Jia Xiang – Home

Restaurant has terrible service. Came in here as a party of 2 and waited over an hour to be served. The restaurant was not busy and many larger parties who came after us were served quickly and received their food before us. No explanations were offered and when asked about the wait we were treated by a rude shrug. I don’t often write negative reviews but we ended up walking out after 90 minutes without even seeing our first dish. So. maybe the food is amazing but doubt its worth the wait.

I would give this 0 star if I can. We waited over one hour for 4 dishes, and one of it was an appetizer. The service was terrible and the server offered no explanation for the slow dishes. It took even over 30 minutes for tea to come.
Then this group came in way after us, but they seem to know the owners and got served in less than 20 minutes.
As for the dishes, the vegetable dishes are okay. But the meat dishes tasted like it was a few days old.
Would never come here come again.

It was a terrible experience at this place. The quality of their service seem to correlate with the size of the group you come with. And they set a priority to serve people with a larger group. If you come by yourself or with only one companion at busy hours they will make you wait for a long time. It doesn’t matter if you came earlier, you will sit at the table watching others came later than you enjoy their food. My wife and I waited for two simple dishes for about one hour and was told to wait for more time. We walked out and went to the restaurant across street and had our dishes in ten minutes at a much warmer and welcomed table. The lowest rating is what they truly deserve.

This is a complete hole in the wall, but dine-​in Chinese place. I’ve heard good things about this place and finally got to try it with several other buddies. The prices at this place for a dine-​in Chinese place is a bit cheaper than normal, but the portions for family style are also a bit smaller.
Normally if you have 10 people you could order like 7 – 8 dishes and be ok in terms of quantity. Here if you have 10 people, you probably want to order 9 – 10 dishes to make sure everyone gets enough.
The food itself was quite good. They now have an English menu, and lots of otions in terms of food. The dishes are authentic and definitely tasty and good. We got to try like 8 or 9 dishes and almost all of them are 2 thumbs up approval. I can’t remember exactly the names or which ones stood out, but the next time I go I will update this and get specific names for the dishes.
The area is not that big; they might have around 10 or less tables. Service was good, they always constantly checked our water, tea, and rice levels.
This might be my new favorite dine-​in Chinese place in St Louis. I’ll be back Jia Xiang, for sure.

This place is a classic hole in the wall authentic chinese place where the food is pretty good. That’s pretty much it. Don’t expect good service because no one gives a shit if you are a paying customer. Nor do they care if you come back. You walk in, grab a seat, pick up a short menu that’s only in Chinese, and hope you know what you are ordering. Don’t expect anyone to bring you water. If you are mostly illiterate in Chinese, like me, but can speak Cantonese or Mandarin you can ask them for some suggestions. Having said all that, I’ve been there three times now. Because I love their duck dish. That’s all I really care to order. I’ll be back again if I am hungry and have the craving for their duck.

A small, cash-​only hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant serving I believe Schezuan style Chinese food. It’s and hard to find if you don’t know what you’re looking for as it doesn’t have a huge sign alerting anyone to it’s presence. It only has the Chinese characters 家乡 printed on the front window. The menu is only in Chinese, and there are maybe two people working the shop so don’t expect super fast service as they’re usually trying to cook food for their customers. With that in mind, the food is authentic, and cheap. It’s maybe not the best I have ever had but it’s pretty good for St. Louis; portions are decent for St Louis (I came from Cali). As of now they do not serve tea because of their small size but I hear they are expanding and will act like a larger restaurant one they hire more staff. I would return for the food.

My friends and I have really enjoyed the food here. The fish, spicy chicken, eggplant, and house tofu were all great. The food is on the sweeter side, but if you’re looking for Shanghaiese-​style food this is the place for you!
The only downside is that the service is somewhat slow.

The food is great, BUT THERE IS NO ENGLISH MENU and they ONLY TAKE CASH! Being a Mandarin-​speaker just isn’t enough, because you have to read the menu. Don’t try asking the lady for the most popular dishes, cuz she’ll cut you with her eyes. This hole-​in-​the-​wall would receive a lower rating if not for the tasty food.

This restaurant is definitely one of the best Chinese food I had in STL where I go often. They serve Shanghainese style. Unfortunately, they target only Chinese speaking customers. There’s no English Menus. I actually have told the owner long time ago and it seemed like it’s not a big deal for them. Come in with Chinese friend, you will discover a lot of things.

3.5
Came here last night with just my dad and I and the service issues became a little more transparent when you’re not in a group of 15 anymore and don’t have the attention of the owners solely focused on you.
But the taste of the food and the way that it’s made is spot-​on and for that reason alone, I will come back.
We ordered the fish-​savored pork, which was excellent and exactly the way it should be. Also ordered the rice cake in soup which was a little more bland (add vinegar!) but it was OK overall. We also ordered two small dishes, a meat zongzi and the potstickers, and both were very tasty. You can eat very well here for about $ 10/​person.
As for the service, I had to keep repeatedly going back into the kitchen (yes, it’s as awkward as it sounds) to ask for things: soup ladle, water, napkins, pay the bill, etc. I’m pretty sure the owner wife was getting annoyed with me. Some of the other people in the restaurant who seemed more familiar with the place went into the back to get their own bowls of rice.
If you’re friends with the owner wife and she becomes friendly, then it’s a great deal. Maybe I just need to come more often.
On a side note, a non-​Chinese speaking couple came in last night and the wife was pretty accommodating trying to find something that they would like on an entirely Chinese menu. So if you’re pretty adventurous, want some authentic Chinese food, and don’t mind the language barrier, Jia Xiang is definitely worth a shot.

Ok, I’m from Sichuan so Shanghai food doesn’t always work well with me… so take everything I say with a grain of salt if you do like Shanghaiese food.
Anyway, my friend and I came here because one of our other friends kept on RAVING about this place. The first thing that annoyed me when I walk in is that they don’t take credit cards AND they don’t have an ATM on site. That’s not good for general business. We walked in and walked out.
Later the same day, we came armed with cash. We were determined to try this place.
First of all, we walked in and no one was there to tell us where to sit. We stood there for a couple minutes and a lady walked out of the kitchen. She was like, «Are you eating here or takeout?» We said in. She gave us a look and said, «Sit where you want.» Her tone annoyed me because it sounded like we were incompetent for not sitting down.
Since it was our first time here, I asked her what we should order. What’s good. She didn’t like the fact that we asked that either. She thought for a bit and told us to get the duck. It was only ok. We randomly picked two more things. The salt and pepper fried pork was decent and fairly enjoyable. The fish we got was overcooked and not as flavorful as promised. It was also too sweet.
During the entire process, we didn’t get water or get asked if we want something to drink. There were other tables that had water and that annoyed me.
I don’t think i’m going to try this place again unless my friend who loves this place goes with me. Maybe she’ll know what to order.

absolutely delicious. came here tonight with my two roommates for one of their birthdays, had probably one of the most authentic and legit chinese meals the whole time [three months] that i’ve been in st louis. had the kung pao chicken (the real version, not the crappy panda express version), mapo tofu, hui guo ruo (return to pot meat), and zhajiang noodles. as if that wasn’t enough, i had a zhong-​zi to start things off too. fat-​assing myself to the car afterwards was an ordeal, but definitely worth it. word to the wise — make sure to come here w/​people who can read and speak chinese. as others have mentioned, literally *everything* is chinese (signage, menu, staff, 99% of the customers, etc), and with business bustling on a random wednesday night, they probably don’t need to or care to change anything — just the way it should be!

UPDATE: On my most recent visit here, I discovered that they took the English names off the menu! I don’t know if they are gonna give non-​Chinese folks English menus or if they just completely decided not to bother with appealing to non-​Chinese speakers… but the menu I got did not have English. Just a heads up!
How is a place not listed on Google Maps one of the best Chinese restaurants in town? This tiny Chinese restaurants manages to spread its fame through word of mouth in the Chinese-​speaking community; however, even many avid-​Chinese food lovers out there do not know of its existence. The owners (a Shanghainese family) seemed to have given up from the start to even try to appeal to non-​Asian eaters, as evidenced through the lack of any English language sign visible from the road.
With that said, there are so many reasons to try this place. The dishes have English names underneathe them so you have an idea of what you are ordering. But really, just point to anything and you won’t be disappointed. To name off a few, the Chinese style ribs are delicious! Tender and juicy; the home-​style tofu is lightly fried and sits in a yummy vegetable medley; the eggplant is soft and flavorful. I have not gotten anything that I didn’t enjoy here.
This place is cash-​only and receives quite a few take-​out orders at meal times. There are however 7 – 9 tables inside that can comfortably sit 4 people each. The set up is bare; folding plastic chairs and tables; so don’t come for atmosphere. Entrees are cheap (averaging $ 4 – 8 each and large portions so go nuts and try a bunch).
There, I’ve done my part in promoting a business that deserves much more attention than it has been getting in the past number of years. It’s a pity that I’ve always had more enjoyable food here than the much more famous Lulu across the street (not that Lulu is bad but Home is so much more unpretensious, cheaper, and have more authentic flavors). Now that it’s on a map (aka Unilocal directory), maybe you’ll also discover it to be one of your favorite Chinese places in town someday.
P. S. For those who are curious, Shanghai cruisine is known to be a bit on the sweet side.