Chan's Garden Mongolian Grill — Restaurant in LaSalle

The food can be great- menu items are well executed- the shrimp in the shrimp in lobster sauce are large and perfectly tender, and the General Tso’s chicken and pepper beef are family favorites (and they still use the same great pork egg roll recipie from the glory days when this was an upscale restaurant named “Ho’s”!) The buffet is great for fussy eaters and accommodating large groups. I want this place to succeed but there are some serious problems that make it hard to recommend. First and foremost, the proprietors do not have an English speaking employee to wait tables, take orders, and work the register. The place has been changing management often but the lack of English skills are a constant. I’m not saying they need to be able to recite old English verse from memory, but I don’t think it crazy to expect at least one employee to know the English words for the food products and sizes they serve, to handle the currency and to interact with the public. I’ve been overcharged, my card charged twice for the same meal, gotten the wrong or missing item in takeout, ended up with multiple orders because of confusion about how many pieces constitute one order. It often takes 10 minutes to order a meal by phone because all the employees in succession will be handed the phone. Tonight, was rougher than usual. They had 4 occupied tables including ours. I sat with my (two) parents for dinner, and placed my purse, and Dad’s coat and ball cap on the 4th chair and went to the buffet. When I returned, the one pot of hot tea dad and I ordered to share had been left with two standard small tea cups plus three ice water glasses. A man at the next table waved at me after I sat down. The man said that “my” water glass was actually from his table- the waiter/manager had taken that table’s water cups away to refill, somehow gotten confused, and brought me one of their used cups and used straw instead of a fresh glass- the straw was the tip off- I hadn’t unwrapped my straw but there was a straw in “my” water but not in Mom or Dad’s. Yikes!!!! Would it kill these people to buy a $5 pitcher so we didn’t have to play drink refill roulette? Aside from several empty or nearly empty buffet pans, dry edged entrees revealing that no one was routinely stirring or monitoring buffet temps, rice looking very elderly, the food was ok. When the bill came, we were surprised to find the Waiter/Manager charged my purse, hat, and jacket for it’s own buffet meal. The restaurant was slow/quiet, and the waiter was ten feet from us for the best part of an hour so I’m still confused as to how he came to believe there was a 4th diner (in the shape of a Coach bag). If that wasn’t weird enough, he also charged for two pots of tea. When we explained we only had one pot of hot tea, he mimed that now hot tea is charged by the pot, yes, but also it’s charged by how many cups get service from the pot of tea. if it were unlimited tea pot refills that might make sense to charge for the number of people partaking, but it wasn’t- you pay for the pot which contains 2 cheap tea bags, and then you pay again based on how many cups you use to consume the contents of the tea pot. I had forgotten how strong their tea was, (probably because they don’t give you a vessel to place the used tea bags upon so they stay in the pot). The ambiance is, well, family friendly, to be nice, and not romantic or fancy in any way. Come as you are and reservations are no longer necessary. I have such fond memories of the original Ho’s restaurant, with the bold red walls and table cloths, romantic ambiance, delicate tasseled lanterns, kimono clad dolls and elegant Asian parasols, tasteful ebony and jade art piece, red clad uniformed servers darting between two floors of tables- how I miss Mrs. Ho, who made sure things were done properly. Back then, reservations were a must to get in on Friday and Saturdays. It’s a shame to see it so opposite- dreary even- but at least the food is good (even if you need to know Chinese to communicate...

This place… oh my goodness, this place. The GEM of the Illinois Valley. I could sing praises to Mongolian Grill from the rooftops, and I would if I had access to a roof.

Let me state that I have been eating here since they opened, around 2013-2014 perhaps. Everything has stayed consistent, including the pricing, and that’s been impressive. When you walk in, you have the option of ordering from the menu or doing the buffet and let me tell you- get the buffet. If you can cook at all, you will enjoy yourself here. You’ll get your soft drink, then it’s off you go to build your masterpiece. Five separate buffets with two side stations, there’s a lot to process. There’s two small stations, one for fried rice and one for ice cream. There’s a cold bar in the back which features some salad items and desserts, and one buffet table full of ready to eat apps and foods with some soups offered. I did giggle that the one says “eggg dorp soup”. It’s what you’d expect at any Chinese buffet.

Then we get to the good stuff- the hibachi stuff. You have three bars for hibachi: your noodles and veggies, your meats, and your sauce ingredients. You get a bowl and load it up with your choice of noodles and veggies, there are so many options. Tofu, egg, zucchini, baby corns, broccoli, water chestnuts, sprouts… I can’t get enough color! Then you move over to the meat buffet, where you select your raw cuts and place the pieces in your bowl. I typically do the beef and shrimp, always good quality. You’ll bring your bowl to the hibachi grill and set it on the counter so they can start cooking it. You’ll go make your sauce at this point, which is where it could get overwhelming if you don’t know flavors well. There are probably 20 sauces to mix and about 25 seasonings and the likes to add flavor, so there’s a lot of room for creation with your sauce! You’ll bring it up to the hibachi again when you’re done, and they’ll plate your order and bring it to you if needed.

For $10.99 a person, what a stellar deal. So much fresh produce and variety from a family owned business, it’s a staple in the Illinois Valley. Although I’ve moved to another state at this point, this is the one restaurant I haven’t seen done this well and one I miss whole heartedly. I visited the IV from Florida recently and ensured I ate there several times because I just can’t get enough of the great service and incredible food. If you haven’t eaten here yet, you’re missing out. Stop by today and build yourself the meal...

While the food is great and tasty, their deceit makes this a place to be sorely overlooked. The buffet is lacking and food isn't fresh and cold. The customer service is horrible. When placing order for take out, while their lunch special prices are great, on every occasion the person taking the order offer choices that comes with an extra charge. At one point, a $12 lunch for two (take out) came to $33. When we ordered the "lunch special" the lady asked if we wanted regular or special. No knowing the difference, we said regular. She argued that we said regular which mean we get charged full price and not regular. Furthermore, we were given white rice instead of fried. We gave another chance and asked for the lunch special. We were asked if we wanted veggie or meat. We chose veggie thinking it's two choices. We were charged extra for 3 pieces of broccoli. The owners or people taking the order must assume and be upfront with charges that are beyond what is actually ordered. We will not be ordering from this place and I urge others...