The Worst Restaurant Experience I've Ever Had -- Little China, Gardena, CA
I came to Little China in Gardena with my mom and some of her cousins. They invited us because they had heard this was a place for good, authentic, family-style Chinese food. Unfortunately, what we experienced was completely different.
When we arrived, the restaurant was not busy at all and there were plenty of empty tables. Despite that, it took several minutes before the hostess even acknowledged us. We were asked how many people were in our party, and then waited approximately 15 minutes before being seated.
Once seated, we were asked what we wanted to drink while we looked over the menu. It took another 15 minutes just to receive our drinks.
When the drinks finally arrived, they were placed at the edge of the table and the person immediately walked away before we could even tell them we were ready to order.
Then things got even worse.
A large party was seated next to us, along with several other customers. We noticed that these parties arrived after us, yet their food started coming out while we were still waiting to even place our order. Approximately 30 minutes passed before someone finally came back to our table to take our order.
We ordered:
* Kung Pao Chicken
* Chow Mein
* Sweet & Sour Soup
* Orange Chicken
* Beef with Broccoli
* Fried Rice
By this point, the other parties who had arrived after us had already received their food.
At this point, I was extremely frustrated. Normally, I would have started documenting everything and asked to speak with management immediately, but I didn't want to make the situation uncomfortable for my mom and family, so I tried to remain patient.
Another 15 minutes passed. The families who had arrived after us had already finished eating and left, while new customers were being seated.
My uncle, who is normally an extremely calm person, finally stood up and asked for the manager.
The manager saw him and essentially waved him off as if to say, "Yeah, yeah, we know, we know." There was no real attempt to come to our table, explain the situation, apologize, or address our concerns.
Then the food finally started arriving -- one dish at a time, with roughly 15 minutes between some of the dishes.
Instead of being placed down normally, the plates were essentially placed at the edge of the table with considerable force. There was very little communication or eye contact from the staff.
At that point, we decided to simply let everything arrive and then leave.
When we finally saw the food, we were extremely disappointed. The presentation was not appealing to us, and some of the food raised concerns for us regarding how it had been handled. I did not feel comfortable eating it.
I normally take pictures of my food and experiences when visiting restaurants, but honestly, this experience was so frustrating that I didn't even feel like documenting it. We ultimately got up and left without eating.
And unfortunately, that wasn't the only interaction that concerned me.
As we were leaving, an elderly Black couple walked into the restaurant and, from what I personally observed, they appeared to receive an even more dismissive and unpleasant reception from the beginning.
I told them, "Please be careful. The service is not great and the food is terrible."
I sincerely hope what I witnessed was not discrimination or racism. I don't want to accuse anyone of something I cannot prove. However, the way my family was treated, followed by what I witnessed with another family, left me extremely uncomfortable.
The restaurant itself also did not leave a good impression on us. The overall appearance did not make me feel confident about the cleanliness or quality of the establishment.
This was supposed to be a nice family meal with my mom, and instead it became the worst restaurant experience I have ever had.
I would not return, and based on my experience, I cannot recommend this restaurant to others.
I also have concerns about the food handling and cleanliness, and I intend to report those concerns to the appropriate local health authorities so they can investigate.
Negative stars are what I wish I could give this place.
I really hope management takes these concerns seriously and looks into what is happening with the staff, customer service, and food-handling practices. read more