Shanghai Restaurant

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272 Thayer St
Providence, RI 02906

Phone: (401) 331-0077

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Neighborhood: College Hill

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*This restaurant has closed. If this restaurant is open or has reopened, just let us know.

Our staff takes pride in the freshness and quality of our ingredients, authenticity of our recipes and attention to detail to bring you the best Chinese dining experience. From our hand tossed Scallion Pancake to our one of a kind Shanghai Wok Tossed Lobster, you are sure to find a dish that will stimulate your senses.

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  3.9 stars - Based on 36 votes

5 star				14 votes	39%
4 star				10 votes	28%
3 star				9 votes	25%
2 star				2 votes	6%
1 star				1 votes	3%

Top Reviews of Shanghai Restaurant

04/21/2011 - customer ju
worst experience ever!!!
after waiting an hour for my order most of it was missing. when my husband called back they were very rude and said they would bring what we had missing but never showed up. i called back and they closed the restaurant! After calling them for hours to listen to me the only thing i got was store credit. as if id ever want to eat there food again.

10/06/2010 - sancholopez1620
The staff was friendly on the phone and upon delivery. The food isn't cheap but neither is quality. The food was great. Try the spring rolls. They taste fresh! And the crab ragoon was awesome and plentiful. Delivery was fast. Four stars!

09/09/2010 - Girl
My new favorite restaurant to order delivery from. A Little pricy but worth it!

06/30/2010 - Maera Collera
excellent

03/25/2010 - Love this place!!!
I love this place. If your looking for authentic food with a great atmosphere, this is the place to be. I eat there every weekend. Service wasn't so great before but I must say, it has definitely improved. I love Ray, the owner. He'll buy you a drink to show his appreciation or make you look good in front of a date. We all know many places that wouldn't give a s..t no matter how many times you frequent their joint.

02/06/2010 - John
Wow. There is a huge language barrier at this time. I don't understand how many times an order needs to be repetitively repeated to order. Otherwise the food is good.

11/10/2009 - Brown Student
I love the General Tso's chicken. I always get food to go, so I can't comment on the wait staff. The people I've dealt with at the counter are always very pleasant and courteous. Unlike some other Thayer businesses, they truly seem to appreciate their customers!

Only downside? Not my favorite egg rolls.

04/26/2009 - Spicy Hot Asian-Lover!
Dining at Shanghai is wonderful..sometimes. It really depends on what waitress you get. The last time I went there, I had this kind of fat waitress that barely paid any attention to my table at all! I mean, when we were done eating and wanted our check, it took her so long to even glance at out table, that we talked about just walking out and seeing if she would even notice. I mean, we wanted to get our check and pay, but she wouldn't look at us, so how were we supposed to??! I had to grab a male waiter (that looked kind of gay, but hey, I like gay guys ;P) and tell him that we were done to finally get out of there!
But other than her...The atmosphere on the dining side is extravagant! Very, very pretty.
The price is a tad high, but worth it...unless you get the fried rice in a combo. Ick!

Now..time for the take-out side.
It's a simple-looking sitting area. Definitely nothing to really complain about. I mean, it's not trashy, it's just take-out. Take-out is always like that. I mean, I think it's nice that a Chinese restaurant can have a dining area, and then an area where you can still eat on the take-out side too.
It can, in fact, be a bit of a wait for your food, but you must realize that it is a pretty busy place. It IS located on Thayer St., after all.
I think the staff on take-out is generally nicer than the waitstaff. They talk to you and are very friendly! They even remember your name if you come there once or twice a wk! :)
To be honest, I think one of the only parts that really annoy me about the take-out side is that the chick that used to always be there in the mornings isn't there anymore. I really liked her =( She always knew what I wanted..And I couldn't even ask someone else what happened to her, cuz she played a game with me, and wouldn't tell me her name! Very sweet, innocent girl.

Oh! And the delivery guys lying around on the take-out side on a slow day can be a bit of a sore-eye.

Tip for people who are afraid that waiters/waitresses/manager will pick at your food when taking something home that you couldn't finish:
Ask for a box so that you can package it yourself. If they say they'll do it for you, just keep insisting. They can't really say no to that...
(I haven't seen someone do this to my food, but I read a past review saying something about this)

My favorite food from there is probably the Beef Cantonese Noodle! Xtra Xtra Spicy!!! MMMM!!!

04/24/2009 - MenuPix User
Wow, this poor guy Ray. I've frequented Shanghai on numerous occassions. The owner Ray has always been very accomodating and hospitable to me. I can't believe the things that I am reading about him. It seems to me the inaccurate reviews that are written about him are from disgruntled employees/ex-employees. Folks, lets stick to the purpose of this website. The food is excellent as well as the atmosphere. Drinks are cheap compared to the other locations on that street. On this rare occassion that I was not completely satisfied with a dish, the owner Ray had another one made for me within minutes!!!! He even bought me and my guest a drink!!!! Now, that is what you call great service.

03/20/2009 - Marilyn Le
I used to work at Shanghai not so long ago. It's an amazing place with amazing people. Ray and his family are great people who treat you like family. The food is very good, the staff is close-knit and friendly.

I loved that place and will definitely recommend it to anyone.

03/14/2009 - Matt
I love this place!!!

01/01/2009 - Crystal
My boyfriend & I consider Shanghai one or our favorite spots to eat. Its a great way to spend a few hours having a good meal, good drinks and then bumping into friends walking on Thayer Street. We've always had good service there and the staff is attentive and nice. We've never met a rude person on the staff. Saturday nights are definitely a good (but busy) night to go. The mood is very fun and upbeat. Hopefully my boyfriend will take me there TODAY! :)

12/17/2008 - MenuPix User
Great food and great servers

11/07/2008 - MenuPix User
I frequent Shanghai on the weekends and have never had a problem with the service. The waitresses are all extremely nice and sweet, and the owner has always been very nice from what I've seen. I think the drinks are decently priced, and they're pretty big too compared to other places. I like the dining room, it's different (blacklights and stuff), I prefer Shanghai over many other asian restaurants.

10/20/2008 - MenuPix User
I work thereee...but I won't be bias, I promise. I've always wanted to make a review for Shanghai but never had enough experience to. Now that I do, let me begin.

The food is decent...not the greatest, but not bad either. Sometimes it's undercooked, but that's only because these chefs are cooking for dozens of tables in the dining room while trying to stay on top of the "It'll be ready in five minutes!" promise on take out, and not to mention deliveries.

Service is alright...we have some good employees and some bad ones. The deal is if you're kind to us, we will NEVER be rude to you. We're only rude to the rude customers who b-tch about everything. Even though we're trained not to...it's only human nature no?

Take out is TRASHY. Everything about take out is trashy. But when you go into the dining room, it's like a whole nother world. It's beautiful and fancy and magnificent. Saturday nights are extremely fun. People are always gathered around the bar, there are always people dancing or singing, and the waitresses are always doing something silly.

Everyone at Shanghai gets along, don't believe the reviews that are saying Ray (our manager) is an -ss. He's AMAZING. He's only an -ss to people he doesn't like (and if he doesn't like you, it most likely means that something's wrong with you...or that you're completely fake). He gives to people who give to him, nicest guy in the world.

All in all, Shanghai is a wonderful place to work at, and to enjoy a nice dinner at. Take out isn't the greatest, but dine in on Saturday nights and you'll have a blast.

08/08/2008 - Nathan
The food is great, but it is overpriced, and the service is surprisingly slow.

04/14/2008 - MenuPix User
Excellent Chinese Food. Always bring friends and family when they visit. Cute neighborhood too!

03/16/2008 - *****
I loved the food. I went on a saturday night , it was really busy but my waitress was always there when i needed her! I ended my night with a SCORPIAN BOWL!!!! i will be going there more often for chinese food.

02/13/2008 - IJustAteAGreatShanghaiDinner
Based on one experience

the delivery guy was great, came right outside my dorm inspite of rain. I just ate a great Spicy Schechian beef!

01/30/2008 - MenuPix User
The food is hot, good, and very consistant. Open late hours is always a plus.

12/11/2007 - MenuPix User
I think the food is great, and also a great atmosphere! best chinese on the east side hands down.

11/10/2007 - MenuPix User
I love shanghai, and Ray is awesome. The waitresses are not that attentive and there is this particular waitress that doubles charges and is just horrible. I go for the food and not the atmosphere.

09/07/2007 - MenuPix User
The food is truly excellent, the wait staff polite and attentive. The mostly Brown Uni college kids surrounding the place, and taking up the bulk of the tables are annoying, and make the place less comfortable than it would be in another location. The owner Ray is extremely nice; I just wish he'd get some better taste in music!

I have never had a less than perfect meal at the place...the cooks are very skilled...and have only *once* had a drink mixed improperly, by a new bartender whose skills were sub par compared to other staff. But he was very nice!

09/02/2007 - MenuPix User
The food is excellent, fresh and allways prepared right. The wait for take out can be a little long and I agree with the other reviewers that the service is less than friendly, but the food more than makes up for it. One of the better Chinese restaurants in Providence.

08/29/2007 - MenuPix User
food is definitly the best part about the restaurant, the rest of it really kinda sucks: service pretty bad, value even worse, and the atmosphere is horrible

08/28/2007 - Sarah
The dining room is arranged strangely, and the take out area is horrific! I've never had good service either when ordering takeout or delivery. Prices constantly change for the same order! Addition of vegetable sides will cost the same as half a full entree! I do enjoy the food, though, and I think it's one of the best options for Chinese on the East side.

08/03/2007 - MenuPix User
take out service is the worst i've seen. delivery is even worse, sometimes over an hour wait and they get your order wrong! overall RUDE service...i've had several encounters where the cashiers have been really rude, and will never order shanghai again!

06/14/2007 - Mellisa
I love the food at shanghai!!! Great SCORPIAN BOWLS!!!! I LOVE SHANGHAI RESTURANT. THE FOOD IS SOOO GREAT... WAITRESSES are sooooo nice... you always have to go for the food there even though its fatty food. EVERYONE KNOWS THEY WANT a scorpian BOWL to make their day a CRAZY day! ahaha

05/10/2007 - MenuPix User
Wait staff is mostly friendly except for the take-out section of the restaurant which should be avoided. Music is a bit trashy and drinks are overpriced, but food is generally very good, especially compared to the other Chinese options in Providence.

04/08/2007 - MenuPix User
i ordered delivery from here and the delivery guy was incredibly rude and refused to come up to my apartment... the food wasnt very good... definitly not worth the price... DO NOT ORDER FROM HERE!!!

02/18/2007 - MenuPix User
Great Food! Different atmosphere not your usual chinese restarunt. Parking sucks, but its worth it. Best crab ragoon EVER! They DO deliver in the nearby areas. Highly Suggested!

11/22/2006 - Sdy2006
Not great.

11/15/2006 - MenuPix User
Just okay.