Daniel T.
Yelp
I dined at China Garden on Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 11:30 am. Shortly after opening, there was already a full dining room. Luckily, my party didn't have to wait long, but we were seated literally at the last table of the restaurant, which happened to be the table immediately by the entrance. I call it the "unwanted table" because who would want to eat while being surrounded by a crowd of people like zoo animals? There were even several times when people were talking over our table and bumping my chair, which was annoying. Given how quickly the queue grew, I accepted it. Someone had to sit there...
Food:
Plates generally looked presentable and tasted flavorful. Some weren't as hot. It took a considerably long time for the carts to roll out of the kitchen. For most of the time, there were only like 2-3 carts being pushed. The ones that did make it to our table did not have the standard items like the shrimp dumpling, xiu mai, chive dumplings, or fried shrimp ball with crab claw. So we had to wait even longer and flag the waiter to request the additional items.
Service:
Absolutely abysmal service. It was clear they were severely understaffed as we got no service whatsoever except for the busboy, who did an amazing job at clearing our table. But the waiters made no effort to refill waters and hot teas, or give us any additional silverware or napkins. The waiter even ignored me by giving me the hand when I tried to get his attention.
I've been to China Garden several times and have consistently received subpar service. But this time, there was no service at all. The food is usually good, but not good enough to make up for the poor service.