Tongs Happy Buddha — Restaurant in Galveston

Me and my family have come here for Generations and for decades now food is excellent the service is kind of slow but it's worth the waiting and wild for food it's very very good what today of all days I took a friend there and she was going to pay for dinner you know no big deal right well if we get done eating and we get up to pay the bill was only $24.10 Sheehan's her debit card to the lady at the register which is from an Asian descent Asian lady there and she run the car twice and it said declined both times and so I suggested he run my card to see if it works by golly George it worked so apparently this lady was doing something wrong because there was another gentleman that was in front of us and he had a Bank of America card and it did not run it was declined for x my friend had a Texas First Bank card it was declined two times I had an Amoco card it was Ring once and it went through so something going on here and this lady has done this before she has manipulated the prices is there not correct on the menu and what they charge you definitely the website is not correct on the prices do not go by the website so the reason why I'm telling you all this is to bring cash with you and make sure you have cash just in case you can't cover the bill with your credit card or debit card or whatever you use in the pay so in conclusion bring cash just in case you have to pay your bill because your credit card is not going to work or your debit card but the lady from the front counter whoever she is she is from Asian descent older lady she's very rude obnoxious and does not like people at all I have had issues with her in the past because she has overcharged me and she has always you know tell me different prices on food and you look at the website is completely different you look at the menu and it's completely different than what you get on your bill and you like wait what the heck here and they're like oh no bill right and they will not negotiate with you at all on this so if you want to do dinner and a show folks this is a place to go it's as good food it's you know a nice family restaurant like I said we've been going there for decades now but this is just one of the worst days I've had with them and this is why today they only get a 2-star review and if I could change that for service the service would have been a for but the hospitality of this lady at the front desk and trying to collect the money for payment you know to eat at a restaurant 0 or less than 0 negative whatever negative Infinity like I said she's rude obnoxious doesn't care about people she doesn't care that you have money on your card she doesn't care if you understand it or not she just wants her money so I'm not going back for a while and I will see the owner of eventually I do know him personally and I will have a talk with him about this because this is a bunch of BS thank you for listening to this today and I hope I don't discourage you from going and trying it but at least you know go try and have a great time and she do drinks are excellent over there as well have a great...

Starting with the atmosphere: I like the building. It reminds me of an old Pizza Hut building and I have nostalgia over the smell in there. I wish I could order a personal pan and breadsticks and I'd be in heaven.

The service was fine. It seems like everyone is just wearing whatever and it's hard to tell who is actually working there. Random t shirts, backwards caps, anything goes. The thing that got me was the host left his spot for about ten minutes to go to the bathroom and the station was empty. We in the lobby heard the toilet flush, about five seconds later we heard the paper towel dispenser, and then he came waltzing out. At best, he dipped his hands in water and did not bother washing them, so... ew.

Then we go on to the food. Nothing was edible. The egg rolls had a gray meat in them. I'm trying not to think about what that was. The Mongolian chicken was unseasoned. On the menu it says it's spicy, but there was no seasoning on it at all. Just tough bits of beef with some sort of jellied sauce oozed over the top and then raw green peppers thrown in the mix. I'm assuming they have a bucket back there of pre-made slop that they just ladle a portion out and heat it up.

My wife had the Moo Goo Chicken and it had the same problem. Jellied ooze with no flavor over chicken.

We had a side of broccoli that tasted like it had been dipped in tea. Not sure if someone accidentally spilled some into our dish, but there was clearly a brown liquid that the broccoli was sitting in and it tasted like tea.

We also ordered some Loe Mein noodles and I swear to God they were the noodles from those Lipton packages that you just add hot water to. Just a little container of noodles thinner than angel hair and with no flavor.

Lastly, we tried the chicken noodle soup, that the staff was kind enough to make without the noodles and chicken (we just wanted the broth because we had heard Happy Buddah had broth with healing properties it was so good) and it was disappointing to find it to be very bland. If you boiled a chicken, took the water and put it in a cup, and added some food coloring to it, you'd get an idea of what this was like.

All in all, a $50 meal that we ended up throwing all of it out. I don't know if it's new owners or what, but this visit was very different from when I went...

Somehow in all the time we have spent in Galveston over the years, we have never been to Happy Buddha. But we came down for a little staycation over New Year's, and didn't want to deal with the crowds at any of the touristy places and didn't feel like seafood. Happy Buddha popped into my head for some reason, and we thought "why not?" We figured if it was awful, then we would know for the future, and that would be it.

It was the polar opposite of awful! The place is very cool inside -- My husband and I felt it looked like it could have been a German restaurant or a steakhouse. It made me think of the old Steak & Ale's. There are several smaller rooms instead of one huge dining area, and it makes it feel cozy and welcoming. Everyone was so friendly and nice, especially our server and her adorable little daughter who was helping her that night. The little girl even told us that if we didn't get good fortunes in our fortune cookies, she would get us new ones -- because "we can't start the new year off with bad fortunes!" Adorable.

And the food was so good! My husband had the beef & broccoli, and I had the General Tso's chicken. All of the main entrees come with a side of either sweet & sour chicken or pork (!!) and fried rice. The fried rice actually had flavor, which I find rare! Very often, I'll get fried rice and it just has texture in your mouth but no actual flavor. This was good. Everything was good! Just had leftovers for lunch, and it was still just as good.

Our server told me the restaurant has been in the same family for 49 years, and that consistency is important to them. I can see why they have been there that long, and we will definitely be back -- a lot!

(Sorry that I didn't get any pics of the food... Everything smelled so good, we just dug in and I forgot all...