Shanghai has been a favorite of mine for years. They went through an ownership change here a while back... It's had an impact but it's still at the top of my list when I'm craving Chinese food. This weekend was my 54th birthday. My daughter is at camp, but I wanted to do something with my son. The place I wanted to try was China Chef however I didn't realize they had closed their dining room area. After driving from Clive to the South side we changed plans in the China Cheft parking lot and headed to Waukee. We were greeted and seated right away as we walked on and were seated at a booth. The place is starting to show it's age. The carpet...it needs replaced. But overall it's clean and if nothing else it's familiar. We were presented with menus and glasses of water. Staff checked on us regularly throughou the meal Since it was between 1100 AM and 200 PM we were eligible for the lunch special options. It's a smaller menu, but comes with an egg roll, crab rangoon, your choice of soup (egg drop or hot and sour), and the entree. My son ordered the orange chicken with egg drop soup with a soda. I ordered the Yu Shiang shrimp with hot and sour soup and stuck with only water. I LOVE Shanghai's crab rangoons. They're definitely more on the sweet side. I ordered another order of those. Love them! The house hot mustard. Be careful! It's easy to overdo and it will clear your sinuses like tear gas. But it's SO good...! The orange chicken was excellent as usual. The Yu Shiang shrimp... It's the first time I've ordered it there. The deep red of the sauce was a little off putting. I'm used to a spicy brown sauce. The sauce on the Yu Shiang shrimp... This is just a visual thing though. The sauce is spicy and it tastes good. But like they say...first you eat with your eyes and then with your mouth. I'd love to see this changed to a more traditional look. It just looks "off" as is. Great service and good food. And enjoyable birthday lunch...and we got to sit eating down in the restaurant. Lol Always a great option in my regular rotation! https://shanghaiwk.com/ read more

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Fantastic! My wife and I were passing through town, on our way to Wisconsin. We read the great yelp reviews and gave Shanghai a try. We were welcomed to a nice atmosphere, great service and nice people. The food was very good and offered in large portions. If we lived in the area, Shanghai would be one of our regular stops. read more

The food is always top notch , one of the servers KP is Awsome . I get the sesame chicken , my wife gets the pork Hunan . We get it to go so we can eat at home always enough for 2 meals . Food is hot and great . Lunch until 2:30 pm egg roll , rice , crab Rangoon. More than enough to eat. read more

Everything about this place from the exceptional service from the owner, the food, the ambiance, it just makes me love this place! The Service is always the best from the Owner. I've been doing takeout because of Covid and everything has always been packed nicely, still piping hot and she always gives my babies extra jelly sticks because she knows they love them!! The Food: Mongolian Chicken or Beef: 4/5 some of my favorites!! Reason why it's not getting a five only because I have one place that I just love from and it has my heart this would be my Top 3 choice for Mongolian!! Veggie Lo Mein: 5/5 my new favorite here!! I had no idea how delicious it would be here! I gave up hope that I would find a place to make a delicious Lo Mein here. Most places make it so bland that it's not even worth the trouble. This place is my new go-to for the craving! Kid-approved as well! Mi Kho: 5/5 Vietnamese dry egg noodle dish with broth on the side. Did you know they had a Vietnamese menu? Well they do. Check it out because it's worth it! This dish is my husband's favorite from here!! Mi Vit: 3.5/5 Vietnamese Duck Noodle Soup. My Dad is just a picky guy. He said they don't give you enough lol but he said the broth is flavorful!! I have not tried it myself. Egg Drop Soup: 5/5 did you think some places couldn't mess this soup up? Some places can! This place does NOT! Shanghai is one of my Top 3 places to grab Egg Drop Soup! Especially the little crunchies they provide with it! Yummmyyy!! My other favorites from here? Hot-Braised Shrimp/Pork/Chicken, Cashew Chicken, and their PuPu Platter!! Who doesn't love a sampler platter of appetizers being brought out with a little grill/fire. Haven't seen any other restaurant do that in a long time! I love that they still keep the old Chinese Restaurant charm. I will be coming here for years to come! read more

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It's not only my favorite Chinese place, it's my favorite place all around! The owners are absolutely amazing. She has always remembered my name. They even changed the front vestibule entering the restaurant for my coworker who had ALS so that he could get in the door easier. Their egg drop soup is my favorite around, and no matter what I order it's always made from fresh ingredients and with care. It's a nice cozy place for a date night or a family outing. Lunch and dinner, it's perfect. read more

Yummy Chinese lunch: chicken lo mein and chicken fried rice were delish. Chicken FR had great flavor and the lo mein noodles weren't overcooked, which I sometimes find at places. Each of the lunch entrees came with a soup, egg roll and rangoon. Didn't try the latter two, but the hot & sour soup was just so so. Lo mein also came with a plain fried rice, which was very different from the chicken fried rice, and we didn't care for the little side of FR. Combo pho was good, way too much vermicelli noodles IMO but the soup had good flavor. Adding a heaping scoop of their house hot sauce made this noodle soup even better. Grilled Shrimp Vietnamese bowl (Bún Tôm Thịt Nướng Chả Giò): except my mom didn't get the egg roll (Chả Giò) so just grilled shrimp and rice noodles, this was so great. Light in flavor and overall not a heavy dish, a "vermicelli noodle + salad bowl" so to speak; lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, rice noodles, grilled shrimp and a side of sauce to pour over and mix altogether. I had this one too many times, years ago, and haven't ordered one for myself in years, but had a bite of hers and am reminded of how great this dish is. Great place I frequently forget about, but shouldn't. read more

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Well we finally tried this place and it was super good! I have to admit we were a little sticker shocked when adding items to the cart when ordering via their website for pick up, but we ended up getting large portions and everything tasted great. The hot & sour soup was really tasty and the sparerib appetizer was perfectly cooked. Kung Bao Chicken and Two Flavor Chicken were good too. When we picked up the order everyone said hello and everything looked clean and the seating area is something we will try next time because it was decorated like a nice restaurant should be. read more

Picked up our order the other night to bring it home and find un-sauced chicken and bland flavors in our dishes. There were two sauces supplied on the side, but they didn't match the flavors of chicken we asked and didn't coat the chicken well when mixing at home. We ordered 4 entrees, 3 of which came with rice (in one shared bucket with far too little rice) and one with noodles. We picked up exactly when they told us to arrive and the food was room temp. Picture is pineapple chicken (not any sauces shown) and box of rice after some has already been removed. read more

Shanghai Chinese Restaurant - Pineapple chicken - Chinese Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

Cannot say enough about this place! Love the food, service and space. It's always very clean and the service is friendly and quick. Every dish I have had is super fresh and full of flavor. Most dishes come with soup and a couple apps and the soup (hot and sour) is just amazing!! Nice kick and super savory. The meat always tastes fresh and plenty of veggies in dishes that contain then. Good wine list and great prices! Love this place!!! read more

Always fresh, great food. Love their Empress Chicken. Sesame Chicken has been a favorite for my son. Perfect for lunch.

This is our go to place to order Chinese food. One of the best around here. The Hot And Sour soup is great we usually get the house low mein, house fried rice and a meat dish. So far nothing has been bad all of it was good read more

Wow this place reminded me of a wonderful Chinese restaurant my family used to go to when I was a child. With most entrees, you get started with your choice of soup (egg drop or hot & sour), an egg roll, and crab rangoons. The egg drop soup was one of my favorites and the crab rangoons were absolutely perfect. We then ordered a chicken Mu Shu, which was rolled up right in front of us, the Empress Tofu- which was a little too sweet for my taste, the vegetable fried rice, and tofu chow mein- some of the best I've had. The way the tofu is cooked in all of the dishes was really nice as well. Overall, I loved this place and definitely recommend for your Chinese food fix! read more

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I ordered the two flavor chicken and it was not hot & spicy it actually didn't have much flavor at all. In addition, I received more vegetables and nuts than actual chicken. It was also overpriced as I paid $20 and did not get any where near $20 worth of food. In addition, the crab Rangoon I received with my meal was extremely flat. It was a really disappointing meal. read more

Only GOOD things to say!!! Atmosphere is Wonderful (Asian, of course-but calming and very CLEAN, as well). Lunch "Specials" on the weekend (bc they're closed Mon & Tues) . Large (and Freshly made) portions. Cloth napkins (for lunch-WOW); nice water glass (& an additional carafe)- Staff is Highly Skilled (efficient & friendly)......LOVE this place!!!!! read more

First this is a very pretty restaurant with lovely artwork. The music is soft and relaxing. The service is excellent. I had more iced tea than I could handle. My husband and I went there for lunch and had lunch specials. They give you a lot of food for the money, but the food is just OK. I had the bell pepper with pork, and I'm still not sure what kind of pork that was exactly. It was pieces like thick ribbons. The sauce was sort of bland. Lunch specials come with crab rangoon (lots of cream cheese, didn't see any crab) and "fried" rice which was steamed rice with coloring on it, probably soy sauce. Why don't they just call it steamed rice instead of trying to be cute? My husband really liked his sweet n sour chicken, but he is every restaurant owner's dream customer. It's hard to find food he doesn't like. It was pretty pricey for lunch, but then every place is these days. I still think Asian Cuisine in Grimes has much better food, even though there is no ambiance to speak of. read more

Food is good, service is always friendly. Staff is professional and the atmosphere is always pleasant when dining in or going out!

I liked it-so an A-OK rating, but some dishes were better than others. My wife and I went with a friend who's a Yelper and he previously gave Shanghai a 5 star rating, so he's a big fan. We went for lunch and there was a wide variety of choices - both Vietnamese and Chinese. I started with the hot and sour soup, which was excellent! My wife and my friend had the egg drop soup, which they also both enjoyed. The soups are very hot and full of a variety of ingredients, and not mostly broth like they can be at some places. The egg rolls were very good and the crab Rangoon is also very good. Both hot, fresh, and very tasty. Our friend got Beef Lo Mein and added bell peppers for a small charge and got a bunch of them! I got Mongolian Beef. It is pretty mild compared to what is served at many places, with a combination of flavors that was good. My beef had a pretty good taste, but about half of it was fatty, so that took away from the dish a bit. My wife got chicken with mixed vegetables and it had a very good variety of veggies. She thought the chicken and the sauce were both a bit bland. Service was very good - attentive and efficient. The food came out fast and everything was fresh and hot. read more

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Good food and fast service but it was not hot (I get this allot) and not cooked thoroughly.

Very good Chinese food, similar to food from Beijing and Shanghai regions in China. Good value for a pleasant evening out

I love this place! There lunch specials are the best deals. They have some of the best crab rangoon's and hot & sour soup I've ever had!

This is your classic sit down chinese restaurant, which I found hard to come by in the DSM metro. Tasty food and the staff is always very nice! read more

Great food and affordable. They aim to please and I've never been disappointed! Recommend

Probably the best pho and bun bo hue in the west side of Des Moines area! Always piping hot always flavorful, and always giving more than enough food in portion size to cost. It's a quiet and medium sized place. It's not a first date kinda feel but the it's a great family friendly environment. I've tried their Chinese food too, although it's more Americanized it's still good. But their Vietnamese dishes are traditional and the flavor is on point. Would definitely come again! read more

We had lunch there for probably the 800th+ time since it opened. While the food was fine, the atmosphere was not acceptable. I finally had to speak up and ask the table a couple down from us to stop their incessant, loud swearing. Btw - the owner spent significant time there while this was happening so I can only assume he approves. I assume this space will be available for rent soon if this is the attitude of the ownership, It is so disappointing to see a good restaurant descend to this level. To the owner - when your patron (friend) called me a boomer I did not take it as an insult. You cannot control when you are born. You can, however, control your behaviors. It was a reflection on him and not one he should be proud of. If they are unwilling or unaware of how unacceptable their behavior is management to step in and not stand there laughing with them. Shame on you - not just for allowing a negative environment but not being a decent human being. I only rated them one star as there is no zero option. read more

We've ordered from them twice in the last few months and everything was just bland. I can tell that they use quality ingredients and everything looks tasty but it doesn't have any flavor. I had the food there a few years ago and it was delicious and I could taste garlic and ginger in the dishes and now, the only flavor is when I add my own seasoning or sauces. It's disappointing because they used to be so good. read more

We have been coming her for 19 years. It has always been out favorite asian restaurant. This time is was not good. After dining we found out the long time owner sold the business and there is a new chef. I have always loved their Pad Thai. This time i ordered it, the noodles were not the correct noodles and there was no flavor whatsoever. it was like getting boiled noodles with med and shrimp. My husband usually gets orange chicken and it also had no flavor. This is so sad but we will not be going back. I hope they figure things out or they will not be around long. read more

Tried Shanghai for the first time last night and it was decent. I got the vermicelli combo bowl (egg roll, pork, and shrimp) and my wife got the pork chop dish with rice and a fried egg. Both were lacking a little flavor but they do give you a lot of food. We also got the spring rolls with shrimp and they were packed with too much bean sprouts and leThe hot and sour soup that came with it was very good though. I may just get a big bowl of that on a cold winters day. We've gone back to Shanghai a couple more times and it's been better. Maybe it was just an off day when we first got food there. The staff is really polite too. read more

Shanghai Chinese Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Waukee, Iowa

We were seated right away, and the host was very pleasant. They took our drink order right away. The service was prompt, and the food was delicious. They were attentive without being overbearing even when the restaurant was busy. We'll be back again! read more

Ordered take out and got the orange peel chicken with fried rice, hot and sour soup, and crab rangoons. Everything was really delicious except the crab rangoons. They were definitely under stuffed and not great. We'll definitely just be getting egg rolls next time. read more

Food was very meh here. Not too flavorful mostly bland. The water we got had stuff floating in it and one of the glasses had a lipstick stain on it. Ordered soda and because they have it in a pitcher the soda was flat. Only good thing was that the service was good. At least our server was very attentive and quick he even packed our food for us. Its honestly just an okay place. Food came out quick. read more

There's two places in DSM where I would order bun bo hue. Shanghai is one of them. This place is a Waukee gem. The staff is always friendly and aim to please. It doesn't hurt that they also have one of the best bun bo hue in DSM. Seriously, give this dish a try -- it's on their Vietnamese menu. read more

Always great service and consistently good food! Have always enjoyed a meal here!! Would highly recommend!!

I had the Mongolian beef and it was delicious! Best in the area! The crab ragoons were excellent as well. We had take out. The only negative is the price, s little bit high. read more

Antic Chinese food one of the best I've ever had!!!! I was on the West Coast for years Shanghai kill's most of those restaurants

Very good food I always get chicken lo me in and orange chicken and it's so good, I would eat it 24/7

Great lunch specials with spectacular service. They even offer their lunch specials on a Saturday. We both ordered from their lunch menu today and it included soup, egg roll AND crab Rangoon, and lastly your entree. Hands down, some of the best crab Rangoon we have ever had. Our glasses were always full and the waitresses were extremely friendly and attentive. I will admit, we avoided this place for a while because it is a bit more expensive than other similar restaurants. Let me tell you, it is worth it! Their lunch specials were $9. read more

This was a very nice restaurant with friendly staff and fantastic food! All of the food was very fresh and delicious. I am from California where Asian food is plentiful and authentic, the Chinese food here was good. More importantly, I was surprised that they had a good Vietnamese menu, I get the best Pho in San Jose, CA and this really exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend this place for Chinese food and Vietnamese food, thank you for a great experience! read more

Can't say enough good things about Shanghai it is our favorite place for Asian cuisine. From Appetizers and soup to absolutely delectable main dishes it is our family favorite. read more

We have been having Shanghai Chinese once a week since the quarantine began. The food is wonderful, even better then we remember when dining in. They are very careful and conscientious when dealing with customers, insuring no transmission of the virus occurs between customers. read more

Bummed! I rarely write a bad review. I'm not a picky eater. Tonight's experience was poor. Not only was our food delivered barely warm, it didn't taste that good either. Had to flag our waiter down and couldn't get his attention. Finally got someone to come over and go warm up our food. Unfortunately mine still wasn't very warm and it was salty tasting. I never waste food. The attached photo is what I left behind. What does that tell you? My husband's food was not hot either and also tasted salty....and he really likes salt! Overall poor service and poor food. Wish we had gone to the cheap restaurant across the street. Always hot and consistent! read more

Shanghai Chinese Restaurant - Three Ingredient - Chinese Near Me - Waukee, Iowa