I wish I could give half stars.... this would be 3.5. I was famished at home and too hungover to go get food so I ordered in. They deliver from 4pm - 10pm and the food was pretty wonderful. I ordered an individual combo which contained the Almond Chicken, SubGum Chicken Chow Main, Pork Fried Rice, BBQ Pork, Eggroll, and also WonTon Soup for $10.75. I also ordered a Sprite and an order of Pot Stickers. Here are my comments on each dish: Almond Chicken (4) It was pretty average but I loved that they give you the sauce seperatley so that the chicken is not all soggy. Very nice! WonTon Soup (3) No flavor... but then again that means less MSG. SubGum Chicken Chow Mein (5) Some of the best I have had. I loved the mushrooms and the chicken tasted fresh. Lots of veggies which I liked as well. Pork Fried Rice (1) Almost inedible, flavorless, hard in places, and the pork was like cardboard. I had about three bites and couldn't even make it taste good when covering it in Almond Sauce or Soy. Uck! EggRolls (5) Giant, extra crispy and delicious. Highly recommended for late night bar food if you are in the area and want a drink, too. PotStickers (2) The filling was great, but they were over breaded (too thick on the outside) and it caused them to taste really greasy. Not enough filling, too much dough. Not to mention like 5 of them were $5.95. Sprite - NON EXISTENT! They charged me for my sprite but when I went to drink it.... it was nowhere to be found. They still charged me, and I figured it wasn't worth calling for a refund. Overall... I would be interested to try some other dishes and will likely order again. As with most Chinese places, each place has it's specialties and it's horrors. I got a few out of the way!
(3)
Randi S.
Came in again a couple of weeks ago (i never learn) and the place was empty on saturday at dinnertime..I was nervous but my fiance and I ordered 2 combos to share. I was smart enough to check my order for its contents before we left. I was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the order (funny, it should never be surprising to get what you pay for), and also the food itself was awesome. It was fresh (As fresh as chinese gets anyway), hot and tasty. Satisfaction.
(4)
Deborah E.
Don't bring your children here or let alone eat here! I came with my husband, mother, and my daughter thinking this would be a special treat. My mother's favorite food is Chinese and so my husband and I treated her to dinner along with our 7 month old baby. We arrived with NOBODY in the restaurant at 7:30pm on a Friday night. What? Determined to have a good experience we all ordered anyway instead of leaving. To my horror the highchair they gave me to use for my baby looked like it never had a deep clean since it was bought 20 years or so ago. YUCK! After wiping down the whole thing with baby wipes I finally put my baby in. I was still hopeful for a good meal. The food tasted old and flavorless. I've had much better Chinese food. The cookies tasted homemade which was a nice finish to a meal that tasted like it had been refrigerated for several days and then nuked when we showed up. The women's bathroom was disgusting! I had no place to change my baby! The smell of urine was pungent and strong. I don't even want to see what their kitchen looks like after I've seen the bathroom. I couldn't even bear to use the restroom myself. I had to change my baby's diaper holding her in my arms since the floor and countertops were so gross. This was a nightmare for my me and my baby. To top it off, the waitress suggested that I give her some of the Chinese food mashed up. Are you out of your mind? She was happy with her Gerber dinner, thank you! We all took a walk to Sweet On You on Greenwood Ave just down the block for a gelato dessert afterwards to get rid of the awful taste in our mouths. Thank you Sweet On You!!!
(1)
Lori B.
BEST GHETTO BAR IN THE AREA. We live so close that we decided to stumble in there one friday night out of boredom just to check out the bar, as we were sure to find it somewhat interesting. There was about 7 people there who were all on rotation doing karaoke. They were all middle-age to older. The DJ was a very short older man with the country look- decked out with the boots and hat. He was having a grand ol time, even did a solo himself and got really into it. After a while my bf & I somehow got talked into doing some karaoke- after a while, we didn't want to leave. My bf (only 32) felt at home. But the asian bartender warned us, about 11:30 it turns into a whole other place. Well, we witnessed it and it was quite scary. A few older chicks who were not that skinny had very low-cut tops and makeup packed on like it was the 80's. A few other people came in who just did not give us a good feeling, so we booked out of there. For some reason, it cost us $40 for 2 drinks each. I was kinda not sober to really care, but thought it was a bit steep. It was fun, something different for a change, but at least we know what time to leave. We have yet to try the food/delivery, I heard it's pretty decent.
(2)
Matthew M.
I was looking for a simple cheap Chinese food dinner. I wasn't looking for anything gourmet or fancy just the plain old American Chinese food that always hits the spot. Sadly, I did not get anything that even resembles this. My girlfriend and I ordered Sesame chicken which is usually a pretty safe dish to get since every Chinese place I have ever visited knew how to do it right, but not Yen Wor Garden. Their Sesame chicken is made of large white meat chicken pieces in a coating that resembles McDonald's McNuggets, with added salt...plus sesame seeds sprinkled on it. NO SAUCE. Instead of the usual thick, sticky, sweet-spicy sauce you get on Sesame chicken they gave a container of a tasteless white gravy! It was weird and not appetizing. Along with this, we got "Pork Noodles", which were mostly flavorless (thankfully not completely salty and so somewhat mildly edible), and came with 4 pieces of pork total. After eating some, we had to stop, not because it tasted particularly bad (the "sesame" chicken was actually somewhat moist), but because the saltiness of the entire meal was ridiculously overpowering. I won't be visiting Yen Wor Garden again, but if it was closer to my apartment I might give some of their other dishes a try. But I would definitely not expect any of the typical cheap American Chinese food that I sometimes crave.
(1)
Lea D.
A coworker and I ordered from here today since our 2 top choices for Chinese food werent delivering at the time. Ugh, the guy who answered barely spoke english and had to pass the phone to another guy. Im fine with being patient when ordering cuz i defnitely dont want spit or worse in my food but the ordering process took at least 10 minutes. When they asked for my address they went back and forth with each other whether they could even deliver here ( they are on 85th/greenwood and Im at 115th and Aurora) not that far away people! So anyways he took my order and then said they may not be able to deliver and he would have to call me back. They never called so I did and they said they would deliver but that they would only come outside the building and not up to my floor. wow. ... anyways, an hour later the guy showed up. We ordered a Yen Wor Special Chow Mein, Pork fried rice and 2 eggrolls. The food was really hot and not too bad. The chow mein had a lot of meat in it but really not much flavor at all. I had to add 2 packets of soy sauce to it. My friend said her rice was good but average. Overall this place has average food with less than stellar service. Will I try it again? Probably not.
(2)
Daranee O.
Not "possibly" the worst Chinese restaurant in Seattle, this "is" the worst Chinese restaurant in Seattle. Fried won tons equals fried won ton skins (no filling) though that didn't stop them from being $4.00 for deep fried flour. Special Chow Mein, like all other chow meins on the menu were supposedly pan fried. I forget the name of the bagged "chow mein" noodles in the supermarket, but you get my drift. And speaking of the supermarket, I would rather go to Safeway right next door to get Chinese food that's been sitting under a heat lamp for hours than eat at Yen Wor Garden again.
(1)
John D.
good soup, bad everything else.
(1)
Akiva S.
I'm not sure if this place is new or not but I hadn't heard of it until I received a delivery menu in the mail and, as you all know so very well, I'm a sucker for delivered food. Also intriguing on the menu were a number of vegetarian versions of classics like General Tso's chicken and almond chicken. 'Well,' said I to a nearby cat who was doing something unmentionable, 'let's go for it!' So, we ordered some food and, well, it was a mixed bag. The potstickers were bland and dry, the egg flower soup was good (made even better by having a ton of diced vegetables in it), the almond chicken was passable (Bamboo Garden's version is far superior), and the General Tso's was fantastic. In fact, it was so good, I, at first, was suspicious that they might've actually given me chicken. But, no, it was definitely not chicken but definitely was good. My complaints were that their 'medium' order of rice was really small, communication was a little challenging, and it took them over an hour to get the food to us. To be fair, he told me it would be an hour but that's 15-30 minutes longer than most places take. Something cool about this place is that they sent two packets of tea along with the usual array of soy sauce and fortune cookies. Something weird about this place is that they also sent us a few packets of ketchup, as well. Will I order from Yen Wor again? Sure. They have a lot of fake-meat vegetarian options which is always welcome. The food, overall, was good (even the almond chicken; it just wasn't as good as we had hoped). I just wish this place had agitated my dots a little more.
(3)
Angela G.
The veggie food is edible -- competent if not much more. My meat-ordering friend reports that he cannot say the say for his dishes. Service friendly but slow and confused. If Yelp had half-point ratings available, I'd award Yen Wor 2.5 stars and promptly deduct the half for the effect the weirdly aggressive clientele has on the neighborhood; Greenwood Ave around 2am is basically now best left to the angry drunks and the soon-to-be-pummeled drunks, and the Baranof only wishes it were the primary cause. (I blame the karaoke.) Stick with the Crosswalk for getting your late-night drink on, and stick with whatever frozen potstickers you find in the bottom of your freezer for the rest. (But if you go, do keep an eye on your credit-card statement; things seem to go awry at that cash register. Just a suggestion.)
(2)
melanie m.
The food is friggin nasty! Drinks suck! Only good thing is the karaoke!!!
(1)
desmond d.
I went over last night to see how much it had changed from china jade.It has changed for the worst .I ordered a whiskey and diet and got a diet coke so I walked back over to baranofs and had a real drink.
(1)
Incognito O.
Most of the menu is only decent, but the honey walnut chicken is delicious! That and the orange beef are both very good. Never been to the bar, just notice a lot of sketchy looking people hanging out front and the occasional mid-afternoon vomit pile outside the door...classy. Skip it for Naked City and delicious brewskies!
(3)
Katie S.
I used to go here all the time for lunch like ten years ago. Going in through the back door was a trip...the stench of cigarettes from the bar and the bathrooms would almost put me off, but the people were so sweet and the food was delicious! After a few years, that smell started to remind me of cat pee and it got so bad that I just couldn't make myself go there anymore. I decided to try them again now that they are under new ownership(?) as Yen Wor. Chickening out on the back hallway, I came around to the front door. The place was empty of custom at 12:30 which was not a good sign. I came in right after an aquarium maintainance guy who was there to remove a dead, bloated black moor goldfish from the tank. I was seated and given a menu and...I LEFT. Let me tell you, the smell of cheap disinfectant cleaner mingling with the smell of the bar (carpet in there doubtless unchanged since the 80's) was just too much for me. Also the lunch menu was nothing like it used to be. I'm sorry, I know this isn't much of a food review since I didn't EAT anything, but when a place smells this bad you just don't even want to see what comes out of the kitchen!
(1)
M. O.
First of all, I should say that I've only ever gotten their food delivered. I have no idea what the actual restaurant is like. But the whole appeal was that it was Chinese delivery and they had vegetarian options that weren't just some vegetable in thick brown sauce. They generally sub the meat for tasty fried tofu. Things we've tried: Vegetarian egg roll: greasy but good Green bean with garlic sauce: about what you'd expect, nothing amazing Vegetarian potstickers: pretty good, but the dipping sauce was only so-so Vegetarian almond chicken: good, one of my boyfriend's favorites Pea pods with vegetarian abalone: I remember this being bland Vegetarian honey walnut chicken: the sauce on this tasted like thick goopy butter and kind of grossed me out Vegetarian general tso's chicken: really, really good Vegetarian orange beef: really good Now to the bad part. The first few times we got Yen Wor delivered, we were really happy. The food was tasty, it came with tea bags and fortune cookies, and it was reasonably priced. The last time I called and placed an order, the man I spoke to said it would take an hour. He hung up right after this and while I thought that this was an insane amount of time to wait for delivery, I had already placed my order so I decided I'd just wait it out. (In retrospect, I really think this person should have told us how long it would take before we placed our order since it was such a long time.) After an hour and a half went by, my boyfriend called to make sure they hadn't gotten lost trying to find our place or forgotten about our order. The person he spoke to was completely rude and unapologetic and didn't seem to think there was anything out of the ordinary about an hour and a half going by without our food arriving. Two hours after placing our order, our food finally arrived. By this point we were starving and irritable. As might be expected based on our conversation with the person at the restaurant, we didn't get any sort of discount or bonus for our food taking two hours. Maybe I've just been spoiled by every other food delivery place ever, but as far as I'm concerned, waiting two hours for food to be delivered is insane. The whole point is that you don't feel like going out and waiting in a restaurant. We could have gone to two or three restaurants in that time. That was the last time we ever ordered Yen Wor.
(2)
Christy A.
I have never eaten the food here, but boy, have I rocked the Karaoke mike! I came here with a bunch of former co-workers one night and a few on another occasion... hilarity ensued, between the drunk-a-roke, awesomely crazy patrons, and the uncommon showmanship of the karaoke DJ! Actually, he was pretty annoying with his fog machine and 3 do-overs on a Garth Brooks song, but whatevs. The karaoke selection is ok but slightly lacking...notable omissions included Rebel Yell and Pour Some Sugar On Me... which in my world is a cardinal sin. I did enjoy being invited by a fellow patron to be Lita Ford to his Ozzy for a rendition of "If I close my eyes forever." The bartender lady was awesome, did a few songs herself, and ended up being really nice-- but at first she was a bit bitchy about my request for water with lemon. She said "there's a drink minimum!" to which I replied "my friends will be here in a minute, and they will more than make up for that." She more than redeemed herself with an amazing rendition of "Unbreak My Heart." I don't think even half of the words she sang were the actual lyrics to the song. I'll try the food next time and maybe the karaoke dude will be less into himself.
(3)
Laura S.
I ordered delivery and ended up only getting half of my order. Of corse I wasn't smart enough to check before the delivery guy left... The food that did arrive was terrible, overcooked and under seasoned. I would have been happier with a bow of oodles of noodles. Stay away is my advice.
(1)
Anna G.
We had first visited this restaurant a few years ago when it was china jade. I don't know when they changed to Yen Wor Garden, but we noticed it was a new restaurant last week and decided to give it a shot. We're so glad we did! They have an awesome vegetarian selection, and the food was delicious. The service was great and not overbearing. We ordered delivery too, and it was equally impressive! It's our new favorite restaurant. I only joined Yelp to write this review and offset the so-so other reviews. I love this restaurant!
(4)
Erik S.
It is TOUGH finding good Chinese delivery in the Crown Hill area. Your choices are very limited it seems. Yen Wor Garden has a $15 minimum for delivery and offers the standard Chinese dishes you would expect to find. The food is pretty good, nothing spectacular, but they are certainly at the top of my list to fulfill my Chinese food cravings in the Crown Hill area. UPDATE: While I have had a few decent meals delivered from this place their quality does NOT remain consistant. I just had a meal delivered on 10/07/07 that tasted like I could have cooked it myself (and that ain't saying much). This place is going down to 2 stars.
(2)
Whitney C.
This place used to be sketchy China Jade, at which I had the worst food I've ever had in my life (like, worse than the coagulating chinese food at the end of the day at Safeway) but it changed ownership and I bravely gave it another try. Not bad. Not great. But good enough. Choices for Chinese take out are slim in the Crown Hill/Greenwood area, so I just keep ordering take out from here. Hasn't been disappointing yet. Stay tuned.
(3)
Emmaleah C.
One of my favorite dive bars in Seattle. Cheap, strong drinks and very reasonably priced fried, delicious chinese food. Plenty of room to hang out, two pool tables, and karaoke, which for some reason, was never as annoying as other karaoke bars. The bar tenders are nice although it can be hard to get your drink sometimes (its a big bar and often only one person works). I always enjoyed hanging out with my friends here.
(4)
Randy F.
Moved into the neighborhood a few years ago and wanted to find a local Chinese delivery place. I ordered potstickers and Mongolian beef, and I thought they were pretty good, perhaps even above average. So when I had family come to visit (my grandparents love Chinese food), we went to Yen Wor. It was awful. The food was bland and poorly cooked, and--despite being THE ONLY people in the dump, service was incredibly slow and pretty cold. Well, now I had two experiences. Which one was the fluke? Unfortunately, on my next visit, I established that it was definitely the first. Also, in general, I wouldn't consider Greenwood super divey, even with some of the more dive-bar establishments on the main avenue. But Yen Wor always has an extremely loud, unsavory crowd milling around out front late into the night. Yuck.
(2)
Heather F.
We often walk by here with our kids to go eat at one of the other kid-friendly bar/ restaurants on Greenwood and said to ourselves, "There is never anybody in that restaurant. We should go there." That's probably not the best way to pick a restaurant. We did have the place pretty much to ourselves. My husband noticed it smelled a slightly like a urinal cake, but we still ordered. The food was ok-ish. Greasy, sugary, really-bad-for-you Chinese food. Since there was no one there, we did let our 7-month old play on the floor with a blanket under her. We wanted to like it because it's one of those dying breed of regular old restaurant, but it's hard to do after you acquire a taste for "craft cuisine." However, if we didn't have our kids with us, I'm sure we would have had fun getting our drink on in the bar.
Ok, first off, really only eat the egg rolls or potstickers, hot and sour soup, or, at a stretch, some chow fun noodles. Otherwise, go someplace else for good Chinese. That is not the point of Yen Wor Garden. The point is... Kareoke. Go to the bar. Don't like kareoke? Fine, don't sing, just drink cheap, strong drinks, play pool, chat with the super awesome friendly bartenders, or hit on a regular. That's what they're there for. (Just kidding) Kareoke could not be more fun. The jockeys here are great, friendly guys, really into it, helpful, willing to push your slot back if you're not ready. The crowd is into it, everyone claps and is respectful whether they know you or not. Sometimes people dance on the small dance floor. There's often some sort of drink special, so check the board. If not, the drinks are not excessively priced to begin with. Mixed well drinks are around $4-4.50--- not bad. Also, this place gets WILD almost every night (especially Friday/Saturday, of course, but even Tuesdays!) --- but don't be surprised if it seems dead at 9 or even 9:30. I promise, around 10:30 and 11, everybody and their mama will show up. And they will all be ready to par-TAY.
(4)
Sara F.
Pretty fun karaoke spot. Yen Wor also serves Chinese late - several people sitting around the bar were eating. You can definitely hear the singers clearly, which is cool. They chose songs that weren't done to death, thank goodness. Lots of cute guys. :) A nice little dance floor which had people on it off and on throughout the night. The walls have pretty cool personalized stuff - pictures, drawings, etc. Comfortable seating, but not a lot - so get there early if you have a big party! I'm not a big fan of the congregation of smokers outside - there are like 30 people right in front of the door, kind of annoying. Nobody checking IDs so nobody to tell them to back up a bit. A bit of a task to walk in and out. Other than that, head to Yen Wor for some fun karaoke and a good time.
(3)
Kirsten A.
This place makes you feel sort of like how walking around an empty mall on a Saturday morning with a hangover makes you feel. You stumble into one of those knife and sword shops that also sells lifelike porcelain dog statues and you look up and suddenly realize where you are and get really depressed and feel like you might vomit. That said, this is Greenwood, and those of us who live in the area understand how limited the options are for within-walking-distance bars. Yen Wor has three things going for it on pretty much every night of the week: pool, lively karaoke, and booze. Just, don't come sober.
(2)
Brian D.
I've had a great fun time each time I've been to this place. Good friendly service, fun karaoke, fun positive crowd. I go to Greenwood more often because of this place. I'd give it five stars if it knocked my socks off, at the same time I can't think of anything negative to say. And I haven't tried the food before, if I knew it is vegan friendly ( no idea if it is or not) I'd try the food. Cheers Yen Wor!
(4)
Sarah C.
I'm sorry to say that we have been back a few times and I'm afraid it was a fluke when we had such great food:/ It isn't terrible, just rather mediocre and not really worth recommending. If you can't wait for the Chinese from your favorite place then this place does have all the classics just don't expect to be blown away.
(3)
Katarina A.
I ordered delivery through Grubhub, and honestly. Wasn't that impressed. Safeway has better Chinese food. It was extremely salty and that's ALL I could taste. I ordered kung pao chicken and there was zero spice (just salt), and then I ordered the pork buns-which were the only good thing. When the food arrived-which was prompt, about 30 minutes, the driver demanded a tip. I found this incredibly rude, because there is no law or reason to tip someone for just DELIVERING food. Especially after how it tasted. I find tipping is saved for restaurants-after eating. Anyway, won't order again. Service wasn't great and food wasn't either.
(1)
Julie F.
Review is solely for karaoke: It's okay. Tons of random ridiculous people, drunk off their asses, even on a Tuesday night. It's not my favorite spot, but you'll still find me there most Tuesdays.
(3)
Clover A.
I review only the bar- I was not about to eat there given my previous stop at Gainsbourg- and it was okay, karaoke host was great, books were plentiful but messy, sound system and stage were super fun set up, patrons really drunk, my drink the special -'Apple Rain' or something was weird but okay. All in all, I would go there if someone else asked me to but don't think I'll choose it as the evening's destination anytime soon.
(3)
Amanda C.
I came in with a friend for some dive bar karaoke, which was pretty fun! The only problem was the fact that I was nearly assaulted at the bar by a GROWN ASS MAN twice my size. I had been sitting next to him for over an hour, with my coat on the back of my chair. We even struck up some friendly banter with him in the beginning of the night. He disappeared for a few minutes, only to return and not remember I existed. He accused me of stealing his seat, and then threw my coat and bag to the end of the bar. He told me I better not pull this bullshit or fuck with him ever again, and threatened to have us thrown out because "he knew the owner." Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "holy shit, I'm about to get murdered, and for no reason!" I mean, I didn't even do anything! I was polite, and asked him if he would like us to move, and he said "I need you to move. Now!" All while slamming his huge meaty hand on my shoulder. He actually had the nerve to lay a hand on me, so we got the fuck out of there and moved to the end of the bar. I let the super cool bartender, Mindy, know, and she was very sweet about how she would handle it. I was just worried for any of the other 5'4" women in there that night. He had black-out-drunk-crazy-I-just-got-out-of-prison-Âeyes, so I'm glad I left right away. Keep it classy, Greenwood!
(2)
Fletch T.
Did they ever get rid of the cockroaches?
(1)
Chelsea J.
I had take out from here not too long ago. I don't like writing bad reviews but this place was bad. The guy delivering the food was friendly but that's where the good ended. All the items were flavorless and greasy. It was almost impressive how so many different dishes could be so lacking in flavor. Chicken chow mein, pork fried rice, sweet and sour chicken. It was all bad. I couldn't even bring myself to eat the leftovers. Sorry guys!
(2)
Leanna S.
This place is awesome, I had the dumplings as well as fried rice. The food was hot, server was grateful for us having dinner there. There was no one else in the restaurant, if you're looking for a quite, chill, relaxed type of place to dine, this is the jam. They have an amazing happy hour a pretty good bar scene at night.
(4)
Michael B.
Like other reviews said. Don't come here for Chinese. I ordered the sesame chicken, and what came was fried chicken covered in gravy with sesame seeds on top. I was so shocked that they would even serve that and call it sesame chicken. Will never eat here again.
(1)
Brittany L.
This place is scary. So scary, I did not order anything and only stayed for about 10 minutes to meet someone. Outdated and run-down interior (the booth my friend and I sat in actually tipped over when we shifted in our spots), but the drinks must be strong because everyone seemed to be pretty hammered. I guess if you're into karaoke, you could come here, but in my opinion you'd be better off at the Waterwheel for dive bar karaoke.
(1)
Michiko Y.
This review may change when I actually order other dishes from them. But for the time being, 3 stars. My friend and I had an urge to let loose and karaoke one Friday night, and since I only live fairly close, why not come here? Their drinks are indeed pretty stiff. I didn't feel cheated having paid $8.00 for a whiskey/diet. Huge selection of songs to the point where I had no idea what to sing, except a duet of "A Whole New World" (I was pretty sure I was screaming... but my friend said otherwise) But if you're in the neighborhood, swing by and sing. Don't matter if you can or not. Just let go. FOOD WISE: I ordered some dim sum. Whatever you do, don't buy the steamed bbq pork buns. They were uber dry and kinda hard. Cold. Just very plain and sad. The other limited variety of dim sum was OK. I guess you can't really mess up shrimp dumplings... or can you? At least the delivery man is always really nice.
(3)
Stephanie K.
What was I thinking with the three stars? I have spent my last two birthdays here and it has been an experience of epic proportions. I love this place. Cheap, stiff drinks, great karaoke, and hilarious weird drunk people. Bartender with the glasses is nice and remembers most of our group. That is probably a bad thing (we go here waaaay too much) but whatever. I'll clean up my liver later!
(5)
Derek M.
I was sure this is purely where sobriety comes to die, but it just dawned on me that they serve food here. Between this place and Barfnof (approximately two cat calls and three drunken high kicks across the street), 85th and Greenwood has gained the nickname "C.O.D."(corner of death) amongst my people. You have been warned.
(4)
Matt G.
ZERO STARS. Absolutely. Hands down. Worst Chinese food in North America. Our usual place was closed for vacation, so we went here. Worst mistake of my life....Chow mien tastes like plastic and poop. There was so much sauce on General Tsao's that I almost threw up. I literally tossed it all in the trash and went home to make nachos.
(1)
Scott K.
Americanized ethnic food! Gross and Yay! OK... so I have some insider information for you. I used to be an aquarium technician and I did the tank here for a year. That gave m e access to the kitchen area and let me tell you.... when it comes to Chinese restaurants kitchen cleanliness ranges from toxic with flies in the sauce and day old grey meat sitting on a counter. To clean fresh ingredients delivered twice daily and prepared on sparkling surfaces! That said... I'd eat at Yen Wor. (almost sounds Klingon don't it?) Now to the fun part! I have a warm spot for the white bread, cookie cutter Chinese food of my childhood. And that's exactly what Yen Wor delivers! Everything is as it should be. Mild... covered in sugar based sauce, and super fatty with no redeeming qualities as a vitamin source. Ah... the memories... Personally, two of the things I can never resist here are the deep fried prawns and the BBQ Pork with hot mustard, ketchup, and sesame seeds! Spices! Ha! Never! It's Americanized and safe from such dangerous influences! You wouldn't want anyone getting any dangerous ideas, now would you? A strange little side-note... my Mother used to eat here with my Grandparents when she was a kid! Hell, the way I look at it! I'm not filling my pie hole with crap! I'm carrying on a proud family tradition! (Same thing really.) Mmm... I'm hungry for some memories....
(3)
Kristine H.
Not the best Chinese food ever. I've been a couple of times and was underwhelmed by my choices. It wasn't bad per se, it just wasn't good. I think it stays open because it's open late and serviceable when you crave something in the Greenwood area and are too lazy to head south to the ID for something stellar. What deserves the five stars here is their karaoke... seriously that's off-the-hook crazy on some nights. Park your car in the back, head on in and prepare to be entertained something fierce. Sometimes when people grip that mic and belt out those tunes with a look of pure concentration, my brain tunes them out and my mental jukebox plays the Marian Call song "Love and Harmony"... "Not every song has wings to fly... and you know some dreams are doomed to die. But that my friend is why... that's why... that's why there's KAR-EEE-OHH-KEE!" Ahem. Sorry about the tangent there. Skip the food here. Come for stiff drinks and the entertainment.
(3)
Victoria C.
Your average, divey, family style Chinese restaurant during the day turned karaoke bar at night! 1. Great DJ who put me at the top of the list so I could sing my song early! 2. Great, fun crowd not afraid to get their dance on, sing along, or get crazy. 3. Strong drinks! 4. I'm coming back for the karaoke, not the food.
(3)
Quinn I.
This is seriously the ghetto of Greenwood. Don't get me wrong, the karaoke was fun, but the wait was FOREVER and the bartender lady is literally in her own world, not paying attention to anyone. It took me standing patiently at the bar for 30 minutes just to get a beer! If you're looking for a trashy karaoke bar that has that lingering "Chow Mein-ey" smell all night, have fun! Bonus: Got flashed before we even waked in the door by a drunken women on the stoop. Happy Friday night to you too?
(2)
Emily T.
I'm pretty sure I just ate ramen noodles sans the flavoring packet with chucks of watery, flavorless chicken bits tossed in under the guise of "Chicken Chow Mein." Out of hungry desperation, I convinced myself to take more than one bite. Note to self: Don't listen to your hungry stomach next time. It is not going to be good on the second bite either! So bad. Online ordering, tea bags along with the fortune cookies and free delivery are the only redeemable aspects of my first (and last) experience with Yen Wor. I'll just stick to people watching from outside, since they seem to draw all of the neighborhood crazies to their doors.
(2)
Angela B.
The food is fabulous, and I've tried a lot of it. The service is sometimes a little slow if they are busy or it's late at night, but the servers are always friendly & helpful. It's a great place for big groups or pubcrawls. And drinks although small, and pretty stiff! Really enjoy the karaoke there too :)
(4)
Jason M.
The karaoke was fantastic - good DJ, fun, appreciative crowd, not too crowded on a Friday at 11:00pm. If I could give negative stars for the food, I would - hours later, me and my other companions would be clutching our stomachs, wishing that General Tso would be merciful to our intestines. I cannot stress this enough - show up for the karaoke. Do not eat the food.
(3)
Sanjay F.
I remember coming here as a kid with my family (early 80's) and eating dinner- at that time I thought the food was pretty good but I haven't eaten here as an adult. The group of girls at the next table ordered food which looked appetizing during the drunken stupor, but I read the other reviews before I went and didn't get that drunk to order any. Stopped in for a karaoke birthday party just before Christmas and had a good time. Some of the singers were probably regulars and were pretty good. Bar itself, was divey- just the way I like it and the bartender was top drawer. My only gripe was the Deejay... I can understand if the audio system has feedback once in a while, but we heard it literally twice an hour. I wasn't impressed with the songs either. Some Deejay's play the real music for you to sing with and others play the fake music- like the cheesy version- you know what I'm talking about... Well, this was the cheesy version for all the songs. Meh, not sure if I'll be back.
(3)
Brigitte F.
Lots of food for the price. Only hot and sour soup this girl-from-out-east can find in this city that's anything like home! They even fried me up some wonton noodles for it, and told me when the right people work that I can get my soup crispies. Apparently that's an east coast/Midwest thing. Best Mongolian beef I've found yet too! Sadly no bell to ding for service, we stood around waiting for quite a while before asking the bar for service, and that's happened a few times now. Sat around at karaoke waiting for our to-go order one night, place was packed but no one was singing except the KJ. Lame. If we had known it would take 45 minutes to get an order they quoted ten for, maybe we would have put a slip in. 5-star food, 2-star everything else, averages to a nice high-3.
(3)
Larry R.
OMG!! Worst chinese food I've ever had in my life. We were passing by Greenwood area today and my wife and I were starving so we decided to try Yen Wor. Around 7:30pm, we went in and surprised to see NO ONE in the dining room area.( although I heard noise in the other room). So right there I felt something spooky about this place. We ordered combo 1 & 3. The soups came first, but why they're warm? Not hot? Wow. So next, main foods arrived. What the @#$$! I thought we were served leftovers. We flipped out. The presentation was so bad that they looked exactly like it. They even tasted it exactly like it. Bad, bad...
(1)
Jarrod L.
Nothing was bad, nothing was good. If you want a tired, americanized "chinese" dinner, come here.
(2)
Loe B.
This place has been here for as long as i can remember and I had yet to set foot in until the other night. The bar and restaurant are completely separated..in fact they seem like two different establishments. We went to the bar. My first thought was it smelled like a grimey senior home, my second thought- this is some damn good people watching especially since there happened to be some freaky/kinky meet-up group there that night. The drinks are strong but overpriced for it being such a divey place, and the karaoke is decent. Someone ordered appetizers at the table next to us and it looked disgusting. I would go elsewhere for karaoke...it was a bit too sketchy for me.
(2)
Ducky M.
A wise Chinese man once told me, "Sh*tty Chinese food isn't just inadequate sustenance--it's a state of being." This little corner of Greenwood has been living out this Chinese proverb for quite some time. Let me be one of the MANY on this review page to state, the Yen Wor Garden's food really shouldn't be consumed. Contrary to what some may consider, you'll never reach a state of Nirvana while perched atop white porcelain all night. Having said that, there is one.....YES, ONE dish that I order up about 4/5 times a year to be delivered to my house, where I can consume it away from judgmental eyes and quietly recite a prayer to the Food Gods for intestinal fortitude before I dive in. The Mongolian Combination Dinner is a behemoth in portion-size and rife with the grease and non-pretension of a Chinese-American glutfest, accompanied by some nondescript broth-based soup, stale fortune cookies and a multitude of little packed "dipping goodies". This thing IS NOT for the weak of heart; literally and figuratively. The portions are insane. It will have you passed out on the couch from a food coma if you even attempt to put the whole thing down and well..the flavors are satisfactory and often border decent. Why would I consume such a thing? Well, I really have been subjected to worse in the way of Chinese food in the Greenwood neighborhood, so I find this to be my only consistent bet in the area. This relative consistency (price, portions and hot food temp never seem to fluctuate) has me locked-in to what I consider to be a decent value in the area. One that will satisfy my greasy Chinese food cravings if I happen to be in that mood. I don't try and fool myself into thinking it would be appropriate to test the waters anywhere else on this menu and CERTAINLY don't subject loved ones to this dirty little secret that always leaves me feeling a bit shameful. Oh yeah. Occasionally I end up here after a Greenwood pub crawl for some karaoke. It usually sucks and I'm out the door after a stiff drink or two. (I'm usually pretty mindful that outside the Yen Wor's doorway is usually where 90% of Greenwood's assault and robberies happen.) Your best bet is to consider the Yen Wor Gardens as an experiment at living life on the edge with your health and initial well being as the ante in this restaurant/bar gamble.
(2)
Lindsay S.
This place is fun for Karaoke and a relaxed atmophere. A little trashy, but I like those dive bars. If you plan on leaving the bar DO NOT park in the back, they will tow your car if you aren't visiting their establishment. Luckily I didn't learn this the hard way but I have seen others that have. The bartendars are friendly and the food I have tried is decent. I have friends who live in the area and this is their regular hang out spot, they love it there.
(3)
Lauren M.
Terrible service, the bartender will make you wait a good 15 minutes before he even makes eye contact with you. Also, the owners are cheap and will try to have you towed even if you are a customer! Better to just save yourself the trouble and not step foot into this dirty little place. I know I will never be going here again, I'd take litterally any other Chinese restaurant in Seattle and get better service, better food, an not have to worry about my car!
(1)
Elynne G.
Sadly enough, the karaoke is a lot of fun but the food is so-so. Maybe they should just tear down the whole place and make a huge bar. Just so you know, parking is always easy, as they have their own place in the back. And they also do delivery for those lazy nights in. I figured out that most of the flavors are catered to the 'western' palate. They have this old dude cooking in the back, I've met him, he's a great guy. Being Chinese, I was craving some good home-cooking. I can consider myself lucky because I was able to talk to the chef in Cantonese and I got something made specially for me. I had the Hong Kong chow mein with beef, which I don't think was on the menu. It was so good I ate half of the serving and my friends slopped the rest. I couldn't tell you how good it was having the same flavors I grew up with. Okay, maybe I got lucky cause I speak the language. The fried rice and walnut shrimp taste really good when you're drunk too. Except that I don't even drink. So yes, they taste good. You just have to order the right stuff.
(3)
Adam S.
Why are you eating here people? Go here for drunken karaoke and nothing else. I'm the guy that always comes in and slays Vanilla Ice. Last week I was rockin Ice Ice Baby and got tackled by a guy in swimming trunks and I sprained my ankle (I still finished the damn song with high drunken praise though). My ankle is huge and swollen now, and I stare at it and smile about how I love that place.
(4)
Paul R.
I received a menu in the mail the other day promoting free delivery in certain areas. I called on a Saturday Night at 8 PM and placed an order. I asked about delivery time, etc... and was told 45 minutes. I called after an hour and a half asking were they was told "very busy, 15 minute" Long Story Short? At 10:30 PM I had a very animated delivery person (I am guess the owner) pull up in front of my house Honking his horn and yelling at me about calling for a delivery on a weekend and not to do that again? Seriously? WTF? I responded to an ad they mailed to me?
(1)
Eric B.
Let's just be upfront right now and say "you don't go here to eat!" "You go here to Karaoke!!" So, last night we went to the Rickshaw for our friend's birthday. Despite getting there early enough, it was standing room only! From the Rickshaw, we called the Baranof (which has a 4/5 rating with 100 reviews) and they too were standing room only. Then.... a light bulb went off. Let's take it to Yen Wor!!!! I hate to really go on and say how rad this place was for Karaoke (trying to keep it on the DL), but it was R-A-D. 5 Stars for me. Great service. Fun Karaoke. Fun people. Weird, yes. But lot's of fun. Please keep this a Karaoke secret Seattle - we don't want it to get as popular as the Rickshaw and the Baranof. ;-)
(5)
Kate D.
First off, you don't come to this place to eat. Nor do you come to this place to have a great time. You come here to drink your sorrows away and to make yourself feel better that there are people who have it far worse than you do. If you want a stiff drink and possibly something to put in your stomach maybe even sing a song or two without anyone recognizing you or maybe it can become your new dive bar then by all means this place will cater to you. It has the restaurant and bar separated but you can order anything from the restaurant to the bar. It is just overall a cheap place to grab a drink in the Greenwood area.
(2)
Thomas S.
I love this place! Yes, it's a dive but Wendy (owner) is great and treats us like royalty. They have Rainier in the bottle (perfect!) and it's always a blast singing tunes after a few beverages. Yeah, it's not the most up-to-date restaurant but I have a great time with my friends there EVERY time. I never thought I'd be one to go up to the stage and do something like that (sing) but the Yen Wor environment brings it out in me! I do ding the restaurant one start as their restroom is a bit brutal...
(4)
Megan S.
Surprisingly decent American-Chinese food. I love dim sum and didn't feel like waiting for an hour in line in the ID. I had recently got a flyer about Yen Wor in the mail so decided it was too close not to check out. We were the first to arrive..and it was after 1pm...well, the dim sum menu did say it was new. We waited for someone to come out of the back room--yea, it was desolate. So that was a bit odd, but the gentleman that helped us out made us feel very welcome. He seemed to be doing everything in the restaraunt. Maybe he was back there making the food too, I'm not sure. He was cute and had a funny inflection to his voice that made you smile. He knew what was up and exactly what we needed. We agreed that we should try all the items on the dim sum menu (about 7 in total). So it wasn't a dim sum in the traditional sense where they come around w/carts of goodies, but we still got a good selection brought to the table. We got a couple of types of humbow, shu mai, dumplings, etc. All the items w/pork were especially delicious I thought and the fried rice was really good! So for being slightly nervous that this would be the worst food experience ever to "Hey, I think I'd go there again" I give this 3 stars. That's A-Ok in my book.
(3)
Lulu T.
Super heinous inside, but actually had really good food. The broccoli beef was AMAZING.
(3)
Brad A.
NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT! It's nothing spectacular. ATMOSPHERE: If you have an eye for beauty, do NOT go into the bar/lounge. It's a bit on the down-side. More of a neighbourhood bar, with street-looking characters, a pool table. There were more people in the bar than in the restaurant. PARKING: Yes, they have their own parking lot. (This might be the one really bright spot in this picture.) FOOD QUALITY: As I mentioned, it's nothing to write home about. I stopped in on my way around doing errands, and had the COMBINATION #1 DINNER. Wonton Soup, Fried Rice, Sweet & Sour Spareribs, Noodle Chow Mein. (The Wonton Soup and Fried Rice were decent.) PRICE: $8.95 SERVICE: The food portion not busy, but they had more people in the kitchen and serving than customers for food. (The bar was packed, like a Star Wars scene.) But, the service was still a bit on the slow side. Maybe the boy server was new? I don't know. I did have a RUM & COKE. That was very strong. So, that was a redeeming quality of the restaurant. Yum. Get me a buzz on.
(2)
Michelle J.
My Bf and I went there at around 9 or 10, so karaoki has started. They were extremely drunk and the music and people singing carried way over into the dining area. Maybe it was because of the late hour, but this was by far some of the worst chinese food I've ever gotten from an actual chinese restaurant. I tried some of my bf's wonton-thing and the sausage in it tasted like it had sat on a counter for a week. Needless to say this food didn't sit well in my stomach. Be careful here... Oh yeah, and both of our fortune cookies just said "You have a good event coming in your life", uh, yeah, thats the definition of a fortune...how cheap...
(1)
SweetP G.
Hot and Sour Soup: amaaazing. Service: Phenomenal. Lunch menu: Eh. Not so hot. I will return just for the soup and the fantastic host, and maybe even to try out the divey bar next door.
(3)
Zannie S.
"Honey, there's nothing to eat tonight. What do you want to do?" "Let's order some of that crappy Chinese food." This is Americanized Chinese food in it's "best" (worst) form. Crunchy, deep fried, salty goodness just can't get unhealthier than this - but it really hits the spot when it's what is called for. Delivery service is sketchy. Sometimes you wait a REALLY long time. I mean REALLY long time. Service is kind of crap and food is kind of crap...but sometimes it's just what works. Hell, it's $15 for two "extra value' meals at McD's and you have to leave the house for that shit and there's no leftovers.
(3)
Anna W.
Not to get into a habit of just updating old reviews, but, OH my god, a-mazing karaoke lounge. This place is the perfect mixture of gaudy decor, tonedeaf drunk performers that don't seem like real-life people, and just enough sprinkles of genuine talent to keep you from laughing to death.
(4)
Sarah L.
I feel a little guilty for doing this since I work in the neighborhood, but I can't hear about another person having the same experience and knowing I did nothing to prevent it. I was a bit slow to learn that it doesn't matter what time of day you get your food, it NEVER looks or tastes fresh. I've tried so many different things, but it's no use. It's just bad food.
(1)
Rylee O.
I had only been to - what I refer lovingly as "The Young Whore" - for karaoke and drinks before eating there with a large group of Yelpers on Unemployed Drinking Monday. I will only be going back for karaoke and drinks. The service was very nice (I think they were the owners), but the food was sub par. No real flavor or zip. The only spice that seemed to be added was disappointment. Hmmm . . . maybe I should have drank more at the Baranoff.
(2)
Riss J.
Step 1: drink at Baranoff Step 3: PROFIT! What's step 2 you ask? How the hell should I know, I'm not the brains of this operation, I'm the beauty. Duh. Unemployed Drinking Monday off to a fabulous start with consuming WAY too much at the Baranoff. Which I will rightly blame Tiffany for, her 'round' meant i ended up drinking 2 LI Ts. TWO!?!?! I may need a liver transplant by the end of the day... Staggered across the street for some food with the 'gang' before calling it a night. We walked in, half went to the restaurant side, half to the bar side, and somewhere in all that calamity we ended up scoring the private room in the back. *schwaanky* We ordered enough food to feed a small army, and everything I tried was right on par with what I expected it to be. Yum. And best fortune EVER: "Your lover will never wish to leave you" again, DUH.
(3)
Chris F.
Eh...would not be my choice of place to go. It seems like the people who go there are professional drinkers. And I'm sure there were some that were choosing the booze over paying the water bill. It was quite loud tonight. They had karaoke and at times sounded as though they were tone deaf and didn't realize how loud they were talking. The only reason we went there was to play some photo hunt. Half way through the game I looked at the person I was with and said let's get out of here. She put up no argument. Not my type of place. I much prefer the pig and whistle if I'm in that area...and that's where we went.
(2)
Ryan P.
This restaurant has been like 18 different restaurants since I was a kid, but this recent incarnation is my favorite. The bar is kinda sketchy and someone has definitely been shot outside of this place, but food-wise, it's one of the best Chinese restaurants in the city, chiefly because their vegetarian menu is really good. Better than Bamboo Garden.
(4)
Nolan H.
This place is trash, plain and simple. The decor is awful, the food is sub-par and the service leaves a lot to be desired. On the other hand, this place completely redeems itself with the most fun and trashy karaoke in Seattle. If you like cheap drinks and bar fights, if you like sleazy women that hang out and sing every night, if you like the smell of the 70's--come here for karaoke! Skip the food, just bring some friends and enjoy the scenery. Trasheoke done right at Yen Wor Garden!
(2)
Marian M.
My favorite place for slummy Chinese food and the blare of really bad karaoke next door. I swear they must have the biggest selection of metal songs EVER, and if there's one genre that should NEVER be done karaoke... My fiance is a big fan of their General Tso's Chicken, and their Mongolian beef is surprisingly tasty and tender. I can't vouch for the rest of the menu. Oh yeah, every time I come in here, they're counting their big piles of money out in the open. Shady... and awesome.
(3)
Naomi T.
All Americanized Chinese food tastes the same to me. If you really wanted good Chinese food, you'd head for dim sum in the International District. This is the place to go to get your karaoke on.
(4)
Christine C.
total dive. i went here once the first week i moved to the neighborhood and have never thought twice about going back. i probably shoulda known when we walked by and saw the restaurant looking absolutely deserted and the drunk people stumbling out of the bar side.. during dinner hours.. if there's possibly a tier BELOW american chinese food, this place is pretty much it. panda express would be a better option (and possibly better health safety choice) boo to the food and boo to the service here the karaoke bar on the other side of the restaurant looks... questionable.. but that's not to say the people that are in there don't look like they're having fun :)
(1)
Samantha W.
...my lil chica and I went in a couple of days ago for a nibble before heading to a friends place and we got some appetizers. First off, the place REEKS of a sewer. It was really bad. I almost walked out. Everything was really run down and the front windows were streaked and cracked. the Booths had holes in the vinyl and were TAPED over. The elderly gentlemen who greeted us, however, was very gracious and sweet. The other food we ordered (chow mein, some soup and veggies) was decent but the potstickers were bland and rubbery. Can't say I'd go back but I'll probably get delivery at some point, lol. Not a total loss as long as you don't dine in.
(2)
Amanda O.
Ive never been here before, but if I ever feel like tying one on at 11AM and getting down with some karaoke jams, it would be my number one choice.
(3)
Sean T.
Three strikes. That about sums up my three experiences eating at this place. On two occasions, I stopped in, placed my order in person, went across the street to Safeway to do some shopping, and returned to pick up my order. In both instances, the order wasn't ready (after 45 minutes) and was completely wrong. Not wrong as in I asked for steamed rice and got fried rice; more like I ordered curry chicken with streamed rice and received a carton of unidentifiable crap that contained neither chicken nor curry along with fried rice. You'd think I would have learned, but no. The third and final time, I called in an order, asked them to repeat it so I knew they understood, went to Safeway to shop, and stopped in to pick up my order. You know what comes next don't you? I really don't have to tell you. Yen Wor Garden my ass. More like Yen Worst.
(1)
Andy G.
I've only done take-out and this place makes some great food. Although they don't allow half-portions, so it's best to have a friend, or two, or ten to order food with.
(3)
Natalie B.
Yen Wor is an okay Chinese restaurant in Greenwood. But the BAR is a spectacular experience. It's like the Baranof, except less crowded and relatively unknown. The bartenders are hardworking and professional. One of the owners, Wendy, bartends at least once a week. One of my favorite memories of Yen Wor will always be seeing Wendy singing Karaoke while mixing drinks - badass. I am not too into the Karaoke scene, however, I love the laid back vibe of this bar. A wonderful mix of people make up the regulars.
Sorry, Store hours have not been updated. If you are the owner of this restaurants. Please update the store hours.
Specialities
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : Yes Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Late Night Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Divey Noise Level : Very Loud Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.
Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.
There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.
AmBrigity W.
I wish I could give half stars.... this would be 3.5. I was famished at home and too hungover to go get food so I ordered in. They deliver from 4pm - 10pm and the food was pretty wonderful. I ordered an individual combo which contained the Almond Chicken, SubGum Chicken Chow Main, Pork Fried Rice, BBQ Pork, Eggroll, and also WonTon Soup for $10.75. I also ordered a Sprite and an order of Pot Stickers. Here are my comments on each dish: Almond Chicken (4) It was pretty average but I loved that they give you the sauce seperatley so that the chicken is not all soggy. Very nice! WonTon Soup (3) No flavor... but then again that means less MSG. SubGum Chicken Chow Mein (5) Some of the best I have had. I loved the mushrooms and the chicken tasted fresh. Lots of veggies which I liked as well. Pork Fried Rice (1) Almost inedible, flavorless, hard in places, and the pork was like cardboard. I had about three bites and couldn't even make it taste good when covering it in Almond Sauce or Soy. Uck! EggRolls (5) Giant, extra crispy and delicious. Highly recommended for late night bar food if you are in the area and want a drink, too. PotStickers (2) The filling was great, but they were over breaded (too thick on the outside) and it caused them to taste really greasy. Not enough filling, too much dough. Not to mention like 5 of them were $5.95. Sprite - NON EXISTENT! They charged me for my sprite but when I went to drink it.... it was nowhere to be found. They still charged me, and I figured it wasn't worth calling for a refund. Overall... I would be interested to try some other dishes and will likely order again. As with most Chinese places, each place has it's specialties and it's horrors. I got a few out of the way!
(3)Randi S.
Came in again a couple of weeks ago (i never learn) and the place was empty on saturday at dinnertime..I was nervous but my fiance and I ordered 2 combos to share. I was smart enough to check my order for its contents before we left. I was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the order (funny, it should never be surprising to get what you pay for), and also the food itself was awesome. It was fresh (As fresh as chinese gets anyway), hot and tasty. Satisfaction.
(4)Deborah E.
Don't bring your children here or let alone eat here! I came with my husband, mother, and my daughter thinking this would be a special treat. My mother's favorite food is Chinese and so my husband and I treated her to dinner along with our 7 month old baby. We arrived with NOBODY in the restaurant at 7:30pm on a Friday night. What? Determined to have a good experience we all ordered anyway instead of leaving. To my horror the highchair they gave me to use for my baby looked like it never had a deep clean since it was bought 20 years or so ago. YUCK! After wiping down the whole thing with baby wipes I finally put my baby in. I was still hopeful for a good meal. The food tasted old and flavorless. I've had much better Chinese food. The cookies tasted homemade which was a nice finish to a meal that tasted like it had been refrigerated for several days and then nuked when we showed up. The women's bathroom was disgusting! I had no place to change my baby! The smell of urine was pungent and strong. I don't even want to see what their kitchen looks like after I've seen the bathroom. I couldn't even bear to use the restroom myself. I had to change my baby's diaper holding her in my arms since the floor and countertops were so gross. This was a nightmare for my me and my baby. To top it off, the waitress suggested that I give her some of the Chinese food mashed up. Are you out of your mind? She was happy with her Gerber dinner, thank you! We all took a walk to Sweet On You on Greenwood Ave just down the block for a gelato dessert afterwards to get rid of the awful taste in our mouths. Thank you Sweet On You!!!
(1)Lori B.
BEST GHETTO BAR IN THE AREA. We live so close that we decided to stumble in there one friday night out of boredom just to check out the bar, as we were sure to find it somewhat interesting. There was about 7 people there who were all on rotation doing karaoke. They were all middle-age to older. The DJ was a very short older man with the country look- decked out with the boots and hat. He was having a grand ol time, even did a solo himself and got really into it. After a while my bf & I somehow got talked into doing some karaoke- after a while, we didn't want to leave. My bf (only 32) felt at home. But the asian bartender warned us, about 11:30 it turns into a whole other place. Well, we witnessed it and it was quite scary. A few older chicks who were not that skinny had very low-cut tops and makeup packed on like it was the 80's. A few other people came in who just did not give us a good feeling, so we booked out of there. For some reason, it cost us $40 for 2 drinks each. I was kinda not sober to really care, but thought it was a bit steep. It was fun, something different for a change, but at least we know what time to leave. We have yet to try the food/delivery, I heard it's pretty decent.
(2)Matthew M.
I was looking for a simple cheap Chinese food dinner. I wasn't looking for anything gourmet or fancy just the plain old American Chinese food that always hits the spot. Sadly, I did not get anything that even resembles this. My girlfriend and I ordered Sesame chicken which is usually a pretty safe dish to get since every Chinese place I have ever visited knew how to do it right, but not Yen Wor Garden. Their Sesame chicken is made of large white meat chicken pieces in a coating that resembles McDonald's McNuggets, with added salt...plus sesame seeds sprinkled on it. NO SAUCE. Instead of the usual thick, sticky, sweet-spicy sauce you get on Sesame chicken they gave a container of a tasteless white gravy! It was weird and not appetizing. Along with this, we got "Pork Noodles", which were mostly flavorless (thankfully not completely salty and so somewhat mildly edible), and came with 4 pieces of pork total. After eating some, we had to stop, not because it tasted particularly bad (the "sesame" chicken was actually somewhat moist), but because the saltiness of the entire meal was ridiculously overpowering. I won't be visiting Yen Wor Garden again, but if it was closer to my apartment I might give some of their other dishes a try. But I would definitely not expect any of the typical cheap American Chinese food that I sometimes crave.
(1)Lea D.
A coworker and I ordered from here today since our 2 top choices for Chinese food werent delivering at the time. Ugh, the guy who answered barely spoke english and had to pass the phone to another guy. Im fine with being patient when ordering cuz i defnitely dont want spit or worse in my food but the ordering process took at least 10 minutes. When they asked for my address they went back and forth with each other whether they could even deliver here ( they are on 85th/greenwood and Im at 115th and Aurora) not that far away people! So anyways he took my order and then said they may not be able to deliver and he would have to call me back. They never called so I did and they said they would deliver but that they would only come outside the building and not up to my floor. wow. ... anyways, an hour later the guy showed up. We ordered a Yen Wor Special Chow Mein, Pork fried rice and 2 eggrolls. The food was really hot and not too bad. The chow mein had a lot of meat in it but really not much flavor at all. I had to add 2 packets of soy sauce to it. My friend said her rice was good but average. Overall this place has average food with less than stellar service. Will I try it again? Probably not.
(2)Daranee O.
Not "possibly" the worst Chinese restaurant in Seattle, this "is" the worst Chinese restaurant in Seattle. Fried won tons equals fried won ton skins (no filling) though that didn't stop them from being $4.00 for deep fried flour. Special Chow Mein, like all other chow meins on the menu were supposedly pan fried. I forget the name of the bagged "chow mein" noodles in the supermarket, but you get my drift. And speaking of the supermarket, I would rather go to Safeway right next door to get Chinese food that's been sitting under a heat lamp for hours than eat at Yen Wor Garden again.
(1)John D.
good soup, bad everything else.
(1)Akiva S.
I'm not sure if this place is new or not but I hadn't heard of it until I received a delivery menu in the mail and, as you all know so very well, I'm a sucker for delivered food. Also intriguing on the menu were a number of vegetarian versions of classics like General Tso's chicken and almond chicken. 'Well,' said I to a nearby cat who was doing something unmentionable, 'let's go for it!' So, we ordered some food and, well, it was a mixed bag. The potstickers were bland and dry, the egg flower soup was good (made even better by having a ton of diced vegetables in it), the almond chicken was passable (Bamboo Garden's version is far superior), and the General Tso's was fantastic. In fact, it was so good, I, at first, was suspicious that they might've actually given me chicken. But, no, it was definitely not chicken but definitely was good. My complaints were that their 'medium' order of rice was really small, communication was a little challenging, and it took them over an hour to get the food to us. To be fair, he told me it would be an hour but that's 15-30 minutes longer than most places take. Something cool about this place is that they sent two packets of tea along with the usual array of soy sauce and fortune cookies. Something weird about this place is that they also sent us a few packets of ketchup, as well. Will I order from Yen Wor again? Sure. They have a lot of fake-meat vegetarian options which is always welcome. The food, overall, was good (even the almond chicken; it just wasn't as good as we had hoped). I just wish this place had agitated my dots a little more.
(3)Angela G.
The veggie food is edible -- competent if not much more. My meat-ordering friend reports that he cannot say the say for his dishes. Service friendly but slow and confused. If Yelp had half-point ratings available, I'd award Yen Wor 2.5 stars and promptly deduct the half for the effect the weirdly aggressive clientele has on the neighborhood; Greenwood Ave around 2am is basically now best left to the angry drunks and the soon-to-be-pummeled drunks, and the Baranof only wishes it were the primary cause. (I blame the karaoke.) Stick with the Crosswalk for getting your late-night drink on, and stick with whatever frozen potstickers you find in the bottom of your freezer for the rest. (But if you go, do keep an eye on your credit-card statement; things seem to go awry at that cash register. Just a suggestion.)
(2)melanie m.
The food is friggin nasty! Drinks suck! Only good thing is the karaoke!!!
(1)desmond d.
I went over last night to see how much it had changed from china jade.It has changed for the worst .I ordered a whiskey and diet and got a diet coke so I walked back over to baranofs and had a real drink.
(1)Incognito O.
Most of the menu is only decent, but the honey walnut chicken is delicious! That and the orange beef are both very good. Never been to the bar, just notice a lot of sketchy looking people hanging out front and the occasional mid-afternoon vomit pile outside the door...classy. Skip it for Naked City and delicious brewskies!
(3)Katie S.
I used to go here all the time for lunch like ten years ago. Going in through the back door was a trip...the stench of cigarettes from the bar and the bathrooms would almost put me off, but the people were so sweet and the food was delicious! After a few years, that smell started to remind me of cat pee and it got so bad that I just couldn't make myself go there anymore. I decided to try them again now that they are under new ownership(?) as Yen Wor. Chickening out on the back hallway, I came around to the front door. The place was empty of custom at 12:30 which was not a good sign. I came in right after an aquarium maintainance guy who was there to remove a dead, bloated black moor goldfish from the tank. I was seated and given a menu and...I LEFT. Let me tell you, the smell of cheap disinfectant cleaner mingling with the smell of the bar (carpet in there doubtless unchanged since the 80's) was just too much for me. Also the lunch menu was nothing like it used to be. I'm sorry, I know this isn't much of a food review since I didn't EAT anything, but when a place smells this bad you just don't even want to see what comes out of the kitchen!
(1)M. O.
First of all, I should say that I've only ever gotten their food delivered. I have no idea what the actual restaurant is like. But the whole appeal was that it was Chinese delivery and they had vegetarian options that weren't just some vegetable in thick brown sauce. They generally sub the meat for tasty fried tofu. Things we've tried: Vegetarian egg roll: greasy but good Green bean with garlic sauce: about what you'd expect, nothing amazing Vegetarian potstickers: pretty good, but the dipping sauce was only so-so Vegetarian almond chicken: good, one of my boyfriend's favorites Pea pods with vegetarian abalone: I remember this being bland Vegetarian honey walnut chicken: the sauce on this tasted like thick goopy butter and kind of grossed me out Vegetarian general tso's chicken: really, really good Vegetarian orange beef: really good Now to the bad part. The first few times we got Yen Wor delivered, we were really happy. The food was tasty, it came with tea bags and fortune cookies, and it was reasonably priced. The last time I called and placed an order, the man I spoke to said it would take an hour. He hung up right after this and while I thought that this was an insane amount of time to wait for delivery, I had already placed my order so I decided I'd just wait it out. (In retrospect, I really think this person should have told us how long it would take before we placed our order since it was such a long time.) After an hour and a half went by, my boyfriend called to make sure they hadn't gotten lost trying to find our place or forgotten about our order. The person he spoke to was completely rude and unapologetic and didn't seem to think there was anything out of the ordinary about an hour and a half going by without our food arriving. Two hours after placing our order, our food finally arrived. By this point we were starving and irritable. As might be expected based on our conversation with the person at the restaurant, we didn't get any sort of discount or bonus for our food taking two hours. Maybe I've just been spoiled by every other food delivery place ever, but as far as I'm concerned, waiting two hours for food to be delivered is insane. The whole point is that you don't feel like going out and waiting in a restaurant. We could have gone to two or three restaurants in that time. That was the last time we ever ordered Yen Wor.
(2)Christy A.
I have never eaten the food here, but boy, have I rocked the Karaoke mike! I came here with a bunch of former co-workers one night and a few on another occasion... hilarity ensued, between the drunk-a-roke, awesomely crazy patrons, and the uncommon showmanship of the karaoke DJ! Actually, he was pretty annoying with his fog machine and 3 do-overs on a Garth Brooks song, but whatevs. The karaoke selection is ok but slightly lacking...notable omissions included Rebel Yell and Pour Some Sugar On Me... which in my world is a cardinal sin. I did enjoy being invited by a fellow patron to be Lita Ford to his Ozzy for a rendition of "If I close my eyes forever." The bartender lady was awesome, did a few songs herself, and ended up being really nice-- but at first she was a bit bitchy about my request for water with lemon. She said "there's a drink minimum!" to which I replied "my friends will be here in a minute, and they will more than make up for that." She more than redeemed herself with an amazing rendition of "Unbreak My Heart." I don't think even half of the words she sang were the actual lyrics to the song. I'll try the food next time and maybe the karaoke dude will be less into himself.
(3)Laura S.
I ordered delivery and ended up only getting half of my order. Of corse I wasn't smart enough to check before the delivery guy left... The food that did arrive was terrible, overcooked and under seasoned. I would have been happier with a bow of oodles of noodles. Stay away is my advice.
(1)Anna G.
We had first visited this restaurant a few years ago when it was china jade. I don't know when they changed to Yen Wor Garden, but we noticed it was a new restaurant last week and decided to give it a shot. We're so glad we did! They have an awesome vegetarian selection, and the food was delicious. The service was great and not overbearing. We ordered delivery too, and it was equally impressive! It's our new favorite restaurant. I only joined Yelp to write this review and offset the so-so other reviews. I love this restaurant!
(4)Erik S.
It is TOUGH finding good Chinese delivery in the Crown Hill area. Your choices are very limited it seems. Yen Wor Garden has a $15 minimum for delivery and offers the standard Chinese dishes you would expect to find. The food is pretty good, nothing spectacular, but they are certainly at the top of my list to fulfill my Chinese food cravings in the Crown Hill area. UPDATE: While I have had a few decent meals delivered from this place their quality does NOT remain consistant. I just had a meal delivered on 10/07/07 that tasted like I could have cooked it myself (and that ain't saying much). This place is going down to 2 stars.
(2)Whitney C.
This place used to be sketchy China Jade, at which I had the worst food I've ever had in my life (like, worse than the coagulating chinese food at the end of the day at Safeway) but it changed ownership and I bravely gave it another try. Not bad. Not great. But good enough. Choices for Chinese take out are slim in the Crown Hill/Greenwood area, so I just keep ordering take out from here. Hasn't been disappointing yet. Stay tuned.
(3)Emmaleah C.
One of my favorite dive bars in Seattle. Cheap, strong drinks and very reasonably priced fried, delicious chinese food. Plenty of room to hang out, two pool tables, and karaoke, which for some reason, was never as annoying as other karaoke bars. The bar tenders are nice although it can be hard to get your drink sometimes (its a big bar and often only one person works). I always enjoyed hanging out with my friends here.
(4)Randy F.
Moved into the neighborhood a few years ago and wanted to find a local Chinese delivery place. I ordered potstickers and Mongolian beef, and I thought they were pretty good, perhaps even above average. So when I had family come to visit (my grandparents love Chinese food), we went to Yen Wor. It was awful. The food was bland and poorly cooked, and--despite being THE ONLY people in the dump, service was incredibly slow and pretty cold. Well, now I had two experiences. Which one was the fluke? Unfortunately, on my next visit, I established that it was definitely the first. Also, in general, I wouldn't consider Greenwood super divey, even with some of the more dive-bar establishments on the main avenue. But Yen Wor always has an extremely loud, unsavory crowd milling around out front late into the night. Yuck.
(2)Heather F.
We often walk by here with our kids to go eat at one of the other kid-friendly bar/ restaurants on Greenwood and said to ourselves, "There is never anybody in that restaurant. We should go there." That's probably not the best way to pick a restaurant. We did have the place pretty much to ourselves. My husband noticed it smelled a slightly like a urinal cake, but we still ordered. The food was ok-ish. Greasy, sugary, really-bad-for-you Chinese food. Since there was no one there, we did let our 7-month old play on the floor with a blanket under her. We wanted to like it because it's one of those dying breed of regular old restaurant, but it's hard to do after you acquire a taste for "craft cuisine." However, if we didn't have our kids with us, I'm sure we would have had fun getting our drink on in the bar.
(2)Xibee M.
This place appears closed for good--paper on windows. Now because Yelp wants me to put more characters in a review before they will post this as a review and not just a "tip" (which doesn't appear upfront on mobile phones) I have added another completely useless sentence to tell you they are no longer there. GONE. Finité. Vamoosed. Eighty-sixed. Booked. Left the building. They are no more, they have ceased to be. They are an Ex-Restaurant. Doubt they are pining for the fjords.
(1)Grace A.
Ok, first off, really only eat the egg rolls or potstickers, hot and sour soup, or, at a stretch, some chow fun noodles. Otherwise, go someplace else for good Chinese. That is not the point of Yen Wor Garden. The point is... Kareoke. Go to the bar. Don't like kareoke? Fine, don't sing, just drink cheap, strong drinks, play pool, chat with the super awesome friendly bartenders, or hit on a regular. That's what they're there for. (Just kidding) Kareoke could not be more fun. The jockeys here are great, friendly guys, really into it, helpful, willing to push your slot back if you're not ready. The crowd is into it, everyone claps and is respectful whether they know you or not. Sometimes people dance on the small dance floor. There's often some sort of drink special, so check the board. If not, the drinks are not excessively priced to begin with. Mixed well drinks are around $4-4.50--- not bad. Also, this place gets WILD almost every night (especially Friday/Saturday, of course, but even Tuesdays!) --- but don't be surprised if it seems dead at 9 or even 9:30. I promise, around 10:30 and 11, everybody and their mama will show up. And they will all be ready to par-TAY.
(4)Sara F.
Pretty fun karaoke spot. Yen Wor also serves Chinese late - several people sitting around the bar were eating. You can definitely hear the singers clearly, which is cool. They chose songs that weren't done to death, thank goodness. Lots of cute guys. :) A nice little dance floor which had people on it off and on throughout the night. The walls have pretty cool personalized stuff - pictures, drawings, etc. Comfortable seating, but not a lot - so get there early if you have a big party! I'm not a big fan of the congregation of smokers outside - there are like 30 people right in front of the door, kind of annoying. Nobody checking IDs so nobody to tell them to back up a bit. A bit of a task to walk in and out. Other than that, head to Yen Wor for some fun karaoke and a good time.
(3)Kirsten A.
This place makes you feel sort of like how walking around an empty mall on a Saturday morning with a hangover makes you feel. You stumble into one of those knife and sword shops that also sells lifelike porcelain dog statues and you look up and suddenly realize where you are and get really depressed and feel like you might vomit. That said, this is Greenwood, and those of us who live in the area understand how limited the options are for within-walking-distance bars. Yen Wor has three things going for it on pretty much every night of the week: pool, lively karaoke, and booze. Just, don't come sober.
(2)Brian D.
I've had a great fun time each time I've been to this place. Good friendly service, fun karaoke, fun positive crowd. I go to Greenwood more often because of this place. I'd give it five stars if it knocked my socks off, at the same time I can't think of anything negative to say. And I haven't tried the food before, if I knew it is vegan friendly ( no idea if it is or not) I'd try the food. Cheers Yen Wor!
(4)Sarah C.
I'm sorry to say that we have been back a few times and I'm afraid it was a fluke when we had such great food:/ It isn't terrible, just rather mediocre and not really worth recommending. If you can't wait for the Chinese from your favorite place then this place does have all the classics just don't expect to be blown away.
(3)Katarina A.
I ordered delivery through Grubhub, and honestly. Wasn't that impressed. Safeway has better Chinese food. It was extremely salty and that's ALL I could taste. I ordered kung pao chicken and there was zero spice (just salt), and then I ordered the pork buns-which were the only good thing. When the food arrived-which was prompt, about 30 minutes, the driver demanded a tip. I found this incredibly rude, because there is no law or reason to tip someone for just DELIVERING food. Especially after how it tasted. I find tipping is saved for restaurants-after eating. Anyway, won't order again. Service wasn't great and food wasn't either.
(1)Julie F.
Review is solely for karaoke: It's okay. Tons of random ridiculous people, drunk off their asses, even on a Tuesday night. It's not my favorite spot, but you'll still find me there most Tuesdays.
(3)Clover A.
I review only the bar- I was not about to eat there given my previous stop at Gainsbourg- and it was okay, karaoke host was great, books were plentiful but messy, sound system and stage were super fun set up, patrons really drunk, my drink the special -'Apple Rain' or something was weird but okay. All in all, I would go there if someone else asked me to but don't think I'll choose it as the evening's destination anytime soon.
(3)Amanda C.
I came in with a friend for some dive bar karaoke, which was pretty fun! The only problem was the fact that I was nearly assaulted at the bar by a GROWN ASS MAN twice my size. I had been sitting next to him for over an hour, with my coat on the back of my chair. We even struck up some friendly banter with him in the beginning of the night. He disappeared for a few minutes, only to return and not remember I existed. He accused me of stealing his seat, and then threw my coat and bag to the end of the bar. He told me I better not pull this bullshit or fuck with him ever again, and threatened to have us thrown out because "he knew the owner." Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "holy shit, I'm about to get murdered, and for no reason!" I mean, I didn't even do anything! I was polite, and asked him if he would like us to move, and he said "I need you to move. Now!" All while slamming his huge meaty hand on my shoulder. He actually had the nerve to lay a hand on me, so we got the fuck out of there and moved to the end of the bar. I let the super cool bartender, Mindy, know, and she was very sweet about how she would handle it. I was just worried for any of the other 5'4" women in there that night. He had black-out-drunk-crazy-I-just-got-out-of-prison-Âeyes, so I'm glad I left right away. Keep it classy, Greenwood!
(2)Fletch T.
Did they ever get rid of the cockroaches?
(1)Chelsea J.
I had take out from here not too long ago. I don't like writing bad reviews but this place was bad. The guy delivering the food was friendly but that's where the good ended. All the items were flavorless and greasy. It was almost impressive how so many different dishes could be so lacking in flavor. Chicken chow mein, pork fried rice, sweet and sour chicken. It was all bad. I couldn't even bring myself to eat the leftovers. Sorry guys!
(2)Leanna S.
This place is awesome, I had the dumplings as well as fried rice. The food was hot, server was grateful for us having dinner there. There was no one else in the restaurant, if you're looking for a quite, chill, relaxed type of place to dine, this is the jam. They have an amazing happy hour a pretty good bar scene at night.
(4)Michael B.
Like other reviews said. Don't come here for Chinese. I ordered the sesame chicken, and what came was fried chicken covered in gravy with sesame seeds on top. I was so shocked that they would even serve that and call it sesame chicken. Will never eat here again.
(1)Brittany L.
This place is scary. So scary, I did not order anything and only stayed for about 10 minutes to meet someone. Outdated and run-down interior (the booth my friend and I sat in actually tipped over when we shifted in our spots), but the drinks must be strong because everyone seemed to be pretty hammered. I guess if you're into karaoke, you could come here, but in my opinion you'd be better off at the Waterwheel for dive bar karaoke.
(1)Michiko Y.
This review may change when I actually order other dishes from them. But for the time being, 3 stars. My friend and I had an urge to let loose and karaoke one Friday night, and since I only live fairly close, why not come here? Their drinks are indeed pretty stiff. I didn't feel cheated having paid $8.00 for a whiskey/diet. Huge selection of songs to the point where I had no idea what to sing, except a duet of "A Whole New World" (I was pretty sure I was screaming... but my friend said otherwise) But if you're in the neighborhood, swing by and sing. Don't matter if you can or not. Just let go. FOOD WISE: I ordered some dim sum. Whatever you do, don't buy the steamed bbq pork buns. They were uber dry and kinda hard. Cold. Just very plain and sad. The other limited variety of dim sum was OK. I guess you can't really mess up shrimp dumplings... or can you? At least the delivery man is always really nice.
(3)Stephanie K.
What was I thinking with the three stars? I have spent my last two birthdays here and it has been an experience of epic proportions. I love this place. Cheap, stiff drinks, great karaoke, and hilarious weird drunk people. Bartender with the glasses is nice and remembers most of our group. That is probably a bad thing (we go here waaaay too much) but whatever. I'll clean up my liver later!
(5)Derek M.
I was sure this is purely where sobriety comes to die, but it just dawned on me that they serve food here. Between this place and Barfnof (approximately two cat calls and three drunken high kicks across the street), 85th and Greenwood has gained the nickname "C.O.D."(corner of death) amongst my people. You have been warned.
(4)Matt G.
ZERO STARS. Absolutely. Hands down. Worst Chinese food in North America. Our usual place was closed for vacation, so we went here. Worst mistake of my life....Chow mien tastes like plastic and poop. There was so much sauce on General Tsao's that I almost threw up. I literally tossed it all in the trash and went home to make nachos.
(1)Scott K.
Americanized ethnic food! Gross and Yay! OK... so I have some insider information for you. I used to be an aquarium technician and I did the tank here for a year. That gave m e access to the kitchen area and let me tell you.... when it comes to Chinese restaurants kitchen cleanliness ranges from toxic with flies in the sauce and day old grey meat sitting on a counter. To clean fresh ingredients delivered twice daily and prepared on sparkling surfaces! That said... I'd eat at Yen Wor. (almost sounds Klingon don't it?) Now to the fun part! I have a warm spot for the white bread, cookie cutter Chinese food of my childhood. And that's exactly what Yen Wor delivers! Everything is as it should be. Mild... covered in sugar based sauce, and super fatty with no redeeming qualities as a vitamin source. Ah... the memories... Personally, two of the things I can never resist here are the deep fried prawns and the BBQ Pork with hot mustard, ketchup, and sesame seeds! Spices! Ha! Never! It's Americanized and safe from such dangerous influences! You wouldn't want anyone getting any dangerous ideas, now would you? A strange little side-note... my Mother used to eat here with my Grandparents when she was a kid! Hell, the way I look at it! I'm not filling my pie hole with crap! I'm carrying on a proud family tradition! (Same thing really.) Mmm... I'm hungry for some memories....
(3)Kristine H.
Not the best Chinese food ever. I've been a couple of times and was underwhelmed by my choices. It wasn't bad per se, it just wasn't good. I think it stays open because it's open late and serviceable when you crave something in the Greenwood area and are too lazy to head south to the ID for something stellar. What deserves the five stars here is their karaoke... seriously that's off-the-hook crazy on some nights. Park your car in the back, head on in and prepare to be entertained something fierce. Sometimes when people grip that mic and belt out those tunes with a look of pure concentration, my brain tunes them out and my mental jukebox plays the Marian Call song "Love and Harmony"... "Not every song has wings to fly... and you know some dreams are doomed to die. But that my friend is why... that's why... that's why there's KAR-EEE-OHH-KEE!" Ahem. Sorry about the tangent there. Skip the food here. Come for stiff drinks and the entertainment.
(3)Victoria C.
Your average, divey, family style Chinese restaurant during the day turned karaoke bar at night! 1. Great DJ who put me at the top of the list so I could sing my song early! 2. Great, fun crowd not afraid to get their dance on, sing along, or get crazy. 3. Strong drinks! 4. I'm coming back for the karaoke, not the food.
(3)Quinn I.
This is seriously the ghetto of Greenwood. Don't get me wrong, the karaoke was fun, but the wait was FOREVER and the bartender lady is literally in her own world, not paying attention to anyone. It took me standing patiently at the bar for 30 minutes just to get a beer! If you're looking for a trashy karaoke bar that has that lingering "Chow Mein-ey" smell all night, have fun! Bonus: Got flashed before we even waked in the door by a drunken women on the stoop. Happy Friday night to you too?
(2)Emily T.
I'm pretty sure I just ate ramen noodles sans the flavoring packet with chucks of watery, flavorless chicken bits tossed in under the guise of "Chicken Chow Mein." Out of hungry desperation, I convinced myself to take more than one bite. Note to self: Don't listen to your hungry stomach next time. It is not going to be good on the second bite either! So bad. Online ordering, tea bags along with the fortune cookies and free delivery are the only redeemable aspects of my first (and last) experience with Yen Wor. I'll just stick to people watching from outside, since they seem to draw all of the neighborhood crazies to their doors.
(2)Angela B.
The food is fabulous, and I've tried a lot of it. The service is sometimes a little slow if they are busy or it's late at night, but the servers are always friendly & helpful. It's a great place for big groups or pubcrawls. And drinks although small, and pretty stiff! Really enjoy the karaoke there too :)
(4)Jason M.
The karaoke was fantastic - good DJ, fun, appreciative crowd, not too crowded on a Friday at 11:00pm. If I could give negative stars for the food, I would - hours later, me and my other companions would be clutching our stomachs, wishing that General Tso would be merciful to our intestines. I cannot stress this enough - show up for the karaoke. Do not eat the food.
(3)Sanjay F.
I remember coming here as a kid with my family (early 80's) and eating dinner- at that time I thought the food was pretty good but I haven't eaten here as an adult. The group of girls at the next table ordered food which looked appetizing during the drunken stupor, but I read the other reviews before I went and didn't get that drunk to order any. Stopped in for a karaoke birthday party just before Christmas and had a good time. Some of the singers were probably regulars and were pretty good. Bar itself, was divey- just the way I like it and the bartender was top drawer. My only gripe was the Deejay... I can understand if the audio system has feedback once in a while, but we heard it literally twice an hour. I wasn't impressed with the songs either. Some Deejay's play the real music for you to sing with and others play the fake music- like the cheesy version- you know what I'm talking about... Well, this was the cheesy version for all the songs. Meh, not sure if I'll be back.
(3)Brigitte F.
Lots of food for the price. Only hot and sour soup this girl-from-out-east can find in this city that's anything like home! They even fried me up some wonton noodles for it, and told me when the right people work that I can get my soup crispies. Apparently that's an east coast/Midwest thing. Best Mongolian beef I've found yet too! Sadly no bell to ding for service, we stood around waiting for quite a while before asking the bar for service, and that's happened a few times now. Sat around at karaoke waiting for our to-go order one night, place was packed but no one was singing except the KJ. Lame. If we had known it would take 45 minutes to get an order they quoted ten for, maybe we would have put a slip in. 5-star food, 2-star everything else, averages to a nice high-3.
(3)Larry R.
OMG!! Worst chinese food I've ever had in my life. We were passing by Greenwood area today and my wife and I were starving so we decided to try Yen Wor. Around 7:30pm, we went in and surprised to see NO ONE in the dining room area.( although I heard noise in the other room). So right there I felt something spooky about this place. We ordered combo 1 & 3. The soups came first, but why they're warm? Not hot? Wow. So next, main foods arrived. What the @#$$! I thought we were served leftovers. We flipped out. The presentation was so bad that they looked exactly like it. They even tasted it exactly like it. Bad, bad...
(1)Jarrod L.
Nothing was bad, nothing was good. If you want a tired, americanized "chinese" dinner, come here.
(2)Loe B.
This place has been here for as long as i can remember and I had yet to set foot in until the other night. The bar and restaurant are completely separated..in fact they seem like two different establishments. We went to the bar. My first thought was it smelled like a grimey senior home, my second thought- this is some damn good people watching especially since there happened to be some freaky/kinky meet-up group there that night. The drinks are strong but overpriced for it being such a divey place, and the karaoke is decent. Someone ordered appetizers at the table next to us and it looked disgusting. I would go elsewhere for karaoke...it was a bit too sketchy for me.
(2)Ducky M.
A wise Chinese man once told me, "Sh*tty Chinese food isn't just inadequate sustenance--it's a state of being." This little corner of Greenwood has been living out this Chinese proverb for quite some time. Let me be one of the MANY on this review page to state, the Yen Wor Garden's food really shouldn't be consumed. Contrary to what some may consider, you'll never reach a state of Nirvana while perched atop white porcelain all night. Having said that, there is one.....YES, ONE dish that I order up about 4/5 times a year to be delivered to my house, where I can consume it away from judgmental eyes and quietly recite a prayer to the Food Gods for intestinal fortitude before I dive in. The Mongolian Combination Dinner is a behemoth in portion-size and rife with the grease and non-pretension of a Chinese-American glutfest, accompanied by some nondescript broth-based soup, stale fortune cookies and a multitude of little packed "dipping goodies". This thing IS NOT for the weak of heart; literally and figuratively. The portions are insane. It will have you passed out on the couch from a food coma if you even attempt to put the whole thing down and well..the flavors are satisfactory and often border decent. Why would I consume such a thing? Well, I really have been subjected to worse in the way of Chinese food in the Greenwood neighborhood, so I find this to be my only consistent bet in the area. This relative consistency (price, portions and hot food temp never seem to fluctuate) has me locked-in to what I consider to be a decent value in the area. One that will satisfy my greasy Chinese food cravings if I happen to be in that mood. I don't try and fool myself into thinking it would be appropriate to test the waters anywhere else on this menu and CERTAINLY don't subject loved ones to this dirty little secret that always leaves me feeling a bit shameful. Oh yeah. Occasionally I end up here after a Greenwood pub crawl for some karaoke. It usually sucks and I'm out the door after a stiff drink or two. (I'm usually pretty mindful that outside the Yen Wor's doorway is usually where 90% of Greenwood's assault and robberies happen.) Your best bet is to consider the Yen Wor Gardens as an experiment at living life on the edge with your health and initial well being as the ante in this restaurant/bar gamble.
(2)Lindsay S.
This place is fun for Karaoke and a relaxed atmophere. A little trashy, but I like those dive bars. If you plan on leaving the bar DO NOT park in the back, they will tow your car if you aren't visiting their establishment. Luckily I didn't learn this the hard way but I have seen others that have. The bartendars are friendly and the food I have tried is decent. I have friends who live in the area and this is their regular hang out spot, they love it there.
(3)Lauren M.
Terrible service, the bartender will make you wait a good 15 minutes before he even makes eye contact with you. Also, the owners are cheap and will try to have you towed even if you are a customer! Better to just save yourself the trouble and not step foot into this dirty little place. I know I will never be going here again, I'd take litterally any other Chinese restaurant in Seattle and get better service, better food, an not have to worry about my car!
(1)Elynne G.
Sadly enough, the karaoke is a lot of fun but the food is so-so. Maybe they should just tear down the whole place and make a huge bar. Just so you know, parking is always easy, as they have their own place in the back. And they also do delivery for those lazy nights in. I figured out that most of the flavors are catered to the 'western' palate. They have this old dude cooking in the back, I've met him, he's a great guy. Being Chinese, I was craving some good home-cooking. I can consider myself lucky because I was able to talk to the chef in Cantonese and I got something made specially for me. I had the Hong Kong chow mein with beef, which I don't think was on the menu. It was so good I ate half of the serving and my friends slopped the rest. I couldn't tell you how good it was having the same flavors I grew up with. Okay, maybe I got lucky cause I speak the language. The fried rice and walnut shrimp taste really good when you're drunk too. Except that I don't even drink. So yes, they taste good. You just have to order the right stuff.
(3)Adam S.
Why are you eating here people? Go here for drunken karaoke and nothing else. I'm the guy that always comes in and slays Vanilla Ice. Last week I was rockin Ice Ice Baby and got tackled by a guy in swimming trunks and I sprained my ankle (I still finished the damn song with high drunken praise though). My ankle is huge and swollen now, and I stare at it and smile about how I love that place.
(4)Paul R.
I received a menu in the mail the other day promoting free delivery in certain areas. I called on a Saturday Night at 8 PM and placed an order. I asked about delivery time, etc... and was told 45 minutes. I called after an hour and a half asking were they was told "very busy, 15 minute" Long Story Short? At 10:30 PM I had a very animated delivery person (I am guess the owner) pull up in front of my house Honking his horn and yelling at me about calling for a delivery on a weekend and not to do that again? Seriously? WTF? I responded to an ad they mailed to me?
(1)Eric B.
Let's just be upfront right now and say "you don't go here to eat!" "You go here to Karaoke!!" So, last night we went to the Rickshaw for our friend's birthday. Despite getting there early enough, it was standing room only! From the Rickshaw, we called the Baranof (which has a 4/5 rating with 100 reviews) and they too were standing room only. Then.... a light bulb went off. Let's take it to Yen Wor!!!! I hate to really go on and say how rad this place was for Karaoke (trying to keep it on the DL), but it was R-A-D. 5 Stars for me. Great service. Fun Karaoke. Fun people. Weird, yes. But lot's of fun. Please keep this a Karaoke secret Seattle - we don't want it to get as popular as the Rickshaw and the Baranof. ;-)
(5)Kate D.
First off, you don't come to this place to eat. Nor do you come to this place to have a great time. You come here to drink your sorrows away and to make yourself feel better that there are people who have it far worse than you do. If you want a stiff drink and possibly something to put in your stomach maybe even sing a song or two without anyone recognizing you or maybe it can become your new dive bar then by all means this place will cater to you. It has the restaurant and bar separated but you can order anything from the restaurant to the bar. It is just overall a cheap place to grab a drink in the Greenwood area.
(2)Thomas S.
I love this place! Yes, it's a dive but Wendy (owner) is great and treats us like royalty. They have Rainier in the bottle (perfect!) and it's always a blast singing tunes after a few beverages. Yeah, it's not the most up-to-date restaurant but I have a great time with my friends there EVERY time. I never thought I'd be one to go up to the stage and do something like that (sing) but the Yen Wor environment brings it out in me! I do ding the restaurant one start as their restroom is a bit brutal...
(4)Megan S.
Surprisingly decent American-Chinese food. I love dim sum and didn't feel like waiting for an hour in line in the ID. I had recently got a flyer about Yen Wor in the mail so decided it was too close not to check out. We were the first to arrive..and it was after 1pm...well, the dim sum menu did say it was new. We waited for someone to come out of the back room--yea, it was desolate. So that was a bit odd, but the gentleman that helped us out made us feel very welcome. He seemed to be doing everything in the restaraunt. Maybe he was back there making the food too, I'm not sure. He was cute and had a funny inflection to his voice that made you smile. He knew what was up and exactly what we needed. We agreed that we should try all the items on the dim sum menu (about 7 in total). So it wasn't a dim sum in the traditional sense where they come around w/carts of goodies, but we still got a good selection brought to the table. We got a couple of types of humbow, shu mai, dumplings, etc. All the items w/pork were especially delicious I thought and the fried rice was really good! So for being slightly nervous that this would be the worst food experience ever to "Hey, I think I'd go there again" I give this 3 stars. That's A-Ok in my book.
(3)Lulu T.
Super heinous inside, but actually had really good food. The broccoli beef was AMAZING.
(3)Brad A.
NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT! It's nothing spectacular. ATMOSPHERE: If you have an eye for beauty, do NOT go into the bar/lounge. It's a bit on the down-side. More of a neighbourhood bar, with street-looking characters, a pool table. There were more people in the bar than in the restaurant. PARKING: Yes, they have their own parking lot. (This might be the one really bright spot in this picture.) FOOD QUALITY: As I mentioned, it's nothing to write home about. I stopped in on my way around doing errands, and had the COMBINATION #1 DINNER. Wonton Soup, Fried Rice, Sweet & Sour Spareribs, Noodle Chow Mein. (The Wonton Soup and Fried Rice were decent.) PRICE: $8.95 SERVICE: The food portion not busy, but they had more people in the kitchen and serving than customers for food. (The bar was packed, like a Star Wars scene.) But, the service was still a bit on the slow side. Maybe the boy server was new? I don't know. I did have a RUM & COKE. That was very strong. So, that was a redeeming quality of the restaurant. Yum. Get me a buzz on.
(2)Michelle J.
My Bf and I went there at around 9 or 10, so karaoki has started. They were extremely drunk and the music and people singing carried way over into the dining area. Maybe it was because of the late hour, but this was by far some of the worst chinese food I've ever gotten from an actual chinese restaurant. I tried some of my bf's wonton-thing and the sausage in it tasted like it had sat on a counter for a week. Needless to say this food didn't sit well in my stomach. Be careful here... Oh yeah, and both of our fortune cookies just said "You have a good event coming in your life", uh, yeah, thats the definition of a fortune...how cheap...
(1)SweetP G.
Hot and Sour Soup: amaaazing. Service: Phenomenal. Lunch menu: Eh. Not so hot. I will return just for the soup and the fantastic host, and maybe even to try out the divey bar next door.
(3)Zannie S.
"Honey, there's nothing to eat tonight. What do you want to do?" "Let's order some of that crappy Chinese food." This is Americanized Chinese food in it's "best" (worst) form. Crunchy, deep fried, salty goodness just can't get unhealthier than this - but it really hits the spot when it's what is called for. Delivery service is sketchy. Sometimes you wait a REALLY long time. I mean REALLY long time. Service is kind of crap and food is kind of crap...but sometimes it's just what works. Hell, it's $15 for two "extra value' meals at McD's and you have to leave the house for that shit and there's no leftovers.
(3)Anna W.
Not to get into a habit of just updating old reviews, but, OH my god, a-mazing karaoke lounge. This place is the perfect mixture of gaudy decor, tonedeaf drunk performers that don't seem like real-life people, and just enough sprinkles of genuine talent to keep you from laughing to death.
(4)Sarah L.
I feel a little guilty for doing this since I work in the neighborhood, but I can't hear about another person having the same experience and knowing I did nothing to prevent it. I was a bit slow to learn that it doesn't matter what time of day you get your food, it NEVER looks or tastes fresh. I've tried so many different things, but it's no use. It's just bad food.
(1)Rylee O.
I had only been to - what I refer lovingly as "The Young Whore" - for karaoke and drinks before eating there with a large group of Yelpers on Unemployed Drinking Monday. I will only be going back for karaoke and drinks. The service was very nice (I think they were the owners), but the food was sub par. No real flavor or zip. The only spice that seemed to be added was disappointment. Hmmm . . . maybe I should have drank more at the Baranoff.
(2)Riss J.
Step 1: drink at Baranoff Step 3: PROFIT! What's step 2 you ask? How the hell should I know, I'm not the brains of this operation, I'm the beauty. Duh. Unemployed Drinking Monday off to a fabulous start with consuming WAY too much at the Baranoff. Which I will rightly blame Tiffany for, her 'round' meant i ended up drinking 2 LI Ts. TWO!?!?! I may need a liver transplant by the end of the day... Staggered across the street for some food with the 'gang' before calling it a night. We walked in, half went to the restaurant side, half to the bar side, and somewhere in all that calamity we ended up scoring the private room in the back. *schwaanky* We ordered enough food to feed a small army, and everything I tried was right on par with what I expected it to be. Yum. And best fortune EVER: "Your lover will never wish to leave you" again, DUH.
(3)Chris F.
Eh...would not be my choice of place to go. It seems like the people who go there are professional drinkers. And I'm sure there were some that were choosing the booze over paying the water bill. It was quite loud tonight. They had karaoke and at times sounded as though they were tone deaf and didn't realize how loud they were talking. The only reason we went there was to play some photo hunt. Half way through the game I looked at the person I was with and said let's get out of here. She put up no argument. Not my type of place. I much prefer the pig and whistle if I'm in that area...and that's where we went.
(2)Ryan P.
This restaurant has been like 18 different restaurants since I was a kid, but this recent incarnation is my favorite. The bar is kinda sketchy and someone has definitely been shot outside of this place, but food-wise, it's one of the best Chinese restaurants in the city, chiefly because their vegetarian menu is really good. Better than Bamboo Garden.
(4)Nolan H.
This place is trash, plain and simple. The decor is awful, the food is sub-par and the service leaves a lot to be desired. On the other hand, this place completely redeems itself with the most fun and trashy karaoke in Seattle. If you like cheap drinks and bar fights, if you like sleazy women that hang out and sing every night, if you like the smell of the 70's--come here for karaoke! Skip the food, just bring some friends and enjoy the scenery. Trasheoke done right at Yen Wor Garden!
(2)Marian M.
My favorite place for slummy Chinese food and the blare of really bad karaoke next door. I swear they must have the biggest selection of metal songs EVER, and if there's one genre that should NEVER be done karaoke... My fiance is a big fan of their General Tso's Chicken, and their Mongolian beef is surprisingly tasty and tender. I can't vouch for the rest of the menu. Oh yeah, every time I come in here, they're counting their big piles of money out in the open. Shady... and awesome.
(3)Naomi T.
All Americanized Chinese food tastes the same to me. If you really wanted good Chinese food, you'd head for dim sum in the International District. This is the place to go to get your karaoke on.
(4)Christine C.
total dive. i went here once the first week i moved to the neighborhood and have never thought twice about going back. i probably shoulda known when we walked by and saw the restaurant looking absolutely deserted and the drunk people stumbling out of the bar side.. during dinner hours.. if there's possibly a tier BELOW american chinese food, this place is pretty much it. panda express would be a better option (and possibly better health safety choice) boo to the food and boo to the service here the karaoke bar on the other side of the restaurant looks... questionable.. but that's not to say the people that are in there don't look like they're having fun :)
(1)Samantha W.
...my lil chica and I went in a couple of days ago for a nibble before heading to a friends place and we got some appetizers. First off, the place REEKS of a sewer. It was really bad. I almost walked out. Everything was really run down and the front windows were streaked and cracked. the Booths had holes in the vinyl and were TAPED over. The elderly gentlemen who greeted us, however, was very gracious and sweet. The other food we ordered (chow mein, some soup and veggies) was decent but the potstickers were bland and rubbery. Can't say I'd go back but I'll probably get delivery at some point, lol. Not a total loss as long as you don't dine in.
(2)Amanda O.
Ive never been here before, but if I ever feel like tying one on at 11AM and getting down with some karaoke jams, it would be my number one choice.
(3)Sean T.
Three strikes. That about sums up my three experiences eating at this place. On two occasions, I stopped in, placed my order in person, went across the street to Safeway to do some shopping, and returned to pick up my order. In both instances, the order wasn't ready (after 45 minutes) and was completely wrong. Not wrong as in I asked for steamed rice and got fried rice; more like I ordered curry chicken with streamed rice and received a carton of unidentifiable crap that contained neither chicken nor curry along with fried rice. You'd think I would have learned, but no. The third and final time, I called in an order, asked them to repeat it so I knew they understood, went to Safeway to shop, and stopped in to pick up my order. You know what comes next don't you? I really don't have to tell you. Yen Wor Garden my ass. More like Yen Worst.
(1)Andy G.
I've only done take-out and this place makes some great food. Although they don't allow half-portions, so it's best to have a friend, or two, or ten to order food with.
(3)Natalie B.
Yen Wor is an okay Chinese restaurant in Greenwood. But the BAR is a spectacular experience. It's like the Baranof, except less crowded and relatively unknown. The bartenders are hardworking and professional. One of the owners, Wendy, bartends at least once a week. One of my favorite memories of Yen Wor will always be seeing Wendy singing Karaoke while mixing drinks - badass. I am not too into the Karaoke scene, however, I love the laid back vibe of this bar. A wonderful mix of people make up the regulars.
(4)