Happy Garden Chinese Buffet in Glen Dale is a standard small-town Chinese-American restaurant.



I picked up several Styrofoam to-go boxes from the main counter and filled them with food from the buffet: General Tso's chicken, seafood delight, crab rangoons, etc. Those are my core go-tos: a little sweet, a little savory, a little creamy, a little crunchy.



After weighing each box, the cashier rang me up. I think this is the best way to go because you can enjoy the variety of a buffet in the comfort of your own home. Plus, you can have leftovers. With a buffet, though, comes my oft-recited complaints - a bit dried out, a bit chewy. But par for the course.



Grade: B

The last stop on my DiCarlo's pizza tour - for now - was Glen Dale. And, it was by far the most different of any DiCarlo's location. They have packaged pepperoni rolls, a giant "Home of the Original Big Box" rug - not sure what that is, but apparently they also have big boxes AND AND AND they have booze. See that cooler of beer off to the bottom left? You can buy beer. Beer and pizza, what's better?

The main waiting area is large, and there is a dining space off to the right side. Since this was the last trip of the day, I wanted to take home some pieces, so I got 8. Two to eat immediately, six to take home and eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next day.

The first thing I noticed was that the pepperoni is UNDER the blanket of shredded cheese. Odd. The crust is very crisp on this one and thicker. The sauce, though, was the biggest difference. Instead of the slight spice and tomato flavor, it was very heavy on the pepper. And there may have been actual peppers or hunks of tomato in the sauce - not sure which. Not that it was bad - it just wasn't what I was necessarily used to. And it could be because I had literally just had another location's pizza. Not sure I would notice the stark difference had I not just eaten them back to back.

Overall, it was a good bit different. And if you like a peppery, stronger sauce, this is your pizza. But still great.

 


Grade: A