China Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in Mount Pleasant

The vegetarian "mock meat" options here are great -- some of the best tasting vegetarian Chinese food that I've had. We've been going here for years and have always loved the food. That said, every time I order food from there, I end up regretting that I did it. They seem to have a huge problem trying to prioritize orders. They appear to put other orders in front of earlier ones depending on how things are going in the back.

The last time I ordered (just last week), I had to wait 75 minutes for my take-out order! An hour and 15 minutes for an order that I was told would take "15-20 minutes." And, when I ordered, it was well BEFORE the dinner rush. I ordered at 4:40pm, was told "15-20 minutes" and arrived right at 5pm to pick it up. They told me that it wasn't ready yet, but would be out "in a few minutes." The place was almost empty. There were only 3 tables occupied by people dining in and only two other people waiting for their to-go orders (who got theirs about 5 minutes after I arrived). It was not very busy at all.

I then waited for 55 more minutes for my order! Every now and then, they would tell me that they were still making it. This was a small order for only two people -- nothing crazy. I was sitting right next to the check-out counter, so I could clearly hear what was going on. During that 55 minutes, I actually heard people call in to-go orders and then WATCHED THEM ARRIVE 20 minutes later and pick up their orders! I saw this happen SEVERAL times while I waited for my order to finally be prepared! So, while I waited 75 minutes for my own order, several people placed brand new orders, waited 20 minutes, drove to the restaurant, and picked theirs up!

This was the worst case that I have had with them, which is why I finally decided to write a review, but I have had similar situations in the past. They just set aside certain orders for later and apparently do that over and over again.

When my order finally came up, I barely got an apology (they just said "Sorry, it's a busy night" even though it wasn't busy 75 minutes before when I actually ordered). Completely unacceptable and happens WAY too often. Just not worth it.

As a bonus, they charged me more than what the online ordering system said the total would be (as someone else has mentioned in their review too). They added on fees that are NOT listed on the online site. Be warned when you...

I will say the food is Great! The front of house servers are friendly and always pleasant. The owner. (Mary) and back of house staff were extremely, extremely slow. Husband and I walked in at 11:10am. We were the first customers of the day. We ordered our appetizers and main dish and drinks. 5 more couples came in and the ordered. As the other customers received their food slowly our server came up to us and apologizing said sorry it’s taking so long (he did this several times) We understood they were short staffed so didn’t mind a little wait. As we watch people that arrived after us getting up and leaving after finishing their meals. We looked at our phone and realized that we have been there for 50 min. And our appetizers still were not out. Server came over and apologized again and said that he told the owner who was in the back cooking and she ignored him. 5 min later 55 minutes since arriving we were served our appetizers. We both looked at each other and decided that we would just be patient now that our food would be out shortly. WERE WE WRONG... we didn’t receive our main dishes until 12:57. As we were finely served my husband asked to speak with Mary (the owner). As we ate our meals we waited for her to come by our table. And she didn’t even have the common curtesy to come to our table😡. Our orders were nothing extravagant Beef and Broccoli and Beef udon soup. And there were other customers that ordered one of the same dishes as ourselves. We were there for over 2 hours total. And have had nothing like this happen before . We tipped our server very well. Because he was a great server. But Mary as the owner and operator of a restaurant we come to eat at least twice a month I am sorely disappointed in you and your concern for customer satisfaction. You made it so our sever was nervous to come give us updates because they way you speak to them. Won’t be coming back for a long time if ever. You showed us how much our satisfaction mattered. Couldn’t even be bothered to come to...

This place is such a hidden gem. They have the biggest menu I have ever seen at a Chinese restaurant. Let me first say, I write tons of reviews and am a true foodie! I eat at a restaurant at least once a week and I am not talking about fast food. Looks are deceiving, I will say this place could use a renovation and some upgrades. But that aside, the food here is second to none. Everything is cooked to perfection. And with a menu this large, that is not an easy task. Please give this place a try. The servers could use some training on how to properly talk to a customer, as the one gentleman who has been a server there as long as I can remember talks with street lingo which has no place at a restaurant in my opinion. But in his defense, I will say he is a really great server and does pay attention to all your needs. So at the end of the day he still gets a great review from me. I have tried about 30 different dishes here and have never been dissatisfied or disappointed. I even brought a friend here who is a Chinese restaurant owner himself and he was impressed with the menu and great food. Last time here, I got fried Pot Stickers with beef, Crispy Duck, and Shrimp Fried Rice. Here are some pictures. So please, give this...