Great Wall Restaurant

I came here on a Sunday towards the tail end of their lunch service.
Logistics:
— Items ordered: Lunch buffet
— Pricing: $ 8.55
The first thing I noticed was that the restaurant was incredibly empty with only one large table and one small table present. The food did not look fresh and seeing as lunch was almost over, many dishes were gone and not refilled. From what little I did scrap together, the food tasted like any other generic Chinese American buffet food would taste like. While the pricing is cheaper than other buffets in the area, you also get less variety for your money.
I had previously visited the restaurant to try the buffet during a Sunday evening, but was told that the buffet now is only served during lunch. Whether that is only limited to weekends, I am not sure. While I did not stay for dinner during my initial visit, I did not that even during prime dinner hours, the restaurant was rather empty.
I cannot attest to their dishes ordered off the menu, but if they are anything like what I experienced from the buffet, you are better off spending your money elsewhere.

Very good Chinese food!
The food is authentic Chinese even from the perspective of mine, a Chinese who grew up in China.
The buffet is a little bit sweet, I guess for catering the tastes of Americans. Besides, they have many real Chinese food courses to be ordered. Fish, half-​cooked pork are my faverite.
Also, on Saturday noons, they offer several Chinese courses as buffet, including pork ear, chicken, tofu and soymilk. These are my weekends favorite!
It is a place really worth going!

on weekdays they offer American Chinese food, the price of buffet is 6, very cheap. for Chinese customers, I think weekend buffet is more delicious because there are authentic Chinese food

At times, this place is a 5 star buffet. Other times, however, it’s a 2 or 3. It really depends on the day which is why I stuck it with a 4.
— The bad
The outside is rather dismal. The doors are almost always broken. The food isn’t always very appealing when on the buffet.
— The good
I’ve had very good service. The food is usually very good. The hot tea is awesome. Price is good. Saturday’s have extended buffet it has some great choices of things you normally don’t see.
— Overall
Try it. I think you’ll like it. They have some very tasty items, especially on Saturday buffet.

Authentic Sichuan (Szechuan) food, always fresh and delicious, very generous portion for reasonable price, and fantastic service! Some very good Taiwanese dishes, too. Definitely the best Chinese restaurant in the Lafayette area and one of the better ones you could find in the Midwest.
P. S. This is a review for the dine-​in Chinese menu, not for the buffet or the take-​out menu (which looked like Americanized Chinese dishes). We never had the buffet or the take-​out so can’t speak to that.

Best in town for a great priced buffet!!! Really nasty looking on the outside– needs some attention badly.

I generally avoid buffets, for all the obvious and well-​known reasons. I made an exception for Great Wall because it consistently gets rave reviews for its Saturday dim sum offerings. Dim sum in Indiana? This I gotta try! (Your thoughts exactly, right?)
Well, I have yet to experience the weekend smörgåsbord. A colleague & I went to the regular ol’ weekday lunch buffet. After all, I figured, that should give me a more honest perspective on the whole operation.
And let me say that it ain’t bad. It’s on par with any Panda Express, for example, except that it’s all you can eat, you have a couple dozen choices, and there’s a whole separate dessert table included. And you end up paying about the same or less at Great Wall.
The selections were heavy on the carnivore side; I tallied five different chicken dishes alone that day. There was only one purely vegetable entrée — some nicely sautéed long beans (I don’t count fried potatoes or stuffed mushroom caps). No tofu dishes? No choys? Wait for Saturday, I guess. Otherwise it was pretty standard Anglo-​Chinese buffet fare: fried rice, chow mein noodles, General Whatsis chicken, short ribs, roast pork, kung pao chicken, fried shrimp things, crabmeat Rangoon, potstickers, wonton soup (whose wontons appeared filled with an interesting combo of surimi and ground pork?), etc.
Some things were different, like a whole braised salmon, and that singular dessert table. The table that is, the desserts themselves were multiple and copious. And pretty darn fancy. Petit fours, and little bite-​sized cakes on doilies, and litchi. Like you see in Chinatown bakeries in Chicago or NYC.
But I had no room left in my belly. I will return soon. On a Saturday.

This is probably one of the best Chinese restaurant in town. Notice the emphasis is «in town.» The food is decent just because the Lafayette area doesn’t offer a lot of diversity and authenticity in terms of «ethnic» food. Great Wall is mainly a mandarin Chinese place, so if you’re looking for Cantonese dishes, you’ll be disappointed. A lot of people come here for the buffet. It’s of decent price, but the dishes tend to be more generic and Americanized. The buffet on Saturday is definitely worth it, though, because you have more options of authentic Chinese dishes for a nice brunch. However, it tends to be crowded on Saturdays, so budget your time for a long wait (20−40min). But hey, if you get hungry during the wait, you get to eat all the food you want!

We went for a graduate club event so the saturday morning buffet. luckily, we made a reservation and go there at 11:30 because right at 12, it was PACKED with a line waiting. i came here a few years back in my undergrad when visiting friends. It was good then and it’s still good now. It’s about the only place where you can get decent authentic chinese breakfast food and some dimsum type dishes. will be going back again for sure

Good, greasy, indulgent buffet.

Tried the Moo Sho vegetarian for carry out to my hotel. Hot and good although the pancakes broke down quickly. Portion size was easily enough for two. Maybe order a ½ order if possible when single.

I’ve been in Lafayette for 4 yrs now and heard decent things about this place. I gave it a try tonight and I don’t plan on coming back. The restaurant is ok, typical asian setting w/​strong smell. The thing that threw me off was the dirty dish that was given to me w/​food sticking on it. I felt like vomitting at the time, requested for another plate, but the waitress look at me like there’s nothing wrong w/​it. I end up grabbing another plate myself. I felt like leaving the place, but I figure I’ll give it a try and see how their food taste like.
The food… all the dishes we ordered were disappointing and the dishes were recommended by them. We spent over $ 60 for 2 of us and didn’t ate much since the chicken was dry and the beef was stretchy that was impossible to chew.

Okay, 5 stars may be a bit generous, but any Chinese place that would get 4 stars in SoCal gets 5 stars in the flyover zone. Trust me on this one.
I also wanted to join the chorus of Unilocalers who recommend avoiding the buffet.
Finally, allow me to recommend ordering off of the ‘traditional’ menu. If you’re lucky, they might just offer it to you. But if you’re white, you might have to ask for it. The point is, if your menu has things like «Orange Chicken» and «Mu Shu Pork», you’re probably in the wrong place. You want the menu that advertises Imperial Concubine Tenderloin Hot-​pot and Twice-​Cooked Fragrant Pork.
No, it’s still not Dede’s or Ba Ren. But for Central Indiana, I was well-​impressed!

definitely (one of, if not) the best chinese food places in town. dont go for the buffet. thats just silly. ask to be seated and for the regular menu.

maybe Justin (the other poster) got the wrong thing, but great wall is definitely the best chinese in town. dont confuse this as typical fast food chinese either (although, they do have a buffet area). the sit down entrees and their specials are what really shines.
wait staff is pretty good (even though one of their waiters looks like the «mi scusi» guy from eurotrip) and helpful.
its hard to find chinese this good in some larger cities. WL is lucky to have this place.

When I first moved to Lafayette, I asked the ladies that worked at my apartment complex where the best Chinese food in town was. They both Unilocaled, «Great Wall!» [sidenote: impressed I used Unilocal as my verb aren’t you?].
I quickly made my way to Great Wall and was disappointed. It was a buffet and not even a good one. I left Lafayette without finding a really good chinese place. It was a sad day.