Taste of China — Restaurant in Indiana

I haven't been to this restaurant in over 20 yrs. Can't believe it is still in operation but they knew a good thing when they started it I guess.

The food was excellent. I ordered General Tso' chicken in a combo meal. It came piping hot with fried rice and about three half pieces of broccoli florets and an egg roll. I love egg rolls so I ordered a second one. I got the meal in less than 10- minutes! It was in a take-out pan that comes with a cover. Good thing it did. I came home with half my meal and one egg roll. There was a ton of food.

The staff are a bit distant but I don't think they're really rude. I suspect their English is not really very good. When I frequented this years ago the staff then had slightly better English. So this is a different set of people. I told them the food was delicious and the woman smiled and nodded. We did not chat but I made an effort to communicate with smiles and honest compliments and they responded in kind.

The whole shopping center looks a scene from a war movie. Buildings actually are gray and sooty looking and the parking lot is nearly void of parking lines. I remember when it was a bustling shopping center. This restaurant looks almost exactly the same inside and it was clean. It is a takeout place but you can eat in but you have to get your own utensils. I'd forgot that. They have them neatly on a side table in the back corner.

I'm giving them 5 stars because the food was excellent and the service was very fast. It was actually better tasting than some of the larger buffets around town that I've visited. I will go back.

If you decide to eat in I'd advise you to stop somewhere and get a drink because drinks here are all in cans. I remember them as not being very cold. I stopped up the street and got my drink. The room was also very warm. Not unbearable but warm.

Altogether, not a bad experience and I have a second meal waiting for me in the kitchen. I spent less than $12. I bought a drink from Thornton's for a buck so, the whole price of the meal (2 meals!)...

Taste of China is the unchanging staple of the westside. Walmart moves, ToC stays. Radio Shack dies, ToC lives. The weird old clothing retailer, now halloween store pop-up that may or may not be open next spooky season is but the change of the wind on the ancient oak tree that is ToC. The chair’s fabric has yet to be updated since the early 90s. Their good fortune calendar has been stuck on the date 08/26/2003. It’s a magical place where only the customers change - not the workers, not the aesthetics, not the food.

ToC is the stability all westsiders want - nay NEED - whenever Reitz loses, the Kohls cash has dried up, or whenever one has to deal with the existential dread of living on the westside of EVV. That dread, the ONLY cure is hearing “ToC, WHAT U WAN!?” on the other end of the line. We like the abuse. It cures the dread. So does their Crab Rangoon. This is why I’ve gone here for nearly 20 years now. Any haters went once and it was bland, service bad, blah blah blah. NO. They don’t understand ToC. Byeee, Karens. Stay away.

The loyal fans are what keep this place alive in their warm, sweet&sour embrace. Also… did I mention the...

I've eaten here a bunch of times. Here's my honest take on it:

The food is really good imho, but the only thing I've ordered from here is General Tsao and Pork Lo Mein. Both always turn out really good. A few reviews say "no flavor", but I've always been satisfied by the main dish and they always hook you up with a good portion.

The fried rice is always ok-ish. It's nothing amazing, but again they give you a nice portion.

The egg roll is always terrible. It's overcooked with nothing except stringy cabbage on the inside. This isn't a huge deal cause they give you lots of everything else. You can order soup instead of an eggroll, but the soup I never care for either.

The price is not that high so on the food get a pretty good value imho.

As for service the cashiers at this place are not very friendly. Other reviewers agree with me here.

Basically, there aren't any other places you can get Chinese carry out on the Westside and they are about as good as most run-of-the-mill Chinese places so people just go here instead of driving all the way across town for something that might at best be...