WU Chow - Downtown

Wanted to pop in somewhere for Chinese food and this place exceeded all expectations! Make sure to get a reservation if you don’t want to sit outside. The food was so flavorful and if you want to try a drink here the Purple Rain was amazing!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Gotta give great marks to this spot which has managed to bring (and keep) elevated Chinese food in downtown Austin for a decade now. The flavors are always bright and vibrant, service is the perfect combo of professional and personable, and the cocktails are fun and innovative.

Wu Chow is also a pillar of the community in many other ways. You'll often find events hosted here during SXSW and beyond, and leadership is consistent and proactive in giving back to central Texas. Most recently, the owner collaborated with other local Austin chefs to host a delicious dinner series fundraising for victims of the July 4, 2025 floods. I appreciate the way they use food and fun to raise awareness and care for others.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We had a college send off dinner with our family and the people at Wu chow were so accommodating. We had one person with celiac and one with a peanut allergy and they made sure to let us know which dishes were safe for them as they were bringing them out. Our waitress Paulina was amazing!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

One of my favorite restaurants in Austin at one point, totally ruined. This restaurant has gone downhill in more ways then one and I would recommend dining elsewhere.

Early in the meal we noticed a hoard of at least 7 bugs crawling on the booth where I was sitting and on the wall behind us. We alerted staff and they moved us to a different table but there was no apology or acknowledgment of the situation. It was disgusting and the lack of any sympathy from staff was very off putting. Our meal from then on was tainted. I watched bugs crawl along the wall and the subsequently unoccupied booth from across the restaurant the rest of the meal.

As a cherry on top, our final entree came out very late (we had to ask if was even coming at all). The food was salty and not what I remembered.

Our waitress was short with us the whole meal, as though the bugs crawling across the booth were an inconvenience we had somehow caused. We had a celiac on our party and after the bugs, staff stopped sharing with us what was gluten free as they brought out dishes. When a member of our party asked which beef was GF/which was none GF, the response was curt as though we should have known.

We did receive 50 percent off on the check but had to endure a hostile and unpleasant hour and a half waiting for dish orders we put in before the bugs arrived. No management ever came to the table.

Save your money and eat anywhere else! If I could give zero stars I would.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Only problem is they don't split bills... it makes for an awkward moment at the table

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food was horrible. I always eat authentic Chinese food and there is nothing authentic about this place lolol. Food is horrible. I got Wu chowed out my money.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 3

Id been here several times before over the last 5 years but yesterday was disappointing.
The chicken steamed dumplings were good. The soup dumplings were for some reason different and not as flavorful as I remembered them.
I did not enjoy the sweet and spicy chicken. The twice cooked pork was decent and the Singapore noodles lacked flavor as well. I’ve spent many birthdays here, I don’t know if it was just an off busy night. Maybe. Oh well. But our server was great! Atmosphere is always nice.

Very good place!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food was kust ok for the price. If I'm paying $24 for fried rice I thought it would be taste better than regular takeout.

Service was great!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 5

Wonderful service, atmosphere, and food. Got the Pork soup dumplings, green beans, and pork lettuce wraps (subbed for other tortilla like wraps). Will return.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Severely disappointed…went here after seeing great reviews and pictures of food. Everything was either under or over seasoned and it was NOT a good experience. Definitely would not recommend as there are dozens of other places to get great Chinese food in Austin.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 3

Happy hour here is great. The bartender Keegan was very welcoming. Will be back!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The restaurant's decor provides a friendly Chinese vibe. The food is good and the service attentive. One negative aspect is that the restaurant by default doesn't split checks and my group was served a single bill. After finding it difficult to split the bill amongst ourselves, we had to get permission to be charged separately.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4

We parked our car in the parking lot beside for lunch and cost $18. Instead of this you can park your vehicle in IBC plaza and you will get 2 hrs parking voucher.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

We went for Happy Hour, around 5pm. It was really quiet. Sat at the round table at the end of the bar. The service was very attentive. We ordered only from the HH menu, except for the Old Fashioned that my husband ordered. The house red wine was decent. The best dishes we had were the chicken fried rice and hot/sour soup. The Sichuan fried chicken was on the chewy side but had very good flavor. The cucumber salad could use a bit more salt and maybe cut smaller. The wontons were very small and the wrapper tasted a bit undercooked. They were swimming in a very large bowl of broth (not sure if it was meant to be consumed as no spoon was offered). Overall, a good deal for happy hour.