I was motivated to try Chefus after I learned it was fast food. Prices are cheap and there are no waiters, only touchscreen ordering with a focus on takeout. When I got to the De Anza location (aka what replaced Happy Restaurant) at 11:15am, the restaurant atmosphere was very quiet. There was nobody else in the shop and no ambient music playing.
I ordered the weekly lunch bento special: kao fu wheat gluten, shredded chicken w/King Oyster mushrooms, scrambled eggs w/tomatoes, white rice. Along with a pineapple mango black tea, the whole meal cost $16.30.
The bento took twenty minutes to prepare. I spent the wait time looking around the shop. It has ample seating with wide open spaces, but its lack of Wi-Fi makes it a less than ideal place for work. There is a shelf filled with toddler toys and board games
During my hour there, three customers trickled in for takeout; it was not until 12:10pm that the first other dine-in customer (aka a Chinese mom and her daughter) arrived.
As for the food, it was okay. My favorite side dish was the kao fu; least favorite, the mushrooms. The black tea was too sweet for my liking. Call me spoiled, but everything simply felt too similar to my mom’s home cooking. $16.30 is not expensive for such a big lunch, but when I eat out I want something different / special.
