. They have take out too! read more

Windy and cold day? Just want to sit back and relax and have a meal that will warm the body and sooth the soul? Peter Changs is the only answer! This location is much better than the RVA one not only in tastes but I also like the interior decor as well. It's brighter and has a very relaxing vibe to it. There's actually two different dining sections at this location but I am not exactly sure why and this place is also located in a small shopping center. Everything we got we all split family style which is the best way to dine with friends. We got the following: Dan Dan Noodles with beef, pork belly (must get), duck & pork meatballs soup (cooked with the bone), and finally the Bavarian beef which was really tender beef back. The Dan Dan noodles are served cold and were pretty tasty. These were string noodles and we were all expecting wide noodles. Crispy pork belly is something I always get when I come to Peter Changs; it's a classic dish and perfectly crispy and spicy. The duck soup was just kind of okay for me and the flavors didn't really stand out too much. The star dish was definitely the beef back hot pot. The beef was extremely tender and slightly fatty just the way I like it. The soup base was also excellent and not too spicy. We all left full and satisfied. The service here was very quick which made me hesitant as to how "fresh" the food was or if it was just sitting out but overall I enjoyed my meal and would come back again to this location. Prices can be a little high, especially for the hot pot dishes but where else can you go for this type of cuisine and get an well executed dish. This Peter Changs has reignited my taste buds. P.S.- most of their food is SPICY. They will not reduce the spicyness level. Only order what you can handle or think you can. The heat here is delayed. You feel it kick you in the face after about 10 minutes passing through your digestive system. Hurts so so good. read more

My absolute favorite restaurant in Charlottesville. It may not be a super fancy place or the most healthy dishes...but I have grown to love this place over my 4 years in Charlottesville. It is a great spot to bring a large group, like a family, because all the food is served family-style. It is overall relatively cheap and definitely leaves you feeling full at the end. The food is brought out quickly and it is always of high quality. The style of their food is Sichuan-style, meaning that it is particularly spicy and they used something called "numbing peppers" in their food which create a very interesting taste on your tongue. Some of my favorite dishes include: Mapo Tofu, Double Cooked Pork, Cumin Lamb, Scallion Bubble Pancakes, Dry-fried Eggplant, Dry-fried Enoki Mushrooms, Hot & Numbing Beef Roll, Green Beans, Spicy Tofu Skin, and the list could go on... This is probably the one restaurant that I've been to the most over my 4 years and every time my family comes to visit, we go here. In fact, we are even going here for dinner during one of the days on graduation weekend! Will definitely miss this place! read more

Amazing- definitely not your typical (American) Chinese restaurant. It is definitely an experience you have to try, from the giant scallion pillow pancakes to the rotating tabletop. The dry fried eggplant and green beans were excellent. The chicken hot pot was too spicy for me and I probably would have picked another dish if I had control over the order (it was family style). Still, the food was great quality. Very intricate and flavorful. read more

Peter Chang's China Grill - Chicken (and vegetarian) hot pots - Chinese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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Disappointing. A bright, loud interior combined with mediocre buffet-quality saucing makes this a low point on the Charlottesville restaurant scene. Add in bizarre service, too fast and disjointed. Anyway, won't be back. read more

Peter Chang's China Grill - Chinese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Very good high end food. Not the low cost cheap stuff you get while in college lol. This food is awesome and it doesn't make you feel gross or guilty after you eat it. Had the combination low mein and shrimp fried rice. Shrimp is excellent. Kinda somewhat high price but not too bad read more

Peter Chang's China Grill - Shrimp fried rice and combination low mein couldnt eat it all but soooo good - Chinese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Really good Chinese food. Everything has authentic flavors. We always order a few new dishes every time, but the duck and onion straws are amazing. read more

In January 2023 the restaurant introduced a new policy regarding legal tender of US currency and the honesty of its menu pricing. Claiming to be unable to give change in any coinage for a payment with cash, the restaurant arbitrarily charges the full 100 cents, regardless of the slightest truthful increment in the meal's price above the final dollar. This unadvertised fraud upon the customer might also be a fraud upon the Treasury, subject to how the establishment reports its earnings in comparison with sealed register receipts. It is certainly a burden upon gratituities, adjusted to recover from the establishment's theft. Having endured this practice twice in the present month, I post this alert for the benefit of other customers. read more

Repeat customer. Their menu changed a bit over the years. Quantity, quality, and flavor are adequate, high, and dependable, respectively. We had 4 dishes and were happy with all. read more

Great experience. Pot stickers was just right to start off. Seafood pot was delicious. Service was good. read more

Peter Chang's China Grill - Chinese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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Located right by my school, I've eaten here every time I've had a want for Chinese. It's never let me down, great establishment, reasonable prices. read more

Great place, but hidden a little off the street. Highly recommend the basil eggplant as well as the cold wood ear mushrooms. Very reasonable prices. Will definitely go back. read more

My vote is Peter Chang's is the most consistently solid Chinese restaurant in the area! Be advised that the menu as a whole is primarily centered around spicy Szechuan flavors so a lot of the dishes are pepper-based. Would highly recommend the seafood stonepot and the mapo tofu which is always a crowd favorite. A pretty solid large group dining option and ~usually~ there's no wait, but on the weekends, especially when there are a lots of families in town for UVA events, it can get unexpectedly crowded, so book / call ahead if and when you can! read more

This is heart breaking but the Peter Chang Restaurant we have loved is now an embarrassing dive. Shame on you Peter, if you're even there (which I doubt)! Obviously you don't care. First of all one of the toilets in the women's bathrooms is completely unstable and ready to fall over. It literally shifts on the floor! If you dit down, don't move! The wall in the booth where I sat for my meal was filthy, absolutely filthy. The restaurant desperately needs a total overhaul. Now as for food: The entree was not to my liking, pork in garlic sauce. It was sour and had only a couple of mushrooms and three/four strips of red bell pepper. Ok maybe I just don't like that sauce but the pork strips were mostly fat. FYI: at lunch they no longer offer wonton soup, only egg drop or sweet/sour. No more fried flour crunchies and no more mini egg rolls with lunch. So I ordered a regular appetizer of egg rolls. I recv'd three minis, previously frozen, and served room temperature. When the very nice server saw I did not eat the entree she said she was sorry. I told her that in many restaurants an alternative dish would be offered. So she informed her gentleman manager who came over and mumbled. I finally figured out he said I could have discount on lunch for the cold egg rolls or no discount but replacement dish. I opted for neither because by that time I'd had enough esp. when I saw a dead roach on the floor by my table. This is soooo sad!! It used to be a fabulous place. Where oh where are you Mr. Peter Chang? You allow such a dirty place to be in your name? Have you flown the coop as you've done before.....set up a business "Peter Chang" and then disappear? I will never return. (BTW, they did a bang up business during Covid using only Uber Eats AND all food was all from the Main Menu, no cheaper lunch menu. Should have spent time cleaning and painting while restaurant was closed!!! read more

Ate here three or four years ago and was very impressed, but had a pretty mediocre lunch today. I ordered the chicken with scallions on a hot plate, and there was virtually no ginger and just a puddle of oyster sauce. Salty but very little flavor otherwise. My wife had General Tsaos chicken which was heavily breaded and devoid of much flavor. The eggroll was tiny and the filling was mostly cabbage. Enjoy the hot and sour soup, but the egg drop soup was extremely bland. Perhaps we just ordered the wrong dishes, but I am not inclined to return given the myriad of other offerings in town. read more

Came here twice in the past couple weeks with my boyfriend and have felt underwhelmed and even somewhat disappointed both times. We had heard from a friend that this place is the best Chinese food in town, but we don't agree with that opinion. The sesame chicken we ordered was lukewarm and tough, as though the chicken was old or had been fried ahead of time and left under a head lamp or something. The sauce was painfully one dimensional and had the character of something that was premade and came out of a bag. We aren't even sure why it's called sesame chicken because the only sesame thing about it was a very small garnish of sesame seeds. The broccoli served with it was cold. The soup dumplings weren't seasoned very well - they were bland. They also were too big to eat with the utensils made available. The vegetable lo mein was good and was tossed in a well seasoned and yummy sauce. Would recommend. The scallion bubble pancakes were okay, but they didn't really have any scallions and the sauce was under seasoned and cold. It tasted like bland chicken bouillon sauce. The servers were friendly and did a fine job for the most part! A gentleman (maybe the owner) was friendly and wished us a good night which was nice. We get the impression that this place was pretty good at one point but maybe has gone down in quality over time like so many other restaurants. read more

Shabby! Many chair seats had holes and tears. The menus look like they have been in the Iraq War. The wear on edges of the extensive book-type menu was excessive. The host spent a great deal of time talking on his phone, even while seating new customers. This is supposed to be a high end Chinese restaurant but it had the air of a restaurant which has cash flow problems. The food was interesting but nothing special. read more

This used to be the spot for Chinese. It was really good. Idk what happened but it's obvious something is happening to the quality. The interior is trashed. Bathroom is nasty. (Honestly I've never been una clean bathroom at any Chinese spot for some strange reason). I'm bummed but the hot and sour soup was on point at least. Definitely feels like the owner doesn't care about this place. read more

We ordered the lo mein with shrimp and the shrimp seemed old. The vegetarian tofu with vegetables was tasty but swimming in sauce. I was dreaming of the fried eggplant that I had when they first opened and although it was tasty, it was also greasy. For the price, I don't think it was worth it. I think they have gone downhill since the beginning when it was out of this world! read more

Peter Chang's China Grill - Chinese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

I've visited this chain many times but this was only my second time at the Charlottesville location. I went with a group of friends after graduation, and we were lucky to be able to be seated upon arrival (everywhere else was so booked, they weren't taking any tables without reservations). The food itself is always pretty good, definitely authentic style Chinese food (don't order the classic lo mein or General tsos chicken here...) but their food is definitely pricey for the serving size. The bubble scallion pancakes are always a fun appetizer to share with a group but it's also somewhat overrated. The other complaint was the service. They were quick but the waiter kept pressuring us to order more, even though we knew how much would be able to feed our table. Then they were clearly in a rush to get us out. They cleared out half the table's plates and utensils even though we weren't completely done with our food. Then they asked us to leave because they had more parties coming in, which I understand but they barely gave us any time to even sign the bill. Also heads up they can only split the check evenly and can also only split it max 5 ways. read more

Mixed review here. Tried a couple different plates. 夫妻肺片 - really good. Extremely hot and spicy so beware Beef with ginger and scallion on hot pot - I did not like this at all. Beef is hard, old and dry. Hot and sour soup - very good. A bit too hot and spicy Fish in Claypot is good Chicken bit dry and over cooked read more

Best Chinese in Charlottesville! We've tried something different every visit and have never been disappointed. Hot appetizers are delicious! Portion sizes are generous. Lovely restaurant and kind staff. read more

Delicious, consistent Sichuan food!!! The mapo tofu and Dan Dan noodles are our favorites but I've never had a bad dish here.

This is my favorite restaurant in town. I live in Nashville now, but anytime I am in the area I insist on eating at least one meal at Peter Chang's! The trick is to not order the white people food. Ask for recommendations, order from the specials, step outside of your comfort zone! I promise it is all delicious and will fully satisfy your umami cravings. I love anything that's cooked in a clay pot, those delicious szechuan numbing peppercorns, and the fish! If you're looking for an Americanized "Chinese food" dinner, go elsewhere. But if you want authentic and flavorful food that will fill you to the brim with deliciousness, this is the right place to be. read more

Happy to support small businesses especially to help them recover from COVID but this restaurant does not appreciate or maybe does not need my business. We walked in for dinner at 8:20 and were turned away. Closing time on the door and online is posted as 9:00. Fine, we will go to our go-to at nearby Silk Thai where we are always welcome, service is great, and food awesome. read more

Excellent service! Food was exceptionally yummy!! Diverse menu met the varied tastes of everyone! Very clean restaurant! We will be back!

Wanted some good Chinese food at a sit down restaurant, would of been better off going to a take out Chinese. Food had no taste. Ordered Bang Bang shrimp. Didn't taste anything like Bang Bang Shrimp and sauce was very slimy. Sent back. Ordered Sesamee Chicken tasted like orange chicken. Two fried rice that had peas in it. Never had fried rice with peas. Rice had no taste and was not fried rice. Coke tasted like generic cola. Would not recommend this restaurant. Will not try again, waste of money. read more

I was surprised to find such a great Chinese restaurant outside China Town. In Chicago, we have great Chinese restaurants too, but only in China Town, or Vietnam Town. The food is excellent and the service is good too. I'm originally from Thailand, so we're used to good food, but a lot of restaurants in America are too basic and boring. This restaurant gets me excited about going out again. For people who are disappointed with this restaurant, you should try to order something more interesting. Don't order fried rice or anything boring like that. You will be well rewarded if you try something more authentic Chinese, not Chinese American. read more

beyond bad.. my tongue was numb for 2 days after eating this.. not sure if it was MSG or what... but it was horrible.. saying it's bland would be an insult to the word Bland... even the soy sauce was merely colored water. WE ordered like a $150 worth of food and the family threw most of it away.. and we hate throwing out food. We thought about leaving it out for the wild animals.. but decided we like the wildlife and would like to see them again. I would hate to have some bears or raccoons pissed of at us for giving them this crap.. I never give yep reviews, but you need to be warned ! run! read more