First Emperor Chinese Restaurant

This mom and pop, 'hole in the wall' Chinese restaurant is an absolute gem of Richardson. It's hidden in plain sight, in an unassuming strip center just across the street from the bigger, well known Kirin Court, but First Emperor is our go-to for low key Chinese food. We love that they'll prepare orders for pick-up/to-go as well. Pretty much everything on the menu that we've tried has been good and the portion size is large, but the dish that stands out as a must-try is the Lamb with Leeks.

We've been looking for a good Chinese restaurant in this part of town for a long while. This is by far the best. The hot and sour soup is excellent, combining flavors with subtlety, among the best in town (the menu indicates the soup servings are for two or four - but the four portion would serve twice that many as an appetizer). The Szechuan beef was very good, but perhaps a tad sweet. The house special tofu which was in a black bean sauce was extraordinarily good (note that although in the vegetable section of the menu it is not vegetarian). The Lamb with leeks was excellent, even though the person ordering at requested it less spicy than it is usually made. The one woman serving, who may be an owner, was very helpful in selecting menu items, including directly steering us away from things she thought we would not like, although at times a bit difficult to understand. Each entree portion would easily serve three people. The ambiance is comfortable, clean, but not fancy. Highly recommended.

True Chinese food at its finest, I suppose. Run by a lady who does all the surveying and waiting and running the place, and whoever is the cook in the back.

The food Portion sizes are rather nice for all the meals I have tried so far. The prices don't seem very unreasonable to me either.

If you like authentic Chinese cuisine, give them a try. They are hidden in the back and you can easily never see them if you don't know where you're looking.

Open late also.

Hands down the best of the best!!!!! A local told my wife and I about this place when we moved to Richardson. This Chinese restaurant servers the best! Taste homemade as it should its run by mom and pap. If you are looking for a Chinese restaurant to eat at or order to go look no further. You will not be disappointed. We have been back time after time and love it more every time we visit.

Excellent food served fresh & hot. Excellent service for this authentic mom & pop shop. Some very exclusive offerings & some more popular dishes. The fish & tofu is wonderful as well the Westlake soup. I