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Happy Wok Chinese Restaurant, located in Auburn Town Center, in Auburn, CA, is a family-owned and operated restaurant that serves a variety of Chinese dishes, in a comfortable dining room. As with all restaurant reviews I publish, I have no affiliation with the restaurant reviewed, and there is no monetary gain on my part, as I am simply a person who likes to eat, and I love to write-up, and publish my dining experiences.
Photo: It's a little past 11:30 in the morning, Thursday, May 18, 2023 and I've arrived at Happy Wok Chinese Restaurant, located in the Auburn Town Center, in the Sierra Nevada foothill town of Auburn, CA. I'm an active member of the Facebook group, "Gold Country Foodies," and for the past year or so, many members had posted very positive reviews about their dining experiences at this restaurant, both in the cuisine and the service. I'd been wanting to dine at Happy Wok for quite some time, and had messaged the restaurant to let them know of my dining plans, to take photos of my dining experience, and to post reviews on this website, Yelp and Facebook. The staff messaged me positively and said they were looking forward to my visit. As I walked into the restaurant, I was greeted by a hostess wearing a mask - not a great start - and promptly seated at a table and given a menu. She seemed to be in a hurry and rushed off, without saying much of anything. As I was looking over the menu, another staff member quickly placed a glass of ice water on my table without making any comments. There seemed to be one hostess and two hosts working the restaurant, and all were wearing masks, which definitely raised a "red flag" with me. Wait... this is Auburn, located in very "red" Placer County, and this is May, 2023... who wears masks?
Photo: The "Lunch Specials" section of the menu offers all of your Chinese favorites. Note the hand written "price changes," as the staff raised the prices $2.00 for each listing over the past couple of months. I looked over the "Lunch Specials" section of the menu, and decided to begin at the "top" and enjoy a lunch of "Sweet and Sour Pork," which is served with fried rice and egg roll, along with an extra bowl of "Sweet and Sour" soup, and a large Sapporo beer for dessert. My hostess - who I "think" is one of owners - came to take my order. Before I placed my order, I introduced myself, gave her one of my business cards, which introduce me as a photographer and a "foodie." She looked it over and said, "I'm too busy to take photos. I have other things to do." I asked her name and she didn't say anything. Alright... I then went on to say that I wanted to take photos inside the restaurant, and take her photo as she delivered my order to me. I mentioned that I'm a member of "Gold Country Foodies" and that we'd messaged and whoever had come back to me was "good" with what I planned to do. I told her that I have done this for many years, and would not be intrusive to other diners, and it would only take seconds to take photos. She replied again, "I'm too busy to take photos..." So I got up from the table, politely thanked her for her time, and in parting I said, "Since you're too busy for my photos, I'm too busy to dine here. I wish you a pleasant day." So sad, as many members of "Gold Country Foodies" have said great things about this restaurant, and there have been many great reviews on Yelp. But, if I'm going to spend $20.00 plus a tip on lunch, I expect the staff not to be so "busy" that photos are frowned upon. I was truly disappointed in my dining "misadventure," as I had been truly looking forward to visiting this restaurant. I can't comment about the food served at Happy Wok Chinese Restaurant, as lunch never happened, but I CAN comment that I've crossed them off my list, never to return. I truly wanted to love this restaurant, as countless friends and other "foodies" had posted many positive comments about Happy Wok Chinese Restaurant. Sadly, I wasn't able to enjoy their cuisine, maybe because of a mix-up, or a misunderstanding? I don't know, but when it comes to Happy Wok Chinese Restaurant, "it is what it is..." Happy Wok Copyright(c) 2023 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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