Red Authentic Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Bloomington

I only gave one star because zero wasn’t an option, this place is awful! We first placed an order online and walked in to a completely empty restaurant 30 minutes later to pick it up and neither of the two employees had any idea that an order was placed. I was told it would only take 10 minutes, which seemed like a big under-estimate for 3 entrees and appetizers but I waited in my car for 10 minutes then went back inside to pick up. 15 minutes from that point (25 total) our food was finally ready, bagged and tied up, and I took it home. When I got home, we discovered none of the appetizers were added and one of our entrees was wrong. So I called to ask for a refund of those items, and was told 1. That my entree wasn’t wrong, Orange chicken and sesame chicken are the same thing, he just forgot to add the sesame seeds on top, and 2. That he would only refund the appetizers, not the incorrect meal after their “busy time” so to call back in an hour. On top of all of this mess, the food was horrible, we didn’t even eat it. The chicken was rubbery and obviously microwaved, very gross. I would never, ever recommend this...

I hate to write a bad review, but our experience yesterday warrants it. If I could give NO Stars I would. The food was so bad we ended up throwing it out. All of it seemed to have been sitting around for a day or two. The "Spicy Spareribs" were really yesterday's spareribs chopped up and mixed with some greasy sauce plus some celery and onions (i.e., cheap veggies) ; the Chinese Eggplant in Garlic Sauce was just mush, the eggplants completely unrecognizable and featured more greasy sauce and celery and onions. The Scallion Pancake was a greasy piece of flavorless dough. The Kung Pao Chicken was the only edible item, but it had no flavor and very old Chinese peppers. I should have known it would be bad when I called in the order and the guy said it would be ready in 5 minutes and when I arrived in 10 minutes it was already packaged and waiting. Another warning sign: at 7:30pm on a Saturday the restaurant was empty, dirty and smelled stuffy. We read the great reviews from years back and in fact had ordered from here in 2020 and it was okay. But something has gone...

On first impression, I almost thought I was ripped off. Their takes on classic americanized dishes like General Tsos are visually very simple, it's easy to imagine the 6 boring ingredients that went into it, it looks like a joke. But then to taste it! It is a delight from the first bite, but the real transcendent experience is after you have been eating it for a while, the flavor experience keeps developing, as if new subtle notes are being exposed. All of the entrees I've had are fantastic, from the American to the spicy / "authentic" stuff. I highly recommend you try the Spicy Cold Noodles and Glutinous Rice Dumpling in Sweet Rice Wine Soup. As a bonus, it feeds the whole family: picky kid will eat white rice, and slightly-less-picky kid will eagerly attack most of the entrees. I am not exaggerating to say that between having already eaten everything I can, and the experience of sharing lockdown with my children, I cannot find joy in anything in life anymore. Except Red Restaurant! All of the food at Red is a delight!!...