Ping’s Szechuan Bar & Grill

We were looking for a new place to try for dinner and decided to go to Ping’s. We walked in and immediately noticed a weird smell. We decided to try and deal with it. But after ordering a cocktail which was good but strong and the potstickers for an appetizer we couldn’t handle it anymore and had to pay and leave.

W I E R D V I B E
Went here for lunch, but ordered off the menu, not the buffet. I think our waiter was getting trained in, so not on top of things. My eggs foo yung were mediocre, and my daughter’s szecheuan chicken was too tangy even for her.
It wasn’t real busy for a lunch rush, thank goodness. Took awhile for our food. It is just kind of blah in here, Maybe at night it is livelier. Great location though.
Not a very memorable lunch, thank God for the
B E A U T I F U L A Q U A R I U M S !

I am surprised to see Pings with such a low overall rating! This has been our go-​to Chinese delivery place for years. We rarely stray from the classics, but have never been disappointed. The delivery is super speedy and often much shorter than the estimate they give you when you call. The one slight downside I would give is it’s a bit on the spendy side, but overall worth it.
Our favorites:
Sesame chicken
Pork fried rice
Hot & sour soup
When you’re looking for speedy Chinese delivery that doesn’t disappoint, I’d definitely recommend Pings!

I’m a big fan of their menu, but not as much of the buffet. Buffet is $ 9.99 from 12−2pm if I’m correct. The staff is always so friendly and helpful! They have Tsing Tao beer (gurgle gurgle). Nice quiet small bar if you’re looking to get away from the noise on Nicollet. I think the bar opens at 5pm most days. They do serve beer during the day at the tables. The Volcano Scallops specialty rocks!

I always get their Black Bean Shrimp or chicken. Curry is very good here. Peking Shrimp is not good at all but I don’t like Peking Sauce. Delivery is the fastest ever… like Jimmy Johns fast lol.

Food was mediocre, ambiance was mediocre, service was quick.
Don’t think I’ll go back!

So our dining experience went quite well here tonight. I started with a Pings Pleasure which is a triple rum and pineapple juice drink. I have had this drink at few places and everyone has their own special name for it. 2 is my Max. Appetizer: I went for the Classic Chinese Eggroll. For $ 5.25 you get 2 them crispy & perfectly fried & cut in half. Watch out for the hot mustard wooooo it opened up my sinuses. For the meals we ordered the spicy chicken which was a ton of round Battered chicken with Scallions, opinions and red pepper in a spicy sauce. Yum. and Minh’s fried rice. Which is a combination of Chicken, Pork & butterflied Shrimp with deliciously flavored rice. Out waitress made sure that we were taken care of from the moment we walk in. I read some bad reviews but I have not 1 bad thin to say about the quality of food or service. If I give it 3 stars. I’ll be back.

Pretty nice staff. I did wait quite a bit before someone took my to-​go order. There should be a sign that states where to wait for to-​go orders since there was a sign to wait to be seated for dining in.
The location that the restaurant is placed makes it a little annoying when the sun starts to set because half of the restaurant is blinded by the sun. I don’t understand why they didn’t put down the blinds to cover the sun.
The food was a little bit priced higher than I would usually pay for Chinese food but they did make a pretty good beef chow fun. I couldn’t finish it.
I didn’t try the lunch buffet but I’d probably try it if I am ever back in Minneapolis since the one thing I ordered was good.

I was there for the lunch buffet today after a long absence. I was very disappointed. I arrived around 11:30am. There were only three adults and a child there. The buffet already looked picked over. The sesame chicken was chicken-​free: batter with a too-​sweet sauce. The beef and vegetable dish was salty and looked like it was left over from Sunday. The only selection I had no quarrel with was the white rice. At least they still get that right, but who doesn’t?
Two more guests arrived. Even though the other four had finished, this created enough extra work that I came back to my table from round two at the buffet to find my first plate still there. I get better service than that at any other Chinese/​Asian buffet in town. Any other. I guess the other employee in the dining room must have been on light duty.
No more Ping’s for this guy.

This place wasn’t very exciting. The pot stickers had too much dough and the sauce it came with didn’t taste proper. The soup was ok and my husband wasn’t too keen on the Sweet and Sour Chicken. This was an impromptu stop and we will walk by next time this place is in our list of options. Maybe it was a bad day, we don’t know.

I have been to Ping’s a couple times now and have left feeling fat and happy each time. They have a very large menu and generous portion sizes, even for family style. The curry crab puffs are a must have appetizer. My favorites are the Ping’s Wings and the Hong Kong Shrimp! Overall a great place to eat!

Incredibly rude and the food was mediocre. The potstickers are particularly unimpressive — best described as doughy and flavorless. I placed a delivery order and was told to expect up to a 45 minute wait time. Almost an hour later (I live blocks away mind you) I called to see if the food was still coming. Apparently they had the wrong number for which they were insincerely apologetic and did not offer further information so, in my hangry (hungry + angry) state, I asked if it was still coming at all. The guys response was so rude that I was taken aback. I said «my goodness you’re rude.» To which he replied, «so are you.» Now I used to work in restaurants so I get it, sometimes mistakes happen and maybe I could have used a nicer tone. But I’ve never had such bad customer service. Even if the food was good I still wouldn’t go back. EAT AT LOTUS INSTEAD.

I just ordered Ping’s delivery here at work, and I must say I am impressed. I ordered the vegetable fried rice (not vegetarian!), szechuan chicken wontons, and the szechuan trio. It was a hecka lot of food, which is not surprising (suitable for 6 people, easily). The delivery was fast and courtious, the food was still hot.
The food itself was good, not what I would call great, exactly, but still quite good. I could have stood a bit more heat, but it was quite well spiced as it was.
The szechuan chicken wontons were quite delightful. They are pan-​fried, not deep-​fried, and have a wonderful sauce they are cooked in.
The szechuan trio was quite tasty as well, the flavour came on a bit slow, but when it arrived was fabulously full. Again, I would have like more heat, but this was quite tasty.
The vegetable fried rice is not vegetarian, as it comes with eggs (which is great for me, but be warned). There was more hoisin sauce in the fried rice than I like, preferring a lighter fried rice, but this would be quite familiar to those looking for a Cantonese style. The veggies were perfectly cooked, still crisp, but not at all raw.
For what I ordered, the bill was really reasonable — basically 3 entrees for just over $ 35 with a delivery charge and gratuity. White rice, fortune cookies, plates, plastic forks and a very generous number of napkins were included.
All in all, I enjoyed this meal, and will be ordering from Ping’s again.

I’m going to give Pings a solid 3 stars. I have been there twice… once during their lunch buffet and once when ordering off the menu. I had a slightly better experience off the menu; I will expand on that later.
The overall atmosphere is fine… it’s a big space, but they could work on their buffet set up, it’s a little awkwardly placed and is especially bad when busy.
The buffet itself wasn’t overly impressive… the pot stickers were good as were the wings, but a few of the other dishes were sub par, although this is something I have come to expect of most buffets. However, for the price, the buffet isn’t a bad option for a quick lunch and I would probably go back, which means I must have enjoyed it at least a little, ha.
On to the order from menu experience. I had the combination fried rice and an order of wings. The fried rice was good, not great. The meat was good, but the flavor wasn’t anything to write home about. I added hot sauce and it was better. The wings were excellent. I really liked the sauce and they were large, not those tiny wings some Chinese restaurants like to serve. My friend got the general tsos shrimp, I was jealous. The sauce was really great, definitely the best dish I’ve had there. There was a good amount of veggies and shrimp both of which seems pretty high quality. The veggies weren’t all soggy and the shrimp were fairly big. I would definitely go back order this dish again, no question!
Overall I’d suggest ordering from the menu for a better experience, but I wouldnt rule out the buffet for a viable option either.

pings used to be THE place my family HAD to eat at whenever we made a trip to minneapolis. now that i’ve lived in the cities for almost a decade, i thought it would be fun to take my parents there for lunch– for «old time sake» i guess? Being a good daughter, FTW. Or so i thought.
I am the disappoint!
everything in the restaurant looks exactly the same. And not in a charming way. the only huge change? the quality and care of the food and the staff’s attitudes/​general feel of the place. you can tell no one cares.
oh how the mighty have fallen! get back up, pings! you used to be so fun and tasty– you can do it!!!
We used to drive 400 miles to have your food be a part of our «get out of smalltown USA» trips. slap on a new coat of paint, shake up that menu a little bit, and invest in quality goods. keep those damn awesome fish tanks, though.
until that happens, you are just a fond memory.

Full disclosure: haven’t tried the food, and there is less than a 1% chance I’ll ever eat food here.
Went to Ping’s to see a friend-​of-​a-​friend-​of-​a-​friend DJ. The music was ok, I guess. Beer selection is the standard stuff.
The best part was dancing with others who were there, but I don’t think they are permanent features of this restaurant.

This is the first time back in about five years. It used to be one of our favorite places to go and I recall that there were times when the wait to get a table was over an hour.
We met two other couples here for dinner before a Fringe performance at the Music Box Theater. I was surprised at the lack of customers and hoped it wasn’t because the quality of the food had slipped. The decorating seemed a bit tired and worn and the energy level of the room was pretty low.
Notwithstanding that, we were promptly seated and both the hostess and waitress were pretty attentive without being overly so. Nice balance.
Drink orders were taken (no Hendricks gin for a martini?) and brought out to the table within a reasonable time. We ordered our entrees but the waitress either really couldn’t recommend one dish over another or was stymied by my wife’s request for «which is better.»
Food was on the table in pretty quick time and piping hot. (That’s one of my quirks: I really, really like asian food to come to the table right out of the wok! It was!)
My entrée (Kung Po Chicken) was excellent and the spice level was spot on. My wife enjoyed her entrée and at least three of the four other diners seemed pleased as well. (The fourth was not having a good day so I wouldn’t necessarily blame the food.)
I thought the prices a bit high but not way out of line for the food … just the ambiance. And, in the end, it was the ambiance that cost Ping’s a fourth star in this review.
Gratuitous Advice (and possibly worth exactly what the owner is paying for it):
I think your shop needs a shake-​up with refreshed decorating and a revamped menu. I’d encourage the owner and chef to look at punching up the menu (sometimes less is more) and offering some specials and special appetizers that would piqué a visitor’s interest and serve as a take-​off for conversation with the wait-​staff about what they might recommend for dining. In other words, I’d make dining here more of an event — which is what I remember from our earlier visits — and less a simple transaction.

I have a place in my heart for small family businesses, so it hurts me to rate this place with 1 star. I’ve tried this place 3 times, and each time has been very disappointing. The last time I was there, I ordered crunchy duck. First of all, it took nearly 45 minutes (I wish I were exaggerating) for the food to reach my table. When I bit into it, it was neither crunch or recognizable as duck; it felt like beef jerky. It was so tough that some food actually wedged in between my molars (and that never happens to me.) and caused me a lot of pain. We asked the waiters to take the dish back and give us something quick and they recommended a chicken dish; it came out 20 minutes later and it was still very disappointing.
Say no to duck jerky. :(

I had lunch here 4 yrs ago & thought it was nothing more than okay. However being that it was so many years ago I figured giving it another try was fair. Sadly I was disappointed… again.
Although the place is basic in style, its pretty big. If I liked the food it would be a good place to hold gatherings. For the $ 9 lunch buffet they have a decent number of options. I got the beef veggies, the meat tasted rubbery. The sweet & sour chicken, very bland. The egg roll was okay, but nothing special. The lo-mein…ok.
If there’s one thing people know about me it’s that I like to eat. However, the food was so unappealing that I didn’t even bother going up for a second plate.
Another thing I disliked was that the charged $ 2 and change for a can of soda. :-(
I really don’t recommend this place for the buffet lunch.

OK, I really don’t get all of the negativity about Ping’s here. I’ve regarded them as one of the better Chinese restaurants in Mpls for a long time. Yeah it’s Americanized, just like nearly everything else!
To call this mall food is gross hyperbole. The Chinese ‘restaurants’ in south Mpls would cause you to beg for Ping’s (e.g. Hop Wong, China Wok, Star Dragon, whatever). I wish they were in my area and would deliver. Instead sometimes I drive across town to get it!
This place has been around a long time and it’s not by accident. They have good dumplings, great curry chicken, really just about everything I’ve tried is a step ABOVE your average Chinese place. Item for item there’s no way Evergreen is better than Ping’s, unless you’re looking for vegan food.
Advice: try it for yourself. Do not go by these ratings; in my opinion, they are three stars at least. It’s a little spendy, but worth it.