Despite what people say about China Joe's, I used to love ordering from them. I would get their Curry Chicken lunch special and be perfectly happy. That was about ten years ago.
Fast forward to now. China Joe's has gone through ownership changes and they haven't had Curry Chicken on the lunch special menu for several years. As a result, I pretty much never go there anymore. For some reason, I decided to get lunch there today. Being a General Tso's Chicken fan, I went with that ($5.25). It smelled amazing as I was driving back to the office, but when I opened the container, it just looked off. The sauce for the chicken was way too dark, like they just threw a ton of soy sauce into the mix. It actually tasted OK, but definitely not like the GTC I was hoping for. Appearance affects taste almost as much as smell and something just didn't seem right in my mind.
It may be unfair to dismiss them based on one dish, but I don't think I'll be returning (at least for another few years). In a way, I'm glad. Having one less option to choose from makes the lunch decision ever-so-slightly easier.