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Taiwanese and Cantonese in a basement
This basement restaurant might not be easily noticed when driving down Nicollet Avenue, but they have a very large selection of vegetarian items on the menu, and the owners are extremely friendly and accommodating.
The cuisine is mostly Cantonese, with many mock meat items (beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, squid, and more), as well as some Taiwanese specialties (the owners are both Taiwanese).
At lunch time on weekends they also have some dim sum, including fresh made organic soy milk.
Added by
Dave Rolsky
on Mar 1 03
(last updated Dec 10 08)
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I have been living in the Minneapolis area for a couple years now and have been frequenting Evergreen for a while. I’ve eaten there about 15 to 20 time and have had good food and mixed service, until the last time I was there. I have been a waiter for going on 12 years now in everything from fast paced high turnover restaurants like Perkins to $250 per person dinners where I’ve had to where a tux and white gloves just to serve, in addition I spent a year as owner of a small restaurant. Through it all I’ve seen business practices that were good, some that were bad and everything in between. What I experienced at Evergreen the last time I went there was completely unacceptable! I will detail what happened:
We arrived to dinner on a Friday night. There were three of us and we got sat and after about 10 min they brought us water and tea without letting us know they were behind. They had a party of about 15 they were serving and about 5 other tables at the time, which came to about 30-40 guests in the restaurant. They had 3 people working the front of the house and I glanced at the pantry door and saw at least 2 more people in the back of the house. That brings the guest count to at most about 13 guests per server and 15-20 per cook. Which is still within industry standards for restaurants in the class of TGI Fridays, Applebee’s and Cheese Cake Factory to provide excellent service.
Our order was:
Me: start with fried tofu and a plate of fried rice for dinner.
Guest 2: start with fried tofu and cup of egg drop soup for dinner.
Guest 3: General toa’s mock chicken.
At the same time we put in our order in a table of 2 was sat. The server retreated to the kitchen and came out a min later and took the order of the other table. After about 10 more min the 2 plates of fried tofu came out and we eat them. Then another 20 min went by and the cup of soup and my fried rice came out. So we’d been there for 40 min at this point and the 3rd person in our group still had not gotten any thing to eat, other than some of our fried tofu.
By this point the other table that put their order in after us had gotten their entrees, eaten, paid and left. It was about 5 min before we were able to flag the owner down and ask him if the 3rd persons’ meal was almost ready and express our frustration with the lack of service. To which he did not verbally reply but just motioned in the direction of the kitchen and then walk back there. About 5 min later he returned to our table with her entrée, put it down and walked away without so much as an I’m sorry it took so long. The third person eat her meal and at the bottom of her dish she found 2 short black hairs. Because none of us have short black hair, were sure that they were from one of the staff. So we were quite displeased at this point and called the server over and showed her the hair, to which the server asked why she eat most of the meal before saying anything? The person in out group responded by telling the server that it was on the bottom and she couldn’t see it until she eat most of her meal. The server then said that she should not have said anything in that case. About this time the owner had just come to the table, appalled at what the server just told us, we turned to him and showed him the hair and at the same time expressed our frustration with everything. He replied that there was a big party before us. As if that was justification to not even stopping for a second to tell us it would take longer than usual, why a table after us got their food before us, and that there was hair in one of our meals.
So we went over to the register to pay and the server and owner’s attitude was unfriendly and the owner reluctantly discounted the meal with the hair in it. Then abruptly he and the server we had been dealing with walked away leaving us with the 3rd front of the house staff person who we had not dealt with till that point. She was the first one all night the express that she was sorry about the service and the hair. The overall attitude we got was one that it was our privilege to eat at their restaurant and we should be happy we can eat there, despite the service. That is where I draw the line!!!
I am proposing that if you want to go out for oriental, go to an establishment that appreciates our business and cares whether you have a pleasant dining experience and is willing to work hard to make sure you do.
The first time I visited Evergreen (a year ago), I thought it was "okay, but nothing really special." I hadn't gone back not because I didn't enjoy it, but because I really don't go out to eat much, and when I have over the past year, I didn't feel an overwhelming desire to return to Evergreen. That has definitely changed now!
Between my last few visits, I have had the Vegetarian Spring Rolls (with sweet & sour sauce), Three Cup Tofu, Sweet & Sour Mock Chicken, Lemongrass Mock Beef, House Style Eggplant with Basil, and Pepper Fried Mock Pork.
Everything was AMAZING. The Three Cup Tofu was very delicately flavored & aromatic (and intensely delicious), the Eggplant melted in my mouth & was perfectly seasoned, and the Lemongrass Mock Beef had a perfect texture & tasted divine. The Spring Rolls and Sweet & Sour Veg Chicken are nothing "special," but they're tasty nonetheless & a nice treat to remind me of the Americanized Chinese food I ate growing up. (Everything else is not "Americanized," but rather very authentic.) My boyfriend & parents love the Mock Pork, and while I like the flavor, I can't get over the texture - it reminds me way too much of real pork (which would be a good thing for some people). I actually asked the waitress twice if she was SURE it was the vegetarian pork because I haven't had pork from a pig in probably 5 years, and it looked too real to me... The flavor was great, but for me, the texture was too "meaty." (This isn't a complaint, and as I said, both my boyfriend, mom & dad love it. I just wouldn't order it again for me, personally, as meat skeeves me out.)
The atmosphere leaves a lot to be desired, but I could be served this food in a damp cellar with a dirt floor & not care. I also love that Evergreen is family-owned & run. It's always great to support local businesses!
Anyway, I could go on & on (and on & on) raving about this food. But in summary, it's incredible. I will be back often.
Read all 50 reviews.
Neighborhood
Eat Street (Nicollet)
Non-Smoking
Accepts Reservations
Not Wheelchair Accessible
Prices
$$ - average
Payment
Cuisines
- Taiwanese
- Cantonese
- Dim Sum
Features
- Kid-Friendly
- Large Group-Friendly
Edit
I have been living in the Minneapolis area for a couple years now and have been frequenting Evergreen for a while. I’ve eaten there about 15 to 20 time and have had good food and mixed service, until the last time I was there. I have been a waiter for going on 12 years now in everything from fast paced high turnover restaurants like Perkins to $250 per person dinners where I’ve had to where a tux and white gloves just to serve, in addition I spent a year as owner of a small restaurant. Through it all I’ve seen business practices that were good, some that were bad and everything in between. What I experienced at Evergreen the last time I went there was completely unacceptable! I will detail what happened:
We arrived to dinner on a Friday night. There were three of us and we got sat and after about 10 min they brought us water and tea without letting us know they were behind. They had a party of about 15 they were serving and about 5 other tables at the time, which came to about 30-40 guests in the restaurant. They had 3 people working the front of the house and I glanced at the pantry door and saw at least 2 more people in the back of the house. That brings the guest count to at most about 13 guests per server and 15-20 per cook. Which is still within industry standards for restaurants in the class of TGI Fridays, Applebee’s and Cheese Cake Factory to provide excellent service.
Our order was:
Me: start with fried tofu and a plate of fried rice for dinner.
Guest 2: start with fried tofu and cup of egg drop soup for dinner.
Guest 3: General toa’s mock chicken.
At the same time we put in our order in a table of 2 was sat. The server retreated to the kitchen and came out a min later and took the order of the other table. After about 10 more min the 2 plates of fried tofu came out and we eat them. Then another 20 min went by and the cup of soup and my fried rice came out. So we’d been there for 40 min at this point and the 3rd person in our group still had not gotten any thing to eat, other than some of our fried tofu.
By this point the other table that put their order in after us had gotten their entrees, eaten, paid and left. It was about 5 min before we were able to flag the owner down and ask him if the 3rd persons’ meal was almost ready and express our frustration with the lack of service. To which he did not verbally reply but just motioned in the direction of the kitchen and then walk back there. About 5 min later he returned to our table with her entrée, put it down and walked away without so much as an I’m sorry it took so long. The third person eat her meal and at the bottom of her dish she found 2 short black hairs. Because none of us have short black hair, were sure that they were from one of the staff. So we were quite displeased at this point and called the server over and showed her the hair, to which the server asked why she eat most of the meal before saying anything? The person in out group responded by telling the server that it was on the bottom and she couldn’t see it until she eat most of her meal. The server then said that she should not have said anything in that case. About this time the owner had just come to the table, appalled at what the server just told us, we turned to him and showed him the hair and at the same time expressed our frustration with everything. He replied that there was a big party before us. As if that was justification to not even stopping for a second to tell us it would take longer than usual, why a table after us got their food before us, and that there was hair in one of our meals.
So we went over to the register to pay and the server and owner’s attitude was unfriendly and the owner reluctantly discounted the meal with the hair in it. Then abruptly he and the server we had been dealing with walked away leaving us with the 3rd front of the house staff person who we had not dealt with till that point. She was the first one all night the express that she was sorry about the service and the hair. The overall attitude we got was one that it was our privilege to eat at their restaurant and we should be happy we can eat there, despite the service. That is where I draw the line!!!
I am proposing that if you want to go out for oriental, go to an establishment that appreciates our business and cares whether you have a pleasant dining experience and is willing to work hard to make sure you do.