Really wanted to love this place but it was just ok. Overall food was average but good Chinese in my opinion but the service was where it was more disappointing. Did an order ahead that said it would be ready in 30 min. Showed up 40 minutes later wasn't ready. They were decently busy so I was fine waiting longer. Then they forgot I was waiting for a pickup and tried to serve us in house. Seemed like very nice people just didn't have a good set up for when it's busier. Got our food after about an hour and 15 min after ordering. Other people were there for close to 2. pepper chicken was the best- rice that it came with was cooked perfectly. Wontons were decent. The spring roll was soggy and the gyoza was a little dry. The reviews kept showing a dumpling sauce that people used for the gyoza which I asked for but they didn't give me any and I think the sauce would've made it better read more

Joy's Mongolian Grill - Dim Sum Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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Spicy hot pot lured me in! It was so good!!!! Friendly service and loved the lovely chef and server! It's so good to eat such ethnic foods!! So glad we popped in!! read more

Joy's Mongolian Grill - Spicy Beef Hot Pot!! I'm loving the heat and flavors of star of anise, beef, Bok Choy, and everything else!! - Dim Sum Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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Was looking for a unique restaurant to wet my appetite and a quick yelp search gave us this absolute gem of a restaurant. I think the dinners are the best deal mostly because they give mega-butt-ton of food! Oh yea, I went on 6/26/20 and they are serving takeout only. There is a little barricade of tables that gives a layer of separation like the Berlin Wall did for east and west but in more of a positive manner cause I don't want to die from COVID19. The portion size is absurd and the food is authentic. I glupped down everything and felt like a tired tire (we've all been there). Also side-note, you know the freshman 15 where you gain 15 lbs because of stress and meal plans when you get to college, well I'm trying to trademark the same concept called the COVID 19. Do ya get it? you gain 19 lbs since ya sit on the couch all day. The place is hard to describe but is genuinely amazing, give it a try! read more

Joy's Mongolian Grill - The Berlin Wall c. 1961 - Dim Sum Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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The food and service is incredible every time. Joy's is far and away my favorite spot in Ames.

Well, first couple times eating here was good, can't remember what I order exactly but this time I ordered the orange chicken and the results were less favorable. Let's just say the "chicken" is parts of chicken at best, I wouldn't have even minded if it was dark meat so long as it was whole chunks. This was far from that, the picture says it all. First two times I would have rated 4-4.5, not this time. Sorry Joys. read more

Joy's Mongolian Grill - Orange Chicken - Dim Sum Near Me - Ames, Iowa

This place is a local favorite. My friends and I loved stopping in at Joys back when we were ISU students. My bf and I stopped by recently and the food brought back many good memories, I really missed this place. We got the spicy beef dry hot pot and the pan fried pork. Both were flavorful and savory. I really prefer their pork or beef dishes here rather than their chicken. They do a great job marinating the meat and cooking it the perfect amount. Side note, if you're getting something like orange chicken, don't expect it to be like Panda Express. They have so many options here, and while there isn't a lot of description in their menu, some dishes add in peppers, onion, sometimes mushrooms. Lots of great ingredients are added to help emphasize the tastes in each dish. The meals include unlimited rice. And portion sizes are pretty big. I get so full by the time I finish eating. I did get some egg custard buns, a sweet treat that I can never resist. I always pack them to go and end up eating them all in the car ride back home. This place may look small and modest, and not something you'd quite expect. But the food here is authentic and delicious. There's a reason locals keep coming back to this place. Definitely suggest giving this place a try before overlooking it. read more

Joy's Mongolian Grill - Pan fried pork, spicy beef dry hot pot, egg custard buns - Dim Sum Near Me - Ames, Iowa

The spicy fried chicken was very flavorful and held its crispy coating. The chicken was well spiced and juicy. (One serving comes with a plentiful amount) The beef noodle soup has to be my favorite menu item. The noodles are a good chewy texture, the beef is tender, and the broth is full of flavor. (Sometimes they add spinach) read more

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One of the best Chinese restaurants in Ames! The staff is friendly, Joy is so sweet, and the food is absolutely delicious and fairly priced! Authentic Chinese food can be found here and I recommend the pork with garlic sauce! read more

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Wonderful restaurant that makes their food from scratch. I ordered the bok choy pork buns, chive pork dumplings, and sesame balls, and they were all excellent and fresh. I was surprised all the food was made-to-order since other restaurants tend to reheat frozen but not Joy's! Highly recommend if you're looking for a quick bite near campus since they offer pick up. read more

Joy's Mongolian Grill - Chive Pork Dumplings - Dim Sum Near Me - Ames, Iowa

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One of my favorite Chinese restaurants in Iowa. Food is fresh, authentic, and full of flavor. They make the best crab Rangoons ever. read more

Joy's Mongolian Grill - Spicy chicken, beef hot pot, and green beans - Dim Sum Near Me - Ames, Iowa

My review: If I had to describe eating at joys to someone who's never had it I'd describe it as making a treacherous week long journey through a dangerous beast filled jungle only to find at the end of your travels, a fountain of youth that through its consumption, heals you of all your pain and restores your mortal essence to its fullest. Eating at joys is like working all day in the heat and coming inside an air conditioned home sitting in a cool recliner and having a refreshing glass of ice cold lemonade. Joys truly is a holy place, and I am blessed to eat here. My gfs review: when i tell you i met god at joys mongolian grill. eating those dumplings was like being held in god's big strong hand. i would kill an entire legion of spartan soldiers for one (1) of joy's crab rangoons. i would protect the cook's entire extended family throughout the most heinous of apocalypses just for the chance to eat this food again. if vincent van gogh had eaten here, he would never have painted because his depression would have immediately been cured. fank yew for coming to my ted talk. in short: eat here. now. :) read more

My girlfriend and I wanted to try something new in the area and stumbled across Joy's from a quick Google search. We started off with the egg rolls and crab ragoons which were some of the best I have personally had. Ordered the sweet and sour chicken and a combination lo mien which we shared and ended up having leftovers the proportions were so hefty. For the amount of food you get, it was a very very reasonable price. For the mid-western taste buds, the lo mien had the perfect amount of spice to it to make it enjoyable while still getting a good kick. The sweet and sour chicken was okay, breaded chicken pieces with provided dipping sauce. Being a student at ISU, I will definitely be going back to Joy's with friends for some good Mongolian food. read more

If you don't love getting full on pure and authentic mainland Chinese food for only ten dollars, stay away from this restaurant! The food always comes out really hot and there's always a nice host/cashier. On the menu there are red peppers to indicate the level of spice with the food. Joy's has been in business for 10 years and is the heart of Ames Chinese. This is the standard. The hosts change by the semester as this is a college town, but the owner is one woman that does a lot of the cooking and the main chef is a great guy from Tianjin, China. I love that there's consistency with the food that comes out of the kitchen - I HATE different cooks and inconsistent food. I primarily order Szechuan dishes, but I'm sure An Chi - the owner - can make the other 7 cuisines of China. I often ask for Chinese dishes not on the menu and if she can make them she often does. I moved here from Houston - a multicultural metropolitan city with two Chinatowns, a little India, west, south, and east African restaurants, Latin American restaurants, and is in a state that's northern Mexico - and this place has become my second home. Whenever I feel down or miss being with other people of color in an auntie's kitchen, I come here. These people are family if you're a person of color away from home. read more

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Tastes really good and better than before. The store inside is reconstructed and the menu is new.

Joys is a true hole in the wall. Don't go expecting ambiance and a gorgeous interior. Go expecting authentic Chinese food with an international clientele. I usually order the same dish every time I go, chicken in spiced chili sauce (#9 chicken), but I've tried other dishes including dumplings and eggplant. The pork and eggplant dish is very nice although on the sweeter side. The chive and pork dumplings are fantastic. Portion sizes are generous. The only problem with Joys is that it is inconsistent. I've ordered the #9 chicken dish three times now. The first two times the dish including sliced chicken breast but this last trip it was bone-in chicken. Sauce was the same and included lots of enoki mushrooms and Szechuan peppercorns, but the chopped bone-in chicken made it difficult to eat. Add it to the list of legit Chinese places in Ames for when you're craving a meal that will transport you to Beijing, but keep in mind that sometimes dishes change slightly. read more

This place has unlimited white rice which is good. The chicken was not very good quality, very squishy and fatty. They do serve LARGE portions too. The place itself isn't very aesthetically appealing either (not very important but I thought I'd mention it). I personally do not think I will be back but I know it's fairly popular, just didn't suit my taste or meet my standards. read more

I was in Ames with a couple friends and we were going to go check out Taste Place Chinese restaurant, but there was a wait and no one seemed like they were done eating their food, so we decided to walk down to Joy's Mongolian Grill and give this place a try. First impression wasn't very good since the decor is a little dull and boring, but who cares if the food is good right? There is a menu with more traditional dishes on the front and a variety of Chinese dishes on the back, so you won't find Orange Chicken on the back :) You order at the front and then you seat yourself. There is a 5% credit card fee, which I didn't see but that's fine with me since i'm supporting my old college town! You get your own rice, and there is also soup available (found out while reading reviews after eating...oops), so that is a nice bonus. My friends ordered the Mongolian Beef and Kung Pao Beef. Both came out in about 5-7 minutes so it's pretty quick. I ordered the Beef Noodle Soup, which I didn't find on the menu and took a little longer for it to come out. I decided to try my best to say it in Chinese lol. Thankfully the lady understood my butchered Mandarin :) There was also a menu with Chinese characters on it, so my dish could have been on that, but this guy can't read Chinese...I blame my parents :) My Beef Noodle Soup is exactly what I wanted on a chilly evening. The broth was dark, rich, and super flavorful. There were plenty of medium sized noodles (I wished they were a little bit thinner), tender beef, and green veggies. I didn't expect it to be as spicy as it was, so I did sweat a bit and my sinuses were cleared. Overall, I enjoyed my first time here at Joy's. I know I shouldn't judge a place based on previous reviews and by the exterior/interior, so I was glad my friends and I decided to give this place a try. read more

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Wonderful menu of authentic foods! Highly recommended! Loved the House Special Low Mein!

Stopped by this place while visiting Ames with friends. It's a typical Chinese restaurant you would expect in a college town. You order at the register, get your own water and rice, and get a number so they can bring out your food. They also have all you can eat rice and hot and sour soup. A bonus! I ordered Kung Pao beef, friend got mongolian beef, and another order beef noodle soup. All of our dishes were $8 a piece and all were great portions. Everything tasted great. The vegetables were bright and crunchy, there was a ton of sauce which I love, and the beef noodle soup was seasoned great. We were all very happy. If this place was in Des Moines, I would definitely come here on a regular basis. I enjoy server yourself type atmosphere where there isn't someone bothering me about needed water and so on. Great place. I can't give it 5 starts because it's not the best place in the world, but I can give it a solid 4 stars because it is pretty darn awesome! read more

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Decent Chinese food and having endless rice and soup is a bonus! Great for a cold day. I came here last winter to try it out and it wasn't bad. I got one of the hot pot dishes and it was alright. The food here definitely beats commercialized chinese food -- especially since they serve pig intestines (which my friend said is tasty!) I do give it a thumbs up for having endless rice (including fried rice) and soup (egg drop and hot and sour) You can get full pretty easily no matter what you spend. The location is good because it's centralized in campustown. However, it's not the cleanest restaurant but if you don't mind hole in the wall type of places, it's fine. Service is also quick and reliable read more

Joy's Mongolian Grill - Pig Intestines! - Dim Sum Near Me - Ames, Iowa

*First impression post* I've heard that Joy's Mongolian Grill is the secret best authentic Asian restaurant in Ames so I figured I would give it a try. Ordering take-out was very straight forward and they had our meal ready in about 25 minutes (they were also busy with delivery meals and did not have much staff, probably cuz of COVID-19). It has a humble exterior and interior...but I feel like that's how you know it's gonna be good; they aren't trying to compensate for anything by dressing up the place. ANYWAYS, the food was GREAT! I have been to China in the past and love love LOVE the 3 Treasures dish. Joy's prepares it perfectly! The other two dishes were also very authentic. If you're wanting "Americanized" lo Mein you may be surprised by the house special lo Mein, but I think it's better :) The staff did a great job in carefully preparing our food for take-out. I definitely look forward to being able to visit this place again when it is open for dine-in. read more

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Super good food, very large portions, good variety of food. Highly recommend this restaurant

This is one of my favorite local spots in Ames. Every item on the menu is at a good price and is very delicious.

If you enjoy lo mein, definitely try Joy's! My favorite in Ames, generous portion size and addictive flavors.

Fair price Real chinese food Perfect taste Close to campus I like it read more

Chinese food is always good and Joy's had decent reviews so we bit. We ordered online for pickup 30 minutes later. When we arrived to get our food none of it was ready and several of the items we ordered were not available. Not a big deal but a notification would have been great. We waited another 30 minutes for our food to be ready. We only order chicken dishes and maybe it was the chicken itself but it was extremely chewy and tough. Very little sauce came along with each dish. Needless to say that 3 out of 5 dinner dishes are still in my fridge which is unusual since we are a family of 7. The crab Rangoon, dumplings and rice were good. The servings for rice were generous and it wasn't dried out like a lot of places. First time go around wasn't a success but I'd give it a second go but not with my entire family on the hook. read more

Nice and good price. Perfect taste for a hungry Asian. The banana desert is the best. Man, they even have chomian with various side. read more

Joy's Mongolian Grill - Dim Sum Near Me - Ames, Iowa

I would say that the place looks dull and boring. Some of the coverings on their sofa have peeled, and if you sit at the back of the restaurant, I think the floor is a little bit crooked. They would charge an extra fee of using credit card so it is better to just pay with cash. You take your own rice, water, utensils, and soup. They have both egg drop soup and sweet and sour soup to choose. You can also take plain white rice or bland fried rice. Their american-chinese food is so-so. They used to have a secret menu in mandarin but since the menu has gained popularity, they tried to do a literal translation and put it at the back of their menu under 'House Special'. They did not do a really good job in translating though but the food from that menu is good. I would recommend chopped cold chicken (steamed chicken with soy sauce), yu-xiang eggplant, mu xu rou, and sauteed fish with vegetables. If you like the kind of dish which include pork fat, order stewed pork leg or red-braised pork. Both are tasty too! read more

It's a common thing that people only rate bad experiences but never take the time to give credit to the good ones. I am also guilty of that. But when it comes to this restaurant, I owe it voice my opinion as they have kept me alive during my college years, as well as so many others. This is basically the certified campus Chinese restaurant if you disregard Panda Express. Sure, there's the new Taste Place (which is really good), Little Taipei (great bbq but really annoying and disrespectful waitresses), and Chinese Home Style Cooking (unhygienic according to several employees), but none are as good as Mongolia Grill. Mongolia Grill is very generous with its portions, basically paving the way for "free soup and rice with entree" trend in town. The entrees ranges from 7 - 9, with specialized dishes (region specific in China) for higher prices. It is affordable, and that's the idea because the owners want to help out college kids (they refuse tips). The food of course is very good, more Americanized dishes are on the front page, and traditional Chinese on the back. They also have a white board that lists new dishes, but that's in Chinese (expanded to compete with the new restaurants in town). I have been going for 4 years now, sometimes three or four times a week. The food is ready quickly (5 - 8 minutes), always delicious, always generous, and the owners are very kind. Many many many people go to Mongolia Grill, and I'm just one of them to post a review. read more

I stopped by here a couple times, actually by accident (there's another Mongolian restaurant that is a buffet nearby). The first time, I came here with my parents who are good at judging the authenticity for Asian cuisine. Although Mongolian is in the title, the restaurant serves a wide range of Asian dishes. I found my broccoli chicken to be pretty generic broccoli chicken, nothing exceptional. My parents seemed to really enjoy their dish, which came from the special's menu. It was served as some type of soup with a medley of meats, vegetables, and broth. The restaurant offers all you can eat white rice and soup, which seems advantageous, but the quality doesn't seem to be present at all for the side dishes. The owners seem friendly and willing to help as needed. I know some mandarin and was able to practice a bit with them, which was more of a joke than anything, but they were polite in avoiding criticism. Anyways, I can't speak too highly of my dish, but I'd dig into the special section of the menu, where you might find treasure. read more

Do not order online. Both times I have I had to wait 20-30 minutes after my quoted time for pick up. Not worth it.

Do not order their dinner take-out/platter or you will be cheating yourself. For some reason, they are always out of soup, and just give one meager crab ragoon as a replacement (in addition to the single meager crab ragoon you are already getting). Not worth the price hike from 7.95 to 9.50, without tax. A scam and a sham. read more

One of my favorite Asian places around. Love it because it's not just Americanized Asian stuff. I like to try new things every time but it's sometimes hard to know what you are actually getting because lots of it's in Chinese or has no description. read more

Come here to fill your belly with authentic Chinese food on the cheap. All you can eat, serve yourself rice and soup. This is a restaurant with food that sounds like something I'd never encounter elsewhere: bean curd and intestine, etc. The actual building is in pretty bad shape, especially the seats in the booths. read more

Really good cuisine! Probably the next most authentic chinese food you can get in Ames besides Szechuan House. The owner is super nice, and the atmosphere inside is different compared to other restaurants nearby. If you're up to trying something good and different, I recommend this place. read more

Awesome spot! For years I've been wanting to try this place out, and for some reason never went. Well, am I glad I finally did! The food was soooo good. I had the spicy seafood hot pot, and it was delicious. There was so much flavor. And it was an insane amount of food. My meal honestly could've fed three people, and it was only $10!!!!! Joy's is a quality spot. You should not miss out on this one! read more

Joy's used to be my favorite Chinese restaurant in Ames because of their hot and sour egg drop soup. ITS THAT GOOD and honestly the only thing that sets them aside from the rest of the Chinese restaurants in Ames. Recently every time I go they are out of both of their soups. When I ask the cashier if they are bringing more out they tell me that they only make the soup twice a day - around lunch and around dinner. Normally I go during prime times (12PM and 6PM) so obviously they are not making enough? This happened three times and my friends and I have not been back since. I am disappointed in management for not realizing that the soup is their biggest attraction and by not making more they are losing customers. read more

The place is humble but the food is deliciously homemade. My family and I come on a weekly basis and order from the Chinese menu. Our dishes are always super tasty, fragrant, and the portions are generous. They are also very reasonably priced. read more

Joy's Mongolian Grill is a strange joint. I was surprised that they opened up in Campustown because its already pretty crowded for Chinese Food. It's walking distance from Chinese Homestyle Cooking, Golden Wok, and Little Tai Pei. Still, it has managed to hang on. The interior is spacious, yet a bit raw. They have some booths that get shifted around a lot to make space for whoever is sitting at them. If all the booths are full, then there's always one group of patrons that's practically trapped between the table and the seat. Dinner time can be a little painful as the windows face directly into the sun and they don't have shades. Also, at odd hours they are often out of one thing or another. To be honest. I like this place because I like Lo-Mein, and I like it even better with Sriracha. This is the only place I know of so far that gives me both. Occasionally I have ventured into the "not so secret, yet not terribly descriptive, yet decidedly more authentic chinese menu" which is nice. However, there is another added bonus. With every entree you get a mini-order of an app, and you have self serve rice, fried rice, and soup. The fried rice is a little spare, and the soup is nothing special, but if you're hungry you can eat as much as you like. Beyond that, and this is crucial to anyone on a budget. They will give you access to the soup and rice buffet sans entree for a mere $2. The value alone makes this place worthy of praise. read more

Everyone calling this place "fake", they have two sides of the menu; front is american and back is the authentic. I would warn ordering off the back because it is hard to know what you are ordering. They are the typical hole in the wall where you have to pour your own water from water jugs but this adds to the experience! All you can eat rice and soup with any entree!! If you are a little adventures, give them a try! read more