Imperial Garden Chinese Restaurant

Reviews 4

JE

Jeff Guthrie

I must say what a disappointment from when I used to eat here. I used to work in the shopping center 20+ years ago and a wonderful man named Francis owned the restaurant. You could tell he took pride in the food he served and in the atmosphere and service he provided. I would order food regularly, at least once a week and they would actually deliver it to the store where I was working (if not too busy). I ordered take out dinner last night and the only thing that was palatable was the eggrolls and the rice! I have eaten at the "Cheap Chinese Place," you know, Jumbo China, and the food there was at least edible. I live 5 minutes from Imperial Garden so the entrees did not age or mold on the trip home. The food was just horrible. The Mongolian Beef was a bowl of onions, mostly mushy and overcooked with a few pieces of some brown mushy stuff that I guess was the beef. The General Tsos chicken was dark brown, almost black where I expected a light, golden brown color with a sweet yet spicy sauce that complemented the dish. Instead, I got a dish with a bunch of round, almost black balls of very fatty dark meat chicken in a gelatinous sauce that, if you had to describe the flavor, you could only say blah! And, they had green peppers instead of broccoli, which is usually served in General Tso’s. Finally, the Kung Pao chicken, one of my favorite dishes, was really a dish of a million peanuts, with about 6 pieces of fatty, dark meat chicken and a couple of old vegetables. The highlight of the meal was the eggroll to start and the three containers of white rice. Everything else was horrible and I would not ever recommend anyone go there. When I picked my meal up, the piano was playing so loud; you could not even hear what you were thinking in your head. It is so very sad to see a restaurant that was once a great place run with pride of ownership and a dedication to serving great food and providing great customer service turn into a place where it appeared the owners and the employees could care less. I am positive that the food I took home to my family and paid almost $40 for would not have been eaten or served to any of the employees or the owner’s family. My advice, dont waste your time. You can get better Chinese food at the grocery store and better entertainment at home on your television. Francis, I know you no longer own the restaurant and may even be deceased but, I am so sorry! Sorry that the restaurant you so lovingly created and nurtured has now turned into a place that seems only interested in scamming the "Dumb Americans" out of money with terrible food. Had I gone to dine in the restaurant myself, I would have complained to the management and walked out, not paying a dime for food that was not fit for dogs.

BR

Brody B

So, ordered the lunch DDtwo (a meal for two people, sweet and sour shrimp + Beef and Scallop delight). I also ordered an egg foo young because, I love a well put together EFY. The portions were huge, I will grant them that, but just as with most things in life you can put x effort into something and that effort will be spread across the volume of work. Here, that means that the meal was a complete disappointment in taste, flavor, and composition. The really bad: We are almost certain that the egg rolls and the crab won tons were purchased frozen, maybe even the breaded shrimp. The crab won tons were actually sausage won tons. Except for the sausage they were all pretty much bland, tasteless, needing a sauce -- which is what the sweet and sour was for? Well, the thick orange goo was almost certainly out of a can with a few chunks of fruit and vegetable to give it form. The fried rice was bland, dry, and I noted that there were no scallions on the third bite only to find a bit of scallion (not visible mind you but through taste and texture) and there was a bit of egg smattered throughout -- nothing else. I will try to redo the rice in the morning... The gravy for the EFY was a thick brown gravy with the classic taste of a Swansons powdered brown gravy. That was a shame because I actually liked the construction of the pancake and was looking forward to a nice foo young sauce to go with it. The okay: The Egg Foo Young itself was not bad, if they actually made the gravy I think it might be a signature dish The Beef and scallop delight had good structure and content (big vegatables of a good variety) and the meats had good taste and were tender. The sauce was a bit salty but I probably had 4/5 ounces so it wasnt bad. We tossed about half of it and I will try and salvage the other half. This is a classic Americanized Chinese with huge portions of blandness and lots of culinary shortcuts. Now that I look at the menu I realize it is a buffet -- it is about standard for a buffet. Maybe if they didnt have over 60 items on the lunch menu alone, (folded double sided, 16x20 menu stuffed with maybe 200 options) they could concentrate on a few good dishes

A

A Private User

Great food, fast service! I am pretty picky about Chinese food, at least I dont like the really cheap chinese places. For the most part I only like P.F. Changs and Pei Wei. I decided to give this place a try though, after seeing quite a few excellent reviews. One thing that is difficult about google reviews is that, even with restaurants I love, I will always see these awful reviews. Sometimes I dont know if people are exaggerating, or if theyre just the type who cant be pleased and complain about everything, or if theyre used to eating at restaurants where entrées cost $100. Its really hard to know what people are comparing it to when they dont say anything about where they normally like to eat. Because I hate it when people do this, I have listed the Chinese places Im comparing this place to, so that you have an idea of what Im used to getting. Anyway, Im glad I tried this place out! I ordered takeout from their dinner menu and got the Kung Pao Chicken. The staff was friendly and actually smiled, which seems to be a rare thing at many restaurants. They also made the order in less than 5 minutes, no lie. It was piping hot, the serving size was large and the taste was excellent! I really have NO IDEA what some of the previous complaints about serving size were talking about. Perhaps they ordered some kind of special or the restaurant has changed since then. But anyway, I ordered the Kung Pao Chicken for $9.99 which came with white rice and its enough for 2 to 3 servings for me depending upon how hungry I am. It is definitely more than what I get at Pei Wei. I dont often feel compelled to write a review but this place will receive more of my business in the future.

JE

Jean Scaraglino

We have eaten here for 24+ years. Last night was extremely disappointing. We waited 30 mins for our soup to come, approx. another 30+ minutes for our meal to come. Food was good , but our waitress was either inexperienced or had other issues. We saw other people seated AFTER US (different waiters and waitresses) be served and leave before us. We ordered additional take home items, but she got it wrong when repeated back to us. Took 20 minutes to get leftover boxes and split checks. The piano man is good, but is annoying as he comes to your tables to sell you his cd. Bad taste, really even if it is to raise charitable funds. The place needs serious updating- and the picture on back wall has food splatters all over it! We like the food but will not be dining in again anytime soon. ALL in all it took almost 2 hrs from seating to order, be served, and get our bills to pay. SORRY I hate leaving a bad review but we were VERY disappointed.