Wong’s Chopsticks

If you come here for dim sum be prepared to wait. Granted they are making your orders fresh it will take awhile. We came at 11 AM and first item did not arrive until 11:45 AM. Come when they open to ensure you do not have to wait so long. Restaurant could use a good cleaning — tables are sticky and floor seems dirty.
The dim sum itself is not that bad. My faves here: fried pot stickers, spicy garlic ribs, and shui mai. Chinese broccoli is served with brown sauce and garlic — yummy.
Pork buns, beef tripe, shrimp rice roll are all okay in my book but not the best.
Other non-​dim sum items I like to order:
Salt and pepper squid — only place in DSM which makes it. Battered and deep fried squid then seasoned. Sliced jalapeños and onions to finish
Beef rice noodle — kind of like chow fun with thick rice noodles. Usually very good, but sometimes the noodles are overcooked or too soggy.
Cantonese chow mein — ask for noodles on the side if ordering to go. This is a stir fry with brown sauce placed on top of crispy noodles.

Wong’s Chopsticks is what I believe to be the only Dim Sum place in Des Moines after Kwong Tung closed. As a warning, I haven’t tried anything else but the Dim Sum here so that’s what I’m reviewing. It’s hard living in Iowa without any great Dim Sum places since the closest is Minneapolis. I discovered this place after a friend told me she really likes the food here. It’s tucked away in a strip mall in Johnston. This place usually serves Chinese-​American food but does Dim Sum on weekends for a certain timeframe. Instead of the servers bringing around carts of food, you have to order off of the menu. It does take away from the fun of seeing what your food will look like but I can see why they wouldn’t do it for a smaller place like this.
I haven’t had anything bad on the Dim sum menu! My favorites are the congee, fried pot stickers, shrimp shu mai, and pork spareribs. They are huge servings and very delicious. The shrimp rice rolls are usually my favorite thing to get at other dim sum places but here it isn’t. It’s still good but the rice rolls themselves are flimsy and the shrimp is awkwardly too big. Otherwise, everything is pretty good.
The reason I gave it four stars, is because the service is not the best. For Dim sum, it takes forever for the food to come out. Everytime I have come in, it takes at least 30 minutes to wait for it to come out. I know that if they’re making this fresh, that’s why but it’s too long for a customer to have to wait for food.

We’ve been here a few times now and love this place! It’s a little on the small side but that’s totally ok. The staff/​owners have always been super great and the food here is amazing!!!
The last time we were here, our mini-​yelper ordered the Teriyaki Chicken and OH MAN!!! It was SO good!!! I’ve ordered the Sesame Chicken and it’s really good! It’s a different take on it then what I’m used to. It’s sweet and spicy. They put red pepper flakes in it that give it a nice kick!
All in all, we’ve found a new favorite Chinese restaurant that will have us coming back time and time again as long as they keep up the great food and service!!!

Caught eye of this little hideaway one day driving by.
We got craving for Chinese a few days later which put us as a walk in on a Tuesday early evening.
Beating the diner rush is great and that is what we did. The gentleman at the counter sat us right down.
We ordered right up and got a giggle off the spelling of the item «Bork».
Each of us did normal dinner meals for our first visit.
Each dinner came with egg roll, crab Rangoon, soup, rice and entrée.
I got a cup of hot tea for $.50 !!! Perfect.
The soup and smaller yummies came out first. The soup was great! I liked the tofu in the egg drop soup and the crispy noodles on top. All nice and hot. I mean I could hear the eggrolls still sizzle as he put them on the table.
The meals followed shortly after. Piping hot and he said the sauce was really good to the Braised Bork (pork) ;).
I got the Orange peel chicken. It was delicious. I had the white rice and was almost full from the other food and thought this meal was good.
We both tried each other’s meal and it was really good.
As we chilled and enjoyed our quiet meal. The phone was ringing off the hook. Call after call for to go orders coming in.
This place might as well put in a revolving door cause that’s how many people came in as we sat and enjoyed our meal.
I will definitely be calling in an order to go! I am pretty sure there was just the one man and one lady in the kitchen.
My only reason I’m not giving this local spot a 5 is the menus needed cleaning and the walls along the tables really need a wipe down. The food was really good and next time I am ordering something completely different cause I know the food is good.

I think of myself as a self –proclaimed dim sum connoisseur. Wong’s chopsticks will now be my go-​to for dim sum in Des Moines until I find a better place. We ordered takeout dim sum, and we were pleasantly surprised when we saw a lot of Chinese people dining in the restaurant — that’s how you know if it’s authentic and good.
We ordered the Har Gow, Shu Mai, Salt and Pepper Squid, Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf, Scallop and Shrimp dumpling, Shrimp and Chive Dumpling, Shrimp in Rice Wrap/​Roll, Sweet Custard Buns, Beef Ginger Tripe, Chicken Feet, and Fried Dumpling.
Har Gow — not the typical har gow I am used to. Normally it has shrimp and pork fat in it, but this was stronger in Chive flavor. The Har gow, Scallop and Shrimp dumpling, and Shrimp and Chive Dumpling had fillings that all tasted pretty similar.
Shu mai– it was okay. It had a strong taste to it I can’t describe, but it was edible.
Salt and pepper squid– delicious. Definitely order this If you like slightly salty and spicy seafood.
Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf — bland and could use a lot more flavor. Also it was really sticky that it really stuck to the leaf.
Shrimp in Rice wrap/​roll — we wanted the shrimp steamed in Rice paper, but we ordered the wrong one and got the Fried shrimp ball covered in Rice sticks. It was really tasty, however, and I would recommend this!
Sweet Custard Buns — buns tasted kind of like cardboard. The custard inside was good.
Beef Ginger Tripe — bland. It comes with a soy sauce blend with oil which is what you’re supposed to dip it in, but I prefer it cooked with the ginger and scallion.
Fried dumpling — not your typical potsticker (for those who don’t eat dim sum). This is a Fried Dumpling with a doughy texture with meat filling inside. It’s more on the sweet side. Authentic and tasty.
Chicken Feet — good. Skin was soft and tender! Could use a tad more flavor but otherwise tasty. Much better than kwong tung’s.
Overall I see myself coming back here for authentic Cantonese food. I would recommend it to others as well.

I try not to read into mixed reviews for a place but as it is I have my own opinion of Wong’s (or as I know it, simply «Chopsticks»).
This is a great lunch spot near my work for a quick, easy, affordable, and tasty lunch — even for herbivores like myself! It’s actually one of my favorite «Chinese» places in town due to its veggie/​tofu options. I usually have to stick to Thai or Vietnamese or sushi in order to get solid veggie options — but not here!
My go-​to is the Kung Pao Tofu. It’s like $ 5 and it comes with spicy tofu and veggies, a spring roll, soup, and rice. Yum! I am hungry for it as I type this review.
Check this place out the next time you’re in J-​Town — it might just surprise you! It may seem like the same-​old greasy Chinese spoon but, for me, it does the trick…

The taste is good but everything seems dirty.

This is a great place for Cantonese food! Although I usually prefer really strong, spicy flavors because I’m accustomed to Northern Chinese cuisine, I really enjoy the dishes they offer here. Compared to other Chinese restaurants in the surrounding area, Chopsticks caters more towards the Asian crowd because they maintain authenticity in their cooking. The wait time is short, and the portions are large.
I also love the dim sum there. I would love it if their menu expanded to incorporate more dishes!

Love this place! Everything we have ordered is good. I come here almost every other week. Best dim sum and Chinese lunch in town. I have tried dim sum in Chinatown Chicago, Orlando and Bo Lings in KC, still my fave is Chopsticks. Service may be slow at times but the taste, quality and quantity is like no other Chinese restaurant I’ve been to. If you love shrimp try salt and pepper shrimp. Biggest and freshest shrimp ever! Mr. Wong is a great authentic chef.

I wish I could give zero stars. So I tried to eat here the other night. I stopped in and there was nobody to greet me. There was one man that would peek out of the kitchen every once and awhile, and that’s it. When I showed up, there was already another guy sitting and waiting. He had no drink or anything else in front of him. Not sure how long he had been waiting, but I gave it 10 min with no communication from the staff. Finally I just left. F this place. I will never return. I actually wish I had the chance to taste the food that had low reviews.

Food was okay, but gave me wicked bad heartburn and indigestion. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. Inside was pretty grungy– dirty dishes everywhere. Price was okay, but not amazing.

Let’s say that I was mad about the waiting time first, which is about half a hour. But the dim sum are better. All ingredients are fresh and pretty authentic. Will come again

Worst Chinese food I have ever tasted. We went in and placed our order. Had to wait 15 minutes for them to prepare the meals. I looked over to my right while waiting for my food, and a worker was preparing the egg rolls on a dining room table where customers eat. No gloves. No table cloth. Very unsanitary. The dining room was dirty. We got the food and went back home and ate it. The most bland Sesame Chicken I have ever tasted and my mom got the Won Ton Soup. Horrible. I will not be going back there. Not recommended.

I would say in terms of taste this place tops my list of all the other Chinese restaurants in the area. You can always ask to customize your own dish. The $ 4.95 lunch special is hard to beat: comes with soup, Chinese doughnut, and crab Rangoon. Service is okay, only one lady is doing all the catering and running the register. I would definitely come here for something with great taste and easy on my wallet.

Good food, horrible service! Went in for a takeout order and ended up waiting 50 minutes for them to make my small order. At least 10 people came in after me to either pick up or order food to go and they all got served before me! When I walked in it didn’t even seem like they had look at my order yet. A full table of dirty dishes sat uncleared the whole time I was there. I will never go here again and don’t recommend it!

I honestly did not like this place for dim sum, not sure if they serve other dishes, but I came to try the dim sum. We ordered many items in our large group like we usually do at another dim sum places in town. The service was sub-​par and the food itself was not appetizing.
I have usually enjoyed all Asian eateries in town, this was one which did not bring me a smile to my face during the meal. After the meal we paid with a check (which they said they accept), unfortunately they stated they do not accept checks from people living in Des Moines due to them having too many bounced checks from people from that area. I understand their concern with this issue and it seems legitimate; however it would have made us feel better if next to the «Accepts Checks» sign they state «Does not accept Des Moines checks». We had to organize our money together to pay for the meal.
I do not recommend this place, not sure if they have changed since my visit here a year ago.

The food is good and cheap. They have special morning menu. The morning and noon are their busy hours which would cost an hour of time waiting but no food coming for your table. But the evening menu is kind of general. The amount is small but fit their price. Worth to try once or twice.

I’ve been asking around and searching high and low for the Asian comfort foods of home in good olé Iowa. Chopsticks’ dim sum definitely brought back fond memories of insatiable thirst after gobbling down MSG soaked goods in LA’s Chinatown.
Service was good for an Asian restaurant. First dim sum experience in Iowa went better than I thought it would. I’d probably hit this place up again if I’m feeling homesick.
What we got:
Beef meat balls: didn’t come out shaped like meat balls. Flavor was fine, but it wasn’t a meat ball. See posted picture.
Shrimp har gow: I’m personally not a fan of har gow to begin with. The skin on our har gow was slightly on the mushy side.
Chicken feet: I don’t like chicken feet so I didn’t taste it. Boyfriend finished the whole plate, didn’t make a comment if it was good or bad.
Scallop and shrimp dumplings: Skin was slightly mushy, flavor was good.
Shrimp and chive dumplings: Same as above.
Shrimp rice wrap: AKA shrimp rice noodle. I found the texture of the rice wrap/​noodle to be different. I didn’t particularly care for the texture but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it was bad.
Steamed barbecue pork buns: Like baby siao paos. Yumm!

Worst Chinese food I’ve ever had. And I’ve had a lot. It’s all about the meat and the Chicken was disgusting! Inedible. Slimy, rubbery, flakey, uh everything Chicken shouldn’t be. Getting sick thinking about it.
I got the Curry Chicken. The curry sauce was very below average but edible with some of the veggies and rice… but the rice had some brown stuff on it? I got my order takeout so didn’t notice any of this until I got back to my hotel.

This place is a no-​frills Chinese restaurant to get your typical Midwest-​style Chinese food fix. I love that they have the entire menu on their website and you can order online. It was super easy and it said to pick up my food at 11:39 am this morning. I arrived at 11:37 and sure enough, they brought everything out at 11:39 on the dot. Yaye for punctuality!
The Rundown:
Hot and Sour Soup — tangy and flavorful!
Egg Drop Soup — VERY mild, but love the tofu in it. This is Iowa, so they put corn in it too, haha.
Wonton Soup — pleasantly surprised. This was packed with veggies and dumplings — not much broth, more like a casserole. A meal in itself! YUMMY!
Steamed Dumplings — I asked in the «notes» section online for them to make them Fried Dumplings, since they didn’t have those available for order other than their «Dim Sum Sunday». But they ignored my request and they were indeed steamed. :(These babies were HUGE and filled with meat. The dipping sauce that comes with was one of the best I’ve had — DELISH!!!
Crab Rangoons — Perfectly balanced and crisp. Not chintzy on the cream cheese filling either. For $ 3.95, you get six pieces. Ridiculously cheap and awesome.
Pork Fried Rice — Amazefest. Plenty of porky pieces, egg, and flavor! This was GREAT!
Sesame Chicken — This was interesting. Love that they used real white-​meat chicken breast, and it was good, but lacking in flavor. Mostly just sweet…
Orange Beef — This was a disappointment. The beef was tender enough, and had beautiful chunks of REAL ORANGE PEEL, but it was so sweet that my teeth melted. I couldn’t eat more than a few bites. :(The texture of the beef was kinda weird too — like the pieces should’ve been fried longer (still had a floury taste?).
Kung Pao Chicken — Tasty with lots of bold but balanced flavor! This dish was standout!
They threw in a complimentary order of Chinese «donuts» — deep fried biscuits rolled in sugar — not too sweet and tasty!
There was two containers of plain white rice and fortune cookies also included with our order. For $ 50.00, we got all this food, which fed four hungry adults and two hungry children, with leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Good food, cheap prices, generous portions, and accurate and punctual orders. I would come here again, fo sho! :)