East Garden Restaurant and Lounge

Very decent American-Chinese food. I think the "lounge" side of the place sees more business than the actual restaurant side, but I didn't care - just meant faster service for my partner and I. Very decently priced lunch specials, although we went for dinner. Still, their dinner combos were very decent. Good selection and great price. I had the sweet 'n' sour pork, chicken subgum chow mein, fried rice and egg roll combo. It was all very tasty and not overly greasy, although I am not a fan of the crispy-noodle chow mein, which this turned out to be. (I prefer the pan-fried noodle chow mein, which is really more of a lo mein, but you don't often see that distinction in American-Chinese restaurants - they're often interchangeable, and while some places specify the type of noodle, most don't, so it's something of a crap shoot.)

Was also disappointed that I tried to use the free appetizer coupon available on the Yelp mobile app, only to be shot down almost immediately and told that that offer was very old. Why is it still on the app, then?

Their hot tea was also disappointing. Dark, looked like an oolong, but was very weak and had no flavor at all. I might as well have been drinking hot water.

So, I suppose if you have your heart set on chow mein with pan-fried noodles, or really want decent tea, don't visit East Garden. I'll be going back, though. I really enjoyed the food (crispy noodles aside, which were still good, even if not my preference), especially for that price. If you're in the mood for some good, inexpensive American-Chinese food and you're in the outer SE, I do recommend stopping by.

We went on Christmas night for dinner because our stand by (Happy Garden) was closed.  

The service was good, we were served super quick and they kept the tea coming.  But, the food was only "meh" (I am giving them 3 stars, but it would more accurately by 2.5) although there was a ton of it, as usual at these places.  

They have big cozy booths and awesome people watching potential with the variety of people we saw (mix of large Asian families, couples, single drunk guy, mom with kids, etc).

I was greatly entertained by the karaoke music that is heard in the restaurant (they have a lounge on the other side). There is nothing quite like someone with a heavy Asian accent singing James Taylor.

Pretty good American style Chinese. Cool booths and great, friendly service. But drunk, loud karaoke in the background and mumbling homeless people turned us off a bit for dinner. I'll stick with Happy Garden or Gold Garden instead next time. If I want some fun karaoke I might have a new place to try though.