Mandarin

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Ames, and by far my favorite Chinese restaurant here. I love their food (the potstickers are especially good), and the staff is all really nice and friendly. Pretty much any time family or friends visit I take them here.

My wife‘s food was great, but mine was terrible, didn‘t eat half of it, and told the server I really didn‘t like it. he just looked at me, said okay and took it.

I love Mandarin, when the right chef is working. The only downfall is that the two different chefs do not make the entrees the same way, so the flavor of the food is not consistent.

The food there is okay, but overall quite salty. Also, the staff there aren‘t the friendliest. They can be very rude. If you need to eat Chinese, I would suggest someplace else.

Satisfying food with a delightful staff. Perhaps a bit expensive for the non lunch special meals. A little on the Americanized side but nonetheless retains some original sentiments, not sure how often people can actually get Japanese shiitake mushrooms with their dinners. Also I am not sure if the person on July 2nd is used to eating out as 40 bucks for what they ordered (even in this town) is pretty reasonable for a restaurant and perhaps their lack of discernment has more to do with them than the food.

Bad food could not tell the orange beef from the chicken. Will not go again!

I love this place. I‘ve been going here for years and the food is always great and the service is fabulous! Egg rolls are the best in Ames. Orange Beef, garlic chicken, and sesame chicken are good. The sizzling rice soup is to die for.

Went there for a nice dinner with hubby. It was packed. I ordered crab rangoon and the orange beef. Hubby ordered egg rolls and the spicy taso chicken. We got our food and we could not tell the difference between the beef and the chicken. The rangoon was dried up with no crab meat in it. The drinks were the only good thing about this place. This place has been in Ames for over 20 years now. I have grown up in Ames as well and know I remembered why I do not eat here. BTW it costs us over 40 bucks for two drinks, appetizers, and entree for each. NEVER AGAIN!!

I would describe this place as American-style Chinese food and not authentic Chinese. Although, I should note that I came during lunch and apparently they have a separate lunch and dinner menu. So I‘m assuming the lunch menu are the simple and easy to make dishes. We ordered crab rangoons as an appetizer, and despite some reviewers raving about them I found them to be tasteless. I did like that they served green tea!

Decent at best. Went here for lunch once and the food was pretty average--nothing spectacular. I really do hope that this isn‘t the best Chinese restaurant Ames has to offer.

Appreciated that the service was quick, despite lunchtime being pretty busy. The staff was friendly and polite.

All in all, an average restaurant. You can‘t beat the lunch special. Four adults with appetizer and the bill was $30!

I gave it a 3 because overall it is very average. Food is decent for quick Chinese, but definitely not the best in Ames. I would eat here again if a friend suggested it, but I wouldn‘t get take out for home or suggest it myself.

Great food and prompt service. This place is consistantly good and seldom a wait to be seated. Only complaint is that some of the tables aren‘t level.

Food gave me food poisioning! Will never eat here again!

Lots of great food at a very reasonable price. My husband doesn‘t even flip over Chinese food, yet he really enjoyed eating at the Mandarin!

Hands down the best Chinese in Ames. Their sweet and sour sauce is outstanding, rice is authentic, and everything tastes great. Service is exceptional, and the place is very clean. I recommend the sweet & sour pork on a weekday when the place is empty.

The Mandarin is definately the best oriental food restaurant in Ames in my opinion. Great food, and has been voted best asian food in ames for quite a few years now. If you go there and enjoy Korean food, check out their Korean menu. Owners are great.

Their crab rangoon is the best. This is best by far the best Chinese place to eat in Ames. Quality food at a good price. I usually get it to go for lunch and from the time I order to the time they bring it to me has always been less than 10 minutes.

I‘ve been to a large number of oriental restaurants and this is easily among the best I‘ve had the pleasure of dining in. Mandarin puts interesting twists into their dishes that make them stand out amongst a background of same-old same-old oriental eateries. For example, my litmus-test dish, vegetable lo mien, had a slight citrus kick to it. At first I wasn‘t sure what to make of that as it was much different than other lo mien dishes I‘ve had elsewhere, but it‘s precisely that unique character that makes this place stand out.

Mandarin doesn‘t just give a unique quality to veggie lo mien. The white crunchies beneath their mongolian beef are much larger than the usual variety and they are also much more generous with the rice in their sizzling rice soup. All in all, this is the sort of place I‘d return to as either a resident or a visitor to Ames!

I went here last night and I was
very impressed. We orded soup, appitizers and two entrees. The soup came out first, and It was great. Shortly after we were finished with that we got our appitizer (crab rangoon) which were great as well. Shortly after we were done with that our food came out. I would say we recieved the best service as possible and we were a slightly demanding table as we orderd so much and we often needed more water. But before our glass was empty we got it. it was also kind of busy. I was not 100 % satisfied with my meal. It wasn‘t bad, but it wasn‘t great. But my boyfriend really liked his. We also took two appitizers to go and we ended up spending 40 (thats including a 25% tip!!!) we deffinitly will be back!

I have eaten at The Mandarin many times and have always enjoyed the food and service. I‘m not sure way others give such a low rating but having surveyed all the other options in town, this is one of the best. At least the food is cooked by actual Asians rather than Golden Wok for example, which all the food is cooked by Hispanics and tastes as such.

Food here is disgusting you order orange chicken and you get chicken pieces covered with soy sauce! Ate here once and will never go back.

I love this place! You can get great chinese food for super cheap! Much better than Golden Wok but at the same price

the greatest chinese restaurant in ames! i love love love the atmosphere and the food is superb! the employees are very friendly and prompt and you will love the mouth watering entrees, and tea! especially after some fried won tons:) go here!

The food there just made me sick. They‘re not even 50% close to the typical American Chinese food.

Simply put the food was edible but not enjoyable, and you do not get you‘re moneys worth.

This is a very good Chinese restaurant especially for Ames, IA. When I was at Iowa State I used to go there quite often. This is the restaurant I typically frequent when I go back to Ames. The crispy beef and crab rangoons are great! You get very large portions for the price. The service is also great!

This is the absolute worst chinese restaurant. I‘m a huge fan of chinese food and the food at Mandarin is inedible! I‘ve tried it twice and was disappointed each time. The chicken tastes gamey, the beef is slimy and the restaurant smells like dirty feet. I wouldn‘t recommend this restaurant to my worst enemy!

Abosuletly the best Chinese in town! The Mings Beef is spectacular. The crab ragoon actually has crab, which I haven‘t found anywhere else in Ames! Lightning fast take out orders. Call and by the time you drive there your food is ready. Never a wait for seating for dine in either. Wait staff is attentive and attmosphere is authentic.

why is this the number 1 restaurant?

The food is positively mediocre; Its the same stuff fed to us by every other Chinese restaurant in town, delivered on the same truck, and cooked by the same people, with little flourish or personalization.

I‘ve eaten there maybe 4 times, & twice I was very disappointed with what I orderd.

Very good sweet & sour chicken, good prices (especially for lunch).