Cheng-Du Restaurant — Restaurant in Mansfield

Just came home from dinner. Sorely disappointed. I’ve visited twice before - brought home carry-out for the family and been satisfied enough, as well as dined in and was happy with that experience. Tonight was different in nearly every way.

The restaurant was full and felt very claustrophobic. We were sat at a high-top beside the bar and didn’t even feel comfortable to have a conversation. It was basically an arm’s reach to the bar patrons behind us and the tables on either side of us. We could’ve reached our forks over and shared plates with our neighbors. We were given carry-out menus to order from and no beverage menus. My wife heard somebody at the table beside us order something like a “Love Potion” and almost asked her “Ooh, what’s that?” There wasn’t time to discuss what we wanted for apps or drinks before our waiter came and gruffly asked if we were ready to order. We ordered apps and literally did not finish ordering our drinks for our party of 4 before our waiter stepped away from us.

The food flies out of the kitchen at warp speed in this place but the waitstaff is oblivious to the fact that you might want a second round of drinks with the main course, or simply the check after you’ve been sitting with empty plates for 15+ minutes. One couple beside us also mentioned in conversation (between themselves) that they wanted another round of drinks but had not been given the chance to ask for it. Before the food arrives you feel like you’re being hurried out the door, but once the food is there and you want anything else at all (including just that check you assumed they’re so eager to present), you’re stuck there twiddling your thumbs.

As for the quality of the food, the Crab Rangoon is confirmed delicious after a couple visits. The various (and typical) fried rice and lo mein options are also tasty. The beef is the best of the teriyaki apps (no surprise), but the chicken is honestly quite good. The big food disappointment was the sesame beef we ordered for our entree. The menu had it labeled as spicy, but it was not spicy at all. We were imagining rich sesame flavors and good Szechuan pepper spice, but it was super bland - very little flavor other than salty. We could barely taste that it was beef. I would not have been at all surprised if the waiter came back and said, “Fooled you! It’s really seitan!” Very disappointing given how good all the dishes look as they whip past you through the dining room.

Consensus is that this place does not live up to all the hype. It’s not expensive overall, but also not worth going back for. We live only a few blocks down the street and will prefer to drive somewhere further away for what we are guaranteed to...

If you care about how people treat their employees, please read this. I used to LOVE this place. Every date night, every holiday and anniversary, we went here. I brought so many friends here over the years.

My husband and I went there for our 6th year wedding anniversary tonight and earlier in the day we called for reservations, and they said none were needed for tonight.

We get there at 7:30 (they normally close at 9:30 on sundays) and they said they closed early tonight for the Chinese new year. When we said hold on, we called and planned ahead for when to arrive, the front desk girl turned around, asked the owner lady behind the bar if we could sit and eat for our anniversary, and she snapped at her “WERE CLOSED!” .. so we asked can we at least order out and get a drink while we wait? I told her, I’m gluten free and it’s our anniversary and nobody said anything to us when we called earlier tonight. The poor lady at the front turned and asked the owner again… the owner lady was the most rude human I have ever experienced. She said fine we can order takeout, but then continued to berate the front desk girl about how bad of a job she was doing - screaming at her saying “this is all your fault!”

Our normal waitress, May, was in the back sitting at a booth visibly covering her face from us, I’m assuming because she was so embarrassed and appalled.

We sat at the bar and asked for a drink because we were waiting for our food and the front desk girl said we could, and the owner then snapped at us and said NO! WERE CLOSED!!!

The most “how dare you ask for something nicely at my restaurant” type of attitude and then publicly screaming at her employees in front of 15 or so guests.

We ended up eating our anniversary dinner in the car - they knew this and the owner aggressively handed over our bag but didn’t include utensils or fortune cookies or anything we needed.

I love May. I love the staff there. We will never be back. We’re heartbroken and pissed off because nobody should profit off of berating their employees. You should’ve seen the girl’s face at the front desk - I wanted to give her a hug. I refuse to support a business that treats their employees that way....

5/23/24 Today was my birthday,I treated my daughter and granddaughter out to eat at cheng-Du unfortunately they served us refried old chicken fingers that were hard and could break a tooth with. we also got the side dish of a mild spicy chicken with vegetables. It came out with just chicken and water chestnuts and some black substance that i had never seen in that dish before. I forget the exact name of dish,it was hunan with choice of meat,i had gotten the same name dish at a favorite Chinese place i go to in franklin,and had red peppers,mushrooms,and other vegetables,the cheng Du charged me almost double,22 dollars and change for a dish that was missing vegetables.they garnished broccoli around it,and i had gotten that dish their before and it wasn't like what i got today. It's a over priced restaurant,and their recooked leftovers, which is a joke for what they charge for food ,and the hunan dish came back with two pieces of red pepper on it,they made off like they made a new dish. Hang tai in franklin has fresh food at a better price. drinks are cheaper, too. cheng recooked Du lost my business,and i dropped $146 in...