China Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in Cañon City

So, there I was, not overwhelmingly hungry but yet hungry enough to warrant a nice meal. I was literally seated within 10 seconds of walking in the door, although there were almost no open tables. After just a few seconds, a lady brought me a menu and took my drink order. I ordered water, and for the first time in many years I noticed that the water did not taste like someone else's swimming pool, like it does at almost all restaurants. The lady returned to take my food order at just the perfect time, long enough to let me quickly skim through the menu, but not long enough that I had to wait to order. I ordered a large serving of hot and sour soup. The soup was literally about 1/2 gallon in size, it was GLORIOUS and filled with goodies. It tasted so good I almost wept openly! It is the single very best hot and sour soup that I have ever tasted in the 53 years of my life. I ordered orange chicken, with some fried rice on the side. The portion size was actually larger than my head. And I have a very large head. When I was a child, I was not allowed to attend movies in a theater because my 50-pound melon would block the view of other movie-goers. The orange chicken was quite superior! The rice was so freshly made that it was served without losing any of the moisture or freshness of freshly made rice. As with the orange chicken, this rice was the single best serving of rice I have ever had in my life. I was only able to eat half of my food because the portions were so large. The quality left nothing to be desired. This single meal was the standard by which I will measure all future Chinese food experiences for the rest of my life. But now I carry the curse of knowing that I will never again eat Chinese food so thoroughly satisfying as this. I must caution you. Prepare yourself before coming to this place. Eat Chinese food at every other restaurant that you may ever be near for the rest of your life before trying this place, because if you come to this place it will destroy your ability to enjoy eating Chinese food anywhere else but here. I currently own a house of 23 rooms situated deep in the woods of Northern Virginia on some acreage. This single meal has caused me to seriously and immediately contemplate selling my house and living in a tent within hiking distance of this restaurant. I now find myself at a crossroads. Nobody warned me, as I now warn you. Call a large family reunion or a staff meeting at your work or go talk to your Pastor so that in some way you can prepare yourself for this very difficult decision in life. As I have, you will have to ask yourself… should I stay or...

Not impressed at all. The place is expensive for what it is, $10-12 entrees. The menu is straight out of 1970, so far as selections go. You can't even get a General Tso's Chicken Combination. Now I ask you. They are very interested in what they can charge you for. For example, I asked for egg drop/wonton soup, a very common request most places. I was told I would have to buy two soups, I couldn't get one half-and-half. Now keep in mind it's all in pots in the back. They just ladle it into a cup. It is close to zero extra effort and cost to make two ladle dips instead of one. But nevermind. Next, you know how Chinese places usually have mints at the checkout? No mints here. Tootsie Pops. Fifty cents each. Have a nice day. We ordered pork egg foo yung. What we received resembled no egg foo yung I have seen in over 40 years of eating at Chinese restaurants. Instead of making an egg foo yung fresh, with pork in it, they had premade plain ones. And they weren't even individual. They made a big one and cut it into fourths. Here's the best part: then, to make it "pork" they dumped a big pile of pork shreds and brown non-egg-foo-yung sauce on top. It was completely unrecognizable as egg foo yung when you opened the container. What in the actual? Look, maybe that's the way they do things around here, I don't know, but it sure isn't what someone from anywhere else will expect when they order a pork egg foo yung. It gets better. You know how usually with egg foo yung you get the sauce in a separate container, because othgerwise it would make a big mess in the car? Well, this egg foo yung didn't come with that, because they put this stupid pork shreds with sauce topping on it. A LOT of topping. It made an immense mess in the bag on the way home. They know it's going to do this, because first they put the food tray in a plastic bag. So you get this thing home, and the food tray is utterly covered in sauce, and there's a couple of ounces of sauce sloshing around in the bottom of this not-very-sturdy clear plastic bag. So now you have a slimy food tray to deal with, and this slopping mess of a plastic bag. Again, what in the actual? You've got to be kidding me. These folks can of course run their restaurant how ever they want. But I...

Amazing. The best restaurant in town. I went to a "high class" restaurant in vegas about a month ago and was greeted by a semi tempered individual and when our order was taken we went and found a heightchair for our baby. Why do i mention this? When we entered China Garden with our infant in a carseat and were seated, a very kind and excellent tempered gentleman took our order but not before noticing our need and offering a heightchair. Since we were in a booth and i wanted her nearby i declined and simply set her next to me. I had a rather bulky coat which i tried to set in my lap and the gentleman again saw a need and was quick to grab a chair from an unused table and set it out of the way next to us and offered to take my coat and place it around the chair and out of the way. I felt a bit awkward and humbled by the offer. When i said i was alright he then said that it would be hard to enjoy the meal and relax with the large mass in my lap. Realizing he was right and feeling amazed by the service and attitude towards my comfort and experience, i said alright. It was obvious that he would have backed off had i declined again, however, out of respect and appreciation i felt it was necessary. The food was delicious and arrived promptly. I was never rushed even though my husband and i were there almost 2 hours. It was truly a beautiful experience and one i hope to participate in...