China Garden

My buddy and I were looking to try a new Chinese place out in Lufkin. We decided to go to this place. We walked in and they were really rude to us, the server took her time to take our order, I believe she was assuming that we wanted to eat the buffet. We didn’t really know anything, because nobody really spoke to us. My buddy ordered off the menu, and I got the buffet.
As I was looking at the items on the buffet I was a bit concerned on how long it had been there, the lady basically told my buddy not to order off the menu, and even was a bit forceful with her tone. By the time I sat down with my Buddy, he got an egg roll, and had to force it down it was so bad. I took a bite of the noodle wonton, and it was so stale. I told my buddy that we should leave.
We went to walk out of the restaurant without saying anything, which I believe we were in the error. They came chasing after us, because she thought I ate all my food. We went back in the restaurant and offered to pay for food, but we told them it was terrible, and the service was as well.
Right then the cook came out of the kitchen he looked really nervous, he was holding the fresh cooked food. The freshly ordered food looked good. Maybe the secret of this place is at their buffet is really mediocre, and they’re cooked food is really good; they just don’t like to cook. I’m not really sure.
I’m going to give this place two stars only because we never ate the cooked food, and we did make a mistake trying to walk out. They would not take our offer to pay for the food.

We had the buffet for lunch. It was small compared to other buffets but food was tasty but small selections. Service was nice but did not refill tea. Would go again. Parking is not all that great.

I’m giving this restaurant 2 stars, instead of 1 star, because I only tried their very small buffet and didn’t order off their menu. The restaurant is like walking back in time to the mid 1970s. The décor and furniture are very dated, however it kind of adds a nice bit of nostalgia — if that’s your cup of tea. The lunch buffet has seven items on it, one with rice and the rest are dishes like eggrolls, noodles, stir fried veggies and general Tso’s chicken. I went around noon and was one of four people in the place. The buffet items had been sitting under the heat lamp a LONG time and dried out. I asked if they were going to refresh or replenish items, and was given a smile, but nothing was ever done.
If you’re looking for a lunch buffet, go elsewhere. If you’re looking to order off the menu, they might be worth giving a try. They also have a «drive thru» that you can order and pick up from.