Hong’ Chinese Restaurant

Hong’s has been a Chinese restaurant for decades, but has recently received a badly needed remodel, and a name change. It was formerly Dragon Palace, which served tasty, cheap food and sported the quintessential Chinese restaurant dive bar … but it was always FILTHY dirty, just flat out disgusting. The kind of dirty that just tells you there are NO cleanliness standards set by management, period. I had written this place off years ago, but on the advice of a friend, decided to give the «new», rebooted, cleaned up version a try.
First off, like it’s predecessor, Hong’s doesn’t try to present itself as some high-​end Asian-​Fusion place or anything like that. It’s old school Chinese-​American food, served up cheap and plentiful, with all the usual standbys on the menu. OK, fine… people WANT an option like this at times, at least I do. I stopped in for lunch, and was seated immediately in a spotlessly clean, but uninspired dining room. The bar has been removed and a separate dining area created in it’s place, although alcohol is still available. I was happy to find one of my favorites, Szechuan Crispy Beef, on the long list of lunch specials, which were all in the $ 5-​$ 6 range. The pleasant server was right on point, and my Hot and Sour soup arrived promptly, served with hot tea and ice water. The soup and the tea were piping hot and somewhat bland, but I enjoyed both. My entrée arrived as I was scooping up the last spoonful of soup. The very generous portion of crispy beef was good but not great, served with a large scoop of tasty, well cooked fried rice, a fresh, crispy spring roll, and a fried wanton drizzled with sweet and sour sauce. Plenty of food for a $ 5.55 lunch special, no doubt… I had enough leftovers for a light dinner later .
My overall impression is that the cook (s) are playing it very «safe», not taking any chances by being heavy-​handed on the seasonings… salt, garlic, ginger, peppers, etc. Nothing was overly greasy or otherwise ill-​prepared. The end result is food that is pedestrian but enjoyable nonetheless, landing right smack dab in the middle of that «Chinese-​American» genre that most of us grew up with… and let’s not forget, all for the price of a fast-​food burger combo tossed through your car window at a drive thru. Not bad … although if you prefer your Chinese kicked-​up a bit on the flavor, Hunan Palace a couple of miles north has you covered, and is in the same über-​cheap price range.
I will be back for lunch, and wouldn’t hesitate to suggest Hong’s to co-​workers or friends, with the understanding that it «is what it is» … A clean, well-​lit place serving up the kind of inexpensive Chinese food that you grew up with in suburban America … a cut above the Safeway stuff or the Chinese buffets, but certainly not breaking any new ground or sporting any «magic touch» from the kitchen.

Have been here 2x. Place appears clean, food is always HOT (which is a plus). True, the food could use some serious flavor help, i.e., MORE flavor please — but the serving sizes are decent, etc.
Been there 2x. Will try again.

I was watching as this Chinese restaurant change hands and went through, what appears from the exterior, to be a major remodel. The sign saying «Grand Opening Soon», caught my attention. Finally in September 2012, I saw that it was open. The previous place, Dragon Palace was a dive, and they had a grease fire a few years ago. I was very hopeful that this would be better. I went in for dinner, ordered the Hot & Sour soup, some Spring Rolls, and a chicken dish. The soup was nasty, tasted like vinegar and way too much salt added. Then came the spring rolls. I have never had greasier «Spring Rolls», which are supposed to be lighter than traditional Egg Rolls, but they were very heavy, very greasy, no meat inside, just lots of mushy, luke warm cabbage and grease. Lastly, my chicken dish showed up. It was terrible, mostly celery as filler, overly salted, and a boring «gravy» sauce. I don’t think that I have ever been so disappointed with Chinese food before! Needless to say, I will never eat there again…

Very slow service. Taste was less than «meh». I had high hopes but I wont be back.