Looking for Chinese food around Durango means choosing between sit-down dining rooms and a Mongolian-style grill where you build your own bowl. Decide on the kind of evening first, then ask the kitchen what it does best. The combo plate is rarely the answer. If you'd like to check a kitchen before you go, the county posts inspection reports (La Plata County).
How do you order well?
Look past the first page of the menu. Many split into combination plates, house specialties and a short run of vegetable and tofu dishes. The specialties show what a kitchen can do. Want it less sweet or hotter than the standard dish? Ask. Cooks tend to oblige.
At a Mongolian grill the work is split between you and the cook. You choose the raw vegetables, meat and noodles, you add sauce, and the cook grills it on a hot flat top while you watch, so how good dinner turns out depends mostly on your choices, and on how generous you were with the sauce.
What about MSG?
It comes up at nearly every Chinese restaurant, so here is the official line. The FDA considers added MSG "generally recognized as safe." It also says studies have not been able to reliably trigger reactions in people who report sensitivity (FDA). If you avoid it anyway, ask the restaurant directly. A menu note won't tell the whole story.
How do you check the kitchen?
La Plata County Public Health inspects restaurants, and you can search the reports. The county cautions that one inspection is a snapshot of a single day, not a verdict on a restaurant's habits (La Plata County). Got a food allergy? Tell the server every time.
Takeout, delivery and parking
Takeout is the easy route. Our answer on food delivery in Durango shows who delivers and who doesn't. Eating downtown on a busy night? See where to park.
Hours shift with the season, so call before you drive across town. For more places to eat, try our best restaurants guide and the dining guide.