Reviews for Hunan Bistro in Austin, TX

Really good, authentic food. The place itself is pretty low key but the food is great and the staff are pleasant. Definitely the... best Chinese food I’ve found in this area so far. Read more

Authentic, good quality Chinese food but the restaurant has scaling challenges, and has bad dine in experience. I visited this... establishment multiple times simply because of the authentic Chinese food. Some of my favorite dishes include: - Shizitoumeatballs ???, - Stir fried green beans ?????, - spicy fish ??? On the negative side, whether for take out or dine in, therestaurant has had challenges meeting expectations. For Takeout: While I am happy the restaurant is busy in these difficulttimes, I don’t appreciate being told the food is ready to pickup in 20 minutes only to end up waiting an additional 20 minutesin the parking lot. For dine in: The dining space is full of clutter. Boxes and junk are stacked up at the entrance. Feels likedining in a garage full of trash. In addition, the restaurant has limited staff and seems to be unable to prioritize dine incustomers. My last attempt to dine in, I was told the wait time for food was 40 minutes due to the volume of phone orders theyhave to fill. Read more

Bad service. Food is super expensive, not fresh. Don't order potsticker. It does not stick, its french fry. The dumpling is deep... fry. They service only Chinese Communist Party boss and Small Pink Red fans. You can try Hunan Ranch instead. That restaurantserves USA people. Read more

The Dan Dan noodle here may just be the best I’ve ever had! ???????????? were flavorful as well. I am looking forward to... coming back regularly to try the rest of the menu. There’s about 6 tables in the restaurant, and only 1 front of house ladytaking orders, bussing the tables. They are currently using to go containers to serve the dishes and party cups for water;probably because they’re so short staffed — I don’t really mind, but just in case you are considering going for a specialoccasion. Read more

The mapo tofu was pretty spicy and numbing, while the lion meat ball was too sweet, in my opinion. Steer clear of this place if... you’re looking for a quick bite and not willing to wait. Waiting for take out can range from 20 to 60 minutes, since they makethe dishes in the order they were placed. Same goes for dining in. If the dishes you ordered are also made for take out,you’ll receive your dishes very soon. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until the chef is able to make the dishes in betweenthe enormous amounts of takeout orders. Read more

Delicious!!!!! First time trying out this restaurant after seeing lots of recommendations from neighbors on Nextdoor. I ordered... the Orange Chicken and also ordered an extra side of broccoli. The chicken was perfectly flavored with delicious sauce andorange peels and some spicy peppers. The chicken was soft on the inside and nice and crispy on the outside. It only took about10 mins to make to go. I definitely will be back to try out some more dishes! Yum!! Read more

There are two authentic Chinese food places in Austin - Hunan Bistro and Asia Cafe. Rest everything that you eat isn't authentic... - sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Rest all are americanized version of Chinese food - what the hell is orange chickenanyways. No one eats orange chicken in China, it isn't an authentic Chinese dish. Having said all that, food here is amazing.They are low on seating so always expect a wait and their customer service might not be the best because they are low on peoplemost of the time. They have varying levels of spicy and you can share the food easily because those portions are large. Theremight be some off-menu items as well, make sure to ask. The spicy pork is my favorite but you might find your favorite once trya few items on the menu. Give it a try. I prefer this over Asia Cafe because Asia Cafe is self serve, they call your ticketnumber over the microphone and I really don't like walking up everytime one of my items are ready. Read more

Hunan Bistro is at best suffering from new restaurant syndrome, and at worst suffering from mediocre chefs and poor management.... The food is expensive compared to similar Chinese restaurants like A+A, Asia Cafe, and Szechuan House, and isn't nearly as good.Many of the items on the menu were unavailable, and two out of the three dishes we ordered were just plain wrong. The spicy beeftendon is good and the mala spice is on point, but the portion was a bit small. The beef chow fun wasn't chow fun at all - it'sjust beef lo mein, and was too salty. And finally, the garlic eggplant was too sweet without much garlic flavor. I will say thestaff at the store were very friendly and helpful so I wanted to like this place, but I won't be back anytime soon for food.Hopefully they get it together, because Austin needs more good Chinese restaurants. Read more