Golden Star Restaurant — Restaurant in Garden City

Pros- Easy parking right in front of the restaurant. Arrived just after 7 PM on a Friday, and it was not busy inside. I think this location is much busier for lunch. The dining room appeared clean and orderly. They have a large menu but an even larger special board, when you walk in, to choose from. The food arrived quickly and was very delicious with good-sized portions. Usually you can choose any table in the dining room you would like. Waters were constantly refilled. At the end of your meal, they will bring to-go boxes before you even need to ask. I ordered the tofu and mushrooms with steamed rice and the sauce was incredibly flavourful even without the heat. . Cons- Menu modifications are not a problem, but everything comes with an up-charge. As soon as we sat down, the server tried to get our order, but we were not ready, so she instructed us that when we were ready to order, to look over at her and wave. Surprisingly, the rice that comes with your meal is a very small portion, and if you ask for more, that is an additional charge. Also, if you want hot sauce on the side, that too is an additional charge. We sat at a round table with a spinning lazy-susan in the center, but when the food came out, the server awkwardly reached to hand them to us, instead of simply using the lazy-susan to spin it around to each person. I believe the server was slightly upset when I did not realize she was handing the rice to me when I was still getting the dinner plate sat in front of me. They do offer a choice of heat levels from mild to medium to hot. I chose the medium and could not taste any heat at all, so I would probably recommend getting a hot because if you try to get hot sauce on the side, they will charge you! I think what bothered me the most was that when she presented the checks, she expected immediate payment from everybody. I WAS STILL EATING! She said that she did not want to make multiple trips to run the credit cards, so she expected us to pay all at once! She handed us several extremely dirty pens to sign our credit slips. And I really wish they would get new pens. She made sure to return and get the signed credit slips before we ever stood up. This felt awkward to us. I honestly don't understand the rush because they were still open for another hour+, after we paid. . Maybe our server was having an off day, but I could see other servers that were much friendlier and knew how to smile that we may request to be with them on...

I would absolutely NEVER eat here. The way that I was treated tonight as well as the quality (or lack thereof) of the food speak volumes as to why this place was empty when I arrived during busy dinner hours. My boyfriend had placed a to-go order for a small order of pork and seeds and a number 11 (fried rice and spicy general tso's chicken). When I arrived, the place looked very dingy and a little dirty. I got my food and paid. My gut was telling me to look at the food before getting home. The chicken was dry and hard, the rice was even worse. I tasted the sauce and it looked like it had been sitting all day and this was the bottom of the barrel. I called and immediately asked if I could bring the food back and get a refund. I was met with hostility and she hung up on me. I went back into the restaurant and the man was rude to me and told me no refunds over and over then he told me he wasn't going to talk to me anymore and then claimed to not speak english? He walked away from me and said something to his coworkers and everyone after that kept walking by me and refused to even make eye contact. I waited there and then finally the lady who hung up on me came and finally looked at me and then I was told I'm not getting a refund and how do I even know what good food tastes like? She then also walked away from me and went into the kitchen and started yelling in Chinese and once again I was walked by and ignored by the entire staff. My boyfriend was on the phone with me the whole time because I was incredibly uncomfortable with this entire situation. I eventually left because I was flat out being ignored. I don't understand why I have to pay for food I didn't eat or more importantly, why was I met with such disrespect when I wasn't disrespectful and only wanted a refund for the food I didn't and couldn't eat. I could understand if I had eaten most of it, but I hadn't. I settled for taco bell tonight, if that tells you anything. Don't go here, total nightmare.

Update: called back today and asked for their manager they said wasn’t in and guess what? Also not in today. I asked when and she just kept saying “I don’t know, I don’t know” I wish they’d stop playing stupid and doing the right thing. I am contacting my bank and disputing the charge...

THEY MADE IT RIGHT!

I ordered take out. I used to come to this restaurant when I was a little girl. I was very excited to return. The ladies were really sweet to me, and I appreciate that. It's a positive environment. Unfortunately, I was left with utter disappointment in the end though. The food was old, dry and i got 1 container of watered-down hot mustard which i love and expected to get at least 2 if not 3. And not watered down. It made me sad not angry because I'm a native of Boise and I clung to the memories of going here with my mother who is now deceased. What made it harder is I was so tired I couldn't take the food back. Almost $25.00 down the drain because my food was so bad I threw it away. I called a few days later to calmly talk to management. Unfortunately, they weren't in. I've decided to go there in person to tell them my expectations and my recent experience with the food. I did however ask for tea and got happily got me some to go which I doubt it's something they typically do. I care about their future because I'm a native and they've been in Boise for at least 45 years. That's a long time. They just need to work on improving their take-out food. If you don't change the food quality on takeout orders, I'm afraid you'll lose customers and be forced to close. Boise is growing and there's a lot of competition. It's not going to stop growing we've been discovered for all the beauty of our land and extremely friendly people. I don't want to see you go out of business. I've decided that possibly I will give them a second chance. Maybe the cook had a bad day. I'm definitely going in to talk to them. Edit: The restaurant made it right and the food was...