Dragon Garden Express — Restaurant in Avondale

This was our first time at Dragon Garden Express. I wish I could give it a glowing review, but I cannot. We placed a fairly large order Saturday afternoon for pickup on Sunday, so plenty of advance notice. We still had to wait a short time when we arrived at our scheduled pickup time. Not too long, but it should have been ready. Some items were OK, some were disapointing. There wasn't really anything that I can say would make me want to order from here, again. I write this review, not to be nasty, but to let them know why we were not excited about what we received: ON THE POSITIVE SIDE: Their portions are very generous, and they do not skimp on the proteins. THE DOWNSIDE: Many of the dishes just lacked flavor. HOT AND SOUR SOUP (5-stars): Good. Hubby really liked it. VEGE SPRING ROLLS (2-stars): Tough and the little bit of stuffing was mushy. Not much flavor. CHICKEN EGG ROLLS (2-stars): Same as the Spring Rolls. In fact, they even tasted the same. FRIED SHRIMP (1-star): Sad. They were not butterflied/ lightly battered, as normal. Just a whole shrimp very heavily breaded - almost 1/4" thick. Way too much breading. MONGOLIAN BEEF (4.5-stars): Good flavor, a lot of very tender beef/ crisp onions. We asked for extra hot/spicy, but it was not a bit hot. Scallions were overcooked and tough. The scallions should be added after the beef and regular onions are cooked so they stay crispy. KUNG PAO CHICKEN (3.5 to 4 -stars): So-So. We asked for extra spicy, but there was barely a hint of spice. Did have a lot of chicken. WALNUT SHRIMP (0-stars): I considered this a total fail. Honey Walnut Shrimp is usually made with a very thin, light layer of batter, fried (as with Orange Chicken), then coated in a mayonnaise sauce. This dish was nothing more than their regular fried shrimp (with the quarter-inch batter), coated with a honey sauce, with a little smear of mayo/honey on the bottom of the carryout container (no mayo sauce coating the shrimp), and a few honey walnuts. Not at all what we've ever been served anywhere else. It came with a lot of broccoli, which I have never seen served with this dish. It is supposed to be "honey walnuts" & shrimp, not "honey shrimp" & walnuts. If you like Honey Walnut Shrimp, this is not the place to order it. Sorry. HOUSE FRIED RICE (2-star): It was so-so...Very bland. The shrimp and chicken were tender, but the pork was overcooked and tough. HOUSE CHOW MEIN/CHOP SUEY (2-stars): First of all, which is it? Couldn't figure that out. Flavor was, as with other items, rather bland. Decent mix of protein and veges, but not really much flavor. We asked to have it made spicy. No spice at all. Absolutely swimming in sauce. Way too much...

All of the dishes with sauce had an overabundance of sauce in the to-go containers, so they all spilled/leaked in the box on the way home. A little is good, but this was way too much.

We spent a lot of money so that we could have leftovers for another meal or two. I have to regretably say that for the very first time, I am not excited about having leftovers, and am seriously considering just tossing them so I don't have to rearrange the refrigerator to accommodate all the...

I usually have a good experience but this time there was a new lady attending the register and after I gave the instruction on what food could do without like onions, etc... and I repeated myself a few times understanding maybe there was a language barrier so I took my time and politely explained the instruction ( no vegetables in the rice meal. She acknowledge my directives on the matter and so....20 mins or so later I found myself returning to the restaurant with my plate on hand and return it after I explained that the meal was done incorrectly calmly expecting such thing might happen plus I was a normal mood so it bothered return to the place bug the mistake i ignore it. The lady even after opening the plate can show her the issue, she kept saying that it does have vegetables in it, few more times I reassure that I ask for it a certain way but all she did is give a nasty look soon after she took the plate and went to the grill area and it seem like she was angry and the way she went through the revolving soft door to thd acn pushing in it roughly as she enter the back toward the grill was at was a big give away. She brought me a new plate back and I thank her for it and politely say have a good day ma'am. She didn't reply back rather than look that she gave me May me feel like the same angry furious stare I five when a big on the freeway smashed it against my windshield on my way home right after I just got done taking my car through a car wash. I would rather her call me names or swear at me but, the look she makes me wanting had to flee from there like if I was running from a building...

Over priced and underwhelmed. I like finding a Chinese restaurant for lunch. The food is usually quite good, healthier that drive-thru's, and more bang for your buck. If that is your goal as well, then avoid this particular business.

First, the business itself as so many other Asian restaurants exhibit poor business models. No matter how good the food may be, a certain level of ambiance and decor is needed. Customers want to "Feel" as though they are in an Asian restaurant. And pasting dozens of menu items on the walls does not constitute decor.

A few years back, I helped the owner of an Asian restaurant in Cary,NC. Their food was great, but the interior of the business was severely lacking. I simple gave them advice on a paint theme, and decorations that were festive and most certainly Asian. Within 6 months, their business increased by over 40%.

Even though there were several nice tables for seating, Dragon Garden Express did seem to encourage in-store dining. Even the most common sense business person will tell you that if have people sitting at your tables, then the food must be good?

The Lady that took my order never asked if I was dining in, and my order came out in bags to go. I ate in anyway, and had to get her attention a bit later, just to get a couple of napkins.

I'm on Keto, so I ordered chicken wings, and egg drop soup. Neither had any flavor profile. The chicken wings were just deep-fried, plain. And the soup was bland, but with a healthy note, had a fair amount of mixed veggies in it. Down side it that this cost me $14, with no drink ! Way too much...