Given these stellar reviews, I WANT to love Hunan! I do! When I went on a Wednesday evening, I ordered the crispy tofu and it was one of the strangest things... 6 breaded tofu sticks with (not nearly enough) sauce on the side, plus rice. I ordered an entree but this dish is ultimately an appetizer, and a bland tasting one at that. Meanwhile, my dining partner had the crispy pork which was delicious with tons of veggies and a great sauce mixed into the breaded meat. I'll probably go back and try something else, but until then, be warned: don't order the crispy tofu! read more

Have been going to the Hunan now for years. Today we took our kids car shopping and decided to have an early dinner. I have an autistic 10 year old who has severe food issues so I called ahead to make sure it would be OK to bring food in. Stopped and got her fries from BK and went to the restaurant. When we got there the sign on the door said masks are required. Where we live this isn't really a thing so I called and asked. The girl who answered the phone said if you don't have them we do. We walk in and a woman I have always assumed was an owner got very rude about the masks. I explained that the girl had told us on the phone that they had them. She gave us masks, but scoldingly told us next time we had to bring our own. No problem I was going to go get some if the girl hadn't volunteered them. Then she asked us to wait while she got our table ready. This was no problem, but instead of doing that she made mention of the bag of Burger King. I explained that I had called ahead to ensure this was OK, and the girl had gone and asked. She said yes, for little kids and our kids should be able to eat off their menu. Even going so far to say they can fry stuff including chicken. My autistic daughter also doesn't eat meat. She has texture problems. This is exactly why I called ahead about bringing in food. If they had said no it wouldn't have been a big deal we would have come at a different time when we had a sitter. Sadly, my other three love chinese, but rarely get it. If I hadn't called I would have a better understanding of her rudeness, but as I did I was highly offended. She talked to me like a child in front of my children. I will never be back to a place I have eaten at for years and years. Sad to think I wasted my gas driving there from Marion and also time I could have been enjoying with my children instead of being humiliated. It's to bad for the server who would have gotten us to. Our bill would have been over $100, and I never tip less than 25%. It's safe to say that after this experience my family will never be back. She was pleased with herself when we left even saying goodbye to us and our kids in a snotty way. Not much of a way to run a business if you ask me. read more

The best service in town. Consistently great Chinese and some Thai dishes. Usually fast turnaround too. Take out has always been great from here too. read more

Stopped by here on my way home from visiting family for Thanksgiving. The food was absolutely delicious and our waiter Ramses was by far the greatest server i've had in a long time (Keep in mind i'm coming from Chicago)! His recommendations were spot on and I look forward to returning for the next holiday! My only issue was that the owner collects 2% on all credit card tips, which seems like robbery, especially seeing how hard his workers work and how dedicated they are. So please when going, tip your servers in cash, ask to sit in Ramses section, and tell the owner to appreciate his employees more! read more

Top notch Chinese food! Always great food and wonderful service! I love their Jumpong and Chinese dumpling. We will be back!

Just had a fantastic meal at Hunan. We've been reluctant to eat out much because of COVID 19, but heard good things about how Hunan was taking the pandemic seriously. And they certainly are taking it serious. Face masks are required until you are seated. Hand sanitizer at the door and hand sanitizer at your table. If you're looking for a great meal in COVID-19 careful place, with great service, you won't be unhappy with Hunan. read more

The spring rolls had too much pepper in them. The samosas were a little runny but they tasted ok. The veggies in garlic sauce weren't that great and left a bad taste in my mouth. The staff were friendly. read more

This is a fantastic restaurant. I am sad that I only just now started eating here. We have gone several times. I appreciate all of the safety precautions, spacing, mask wearing, sanitizing, cleaning, etc that is being done. I feel safe eating in here during this pandemic. The food is top notch and we have yet to find a dish we dislike. I love that it can all be served family style at the table so we can all try each others dishes to explore more of the menu! The servers take an initiative to get to know you and make you feel at home. A++ read more

I have always loved this restaurant but service at the front was iffy when our order was 1 hour later than quoted, I get that it's a busy night but not handled well and not particularly happy and that's not great for new management. It leaves a bad taste before I've eaten read more

The best, period, Chinese restaurant in the area. Food is incredible, staff amazing and while pricey compared to other places it is so worth it. read more

This rating is solely for the quality of food (Service had no problems). We ordered the Salt & Pepper Calamari, Succulent Pompano, String Beans with Black Bean Sauce and the Shrimp with Black Beans. String Beans were fine, shrimp just okay. The calamari was bland with the exception of the spoiled taste from the carrots they used. By far the worst calamari from a Chinese restaurant I've had. The pompano was barely edible. After removing the sauce and eating what it hadn't touched it was more palatable. The sauce tasted like reduced kitchen sink waste. No one at the table liked it. I'm happy to see many options on the menu, and perhaps we just chose the wrong dishes, but from my experience I wouldn't come back. I'm very familiar with Chinese food coming from a half Chinese household, eaten at many Chinese restaurants from Virginia to Louisiana to Minnesota. I'd say I was better off at fast food Chinese than here. Wish the best to the business and hope you find a standard of quality in your food. (Reduce the menu). read more

We always look forward to dining at Hunan whenever we are in Carbondale. The food is wonderful and the owners are genuinely good, friendly people. We've eaten there dozens of times in the past 10 years and we have never been disappointed. It is the best restaurant in town! read more

Hunan Restaurant - Honey Walnut Chicken, with beautiful presentation. - Chinese Near Me - Carbondale, Illinois

Hunan's. What can I say? The best Chinese food in all of Southern Illinois is silly to say. It's better than anything I have had in Illinois, including Chicago; anything in the Midwest. It is big city good. Mr San and his family have done a very good job providing and continuing to provide excellent Chinese dishes. Their sweet and sour sauce is not dyed red-it is much better than the typical sauce coming from a wholesale Distribution center. I recommend the beef hot pot. Wow! The wait staff is courteous and have been regardless who they are over the 20 years I have eaten there. This tells me they are treated well and pass that on to the customers. read more

One of the best Chinese restaurants that I've encountered in my travels. A true gem! First striking thing to me was being offer a choice of tea selections. Usually its take the house tea and like it. Next, there hot and sour soup is one of the best that I've tasted. Finally, there Sesame Beef is exceptional. They've been in business at this location for 21 years. I'm from the SF Bay Area and this place is as good as its best. read more

I enjoyed the tea smoked chicken with buns. The plum sauce made for a nice addition and the waitress was very attentive and pleasant.

One of the best restaurant in town and defiantly the best for Chinese food. Taste of some dishes is up to par with Chicago Chinatown standers but with better services. Try the traditional menu. Pretty much everything is good on it. read more

Very good food and excellent service. We ordered off the lunch menu which I would always do as it was a perfect portion with just a bit left over (or none depending on the eater.) I had the Thai Basil Chicken. This was a drier dish than typical Chinese; I really enjoyed it. Daughter had the Cashew Chicken which was typically saucy but very garlicky. I loved the garlic but I thought this was unusaly enough to mention. Both were very good. We would definitely return if traveling in Carbondale again. read more

We love this place. Wonderful food, always pleasant, sparkly clean and great service and decor. My husband always gets Tom Yum and Jam Bong, extra hot, and he laps up every bit like a ravenous wild dog. Well not really, but you know what I mean, it's darn good food. I always try something different and always leave very impressed. Nice selections of tea - not like the bitter stuff you get in most places around So. Illinois. It's a 40 minute drive for us but well worth the trip. read more

I ordered a shrimp dish, and the shrimp were cooked perfectly. The sauce sadly was bland - and it was marked on the menu as "spicy". The next time I order, I will specify that I want the heat turned up. Good, fresh food nonetheless. read more

Hunan is one of our favorite places for chinese in Carbondale. The food is always high quality and reasonable price.

I thought I didn't like Chinese food until I visited Hunan. When I finally tried their Honey Walnut Chicken, I saw how very wrong I was. There is nothing better than crispy chicken, pineapples and walnuts coated in a delightfully sweet cream sauce. They also have the absolute best crab rangoon and fried rice -- I've never found any that compare. Drinks have always been great, too; try the Blue Lagoon (they light the middle on fire!). The staff is very friendly, the food is always delicious, and I have never once had a negative experience (and we've been many times ...). Even during busy hours, I've never had a long wait time whatsoever. The owners are often out front chatting with guests. Servers are always very attentive. Can't say enough good things about this place! read more

This is easily one of the gems in Carbondale. The food here is amazing. I usually get the General's chicken and it is breaded perfectly as well as glazed with an amazing sauce that gives a tiny bit of a bite. As far as soup, I usually get the Hot and Sour. While it is a good soup, they put a lot of black pepper that kind of throws off the taste. The person ordering the soup can put in the pepper if they want, but they should leave it out. The menu here is very extensive with both Chinese and Korean food. Most of it is quite tasty and this is easily one of the biggest surprises in Carbondale. One of the only issues I have is that it is pricey and their lunch meals don't include soup. Also, the serving sizes are small. Therefore, you don't get a lot for your money, but they make up for it with the taste. read more

Food was delicious as always and our server Alicia was excellent, very friendly and a very good server.

Shrimp wonton soup was very salty. The hot ginger shrimp was tasty and so was the Spicy duck. The food quality was average. I've had better; however, good service. read more

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This is the best chinese restaurant in the world. The Beef hot pot changed my life. Spicy beef and pepper sauce with bok choy. The hot and sour soup I would kill for... San and Jenny are amazing people, I worked for them at 20 and it was the best experience as a waitress... the manager David is awesome. Great place worth the money read more

Hunan is one of the five nicest restaurants in the Marion/Carbondale area. The Moo Shoo pork is great. The crispy shrimp is one of my favorite dishes. They also have a crispy tea smoked duck that I've had it was awesome. But my absolute favorite thing is the salt and pepper calamari. Tip: go for lunch. Better prices and no up-charge for fried rice. read more

Food is amazing and service really good everyone is super sweet and nice. Service is really fast and they will get you anything good always good. Very kid friendly and dress causal but it's very nice. read more

Ok! Finally a good eats place here in the south. Usually General Tso's Chicken in every Chinese restaurant I've eaten at was a plate of really sweet crunchy dough with a tiny piece of chicken. But here they are huge pieces of chicken in very little breading. And it's not super sweet. Carl is an excellent server too. read more

Excellent food and always excellent service. My favorite is the beef hot pot (#7 on the Chinese menu I think). I definitely recommend if you like more traditional Chinese food. So good!!! read more

Typical Chinese restaurant, I thought until I had the food. The food was well seasoned, the space was intimate. The portion sizes were good enough for 2 people to share, with appetizer on the side. They are good with picky eaters who would like to make their own dishes, reduce salt, add onions and peppers to their dish. Our server Tom did really well! read more

40$ for two meals with appetizers. Pricey for what you get. And the sales tax in C'dale adds another 10%. Good food, but be careful what you order! I had a crispy tofu with brown sauce. And that's what I got: a pound of crispy tofu and brown sauce. Great for a happy family approach but not stand-alone. Others at the table shared veggies and I ended up with a good meal. The other meal was veggies and garlic sauce and rated a good as well. Clean, informal, servers were right there with refills. read more

Delicious Chinese food . Staff and waitresses are wonderful. favorite is fried duck , broccoli chicken and shrimp panag curry. Always going back there when in mood of eating something delicious and just to have peaceful good time. read more

LOVE LOVE LOVE this restaurant. Don't let the one bad review fool you, Hunan is the best, the ORIGINAL oriental restaurant in all of Southern Illinois that serves Asian cuisine, and I've been going there for years. There are some dishes that appeal more to some people than to others, but you'll have that at any restaurant. As for Mr. "Justin K. Don't you wish you ate places like I have."-- 1. First of all, it's "HAVE EATEN..." 2. Then he says "who says oriental food ! the food is generic at best..." : Hunan not only has an awesome 5 or 6 page menu, but they also have an entirely different menu of more classic oriental dishes... all written in Chinese. Wow, I sound like a commercial. 3. "...the fact that you have to wait is crazy." : HELLO!! I don't know how things are where you live, but around here, that means that people think the food is worth waiting for! 4. "Drive to Marion to sao's Asian bistro." : First of all, I'm FROM Marion and I prefer to drive to Carbondale for some Hunan than to walk to the Asian Bistro. The bistro is a not-as-good duplicate of Hunan (if you're not from around here, you probably don't know that Sao, the owner of the Asian Bistro, originally co-owned Hunan until he decided to go his own way) and I have been to the bistro enough times to know that it is just not up to par with Hunan. For instance, refer back to Point #2. The several times I had tried the Asian Bistro had been during the "big dinner crowd" hours. So why were there only 2 or 3 other tables occupied the entire time I was there? The food just doesn't quite hit the spot as well as Hunan's food. I would give Hunan 5 stars for their food, service, and overall pleasant atmosphere (again, I know, very commercial-like, but true). The waitstaff is great and you can almost always find the owner(s) chatting it up with customers on the floor. I do agree with Jillian though, the lunch prices are awesome!! (around $7 to $8) But even though dinners there can be a bit pricey for us college students, trust me it's worth the few extra dollars, AND THE TEN MINUTE WAIT TOO! read more

Best Chinese food in Southern, IL just a little pricy. The cost is what keeps them from getting 5 stars. Hands down best sesame chicken I have had at any Chinese resturant anywhere. read more

They have so many different types of asian food including time, chinese, and indian. I had the Sczwhen duck. I was actually surprised at how fast all of our food came out as most of it was very elaborate dishes. I was disappointed that I didn't order anything that had the very elaborate decorative swan like my friend who had the fish. I should have took pictures of how beautiful all the food was but it smelled so good that we just went right into eating. The drinks were slightly on the pricey side and I actually spend more on drinks than food. Great fast service without seeming pushy read more

This was the worst Chinese food ever!!! I always pass by this place and was very excited to finally get to try the food. I've heard it's a bit on the pricey side but I figured pricey means quality... boy was I wrong about that! A friend and I went the day before Labor Day around 4pm. My friend ordered Kung Pao Chicken and I got some type of Spicy Trio with beef, shrimp and chicken? Ughhh.. Ewww.. After about 7 minutes our food comes out... THAT told me everything! There's no way fresh food can be prepared that quickly. C'mon now son! I had no issue with the service. Our waiter was a very nice young man who took great care of us. Everything tasted bland and old. I kept feeling like I was eating someone's left overs stored in a left boot. I also ordered a side order of fried rice and crab rangoon. It was luke-warm. Nothing was fresh at the table. Everything just seemed reheated. I'm extremely displeased with the food I received. I didn't want to send the food back or be diva so I took the L and just accepted the fact that I lost about $40 to some bogus food. The entire meal I kept looking at my friend and giving him the death glare because I wanted to go to the buffet near the post office instead. I'm so mad about this experience. I just can't believe for this place to be so hoity-toity... that they sucked so badly and don't care about the quality of the food they're serving. I'd suggest you all to just stick with New Kahala or the place by the post office, this place has no standards for the food they serve. Another thing... The only thing fresh on my plate was the garnished orange and rose arrangement. I didn't even get to eat the orange my friend did. DON'T EAT HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

The most bland Chinese food I've ever had. Everything was very disappointing. The shrimp wontons were nothing but a tiny piece of bland boiled shrimp in a sauce, no filling. The hot and sour soup was neither hot nor sour. The soup tasted like chicken broth with an entire container of black pepper. I could barely talk after each spoonful because of all the pepper. I also got the hot pepper chicken which contained chicken and jalepenos in a light sauce that you could barely taste. Nothing had much flavor. I will not be going back. Save your money and go to the Chinese Buffett. It's somewhat better. read more

The hot & sour soup was good but the duck we ordered i wouldn't even serve to my dog. It was dry & tasted like it had gone from the freezer into the microwave & then served to us. read more

This place was great. I only went a couple of times, but my family was impressed. The meat was especially tender, and just saying that doesn't give it justice. It doesn't provide a buffet, so if you're used to buffets, you may despise the place because you're ordering a single entree for the same price as the buffet down the road. However, it's a great place to dine. read more

The food here is excellent. One of our favorite restaurants. The orange chicken here is amazing. Fancier atmosphere than most eat-in chinese restaurants. Would definitely recommend. read more