Goody Cafe

The Almond Milk Black Tea was amazing. Im so excited to have a bubble tea place closer to my house!

I work just down Lindell and eat here way too much! Any dish that has breaded chicken is hand dipped… Saw them in the kitchen. And the crab Rangoon and egg rolls are made in house as well. You can’t say that about many places anymore! I think the review about raw beef in the Phở was a combination of a misunderstanding and a language barrier. The beef does come raw/​rare in the phở… She probably didn’t know how to explain it to him, or he didn’t want to listen. Anyway… I eat here all the time and have never been disappointed, they will make custom dishes or make something more or less spicy for you. You can get American Chinese food or authentic and I think the only thing that comes pre-​made are the fortune cookies… Which are never right anyway. Overall, great food!

This is my favorite go-​to place near CWE, I have my lunch here almost everyday for more than one year. Price is on par and competitive. There are lots of LITERALLY AUTHENTIC CHINESE dishes, I always order dishes from the white board with Chinese hand writing.
New dishes are offered this season, like hot pot soup and spicy pot. Seriously just so awesome.
All the bubble tea is wonderful and you can ask for half-​sweetened or sugarless bubble tea as well.
For some tranditional Asian dishes, they are offered with rare meat and hot soup, so we could mix them to cook the meat ourselves, which is the best thing I love it.
If you like tranditional Asian food, you will definitely be becoming a regular to this establishment! I didn’t try Americanzied Chinese food here, but my workmates did, and they love the place a lots.

I am floored at the rude customer service my friend and i received last night ordering delivery from Goody Café. I typically like to support small businesses in the area and am reluctant to post such an awful review for an est. in my neighborhood. But this was egregious — within the world getting food at least!
I had ordered from there before and it was good! My dish was good! Crab rangoon was fine! My friend ordered the D5 «Beef Thick Rice Noodle» for $ 10.95 from the delivery menu I had. It was listed under the «Chinese Dinner Menu.»
The beef looked raw to me and my friend (he is a student from Kenya) was perplexed. I thought perhaps it was very rare roast beef so I called to ask about it. Immediately the defenses went up and I was polite and just trying to clarify what the dish was. The woman who answered kept giving me unsatisfactory answers when I inquired. When I asked if it was raw she said that it was «cooked when you pour the soup over it» and I clarified with her that that meant the large plastic container of broth.
She kept reinforcing that that is how the dish is prepared and I have no expertise to say that is incorrect. But common sense tells me that perhaps that dish is best NOT delivered. First there is the issue of the temperature of the broth when it arrives to my home — is it hot enough? Secondly, we had no idea that it was raw so what if we had simply waited and had very cold food without reheating? Yes, I have had carpaccio or tartare when that is what I expect and it is the proper cut of beef and been prepared under health code violations. This was not the case here.
She repeatedly asked me if I had read the menu — rather than diffusing the situation which would have been so easy at that point! We were old friends getting together near Christmas and had no intentions of having Chinese Food delivery stress! She could have replaced it or offered suggestions to rectify but no, she just kept arguing.
Finally, I handed the phone to my friend and told him I was done with the place and he could do what he wanted. He decided to have the meal replaced. When he selected something slightly more expensive she wanted to charge him! Say what? He just picked something that was the same cost.
When the delivery person came in a fairly nice looking smaller SUV I wondered if this was an owner or manager as it wasn’t the typical car of a delivery person. I decided to let him handle it at the front door while I stood at the back door watching my dog in back yard.
She could have just said, «sorry» and handed him the replacement dinner as he was less upset than I was and would have let the issue drop. But she kept arguing. Her voice started getting louder and more shrill and his voice was not louder at all! I heard her say, «I want to see the meat!» I’m coming in there and you are showing me the meat.” I walked through the house and told her she was not welcome in my home and needed to leave. She wouldn’t leave.
My friend told her she was being argumentative… you got it… no she wasn’t…it was bad. Rather surreal because it is just Chinese delivery for heaven’s sake!
After asking her to leave repeatedly I cautiously closed the door as she continued to stand there. She left finally leaving the front gate where she had entered standing wide open no latch.
So many missed opportunities to rectify this almost trivial incident (no one was sick). Such poor customer service.
I wanted to give them a chance again to simply acknowledge that this was not a good customer experience last night and could be unhealthy eating raw beef unknowingly so I called. The first person who answered hung up on me when I asked for a manager. It was a clear hang up — I know a hang up…
I called back and she tried to convince me that he had not hung up on me and then began speaking to someone else on another line. She missed the final chance to make this better before I wrote this review.
The owners of Goody Café on Lindell in the CWE desperately need to watch an episode from the tv show Kitchen Nightmares called «Amy’s Baking Company» in AZ. The owners will not take criticism and Chef Ramsey walks out on them (his first on the show) because all they did was defend themselves and not try to do better. Along the way they told the customers they were wrong! Owners of Goody Café please watch this show! It is on YouTube and was so over the top that people made cartoons about it and it took on a life of its own.
Today, I called the St Louis Health Dept and told them about the raw beef. I don’t want the Goody Café in trouble. I want people to eat properly cooked food or know that they aren’t. Crazy huh? Never called before and don’t intend to make it a habit.
Longest review I ever wrote too. It is a shame we can’t get decent deliver in the CWE from some of the places! This is the type of area that has high income and college students both of whom ord

Absolutely disgusting! Worst service I’ve ever received in my life. The rice was bland and chicken definitely was NOT chicken. Wasted my hard earned money!!! Never again, I would not recommend to anyone.

The «spicy braised tofu» was neither spicy nor braised, but served in a pool of unseasoned oil with a few sad mushroom flecks. Felt like a rock was in my stomach for the rest of the day. The bubble tea was all right.

As a SLU student, I love that I can find authentic Asian food so close to campus. Great bubble tea and highly recommend the phở. I found the lo mein greasy when I tried it, however. I am definitely a repeat customer.

I ordered here because they offered delivery. But when ordering delivery there is a minimum amount to spend of $ 15. So I got the grilled pork vermicelli, spring rolls, and bubble tea. When I opened the grilled pork vermicelli I was disappointed right away. It wasn’t even grilled pork. It was super hard like it was fried and on top of that it was cold. I live only three minutes from this place, so if it was fresh it would’ve still been warm. The meat they gave me looks like one of the braised Chinese pork dish and they just threw it in. Also, the spring roll is all vegetables and three tiny piece of shrimp. No vermicelli noodles or meat. Spending $ 20 was not worth it AT ALL. Never ordering from here again.

This is my favorite place to go for authentic Chinese food thanks to the close proximity to the CWE. As another reviewer mentioned, it’s true home-​style cooking, and not the fancy dim sum style some may be expecting. Ignore the lit up screens on top with all the Americanized dishes (unless you’re just looking for lo mein and fried rice), and go for the secret menu on the counter instead. If you’re not with a Chinese friend who can guide the way, ask the staff for a recommendation. I personally recommend the tomatoes and eggs dish, as it’s a good intro to home-​style Chinese food.
The bubble tea is also solid. My favorites are the red bean and green bean ones. Fyi, you can ask for less sugar to taste.
UPDATE: Goody Café’s made a few updates to their menus and the authentic Chinese menu now has accompanying English translations! Woot. They also have a variety of «Chef specials» on a whiteboard in the back of the restaurant near the doors. Unfortunately, it’s all in Chinese. Fortunately, they’re all delicious. You can ask for recommendations from this list if you want to be more adventurous (e.g. intestines, pig ears.) There are also new hot pot soup and make your own stir fry menus that are AWESOME.

This place is awesome. Good legit authentic Chinese food. The staff is great and the place is clean. Family owned business that takes pride in their work. The egg and tomato dish is my absolute favorite. So simple so fresh. I crave it once a week.

Sauteed beef in hot pot is really awesome!!! i had it before and decided to put a comment here this time so that more people can taste it: D just love it

Just love it here. Chinese Chinese restaurant. If I live around I would go here every day.

I eat here only out of convenience. The food is decent, but often times I’m at a loss at what to order. This is a place that has a secret menu that is better than the Americanized dishes, so I always see regulars eating things that look delicious but I have no idea what those dishes are called! Also, I’m Korean and I’ve noticed a big difference in service when I go alone or with other Asian friends versus with non-​Asian friends. That kind of action really turns me off.

Not bad! But also not great. Their bubble tea is short on bubbles and too sweet for my taste, but I’d still get it in a pinch. I would recommend their grilled chicken vermicelli dish. It’s quite refreshing (cold noodles, chicken, and veggies — how could it not be?!) but could use more veggies. I’ll be back with someone who can read their hand-​written menu to see if there’s a hidden treasure at Goody Café.

Do you enjoy the surprise of seeing that you got charged more than the advertised menu price for subpar Chinese food? Then come here. I did not appreciate the fact that my card was charged more than what the menu stated – albeit it was only $ 1 more, it’s illegal and just poor form to not say anything or update your business’ menus. To add insult to injury, the food wasn’t even good. Just bland and no flavor one would expect from home-​cooked authentic Chinese food. Go to wongs wok on the loop instead, they are tried and true.
Also, I’m convinced that mainland Chinese immigrants have no concept of customer service. Maybe it’s the language barrier, but cashier was rude and curt. Even for an Asian immigrant like myself, I found it unacceptable.

Context: I am Ethnically Chinese. I grew up eating rice and noodles and lots of tea.
It’s my second visit here, and I’m enjoying it so far. I tend to avoid the Americanized Chinese food and look for the secret menus as they are usually more authentic. I almost got a curry chicken rice until I realize there are Chinese menus (translations provided) on the counter, which you typically wouldn’t notice until you are about to pay. During my first time I had the beef stew noodle, which is a traditional favorite in Taiwan. While I think the beef is okay, the broth is what I enjoyed most. Portion is huge too. I also had a boba milk tea. The boba is not the chewy type — it’s soft and tender, which I really like. If you prefer chewy boba you might not like the tenderness of the boba here.
I got the Zha Jiang Noodle, which is noodles with ground pork gravy. Great flavors but slightly salty for me. I got Honey Milk Tea and I’m surprised they gave me boba with it.
Overall, it’s a pleasant visit. Service isn’t the best and they constantly look understaffed, but I would definitely go again for the food.

Even though the food may not be on par with other Chinese restaurants in St. Louis, the price, bubble tea, and proximity to my apartment cannot be beat!
Environment ⁵⁄₅: The name says its a café and with many Chinese restaurants it is hard to know what they serve just by the restaurant name, but this place really does have a café feel to it. From the wide open (no divider) dining room to the ordering of food at a counter, this place really does live up to it’s café name.
Service ⁴⁄₅: The service here can be fast and slow at times. If you go here during busy hours then the food may come out pretty slowly since there is only one chef doing all the cooking in the kitchen. But they are really nice people and are very helpful to first timers in recommending what to order.
Food ⁵⁄₅: The food here is good. They a variety of entrees ranging from the typical general tso’s chicken to slow roasted pig’s feet. The Chinese food served here tends to be more home-​style, like something that my mother would cook for me back at home, than high end food that you may find at Mandarin House. Regardless, the Chinese food is authentic and the quality of food is great if one craves some home-​style Chinese food.
Overall ⁵⁄₅: The only thing that might have brought this place down is the service which can be slow but as this place is walking distance from my apartment I can go for some cheap home-​style Chinese food any day of the week and in my book that deserves 5 stars.

There are too many other places doing it right to waste your money here. The food came out before the drinks, was cold when it came out anyway. We were sick of waiting the half hour for an order of crab rangoon and asked the rest of the food to go. It still wasn’t ready so we asked to cancel our order. They refused to do so explaining they were short staffed because of the snow, even though WE braved the snow to COME IN and got crappy service.
Then half of the order came out cold (and tasted not that great). We told them we were ready to go and they packed our to-​go order and then didn’t even include half of it! I tried to call back and no one answered
The whole thing was laughable by the time we left, with nothing to make up for the terrible experience other than an «I’m sorry.» I got home to eat the half of the order that was there and it was so gross I fed it to the dog.

This place recently opened up, and the owner is the same person from the Boba (Bubble Tea) Kiosk in the food court at the Galleria.
At the kiosk, she has plenty of flavors and choices. My friends and I would occasionally go to the mall every once in a while, and find ourselves in the food court waiting in line for a refreshing drink. While my standards for boba are certainly high, the drinks taste fine. They are obviously made from powder (not syrup), however they are delicious and refreshing. The boba pearls on the other hand are nothing to brag about. They are not chewy but overcooked and have no sweetness to them. I would suggest St. Louis Bubble Tea but for the sake of convenience, Bubble Tea kiosk is fine as it is. Expect to pay between 3.50 to 5 per drink.
While this review is not for the kiosk, Goody Café has taken the namesake of their little place in the Galleria and expanded it into a restaurant. The location is a bit awkward, as it is located across the street of a Mcdonald, and near a Rallys and Arbys. In fact, you will see that there are plenty of fast food options that people would go to.
Walk inside and you’ll find yourself in a wide, tiled room. There are tables situated around the restaurant not in an order but random fashion. They are also the table/​bar hybrid located along the wall of the place.
My friends and I waited a few minutes looking around, but it turns out that you order first, pay, then sit down if you choose to dine in. I found it odd that after we did, a group of Mainland Chinese teenagers next to us sat down and the manager brought menus over, and held a notepad to jot down their orders.
Regardless, the menu is small, but too small. They host a variety of flavorful drink orders. I suggest Yogurt (I know it sounds odd, but if you’re from a prominent Asian community you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s not Yoplait yogurt, but it’s more a tarty sweet flavor). It’s not on the menu but if you ask for it, they will set it up for you. The menu also awkwardly includes Phở (Vietnamese Noodle Soup). I haven’t tried it, but it does not seem too bad. There are plenty of legitimate Viet places in the area.
Besides drinks and nooodles, they also have some rice and fried rice dishes ranging from fried pork chop, chicken leg to pan seared fish. All of them seem tasty and I’m sure I’ll find time to try them all.
The main menu is an American-​Chinese hybrid, and on the counter are menus written in Chinese. They include more traditional and real Chinese food that are more targeted for people who understand the menu.
The service is sup-​bar but given that this is a new place, it’s not enough to divert you away from trying this place. The employees seem to be running around the place, and they do not have a separate division of chefs, waiters, and cashiers. One cook ran out from the kitchen delivering the food and messed up because she could not figure out who the food was for.
It’s very reminiscent of Chinese like habits in restaurants from my home town, but they should really fix it.
I ordered the Pork Chop Rice dish. The meat was very salty but delicious. The rice was topped with a little amount of minced meat and slabbed with bok choy. It was fine for my standards of the Chinese restaurants in St. Louis.
The service is not great (yet), food is mediocre, atmosphere is fine so overall the place is average. Goody Café certainly has potential to become a hotspot in the nearby Central West End vicinity.

The milk tea is refreshing. Eager to try the curry beef and curry chicken. Currently going to experience one of the Vietnamese rice noodle soups. Looks like they have an eclectic array of Asian selections ranging from egg rolls to fried rice to Chinese and Vietnamese entrées. Although their digital menu it is spelled «entries».