Such a dissapointment. I was lured in by the, "best in Bloomington" marketing sign on their facade. After eating there, I have no idea what they're "best" at. But whatever they're best at, like Wolverine, it ain't very nice. The food here was bland, Midwestern Chinese. Over-fried, overly crunchy, and generally flavorless food dominates the menu. We sampled about 6 different dishes, and absolutely none of them stood out. While not bad food, it's absolutely nothing you could get a slightly subpar chinese buffet. If you think of mongolian barbecue and fine dining, this place may be 3 stars. But such boastful claims as "best in Bloomington" certainly aren't substantiated. There are at least five other places within 5 miles certainly worth the drive, often at a lower price point. read more

Things to know about Grand Cafe: 1- the decor is dim and old...it isn't fancy and it isnt new. If you know this before you go in, it won't be a surprise. 2- the food isn't gourmet...it's just good. 3- the waitresses are very efficient here...you won't get a lot of "oh, how are you...so nice to see you", but you will get good service. All of this being said, they have good food. It's generally busy on the weekends, and in my opinion, Chinese food seems to be better when a place is busy. I really like their hot mustard when you dine in...there is just something about it. My mom really likes it, as does my husband. The parking lot is SMALL, so I would suggest find a spot in the downtown and walk (working up a little appetite getting there and walking it off afterwards). It is RIGHT next to the BCPA, so it's a perfect spot to go when shows are playing, but it gets SUPER busy on those nights, so budget your time. read more

So good!! Not the most attractive inside but the most tasty affordable food for Chinese in town and priced like fast food but definitely worth every penny and then some! DELICIOUS!! read more

Grand Cafe - Chicken fried rice - Chinese Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

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Yes it is Americanized Chinese, but it is consistent and very good. I have been going here my whole life....so long that I remember their previous 2 locations before they moved to this address many many years ago. Very good food, and very good service. As almost everyone seems to be pointing out, they have the best egg rolls in town. The fried rice is excellent, as is the Egg Foo Young and Sweet and Sour Chicken. Just about everything here is good. If I ever had a complaint, it would be that I am not a big fan of their Lo Mein noodles. I am not sure there is any place in B/N to get good authentic Chinese, so why not go to the best Americanized place? :) Good stuff! read more

I'm sad about this place. The only positive thing I can say is that the egg rolls were crispy, the insides were bland. I love food, I cook good food and I appreciate good food and because of this I will not be returning to Grand Cafe. The szechuan beef was bland, there was no bite, no flavor, no heat. I didn't see garlic or any remnants of chiles. The garlic chicken was bland, no flavor and there certainly wasn't any "Bite" you would expect from garlic. The crab rangoon had no crab or sweetness. It tastes like straight cream cheese. Overall a big disappointment. Even the house fried rice was just so-so and semi-flavorful. If you give this "staple" more than 3 stars at most, I have to wonder what you eat on a regular basis that would lead you to believe this is of quality or considered quasi-delicious?! read more

I thought the food was mediocre. I had the PC tray lunch special which includes pieces of steak over fried rice and an egg roll. The fried rice was very greasy and the egg roll was mushy. I was told the egg roll has peanut butter in it but the flavor and texture didn't work for me. I'd much rather eat at Ming's Buffet or Nana Thai if I'm looking for Asian food. read more

Grand Cafe did a great job catering a friend's birthday party. The food arrived on time, all the servings were professionally presented and our meal was warm/hot. Everyone loved it! I'll be contacting Grand Cafe for my next catering event! read more

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This is my go-to place for Chinese food. The fried goods can be slightly on the greasy side, but definitely tasty. They have the best egg rolls I've ever tried, but that might just be because I grew up loving them. The crab rangoon here is also quite yummy, although not the best in town (for that you'll have to go to Bangkok Thai). I've ordered a variety of dishes here, but I keep going back to the beef chop suey. It reheats well, I like the taste, and it may not be the most authentic thing on the menu but I sure love it. Most dishes come with a side of rice or noodles. The portions are large, and if you're a light eater you'll either want to split with someone or be prepared to bring home leftovers. The staff is friendly and quick. The decor is a little cheesy and I doubt the place has been remodeled in the last 20-30 years, but it's sort of charming for that. They have take out, but you'll want to call ahead as it usually takes them 15-20 minutes to have it ready. All take out meal items are double boxed, except for eggrolls/rangoons. No messes here! It isn't the most healthy Chinese food I've had, but I still love it, and every meal ends with a fortune cookie. read more

What's better than a hole-in-the-wall Chinese place?! Yes, it hasn't been redecorated in 30 years, and yes, it's "Americanized," but the food is great, and so is the service. Discovered this place several years ago, and keep going back. We've rarely been disappointed. read more

I will say as far as most Chinese places go, not that great. Being a sucker for wonton soup though I had to give grand cafe 4 stars. I mean damn, delicate puffs of pork floating in a light, translucent and for lack of a better word; silky wonton wrapper. Most everything else is over salted or pretty substandard. read more

Of all the chinese restaurants I've gone to, this place has the best egg rolls and crab rangoon. I don't usually get a regular chinese dinner because the portions are large and I get tired of the same flavor and don't like chinese leftovers. I do enjoy their sweet and sour chicken/shrimp, the sauce is super tasty! The beef they serve is a little tough, I've noticed. One big positive with the meat is that I've never questioned whether I was eating rat or chicken. With chinese buffets, the meat is often questionable. The restaurant is pretty dated as well, but it doesn't impact my meal. We've always received excellent service anytime we dined in. Ordering carry-out is also nice and convenient. The prices are great, too! I usually get an order of 6 crab rangoons (4.25) and wonton soup (1.75) as my meal so I always get a cheap dinner when I eat here, plus I have enough rangoons to share. They don't have a kids menu, but that wasn't a problem for my 3 year old. He loves shrimp so I got him an order of fried shrimp (4.75) and there were at least 10 on the plate. Each time we've gone there with our son, they've brought over a huge bowl of candy to let him choose one. He loves it. They're very friendly even when he was crying and grumpy one late evening, two workers came over and played with him to cheer him up. read more

The egg rolls our so delicious i could just order them and get full.A lot of locals claim that they have the best egg rolls(2 for $2.70),and i would have to agree.This place has been around in bloomington it seems like forever.I was going to order the general chicken,but the waiter let me know its not the same as most Chinese takeout places.I asked for a recommendation for a good,hot & spicy dish.He told me to try the Sichuan Beef(8.50).I'm glad i got it,it was excellent.It was also a lot of food.I got 2 meals out it,enough for lunch the next day.My gf enjoyed her meal as well. Looking at the menu all there dishes look pretty good,and I'll look forward to trying something different next time. read more

I have been eating here since I was a little babe in my mom's tummy. Considering this, I might be a little biased. They will always be my favorite!! Whenever I order from The Grand I ALWAYS make sure to get an order of egg rolls. Unlike other Chinese restaurants that give you 1 piddly looking roll, you get 2 huge egg rolls at The Grand! I have always loved this about them! Another amazing trademark is their homemade sweet and sour sauce. It's to die for!!!! Definitely worth checking out if you are in town. The only thing I would change is the deco. And by change I would say "update" vs actually changing. The lamps, plants, pictures etc. are all the same as they were 30 years ago. read more

I've lived in town for over half my life, but have only been to Grand Cafe a few times. I really need to correct that, because it's almost certainly the best Chinese place in town. You can tell the difference in quality composed to something like Great Wall almost immediately. The egg rolls are large and delicious. The food looks like real food, too, which is unexpected for Chinese in Bloomington/Normal. I ordered the Sichuan Chicken. It had a very tasty (though not really that spicy) brown sauce, along with some chicken that looked like it was actual chicken meat at one time. I'm not a fan of broccoli, but the carrots, celery, and green peppers were all great. And that's one thing I noticed, which took me a while ... The carrots, celery, and peppers all seemed fresh and tasted like carrots, celery, and peppers, respectively. Usually with Chinese food in town, they all pretty much taste like mush. My wife got the Sesame Chicken; the fried chicken meat was a lot bigger and - again - real-looking than we're used to. The only downside was a lack of kids' menus. We did alright though doing what we normally do with Chinese food - ordering Sweet & Sour Chicken and letting them share. That worked really well - the chicken, as I mentioned, is a lot more substantial than is the norm around here. I personally wasn't too impressed - it was kinda starchy for my taste - but they loved it, so it's all good. Anyway, yeah, we need to come here more often. read more

As a junior in college some 38 years ago, I came here with my roommate on special occasions. We were poor and they had an affordable menu. They also had the best eggrolls on the planet. So when I had a conference to attend, I knew I had to return here. Still affordable. Still have fantastic eggrolls. Yum! #feelingnostalgic read more

The eggs rolls were great, just like the original Grand Cafe ,Soup was awesome . Food was hot ,cashew Chicken was very good and Mongolian Beef very tender. Thanks for staying in the community. read more

I work right next door to the new express style GC on Oakland and I was very happy to see this. I can order my dinner here! I walked in, put my order in, and sat and waited. They were very busy with to go orders getting picked up, orders coming in on the phone, and people eating inside. The egg rolls are the same to die for egg rolls I grew up eating from the Main Street location. I have only tried chicken fried rice so far but it was excellent. White meat chicken, bean sprouts, green onion... mmm. My order was ready promptly, maybe 10 minutes, and I was very pleased with the service. Not overly friendly or outgoing people, but then I didn't come to make a new friend, I came to pick up my dinner! I look forward to trying some other dishes soon. *American Chinese food IS NOT CHINESE CHINESE FOOD! I'm a foody and one of the most vastly different kinds of food by location in the USA is "Chinese" food. Every area of this country does it differently. In Los Angeles 1 place served crab Rangoon in China Town, only 1. So the lil rant about them not being able to cook food is just stupid lol. read more

Best Chinese in town. Been eating there for years. I've settled upon my favorites: Sweet & Sour Shrimp, Grand Special, Moo Goo Gai, Broccoli Beef, Beef Fried Rice, and EGG ROLLS!!! Since I moved about 6 miles out of town, I place my order by phone and usually arrive about 20 minutes later. (I've never asked, but I'm doubtful that they would deliver to my location outside the city limits.) The food is ready to go and stays hot on the ride home. I haven't tested getting the supper entrees much earlier than 3pm, but have been pleased that even that early, the evening entrees are delicious and ready to go. As many stress here the food is good and the egg rolls must be tried. I've also learned a trick suggested by one of the staff for my take-out--when ordering the Sweet and Sour Shrimp, order the shrimp be separated from the sauce so the crunchy coating of the shrimp doesn't become soggy till you can get the meal home. Getting take-out here is an indulgence I allow myself about every 3 months. The large portions can last me through 3-4 meals. I just freeze up what I can't eat initially and then enjoy the leftovers over a few days. I'm usually spending about $30-$40 for egg rolls, fried rice, and 2-3 entrees. I can't say I like the lunch menu. I would recommend you just get egg rolls and egg drop soup for lunch. Those are good and you spend less than $5/person. read more

I have loved eating at Grand Cafe for many years as the whole family loved their food. For my Mother's Day treat, my daughter and I drove from Rantoul, IL, 2021 to the new Normal, IL location. I so excited driving into Bloomington-Normal to eat, once again the "Grand Cafe Special, " and remembering all the former years of the most delicious food I've ever had and the cozy, warm setting in the old restaurant. Sadly, the meal was gravely disappointing. Did you change and reduce the recipes? The sauce for the Grand Special was no longer perfectly creamy and it even began to thicken up quickly simular to the thick texture of macaroni and cheese; the sauce was simply flavorless! I would have continued to take an hour drive to eat there, in fact, I have been promising my grandson's a road trip to the Grand Cafe as celebration passing school t his year, but, now, I believe I'll save my gas and money. read more

Well this is the second time I have eaten at this place and both experiences were memorable and not in a good way. I ordered from here a second time as my regular Chinese restaurant was closed dye to COVID-19 and this was the only Chinese food restaurant open around my home. I ordered Crab Rangoon, Egg Rolls, Orange Chicken, Mongolian Beef and the Triple Delight (fried shrimp, chicken and beef). Let's start with the Crab Rangoon, it was mostly batter with little to no filling inside of them. This place markets themselves as having the best egg rolls in town, I will say that out of all of my food they were the best but only because the rest of our food was absolutely terrible. If I had to give them a rating out of 10 I would give their egg rolls a 5. My 7 year old daughter loves orange chicken and when I tasted what we received from this place while making her plate it just didn't taste right as it had no flavor at all. I gave it to my daughter thinking maybe it was my taste buds but even she could taste the difference. The Mongolian beef was the worse thing we received as the beef was tough and chewy and there was little to no sauce in the box. We asked for Lo Mein noodles with the Mongolian beef and received plain white Lo Mein noodles with no sauce on them. I could have went to the Jewel grocery store next door and bought Lo Mein noodles and cooked them myself as they didn't have any sauce on the noodles. When I called to inform the restaurant the lady who answered the phone was extremely rude blaming me for getting noodles with no sauce as she said I would have to spend $11 more dollars to get the Lo Mein meal to get sauce on the noodles. I informed her that I could have made this myself and instead of fixing the order she proceeds to tell me that she did me a favor by giving me plain noodles as they normally don't substitute fried rice for noodles. Lastly, the triple delight...it taste like it was all fried in old grease and mostly batter. I couldn't even tell what was chicken, shrimp or beef due to the taste of old grease being so strong. This place has disappointed me twice now and I normally don't write reviews but felt I had to so that others don't waste their hard earned money here. I spent $51 on Chinese food and threw most all of it away. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. I try to give restaurants a second chance as the first experience could be my taste buds and I may need to try something else on the menu but this place has terrible food and customer service which is surprising to me as you would think their customer service would be decent since their food is so bad but no it's all bad when ordering from this place. Me and my family will never eat at this place again. read more

I have seen this restaurant been nominated for the best Chinese food in town. I can't agree with that at all. I will say, they have some of the best egg rolls in town. My wife craves this place just for them - the entrees - leave something to be desired. The only dish that they do well, IMHO, is Mongolian Beef - but that's easy - some beef - onions - maybe some oyster sauce. . . hot and sour soup - OK - everything my kids and wife has gotten there has been so - so. I will say that one of the kids refused to eat her entree as it was sub par to some of the other faster take out Chinese joints. . . . All I will say is - don't buy into the hype that it's been voted the best Chinese restaurant in B/N - it's not warranted. I'm giving it a 3 of 5 only based on the egg rolls. read more

The food was so so the wait staff was fabulous I know that from region to region cultural food is different this just kind a left us a little flat the flavors just weren't quite there and the beef dishes were extremely salty. I would love to give it more stars as everyone there was very helpful and friendly read more

While the place looks a little dated inside, they do have good food options. I wasn't quite happy with my main course. I had: - Egg drop soup was good - Egg Rolls are good like everyone says - Seafood Plate, the ingredients were good but the sauce was not so good The staff was very attentive and friendly. I will try again and see if I just chose the wrong dish for me. read more

This is the second time I've tried it, the first time the food was a little bland. This time I got the pork adobo, it has good flavor bit was so dry that you could hear the fork scraping against it, while try to pick up the pieces. It didn't come with any sauce. The rice was plain white rice. I got an egg roll which was good the sweet and sour sauce that came with it was good, as well. I ordered the Lumpia which I had tried before and liked. It comes six to an order. I ate a couple and they were great, I took a bite of the third and the pork was pink! To more were also pink. Out of six, three were under cooked pork. I didn't eat most of the meal and was a waste of money. I usually give places more than one try because it may have been an off night. After this, I don't think I will be going back. Which is a shame, I was so excited to find a Filipino restaurant here. read more

I've ordered delivery from The Grand Cafe several times now and I am never disappointed. Being from the NYC metropolitan area I tend to be a bit picky with Chinese food, but I was honestly shocked at how good the egg rolls are....might be the best egg rolls I've ever eaten. Every time I've ordered the staff has been polite and deliveries are always quick to arrive. I love how generous they are with the portions, and gotta give extra marks for the friendly way their delivery people greet me at the door... What more can I say: quality food, excellent service and decent prices - The Grand Cafe excels on all three levels.... read more

You still can't beat their egg rolls, and now we get the vegetarian ones. We hadn't gone to Grand Cafe for a while, and I thought the first dish we tried was bland. However, we recently got the vegetable chow mein and loved it. Again, it wasn't as spicy as some dishes but was fine with some soy sauce. Their chow mein was far better than the version we got from another Chinese restaurant east of there. Curbside pickup works well. read more

Amazing egg rolls and the price of their lunch specials. This isn't the best Chinese food in town but it's also not the worst. I enjoy the feel of traveling back in time when you sit in the restaurant to the decor to the plates you are served. Overall a good place for lunch for under $10 dollars with drink. Oh and free tea ;) read more

My favorite lunch here is the Thursday PC Tray. Consists of chunks of marinated steak, egg roll, rice and tea. Food always is super hot and they have the best egg rolls. read more

The best Chinese/Filipino restaurant in central Illinois, bar none! Try the lumpia and pancit! Awesome service, awesome food!

This is a welcome relief from the standard fast-food fare for weary, hungry travelers.The food is delicious and served as quickly as fast food, but so much better. The servers are happy, helpful and pleasant. The owners are on site, working alongside their employees, and very eager to chat with their patrons. All the food choices are good and the egg rolls the best around! Wish they were located in our hometown--Bloomington is very fortunate to have this family-owned restaurant! read more

A Bloomington-Normal staple! I suggest ordering like 19 egg rolls. And maybe some crab rangoons. Or just one of everything... If the servers aren't super nice when you're there then you must be at the wrong place! read more

These are definitely the best egg rolls I've had since 1921! Great egg roll, very tasty, and the service was great.

It's back and fantastic, love the food! Staff is some of the old school crew. Owner is normally on deck. Great service, food, smiles!

I cannot tell you how amazing their food has always been. Since I was a little girl I was going to this place and nothing has changed their food still tastes like it used to. Want something amazing? Try their egg rolls, you won't find better ones anywhere else!! read more

It was awful. Part of our order was wrong. They didn't seem to care. Mine was so bad. Didn't even eat it. Eggs rolls were disappointing after hearing how great they were. read more

Ordered delivery & was not disappointed. Food was here in an hour. Egg rolls, beef chow mein and pork tid bits were as good as they were when Grand Cafe was open on Main St in Bloomington l will continue to order from Grand Cafe! read more

This is the only restaurant that I know of in central Illinois that serves Filipino food. The owner was so kind and friendly, and service was top-notch. Their lumpia were delicious and packed full of meat and flavor. The Filipino pork skewers were huge and had a nice charred flavor. The Garlic Fried Rice that accompanied it was a bit underwhelming. It was basically just steamed rice filled with fried garlic. I ordered the Sinigang soup and boy was it sour! I love sour but it tasted like they dropped a bottle of vinegar in it. However, as I sipped on the soup more and more, I enjoyed the flavor of it because it reminded me of Thai Tom Yum. It was filled with pork that was cooked perfectly along with some tasty vegetables. And I mean they loaded it with pork. My friend tasted the soup and complained it tasted too sour and too gamey so keep in mind that this dish is an acquired taste. My friend ordered the Bihon Pancit and enjoyed it very much. A lot of Americanized Asian dishes tend to be sweet and this dish was not sweet at all to her delight. We will definitely be returning to try other Filipino dishes and probably even some Chinese dishes. read more

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Worst Chinese food experience EVER. If you want rice with your meal, you have to request it. We learned that the hard way after returning home from picking up our order with no rice. The general chicken is garbage, it didn't even taste like the general. Half the box was filled with vegetable. I don't order Chinese food for the veggies. Do yourself a favor and order from somewhere else like First Wok. read more

The "new" Grand Cafe really needs to work on its recipes-- it lacks flavor and the cooking is poorly executed. Egg rolls are very similar, but the seasoning (and PB haha) are less than they used to have. I've eaten there a handful of times since its reopening, as well as the new location on Market street, and the quality has been consistently poor. Service itself is great, but the fact that both places have underseasoned food makes me think that the problem is more than just individual cooks who need practice. The worst element has to be the shrimp dishes! They don't drain off the water that comes off when cooking the meat, so you're served this grey, soupy, grimy dish that has shrimp and veggies floating in it. I truly want this place to be good, especially with the new location where Yen Ching used to be, but it's no where near what it should be, especially for the price. read more

I just got back from my first time eating at The Grand Cafe and I have mixed feelings about my experience. I'm new to the area (from Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN) and was entertaining friends in town for the weekend, so for dinner we decided to give The Grand Cafe a try after reading the reviews here. I didn't mind the dated decor or the fact that the food is Americanized rather than authentic. We went in to the experience looking for Americanized Chinese food, and based on other reviews here I was mentally prepared for the decor, so those aren't the issues. The food was just literally hit or miss dish by dish. Since I was with a large party, I had the opportunity to try lots of different dishes all at once, so here's my take on how it played out: Seafood Wontons = Gross. They were greasy with unidentifiable "seafood" inside yet oddly they were completely flavorless and didn't taste like anything but greasy, deep fried wonton skins. Dipping them in sauces didn't even help these sad things out. I would not bother with these again. Vegetarian Egg Rolls = Bad. REALLY BAD. They were mushy, pasty and, again, flavorless. I was really disappointed in these since so many people raved about them on here. Maybe they didn't have the vegetable version? I don't know, I just wouldn't recommend them and I wouldn't ever order them again either. Pineapple Chicken = Excellent! This dish, although it needed a little doctoring with some soy sauce, was really good. There were big pieces of pineapple in with the chicken which wasn't too greasy (and you could tell the chicken was actually chicken too), and it was all tossed in a zippy, zingy, citrus flavored sauce. I would actually order this one again. Vegetable Fried Rice = Great! There were large pieces of broccoli, celery, onion and water chestnut, the rice was full of flavor, and I would definitely order this again too! Vegetable Egg Foo Young = Egg Fu****g Yuck. The sauce was pasty like there was too much flour in it, it was bright yellow brown like the color of baby poo, and, again, it was completely flavorless as was the patty. I thought the patty had potential since it was full of crunchy, identifiable vegies, and it held together well also, it just didn't taste like anything. So, not a winner and I would not order this again. Vegetable Cow Mein = Decent but needs doctoring. The vegies were crunchy, not mushy or overcooked, and overall this dish was not too greasy either. But it needed some flavor assistance as the sauce was really mild tasting. I'm glad it wasn't the heavy, gummy sauce used by so many Chinese restaurants - it actually has a great consistency - It was just really plain tasting. Since no one else in my party liked it, I took the leftovers home and I'll see what I can do to doctor it up with some spices, etc. when I reheat it tomorrow. Regardless of what happens I don't think I'd order this again though - for the work it takes to doctor it up I could just stir-fry vegies myself I guess... And that's my take blow-by-blow. I think I would go back to the restaurant if I was specifically craving something like the pineapple chicken with fried rice, but considering that 4 out of the 6 things I tried were disappointing, I don't know if I'd be willing to venture out of that box much. I can't explain the flavorlessness of some of the dishes either. Maybe they don't use MSG as a flavor agent? I've had other Chinese food that was toxic MSG free though and it still tasted great, so I don't know what the deal is here. I'm at a loss. Anyways, the two stars are for the pineapple chicken and the fried rice -- the service we had was great too, but Yelp doesn't let you give half stars, so that's just going to go unrated because I'm not willing to go up a full star just for that. In the world of Chinese food I'd say The Grand Cafe is definitely a step up from places like Leann Chin and Panda Express, but it's quite a ways from being spectacular! read more