Li's Garden — Restaurant in Maricopa

The best thing about this place is the delivery! Always a perk, it was friendly and fast. So they get a star for that. But the food and dealing with the manager over the phone...not good. I'll tell you why...

If you are a lover of Asian food here in the U.S. done with technique... meaning proper seasonings,flavor, cleaned shrimp and proteins, authentic recipies for even basics like sauce consistency, the texture of the meat, the noodles, the value for the money, and over all authenticity to the recipes(americanized or not), skip this place.

I ordered a simple lo mein...and it was horrible. I mean, nothing was right. The noodles were the wrong noodles for the dish, the sauce was nothing but sweet, brown, thick gloppy sauce and tasted of nothing but 5 spice powder. It was a step away from being licorice. The meat was all floppy and rubbery with gristle all in it with no sear. Boiled in thick nasty sauce. And soggy soft thick noodles. More of an Udon noodle. Which is not right for Lo Mein. And there wasn't any redeeming ingredients like egg, or vegetables, nothing to fall back on. It was INEDIBLE. You would think some people couldn't mess up very simple recipies and basic cooking technique, but they have managed to mess up what should be a simple but nutritious, affordable, balanced, but technical dish. There is no way the cooks there at that place are of the same culture these dishes come from...even if the recipies are americanized. It's of no excuse. I have been to Tennessee, California, New York, and Arkansas and had good Asian-American food. These people take pride in their work. So, that is why I say...this place has lost all standards. I spent $50 for a lunch sized Beef and Broccoli, and a Combo Lo Mein dinner portion and ordered 2 eggrolls, which should have come with it for that price.

Because I could not eat it and it and I had spent so much money...I asked called and asked for a replacement or a refund. They told me, "No." About both, and were not willing to help." They literally said, "we will just do better next time." I was like ...wait, that is theft...or fraud. I paid for edible food and you gave me inedible food. Before I left the call, I told them I was going to write a review. After a minute the phone rang, they had got my number and called me back saying they would then do replacement but then when I didn't want to pay extra for the same size entree, WITH LESS MEATS IN IT (chicken vs. chicken beef, and shrimp)for a replacement, and that was an experience where I was only allowed to order a lunch replacement of Kung Pao for my Dinner of Combo Lo Mein, they would not refund me for their horrible mistakes. I asked them if sauce came on the Kung Pao, and if they could please put it on the side in a separate container, but NOPE. My second entree arrived swimming in a variation of the same brown crap the first entree came in.

They got their money and then some that day for that. Lesson learned. But, I wound up asking them to give the difference to the driver as a tip. I hope so. Here is the thing, they ASKED FOR THE FIRST ENTREE BACK, which is a health code violation. I wasn't surprised because after the shrimp not even being cleaned properly... I knew I was dealing with a business that didn't care.

Before you judge me as being too harsh, just know...I have worked in many Asian restaurants and have Asian friends and family, who also own restaurants. I am an amateur chef and know how ANY food should be at least be clean, cooked correctly and properly seasoned.

I'm sure some people here, who don't know any better, like it. But it is obvious that this place has lost all standards of what Asian food is and what it should be. It's a disrespect to the culture, customer, and food, altogether. I didn't just dislike this place, I was personally offended by it. But, They have delivery at least! So you can get delivery, but the food is inedible. It's a compromise for your money.

P.s. if you want good lo mein, there is better out there. Don't order it or the Kung Pao...

Honestly I am very nervous to say anything nice about this place. As far as the food goes, well it really depends on the time of day and which day of the week you order as well as if you want to eat in or order to go, my personal opinion is that no one should ever order takeout/delivery from here, there will be items that you ordered that are missing or, what has been done to me twice now is that you may either be charged for items that you neither ordered or received. And in either of these cases the workers will fight and argue that you are in the wrong before possibly correcting the situation. One time we ordered delivery and the cost was $10+ more than usual so I asked to check the receipt of my order and there were things I didn't order added on. I told the delivery driver "who was a family member of the owner" that I was not paying the extra items. The guy had me call and they made Him open & check the entire order over, every single container and bag, so he could take back the extra items we had been charged for, "which I totally understood and was completely fine with" only to discover the order was correct in being my original order, so even tho I had been charged and had to fight and argue that I had not ordered the extra items to begin with, but as mentioned above, I then I find out that my order was correct and they were basically trying to make an extra $10+ off me for items I neither wanted nor received, yeah I was freaking pissed off at the situation "depending on how much cash I have on me I always tip delivery $5-$10 so I was livid". So if you are wanting your order correct and your food fresh then eat in. Just don't order the Buffett or even order towards the end of the Buffett or stale food it is. And always check...

Been ordering at this place since 2019. I’ve sampled many of the entrees, appetizers and Chef’s Specialties and quite a few are keepers.

The Singapore Noodles, beef w/broccoli, curry chicken (and beef), the House Special egg foo young, beef w/mushrooms, House Special lo mein & chow mei fun are all great choices.

Appetizer winners include the steamed dumplings and they have the tastiest chicken wings in Maricopa, which surprised me. The egg rolls used to be awesome, but they started making them smaller recently and they’re just not the same.

The egg flower and wor wonton soup are consistently excellent.

This establishment would’ve received five stars, except for two things: 1)Delivery items are often tossed in bags rather haphazardly, which has resulted in quite the mess on several occasions, and,

2. when you post on your website that you’re open until 9:30 pm and I try to place an order at 8:15 on BeyondMenu, and I get a response that you’re “closed,” it hurts your business (and your rating).

It makes matters worse when I try to call in a few minutes later (maybe 8:20 pm-still well before closing time) and I get an unintelligible voice mail stating (I think) “leave a message,” while you’re supposed to be open.

In any case the freshness and quality of the food outweighs the aforesaid challenges and I hope management will address these things to make the overall...