First time take out. Food tasted good. The portion size was small for a dinner meal so I found it costly. Tiny spring rolls! I prefer Hy-Vee Chi. Larger portion size and very tasty. About the same prices. Plus they are friendlier. read more

[Quick, pre-review heads-up: their paper menu (as of 8/08/24) says that they are closed on Tuesdays.] Tried out China Garden today and got the cashew chicken lunch special, which included two scoops of what I think was their fried rice alongside the actual entree. It was a little light on the cashews, but considering how expensive it is to go out to eat these days, a smattering of those pricey nuts is acceptable when the meal is kept under 8 bucks. Additionally, l also ordered the egg rolls for an appetizer, of which it says there are two per order, but I got three. Maybe because they weren't actually egg rolls, but spring rolls. And maybe it was because they weren't full-sized spring rolls, but rather mini versions of spring rolls. That was okay, because they were still light, crispy, and flaky and came with two generous cups of that sweet, orange dipping sauce (duck sauce? sweet and sour? I don't know precisely). Now, what follows next...I don't want it to come off as bashing, because that's not my intent. This place is great for what it does: cranks out cheap, delicious Chinese food, and I'll be back in the future, no doubt. However, if you're looking for ambiance, exotic or otherwise, keep shopping. Other than the almost-bare walls, it's got 6 small tables in the dining space, with room for double that, although there doesn't seem to be a need since there were only two diners when I came in at 12:45. However, they DO have the big aquarium that seems to come standard with a lot of Chinese food places, stocked with plenty of lively fish. And it doesn't even need it, really; I came for cheap, good, and fast, and they delivered on all points. One final thing is that they sell drinks by the individual can. Not really a point against; a lot of places do that. But lemme tell you about what sets them ABOVE other places. It's a couple small things, but it shows they're thinking ahead; thinking about their customers' experience. I got my food to go, and when my order came out (barely 5 minutes later) everything was neatly packed up in a plastic bag. When I finally got to my eating location, opened up that bag and discovered a cutlery set, napkin, soy sauce packet, and fortune cookie all contained within it's own bag. I wanted to go back and kiss that nice lady on the mouth for her efficiency. It's beautiful; I don't have to hunt under anything or go back to get something they forgot--everything you need (unless you're a sodium-aholic and need that second packet of soy sauce) is right there. McDonald's sure as *&%$ isn't doing that for you, as I can attest to from earlier this week. You'd be lucky if they fold your bag closed so your fries stay hot! But China Garden's guest satisfaction isn't done there, my friend. Placed thoughtfully under my styrofoam container was a piece of corrugate--lightweight, yet STURDY--that made sure my entree's container wasn't bent or crushed as I carried it in that plastic bag! It's a small thing, yes, but the considerate FORETHOUGHT in this small addition is greatly appreciated, and I'm sure there are others out there who have had leaks and spills from similar take-out experiences. read more

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I order the sweet and sour chicken, sesame chicken, egg rolls and chicken fried rice. The food is consistently good take out.

A friend and I thought we would try this restaurant for something different. The table we picked had food on the seat of my chair which I had to wipe off to sit. We each ordered a meal and a side of egg rolls for me. The host was not very friendly. I realized she didn't ask what kind of rice we wanted and went to ask her at the front if we were getting fried rice. She looked at me like I was stupid and "yeah". The staff that came out from the kitchen were very nice and friendly when serving our drinks and food. They did forgot my egg rolls but I told them to cancel the side, as I seen the host didn't write it on our ticket. The portions were very generous but food wasn't that great. Not a very good experience overall. We went to Vietnam Cafe the next day and realized we had 100% better experience there with the food and service! read more

I rarely go to Windsor heights because of the police state and their red light cameras, but I'm glad that I stopped here on my way through. It took about 6 minutes from them to make some hunan beef that was quite good. It wasn't write home to your mom good, but I was satisfied. read more

China Garden - Fish and beef. - Chinese Near Me - Clive, Iowa

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I love online ordering and delivery! China Garden has good prices and is always quick. I recommend the Triple Delight or Beef with Mushrooms for entree. The crab rangoons and shrimp puffs are good apps. I prefer the hot and sour soup over the egg drop. read more

Nothing amazing, but good good for a great value. The have an excellent online ordering service. Definitely my go-to for delivery food! read more

China Garden - Potstickers (about $5 for 6) and beef satay. - Chinese Near Me - Clive, Iowa

China Garden is really good 80% of the time. The other 20% is hit and miss. They seem to have one cook who is very heavy handed with the peppers and sometimes you get a dish that's just insanely spicy. Most of the time they're on the ball and the food is great, the delivery is fast (we've never been to the actual location-they're our go to Chinese delivery place), and they've never messed up an order. Especially good-their combo lo mein (order it spicy and pray pepper dude isn't working), their shui mai, and their Vietnamese specialties. read more

Stopped in on a Wednesday night and we were the only ones there...and in no way was that a bad thing because this place is a diamond in the rough. I had the orange chicken and my wife had broccoli and beef. Mine was excellent, fresh and slightly spicy (could have been touch spicier) nice pieces of chicken lightly battered and crispy. The broccoli and beef was also very good, fresh broccoli and tender beef. Only complaint is the decor is a little old and our table had a warped top that caused the piece of glass on top to rock back and forth (very minor). read more

China Garden - Orange chicken - Chinese Near Me - Clive, Iowa

Not bad food - just not what I expected. Hot and sour soup - neither hot nor sour - just sweet and kind of gummy. Tiniest egg rolls I've ever seen - and no hot mustard. The real disappointment for me was the lemon grass chicken. Instead of a light, lemony sauce, the noodles were swimming in a sea of dark brown gravy. Instead of fresh, crunchy cucumbers, lettuce and bean sprouts, they were topped with a ton of cooked onions, also coated with brown sauce. But on the other hand, my husband had combination fried rice and reported that, except for being a little greasy it was pretty good. read more

Pho is good, lots of noodles and broth is good. Mongolian beef is good and cheap but not very much portions. read more

China Garden - Mongolian beef - Chinese Near Me - Clive, Iowa

I was pretty disappointed. Went in for a takeout lunch. I ordered wonton soup and instead of delicious wontons, I got chicken broth with "wonton noodles". Really, really disappointing. It's not wonton soup if it doesn't have filled wontons in the soup. I also ordered an order of egg rolls and my order had two very tiny and mushy egg rolls. I will likely not go here again. read more

If you're looking for solid chinese food at an affordable price, China Garden is your go-to place. I've had just about everything on their menu, they do a very good job with the traditional favorites: chicken/beef lo mein, orange chicken, mongolian beef, etc. Definitely try the pot-stickers and crab rangoons there too. Their egg-rolls used to be amazing but they recently switched to a new recipe and it definitely disappointed me. Atmosphere is very quiet and clean, rarely a huge crowd unless it's lunch. They keep the bathrooms very clean (definitely hard to come by at a chinese restaurant) and their delivery service is quick and efficient, they say 45 minute wait but often times they get my food out to me in around 20 minutes or so. They also have a small bar, but from what I can tell no bartender or mix drinks. If you want to just grab a quick beer and some finger food, this is the place. read more

Coming from California and a predominantly Asian community, I'm a huge Asian food critic. Nonetheless, China Garden is a surprisingly authentic Chinese restaurant in an area where even Panda Express doesn't taste like Panda Express. Pork Fried Rice: The easiest way to tell if a Chinese restaurant is legit is by ordering their fried rice. I was pleasantly surprised that the type of rice used was correct (long grain, either Thai or Jasmine) and was evenly stir-fried to the point where there was no clumping/sogginess. There have been instances where I ordered fried rice in the Midwest and the rice came out either bright yellow, the wrong type of rice was used, or there were still clumps of white rice in the mix. So, China Garden did a good job with this. 5/5 Chicken Lo Mein: They did a good job with the flavoring in terms of authenticity; however, I felt like they accidentally dropped a jar of salt into the Wok because it was way too salty. 2/5 Crab Rangoon: The flavoring is awesome, but it's kind of soggy. I personally like the slight sogginess just because it doesn't cut up the roof of your mouth, but some may not enjoy it. 3.5/5 Amount of Food vs. Pricing: For $8.95 each, the fried rice and chicken lo mein was way overpriced given the amount. It was pretty much a 1 person portion. I get that Chinese food is tough to find out here, but come on... That's nearly double the price you'd pay for in California. I should start selling my cooking. haha... 1/5 Delivery Speed: Took them slightly over an hour to deliver and I live only 10 minutes away. Barely acceptable if I give them a generous 15-20 minutes of cooking time. Then again, delivery is $2 flat. 2.5/5 Conclusion: I'd probably order from them again if I'm super lazy like I was tonight and simply refuse to cook, but otherwise, the price is a big turn off. read more

I have always enjoyed this place, but something changed when they moved to University Ave. The food is a little bland now, and portions are smaller. read more

This restaurant is really nice for a quick sit down restaurant. The staff was very kind and in no rush to get me out. Not only was the staff nice, the food was very delicious and it took only about 10 minutes for my potsticker and garlic chicken to be served to me. The reason I gave it 4 stars was due to the fact that the don't use real plates and instead they use paper/styrofoam but I was not particularly picky about that. read more

This restaurant used to be China Star. The inside had been completely redone; new flooring, new paint, new art work, new tables, chairs and a fish tank has been added. The new decor is certainly an upgrade from before! The wait staff is very nice and our food was brought out very quickly. This restaurant serves their food on paper plates and styrofoam bowls instead of "real" dinnerware, which is disappointing. I ordered the egg drop soup and appetizer egg rolls. The soup was good and so were the egg rolls. However, the egg rolls were incredibly small (2 for $1.65). I ordered Mongolian Beef and my friend had Pineapple Chicken. I feel like my portion of meat and veg were bigger than hers? We both got fried rice and an egg roll. My food was good, except the brown sauce was very salty. Very salty. I would not get that again. My friend said her entree was really good. I will try that next time. We were not rushed to finish and leave, which is nice. I will definitely go back but I will stay away from anything with brown sauce. read more

China Garden - Egg drop soup and appetizer egg rolls. - Chinese Near Me - Clive, Iowa

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Just don't go. The restaurant itself should have been evidence enough to turn around. When you first walk in a huge fish tank with green slime greets you. They have another tank along the wall in equal distress. I ordered to-go so I looked into my bag to see if everything was correct. I pull out the egg roll bag to find miniature, and I mean miniature, spring rolls. I asked why the small size and he told me all the restaurants are making them that small. I should've checked the rest of the food because I honestly wouldn't have paid for it. Once we got it home we began eating only to find out the chicken had an off taste to it. The vegetables were ok but how hard is it to steam a vegetable? I also saw another review on how sugary the food is which is very very true. Just a heads up. read more

I've really enjoyed both take-out and dining in at this restaurant! The pho chin is pretty good, but I really love the pot stickers! The staff is always friendly, and they are pretty quick with their delivery, despite how far I live! I recommend here for both dining in and delivery! read more

Our first time ordering and eating China Garden. The food was fantastic, we ordered combination fried rice and crab Rrangoons, both were delicious. Our only complaint is that we actually ordered from the website because yelp was having trouble connecting and no where on their website did it say prices may vary (yelp does). Our total was $24.65 but when we got our food we were told the total was $28.16! We were paying cash and only had $30 ready. It was super frustrating because we wanted to tip but only had an extra dollar on us so he got screwed out of a decent tip! read more

Where do I start? Ordered sofa and it was warmer then the food. It took an hour and 20 mins for the delivery. And there 8 mins down the road. The food wasn't even worth a 5 minute drive. I never complain with food but I would have rather had Military food instead. Avoid this place! read more

Tons of sugar! Will never order this again. Worst Chinese I've ever had. The amount of sugar in the crab rangoons and sauce in the dishes was way over the top and really disgusting. We threw out 90% of our $32 order. read more

We are looking for good Chinese delivery. Still looking, I was hoping the food would be better than the incompetent guy taking the order. To sum up the meal hot & sour soup should not taste like SWEET & sour soup. The portions were half the size of other delivery places. I didn't even finish my first plate. The rest went into the trash. The only good thing was the delivery person was nice. read more

Tried to order online via yelp, restaurant was still open. after waiting 20 minutes they called me to tell me they "closed early".

Was terribly disappointed. Neither my daughter nor myself finished our food. Her rice was mush and mine was hard as rocks. Our food came on paper plates. When we advised the waitress that we didn't like the Rangoon's (they tasted like sour cream cheese) and our chicken was super tough her response was "maybe you order something different next time!" No offer to order something different then or fix the problem. There will never be a next time. I don't expect to pay $35 for two over cooked dinners on paper plates. No wonder no one else was in the place. read more

My wife and I had takeout from here last night. I would say the food was just okay. It could have been better and it could have been worse. We ordered the food after 10:00 pm so that could have something to do with it but at the same time as long as they are open they should be serving fresh food. My last note is the sauce served on the side for the pot stickers is horrible. read more

DO NOT EAT HERE!!! Worst chinese food I've ever had. Tiny egg rolls which were soggy, sesame chickin didn't even taste like sesame chicken, no soy sauce, no utensils all around horrible food read more

Amazing food. No complaints. Try the pot stickers. The best in town!

The meal was full of flavor, but very heavy on the ginger. I asked if the meal could be made spivey, and they did add red pepper, but the meal was not spicy at all. The garlic in the garlic chicken is present, but not over powering. The seating area was clean and well maintained. The fish tanks were also cleaned but not perfect. Overall this is a great place to eat. read more

Ignore the haters! China Garden is my favorite local place for delivery. I ordered one entree + crab rangoon on a snowy night, and everything arrived within the 40 minutes that they promised on the phone. My food was steaming hot, fresh and perfect. The portion size is generous. I had no problems ordering over the phone and everything I ordered was in the bag. I'm always very happy with China Garden, whether I dine-in or order delivery. Five stars from me. :) read more

Straight up awful. I get broccoli chicken no matter what Chinese restaurant I go to. When delivered this was sitting in a container of liquid - no sauce because that would imply it had flavor - just clear liquid. So now to the lack of flavor. I take credit for assuming it'd be the rich brown sauce that is typical of broccoli chicken, but the "rich white sauce" that it describes on the menu might as well be water. I also ordered egg rolls and pot stickers. I did not receive egg rolls, but I did receive spring rolls. (I double checked my receipt. I ordered egg rolls which come in a set of 2. I received spring rolls which come in a set of 3.) The potstickers were horrendous. I couldn't even finish one. The spring rolls were nothing to write home about but if anything, they would be the highlight of my meal. They weren't good but it was the only part of what I received that I ate over half of. In total I had MAYBE a third of my broccoli chicken (that's being generous - it was probably a fourth). Half of a potsticker. And 2/3 spring rolls. I'm a person who eats food just to justify the money spent. This was so bad I chose to go hungry over eating any more of it. $20 wasted. read more

Don't even try to tell them where you are when ordering for delivery. They don't understand directions even though you're in a mall parking lot by a loading dock for one store. Biggest waste of my time. read more

Very happy with this place I always get the sesame chicken and it's by far the best I've had in Des Moines so far. They've got decent egg roles and the sauce is very good. The price is good as well; dinner for two with leftovers for at least another 1-1.5 meals for under $20.00 Been to about 4 different Chinese places now and I haven't found a better sesame chicken yet. Would highly recommend this place. read more

The kid on the phone is rude and the quality of the food does not justify such an attitude. Over an hour for delivery (30 min more than what they told me) and when I called to find out what was going on, he placed me on hold to take another call. When I explained why I was calling he simply said "it's on the way". Never again, hyvee is cheaper and better quality. read more

It took an hour and a half to get our order. Pho was tasty, pot stickers were disappointing, doughy and filled with this weird meatball thing I've never seen in pot stickers before, and the Mongolian beef was just plain gross- greasy, and bland. They got 2 stars just because of the pho. Save your money. :( read more

My family loves China Garden. It is our "staple" Chinese takeout in West Des Moines. The food is boxed very nicely in plastic containers, making the fresh taste last longer in my opinion. The rice is also boxed in the classic Chinese takeout boxes. The hot and sour soup is a must, as well as the sesame chicken! read more

Ordered delivery from them for first time, Friday night and was quoted 45-60 minutes, but took closer to only 30. Ordered orange chicken, shrimp puffs, and beef satay. The beef satay was surpringly nice and moist when I had it, crispy exterior, came with a few pieces of warmed canned pineapple. Shrimp puffs were basically tail-on shrimps with cream cheese wrapped in spring roll wrapper and fried. Still crispy when it arrived. The orange chicken had nice flavor and refreshing bits of orange peel. The chicken itself was soggy from the sauce but hey, its delivery so that's gonna happen. Overall, above average Chinese take-out/ delivery. And the fact they drove nearly 4 miles to deliver it, paired with the speed of delivery, kind delivery driver, and how hungry I was at the time( and desperate for food), is why I'm giving it 5 stars for what it is. In reality, probably somewhere around a 4 but I was just darned impressed. My expectations have been exceeded. Will order from them again in the future. read more

I've always liked this place - but it must be pretty busy. Tonight is Friday and we ordered 2 hours ago for delivery and it still isn't here. read more

This is possibly the best Chinese in the city. Lots of flavor and plenty of chunky veggies. Not crazy about their egg rolls but everything else we have had has been great (and we order from here frequently!). Love their empress chicken. Their delivery is super fast and are often told it may be 45 min and it arrives in 15 (we live nearby, but still!). Dine in experiences have been good as well. read more

I tried this place because two friends of mine said it was amazing. I was terribly let down - it hurts me to say but hy-vee even has better Chinese food than here. I guess I'm still searching for a go to spot... read more