Ollie's To Go

I was upset when Ollies 84th Street closed. It wasn't my favorite Chinese restaurants but it was always consistent and convenient. It was like a neighborhood Chinese Diner. When Ollies To Go opened I was happy. Their food is even better than the bigger sit-down Ollies. The delivery is very quick. The old Ollies was closer but took much longer to deliver. I love the chicken and shrimp in brown sause, pepper steak and roast pork wonton and noodle soups. Pricier than most Chinese take out but worth it.

My wife and I have been regular customers for more than 6 months. At the beginning, the food ranged from not too bad to sometimes pretty good, and the place was a good value. It was never great, but it was reliable, and the service was also acceptable. Recently this has changed for the worse. The fish, vegetables and noodles are old and taste as if they had been kept in the refrigerator for about a week before being cooked. Finding someone who speaks enough English to take an order is an ordeal, but this will not be a problem for us, because we will not be ordering from there any longer. We are looking for a better Chinese take out restaurant to take the place of this one. I don't know how this restaurant can stay in business with such old, stale tasting food.

The few appetizers we ordered recently were a major disappointment, espcially the steamed vegetable dumplings -- perhaps a teaspoon of a vegetable mix enveloped in the thickest, gummiest, icky-green colored dough imaginable. Where in the world do they get these dumplings? They must be machine-made, for no self-respecting chef or sous-chef or busboy would admit to making them. I remember when Ollie's first opened on 84/B-way: the dumplings were made by hand in full few of passers-by in the restaurant's Broadway-facing window. After that ended, it was all down hill. Nothing much improved after their move to 89 St.

Food is good but the woman answering the phone could not speak english well enough to take an order. I patiently repeated my phone number 4 times and my address 3 times. very, very frustrating.

Food is excellent, for best kept secrets, try beijing duck sandwhich and/or soy sauce chicken soup or meat platter. Delivery is blazing fast ~10 mins sometimes, although i live 7 blocks away, so. Value is solid, not as cheap as you canfind, but totally worth it.

I love the take out from this place. The food and service is a great improvement from the former dine-in Restaurant. Though this may be among the best and quality take out places on the UWS, the whole labor issue makes me feel guilty ordering from here. If good food is an expression of redemption, so be it. The UWS is the capital of mediocre Chinese food, and this place is a blessing.

I love their Cantonese style soup noodles with roasted meat and wontons. They are the only place on the UWS that satisfies my craving outside of Chinatown (or even comes close), so I hope they continue to be a success!