May House Cuisine

I go here as much as possible. I love love love the food and it comes out fast. Cash only though!

Seafood noodle soup,,,,ordered extra spicy,,will completely clear plugged sinuses but not aggitate the tummy..order with extra side of pickled I don‘t know what,, greens?...Lots of interesting bits and bobs in there,,really tasty.

My husband and I ritually eat here. They have the best and i mean the BEST soup/noodle bowls ever.
Very good vegetarian selections! No one is left out- and prices are very very fair.
The man at the front counter is always nice and willing to accommodate customers.

It is authentic Chinese, with their boats, hot pot, and noodle bowls.
Also if you‘re a veg head the will substitute meat- for a gluten type meat. VERY VERY TASTY

highly recommend

Absolute best Chinese cuisine in the Ames Des Moines area!
Cheap food, large portions, and friendly staff!!

Food is only so-so. Often cold and/or dry. Service is usually slow. Don‘t ask for anything special, what they have is what they have.

I think May House is one of the hidden secrets of Ames, at least to the people I am familiar with. They put out consistently good food, especially when they cut out the MSG. The Hot and Sour soup is very nice. I‘d like to see the move from canned mushrooms to fresh, but given the cost, I can‘t complain too much. For less than $15, a duo can order 2 soups and 2 dishes. During the lunch hours, they do not cheat you like Thai Kitchen who will give you half of the portion for the same price you would pay 2 hours later.

I see the grad Chinese students eat here for a reason. The food is great.

Whoever posted on 2/6 doesn‘t even know what they are talking about! They don‘t even have a buffet there. The food is awesome but the place is kind of a dive. If they did some updating I would eat there instead of getting it "to go" all the time.

Very good vegetarian options. However it seems as though if you are an American you will get served last here. I have dined here several times and noticed each time Asians that arrived well after I put in my meal order received their meals almost immediately, while I was left waiting on my food.
Food is served hot. Cleanliness and over all appearance of this place need to be drastically updated. It is well into the month of March and this guy still has(ancient) Christmas decorations up all over the restaurant.

Awful food if you have a discerning palate for good Chinese food - go to Des Moines. Atmosphere is dirty, food is the type of chinese you‘d find in small towns in the midwest but not of an authentic caliber. This is the McDonald‘s of Chinese food. This building has houses several Chinese restaurants, one so bad I got food poisoning because they didn‘t keep their bufett hot enough. So I tried it again. The food is awful.

Really good food. I especially appreciate that they have full vegetarian menu — not something you see a lot of in Iowa.

Great food, May House made me like chinese food again. The best part is the meat is good quality not fatty greasy like every other chinese place and you can always count on a "Thank you buddy" if you get it to go! I love it

We literally ordered our food and by the time we got seated, it was being served to us. Although we did not order off of the "Blue Menu" (which appears to be the "authentic" Chinese Menu Specials of the Day), the Americanized Chinese Food was more than competent and inexpensive .... and better than Golden Wok and House of Chen. It is comparable with New China (by the West Hy-Vee) in price point and quality.

This is probably the tastiest and cheapest Chinese food in town - much better than Cocost and Golden Wok. The people who work there are very friendly and helpful, and the food comes fast. It definitely tastes authentic to me. It isn‘t the best ambiance, but you can walk in, order, and take it all home in a matter of minutes.

Delicious and FAST! Sesame chicken is fantastic!

It‘s the best Chinese food in town. Order off the blue "specials" menu, which has the real stuff. The other menu‘s just bland, Americanized food. Try Sa-Cha Beef or Pork with Pickled Veggies. Yum!

Sure it is cheap food. But I wouldn‘t pay to eat there. The building is a dump. The food is cheap and just doesn‘t taste good. I‘ve read the health inspection report for this place and it‘s gross.

If you get a chance check out the seaweed. It‘s delicious and one of the only places in town you can find it is May House.

Best chinese restaurant in Ames next to Cocost.

Terrible food! Defintely cheap b/c they don‘t put much ingredients in the food.

I don‘t know why folks think this is a great place. The food is just horrible. For sure, they give alot, but all you taste is just the salt in the dishes. The vegetables taste so frozen. The meat has no flavour. In short, there are no ingredients in the food.

As for service, yes it is fast, but that‘s b/c they don‘t put much into the food, i.e. ingredients. In terms of ordering, you have to stand near the reception and order, which is a bit inconvenient, b/c people are waiting behind you. yes the the staff is friendly, but the food is horrible, unless you are desperately hungry!!

Great food and very affordable! Fast Service!

The best Chinese restaurant in Ames. Try the mongolian beef! My wife‘s favorite.

I was skeptical about authentic chinese food in a little place like Ames, but if you are going to eat chinese do it at May House!

The food is very good and friendly staff

The seafood noodle soup is an adventure. Yummy Chinese food. Thankfully new owners have cleaned up the place, but could still use some renovations.

I love the food and the staff is very friendly

Why in gods name would the May House be the #1 resteraunt in Ames? Come on! There are much better places. Little Taipe, Co Cost, and May House are all owned by the same people. If Asian cuisine is what you want, go to the Scallion. Why isn‘t Hickory Park, Aunt Maudes, The Cafe, or Pizza Pit on the top 5 list? As an Ames local this makes me want to vomit. After all the last place that was here was the dirtiest kitchen in Ames.

Amazing best chinese in ames and inexpensive