Usmania Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Lake View Township

This restaurant claims to serve authentic Chinese cuisine. The menu was thick and fancy, and set an expectation of a fine dining experience. However, it turns out we were deceived: what we did experience was an overpriced poorly prepared cheap imitation of authentic Chinese food. The main theme I noticed in the dishes we ordered was they were drenched in Indian/Pakistani spices, which was pretty much the only thing I tasted. While this restaurant failed in its authenticity, if you are interested in reading more about an authentic dining experience here, further details to follow below: We started with the lollipop chicken, which costed 15 dollars (almost 2 dollars per piece, picture below). I'm inclined to also mention that they served it with Heinz tomato ketchup, you know, for the authentic and fine dining experience. The chicken pieces were very hot and greasy and ended up burning the roof of my mouth. I would say not worth the price; I've definitely had better at other restaurants. We also ordered the sesame chicken which wasn't at all flavorful. The fried rice with beef was somewhat decent, but it was overwhelmed with desi spices taking away from the "authentic Chinese" experience. The service was not great either, unfortunately, and we were left sitting there for long periods of time without our order being taken or the opportunity to add more items. We tried ordering the kashmiri zafran matka chai but were told they were out of it, which was disappointing. They also said they were out of most of the kulfi flavors, except for two of them. I tried ordering some of their special malai kulfi but after waiting around ten minutes for it I decided to put this poor dining experience to rest...

Update 10-15-23. The service still sucks. This time the hostess/cashier left off part of my order. I had to wait another 10 minutes for the egg rolls to arrive. Of course, when I got the order home, it was the wrong egg rolls. How do you get the order wrong when the customer comes in and orders in person? How? How do you get the order wrong when only two tables are occupied, and they aren't wanting for anything? How do you get the order wrong, if the phone doesn't seem busy? The food is always delicious but the wait staff SUCKS! I have only done take-out (Not sure why). I NOW give service 1 star. 1st experience, the host took calls, and attended to things somewhere in the back before he waited on me. During 2nd experience, I was the only one in the restaurant. While waiting for the host to finish on the phone, a group of men came in. When the host hung up the phone, he waited on the men, then he waited on me, to help me find my carry-out. 3rd experience, the host was taking phone orders, and he did acknowledge me. I was then helped by a gentleman who came up front. First 2 visits I ordered the shrimp fried rice, and egg rolls. 3rd visit I ordered Beef and Broccoli. The dishes have all been very good. The leftovers taste even better the 2nd day. This restaurant serves generous portions. When I enter the restaurant, it is always a quiet, calm atmosphere. I just hate how I am treat when I come to pick up my food. I come in dressed decent and am always polite, even when the wait staff ignores me. I always tip. So, what is the problem? I don't want them to fawn over me, jI ust want to be treated with better...

I had a disappointing experience at this restaurant, and I want to start by addressing the management. It seems like the employees here don't care much about the business. When I arrived, the young lady at the front desk was more focused on blasting music and taking personal calls than attending to customers. We politely asked her to lower the volume twice, but our request fell on deaf ears. I’m not even kidding I felt like we were sitting a club.This lack of acknowledgment was frustrating.

Now, regarding the food, it was below average at best. It felt like someone had just reheated pre-made dishes and served them to us. If you're running a restaurant, you should be putting more effort into the quality of your food.

To make matters worse, while we were still eating, a food server approached us at 9:45 PM and asked us to pay our bill because they were closing the restaurant. We hadn't even finished our meal, and this rushed service left a sour taste in our mouths.

After this disappointing experience, I checked the reviews and found that many others had similar complaints. I won't be returning to this place, and I'd rather give my business to any other deserving restaurant in...