Empire Garden

I’ve ordered here several times for delivery. The sushi is subpar. Although I’m only about 3 miles away, it always take well over an hour for delivery. By that time, my hot food is room temperature or completely cold. Which then makes me wonder how the sushi could still be safe if it’s been out that long. Disappointing and definitely not worth the money.
I’ve ordered the sashimi appetizer twice. Menu description indicates that it comes with several sauces, which I’ve never received with my delivery.

Ordered delivery Pepper steak combo and shrimp lo mein. Order was not the combo which included soup and an egg roll. Called to say that we didn’t receive soup or egg roll, was told that we ordered incorrectly and they were not willing to make order right. The lady on the phone was very rude and was insulting. Won’t be ordering from them again. PS food was bland.

Not many current reviews and they have moved! I called in an order and when I got their it was an Indian eatery. I called, they said their next to Blue Dolphin. all I saw was the Hibachi grill. It took a second call for them to tell me they combined with the Kudo Hibachi grill, which is to the right of the Blue Dolphin (a great place). Well i finally got the food and happy to say it is still pretty good. Forget the web site, The special prices don’t apply, but the menu is pretty much the same.

Ordered delivery and after an hour thought this should be the best Chinese food ever.
Food was bland. Not much to say about this place. If you want excellent Chinese food check out Hunan Rose in Odenton.

The food is very good. BUT. I ordered delivery. Was told it would be delivered within 45 minutes. It was was an ¹¹⁄₂. They forgot to include the sweet and sour sauce. I called them and they said they would send someone out with it right away. It never showed up. A couple of weeks later I ordered delivery again. Thinking I will give them a 2^nd chance I mentioned to them what had happened previously and asked that they not charge me for the sweet and sour chicken. There were other meals ordered as well. They agreed to do that and removed that amount from my total. When I checked my credit card statement they had charged me the entire amount. Will not be giving them my business in the future.

The staff here is very rude. Also they might want to look into labor laws as there is a 13 year old working the front desk.
One night i ordered shrimp fried rice and they said 10 min. I arrive at exactly 10 min. and as usual am never greeted with a smile or at all for that matter. They always look angry. Anyways 40 minutes after the intial 10 she comes out with my food. The entire time i was patient to not say anything. I was expecting at least a «sorry for the wait»… Nope. She didn’t say 1 word so i snatched it out of her hands and will never be returning. The food is good, and thats why they get two stars, but not enough to put up with horrible customer service.

It is not a a good thing when a restaurant decides they don’t like the amount on your check and just changes it so they can get more tip money. I would call this STEALING. I had gotten a carry out at ‘Empire Garden, a Chinese restaurant in Crofton, at the ‘Princess Shopping Center’ which is next to ‘The Blue Dolphin’ off of Route 3.
I ordered a carryout for sushi and charged it to my debit checking account and waited for the food to be ready. Since it was a carryout I did not leave a tip. When I got my bank statement the following week the amount was changed and a tip of 35% was added to it. I went back to the restaurant and asked the hostess to show me the receipts from the week before. The person I spoke with was Amy and she was the one who totaled my bill the day I was there. When I looked at their copy of my receipt it was scratched over and different amounts were put in and it was not my handwriting. The tip, which I marked with a zero was scratched out and they had added $ 10 to the total. That was a 35% tip for a carry out.
It was so apparent that they scratched out my total on my receipt and added money for themselves. They kept insisting they did not do it and that I scratched the amount out and added the money to it. I am glad I check my transactions on my bank statement when they come in. So many people do not-​so this is a good lesson for everyone to always check the amount that was actually charged when you go out to eat especially at this restaurant.

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
We’ve been eating here for over four years and have never been disappointed. They have a new location so I’ll be reviewing our experience tonight. The new location is mostly hibachi but they have a booth section, sushi bar and a regular bar. We chose to eat at the sushi bar since it was just the two of us. The chef was awesome and so kind, we learned that he had trained in New York City. Trust me his skills were on point we had the tuna, salmon and yellowtail rolls, that’s 18 rolls. SO GOOD and extra fresh. We also had a couple of Long Island ice teas and they were big, strong and delicious. I left feeling right lol. For our main course we had our usual, general shrimp and general chicken with two sides of broccoli and white rice, I would of taken pictures but it was so good I forgot too. Our bill came to roughly $ 60 for everything which was definitely a fair price and we left feeling stuffed and nice. Their staff is super friendly and eager to please you. I’ve been all over Japan and let me tell you this food is authentic! I even had a Japanese boyfriend visit me from Shinjuku couple years ago and he ate this food like an American would eat a quarter pounder with cheese if stuck in a foreign country lol. Okay to sum it up this place is amazing and authentic, you won’t find better than this.

I moved last month and after a long day was hungry and had a craving for sushi and chicken with peppers. I had never tried this place but they were the closest delivery. The person who took the order said the delivery would be 40 minutes. I live less than a mile away and it was a weeknight. It took over an hour. The sushi was what you might get from the average mall kiosk or worse since i don’t do california rolls that are typically a safe bet to get at subpar places… not good is kind. The rolls were sloppy the fish not fresh and the soy sauce was the cheap kind not the type usually served with sushi. The othe food I ordered was mediocre at best and I found thee prices were high for the low quality. What a shame! Normally I give places is a second chance but to be honest I’m not sure that I will here… just will drive the short distance to Otani instead.

My favorite restaurant! I come here every week. They have the best sushi, service, food, literally everything is really good here. Beers are only $ 1.99 all day everyday. Everyone is always so friendly. Basically everything about this place is amazing! I’m usually not a fan of Chinese food but I love theirs, it’s always so good. Best place ever.

So I have been venturing into the world of sushi for awhile now (although I will admit I am a frequent «special roll» perpetrator) and thought I should just update this review to reflect that. My favorite place for sushi is Otani. That said, Empire Garden offers 30% off sushi on Wednesdays. Any time I am craving sushi on a Wednesday, I will absolutely go for 30% off Empire Garden sushi over Otani (sorry, Otani, time to implement your own sushi night). The pink lady roll is my favorite. I wasn’t really sure about it based on the menu description, but I tried a piece of someone else’s once and it was amazing. It’s now my go-​to sushi roll here.

We missed the buffet and ordered off the menu. We tried the hot and sour seafood soup in the hope that it would be as good as that at Grace’s on Bowie. It wasn’t. But it was ok.
The Singapore noodles were the best of our choices.
You want a real treat? Go to Grace’s in Bowie — get the seafood hot ‘n sour and order a couple of martinis!

My daughter and I decided to have dinner at this restaurant. We normally stop here for lunch because their buffet is excellent. After this dinner visit we won’t be going back for dinner any more.
After being seated I ordered a spider roll from their sushi menu for a starter. We placed our entrée order at the same time. My daughter ordered the General Tso’s Chicken and I ordered Mongolian Beef. I can’t eat mayonnaise, so I asked if the dish could be made without it. I was told it could. 35 minutes later the spider roll finally arrived. I was told it took so long because the sushi chef made the first roll with spicy mayo and had to remake it. The spider roll did taste good.
When the server brought out our entrees she gave my daughter the correct dish, but she gave me Hunan Shrimp instead. She insisted that I ordered the shrimp dish and an argument almost ensued. As she flipped through her order pad she must have realized her mistake and she gave up defending herself. Five minutes later she delivered my meal.
The General Tso’s was well cooked and the chicken tender. The Mongolian Beef had an unusual odor and tasted almost gamy.
I recommend this restaurant for their lunch buffet but not for dinner.

In the mood for Chinese food one night, my boyfriend and I decided on Empire Garden in Crofton. I’d come here before a couple years ago with friends but couldn’t remember exactly what I thought of the place. Inside there was one table of 2 people, and about 3 people sitting at the bar where there was sushi and alcohol behind. I would soon find out why this place was not hoppin’ on a Friday night.
The woman who sat us shuffled us over quickly and did not say hello, thank you, have a nice meal or anything cordial. Okay. Soon our waitress came over. HUGE communication gap here. I ordered a rum & Coke off their specialized bar menu. So, having a bar menu you’d think they would know what’s on it, and how to serve drinks, right? Nope. Well first she didn’t understand the word «rum» so I had to repeat it and finally point to it to make her understand. Then, a couple minutes later she comes back and asks «How much Coke? A little? A lot?» I’m like, «what?!» Just make me a rum & Coke! Usually a shot or two of rum and Coke to fill the glass. Whoever was behind the bar (CLEARLY not a bartender of any sort) had no idea how to make alcoholic beverages. How are you serving things you don’t know how to make. Blows my mind. So she comes back in a minute with a small glass, mostly filled with Bacardi and some coke. It looked ridiculous, it was like half full. Already before even ordering this was one of the worst communication breakdowns at a restaurant I’ve ever had. Throughout the meal the waitress was just strange, saying things I did not understand and she was clearly just aloof.
To make this long story short — I had very bland chicken and veggies but my boyfriend loved the sushi. It’s good, but kinda expensive — $ 4.50 for two pieces. It’s just the meat over rice, not the kinda wrapped up with seaweed. Either way, despite the sushi being good I would NOT come back here ever. Terrible service. Really I’m usually not the one to harp on this, but if you’re in the USA and serving food, please learn some English or at least make an attempt to know what’s on your menu and be good at your job. Ugh. Forget this place.

For take-​out/​delivery Chinese food and Sushi, this place sets the standard. Their food is freshly prepared and they handle special orders well. My wife loves their sushi. I have enjoyed everything I’ve ordered from the «Chinese» side of the menu. My favorite is probably the Kung Pao Shrimp. One thing I love about it is consistency. If you get this once a month or once every six months the quality and flavor will be exactly what you expect.
Delivery service is quick and their drivers know the area well.

Friendly? No.
Tasty? Yes.
Healthy? I think so… I mean, they claim to be and it’s sushi after all. They do have some backing though: apparently, this location is apparently rated one the Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA for healthy meals. Didn’t even know there was a board that determined that, but I think I like it. Seeing that there are more Chinese restaurants than McDonald’s fast food joints, I’d say that’s pretty remarkable.
I stopped in on a Thursday afternoon and the place was completely empty save for staff. I was in the mood for sushi and since I was dropping off dry-​cleaning next door, I figured I would grab some from a new palce.
Empire Garden is very big with typical Chinese artwork and statues throughout and two friendly waving kitty cats behind the counter greeting you as you come in, or in my case, as you wait. The lady who came to take my to-​go order was quick and barely said hello, but I think it was more in the interest of being efficient that a malicious intent to be rude. I placed my order for shrimp tempura (ebi tempura), a California roll, and a spicy tuna roll. It came up to about $ 16 or so.
As a waited (about 10 minutes or so; not bad), I made a mental note to come back with the hubby if my sushi turned out ok. Empire Garden does have a buffet, but the tables weren’t in use while I was there. There was a live lobster tank though filled with unfortunate lobsters fit for someone’s dinner later. The décor made for a relaxed and nice atmosphere (without being too casual or informal). There was a long, cherry counter top for both the bar area and the sushi bar area with a flat screen TV and emerald lighting above. I could see the chef preparing my sushi at the sushi bar as I waited. It seemed like a great place for a sushi happy hour after work.
The lady soon came with my to-​go order of sushi which wound of being pretty daggone good… very fresh! I’ll definitely be back again. I’m looking forward to actually eating there as opposed to carrying out.

The Crofton area has seen an influx of Asian restaurants in the past 5 years. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend any of the ones I’ve tried out. This includes Empire Garden.
My family went on the recommendation of two friends. When we walked in, I knew we were in trouble. Like the other new restaurants, this one was nicely decorated and smelled — well, there were no distinctive odors of any Chinese cuisine. While some people might take that to be a sign of cleanliness, it’s actually a sign of a lack of either business or seasoning. In this case, it could have been both.
The food was pretty bland as if the owners bought into the old myth that Americans do not want authentic Chinese food.

Wow, a rare 1-​star for me.
Terrible service — they put the «wait» in «waiter». They took our drink order and food order quickly, brought the kid’s food out, then promptly forgot about us for thirty minutes. We had to flag down an innocent bystander waitress to get any help.
Plus mw wife’s side of the booth smelled (as she so delicately put it) «like butt». Appetizing.
The good part is, my wife is fluent in Chinese, so I got the play-​by-​play of the sushi chef yelling at the poor waitress who was only peripherally involved, and the excuses being made between the should-​have-​paying-​attention people.
Not going back.

Went back for the weekday buffet today. I am sticking with my 3-​star rating. This place is solid, the food is decent, and the staff is friendly and helpful.
There were plenty of seafood options today, too (though I did miss the lobster!). Steamed clams in blackberry sauce sounded strange, but they tasted great. I also had two helpings of the shrimp and zucchini. Delicious! White rice was not on the buffet, but the waitress bought Chickadee a bowl. By the way, Chickadee’s buffet was free. I am not sure when the kids’ charge kicks in, but that was a pleasant surprise.
As for desserts, the ice cream is definitely pecan, and it’s yummy! There was also some cheesecake/​yellow cake combo that was not too sweet and perfectly scrumptious. I was happy to see a good variety of fruit (both fresh and canned) for Chickadee. She also enjoyed the Jello cubes o’ the day (today’s catch: orange!). Alas, there were no sesame balls.
The odd buffet item was sauteed potatoes. They looked sort of like home fries, but they were slathered with butter. I am not sure why these are on here (and why there was garlic bread last time) – there isn’t anything else on the buffet that naturally goes with them… Also, I tried one of the sushi rolls. It was a tempura something-​or-​other, and it was not good… Way too fishy.
Service was great once again. Empty plates did not sit for long, and we never had to ask for refills. We’re definitely putting this place in the lunch rotation.

****3.5*****
We’ve been in twice now, and I think that A.C. has hit the nail on the head with respect to Empire Garden. While it’s not the greatest Chinese food I’ve ever tasted, it’s BY FAR the best Chinese food in Crofton.
On our last visit, I had the Roast Duck Cantonese style, which was quite nice. We had a table of four and had ordered enough food for a small army when the waitress came over and said that since we had ordered over $ 50 worth of food, they were giving us a FREE LOBSTER!
Free is always my favorite flavor. The lobster was expertly cooked in a ginger sauce and while my dining companions were groaning over all the food they ate, I was gleefully snarfing up the Lobster.
We have not done the buffet and I appreciate that they are not putting that up at night. We DO NOT need another Chinese buffet in Crofton.
While I wouldn’t drive out of my way to come here, when I want Chinese and I’m not in the mood to travel far, this will be the perfect spot!