My favorite Chinese food in the hood; Ollie's, but...

So, I think most people in the hood know Ollies, a Chinese restaurant with several locations on the West Side of Manhattan. But, for those of you don't, read on...

The Hell's Kitchen location is on a crowded stretch of West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues. I wont say it is the "best", as I think that is extremely difficult to quantify with Chinese cuisine, except perhaps for more experimental and extravagant modern asian fusion places, such as David Chang's restaurants, but I will say its very good.

That being said, Ollie's is my personal favorite and first choice here in the Kitchen, and here is why. The food is very good and very consistent. I am not exactly Anthony Bourdain when it comes to being a culinary adventurer, so I stick to what I know and what I like. And what I like here are the Fried Dumplings, Spare Ribs, Egg rolls, Sesame Chicken, and the Pepper Steak. Having eaten inside a few times, my experience was very good; quick service, quick preparation, and everything came out as it was asked for. I have ordered delivery from here dozens of times and I have a few comments about that. First, they really have no website, its simply a menu and ordering system which is connected to Seamless Web, which is always my first choice to use. One thing is for sure, they are quick, often times with my delivery arriving within 15-20 minutes of me ordering it. Frankly, I'm not quite sure how they do that, nor do I really care, as my food is always steaming hot and always fresh, which is all that I really care about it.

I do have one big problem, and I have this problem with a few other establishments in the neighborhood, and that is their delivery people. First, as I am sure many of you have noticed, they drive on the sidewalk, and fast. Second, they don't seem to be paying attention while they are driving or to be too concerned about the other people on the sidewalk, which incidentally they should not be driving on in the first place, as its against the law. The real problem with this is the proliferation of the electric motors that many local establishments have attached to their fleets of delivery bikes over the last year. I was particularly shocked to read a recent article in one of the major NYC newspapers about the problems that are occurring on the Upper West Side with delivery people, and how they failed to mention the fact that they are using electric motors, which is likely illegal, if not most certainly dangerous. The combination of driving on the sidewalk, not paying attention, and going 15-20 mph, is not a good one, and most certainly is going to result in more people getting injured, and likely a very good lawsuit.

One other item of note; for those that care about workers rights and human rights, Ollies owner was accused in a lawsuit of paying delivery workers $1.50 an hour, and forcing them to work 70+ hours a week and ten days straight without paying any overtime. Not that overtime on $1.50 an hour would really help much. Read the article HERE.

So, I give Ollies a B+ for food and consistency, an F for Human Rights and for being accused of previously failing to pay your workers properly, and for nearly killing me on the sidewalk, you get an FU.  .

Ollie's
411 West 42nd Street (between 9th & 10th Avenues)
NY, NY 10036
212.868.6588
www.olliesnyc.com