Chinatown Garden

I came here with some friends back in March on a beautiful cool day in DC. We went to a couple of the free museums and were famish from exploring and walking around. My friend suggested a place and took us to China Town.
The man in the place greeted us and took our orders down. He was friendly and answered any questions that we had at the moment. I got Vegetarian General Tso chicken and the String Beans, Szechuan style. I love the String beans dish! It was cooked to perfection not overlooked but a little crunch to it with a delicious spicy sauce. I wasn’t crazy about the mock meat texture and the sauce was too sweet for me. I would get a tofu dish next time.
A ton of choices for vegetarians and vegans.

I don’t know why this place has such poor reviews! I’ve been here twice now and been very satisfied with the food. They have a great selection of what my parents refer to as «gringo Chinese food» and when I go to a place like this, that’s what I’m looking for! It is a bit pricey but hey, it’s DC.

I came to visit with my family and we stopped by here because this is the first restaurant we saw as soon as we stepped out of the subway station. We ordered two dishes-​prawn with beans and roasted duck which cost us $ 11 and $ 18 respectively. The prawn doesn’t taste fresh and the roasted duck is just layers of fats. The portion is also way too small than what we imagined to get with the price. Don’t recommend coming here unless you’re rich and don’t want to get good food.

Very good. Service was prompt. Food was good and chineeseeee as expected. Nice clean atmosphere.

Overall good experience. The staff was kind and kept refilling our drinks and gave us food suggestions. We were a party of nine so they offer a special deal. $ 15.95 per person for a soups, appetizers, and entrees. There are two menus, A & B. We ordered the B menu so we got 5 different dishes for the whole group. (A lot of food. I don’t remember the specific names of each dish.) The food was very good I suggest eating there!

I went here on Sunday afternoon with a group of 6. It was busy but didn’t look crazy. We were seated promptly and given hot tea — so far, so good. I ordered a dish called «Scallop Szechuan» and expected a stir-​fry of some sort in a spicy sauce. The server asked if I wanted it spicy, I said yes. Instead, I received a plate of scallops and onions, both cut into odd triangular shapes, in a weird red sauce that looked and tasted like ketchup. There was little other flavor in the dish and it was barely warm. I ate it because I was starving and hadn’t eaten all day but was quite disappointed. The dish was $ 18 too, so not cheap.
Another member of my group ordered fried rice and that was the very first to come out, followed by my dish and 3 orders of lo mein ordered by others about 5 minutes later. My other group member ordered a bowl of beef brisket stew, which came out perhaps 10 minutes after my dish. So, timing was poor. Our server said something about a banquet happening upstairs causing the food to come out at weird times but that just seemed like a poor excuse.
The friend that had ordered the fried rice finished her entrée first and was left with a plate of dirty dishes for the entire rest of the meal. At no point were dirty plates, bowls, or other trash collected except after we left, meaning that we sat at a table crowded with crap that could have easily been cleared.
Our server barely came to our table after we ordered, and we oftentimes had to flag down bussers or food runners just to get tea refills or chopsticks. When we did ask for chopsticks, the person must have forgotten and after waiting a few minutes a member of my group got up and went to a server station to ask.
Lastly, we got the check. We got separate checks for each of the 6 of us, and when looking at my check, I noticed they had automatically added a 15% gratuity to my check. Perhaps it’s part of their policy to automatically do so for a party of 6, but if this was the case, this shouldn’t have even applied to us because we got separate checks. Furthermore, if this was the case, our server should have informed us ahead of time, or it should have been clearly listed on the bill. They took the liberty of listing a suggested gratuity (15%, 18%, 20%, etc) on the bill as well even after already adding the 15% onto mine, and everyone else’s, checks.
After giving them my card and going to sign the check receipt, I noticed that they listed yet ANOTHER suggested gratuity on top of the 15% they already included. I could have gotten a manager involved but I just signed and left.
Service was poor, my food was disappointing, and the whole automatic gratuity business without prior mention was extremely irritating.
The only good thing about this place was the prompt women who obsessively refilled water, but that was absolutely it. The place was busy and looks like it has been in Chinatown for years, so I was excited and had high hopes, but I was extremely disappointed and will not be returning.

Went to this place to grab a small bite. Service was not really welcoming us. Seems that Chinese get a different menu than others. Had the hot and sour soup which was neither hot nor sour — just soup. Spring rolls were awful (most likely not homemade). Fried wontons were overfried and not good at all. Fried dumplings as well as steamed dumplings were ok but nothing special at all. If you want proper non americanized Chinese food, you should definitely find another place.

We were walking in this area and decided to try a Chinese restaurant. None of the places in our immediate area had good reviews, but we had watched several groups enter, so we decided to try it anyway. So glad we did! The waitress was nice, the food plentiful, and the tables were clean. There was quite a crowd already and it was full when we left. We had the general taos chicken, sesame chicken, and combination fried rice. Plenty of food between 4 people. I wasn’t super impressed with the chicken in the fried rice, but the shrimp was cooked well and the rice tasty. Would eat here again if we were staying longer!

Best authentic Chinese restaurant in DC! Great food and friendly service! I ordered the roast duck, watercress in garlic sauce, and shrimp in spicy bean sauce. Everything was fresh and tasty! It’s in the heart of Chinatown next to the metro. Check it out for lunch or dinner!

This place should be sponsored by Alka Zeltser!!!
There should be a sign at the door «Enter at your Own Risk»
Had two bites and took home the rest (cause it just smelled awful) gave it to my dog and she didn’t eat it either…

We happened to step into this restaurant by chance. Great food and friendly service. We were seated quickly and our waitress came to our table within one minute. I asked her for suggestions of what was good and she provided some. After thinking it over, she came back and we told her our picks. Apparently two of our dishes were similar so she suggested to change one of them (which I was thankful for).
We ended up with the fried meat dumpling and fried squid appetizers. The dumplings were amazing, especially with the sauce that came with them. The squid was really good too-don’t skip the lightly fried onions with them. Crispy beef was excellent, General Mao Chicken pretty good.
Food came out fast and was delicious. Would go back again if we were in DC longer than a weekend.

Quality and quantity of vegan/​vegetarian options. «Chicken, beef, pork» faux meat, tofu, vegetable dishes. Tasty, crisp ingredients.
Reasonable prices. One of the few authentic restaurants in Chinatown DC. How odd to see the chains ~brainlessly frequented elsewhere, simply with Chinese characters next to it.
Quick service & food arrival. This was on a very busy Sunday with games happening too.
Right around corner from the Metro station. Free parking at the station on the home side too! Free museum before our meal. Pretty excellent day. Convenient location.

A local friend loves this place. .. Probably because she is a local and doesn’t know that most food in DC is pretty bad. She had a vegetarian chicken dish, I had the spicy eggplant. Eating this food is better than being hungry, and that’s really the best I can say for it. Please don’t waste a meal on this restaurant!

This place has some great Chinese food! The service was good too, always had water (and tea!) and they were quick with getting our order and food to the table.
We got the Chicken lo mein it was good, nothing special but that’s ok it should taste pretty standard.
We also got the moo shi chicken… I enjoyed this one in the wrap as well as out of the wrap :)
The food wasn’t super greasy or super salty so I liked it!
The décor was nice and the restaurant was clean. Overall it was a good lunch and I would come back if I was in Chinatown.

Ohhh fellow Unilocalers, I am so glad I decided to go with my gut and visit Chinatown Garden instead of just going by the Unilocal reviews! My husband and I were looking for a restaurant in Chinatown when walking around during a cool, rainy day in DC and stumbled upon Chinatown Garden. As soon as we were seated the waitress brought us menus and a pot of hot tea. Then, we each received a bowl of egg drop soup as our order was being made. Let me tell you, I was so chilly that I could have cried with joy over the warm (tasty!) soup and tea!
I ordered cashew chicken with fried rice and my husband had a beef dish, both from the lunch menu. The food came out hot and was very flavorful. We were both extremely impressed by our dishes!

As a DC native I come here every once in awhile the food is good. I’ve never had anything bad on the menu yet but I personally don’t like the customer service. When it’s pack they forget that you’re there and then the tipping is outrageous so if you’re in a group setting its best that everyone pays separate or they’ll get you

Got my order wrong. Asked for teriyaki chicken and they gave me «chicken kabob». I called them to let them know of the mistake and they deny any mistake. As if it is impossible for their order taker to have misheard me. Then proceeded to pretend that the connection was bad.
So this company does not own up to mistakes and then lies to get out of it? This city continues to disappoint.
P. S. They don’t serve teriyaki chicken at all, anyway. The food is way over-​priced for what it is
P. P. S. The chicken kabobs taste like crap. Do not get these!
They do have free wifi though. That’s why they get 1 star.

If you are a vegetarian, then you need to at least try this restaurant once. Lots of vegetarian entrée choices — They have a section on the menu with dishes made with vegetarian Chicken, Beef and Pork.
I enjoyed the retro atmosphere, the good service and that the price is a good bargain for the area. I can only give them 3 stars, because I believe there are better restaurants in this area for the cuisine. I would — on the other hand — eat here again and plan to do so in the future just based on their really good vegetarian options.

Been in DC for five years and have never been to any of the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. Have never heard good things about any of them. Fiancée and I decided to try this place since we’re looking for a place to host our rehearsal dinner.
Had the salt and pepper squid. It was… meh. Not the crispiest and lacked a lot of salt and pepper. Wouldn’t order again since it was $ 15 for a few pieces. The rice was terrible. I had a few clumps of old hard rice in my bowl (I’m talking crack your teeth kinda hard). Will not come back for overpriced Chinese food. Guess I’ll have to keep going out to Virginia or Rockville for good Chinese.
Anyone have a good place for a rehearsal dinner?

The staff was friendly and fast enough, but we visited around 9:30p.m., so there were only a few people in the place. The food? Well, the spring rolls were good. Not hot, but tasty. After that… trust the other reviews. The wontons were mediocre at best. The sweet & sour chicken was little more than poorly battered hunks of meat. The dish included a total of MAYBE two full tablespoons of veggies.
The establishment just looks much nicer than it is. I’ve had better Chinese at take out places that looked like dives.