Chuong Garden — Restaurant in Grinnell

Visited on 11/15/23 between 12:15-12:40pm. Apparently its mostly take out only but was able to sit and eat quickly with the food in the to-go packaging. Based on the reviews it seems since Covid restrictions lifted 2.5 years ago they haven't even bothered going back to actual dine-in service. I inquired as to if they were having remodeling work done or something since it was carry out only and they have the dining space to hold 100 customers + being the only oriental restaurant in a mid-sized town (nearest option is in the larger town Newton).. doesn't make any sense as to why they have not fully opened after all this time. Couldn't understand half of what the wife who was taking the orders upfront was saying, but she shook her head when I had inquired to if it was closed for remodeling since the place looks worn and in disrepair, and there were some cardboard boxes as a makeshift pathway on the floor & half the dining room lights were out. Then I asked if it was due to a possible lack of business (I wouldn't find it surprising considering Grinnell is a town under 10K population & half downtown is either empty spaces or bareboned furnished businesses that could pack up shop in mere hours) suspect she might of taken offense to being asked that because she left the dining area after saying something unintelligible... could hear her talking to her husband the chef in the kitchen, hear him within a couple of minutes make a loud hacking cough sound.. and my food get delivered to me 2 minutes later. Why I don't doubt my food might of been coughed on since also he came in/out of the kitchen few times and not once did I ever hear him cough again. lol, still ate it none the less 9-). Could tell they mixed cold veggies within the mildly warm rice & sweet & sour chicken. Whether or not my food had been hacked on I've had better tasting & experiences at others... I think since they know their the only option in town they don't...

Don't get me wrong, as a kid I loved Chuong Garden. I still have fond memories of the enormous and cheap lunch portions of sweet and sour pork, beef with broccoli, and fried rice with a side of egg drop soup. That said, my most recent experiences are underwhelming. The tofu with vegetables I had this summer was pretty bad. The majority of the vegetables--mini corn cobs, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots--tasted canned and watery. The sauce was greasy and salty and was poured generously over the soggy, cold triangles of tofu around the plate. They were either out of the normal ingredients and/or cheapened the recipe significantly. Thankfully the service was quick and the fried rice was as good as I remember, and I would still recommend the pan fried noodles on the...

Very disappointing! Food was horrible! My boyfriend and I usually come to this restaurant once a year when we are in town visiting his parents. However, we went there tonight and the food was horrible! We orderd Mongolian Beef and the meat was just above cold, mushy and tasted funky! When we asked for the bill the lady came to the table disnt ask if everything was good or ok (Considering our plates were full) just said ok and gave us the bill($30). We were very disappointed and will never go there again!! Service was rushed, utensils were thrown on our table. The entire experience was unpleasant! This was once a good restaurant now it seems like they just dont care! Save...