Happy Family — Restaurant in St. Charles

First time in the area after moving, I always like to explore the immediate area. You know, see what there is.

Google Maps showcased several places, Happy Family being one of them.

I have lived in small towns before, and almost all had a quaint little Chinese place.

Happy Family fits that to a tee. From the moment I walked in the door, it was nostalgia. Nothing too extravagant, just simple, which I appreciated.

The people were friendly and seemed to speak pretty good English. Not a problem if they didn't, my hometown Chinese place had a staff of about 6 and only 2 spoke decent English. So, I know my way around that barrier.

I ordered the sweet and sour chicken, one of my go to staples at Chinese places. Fried chicken in tempura batter, generally not hard to mess up.... especially since it usually arrives frozen in bulk. Tasted good, little dry... but you have that from time to time.

The sauce was very good. I normally go for the dip method when eating out. At home, I prefer to smother. It tasted like sweet and sour sauce, not really good at describing flavors all that well.

No chopsticks, which is more a nitpick. Every other place I have visited, you generally request those and I forgot.

Seemed kinda dead though, which did make me wonder. However, they got about 5 or so phone calls I noticed while eating. So, I think people just call in and take it home.

All in all, very good. Few minor nitpicks keep it from being a 5. I...

I've tried the fried dumplings, which I absolutely love! The crab rangoon are sweet and tasty. The Wonton Egg Drop and Wonton Soup are very flavor and reasonable priced for the serving that you get. As for the entrees I've had the Shrimp Egg Foo Young- the shrimp were perfectly done and the egg patties where stuffed with lots of vegetables, I wish there was more gravy but next time I'll just ordered more- and the Garlic Pork- the pork is so tender and the pieces so thin and a good size and the sauce was tasty and had some heat behind it but you just want to keep stuffing your face.

The service is very good and very fast, we only waited for about 15 minutes for 4 different plates of food. And the price is wonderful. Overall I will be frequenting this restaurant a lot and exploring different items...

So food is good only problem is the gentleman always charges extra for pop. My kids went in to get a pop payed with a $5 and only got a $1 back . For one pop. When I called him out on it he said my kids gave him $4 , I gave my kids the $5 so I know that was not true. Usually the lady always gives you the right change. Also was not the first time he did that so I decided to post it. Keep a...