I wasn't sure what to expect since First Wok is tucked next to a small grocery store with a few…read moreempty buildings around, but it turned out to be a really pleasant surprise. Their website was very easy to order from and pickup was quick. I tried the steamed tofu with vegetables and rice, with the sauce on the side. The veggies were fresh and cooked just right, and it's a great option for anyone trying to eat whole food plant based or vegan. The portion was generous and very satisfying. Friendly service, simple menu, and a spot that's worth supporting if you're looking for something wholesome and tasty. I'll definitely be back.

Really good food! Kind of a small place, but excellent for phone-ahead carry-outs. It may not…read morelook like it, but the chef here is an old-style chef, and sees to all the food preparation details himself. The kitchen area is visible to visitors, so you can see what great care and quality is involved in the preparation of your meal if you like. I recommend calling ahead, because this restaurant is very popular for carry-outs in the neighborhood, and on busy nights, a short backlog can grow. But my experience has been if I phone-in my order even 5 minutes ahead, it is already waiting for me when I get there. I can't say enough about how good the menu is. They have a wide selection, and it is genuine Chinese cuisine. E.g. the hot-and-sour soup is excellent, and it is really as hot and as sour as I have often eaten in Taiwan. Usually I have to add at least vinegar and hot chili oil at home to make other restaurants' soup legitimately as sour and hot as if I bought it in China. This place does not "dumb-down" their cuisine for round-eye bai gwei Americans. In general, the cuisine tastes to this ben dan most like Haka food. I think. I can't say enough about the rest of the menu. But perhaps I have.

Nice family style restaurant and plenty of seating and tables big enough to fit 8 people! I've been…read morehere a couple of times with friends and the food is generally ok and leans more towards American and Korean style Chinese food. I think some dishes were too saucy (especially the veggies dishes) and salty My favorites are the three cup chicken (crispy!), Zhajiangmian (not pictured and more Korean style), the appreciating fish, a different spicy fish dish I forgot the name to.

What an amazing find! My husband and I had been running errands around Champaign and were getting…read morehungry for dinner. We drove past this place and that, and eventually decided "Rainbow Garden" sounded worth doubling back for. And oh my goodness! First off: the service was PHENOMENAL! We were never rushed but never felt unattended. Our drinks were repeatedly refilled before they were empty. Our food came so much faster than we anticipated! Even paying was quick and easy. Second: the food was honestly some of the best we've ever had. the Pekin duck was nearly perfect (the skin could have been crispier) and the beef fried rice was possibly the best fried rice we've ever had. So flavorful, so full of meat, and the meat was tender and tasty! Third: the whole restaurant was very clean. The bathroom was a little dark, and there's an obstacle in the hallway that makes it not wheelchair accessible, but overall an excellent job. We will be back!

I was really pumped to try Golden Wheat because my friends raved that this is the #1 noodle place…read morein Champaign. The restaurant is operated by super friendly and nice Chinese owners. It appeared that they do not speak the best English, but we didn't have any trouble ordering as there was an English/Chinese menu printed out, which we used to point to the item that we wanted to order. What we got: Beijing style JaJangmyeon: I had Korean-styled jjajangmyeon, so I didn't know what to expect at first. The portion size is beyond generous and the amount of topping on the noodles was more than enough. The noodles were soft and chewy. The dish tasted like peanut noodles which I am not the greatest fan of, but my friend loved it! Spicy fatty beef slices noodles: this was really good! I am a big meat lover and the amount of meat that came with this dish made me really happy! The dish was not too spicy and well-balanced. I wish there was a bit more soup because it was just a lot of noodles, but I think this is supposed to be more noodles than soup because it was one of their 'mixed noodles' dish. Overall, it was a very hearty meal. The owners were super kind enough to give us a free bok choy+fish cake side dish which we enjoyed as well. Despite the communication barrier, the service was great and the owners are super sweet people. I will definitely be coming back!

Stopped by after a few friends recommended this place! The noodle soups are amazing. Here are a few…read moretips for non Chinese speaking customers like me. It took a little effort to order due to language BUT it was totally worth it! ORDERING The owner who was originally taking my order was so friendly but only spoke Chinese, so someone else had to step in and help me translate. I asked for the most popular noodle soups and he pointed to "dry beef noodle soup" and "pork shoulder noodle soup" so we ordered both. After you pick your dish he asks if you want spicy or non spicy. We got one of each. I personally liked the "spicy" version and thought it wasn't spicy at all! FOOD I ran into a friend there who knows the owner. He told me everything is made from scratch! Including the noodles. The broth was perfection. So fragrant, flavorful, well seasoned, and clean tasting. Meat was super tender (both beef and pork) and pretty much melted in our mouths. The "dry beef" in the name is totally misleading because there is nothing dry about the meat. ATMOSPHERE It seems like the restaurant kept most of the interior decor from PvP bakery so the aesthetic is pretty nice. Simple, clean, modern, minimal. It's sort of a self serve style in here so you have to get your own water. Just like most Asian restaurants. PACKAGING I ordered our meal to go but the restaurant IS also open for indoor seating. Our food was packed with care! The noodles and soup were packed in separate containers. I will add a note of caution while carrying the food. The hot soup warped the plastic container quite a bit so by the time I got home I noticed that the lid was just barely hanging on and on the brink of busting open. As long as it's held upright though it should not be an issue. Overall, if you're looking for a non frills place with good authentic Chinese food, this is the place to go! Price was pretty good too especially for how good the fooAbout $11 per noodle soup which is much cheaper than mid summer and golden harbor. We will definitely be back!

A solid option if you're looking for a less busy Chinese restaurant near campus with spacious…read morecomfortable seating, full sit-in service, and a fairly varied menu with good prices and generous portions. If this restaurant were located in most cities in Illinois, it would be one of the nicest and best restaurants around. The competition around Champaign Urbana for Chinese food is very high however, and this one is a little less refined for flavors and textures than some of the popular spots around campus. With that said however, the food is still highly enjoyable and the more authentic dishes are considerably better than the Americanized options. For example, the cumin beef has a nice tender texture with good sear and flavor coming from the onion and mix of spices. The orange beef also has a nice citrus flavor and tender beef that's not overly sweet. The pineapple sweet and sour pork was passable, but not really as sweet or crunchy as expected. The egg rolls were done very well, similar to how my grandpa prepared them. Overall, this is a delicious spot for Chinese food with plenty of parking and much more relaxed dining. Food is good here, but for me just a little less refined than the best options available.

Great place for family style meals for big groups! We made a reservation for a party of 7!…read more The food was delicious, we got 7 dishes to share and it was plenty of food! My favorites were the cumin lamb, dry pot chicken, and the rice noodle with beef. The lamb was perfectly seasoned and not gamey at all (coming from someone who doesn't usually like lamb). The beef in the rice noodles were so tender and a group favorite. The egg drop soup serving was massive, enough for everyone to get two small bowls. I was most disappointed by the twice cook pork, it was extremely dry. The rice was also quite dry as well. Overall a place I would love to visit again!

Very American versions of these dishes. Not the cheapest out there, until you realize just how much…read morefood they pack into your order. Not sure that I would recommend splurging on the fried rice; maybe take the free white rice, instead.

I have tried a lot of Chinese Food Restaurants in town and by far this has been the best one! I'm…read moreshocked by the low rating because I was impressed with the amount of food I get for the price. I typically order the Lo Mein either with veggies or chicken. The service is pretty fast and wait time was bearable.

Food #610 preserved egg and pork porridge…read more#604 house special bun House special bun was solid, 7 out of 10. Meat was a on the oily side but otherwise this was good. The porridge (congee) was 4 out of 10 for me. Lots of corn starch added, though it got thinner as I ate more. The taste seemed like MSG, though I am not sure how much was from the preserved egg. This was less than $10 and a big portion. I would have preferred less volume if it meant less corn starch. Ambiance: Pros for authenticity: the music playing are Chinese artists like JJ Lin. Cons: a bit of a musty smell when I walked in. For context, it had rained all day. I realize I'm not the target market (university student), though the food was disappointing.

First of all, do NOT order online for pick up or take out since it is much more expensive. The meat…read moredishes (pork,beef,etc.) in store were $16.99-$17.99. I was going to order online but they were all around $22-25. The rice special lunches in store were $9.99 but online is around $15. I actually came because my friend loved to come here a couple years ago and said it was his favorite restaurant on campus. I ordered the pork lunch special. And I was extremely disappointed. As seen in the picture when you open your food, there's just a whole ton of cabbage. I then sifted through it and counted less than 8 pieces of meat. And the bottom of the box was padded with a thick layer of rice. I also ordered a stewed pork bun. It lacked flavor and the meat to bread ratio was extremely off. I assumed because of COVID, prices went up (at least online) and less expensive ingredients were being used(meats) and more cheap materials were used to complete customer orders (rice and veggies). I know many restaurants have done this but my order was just laughably disappointing. Also I came to order on a Sunday afternoon. I was placing my order when the cashier told me that the cook was out and they couldn't make over 50-60% of the menu. That put me off a bit as I was originally going to order two things from the menu but they were both "unavailable". I think there should've been a note in the menu so customers would be notified before they spend 5 minutes looking at the menu to decide. Anyways that was a slight tangent. But another reason I gave this place 2 stars is because the cashier and workers were quite short. They would interrupt you while talking. It's just not the customer service I would expect. The only redeeming factor I believe was that one of few pieces of meat I had actually tasted pretty good. Besides this I do not think I will be back or will be recommending this place to anyone else. If you're craving authentic Chinese food, I believe there are many better options on campus (Northern Cuisine, Lao Sze Chuan, etc.).

This place is a vibes based place to go get grub. I have some of my best memories here, truthfully…read more And the boba? I am not a big boba guy... but DAMN, the items are creative, the seasonal items are GREAT, and their slushies are... gah, so good. I feel pretty chuddy to admit I have devoured many apple slushies, whenever they are out. However, the prices are a bit high, especially for the pokebowls. But still really solid, taste wise.

I loved my time here! The ayce hot pot is great and loved the authentic Sichuan style of hot pot…read more Service was outstanding! We learned about different sauces and the hostess who may be the owner was so kind to us she even made us some of her favorite combinations! I'd go back for the food at a great price point and the family style service! Vibe was cozy.

Since when is Lo Mein made with spaghetti noodles? Wonton soup was broth & 2 wontons. Very…read moredisappointed. They lost a customer today!

Fast service on to go orders. General tso chicken and vegetable rolls are very good. Orange chicken…read morewasn't my favorite and fried rice was a bit bland.