1+1 Restaurant & Tea — Restaurant in Ames

Of course, I left my phone in the car so I don't have any pictures... But this is, hands down, some of the best Chinese/Mandarin food I've had in Ames!

We tried the lo mein, Kung Pao beef, beef with scrambled eggs over rice (risotto on the menu), chicken and broccoli and pork fried rice. It was all delicious -- the Kung Pao was actually spicy, and it was all very lean and free of gristle! The risotto was so flavorful that my 3 yr old commandeered my plate after a while and finished it off.

While we went for the food, we were convinced to try some of the teas as well. I am now a new fan of the Signature Bubble, which is a black, milk tea, and my husband tried one of the honey teas, hot, and my kids even got something that resembled chocolate soy milk. All very nice additions to the meal.

Finally (maybe I should have started with this), the biggest reason I will be returning soon (and I will definitely be returning) was the hospitality. Even though there was not a lot of sitting area, the staff was very accommodating both in describing the menu items and accommodating my small children. They were polite and friendly, they shared a little bit of the history on some of the meals and how they ended up on the menu, and they even scrummaged up a couple packages of cookies for the kids to take with them when we left.

I didn't even make it to 10pm last night before breaking into my leftovers. The only reason we had any is because we ordered so many things to try! Please add this to your list of must go to his next time you're in Ames. If you live nearby, maybe order takeout on each...

I usually don't write a review post, but the worse service, stingy, bad attitude I had here 15 mins ago deserve this review. I came here only twice and was excited that there is bubble tea and convenient fast food restaurant in this small town. The first time I came with my bf for lunch, it left a good impression on me, but my friend does not like the restaurant and he thinks that the owner has a biased altitude treating people and does not want to give us an extra plate. The second time I just went there ordered a cup of bubble tea. I asked for an extra cup of hot water, the owner asked me to pick a small cup put half cup of cold water first and added about 20 ml hot water. I asked if she can give me a large cup, she says why I should give you and why you don't just go to Starbucks and do not speak to me with an unhappy face. Yeah, I should go to Starbucks and never come to this restaurant even though I really like bubble tea, it is really not worth it that you spend the same amount of money but get this worse...

We ordered two varieties of fried rice, one being curry fried rice, along with Taiwanese popcorn chicken and a bubble tea. Unfortunately, the fried rice took over 30 minutes to arrive. When it finally did, I found it to be excessively dry, lacking flavor, overloaded with curry powder, and served in a tiny portion.

I would rank this as one of the least impressive fried rice dishes I've encountered in Ames. In fact, I even observed the staff returning rice to the rice cooker because the cook had prepared too much for the manager’s standards.

As for the Taiwanese popcorn chicken, it was decent but fell far short of the authentic experience I enjoyed during my time in Taiwan. The bubble tea was similarly underwhelming.

To say I was let down would be an understatement. The service left much to be desired, and the cramped atmosphere made it difficult to enjoy the meal comfortably. I certainly wouldn’t recommend this establishment to my...