Golden Lotus Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Oak Ridge

Service was terrible! Bad communication among the staff and unprofessional management. It took SO LONG to get the check, we couldn't believe it. And we had to ask for things multiple times - "can we follow up on the waters? The coke? The sweet tea? Can we get waters please? Can he get his coke please? Yeah, we asked for sweet tea" And then when we needed to leave and the egg custard wasn't out yet even after following up, "can we cancel the egg custards?" and guess what came out after we canceled it. Yup, the egg custards that we canceled. We would've enjoyed it as a dessert, not as something we were forced to shove down and eat because we needed to hit the road and it took so damn long after our main meals and the check to come. And THEN, the OWNER/MANAGER comfronted one member of our party who had nothing to do with the final check about why we didn't give a 15% tip! Are you kidding me??? 15% is for satisfactory service, we should have gotten a discount for how much time they took and how many follow-ups we had to do! Food was good but service was TERRIBLE - we will never go back and we don't recommend it unless you have the afternoon to spend there. Set aside 20 minutes just for the check, then add patience for all the times you have to ask for everything, over and over and over again. By the way, I went up to the counter to ask for the check (stood there waiting for the owner/manager to even acknowledge me, she just kept looking down and working on whatever she was doing. I would've appreciated a "Just one second please"). We also asked 2 other servers for the check and it STILL took inexcusably long. The place wasn't even packed. Just disappointing and...

I would not touch this place with a 10 foot pole, there is a reason why this place has 3.8 stars on Google... I came in with my son yesterday, he is seven years of age, we happen to be walking down the strip and he started to do the PP dance and said he couldn’t hold it. So we ran inside and I politely asked may we use your restroom, my son really has to pee. The server looked at us while she was serving a table and rudely stated restrooms are for paying customers only and sent us on our way. It is one thing if an adult needs to go, however, if you have the coldest of hearts only then can you look a child in the eye and tell him he cannot relieve himself and to go somewhere else. I was floored by her response, although this review does not factor in their food, it does show the kind of people they are or at least her as a person. Her actions alone has repelled me from ever even considering stepping a foot in this place! Owners if you agree with her actions you should be ashamed of yourselves, if not, I would take actions as she is losing you customers

Update to reply to restaurant’s reply

There was only 1 table out of the 20 in there that had customers seated, the entire restaurant was empty. There is no excuse, not to mention, you reply to most negative reviews with the restaurant is busy, don’t believe me? Scroll through like we did and see it for yourself.. Please do not make an excuse and own up to the fact that the person working on that day was wrong and that you will let them know to treat kids (not customers)...

My colleagues and I recently dined at Golden Lotus, and it proved to be an excellent spot for large group gatherings—especially if you enjoy dim sum. The restaurant offers a wide variety of dishes that are ideal for sharing, making it a fun and social dining experience. From dumplings and buns to rice and noodle dishes, there was no shortage of flavorful options to go around.

One highlight for me was the fried rice with Chinese sausage and honey BBQ pork—a standout dish that was both rich in flavor and impressively tender. The savory-sweet combination made it a table favorite, and I would definitely return just for that.

That said, there were a few challenges worth noting. The service, while prompt, came with a bit of a language barrier. Communication was difficult at times, particularly when it came to ordering. We experienced a mix-up where a dish we didn’t order was brought to our table, and the server initially insisted we had marked it. In reality, we hadn’t even found a pen to fill out the order sheet and had asked the server to take our order instead. The confusion could’ve been avoided by double-checking the order sheet before handing it over, so I highly recommend doing so if you’re not fluent in Chinese.

Despite this hiccup, the overall experience was very enjoyable. The lively atmosphere, combined with great food and a communal style of eating, made it a memorable outing. Just come prepared for a bill that can add up quickly—but it’s well worth it for the quality...