China Garden

Lowkey some of the worst Chinese food I’ve ever had. I ordered beef fried rice with chicken wings (my go to for Chinese) and it was terrible. Rice was bland, beef was rubbery and you could tell the chicken wings are old and have been sitting around for sometime. I could barely even eat it to be honest. Definitely 1 star review worthy. How could you even serve this?

Great food, but background music sucks! Lousy, low-quality... I understand that you want to create an Asian traditional atmosphere with the music, but that is a bad choice. Just awful. Please play some decent music. (Or nothing.) It’s terrible to think that Americans might come to think of this as the default for 'Asian traditional music'.

Food was amazing they had a lil bit of everything we tried to hit the seafood but the time we got there they had non until 4pm. So if you are wanting a seafood fix after 4 is the time to go 😇😍 otherwise the food is great and the staff are tooo

Wow, this restaurant is fantastic. The parking lot is a little less to be desired but once you get past that and get inside, you’re in store for a treat. When I got there, it was close to lunch hour and so everything was hot and fresh. There was everything you could want at a Chinese buffet, all the right appetizers and all the right entrées. I particularly enjoyed their crab Rangoon and their potstickers. I also enjoyed their honey chicken and jalapeño fried chicken. But there staples were all on the buffet menu. And again everything tasted fresh right from the wok. When I’m back in Columbia Missouri, this place will be on my number one place to visit.

China Garden might be the best buffet restaurant in Columbia, MO. The variety of protein options including multiple types of chicken, fried fish, baked fish, shrimp, and beef. They also have good spread of veggies and fruits. Sushi options are modest but well made and offered with oriental ginger and spicy wasabi. Desserts were limited but tasty. The price is cheap; and their pricing for kids is one of the most reasonable I have seen anywhere (it starts from 3 dollars for 2 & 3-year olds and gradually increases to the adult rate). The atmosphere is also one of the best for a buffet restaurant. The service was good as well.

Normally hole in the wall Chinese restaurants are pretty decent. China Garden is not one of those restaurants. The food was down right gross. The food was bland or just tasted bad. Everything looked old or reheated. The soda was like drinking carbonated water with a dash of soda syrup. The build was dirty and there was nasty grease hand prints everywhere. The parking lot was a nightmare to top it off. Paying $42 dollars for 2 people for nasty food was crumby. Wouldn’t recommend to my worst enemy

They have nice variety of food to choose from. Price is reasonable. The weekend seafood is great.

I’d have to say this was by far the absolute best Chinese restaurant I’ve ever went to the food was incredible

I was in Columbia for a work event and passed China Garden, which was conveniently within walking distance from my hotel. They don't offer online ordering, but the phone was answered right away, and my order (crab rangoon and General Tso's chicken) was ready in about 10 minutes--perfect timing for a short walk. The woman at the counter was friendly and mentioned she used to live in Kansas City. While it's primarily a buffet, carryout was quick and easy. The food was hot, tasty, and enough for at least two meals. Great spot for a quick dinner if you're staying nearby.

First time coming here. A bit better than most Chinese buffet restaurants. The food was fresh and plentiful. They have a grill along with sushi. It seemed very clean and the service was very good. They also have a big indoor Koi pond. It's worth giving them a try. I recommend

Pro Very very cheap for 3 adults ans one child best prices around Con i felt like our waitress completely ignored us

The selection is amazing for the price an i got the buffet to go an it did not disappoint! Everything i tried was great frog legs, fried rice, spring roll, chicken stick, stuffed mushroom, tilapia, crab wanton, broccoli, green beans! I will be back an beware the parking lot is packed - the word is out! Its a gem! Go try!

Their buffet to go is $18.00 a person and the container they give you is one of those white stryofoam with 3 compartments, so there is not enough room to put food in because the separating part takes up room. They should use the wite styofoam containers that are all one area. I'll never go there for that again!

China Garden was pretty average when it comes to Chinese Buffets. Some stuff was not that great and other stuff was pretty good. For a family of 5 our total for Sunday Lunch was under $60 as you pay by the year for your child in dollars, so I'd say we did pretty decent, especially for a sit down place and everyone got what they wanted to eat. I knew the ice cream cones would be stale as Missouri has humidity. We are from Colorado and it would have been a stretch for the desert highlands to have a HUGE bucket of ice cream cones just sitting out. Plates were cleared quickly and waters were filled when needed without being prompted. Our girls LOVED the indoor Koi pond!

Arrived after 7pm on Friday night on a road trip. Buffet today is considered weekend so it's $17.99. Main open dining area wasn't full but we were put into the semi-private room which was more full and cramped, not sure why. There was a good amount of seafood options: crawfish, salt & pepper stir fried shrimp, grilled squid rings (calamari with no breading), clams in black bean sauce, mussels in black bean sauce, tilapia (fish). Non seafood there's frog legs, the usual breaded chicken in different sauces, green beans, beef & broccoli, pork with peppers, steak, 2 kinds of noodles, veggie fried rice and plain rice. One steam cart/ row had the usual fried wontons, crab rangoons, egg rolls, etc. plus Hot & sour soup and Egg drop soup. Boiled shrimp on cold/ salad area. The Hibachi bar looked decent; didn't try it but husband did. The small sushi bar had mediocre sushi -- so don't go mainly for that, even though it's in the name of the restaurant! Fruit and dessert options were just ok. There was a little boy at the table next to us downing frog legs (breaded & fried, tastes like chicken) as if they were chicken drumsticks!! Service was ok; we drank water and didn't need refills. Another table next to us was Mizzou staff. Good option for hungry travelers & workers.

absolutely disgusting water dripped into our food from the roof and it was absolutely disgusting it was brown i will never come back the environment was disgusting and the lady at the front was rude

China Garden is a fair-priced buffet with a large selection of Asian style foods but not much in "American" entrees. Some Chinese buffets have burgers or pizza among the selection of standard Chinese items. Not China Garden. It strictly offers the most popular dishes on many Chinese menus plus a selection of sushi. You'll need to know what those dishes are because across its six food stations it rarely had a label explaining each entree or side. The onion rings I picked up turned out to be fried calamari. What was spicy and what was not? You took a chance at getting a tongue tingling surprise with each selection. At the hibachi grill a cook prepared your raw food meat and veggie choices. I think my cook was inexperienced: everything was just short of being fully cooked. And, my egg was simply fried, placed atop the finished dish, and doused with soy sauce rather than being chopped and mixed in. A selection of appealing looking sushi was an option. Unfortunately, the rice lacked flavor so I think inexperience showed there also. The wasabi was also off with an odd taste. Stuck between a three or four star review, I graded upwards due to the overall selection and attentive service.

I got the moo goo gai pan. It was decent. Not the best Chinese I've had but it got the job done and I enjoyed my meal. The staff were some of the friendliest people and were incredibly attentive and helpful.

This is my go to place for honey chicken! The staff are always nice, and the portions are generous. Support small businesses!!

Love this place. Buffett is great and included hibachi and sushi. Also includes its if good fruit and desert including soft serve ice cream

Got food poisoning. Also, the general tso's chicken tasted like it was battered and fried twice.

If you are of "color" don't expect to be treated kindly. I asked for a Togo plate and it was "flipped" liked thrown at me for the second time. This used to be much better but now kinda grimy.

If your into seafood then this is the place but for me personally no chicken with broccoli no sweet sugar dough buns the regular Chinese food was not here mainly based on crab legs frog legs and sushi! Which is fantastic if you want all you can eat of those items just an fyi to all If your into seafood then this is the place but for me personally no chicken with broccoli no sweet sugar dough buns the regular Chinese food was not here mainly based on crab legs frog legs and sushi! Which is fantastic if you want all you can eat of those items just an fyi to all

Stopped here back in October when we were passing through Missouri. A large selection, good food and reasonable prices. We'll make a point of stopping here again if we happen to be going thru. So 4 stars for both food and service.

Food was fresh and good. Dinner selection is much better than lunch. Although they do have a lot of options either way. Staff could have been better about filling drinks and cleaning table but they were very busy so understandable. The place seemed overall clean. My sister, niece and mom all came this day and all said would go back.

Yummy pepper chicken! Crab Rangoon was yummy as well. Would recommend for sure. Will try again while in COMO.

Excellent selection of fantastic flavored food, attentive and friendly staff, love the atmosphere China Garden Columbia Missouri

Keep in mind this is Asian, American Chinese. But, the staff/owners were very friendly. Very attentive. The Hawaiian chicken is tasty. As is the barbecue chicken, the crab Rangoons, etc. etc.. 1495 for the dinner buffet. Very clean. Would stop by again.

This place used to be great! Tonight myself, my husband and son decided to have dinner here. It was definitely not what it used to be. Everything tasted as if it had sugar in it. The rice left an awful after taste, the shrimp was bitter, crab legs were way over cooked, egg drop soup tasted like straight up sodium. The manager was rude. Will not be going back!

The food is pretty good. We went for the crab legs. They were pretty good but they seamed to have a hard time keeping up with the demand. From where we were in the restaurant we couldn't see when they put out new food so we kept getting the dregs. I think a better seat would have helped with this. Service was very attentive. I'd recommend it!

Hot & Sour soup was the consistency of pudding. Seriously. And bland, just this side of disgusting flavor. General Tso Chicken tasted like it had been made hours ago. It was better than the soup, which is the only reason they got 2 stars, instead of one. All thus stuff was obviously scraped out of a buffet-line, after sitting for God knows how long--no way was any of this cooked fresh. Guess that's too much to expect. Best parts of this meal are the side of white rice, and the 4 sprigs of broccoli that garnished the chicken. Be careful.

The food is pretty good and the prices are very reasonable ( lunch is the only time I go lol) i would recommend the Mongolian potatoes! Salty sweet and crispy!

My son spilt something on his seat so as we were cleaning it up I sat him and his plate at the table next to us for a couple seconds. The hostess came over screaming in front of the entire restaurant hey hey hey you can't sit there you can't sit there. She was getting ready to sit someone but that definitely could've been handled different like maybe talking to me (his mom) and explaining he can't sit there for a couple seconds INSTEAD OF MAKING MY 4 YEAR OLD CRY BECAUSE SHE SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF HIM!!! If I could rate -50 I would! Rude workers!

Very good food. Food was hot and everything I tried was good. I saw some foods that I hadn't seen at other Chinese restaurants, and they were all good. The staff were very friendly and attentive. About the only problem I had was when I got dessert, and the Jello cubes were very dry on one side, and I couldn't chew them, but everything else was very good. Definitely recommending this place for anyone who likes Chinese food and wants a good variety to choose from!

The service and food is an A+ Highly recommend! Clean environment and fresh food. The price is responsible for all the great tasty buffet food!

This buffet had so many choices. Everything was hot and delicious. My four young children all enjoyed it as well. The hibachi didn't have any sauces, which was unfortunate... but it wasn't bad. The crab Rangoon were big and plump, surprisingly good for a buffet. We would definitely return here.

Hands down the worst service I've ever had in my life . They mix my order up then had me drive 30 minutes to pick it up . Then once upon arrival said they were not going to replace it . The lady named Rose would not let me speak to a manager . And would not disclose if they were a franchise or corporate. . It was a very embarrassing situation due to her being so unprofessional . Again the worst service I've ever had in my life !!

holy smokes! best buffet EVERRR! we come here every week from 1-3 lunch buffet is only $10.69, what a steal

I am not a buffet person and had not been to a Chinese buffet in about 20 years. So, when some friends wanted to meet here for lunch, I showed up, so as to be agreeable - albeit with a low bar of expectations. I was actually surprised at how much I liked the food, and there was so much of it to choose from! Staff continually replaced empty pans with fresh food. With the large amount of diners, the food went quickly and did not linger for hours under a heat lamp. My only irritation was that the sign outdoors said they have a senior discount, but only specifies the applicable days of the week and not the hours. Well, our group of six were there on one of those days, a Sunday. When I told the drink server/table busser that we wanted the senior discount, she rattled off something in an unintelligible, heavy Chinese accent behind a face mask, shook her head, dropped off the check and dashed off - no discount. The $12.99 price was not bad, but if you are of a certain age and want the senior discount, I would ask about it upon entering the restaurant, hopefully finding someone who can better explain the conditions. It was possible they go by the time you are done eating, and not when you arrive, but we couldn't understand the woman's English so this only is a guess on my part.

They had some okay chicken, but what really set me off was the waiter service, the lady basically threw the straws on the table and left. Didn't see her till she came back with the check 15 minutes later didnt come to grab plates or give refills

My mom and I come here a lot and their food is always hot and fresh. The workers here are very nice and always make sure our cups are full. I love the look of the place and the koi fish are a nice touch to make the environment feel more friendly.

Worst place to eat in Columbia. Expensive with bad food. I felt like they needed to pay us for enduring this after we were finished

Best buffet I've ever been to! Definitely a must if your love Chinese food, great options and all of it was hot and fresh!

Wonderful experince! Service was great, kept my class refilled. Buffet was delicious and everything was fresh. Really enjoyed Hawaiian chicken. The sushi selection is fantastic. Really a good variety and selection so everyone can enjoy. Also ice cream :)

I mean, it's an American Chinese buffet, it's good and cheap, but you get what you paid for. The food is average, with your normal Chinese buffet expectations fulfilled, such as the twenty types of chicken dishes, the little red squares of jello, the from-a-packet egg drop soup, and the mounds of egg rolls, crab rangoon, and fried rice. The food looks pretty good, and as a person who LOVES chinese food, a one price to cover unlimited eating endeavors sounds like a dream, but that dream slowly turns into a nightmare as the bland, preheated plates of noodles, chicken, and beef hit your palate for hours into the afternoon. p.s. The restaurant has a really cool koi fish pond and kids can get fish food to give to the fish.

Stopped in this evening around 7:30. We have eaten the buffet several times at noon but this was the first time in the evening. The hours state they are open until 9 but by 7:30 pm they had given up on the customers. The wait staff decided it was play time with the boys from the back and apparently time for girl talk. They could not be bothered with attending to customers There was almost no sushi available and none replaced even though several persons were looking for it. The soups were only about 1/4 full. The available food was left over from earlier in the day Not a good choice after the lunch rush

Embarrassing your customers is poor customer service. My boyfriend went outside to smoke a cigarette while I stayed inside and continued to eat. He told them he was stepping outside. Three employees chased him outside and wrote down my license plate number while calling the cops. Everyone in the restaurant was aware of what was going on. This was completely embarrassing. We paid almost $30.00 for a meal we were not able to eat on October 19th 2022. You should inform your staff to look around and make sure both parties are gone before assuming someone is a thief.

Food is so so. Only Chinese buffet I know of in Columbia so we still go. The service is good for a buffet but don't expect anything from the hibachi.

I have been here a few times. Every time I have been here, I was a passenger in the car and the driver always has a difficult time remembering how to enter the parking lot. This location is a lot more attractive than the one in Moberly and a lot more lively. I always liked seeing the little light-up tree by the fish pond. This place is usually busy so be prepared for the noise levels to be high. The food is decent, not great, but there are a lot of options to pick and choose from which is why I love going to buffets. Of course, this food is very Americanized so I go with the obvious choices like sweet and sour or general tso. They have American food like fried chicken of course, which is good if you go here with someone who doesn't like Chinese food. Their deserts are okay, I like the jell-o. They don't always have names on the food which makes choosing confusing, but most of the time I try it to find out if it's good or not. I came here on the weekend for the first time and none of the staff told me I would be charged extra because I suppose the weekends are when they serve seafood. They don't ask if you want access to the seafood or not, so even if you don't plan on eating seafood, you still have to pay more money to eat. I suppose regulars know about this, but I didn't. Upon leaving, I saw a small sign with tiny print mentioning how they are serving seafood and it would be more expensive for a plate. If they told me verbally before I came, I probably wouldn't have eaten there that night.

This is a pretty classic Chinese buffet. I thought the noodle dishes were below average but especially enjoyed the crab rangoon and pot stickers. If you are staying at the Residence or Fairfield Inn, this restaurant is within walking distance. I believe it cost $9.75 for dinner and soft drink (Pepsi products).

This place is a nice little spot to go to. Plenty of food, decent price and the staff are friendly. The sushi leaves a little to be desired but that is a common issue with buffet style sushi. The selection isn't as exotic as I would like but not a bad place.

I am not a fan of buffets. I only went here bc my mom was visiting n she likes buffets. Despite my hesitation it wasn't terrible. They keep the buffet well stocked. They definitely have some strange dishes but the seafood buffet on Friday and Saturday is probably worth a visit if you have guests visiting that would enjoy the type of variety a buffet usually offers. This one has a decent selection actually. The snow crab legs are hit or miss. First visit it was definitely not fresh but the second visit the quality was much improved. I think consistency is always going to be an issue with buffets.

We'd intended to eat dinner at the Cracker Barrel located down the street from this restaurant, but I feel it's illegal to be in the vicinity of a buffet restaurant and not eat there. :) This place was perfectly fine (the food was tasty, there was a decent selection and the cost was very reasonable), but it was nothing special when compared to some other Chinese buffet restaurants we've patronized and that's why I'm only giving 3 stars (actually, I'd prefer to give 3.5 stars - but I don't feel it deserves 4 stars). The people working there were perfunctory, which wasn't a big deal - and the restrooms were very clean.

Used Grubhub for delivery to my car in MOI parking garage. Staying with my daughter at the hospital and I was searching for cheap Chinese food. I ordered my favorites; Egg Drop Soup, Chicken Wings and a couple of Egg Rolls. I couldn't have been more pleased! The food tasted awesome, it was delivered earlier than expected, and it was steaming hot and fresh! Total cost with tip was around $17. The bowl of soup was gigantic! This will definitely be my go-to for Chinese delivery when I'm in Columbia!

kid friendly, you can feed the fish. selection is very good, if you can't find something you like you aren't looking because the selection is very large. Friendly staff.

I HATE that I have to give this place two stars, I would've given three except for the fact that the food wasn't good. I'm pretty sure the one scallop I did manage to chew and swallow was spoiled. We drove over TWO HOURS to eat here. I had been here the year prior and was super impressed with the quality of food, the cleanliness and the fact that their sushi was just about restaurant quality and didn't scream "buffet". I'm more of a health food eater but my husband absolutely loves a good Chinese buffet and I wanted to take him here as a treat. We didn't realize we would not be allowed to serve ourselves even though mask wearing is required inside the restaurant and they have sneeze guards on the food and hand sanitizer stations everywhere. Little upset by this but what were we going to do, turn around and go home? Then we realized the sushi/hibachi station were shut down, ok? There was very little variety of food choices which sucked because I remember when I had been here last there were tons of selection, it was one of the appealing things about this place. What made it worse was the attitude of the girl "helping us", she didn't smile (trust me even when you're wearing a mask you can tell if someone's smiling or not. And her body language screamed annoyance. We could tell she was just really unhappy and we weren't sure if it was the fact that she didn't want to serve us or she just didn't wanna be there in general. We were so put off by her attitude that we just stopped asking for food and went and sat down with what little we had. She didn't give us very much to begin with either with the things that we had asked for. Not really an all you can eat buffet if you can't even put as much food as you want on the plate. The only reason I am not giving one star is because I know our bad experience was all due to the stupid Covid rules that they have set on these restaurants. This was our last attempt to have a decent meal outside of the house. Never again, not until these stupid rules are lifted and we no longer have to take these "precautions". And before you read my review and get all bent, I'm a healthcare worker and I had Covid.

Its $9 for dinner all week and all day Sundays. They have $7 student night on Sundays with a valid college ID. They also have happy hour discounts which run from 2-4pm all week long which is a $6 buffet deal they run. Never been there for lunch myself but the dinner they have on weekends is not that bad. Decent selections, basic buffet items. Never got sick or anything of that nature and I eat here a few times a month. Fast service and your beverage glass is never empty.