"Eek! Methinks not" is absolutely correct - this place is pretty awful at everything they do. It's almost always busy, which is actually pretty infuriating in and of itself because hey, come on people, step up your standards.
I've never been to this place without seeing at least three flies buzzing around the dining area or kitchen (I'm serious, I always counted). This is generally indicative of what you get: oily soup, awful rice and sickeningly sweet and fatty foods, regardless of of what you order. Orange chicken? Disgustingly breaded AND slathered in a saccharine sauce. Cashew chicken? Good luck finding any chicken under the thick layer of fat.
I never got sick here, and there are a lot of other places I'd avoid over this one, but I just do not get the appeal of this one. At all.
Pretty much the best & most consistently delicious Chinese food in Eugene. Just don't come here for the ambience...it's a hole in the wall, but the food is all fresh and none o their sauces taste like they came out of a can. Being smack-dab in the campus area, parking is scant. The service is cheerful even when overly busy. We often choose to do take-out, however then the complementary soup is not included unless you ask to be able to eat your soup there while you wait. In the ten or so years I've been eating there they have changed owners several times but the menu stayed the same and the quality of the food has never changed. If you live in Eugene and enjoy good Chinese food you've been missing out if you haven't yet tried Maple Garden.
Review Source:The only thing I love about this place is their Duck Fried Rice. It is amazing and I would come here after class to pick up this. I have tried other dishes but cant really remember them. I think everyone should try the duck fried rice its tasty and my mouth is watering right now just typing about it.
Review Source:My favorite Chinese restaurant in Eugene, which isn't necessarily saying much, because it's the only Chinese restaurant that actually serves AUTHENTIC options...that actual Chinese people would eat. Â Love when they have Hot Pot options and really love their Singapore Noodles, which is not on the menu. Â It's like a taste of home for me.
Review Source:We've been here many many times when we were in college. Today, my wife and I went back there after a trip to Crater Lake. IT WAS STILL GOOD! even after 6 years... Same ole mandarin chicken and beef chow fun. There are other good plates but those were our two favorite. We always have that when I come down to visit her at UO. It's not the best of the best Chinese food but it's good for everyday food and good for the money. Â Try it!
Review Source:I would give this place a higher rating because it is one of my frequent eateries. However, it tends to suffer  from what all restaurants on campus suffer from and that is a feeling of being worn out. The dining area needs  a thorough cleaning and paint job!. I definitely don't go there for the atmosphere. I almost always take out.
They have good specials, especially for lunch. Their spicy beef noodle soup is really good, with a savory broth, and wide noodles. Healthy servings too.
This place has been around a long time. The students love it!
Maple garden is one of the best values near campus. Â The trick is to find something you like and stick with it. Â The portions are generous and the price is right. Â I didn't realize other people considered it dirty until reading these reviews, but I've never had a problem.
The lunch prices are great - I recommend the Chicken Fried Rice and hot tea. Â A little too much oil in the dishes, but it's a great option for lunch in the 13th and Alder area.
I really like this place for takeout. We will order a few different plates and have a yummy dinner for a couple nights. The food tastes really good, and the people who work there are nice. It's not fancy, but, it doesn't have to look nice to be delicious. It's the most flavorful bang for your buck, and you get a lot of food for what you pay. WOOT. I think it's the tastiest chinese in town, it's a little dirty and run down looking, but I have travelled a lot and found some of the best places to eat are as such.
Recommend:
Orange Chicken, Pork Fried Rice, Egg Flower Soup
I ate here with friends one day on a whim, after a rehearsal. I'm not really a fan. A lot of Chinese cuisine is pretty safe for vegans when you order from their vegetarian menu, as they'll list the ingredients and you can specify for no eggs in the case that they might exist. However, the vegetarian menu itself was minuscule, though they had some tasty looking items on there.
The place itself is definitely dine and dash. Larger groups of friends, or take out, you eat, you chat, you head back to class. The bright walls with the bright fluorescents make the place look a little antiseptic, though it was still a bit dirty, for all that. And the furniture wasn't anything really special either. For a place like this, I kinda expected a *deal* on food, but it was really just par for the course in terms of cheap Chinese food.
Speaking of that food, it...was a bit underwhelming. It took awhile for it to arrive, which I wasn't really expecting, as my feelings were that this place was pretty much an assembly line style, which isn't a bad thing, but makes me expect faster fare. Of my friends and I, mine looked about the only that was really appetizing, though I still had to deal with crunchy rice (I HATE crunchy rice, it's like my only food pet peeve), over-cooked veggies, and a curious, separated sauce. Still, it tasted alright, crunchy rice be damned, though I'm not sure whether my liver is plotting its revenge against me for that food. My friends had worse luck with their meaty dishes, and I think they left there about as hungry as we came in.
As the service was pretty much counter only, I couldn't really speak to their quality, though they were friendly enough for the brief time that we ordered, :).
Pros: It accommodates large groups, and the food could have been worse. The egg flower soup, I was told, was tasty. My food came to me as I ordered it, so bonus for the vegan points.
Cons: The food was really pretty bad, and took awhile to get there. I understand it's not a full-on dining experience with the decor, but it seemed pretty dirty, highlighted by the bright lights. The vegetarian/vegan menu is sparse.
Conclusion: There are better places in town, and I wholeheartedly recommend those alternatives.
Lowest health inspector score on the University food block.
Food is maybe "average" but it dent make it good.
Well, to be honest it fills you up decently but you feel bad about putting it in your stomach. Quality is very low taste is acceptable and occasionally tasty.
Limited dirty space during lunch. Lunch specials for the poor college student is about the only good thing this place has going for it.
Maple Garden is more of a 2.5 star destination for me. Back in the day (7-8 years ago) the food was considerably tastier than it is now. Portions seem smaller, and well, some of the food is just gross. DON'T listen to the other Yelper---one must not go near the Mandarin Chicken. It should be re-christened "Mandarin Bits of Crunchy Dough Fried in Old Oil in an Insipid Salty Sauce."
Seriously. But I return. Why? Â Well, I work on campus so lunch is as easy as making a phone call, walking across the street, and picking it up. Â As other posters have noted, the service is non-existent, but that doesn't bother me; it's pretty par for the course in Eugene. Â Also, my friend K. eats here frequently and he tells me that it's good IF you know what to get. The key is to stay away from all the standard Americanized dishes--General Tso's, Orange Chicken, etc. and eat from the specials menu, or one of the noodle dishes which all tend to be pretty decent.
Chow Fun: Â bland but comforting. If you ask for chow fun with black bean sauce, you get a much tastier dish.
Szechuan Beef: bland but filling. Onions and beef. That's it. No real seasoning at all except for the "wok hey" imparted by the high cooking temperature.
Mandarin Chicken: Â Don't even think about it.
Orange Chicken: Better than, say, Panda Express, but still too sweet, too gooey for my palate.
Shrimp--shrimp dishes here tend to taste overly fishy, as if they're not exactly....fresh. Â Ew. Â K. actually likes them this way, but he's Thai, and likes fishy tastes a bit more than I.
Duck Noodle Soup with Spicy Pickled Cabbage: Â Duck soup. Â Tasty duck, tasty broth, non-descript noodles. You get a pretty large portion for your money. Â Good on a cold day.
Mongolian Beef: Maybe my new favorite. Â Charred chiles (which impart a nutty smoky taste), celery, bell peppers, wood ear mushrooms, and tender beef in a subtle but flavorful sauce. Â I have to add some hot sauce at the table, but it's well worth the 5.50.
I aim to eat every dish on the menu, photograph them all, and devote a blog to the experience. Â For updates, check my other blog:
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fluckyerror.blogspot.com&s=eed5bd461114b8baf7b7923702655fa3607a1bd7b333c65a3b2ee5393fbe53f9" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://luckyerror.blogsp…</a>
This place is great! I don't know why everyone is dissing it. Back in college, I would eat this three times a week. Their lunch specials are around $5-$6, and their portions are good size. To maximize your spending, get the dinner to go. It is around $8, and can feed you for two full meals. I highly recommend the mandarin chicken. I ate it 90% of the time and was never dissapointed. I recommend getting it to-go, because there isn't a whole lot of room. They are hiding behind the Starbucks off campus, right across from the police hub. Go there for tasty chinese food at a reasonable price.
Review Source:What used to be a decent Chinese establishment near campus for quick and easy Chinese food, has now become self-serving rubbish. Â The $5.50 lunch special which was only $4.95 until recently, is a solid deal but that is really about it. Â The owners changed a couple of years back, shifting the cooking style to change dramatically (for the worse). Â Take out is recommended more than dining there as the service and space is limited. Â Penny pinching Chinese food is what they sell, so don't expect anything super authentic or impressively good.
Review Source:
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