In China, how do you choose which restaurant to eat at? Any well-known chain restaurant basically uses pre-made dishes now. Any trendy viral shops or places with long lines should basically be avoided. There's another type of small restaurant where you can see the chef tossing and stir-frying in the kitchen, but that doesn't necessarily mean the ingredients are good or that the oil they use is of good quality. You should look for restaurants with more chefs, single-location establishments that haven't moved, places that have been around for a while, have stable customer traffic, and charge slightly higher prices - those are basically reliable. These types of restaurants rely more on repeat customers and are relatively more trustworthy.