Evergreen Chinese Restaurant
Profile
$ - inexpensive
Taiwanese, Cantonese, Dim Sum
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 acommodating.
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.
- Kid-Friendly
- Large Group-Friendly
Added by Dave Rolsky on Mar 1 03 (updated Jan 7)
Reviews
I'll never get tired of Evergreen. I hold all other Chinese (or Taiwanese rather) restaurants up to the Evergreen-standard. This, of course, makes it impossible to eat at any other Chinese (or Taiwanese) restaurant because they never come close.
i visited evergreen for the first time over a week ago, curious because of the outstanding reviews. but i have to agree that it is incredible and truely authentic. i went with 2 other non-vegetarians and they both agreed it was the most authentic chinese they have ever had. i ordered the steamed vegetables (with mock pork; incredible mock meats!)the tofu with garlic black bean sauce which had amazing flavor, miso soup, and a strawberry boba tea for desert. i loved everything and had plenty of leftovers, but had a hard time deciding on what to order because there are so many vegan options.(the next table over ordered orange mock chicken which smelled and looked so good!) my most favorite though was the miso soup and i cannot believe the large bowl is under $2. the prices are so low but the quality is not. my only con is the location in the dingy basement. while it is very clean and quaint downstairs, the neighborhood is very sketchy and i do not reccomend coming down alone (or late at night!) if you are just in the mood for a delicious vegan chinese experience i definitely suggest you try evergreen. i would go again, however sometime duirng daylight.
Evergreen is the best! They have so many vegan/vegetarian options and everything is delicious. My favorite is the sweet and sour mock pork but I liked everything I tried. Fair prices for large plates to share with your table. My mouth waters just thinking about it...
This place was outstanding. In addition to the amazing pepper mock pork (which is raved about in nearly every other review on here), I really enjoyed the wonton soup. Delicious flavor (enhanced by Sriracha sauce, (-:) and you get a big bowl for a few bucks. Good deal.
I also liked the cold garlicky cucumber appetizer we got from the fridge. I thought it would be really plain but it was nicely seasoned and refreshing.
PEPPER FRIED MOCK PORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sooooo good.
me and my hubbys usual is that + mandarin mock chicken and an order of veggie rolls....
soooo good
I just ate there last night, and it was a great restaurant. The menu was pretty big, and almost everything on it could be ordered with mock meats. All items that had meat were labeled with an "M", but nearly everything could be ordered with an analog substitute.
The food was great; I've never had mock meats that tasted so good. The sweet and sour mock pork and mock chicken were great, but I think my favorite was the pepper-fried mock pork. The tea was excellent also.
I'll definitely be coming back.
I enjoy going to Evergreen whenever I can. Every time that I've gone (5-6 times so far?), it's been an enjoyable experience.
I like their 3-cup tofu, and I'm not a fan of tofu, either, but the herbs and spices make it a very light, but satisfying, meal. The same applies to my new 'favorite', the kung pao tofu, which has more spiciness, but isn't overpowering in the least, unless you decide to eat all of the red peppers.
They do a very good job with the mock meats. Similarly to tofu, I'm not a fan of most mock meats or most sweet-and-sour sauces, but I really liked their sweet-and-sour mock chicken, which was a very pleasant surprise.
I've gone to Evergreen as a part of two larger groups; one time I made reservations myself. They were accommodating to our group, and I had the impression that they've done this many times before.
It's helpful as well that their menu is designed as well as it is. It makes ordering food very easy when you can find the vegan selections or which items are labeled 'spicy' (Minnesota spicy, that is). :-)
Evergreen is consistently great!
This place is so awesome! An impressive menu (make sure you ask for the big 6 page menu, not the 2-sided laminated one they give you right away). The most vegan options I've ever seen, EVER. They even include a disclaimer to ask about which mock meats have whey and casein.
The food itself is amazing. They pack an astounding amount of flavor into every bite. Seriously, the flavors are amazing. Lemongrass mock beef, 3-cup tofu, mock duck curry are all worth checking out. But really, everything is worth it. Take some friends, share some dishes, and have a great night out.
This place is my favourite Chinese restaurant in the cities... maybe my favourite restaurant period in the cities period! The food is fantastic, if not a wee bit pricey. The owners are incredibly accommodating and very nice! If I could afford to, I'd go at least once a week.
Evergreen is among the best of Twin Cities vegan cuisine. They have the most vegan options that I have come across. They have traditional Chinese dishes with options of mock beef, pork, chicken, and seafood.
The vegan wonton soup is among my favorites there. It comes as a very large portion at an extremely reasonable price,$2.00 for a large bowl! My favorite dinner entree is the curried mock duck, if you like curries will love this dish.
My favorite Twin Cities Chinese restaurant. Terrific food and sweet, adorable Grandparent-like owner operators.
Great big menu with lots of vegan options - fake shrimp, fake beef, fake pork, tofu, etc. I love the mock beef and broccoli and the mock shrimp and broccoli. My companion always orders the Pepper Fried Mock Pork and loves it - "the best ever". The 3 Cup Tofu is quite good, as are the vegan spring rolls, potstickers and the very tasty mango, strawberry, etc. soy shakes. It's in the basement, but they're a little family operation and they're very friendly and they work hard to keep you happy. p.s. - closed on Tuesdays.
Always friendly, always great food.
Their fake meat tastes so real, it's freaky.
We go here all the time. My favorite dish is the 3 cup tofu. I love the casual feel and the service is great. It is one of my favorite restaurants in the twin cities!
Update: You must try the Pepper Fried Mock Pork from the Chef's Recommendations section of the new menu - it is fantastic. The Five Spice Boiled Peanuts and garlic cucumbers were great, too - a hint on the cold appetizers: you can serve yourself from the cooler near the back of the restaurant, they'll add it to the bill in the end. It's nice to not have to wait for food if you're really hungry!
The mock beef in satay sauce was great - lots of veggies and a slightly spicy brownish sauce. Vietnamese style BBQ mock beef with lemongrass is excellent.
The wonton noodle soup with wheat noodles (you can get it with rice noodles if you prefer) was good. Light veggie broth, with bok choy, noodles, and wontons. It left me feeling full but not stuffed. The vegetable soup with wheat noodles was good, but sort of bland.
The people who run this place are so sweet! They are happy to make whatever they can vegan for you, and are generally concerned with making food that you will enjoy. The vegan wonton soup is a new addiction for me. I love it, and it is super cheap. The veggie rolls, too, are great, just because it's not something you can usually find "veganized" in other places. I'm a big fan. Once again, a good place to take a mixed crowd.
FYI - Evergreen's take-out menu is slightly different from the big up-dated one they use for sit-down diners (though they'll tell you they're the same). The take-out menu leaves off three yummy specialty vegetarian dishes: pepper fried mock pork (mentioned in a previous review), fried tofu with crispy soy bean flakes, and three cup tofu.
As a non-vegetarian, I found this restaurant very good. I go there with my son and daughter-in-law, who are vegans, and who have introduced me to some really tasty dishes. The lemongrass mock beef entree was superb - chewy and very tasty. We also enjoyed the tofu skins appetizer. In fact, their tofu dishes are excellent. Try the stir fries and noodle dishes as well. It has become our favorite restaurant when we visit our children in Minneapolis. I wish we had something like this - and our kids - in New Jersey.
Make sure you ask for the NEW menu. (It is about six pages and is tied with yarn.) It has more dishes and better descriptions.
The foods here are quite good, though not all that exceptional. Easy customers may find their foods wonderful; but to me, there's a small bit of something missing from the entrees I have tasted. The veggie spring rolls were good. Gluten was nice though the garlic was a bit dominating, perhaps due to a weak soy-sauce-base flavor sauce. Tofu with mushroom and peapods also missed a fine element that would have made the food here exceptional, perhaps some spice that could compliments the Shitake mushrooms. I don't know about service. Perhaps since it was a Tuesday night, there was only one staff member and he seemed to get overwhelmed with 5 tables. With me and my friend being the last of 5, we got neglected quite a bit. I was not disappointed though since I don't expect Chinese restaurants to provide great service anyway.
I live and work in Minneapolis, and Evergreen is my #1 favorite restaurant. I go there all the time now. I've been a Veg*n for over 30 years, and it's nice to find a gem like this. Evergreen is run by a couple from Taiwan who are Buddhist. Very friendly! Though they do serve meat menu items, the vegetarian selection is quite extensive, and tasty. And they do not cook veggie food in the same Woks and pans as flesh-foods. Try it! You will be glad you did. You may even become a "regular," like me!
I should add that lots of Chinese (mainland and expat), and other Asian, people eat here -- especially on the weekends. The food is what I would call "authentic," not "americanized" chinese style(s) food.
I can't say enough good things about this place. We recently went to Minneapolis for a long weekend and at there twice. The fake sweet and sour chicken was just about the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. I LOVED it!!! I also had the fake beef with broccoli, which was wonderful. This place is the best. They are so friendly, and I loved seeing vegetarian literature in the restaurant.
The most outstanding item here is the tofu custard dessert. It is so so delicious! It's apparently too sweet for some people and too weird looking for others but I think it's just heavenly. It resembles Creme Brule, which used to be one of my favorite desserts when I was younger. I thought there just cannot be a vegan version of Creme Brule (it's made up almost entirely of sugar and eggs). But here it is: the vegan version of Creme Brule and it's delicious! Ask for extra syrup if you are like me and like it extra sweet. This dessert will lift you up after you've filled yourself up with tons of yummy food.
For some reason, I have way more fun here when I come with a lot of people. I think I get bored of my food when I come with only one other person, but if I get to eat a bit of everything, I leave very very satisfied.
A friend and I went to Evergreen on a Monday night and were the only diners. The owner was funny about it and made a big show of finding us a table. The staff here is very nice as others have said.
The veg rolls are very good. The mustard sauce was runny and seemed to be diluted with water. I had a mock pork dish which looked convincing with its fake fat layer. It tasted like salt pork, which became a bit much after just a few bites. The rice was dry and flavorless.
My friend said that she liked her meat dish but that it wasn't anything special.
Considering that our dinners were almost $9 each, there are much better restaurants that I would choose to go to first. I will definately go back as I'd like to try some of the other dishes though. Probably for lunch. The separate wok for veg dishes is a sensitive touch.
Sorry guys, but I've eaten at a lot of vegetarian chinese places and this one isn't so good. The food is sub-standard chinese fair (ie, brown sauce or white sauce)and the gluten meat substitute is excessively chewy and dry. It's really too bad, because I was really excited about the menu and the staff is super sweet. I would honestly stick with your favorite chinese place and ask them to substitute with tofu.
This is the first place in the twin cities that I've seen that has "fake meat" stir fries, I'd first seen in in San Jose. I'm not a big fan of the "fake meat", but the others that were with me "non-vegetarians" turned "vegetarians" claimed that the fake pork was the best tasting, closest to real thing. Also said chicken was the least enjoyable of all the fake meats.
While the mock meat entrees are a treat in thier own way, I love the amazing tofu and mock duck dishes even more. The three-cup tofu is amazing. How do they get the tofu to absorb all that flavor? Why can't other asian restaurant accomplish this?
I also really enjoy the vegetarian rolls. They're eggrolls without the eggy & meaty parts. They aren't really all that impressive- but it's nice to be able to have this little bit of fried love that I never had the chance to enjoy like all those who eat their typical meaty eggrolls from other places.
There are seemingly hundreds of things not on the menu that they are always trying out, and may jump at the chance to make for you. You'll have to ask though!
my favorite thing was a mango shake made with fresh homemade soymilk. the appetizers--vegan rolls and make-believe chicken nuggets--were very good, though the entrees weren't that exciting.. i could have had a fine meal with just my sugary shake and appetizers all to myself.
they had nice placemats with animals on them. my mom was trying to find the animal whose year she was born in, and i said she was too old to be on the placemat. she got mad. other than that my (non-vegan) parents seemed to like the food even more than me.
I don't care about the am-bi-ance, the food is what matters. I'm not vegan, I'm not vegetarian, I'm just saying that if you want to show people what can be done with the lowly soy bean, this is the place to bring your non-vegan friends. First off I have to say that I love the chicken nuggets, they're just as good as McDonalds. I am the type of person who when I find something I like I pretty much stick with it so I pretty much always have the fake chicken with broccoli in white sauce, but I also steal from my girlfriend when she has whatever and I've liked everything so far (I like the fake chicken better then the fake beef though.) I'm pretty sure there's a company supplying oriental restaurants with this good soy-meat, I wonder if they sell to individuals.... I first encountered this stuff in new york at a place called vp2 (vegetarian paradise 2) and it was the same stuff with the same categories: chicken, pork, beef, and seafood.
Definitely a 10 and I'm not even vegan! I consider this to be the best meat substitute from any of the vegan places I've went. If your non vegan friends are too lame to get one of the vegan dishes, they can always get a regular non-vegan one...but then the question is why do you have such lame friends?
P.s. remember to try the chicken nuggets...THEY ROCK!
I realize the reason everyone loves Evergreen is the meat substitutes. Personally, I find their food to be the closest thing to typical american chinese food I've found in our vegetarian restaurant travels.
I love this place!
They have a great selection of vegan items, including vegan egg rolls (indeed!), vegan wonton soup, lots of mock meat dishes, and a number of vegetable, tofu, noodle and wheat gluten selections.
The owners are incredibly nice, they go out of their way to make sure you get what you want, and are more than happy to accommodate special requests. On one past visit, one of our party ordered a dish that came out too spicy for her. The chef noticed that she wasn't really eating it, and insisted on making her another dish.
The visit before that, they made everyone in our group a special vegan "pearl (soy)milk bubble tea", which is tea mixed with soy milk and then shaken so it has bubbles, and then tapioca pearls are added.
Among the many delicious things on the menu which I would recommend, some of the best are the vegetarian egg rolls, the vegetarian chicken nuggets, tofu with mushrooms and soy sauce, tofu with vegetables in spicy sauce, wheat gluten with pickles, sesame paste noodles (no peanut better, just sesame), wonton soup, noodles with vegetables and satay sauce and Taiwanese style stir-fried noodles.
Extremely clean restaurant with shining floors. I personally have a thing against carpet in restaurants, and here, I find no fault with their flooring of wood laminate.
Sincere service. They noticed I was putting ice in my cup of tea, and they brought over a cup full of only ice to the table without even asking. They had wonderful fresh soy milk. It was very soothing, slightly sweet, and just fantastic. Their sesame paste noodles are great! Not overly sweet, with the right ratio of noodles, bean sprouts, and scallions. It's addictive.
Great cheap place. Definitely worth going out of your way to find. It's one of those rare Chinese restaurants that will actually have Chinese people as patrons.
This place has great chinese food at very reasonable prices. If you ask, they will make basically anything on their menu vegan. When I went, everyone seemed very satisfied with their meal, and the staff was quite friendly.
This place is very good!
I went with a group of people this past weekend, good food was had by all. Amongst the things mentioned in Dave Rolsky's review may I add the Sesame noodles and vegan lo mein.
My favorite part was at the bottom of the menu which said some to the effect of "We cook all our vegetarian foods in a separate wok."
High Recomendations!
Ratings Without Reviews
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I eat Evergreen (take-out or dine-in) at least twice a week, if not more. Evergreen offers excellent vegetarian and vegan dishes, from the spicy, colorful mixed vegetables with fried tofu, to the tender mock beef with broccoli or the mock chicken with blackbean sauce. My favorite dishes (and I've basically tried the entire menu) are most definitely: three-cup tofu (herbal and aromatic!); house-style eggplant with basil (deliciously smooth, fragrant and subtle); five-spice dried tofu with bell peppers (unusual and savory); and mock beef or mock pork with garlic sauce (great array of textures and flavors).
The owners and servers are always friendly and the menu is diverse for meat and non-meat eaters alike. It's rarely ever crowded and they have good hours. The quality, variety and reasonable prices of the dishes make this the best Chinese/Taiwanese restaurant in Minneapolis, and one of my favorites of all time. Highly recommended.