Don't go here if you want chinese food! No flavor, no sauce, and nothing even like real chinese dish! When I went to ask them why my szechuan chicken was tasting like a steamed veggie chicken, they started shouting and arguing as if I hadn't ever eaten chinese dishes before!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Colin Arnold
We've been wanting to try Happy Garden for a while and finally pulled the trigger the other night.We got a sampling of a few "safe" dishes to get a feel for the food, though when we went to pick it up, we realized that was ill-advised. The order total (which we didn't get over the phone) gave us a bit of sticker shock, as it was $75 for two adults and a child. But, holy moly, that was a lot of food, leftovers enough for a couple of nights! So, accounting for the leftovers we got out of it, the price wasn't bad and ended up on par with the pretty good pizza place 5 miles down the road (also lots of leftovers from that place).The kicker is that the food was actually pretty good! Granted I probably wouldn't know any "authentic" Chinese if I was served it, I'll say I'm not a fan of the heavily Americanized Chinese foods out there that are over-fried before being soaked in an overly sweet sauce that you're pretty sure is just a bad take on ketchup. That Chinese is easy to find and I'm happy to say that Happy Garden is NOT that type of place. So, while I may not be able to attest to authenticity, I can say that what we had was just genuinely good food. The fried dishes were fried correctly, so that they were crispy but not oily. The sweet and sour chicken even kept a nice bite to it after being coated in the sauce! (and they didn't cheat by overcooking it and passing off crunchy for crispy). The kung pao chicken was not overly sweet and had a nice kick. Though I should mention that if you like the starchy, dark, sweet sauce in your kung pao (i.e., Panda Express style), you may want to pass on Happy Garden's version; theirs doesn't resemble that much, though I'd argue it's much better for it. Pot stickers and lo mein were both good as well. And, generally speaking, all of the vegetables were cooked but crisp, and the dishes all had a balanced flavor, where nothing overwhelmed and nothing was bland.Food and price aside, we have no complaints about service. The food was ready on time, hot, and handed to us by a very friendly person (possibly an owner?). Since it's just takeout, there's not much to the service aspect to rate, but what there is was top notch.Overall, I'd say if you're in the Silverton-Mt. Angel area, Happy Garden is the place to go for Chinese. It's certainly now on our top 5 for go-to takeout places!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lauren Tolento
I base my ratings on egg foo young I got. Tasted fresh (still gad some a crisp from vegetables). Everywhere I try in Salem tastes like pre-frozen veggie patty with pre-made sauce.+hostess being courteous + friendly added nice touch to my first visit here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Dean D.
Great Chinese food. Wonderful family that owns/ runs it. I don't live in Mt Angel, but this is where we go...for pick up. They no longer do dine in.
A.M. Sichley
Food is always delicious and fresh. Wide selection of dishes. Service is friendly, fast and accurate. Prices competitive. Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Danielle Paine
Take out only but fantastic food
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mark Schmidt
Big portions, decent prices and standard Americanized Chinese food. It's much better than your standard Panda Express fare, you'll get more for your money, and if you call in for pickup it's nearly just as fast. It's a mom and pop shop run by the same couple for a long time. If you're craving a heaping box of noodles, rice, and some standard Amerian-Chinese food, your stomach will be satisfied with the offerings here.
Jay H.
This place is authentic, mom and pop, delicious, fast, it simply checks all the boxes. The orange chicken was the best I've ever had; the sauce was perfect, the chicken was tender and moist, and the breading was light and fluffy. We also Had General Tao's chicken and broccoli beef. Neither were particularly spicy hot so ask for the level of spice you want, both were packed with flavor. Probably the highest praise I can bestow is how perfect the broccoli was prepared, it was cooked like a vegan chef, not overly done.
Criselda Ayala
Will not be eating their food again when I complained the lady got very angry and rude
Lorenzo M.
Food was dry and nasty cutting vegetables with no gloves on very dirty on inside not pleasant atmosphere I wouldn't spend my money ever there again not even Grade A shut it down smh I seen a roach in there smh
After reading the reviews, requested our dishes be extra crunchy (reviews saying soggy dishes). We ordered the General Tso chicken, crab puffs, fried rice and Sweet n Sour Pork. The chicken was supposed to be extra crunchy and spicey, it was soggy and not very flavorful. The pork was SWIMMING in sweet and sour sauce and they gave us even more on the side?? The pork was also soggy. The crab puffs were nearly raw. All in all, we spent $46 to throw away everything except the fried rice. So disappointed because years ago this place used to be awesome. Stay away and save your money.
NorthStar06714853182
Amazing food and amazing owners! We highly recommend to anyone looking for a good place to eat. Awesome family environment as well.
Denise
I noticed some people gave this restaurant only one star. We have always enjoyed their food. They are very nice people and I think it is a husband and wife team. They have closed off the eating section so all you can do is take out. We call ahead and she gives us the time we need to pick it up. We like #4, #8, and #5 combo plates. They have become our Friday night take out restaurant. Give them a chance! It is yummy food.
Arayah Simpson
Best lo mein and fried rice around
Jerry Harrison
Food is so much in demand in this area there have been long delays during covid times
Don't go here if you want chinese food! No flavor, no sauce, and nothing even like real chinese dish! When I went to ask them why my szechuan chicken was tasting like a steamed veggie chicken, they started shouting and arguing as if I hadn't ever eaten chinese dishes before!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
We've been wanting to try Happy Garden for a while and finally pulled the trigger the other night.We got a sampling of a few "safe" dishes to get a feel for the food, though when we went to pick it up, we realized that was ill-advised. The order total (which we didn't get over the phone) gave us a bit of sticker shock, as it was $75 for two adults and a child. But, holy moly, that was a lot of food, leftovers enough for a couple of nights! So, accounting for the leftovers we got out of it, the price wasn't bad and ended up on par with the pretty good pizza place 5 miles down the road (also lots of leftovers from that place).The kicker is that the food was actually pretty good! Granted I probably wouldn't know any "authentic" Chinese if I was served it, I'll say I'm not a fan of the heavily Americanized Chinese foods out there that are over-fried before being soaked in an overly sweet sauce that you're pretty sure is just a bad take on ketchup. That Chinese is easy to find and I'm happy to say that Happy Garden is NOT that type of place. So, while I may not be able to attest to authenticity, I can say that what we had was just genuinely good food. The fried dishes were fried correctly, so that they were crispy but not oily. The sweet and sour chicken even kept a nice bite to it after being coated in the sauce! (and they didn't cheat by overcooking it and passing off crunchy for crispy). The kung pao chicken was not overly sweet and had a nice kick. Though I should mention that if you like the starchy, dark, sweet sauce in your kung pao (i.e., Panda Express style), you may want to pass on Happy Garden's version; theirs doesn't resemble that much, though I'd argue it's much better for it. Pot stickers and lo mein were both good as well. And, generally speaking, all of the vegetables were cooked but crisp, and the dishes all had a balanced flavor, where nothing overwhelmed and nothing was bland.Food and price aside, we have no complaints about service. The food was ready on time, hot, and handed to us by a very friendly person (possibly an owner?). Since it's just takeout, there's not much to the service aspect to rate, but what there is was top notch.Overall, I'd say if you're in the Silverton-Mt. Angel area, Happy Garden is the place to go for Chinese. It's certainly now on our top 5 for go-to takeout places!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
I base my ratings on egg foo young I got. Tasted fresh (still gad some a crisp from vegetables). Everywhere I try in Salem tastes like pre-frozen veggie patty with pre-made sauce.+hostess being courteous + friendly added nice touch to my first visit here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great Chinese food. Wonderful family that owns/ runs it. I don't live in Mt Angel, but this is where we go...for pick up. They no longer do dine in.
Food is always delicious and fresh. Wide selection of dishes. Service is friendly, fast and accurate. Prices competitive. Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Take out only but fantastic food
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Big portions, decent prices and standard Americanized Chinese food. It's much better than your standard Panda Express fare, you'll get more for your money, and if you call in for pickup it's nearly just as fast. It's a mom and pop shop run by the same couple for a long time. If you're craving a heaping box of noodles, rice, and some standard Amerian-Chinese food, your stomach will be satisfied with the offerings here.
This place is authentic, mom and pop, delicious, fast, it simply checks all the boxes. The orange chicken was the best I've ever had; the sauce was perfect, the chicken was tender and moist, and the breading was light and fluffy. We also Had General Tao's chicken and broccoli beef. Neither were particularly spicy hot so ask for the level of spice you want, both were packed with flavor. Probably the highest praise I can bestow is how perfect the broccoli was prepared, it was cooked like a vegan chef, not overly done.
Will not be eating their food again when I complained the lady got very angry and rude
Food was dry and nasty cutting vegetables with no gloves on very dirty on inside not pleasant atmosphere I wouldn't spend my money ever there again not even Grade A shut it down smh I seen a roach in there smh
Restaurantji Recommends
After reading the reviews, requested our dishes be extra crunchy (reviews saying soggy dishes). We ordered the General Tso chicken, crab puffs, fried rice and Sweet n Sour Pork. The chicken was supposed to be extra crunchy and spicey, it was soggy and not very flavorful. The pork was SWIMMING in sweet and sour sauce and they gave us even more on the side?? The pork was also soggy. The crab puffs were nearly raw. All in all, we spent $46 to throw away everything except the fried rice. So disappointed because years ago this place used to be awesome. Stay away and save your money.
Amazing food and amazing owners! We highly recommend to anyone looking for a good place to eat. Awesome family environment as well.
I noticed some people gave this restaurant only one star. We have always enjoyed their food. They are very nice people and I think it is a husband and wife team. They have closed off the eating section so all you can do is take out. We call ahead and she gives us the time we need to pick it up. We like #4, #8, and #5 combo plates. They have become our Friday night take out restaurant. Give them a chance! It is yummy food.
Best lo mein and fried rice around
Food is so much in demand in this area there have been long delays during covid times