In my twenties I enjoyed Chin's for its super cheap prices and convenient locations to my homes on campus and the west side. In the early twenty-teens quality started to suffer, so I stopped going. On a recent trip to the west side I needed a quick and cheap meal and decided to give them another spin.
I opted for my go-to order: the Smiling Lotus Plate off the kids menu. What used to be a takeout container packed full of rice and a full chicken breast is now a small scoop and maybe half a piece of chicken. The cream cheese puffs are as they were, but they've done away with the chocolate-dipped fortune cookie and now give styrofoam coffee cups instead of a regular soda cup. The price has gone up a bit to $4.75 + tax from $4.
The food itself was fine, not a bad deal for $5, and a reasonable amount of food for a kid. However, the days of their SLP being a great steal for an adult are over, so for me it's merely a-ok to meh. The quality of my meal doesn't inspire me to pony up for the cost of getting a full entree and a side of puffs off the regular menu.