Chalin's Restaurant

I don't get what's everyone's beef with this restaurant... Granted, their take out side is a little worn out, and warehouse-esque... But it still beats the bars and wires of many takeout places around the DC/MD border.
The dine-in side however, is still fairly nice evening dining place. It's got a nice giant side window view of Connecticuit Ave. There are some spots that they could dust off, but it's never anything too major.
I personally am pretty picky about the the cleanness of a place, but you really have got to be a neat freak to have a problem.
Our family's been a regular here for 15 years now, thursday night Chinese, even back when it was still on the second floor. The prices and portions that they offer is just fantastic, definitely worth every dollar. In terms of food quality, it's always spot on! However, I do agree that there are some foods to avoid and some that you just cannot miss! I love their crispy honey jumbo shrimp, always spot on! Along with all the moo shu selections. An interesting menu that you have to specially request for is the authentic menu. The waitress there explained to me that the authentic menu was a selection of real Chinese food, like those they ACTUALLY make IN CHINA, not the Americanized stuff. There's some exotic stuff on there, so I would not recommend you trying the exotic stuff without some proper preparation. However, some of the appetizers such as the scallion pancake is something great to start off with.
Now, food to avoid are stuff like the spring rolls, they're usually made in batches and just left to be warm on a grill like fries at fast food places. I'd order them early in the day or early in the night if you really wanted them, because that's usually when restaurants will make new batches of stuff in preparation for day or evening business.
The same goes for soup. Most restaurants make soups in batches and get a little gross later in the day.
On a side note, the people there are very nice about any special requests you have for dishes. I personally hate celery, so I always ask for no celery in my food and there's no fuss with that ever.
The manager there, Ming, is a warm hearted gentleman, we have been a loyal customer of him since the last decade.

I am a huge fan of their take out. it is quick (been in & out in 5min!) and the food is good. they're very generous with the amount of meat in their dishes. would definitely recommend

Excellent food! The steam cod fish is fresh and delicious. I need to try more next time.