Imperial Wok Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Solon

I wanted to mention what happened when I tried to make a reservation for 7 people, when calling the restaurant on Friday, August 18th. I called to make a reservation for a party of 7. I wanted to reserve a space for 1:30pm on Saturday, August 19th. I called the restaurant on Friday afternoon around 4pm. I spoke to the woman who answered the phone indicating I wanted to make a reservation for Saturday, August 19th for a party of 7.

She said what time and I said 1:30pm. She then tells me "the dining area does not open until 3:45pm, before that time is just TAKEOUT ONLY ".

I replied back stating "oh I did not realize that, it IS NOT stated on your website indicating that specific time when the dining room area officially opens ". I then indicated I'd recheck with my friends and possibly call back to reschedule.

I double checked the website just to make sure I didn't miss the dining area hours listing and I couldn't find the 3:45 open time for the dining room area listed ANYWHERE on the website.

My friends couldn't meet after 3:45, so we ended up going to Yours Truly in Solon, a few blocks down the street. I highly recommend that Imperial Wok's management list this specific dining room hour opening time for a Saturday on their website. My group of friends, which includes myself, would have probably spent over $100 as a group total for lunch and I'm sure the restaurant would have appreciated our patronage. And yes I do realize we could reschedule the group gathering for dinner at another time.

My concern is the dining room time is not listed on the website. I've never been to Imperial Wok, but my friends suggested this restaurant stating their food was good. Hopefully I wasn't told wrong information by the woman who answered the phone on Friday, ...

I met some family members here for my brother's birthday. Most of my family had been here before and enjoy it. They all got lunch combo specials, but that wasn't available to me as a vegetarian. I thought the atmosphere was nice, but the service wasn't great and there was several issues with my food. I ordered veggie lo mein with fried tofu. This is not usually on the menu at a Chinese restaurant, but I have always been able to get tofu added for protein. In some restaurants it's an upcharge and some just include it since they are otherwise not providing protein, tofu is cheap, and veggie lo mein usually cost about the same as chicken lo mein on the menu. The tofu in my lo mein was just right out of the package soft tofu. It wasn't fried, which adds a much nicer texture, although it said fried tofu on my receipt. My second issue was that it was around a $3.50 upcharge (adding 33% to the cost of the meal) and the waitress didn't mention an upcharge at all when I asked about ordering it that way. (Again, I'm ok with having an upcharge, but it should be disclosed, especially since this was the heftiest upcharge I had ever gotten for tofu. ) My final issue was that my veggie lo mein was not actually made with lo mein noodles. I was served really thin noodles that didn't mix as well with the veggies and soft tofu. All in all it's the most I've ever paid for that dish and it wasn't great. The textures were off between the squishy tofu and the really thin noodles. We also didn't have very attentive service from our waitress. I could have used probably two more refills...

Update - 11/2018 - Gave it a try again. The food is back! We had some great food two times in the last month or so. I changed my review b/c the food is good again! Thanks.

Oh what happened to Imperial Wok? It was one of the best Chinese restaurants in Solon, now its a 'meh' at best.

My family and I have eaten both inside and takeout from IW for over 5 years. Until about 8 months ago, it was great. The food, eat in, take out, the service... all great.

We think there are new owners or at least new management. The food is bland, I mean taste less. The fried food is soft and soggy. And did they hide the salt and pepper shakers? For goodness sake, go get some MSG or what ever is used to make Chinese food good. And they changed the fortune cookies. They are thinner and bland and the fortunes are also lame. How could you mess up fortune cookies?

Tonight I almost called to speak to the manager or the owner, the new guy behind the counter as the lady is gone now, but I didn't. I hope this message finds its mark and the food is fixed. Hope I forget this sad sad meal so I try IW again.. but for now it is a no go for me and mine. (Don't fret, I have a lousy memory, I will probably be back sooner...