William Ho’s Lobster House
3524 N Oakland Ave, Milwaukee, WI, 53211
William Ho’s Lobster House Menu
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Visit below restaurant in Milwaukee for healthy meals suggestion.
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Address :
3524 N Oakland Ave
Milwaukee, WI, 53211 - Phone (414) 963-9781
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :11:00 am - 10
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : Yes
Delivery : Yes
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Lunch
Parking : Street
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : Full Bar
Outdoor Seating : No
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : No
Waiter Service : Yes
Categories
Chinese Cuisine
The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.
Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.
There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.
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Cyntha H.
We stopped in at William Ho's last weekend for the first time in about 8 years. The last time we were there Bill and his wife Fanny were both there, although I think at the point that point they had already sold the restaurant. I'm not sure if the restaurant has changed hands again since then, but I think it might have. At any rate, I was disappointed to not see any familiar faces. I worked there in the early 90's while attending UWM. I remember Bill and Fanny and their food rather fondly. I hope they are enjoying retirement. However, this review is of the restaurant now, not how I remember it. The place seemed dark and in need of a good cleaning. It was gloomy outside which didn't help. The empty fish tanks (actually there was one lone lobster in one them) are not attractive. None of the décor has changed. There were only 2 other tables with customers when we arrived which surprised me for 6pm on a Friday evening. I found it notable that the gentleman answering the phones and taking to go orders seemed to argue with every single caller. As we could hear him clearly it did detract somewhat from our experience. We sat in one of the big booths next to the empty buffet table. The women's room is in need of a cleaning and an update. Based on these first impressions I was nervous that the food would not be good. The waitress had trouble understanding my drink order. Someone else had to be brought over so I could explain Tanqueray and Tonic. Outside of that, however, the service was very good. We ordered the Peking dumplings as an appetizer. The fried potstickers were just as I remembered them with a generous ball of pork in the middle of chewy/crispy dumpling dough. These dumplings are the measure I have used to judge all other dumplings, so I was very glad they were unchanged. We ordered the 3 Kingdom and Moo Shoo Pork dinners. Both came with egg drop soup and egg roll. The soup was fine. The egg roll was very large and somewhat lacking in flavor or anything other than cabbage. Thankfully my Moo Shoo Pork was excellent as was the 3 Kingdom. All the ingredients appeared fresh and the sauces were nicely balanced. Not too sweet or salty or greasy.
(3)Joshua W.
Never order from here. I swear i called placed a simple order for shrimp and broccoli. It never came. It neverrrrrr came. Im not saying it came late.. What i'm saying it didn't come at all. 0/5
(1)Nanxi L.
2.5 Star average is doing injustice to this place. The receptionists were kind and friendly. I got fresh shrimp with Bok Choy, in which the shrimps were done gentle and the Bok Choy quick pan stirred. The Bok choy had a very nice flavor reminded me of hometown stir-fried dishes. Overall, i like it for this dish and you can tell the people working in there take their business seriously.
(4)Rohan D.
Clean, nice looking place with decent service but forgettable Americanized Chinese food. I've had chow mein, sweet and sour, egg rolls, combination fried rice, and the allegedly famous lobster, all of it mediocre. They've substituted Occidental versions of all Chinese green vegetables. This UWM mainstay would not last long in any town with a real Chinatown. Still searching for a good Chinese restaurant in town.
(2)Rick R.
I met a friend for lunch today at William Ho's. I grew up not far from this restaurant, but I've never dined there or ordered from their delivery service, so today was my first visit. We did the lunch buffet, which featured most of your standard Chinese lunch buffet items: egg rolls, crab rangoon, veggie lo mein, egg foo young, sweet n sour chicken, rice, etc. What I found little different was that the fried rice was a combo of shrimp and chicken. Usually, there is just one meat or seafood item, and often times just veggies. Bottom line is that for $6.55, the value was there. The food was better than I expected, and while you might think all Chinese buffets taste the same, I beg to differ. I've been to many in town and not all are worthy of a return visit. This one was good enough to try again IF I'm in that area, Yes, there are better options for Chinese on the east side (mostly off the menu ordering), but you could do worse. They've been around a long time, so that should stand for something.
(3)Slob S.
This being our first buffet review, we decided to load up at the locally famous William Ho's. While we typically disagree about the quantity and quality of food that comprises a good buffet, our opinion about the other aspects that are important when analyzing a Chinese buffet are usually in accordance. Before getting into our separate individual critiques, Slob and Snob agree on the following overall analysis of William Ho's: 1. Clean, good management and a waitress we barely remember (always a positive) but always seemed to be there when she was needed. 2. Upon entering we noticed the seating area was dark but filled with a good lunch crowd. 3. Inexperienced, less discriminating buffet goers would like this better than a higher quality, pricier Chinese buffet. However, those same inexperienced Chinese buffet goers may struggle with knowing what they are eating as none of the various buffet items were labeled. This was not a place for the refined, discriminating Chinese buffet aficionado. This is where we differ: Slob William Ho's is a standard Chinese lunch buffet experience. It has the Slob's staples; fried rice, lo mein noodles, sweet and sour chicken, egg drop soup and crab rangoon. The egg drop soup and crab rangoon taste great. The noodles are filled with vegetables (not a compliment from the Slob) and the sweet and sour chicken is not edible. It tastes like generic grocery store chicken that has the disclaimer "Contains rib meat, pork, turkey, chicken" etc... The Chinese donuts, fried rice and crab rangoons were surprisingly tasty. Several items are shockingly out of place. Pickles, oranges, an old token salad, canned pineapple tidbits, pepperoncini peppers, onion rings and fried chicken should have been replaced by Chinese food. If you want to fill up on some greasy Chinese buffet in a nice environment, William Ho's will do the trick. 1. Quality - 2/5 2. Quantity - 19/25 3. Cleanliness - 4/5 4. price - 2/5 5. replenishing - 5/5 6. service - 5/5 37/50 Grade -.74 Favorite Item: Crab Rangoon - crisp with great filling Item to avoid: The token salad - completely unnecessary Snob This one was not a favorite of a Chinese buffet snob. First of all, there was a general lack of flavor and attention given to the quality of the food. In addition I found most of the food to be too greasy and items like the chicken & broccoli and beef with string beans lacked basic seasoning making it very bland. On the other hand, the stir-fried spicy chicken dish was flavorful and something I'd order off the menu as an individual dish. There were too many deep fried options (about 7) and not enough stir-fried entrees (about 3). I tried the egg roll and it was a good size, but chewy with an unusual yet decent flavor. I will not be back to this buffet. Favorite Item: The spicy chicken - flavorful, tender chicken Item to avoid: Pork? kabob - fried until unrecognizable; some type of burnt meat on a stick, a label would have helped, but not enough to get me to try that thing. 1. Quality - 8/25 2. Quantity - 4/5 3. Cleanliness - 4/5 4. Price - 3/5 5. Replenishing - 5/5 6. Service - 5/5 29/50 Grade -.58 Overall Ratings List 1. William Ho's (Shorewood) - .66 If you would like us to visit and review a Chinese buffet that we haven't yet, simply post a comment in this blog with the name of the restaurant and it's general location. Please include who you think would enjoy the buffet more, Slob or Snob. *Disclaimer: The comments are intended to reflect the food from a restaurant's buffet, which may differ significantly from ordering from the menu.
(3)Jin Z.
I only come here for the lunch buffet. Food is always fresh and tastes good (well seasoned, good ingredients). The wait staff is always attentive and friendly. Never an empty water cut, but they don't hover either. The manager at the front is always nice & friendly and remembers my friends and I from previous visits which is appreciated. Today I found a small moth in the vegetable soup. The wait staff was very surprised and immediately informed the kitchen. The waitress then came back to me and told me that the kitchen had reboiled the soup to kill all the bacteria. Depending on what temperature they cooked it to, it does make the soup free of bacteria and safe for eating. But for me it is still unpalatable. I spoke to the manager who had been on the phone during this. He apologized profusely and told the kitchen to make new soup which they did and brought out. The kitchen made the mistake of reheating the soup in my opinion. But the rest of the staff are excellent as is the food.
(2)James B.
As an ardent aficionado of Amercian-Chinese food I think I've eaten at nearly every restaurant of that type in the Metro Milwaukee area. My girlfriend, however, is much less adventurous and generally likes to stick to places that she knows and likes. We have a tradition, both usually being stuck working on Christmas Eve, of having dinner at a Chinese restaurant that evening before heading off to fulfill familial obligations the next day. This year, I convinced her to try Will Ho's, which was a place I ate at all the time when I was an undergrad at UWM. I haven't eaten there in forever, but I still love the decor. We had the place almost to ourselves and got a quiet little booth in the middle of the restaurant. The paint is a bit flaky and the table a bit wobbly, but I love the golden Chinese dragons in the middle of the ceiling and all of the decoration and trim is very cool. It beats hand down the decor of most Chinese restaurants in the city, which range from fast-food lunch counter to "throw up some rice paper and call it a day". The food, I'm sorry to say, was only so-so. I got the curry chicken, because I am above all things, a complete whore for curry. It was actually better than I thought it would be. Curry anything from most Chinese places in Milwaukee will get you an assortment of meat and vegetables in a very thin sauce with a barely-there taste of curry. Will Ho's was actually pretty thick and had a good curry flavor. There was even a trace of heat there, which as a serious chili-head I never see in a Chinese restaurant. A true Christmas Miracle, wasted on my non-believing heathen self. For shame! My girlfriend got the vegetable lo-mein, as is her custom, and did not enjoy it at all. She thought the sauce was kind of gross, to be honest, and while she can usually fix things with the addition of copious amounts of sweet and sour sauce, the kind Will Ho's provides in a big squeeze bottle was just not very good. She left unsatisfied. I got an order of crab rangoons that I loved, but as I've said before on Yelp, I've yet to meet a crab rangoon that I didn't like. They are just an amazing food combination. All-in-all, I didn't think it was awful, but it definitely wasn't up to par with some of the local competition. And since I don't think very highly of Chinese food in Milwaukee anyway, that's probably a less than stellar endorsement. I doubt we will be back, but that has more to do with East Garden being a few blocks away than it does with the food produced by William Ho's.
(3)Scott Y.
Veggie egg rolls were mediocre. Sesame tofu was a gelatinous mess with tofu that basically wasn't cooked in any way; it was merely cubed straight from the package and covered in stickiness. The Buddha's Delight (vegetarian version) came with mushrooms even though we asked for none and the "friend tofu" meat analogue was frightening. We ended up throwing out what we didn't eat, and that's saying a lot for us. I will not eat there again.
(1)Julie D.
I used to frequently order take out from this place in my undergrad days, as I lived right down the street. I don't recall there being anything remarkable about it. Sitting at home on Christmas Day, I needed something for lunch. I couldn't wait all day to eat for Christmas dinner. I knew that my only option would be Chinese, since all other businesses would be closed. I looked at the menus of various Chinese restaurants online and saw that William Ho's had the dish that I had been searching long and hard for, beef chow fun. So, I called in the order and it was ready when I went to pick it up 10 minutes later. When I got it home, I was holding my breath as I opened the box to see what was inside. To my surprise, everything looked good. I took a taste and was very pleased. My search for good beef chow fun, or any beef chow fun at all, ended on Christmas day 2010. I am now satisfied and will return whenever I get a beef chow fun craving. The noodles were firm and not too mushy. The beef had decent flavor, and was plentiful.
(4)Emily T.
I've been here a couple times and I must say that I probably would not go back. The food was subpar and I did not care for the crab rangoon (which is a TOTAL deal breaker...) There are far better chinese places in Milwaukee... Ps. the William Ho's driver seriously needs a vision/driving test, I've thought on more than one occasion that I was stuck behind an 80 year old partially blind lady that had no clue where she was...
(2)Jules M.
Never eaten in house, always take out - maybe 10 times. Usually standard - moo shu veggie, friend rice and low mein. I liked their coupon deal of extra crab rangoon and then free sodas for evey $10 spent. However this time, I ordered something different. Me: "The sesame tofu, how is that prepared? It is breaded?". Mr Rushy Rush at counter: "Tofu? Yes little bit." Me: "Okay I will try that" 25 minutes later at home I open a plastic tub of what appears to be warm brown jello with super soft chunks of tofu. Crab rangoon that may have been "off" and the ordered moo shu veggie - meh. 20 minutes later I was getting far too intimate with the porcelain throne. Don't eat the brown jello! Don't think I will be eating here again.
(1)Belinda J.
Williams Ho's gets the award for the most inconsistent restaurant in Milwaukee! We have ordered lunch from them countless times and there are times when the food arrives to our office (downtown Milwaukee) still hot, tasty and seasoned just right. Fried rice or Chop Suey is always filled with meat/seafood. Delivery of our order to our suite is always a headache. The driver will call everytime because they can never find our office (that I must admit I find annoying) Yet today.....we placed an order this morning before 10 a.m. via their website for an 11:30 a.m. delivery time. We called at 11:55 to find out where the order was because it had not arrived and was told the driver had left and it should "be there in a minute" Our order arrived at 12:37 p.m. and to top it off the driver couldn't find the elevator to bring it up to our office. We had to go down to the concierge desk to pick up our food! It was cold and taste like a cow's salt lick! All of our food was salty. Overall it is a good restaurant but as I said, I find it to be far to inconsistant.
(2)Emily S.
Luckily the food arrived pretty quickly (about 20 minutes before they told me it would), however the tofu was.....gross. I'm usually expecting something firmer, but this stuff had the consistency of jello with absolutely no flavor - flavorless, opaque jello. I ended up adding a lot of veggies I had in my fridge to bulk it up with some flavor, but otherwise I would never order this again. The veggie eggrolls weren't bad, though.
(2)Nick P.
I love having a large dragon leering above me on the ceiling. Diverse ceiling tiles. Cool booths. I just dig the decor. Oh yeah . . . the food was pretty good too. Huge menu. Not into the buffet, everything I ordered was fresh. Liked the light and crispy egg rolls. Spicy chicken was good, tender, nice quality meat. Nice and hot (spicy) peanut chicken. Old school charm, don't be afraid to go in.
(3)Nana H.
Still love this place. So a couple weeks ago, I ordered my usual and when my order finally arrived they gave me two containers of egg rolls, I just ordered the fried rice and wings. I called and returned the egg rolls and got my fried rice, given it was late and weekend night. Hey I wasn't mad because I got free egg rolls.
(5)Joya W.
I have ordered delivery from them before and It was ok, so I decided to go in person one day. I went in there to order sweet and sour chicken and white rice I originally planned on eating there but I changed my mind. The place was completely empty. The first thing I noticed was the horrible decor. Everything was dusty and ran down; like an old lady's attic. The restaurant was completely over decorated and obviously not kept up well. There was nearly no lighting. This place looked like a haunted house. I was just waiting for Chinese Freddy Krueger to jump out. I placed my order any way (my mistake!). The food came out fast so I went home happy. I got home and tasted the chicken and it tasted like it had been sitting out all week. And I also found a hair! You couldn't pay me to eat here again.
(1)Tony K.
4 stars for the best egg roll I've ever had.
(4)Roz K.
I missed dim sum and against my better judgement, I went to William Ho's. As decent or pleasant the waitstaff was, the food was definitely NOT pleasant. If anything, their dim sum was either extremely greasy, mushy, or the meat bits were just plain rotten, expired, or old or something. I can't even think of anything better to say other than the fact that it was the most disgusting food I've ever touched. On the plus side, there was a giant lobster decoration for laughs or something. Ah, if only Yelp would allow me the honor of bestowing this place no stars.
(1)Carolyn E.
Stay away..... far far far away from their lunch buffet. It's cold, it's soggy, and generally tastes awful. I don't think I can bring myself back to try some of the other dishes off of the menu although they did look interesting. I really hope I just went there on a bad day.
(1)chris f.
The food is excellent. Ordered SUBGUM WOR BAR, which is a hot plate with veggies, chicken and scallops and a sweet tasting brown sauce. The food tasted excellent. The portions are very large enough to take home. My wife ordered Beef and Veggies. Hers tasted excellent as well. Eggrolls and wonton soup were excellent as well. The service was about 3 stars only because they could barely understand questions (typical). Only downside is no refills on Soda, which is bad if you order spicy food.
(4)Stephen S.
Good Chinese. But mostly Ho-Hum.
(2)Susan N.
Stopped in & looked at the buffet. Ick, everything looked like it had been there for a minimum of 24 hours. Being vegetarian there is usually lots of stuff to eat at Chinese restaurants but no so @ William Hos! Even the fried rice had shrimp in it! Dried up little shrimp... Egg rolls, same story. So we checked out the menu, BONUS it said, "Vegetables & Tofu." The choices had oyster sauce or had shrimp in them, perhaps they didn't get the memo on "veggies & tofu." Would not go there again ever, even if it was free.
(1)Michael S.
Before you write off my 5 star review, note, I used to work here. The people who make this operation work are very hard working friendly people and I consider it an honor that I had the opportunity to work with them For all who claim the buffet is cold. It is cold if you make the stupid mistake of showing up for it at/after 3. Note, this is when the buffet ends, they don't take it down till closer to 4 because fools continue to show up for it.. They WILL let you eat the buffet if you show up for it at that time, its not their fault you came so late. Chicken on a Stick, while intimidating, is probably one of the tastiest things they make. It is almost always tender(note what I said about arriving after 3) and flavorful To Emily T, who claims she was stuck behind a hoes driver who drived like a granny, there is no possible way unless you physically talked to them that you could know they worked for Hoes. Drivers don't use any means of advertising the business, there is no sign. We do this because our drivers get robbed every now and then. This is especially important because there is no delivery limit, I would take an order to murray and webster, and then head to the south side. Sometimes I would have to go as far as 112th and Silver Spring. If your the type of person who judges a chinese restaurant by their sesame chicken, or any other batter fried chicken covered in sauce, then you should follow this protocol. Write your negative review on a piece of paper and go kill yourself cause your an idiot. The fact that East Garden has so many good reviews mostly based on people's affinity for their sesame/orange/whatever chicken just shows how valuable their opinion on chinese food is. People like their crab rangoons, personally I don't but that doesn't mean you should not get them. The chinese fried chicken is delicious, IF you get it fresh. If you like Moo Goo Gai Pan, the equivalent on the menu is Chow Gai Kew. Personally, I don't like their lo mein, which is called Wor Mein on the menu. If your worried about the lo mein due to other reviews, I highly recommend the chow mein fun. Note, if you order chow mein(cantonese) you will get crispy noodles. Order chow mein fun and you will get soft, angel hair like noodles. I personally think chow mein fun is much better than the lo mein. The fried rice is great, please order it. I always get the Hoes fried rice, it comes with chicken, shrimp, and pork. The beef is good too. The egg rolls are huge but I don't like them. They have shrimp and pork. If you want a treat, and are willing to spend the money, order the house delight. Its on the appetizer menu. It is wonderful boneless chicken thighs perfectly seasoned slow cooked in their own foil wrapper. Please do not order Egg Foo Young, unless you know what your getting. The people who like this dish only like it because they get to eat it with gravy. They complain if they don't get the gravy. For those who don't know what it is, it's egg mixed with cabbage. Which is then fried. it is a fried egg cabbage pancake. It is gross. There is not a single employee at the restaurant who is willing to eat it. It is impossible to eat without the gravy I love Hot an Sour Soup. This stuff is good, however they put barely any pork in it. But they do get the flavor profile just right which is a quality I look for in every chinese restaurant I eat at. China wok also makes a good hot an sour. They also have a large number of traditional dishes. Where else in milwaukee can I get an authentic Steamed Whole Fish with Ginger. It is soo great. Note, they do not have clams or mussels unless they are in season. But they always have fresh fish, crab, and lobster. Some of the best things I ate their were purely traditional foods that aren't even on the menu. They cook this for the employees, but there are a great many chinese customers who like to order off the menu. I think that's about it for my rant. I understand this restaurant has faults. But I believe it has been unfairly judged by those who barely give it a chance. I am fairly picky, I work in the food industry, but I will never stop eating at William Hoes. If your worried about you food being cold, order take out. It takes them less than 10 minutes to make whatever your ordering.
(5)Becky M.
Very extensive menu and the delivery drivers are prompt and polite. On weekend nights, they threw in some extra chicken and drinks for us--which was a pleasant surprise. The chicken has been superbly cooked each time I've ordered it in General Tso's or Sweet and Sour Chicken. The egg rolls are absolutely fabulous as well--very large with tons of flavor. I am most impressed by the food quality. I can tell that this is not your typical take out place--everything is prepared with attention and finesse. Worth the extra money!
(4)Nana H.
Still love this place. So a couple weeks ago, I ordered my usual and when my order finally arrived they gave me two containers of egg rolls, I just ordered the fried rice and wings. I called and returned the egg rolls and got my fried rice, given it was late and weekend night. Hey I wasn't mad because I got free egg rolls.
(5)Nick P.
I love having a large dragon leering above me on the ceiling. Diverse ceiling tiles. Cool booths. I just dig the decor. Oh yeah . . . the food was pretty good too. Huge menu. Not into the buffet, everything I ordered was fresh. Liked the light and crispy egg rolls. Spicy chicken was good, tender, nice quality meat. Nice and hot (spicy) peanut chicken. Old school charm, don't be afraid to go in.
(3)Becky M.
Very extensive menu and the delivery drivers are prompt and polite. On weekend nights, they threw in some extra chicken and drinks for us--which was a pleasant surprise. The chicken has been superbly cooked each time I've ordered it in General Tso's or Sweet and Sour Chicken. The egg rolls are absolutely fabulous as well--very large with tons of flavor. I am most impressed by the food quality. I can tell that this is not your typical take out place--everything is prepared with attention and finesse. Worth the extra money!
(4)Scott Y.
Veggie egg rolls were mediocre. Sesame tofu was a gelatinous mess with tofu that basically wasn't cooked in any way; it was merely cubed straight from the package and covered in stickiness. The Buddha's Delight (vegetarian version) came with mushrooms even though we asked for none and the "friend tofu" meat analogue was frightening. We ended up throwing out what we didn't eat, and that's saying a lot for us. I will not eat there again.
(1)Cyntha H.
We stopped in at William Ho's last weekend for the first time in about 8 years. The last time we were there Bill and his wife Fanny were both there, although I think at the point that point they had already sold the restaurant. I'm not sure if the restaurant has changed hands again since then, but I think it might have. At any rate, I was disappointed to not see any familiar faces. I worked there in the early 90's while attending UWM. I remember Bill and Fanny and their food rather fondly. I hope they are enjoying retirement. However, this review is of the restaurant now, not how I remember it. The place seemed dark and in need of a good cleaning. It was gloomy outside which didn't help. The empty fish tanks (actually there was one lone lobster in one them) are not attractive. None of the décor has changed. There were only 2 other tables with customers when we arrived which surprised me for 6pm on a Friday evening. I found it notable that the gentleman answering the phones and taking to go orders seemed to argue with every single caller. As we could hear him clearly it did detract somewhat from our experience. We sat in one of the big booths next to the empty buffet table. The women's room is in need of a cleaning and an update. Based on these first impressions I was nervous that the food would not be good. The waitress had trouble understanding my drink order. Someone else had to be brought over so I could explain Tanqueray and Tonic. Outside of that, however, the service was very good. We ordered the Peking dumplings as an appetizer. The fried potstickers were just as I remembered them with a generous ball of pork in the middle of chewy/crispy dumpling dough. These dumplings are the measure I have used to judge all other dumplings, so I was very glad they were unchanged. We ordered the 3 Kingdom and Moo Shoo Pork dinners. Both came with egg drop soup and egg roll. The soup was fine. The egg roll was very large and somewhat lacking in flavor or anything other than cabbage. Thankfully my Moo Shoo Pork was excellent as was the 3 Kingdom. All the ingredients appeared fresh and the sauces were nicely balanced. Not too sweet or salty or greasy.
(3)Joshua W.
Never order from here. I swear i called placed a simple order for shrimp and broccoli. It never came. It neverrrrrr came. Im not saying it came late.. What i'm saying it didn't come at all. 0/5
(1)Nanxi L.
2.5 Star average is doing injustice to this place. The receptionists were kind and friendly. I got fresh shrimp with Bok Choy, in which the shrimps were done gentle and the Bok Choy quick pan stirred. The Bok choy had a very nice flavor reminded me of hometown stir-fried dishes. Overall, i like it for this dish and you can tell the people working in there take their business seriously.
(4)Rohan D.
Clean, nice looking place with decent service but forgettable Americanized Chinese food. I've had chow mein, sweet and sour, egg rolls, combination fried rice, and the allegedly famous lobster, all of it mediocre. They've substituted Occidental versions of all Chinese green vegetables. This UWM mainstay would not last long in any town with a real Chinatown. Still searching for a good Chinese restaurant in town.
(2)Jules M.
Never eaten in house, always take out - maybe 10 times. Usually standard - moo shu veggie, friend rice and low mein. I liked their coupon deal of extra crab rangoon and then free sodas for evey $10 spent. However this time, I ordered something different. Me: "The sesame tofu, how is that prepared? It is breaded?". Mr Rushy Rush at counter: "Tofu? Yes little bit." Me: "Okay I will try that" 25 minutes later at home I open a plastic tub of what appears to be warm brown jello with super soft chunks of tofu. Crab rangoon that may have been "off" and the ordered moo shu veggie - meh. 20 minutes later I was getting far too intimate with the porcelain throne. Don't eat the brown jello! Don't think I will be eating here again.
(1)Belinda J.
Williams Ho's gets the award for the most inconsistent restaurant in Milwaukee! We have ordered lunch from them countless times and there are times when the food arrives to our office (downtown Milwaukee) still hot, tasty and seasoned just right. Fried rice or Chop Suey is always filled with meat/seafood. Delivery of our order to our suite is always a headache. The driver will call everytime because they can never find our office (that I must admit I find annoying) Yet today.....we placed an order this morning before 10 a.m. via their website for an 11:30 a.m. delivery time. We called at 11:55 to find out where the order was because it had not arrived and was told the driver had left and it should "be there in a minute" Our order arrived at 12:37 p.m. and to top it off the driver couldn't find the elevator to bring it up to our office. We had to go down to the concierge desk to pick up our food! It was cold and taste like a cow's salt lick! All of our food was salty. Overall it is a good restaurant but as I said, I find it to be far to inconsistant.
(2)Emily S.
Luckily the food arrived pretty quickly (about 20 minutes before they told me it would), however the tofu was.....gross. I'm usually expecting something firmer, but this stuff had the consistency of jello with absolutely no flavor - flavorless, opaque jello. I ended up adding a lot of veggies I had in my fridge to bulk it up with some flavor, but otherwise I would never order this again. The veggie eggrolls weren't bad, though.
(2)Rick R.
I met a friend for lunch today at William Ho's. I grew up not far from this restaurant, but I've never dined there or ordered from their delivery service, so today was my first visit. We did the lunch buffet, which featured most of your standard Chinese lunch buffet items: egg rolls, crab rangoon, veggie lo mein, egg foo young, sweet n sour chicken, rice, etc. What I found little different was that the fried rice was a combo of shrimp and chicken. Usually, there is just one meat or seafood item, and often times just veggies. Bottom line is that for $6.55, the value was there. The food was better than I expected, and while you might think all Chinese buffets taste the same, I beg to differ. I've been to many in town and not all are worthy of a return visit. This one was good enough to try again IF I'm in that area, Yes, there are better options for Chinese on the east side (mostly off the menu ordering), but you could do worse. They've been around a long time, so that should stand for something.
(3)Roz K.
I missed dim sum and against my better judgement, I went to William Ho's. As decent or pleasant the waitstaff was, the food was definitely NOT pleasant. If anything, their dim sum was either extremely greasy, mushy, or the meat bits were just plain rotten, expired, or old or something. I can't even think of anything better to say other than the fact that it was the most disgusting food I've ever touched. On the plus side, there was a giant lobster decoration for laughs or something. Ah, if only Yelp would allow me the honor of bestowing this place no stars.
(1)Carolyn E.
Stay away..... far far far away from their lunch buffet. It's cold, it's soggy, and generally tastes awful. I don't think I can bring myself back to try some of the other dishes off of the menu although they did look interesting. I really hope I just went there on a bad day.
(1)chris f.
The food is excellent. Ordered SUBGUM WOR BAR, which is a hot plate with veggies, chicken and scallops and a sweet tasting brown sauce. The food tasted excellent. The portions are very large enough to take home. My wife ordered Beef and Veggies. Hers tasted excellent as well. Eggrolls and wonton soup were excellent as well. The service was about 3 stars only because they could barely understand questions (typical). Only downside is no refills on Soda, which is bad if you order spicy food.
(4)Stephen S.
Good Chinese. But mostly Ho-Hum.
(2)Slob S.
This being our first buffet review, we decided to load up at the locally famous William Ho's. While we typically disagree about the quantity and quality of food that comprises a good buffet, our opinion about the other aspects that are important when analyzing a Chinese buffet are usually in accordance. Before getting into our separate individual critiques, Slob and Snob agree on the following overall analysis of William Ho's: 1. Clean, good management and a waitress we barely remember (always a positive) but always seemed to be there when she was needed. 2. Upon entering we noticed the seating area was dark but filled with a good lunch crowd. 3. Inexperienced, less discriminating buffet goers would like this better than a higher quality, pricier Chinese buffet. However, those same inexperienced Chinese buffet goers may struggle with knowing what they are eating as none of the various buffet items were labeled. This was not a place for the refined, discriminating Chinese buffet aficionado. This is where we differ: Slob William Ho's is a standard Chinese lunch buffet experience. It has the Slob's staples; fried rice, lo mein noodles, sweet and sour chicken, egg drop soup and crab rangoon. The egg drop soup and crab rangoon taste great. The noodles are filled with vegetables (not a compliment from the Slob) and the sweet and sour chicken is not edible. It tastes like generic grocery store chicken that has the disclaimer "Contains rib meat, pork, turkey, chicken" etc... The Chinese donuts, fried rice and crab rangoons were surprisingly tasty. Several items are shockingly out of place. Pickles, oranges, an old token salad, canned pineapple tidbits, pepperoncini peppers, onion rings and fried chicken should have been replaced by Chinese food. If you want to fill up on some greasy Chinese buffet in a nice environment, William Ho's will do the trick. 1. Quality - 2/5 2. Quantity - 19/25 3. Cleanliness - 4/5 4. price - 2/5 5. replenishing - 5/5 6. service - 5/5 37/50 Grade -.74 Favorite Item: Crab Rangoon - crisp with great filling Item to avoid: The token salad - completely unnecessary Snob This one was not a favorite of a Chinese buffet snob. First of all, there was a general lack of flavor and attention given to the quality of the food. In addition I found most of the food to be too greasy and items like the chicken & broccoli and beef with string beans lacked basic seasoning making it very bland. On the other hand, the stir-fried spicy chicken dish was flavorful and something I'd order off the menu as an individual dish. There were too many deep fried options (about 7) and not enough stir-fried entrees (about 3). I tried the egg roll and it was a good size, but chewy with an unusual yet decent flavor. I will not be back to this buffet. Favorite Item: The spicy chicken - flavorful, tender chicken Item to avoid: Pork? kabob - fried until unrecognizable; some type of burnt meat on a stick, a label would have helped, but not enough to get me to try that thing. 1. Quality - 8/25 2. Quantity - 4/5 3. Cleanliness - 4/5 4. Price - 3/5 5. Replenishing - 5/5 6. Service - 5/5 29/50 Grade -.58 Overall Ratings List 1. William Ho's (Shorewood) - .66 If you would like us to visit and review a Chinese buffet that we haven't yet, simply post a comment in this blog with the name of the restaurant and it's general location. Please include who you think would enjoy the buffet more, Slob or Snob. *Disclaimer: The comments are intended to reflect the food from a restaurant's buffet, which may differ significantly from ordering from the menu.
(3)Jin Z.
I only come here for the lunch buffet. Food is always fresh and tastes good (well seasoned, good ingredients). The wait staff is always attentive and friendly. Never an empty water cut, but they don't hover either. The manager at the front is always nice & friendly and remembers my friends and I from previous visits which is appreciated. Today I found a small moth in the vegetable soup. The wait staff was very surprised and immediately informed the kitchen. The waitress then came back to me and told me that the kitchen had reboiled the soup to kill all the bacteria. Depending on what temperature they cooked it to, it does make the soup free of bacteria and safe for eating. But for me it is still unpalatable. I spoke to the manager who had been on the phone during this. He apologized profusely and told the kitchen to make new soup which they did and brought out. The kitchen made the mistake of reheating the soup in my opinion. But the rest of the staff are excellent as is the food.
(2)James B.
As an ardent aficionado of Amercian-Chinese food I think I've eaten at nearly every restaurant of that type in the Metro Milwaukee area. My girlfriend, however, is much less adventurous and generally likes to stick to places that she knows and likes. We have a tradition, both usually being stuck working on Christmas Eve, of having dinner at a Chinese restaurant that evening before heading off to fulfill familial obligations the next day. This year, I convinced her to try Will Ho's, which was a place I ate at all the time when I was an undergrad at UWM. I haven't eaten there in forever, but I still love the decor. We had the place almost to ourselves and got a quiet little booth in the middle of the restaurant. The paint is a bit flaky and the table a bit wobbly, but I love the golden Chinese dragons in the middle of the ceiling and all of the decoration and trim is very cool. It beats hand down the decor of most Chinese restaurants in the city, which range from fast-food lunch counter to "throw up some rice paper and call it a day". The food, I'm sorry to say, was only so-so. I got the curry chicken, because I am above all things, a complete whore for curry. It was actually better than I thought it would be. Curry anything from most Chinese places in Milwaukee will get you an assortment of meat and vegetables in a very thin sauce with a barely-there taste of curry. Will Ho's was actually pretty thick and had a good curry flavor. There was even a trace of heat there, which as a serious chili-head I never see in a Chinese restaurant. A true Christmas Miracle, wasted on my non-believing heathen self. For shame! My girlfriend got the vegetable lo-mein, as is her custom, and did not enjoy it at all. She thought the sauce was kind of gross, to be honest, and while she can usually fix things with the addition of copious amounts of sweet and sour sauce, the kind Will Ho's provides in a big squeeze bottle was just not very good. She left unsatisfied. I got an order of crab rangoons that I loved, but as I've said before on Yelp, I've yet to meet a crab rangoon that I didn't like. They are just an amazing food combination. All-in-all, I didn't think it was awful, but it definitely wasn't up to par with some of the local competition. And since I don't think very highly of Chinese food in Milwaukee anyway, that's probably a less than stellar endorsement. I doubt we will be back, but that has more to do with East Garden being a few blocks away than it does with the food produced by William Ho's.
(3)Julie D.
I used to frequently order take out from this place in my undergrad days, as I lived right down the street. I don't recall there being anything remarkable about it. Sitting at home on Christmas Day, I needed something for lunch. I couldn't wait all day to eat for Christmas dinner. I knew that my only option would be Chinese, since all other businesses would be closed. I looked at the menus of various Chinese restaurants online and saw that William Ho's had the dish that I had been searching long and hard for, beef chow fun. So, I called in the order and it was ready when I went to pick it up 10 minutes later. When I got it home, I was holding my breath as I opened the box to see what was inside. To my surprise, everything looked good. I took a taste and was very pleased. My search for good beef chow fun, or any beef chow fun at all, ended on Christmas day 2010. I am now satisfied and will return whenever I get a beef chow fun craving. The noodles were firm and not too mushy. The beef had decent flavor, and was plentiful.
(4)Emily T.
I've been here a couple times and I must say that I probably would not go back. The food was subpar and I did not care for the crab rangoon (which is a TOTAL deal breaker...) There are far better chinese places in Milwaukee... Ps. the William Ho's driver seriously needs a vision/driving test, I've thought on more than one occasion that I was stuck behind an 80 year old partially blind lady that had no clue where she was...
(2)Joya W.
I have ordered delivery from them before and It was ok, so I decided to go in person one day. I went in there to order sweet and sour chicken and white rice I originally planned on eating there but I changed my mind. The place was completely empty. The first thing I noticed was the horrible decor. Everything was dusty and ran down; like an old lady's attic. The restaurant was completely over decorated and obviously not kept up well. There was nearly no lighting. This place looked like a haunted house. I was just waiting for Chinese Freddy Krueger to jump out. I placed my order any way (my mistake!). The food came out fast so I went home happy. I got home and tasted the chicken and it tasted like it had been sitting out all week. And I also found a hair! You couldn't pay me to eat here again.
(1)Tony K.
4 stars for the best egg roll I've ever had.
(4)Susan N.
Stopped in & looked at the buffet. Ick, everything looked like it had been there for a minimum of 24 hours. Being vegetarian there is usually lots of stuff to eat at Chinese restaurants but no so @ William Hos! Even the fried rice had shrimp in it! Dried up little shrimp... Egg rolls, same story. So we checked out the menu, BONUS it said, "Vegetables & Tofu." The choices had oyster sauce or had shrimp in them, perhaps they didn't get the memo on "veggies & tofu." Would not go there again ever, even if it was free.
(1)Michael S.
Before you write off my 5 star review, note, I used to work here. The people who make this operation work are very hard working friendly people and I consider it an honor that I had the opportunity to work with them For all who claim the buffet is cold. It is cold if you make the stupid mistake of showing up for it at/after 3. Note, this is when the buffet ends, they don't take it down till closer to 4 because fools continue to show up for it.. They WILL let you eat the buffet if you show up for it at that time, its not their fault you came so late. Chicken on a Stick, while intimidating, is probably one of the tastiest things they make. It is almost always tender(note what I said about arriving after 3) and flavorful To Emily T, who claims she was stuck behind a hoes driver who drived like a granny, there is no possible way unless you physically talked to them that you could know they worked for Hoes. Drivers don't use any means of advertising the business, there is no sign. We do this because our drivers get robbed every now and then. This is especially important because there is no delivery limit, I would take an order to murray and webster, and then head to the south side. Sometimes I would have to go as far as 112th and Silver Spring. If your the type of person who judges a chinese restaurant by their sesame chicken, or any other batter fried chicken covered in sauce, then you should follow this protocol. Write your negative review on a piece of paper and go kill yourself cause your an idiot. The fact that East Garden has so many good reviews mostly based on people's affinity for their sesame/orange/whatever chicken just shows how valuable their opinion on chinese food is. People like their crab rangoons, personally I don't but that doesn't mean you should not get them. The chinese fried chicken is delicious, IF you get it fresh. If you like Moo Goo Gai Pan, the equivalent on the menu is Chow Gai Kew. Personally, I don't like their lo mein, which is called Wor Mein on the menu. If your worried about the lo mein due to other reviews, I highly recommend the chow mein fun. Note, if you order chow mein(cantonese) you will get crispy noodles. Order chow mein fun and you will get soft, angel hair like noodles. I personally think chow mein fun is much better than the lo mein. The fried rice is great, please order it. I always get the Hoes fried rice, it comes with chicken, shrimp, and pork. The beef is good too. The egg rolls are huge but I don't like them. They have shrimp and pork. If you want a treat, and are willing to spend the money, order the house delight. Its on the appetizer menu. It is wonderful boneless chicken thighs perfectly seasoned slow cooked in their own foil wrapper. Please do not order Egg Foo Young, unless you know what your getting. The people who like this dish only like it because they get to eat it with gravy. They complain if they don't get the gravy. For those who don't know what it is, it's egg mixed with cabbage. Which is then fried. it is a fried egg cabbage pancake. It is gross. There is not a single employee at the restaurant who is willing to eat it. It is impossible to eat without the gravy I love Hot an Sour Soup. This stuff is good, however they put barely any pork in it. But they do get the flavor profile just right which is a quality I look for in every chinese restaurant I eat at. China wok also makes a good hot an sour. They also have a large number of traditional dishes. Where else in milwaukee can I get an authentic Steamed Whole Fish with Ginger. It is soo great. Note, they do not have clams or mussels unless they are in season. But they always have fresh fish, crab, and lobster. Some of the best things I ate their were purely traditional foods that aren't even on the menu. They cook this for the employees, but there are a great many chinese customers who like to order off the menu. I think that's about it for my rant. I understand this restaurant has faults. But I believe it has been unfairly judged by those who barely give it a chance. I am fairly picky, I work in the food industry, but I will never stop eating at William Hoes. If your worried about you food being cold, order take out. It takes them less than 10 minutes to make whatever your ordering.
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