Click here and tell b4-u-eat what you need! China Bear   15000 North Fwy Houston TX 77090 281.233.9800 You might also be interested in these:     Buffet    Chinese Food Restaurants    ZIP 77090   Add Review       MY REVIEW: Was skeptical after reading the mixed reviews. As with most buffets, the experience is somtimes hit or miss. This was a hit. I enjoyed the food and there was a good variety. The desserts were great. I will go back again. NAME: Rick SUBMITTED: 6/27/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: June/2008 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I'm not a fan of buffets, but this place was good with a very large selection. Tasty beef and broccoli, General Tso's, veggies, spicy fish, shrimp, and crunchy cheese puffs. Desserts looked good, but I'll try that and the sushi next time. Lots of art and bonsai to look at, as well as tons of koi in the ponds. NAME: Boyd SUBMITTED: 3/17/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 03/2008 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I was ask out to lunch at China Bear and checked out the place on B-4_U Eat. I read the review by "disappointed" was concerned but assured by person asking me to lunch it was a great place. I agree and "disappointed" must have eaten in a different restaurant. Everything was great. One of if not largest selections of food I have seen. I had nothing that was bad. And judging by how full the place was a lot of others must agree it is a good place to eat. Great atmosphere with their China art gallery. Spacious and well laid out. NAME: Hugh Diner SUBMITTED: 9/5/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: September 2007 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I read the website almost on a daily basis out of interest. My wife and I eat out often and I like to see what other people say about places. All too often, though, I find that the people who write here do not know good food. My son and I went to China Bear after reading all the rave reviews. Is there another China Bear out there somewhere? This place served slop! The egg rolls and fried cheese puffs were soggy, and the fried or steamed or whatever they were dumplings were both hard and chewy. The fried rice was totally devoid of flavor, and I made a much better Sesame Chicken my first try at home. The Kung Pao Chicken had no Kung Pow to it, and the Chinese Vegetable soup tasted like dishwater. Just like any other Chinese buffet you see on just about any street corner in Houston, except this one is $10 a head. I'd gladly pay that for good Chinese food with good service (the service was inept, to say the least) but I did not get that here. The place was dirty and I just didn't feel the ambiance others have talked about. I definitely will not go back. NAME: Disappointed SUBMITTED: 8/22/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/22/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: This was my first experience with China Bear and I was pleasantly surprised. The food was tasty and fresh and the service while not superb was lacking. My kids loved the slushies for desserts and couldn't get enough of them. I tried my son's slushie and was surprised. It made me go try the Pina Colada Slushie which is to die for. I would recommmend this restaurant for families and group gatherings. NAME: ChinaBear Newbie SUBMITTED: 7/3/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 06/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I went there for a lunch buffet and I enjoyed the food, the settings and the service very much. Some people feel that the food could be of higher standards, but consider the price for only $8.65, I feel that I have no rights to complain!!! I think, we American are spoiled!!! NAME: TheTexasEagle SUBMITTED: 6/28/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: January/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I recently moved to the north side of Houston and couldn't help but notice the 'lighted pagoda village' on my way home from work in the evenings. I finally stopped in to eat and was pleasantly surprised.The restaurant was large inside with beautiful decor. Parking was ample. It was very crowded that evening, but there was still space in the side room. The buffet setup was something to behold! It was huge, with seperate lines for meat and seafood. I especially enjoyed the sushi choices as I'm a beginner and was able to sample everthing. The main lines offered a large variety of old favorites and some new items to taste. The food was fresh and at the correct temperature. The desserts were very basic, but it's hard to find room for dessert after all of the other wonderful offerings. I did not experience any lack of or slow service on a busy Saturday evening. After several plates of food, a stroll through the incredible gift/art shop is a must. Also, there is a bonsai garden and several Koi ponds were you can feed them. A very pleasant experience. Even if you don't care for this kind of food, you should visit this place at least once because it is well presented, and a good value for the price. I regret that I didn't try the flavored slushies, but there's always next time. NAME: newcomertonorthside SUBMITTED: 5/26/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 5-12-07 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I eat here 1-2 times a month and have always found it awesome. The diverse dishes and the amount of dishes is incredible for how little you pay, the service is a little slow sometimes but for the most part they do a good job, I have never had a problem getting my kids to go here because they love all the free slushies, and to be honest so do I, just wish I could add some rum to the pina colada slushies. For the most part they do a great job on the food and the service and give I feel a really signifigant value for the dollar, and with gas prices the way they are that matters quite a bit. NAME: LUVTHEBEAR SUBMITTED: 5/10/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 05/07 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: I currently live and work in China so I am always surprised, pleasantly I might add, each and every time I visit here. I love the decor, the service and THE FOOD! Although it does not taste quite like traditional Chinese food here in China, as I am sure it is modified for western taste, it is still a wonderful place to eat. Take all your friends and family. And be sure and check out the gift shop as well. See you in May!! NAME: Cowboywill SUBMITTED: 5/6/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 03/ 2007 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: It's obvious the majority of these reviewers have never eaten good quality Chinese food. I agree that the decor was nice, the shops were interesting and the staff kept our water glasses filled. On the other hand we were there for the food and we were not impressed. NAME: WeLikeChinese. SUBMITTED: 5/6/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 5/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: The place looks very nice - clean w/ attractive building & decor . The staff seems nice enough, too...it'sa buffet, but they keep your drink filled. The buffet cetainly has a lot of choices - especially if you like chicken - they must have it prepared in almost a dozen different ways. They do a lot of seafood dishes, too - so many that they have two sections of buffet - one for seafood & one for meat & vegetables. I guess they have so much seafood that it overflows onto the meat & vegetable side because there were some shimp dishes over there as well. I do not eat much seafood anymore, so can not vouch for the taste, but my husband had some fried shrimp that he said was good. The only chicken dish I tasted that did NOT appeal to me was the chicken on a stick - the others were all good. Now if you are looking for Kung Pow with a kick, you won't find it here - everything is a bit on the blander side of the taste palate, nothing I ate was very spicy...I will admit that I did not deliberately eat those obvious strips of hot peppers either - just the meat and sauce. The egg drop soup actually had TOO MUCH EGG (a FIRST)! The bits had started getting tough when they should be almost unnoticeable in your mouth, tactilely speaking. Another first in my experience - I acutally ADDED a touch of soy sauce because it was NOT salty enough! I am actually kind of glad they do NOT use too much salt. That is something many of us need to control by ourselves. I was a little bit disappointed by the Jasmine this tea last time - I finally started to taste it after it steeped through the entire meal, but by then it was cooled off and had turned bitter - it had a nice color, but no aroma or flavor - maybe it was just getting old and the Jasmine's essence had faded. I should have gotten the plum wine - it was good the first time I went (this was the 4th in 2 years). If you are a dessert aficionado, prepare to be disappointed. Just fill up on the other stuff you like. They have a wide selection, but the thing that had the most flavor (and I tried a bite of 1/2 dozen different items) was the strawberry slushie. Everything else was bland, bland, bland, except the chocolate pudding - it was bland for chocolate, but not for pudding if you can understand that. My husband said the cheescake was OK - but he would eat anything that was just LABELLED as cheesecake and say that. I don't care for cheesecake, so did not try it and can not vouch for it. I DO like mangos and cocoanut, though and the so-called puddings with those in the name did not measure up. They have an interesting shop with lots of Oriental stuff that is fun to look at, and would be nice to own if it fits your decor - but I tend toward the Southwest style so it would not really look right in my home...but it is fun to look at as art with pricetags on it, I guess. We like to look at the large koi pond out front - you walk over a bridge to go in and the large specemins are all there just hoping you are the one who's going to feed them. NAME: Life's a Spice SUBMITTED: 3/10/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 3/07 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: My family has been many times. We just love the varity of foods, no way you can eat some of everything in one visit! Just to bad that alot of people now know about it we had to wait for a table for the first time on one Sunday last month. But only took about 15 min NOT BAD for as busy as they were. Great place!!!!! NAME: Love the food SUBMITTED: 2/7/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 2/07 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: i've been there dozens of times, always busy, always too much food ! and the facility, the gallery, everything... need to go back again. just go there once, its worth the money NAME: love2eat SUBMITTED: 1/25/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 01/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: I was blown away after my brother asked me to go to eat Chinese buffet. The place is a mansion. And the food? Too much to try everything. But what I did try was excellent.Great service too. Take this drive...it is worth it. Oh yes.....be hungry!! NAME: GallLylL SUBMITTED: 5/31/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 05/06 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: fabulous restuarant! amazing art gallery, excellent food, great services. maybe some of them dont speak enough english, but always have the warm welcome smile, that's whats called services!! what more do you expect for 8 bucks!!! please keep it up, me and my friends really enjoyed it! this definitly be the place for us to go. NAME: weloveit SUBMITTED: 5/19/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 05/06 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: I have eaten at China Bear at least twice a month since they have been open. I have always found it to be sparkling clean, even the restrooms, which are a pet peeve of mine when they are dirty, beautiful to look at (all the art), and absolutely the best buffet food in Houston. O*riental gourmet, China b*order, china w*ok, china v*illage, the list goes on and on, I have eaten them all. The food at China Bear is by far the best I have ever had, the price is reasonable for all the selection, and they have so much more then most buffets dont. The huge slushie machines that turn out the slushies/smoothies are great. My wife tells me she wants to sneak tequilla in to put in the lemon/lime slush. They offer so much more then any other buffet in town, trust me I have eaten them all, and have not found better. I have never had cold food, or bad service. One of my favorite places to eat in Houston. NAME: wearechineseifyouplease... SUBMITTED: 5/18/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 05/06 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: The place is packed with Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean and (interestingly) Nigerian people. There is no better testament to the quality (if not necessarily authenticity) of an Asian buffet. I delight in seeing what people fill up their plates with. When I see little kids eating sushi like it is candy, I am so pleased that they are developing a decent palate. Living in the Sugar Land area is an adventure in itself. China Bear is a great place to meet all the kinds of cultures in our communities. NAME: Hue SUBMITTED: 4/30/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 4/06 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: My family and I have been searching for a good Chinese buffet for some time. Although buffet foods are admittedly not usually the highest quality, they are incredibly convenient for feeding the array of tastes in a family spanning grandparents to toddlers without breaking a budget. China Bear manages to do this with above average quality and atmosphere for this type of restaurant. This is why we opt to make the 40 minute drive past many other Chinese buffets to dine here. Food trays are never allowed to empty and with their high volume I always find many fresh and hot options at each trip to the tables. Their hot tables span the entire back wall of the enormous dining room and offer a variety of preparations of beef, pork,pre-shelled shrimp,seafood and chicken. Vegetable dishes, noodles, dumplings and at least 8 pots of soup round out the hot entrees. Cold tables are laden with fresh and varied sushi, salads, fruit jellies, and fresh fruits. For dessert there are a variety of pastry, cookies, frozen slushies in flavors like "virgin" daquiris and pina colada, and soft serve icecream cones. Service is competent and the decor, while you are still in an enclosed space with several hundred of your new closest friends, is spacious and upscale. After dinner there is a large lobby filled with salt and fresh water fishtanks, wooden carvings, large stone sculptures, and artwork to view on the way out. They also have a large art and furniture shop with items priced from $10 lucky bamboo to $5000 sculptures in petrified wood. Children will enjoy the fish inside and in the pond outside. NAME: AMV SUBMITTED: 4/30/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 04/2006 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: This was my second visit to China Bear and I really enjoyed it. The service is great. This time I brought my daughter, my son-in-law who loves Chinese foods, and their children (my handsome grandsons). My visits were one week apart. I am not a resident of Houston, I reside in Austin but I am originally from New Orleans. The food was tasty and plentious, we enjoyed it very much. That will be one of my favorite places to visit on my next time I am in Houston. I'm in love with the shop, bought a couple of "money tress" and "bamboo in vases" made great Easter gifts. NAME: RJ Young SUBMITTED: 4/17/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 4/2006 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times MY REVIEW: okay, so there are a few weak points about the food being "cold", but come on... it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to heat up the food every 10 minutes. after all, it is a buffet. Food is up there for a while, but reheating the food every 10-15 minutes would make every customer wait in line for the food to "heat up".. Weak points about the wait: the wait is long sometimes, but there are plenty of customers at China bear. you are not the only one being served. The restaurant is huge, and for the waiting list to be so long, it proves how many people want to go to china bear, so if you can't wait, then don't go. I eat at china bear every week. I admit, the food is not the best chinese food ever, but then again, has any of ya'll ever tried REAL chinese food? All buffet restaurants are "american-chinese" food to satisfy americans. Weak points about service: Each waiter is required to serve a certain area. They are not busy for "no purpose".. They are busy serving every other customer, and if not, they are busy putting tickets together so they are ready to give us the tickets when we're done eating. I don't understand how some people are complaining about how waiters are busy, but they're really not doing anything. Just because they are busy, and not able to serve you at that time, does not mean that they are not serving other customers. As a customer, I am completely satisfied with China Bear's servers and food. Even though the quality might not be the best, we all must admit as much as we say that we go to a restaurant for "quality" ya'll are first attracted by the "quantity" and appearance of the restaurant. The appearance of the restaurant is very attractive, and the food needs to be improved; however, overall, China Bear, no matter quality, quantity, or appearance, is better than any other chinese buffet restaurants in houston. NAME: a satisfied customer SUBMITTED: 3/20/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 03/2006 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: We LOVE this place. Our kids love it, our parents love it! The food is fabulous. The selection is incredible. And the cost is VERY reasonsble. It is one of our favorite places. NAME: Mom of 3 SUBMITTED: 1/26/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 1/06 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: well, i dont care for chinese food but my daughter wanted me to go there. I went on Saturday, it had a good crowd but not any wait time, they had so much food to pick from I was able to enjoy it,It is expenxive in my book, but it was a nice afternoon out. I loved the beef pepper steak and chicken dishes,they have lots of seafood also, the only thing i did not like were dessert they are not what I call dessert. no sweet anything. but over all it was nice. NAME: not sure SUBMITTED: 12/18/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 12 19 05 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: Well I LOVED it!!! The tao chicken, seasame chicken, crab, crawfish, rolls,shrimp sushi and ceasar salad was all I tried but it was DELICIOUS ! The deserts were great. The entrace has adorable things to buy. I recommend this China Bear to anyone that love chinese!!!!! NAME: Missy Coconut J-ZEA SUBMITTED: 12/13/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/11/05 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: What do you expect from a buffet, people? We live in The Woodlands and travel past the large restaurant known as "China Bear" on a daily basis. We weren't really interested in going due to the normal problems associated with buffets (cold food, unsupervised children, etc.), but on a stupid whim, we decided to give it a try. We weren't disappointed, but only because we didn't have high expectations going in. There is a large selection of food, and the won ton soup was pretty good, but that's where the compliments end. There are several things to consider when you wonder why your dining experience is so bad here: 1) The size of the restaurant. Can one restaurant this large be well-served with essentially one large buffet? If you don't mind crowds while you eat, I guess you won't have a problem here... but the restaurant should have considered several smaller buffets (one per room) rather than its current design. 2) Buffet food is invariably "cold." What do you expect? Unless it's constantly stirred or replaced, which it is not, it will cool. 3) Related to #1: the waitstaff are stretched too thin. Waitstaff are assigned a "zone" to cover. Don't expect to be checked on frequently (like in traditional, non-buffet restaurants); rather, expect to have to flag down someone to refill your beverage. Your tip should reflect service, whether it's good or bad. That's what tips are for. Once again, my mantra: what do you expect in a buffet restaurant? If hot food and good service are what you seek, you'd do well NOT to eat here. NAME: ZW SUBMITTED: 12/5/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/04/2005 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: We wanted to eat there for the longest time. Last night we finally went and were very dissappointed, the food was average to bad, and it was cold. The staff looked busy but nothing seem to get done. They were not organized or not eager to assist the customer. We will not go back. NAME: M. C. M. SUBMITTED: 11/27/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 10/2005 FREQUENCY: Visited once More reviews If you don't agree with these comments, agree with them or have additional comments, click here to Add Your Review. Restaurant Owners & Managers Curious about your Activity and Ranking on b4-u-eat? Want to Create or Update your Free Profile Page? Click here to Login. ©Copyright 1991 - 2008 B4-U-EAT.COM. All rights reserved. Design and database by B4-U-BUY