Bellefonte Wok — Restaurant in Bellefonte

I've always loved the food here, and it honestly is still great, but today was the first I've dined in since they had shut down to takeout only at the height of the pandemic and the experience left a lot to be desired! I ordered a lunch special, an appetizer, and I hoped for a glass of water. They no longer offer that, so I paid quite a bit for a small bottled water (nothing else available free of both caffeine and sugar). In all, it came to about $19 for one good lunch and a small amount leftover. The experience is now a bit of a fast food vibe-- order and pay at the counter, everything is brought out to you in disposable containers on a plastic tray. You're responsible for getting your own flatware, sauces, etc. No napkins were offered in the self-serve area. After my food came without them, I went back to the counter to ask for some, but after a long wait without service, I gave up and searched for napkins and finally found my own near the trash can. The service counter is in a separate room from the only clearly available dining tables, and nobody came back in to check on anything after my tray of food had come. The entire area that had once been the buffet, as well as the small dining area in the buffet room of the restaurant AND half of what was previously the dining room is now primarily storage, stacked high with all sorts of boxes and containers. The few free tables in the first section seem now to be used by employees and were not cleared off. Of the few tables still available for dining, several appeared not to have been cleaned since they'd been used. The lights are no longer all turned on in the dining room, so it is also fairly dark and uninviting. Worst of all, however, is that two employees argued loudly, sometimes even shouting, for most of the time I spent in the restaurant. A man and woman in the former buffet area, a full room away from my seating, were in some kind of very heated argument the entire time I ate. It made an already uncomfortable atmosphere so much worse. When I finished my meal, I waited a while hoping someone might eventually come to see if I needed anything more, but when they didn't, I went out to the counter, which was unmanned. I waited there long enough to decide to ring the bell, still listening to the two employees argue loudly in the kitchen. The woman engaged in that dispute popped out for a second to tell me she'd be with me soon, looking as though she may cry. Shortly afterward, someone came out who could provide me the lid and bag I was looking for to take home my leftovers. All told, I still love the food, and though the prices seem to have increased a bit, I'd order again if I were close enough for takeout (which I'm unfortunately not). I might even order takeout some time to take to the park or something. Dining in, however, was not at all like a sit-down restaurant, and it provided a front row seat to far too dramatic a workplace! To me, it feels as though they reopened a "dine in" option without changing anything at all from their "takeout only" model apart from buying some plastic trays and clearing off a quarter of the tables they'd been using for storage. They're not currently equipped to make that a pleasant experience, or, in today's case, even a tolerable one. The food itself was fresh and delicious, and still, 3 stars feels a little generous for this particular experience. Until they are staffed well enough to offer actual table service or their former buffet setup, I think the restaurant would be far better off to return to takeout only. In the meantime, I hope that in the future the employees can be more aware of their customers when interacting, and I hope they'll consider some degree of service past bringing out a tray from...

As of May 2023, "The Wok" is back to having dine-in service (post-pandemic mayhem)...albeit under limited circumstances: AFAIK the buffet is not up and running yet and they are only serving pre-bottled beverages from Coca-Cola (no hot tea or fountain service). That being said, the buffet was never the big draw for me - if you want some of the best Chinese cuisine in Centre County (if not THE best) I seriously recommend this resto. Some concrete examples of why I consider this to be so: ·Their steamed dumplings are hand-made and have not changed in quality nor quantity (8/order) in over 20 years. Their dumpling sauce puts all others' to Shame. Consistency counts here folks! - they clearly haven't cheapened any recipes due to skyrocketing food costs or supply-chain woes. ·Dishes which have battered/fried meats actually come out CRISPY even when soaked in their various sauces. ·When you ask for Extra Spicy (and this is a big one for me) - rather than just throwing a few more dried chiles onto the mix like so many other places, the dishes at BW come out .... Extra Spicy without choking you on semi-rehydrated pieces of red chile leather! Do yourself a favor when visiting the geographic center of PA - patronize the...

We returned to Bellefonte recently to visit and went back to the Bellefonte Wok. We used to frequent this restaurant when we lived in town to take advantage of the delicious buffet they offer. Today's visit was everything we remembered. Nestled between shops on Allegheny Street near the courthouse, the restaurant offers both order from menu options or the all you can eat buffet. There is great variety on the buffet but my favorites were: General Tso's chicken, chicken and broccoli, fried and sliced chicken breast in a peanut sauce, wontons and egg rolls and their green beans. They have soups like hot and sour, egg drop, etc. All very good! The service is good and efficient...they seated us immediately and invited us to the buffet right away. They were also very prompt removing dishes when we finished. The food is consistently delicious and the owners take pride in their craft and you can taste it in every bite! Thanks for a...