Not my favorite but decent if you are going on the West Side. This place got me through college and it wasn't until recently I went back in for a taste. The hot and sour soup has not changed since I last remember and for the most part I have no complaints. Beef and tofu is decent.... nothing to super complain about.... read more

This is my favourite Chinese restaurant on earth. I love the staff, although at first they weren't entirely friendly, but when I lived near there I was in all the time. Items I would recommend: Chicken Chow Mein, Egg flour soup(a must have when you are sick), Wonton soup, Hot and sour soup, General Chicken, Beef and Broccoli, Sweet and sour chicken, the egg rolls, and their lovely sesame balls. Every single item is delicious and wonderful. I love their food so much that when visiting I nearly bought an extra Chow Mein to freeze and bring back to London... I didn't and regret it now. read more

Fried rice here is amazing! Authentic Chinese food just like what I'm used to in San Francisco! Portions are EXTREMELY generous and the service is so so friendly :) read more

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My friends and I love Golden city. Stopped by two years ago out of curiosity and have loved it ever since. The service is good and always quick! The generous portions of food are delicious, comforting, and always affordable. Great vegan and vegetarian options are a bonus. 10/10 would recommend!! read more

I wouldn't get too pumped... its gressy cheap Chinese, so that's what you'll get. I had a bad experience with the staff too, she was very short and rather rude with me, but maybe cuz I was ordering take-out close to closing time. If I were in the West Side, I'd choose otherwise. read more

I don't normally review on yelp, but I love this place. I'm a student, so I don't always have time to cook, so I always come here about once a week. The food is always good and for a pretty good price too! I usually get the Mapo Tofu with pork and onions. Highly recommend this place. read more

Stop by on my way to half moon bay.. and its standard cheap Chinese food. They seem to advertise a lot on sweet and sour pork which i think is average. The general chicken is basically more like fried chicken, not good at all. The best dish is the fried wonton basically the appetizer. The thai food next door is a bit better.. read more

My friend and I were craving a snack while waiting for a BBQ to start, so we yelped "spicy food" in Santa Cruz. Somehow, we were rewarded with a result from Golden City. Thank goodness! We were famished and rushed here to order the garlic chicken chow mein everyone raved about in their reviews. We were met with a generous waiter who gave us a few suggestions on the menu. But we were set with the garlic chicken chow mein. He offerred us tea and water while we waited, and kept asking if we wanted a fortune cookie because he saw us looking at them. AWW. He was so sweeeet! We felt welcomed in the restaurant even though we were ordering take-out. The interior of the restaurant struck me as homey. It was comfortable and simple. The chairs and tables were arranged to accommodate large groups. I saw lots of families dining together that evening. The food was prepared fast. As we paid, the waiter, again, tried to offer us the fortune cookies. He was just full of smiles and happiness. And it was super infectious because it made me happy, too :] The garlic chicken chow mein lived up to my expectations. It was hot, flavorful, and mildly spicy. I want more now... Definitely looking forward to my next trip to Santa Cruz and getting food from this restaurant again. *thumbs up* read more

Ended Up at this place because the Thai cuisine across the way was closed. Hoped for the best but unfortunately this place was very disappointing. We went for the lunch specials, both of us getting general chicken. We also ordered vegetable pot stickers for an appetizer. Soup came with the lunch special and so it came out first. It was quite bland...then came out the pot stickers and they also did not have any flavor-- tasted under cooked and doughy--even the filling was gross! So then came out the main plates. This was the most disappointing part of all...the chicken is a small 1x1 cube and is covered in batter which makes it look like big prices of chicken but it's actually all batter with a tiny price of chicken inside....!! The flavor was more like lemon chicken than general chicken. What was even more disturbing than the food was the customer service. The waitress was nice at first but when she gave me my change after I paid the bill she stood at the table while I was taking out the tip from the change. I think she felt that I was uncomfortable so she walked away but walked past the table and starred at us about 4X!!! How rude and awkward!! The only good thing about this place was the oolong tea...but I would never go back here again and would advise you to do the same...blehh read more

Worst Chinese i have ever had! The curried chicken was 90% vegetables and the hot and sour soup was so thick it was inedible. Don't waste your time or money read more

This place deserves more stars than what they've been given. Came here last night because my group was really craving Chinese food. & we can all honestly say, everything we ordered was absolutely delicious. Even something so simple like their fried chicken wings were so frikkin good! The walnut shrimp, Kung pao chicken, beef green beans and mu shu pork, are all "must order" I'm telling you, they will not disappoint. Also the service was on another level. They were consistent, kind, and on top of it. I will definitely be coming back here. Best Chinese food I've had on this side of the hill!!! read more

Most AUTHENTIC and DELICIOUS Chinese food in all of Santa Cruz, owned and operated by the most DARLING Chinese couple I've ever met! It's worth going here just to admire how hardworking and absolutely LOVELY they can be!! Highly recommend coming here and trying the hot and sour soup, roasted duck, and more!! ID RATHER DIE than go anywhere else for Chinese food, I'm not kidding you. Help support small businesses by going to Golden City!!!! Their food reminds me of my childhood in Oakland Chinatown :') read more

AMAZING SERVICE!! Great authentic food from the hot and sour soup to the chow mein and fried rice!

I came here yesterday with some friends. The service was pretty good and the food came out pretty fast. We ordered beef with oyster sauce, combination chow mein, sweet and sour pork with rice, squid in black bean sauce and potstickers. The quality of the food was okay - I've had better Chinese food. But the potstickers weren't too bad. read more

This place is FAR better than Tam's! I love coming here for lunch to get the #28 lunch special, garlic chicken chow mein. Lunch specials come with vegetarian hot and sour soup and hot tea. Then, they bring out the grand event: garlic chicken chow mein. It's HUGE. Seriously, it's equivalent to 3 full adult portions as the LUNCH portion! Can you believe that? My husband and I both got the special today and we ate lunch (took home leftovers), ate leftovers for dinner, and STILL have tons left! The garlic chicken chow mein is delicious and spicy, but we always order it extra spicy. I've also had the chicken with broccoli over rice (when I was trying to stay light), and that is also delicious. And get this: it's only $5.75!! Tell me where you can get 3 full portions of delicious and spicy garlic chicken chow mein for UNDER $6... that's right, not Tam's. Service is good. The waitresses are always sweet and make for great conversation. We can't speak for dinner service or take-out, but this place kicks ass for their lunch specials!! read more

We were visiting Santa Cruz and were hungry for dinner since the Boardwalk food was awful! There are a lot of Asian restaurants out here,and this did not look that great of a place from the outside. I actually wanted to go to the Thai restaurant right next to it which looked busy and smelled good(had star reviews on the wall too), but my family outvoted me! But the food at the Chinese restaurant was surprisingly good and there is a lot of food for the price! The sizzling rice soup was awesome and the best one I have ever had actually-they had a whole plate of sizzling rice go in the soup(usually restaurants don't give you much but this was a big platter and that is the best part of the soup -hot and crunchy and fresh!). In this soup, they had LOTS of snap peas, vegetables like mushrooms, greens, chicken, and even shrimp. I always joke and count the shrimp bc other restaurants usually only have maybe one or two shrimp-this one had like 5-6! This is the only time I had a sizzling rice soup with so much in it and it was very tasty! I could have been happy with just this soup! The Hong Kong style crispy noodles were very good-crispy and had sauce coating all the noodles with lots again of greens/veg and beef. Delicious! The sweet sour chicken(not standard Chinese fare-more Americanized really- but the kid's favorite) was crispy and had a light fluffy batter and it was coated in good sweet sour sauce. The beef and broccoli-another kid favorite(it was their day bc I like it hot and spicy!;) -was very good and the gravy was good and the beef tender and soft. And these are big platters for the price-over where I live maybe closer to SF-the dishes are much smaller and more expensive-these were huge! Parking lot is right next to them with plenty of parking. The service was attentive and friendly. I did find it strange but delightful that they also even had samosas-which is an Indian dish actually and I was thinking why is a Chinese restaurant serving Indian food! Hey,but that is up my alley because I love Indian food too-lol-but too full-maybe next time! LOL! This is my Chinese restaurant to go to when I am in the Santa Cruz area-and I know my Chinese food! read more

If Panda Express is the cheap copy of a good Chinese restaurant, then Golden City is the Panda Express of Panda Express. The food - disgusting. My friend insisted we get the touristy dish sweet and sour chicken. Bad idea, it tasted like pedialite, and the texture was mushy and slimy. Gross. For whatever dumb reason I had, I came here a second time. The experience was worst. The server we had was very creepy. He had a really high voice and was very enamored with my tall blonde friend. He kept coming over and telling her how pretty she was how beautiful her necklace was. He kinda just hovered around us twiddling his fingers while we ate. (okay he didnt twiddle his fingers.) The food again was horrible and I almost threw up every time he attempted to flirt with my friend. I think eating my own barf would have tasted better than golden city ... they should rename themselves as SHITTY WOK hahahahah read more

This place is gross. Maybe I'm just used to authentic Chinese food...and this is not good quality Chinese food. Their portions are big, but it's also super duper salty and gross. The atmosphere is ghetto and sketchy, not at all comfortable. The service is so-so...yeah... You would catch me here unless a friend cries and begs me to go...and even then I might not even consider it. read more

Last night was Girl's Night. So, we all agreed on ordering chinese for pick up. Since, it doesn't seem like there are many choices for delivery. Ordering was easy, it was the typical confusion of ordering with language barrier. But, the pick up was pretty chaotic. There were people that came in and ordered to go and they kept ringing these customers as their meals were ready. So, my friend and I stood and waited as they kept taking other people before us. The system could definitely use some improvement. Overall, the food was pretty good. We had mushu shrimp, vegetable potstickers, chow mien, vegetable fried rice and hot and sour soup for $40. We fed 5 people and had plenty of leftovers. It is budget friendly and fulfills a craving. read more

Okay, I've heard a lot of people bad mouth this restaurant as being your typical bad Chinese restaurant, but I actually enjoy the food here when we eat. I don't think it's the best Chinese restaurant, but it's pretty good for their price. When me and my friends go, we normally eat there family style, which means we all order a dish and share it with the whole table. My favorite 2 dishes there are their beef and tomato dish and their kung pao chicken- they're both pretty delicious! I also really like their egg flower soup, it's tasty!! Also, their staff there are really nice... now I don't know if it's because we've gone there enough where they recognize our face, or if it's because they're really nice, but we've never had a problem. I suggest you come here if you're looking for a cheap Chinese place, that wont possibly kill you with their "mystery meats". eeek. read more

Decent resturant locate near UCSC. So far this is relatively expensive chinese resturant among the few others in town (not much more at the most about $1 more than other resturants per dish). They come with bigger portions so it's worth it. I agree a lot of the comments here... it's full of flavor... For those of you who doesn't like strong flavored food, this might not be the right one for you. read more

Golden City is great if you want cheap and fast Chinese food. Their food is kinda greasy, but it tastes good all the same. Try not to order the specials (the combo plates) because I think they give you cheaper/fatty cuts of meat. I recommend their sizzling rice soup for cold days, general chicken, pork fried rice, and mu shu pork. The portions are pretty generous and the service is great! Everyone is really nice there. read more

most people have a love/hate relationship with Golden City but i have always enjoyed coming here and come here frequently we did. We have been going here for so long they know us by name (although they confused my friend Ben and I for the longest time). While waiting for to go order they always serve me water and soup and after finishing my soup they often will bring me more or sometimes just bring me a larger bowl to begin with (I actually really like the hot and sour soup here) The food is the classic greasy American Chinese food but it gets the job done. the prices are good especially the lunch specials and the portions are more than enough for 1-2 people. Do not expect china town cuisine here but expect plentiful servings and okay service. Some of the workers are not in the best of mood but as a repeat customer they take care of you. Golden City served me well in college and took care of our small needs and larger dinner parties. read more

This place isn't upscale, super fancy, nor super nice, but their food is a-ok. The service was friendly, the prices reasonable, and the parking abundant. I would love to give this place more than 3 stars because the ladies that work there are just super friendly and will oblige any request (gave me two fortune cookies & they're house made!). Their food isn't "gross" and the atmosphere isn't "ghetto" like some reviewers have mentioned, but I suppose if you're a bougie stuck up hipster who can't enjoy some dece' (decent) food, then this is not the place for you. We got the garlic chicken and rice lunch specials, pork fried rice, and steamed vegetables. The lunch specials were enough to feed two people per order and most under $7 bucks and the side plates were enough to feed 3 or maybe two big hungry dudes and those were roughly also about $8-9. Overall, decent, worth it, but nothing too spectacular. read more

This is our new goto place for take-out Chinese.... All their food is prepared with loving care, and high quality. Especially recommend the scallops with garlic sauce, sweet and sour shrimp and many vegetable dishes. They do not overcook the vegetables. read more

if you are a poor college student and have a fridge, get yourself down there! I agree that the soup is a little...off, but the chicken and vegetables and chow mein are good and plenty for the price. Whenever I have a whole group of people from out of town visiting we order over the phone and then pick it allll up to eat at home with a movie. You will have leftovers (or fat friends, one of the two). The location is convenient and, once again, the price in unbeatable for how much food you get. The wait staff is always friendly if not 100% understandable and sometimes, if you're nice back, you get extra fortune cookies! read more

I really love the pork fried rice here - the portion is huuuuuuge and it isn't full of peas which is one of my biggest peeves about fried rice. Overall the portions are huge and it is really easy to eat family style. The lunch specials are incredible for the amount of food you receive. I used to call in my order and pick it up and never had much of a wait and overall the service here is good. The staff will remember you after a few visits which is sweet but on my last visit, after receiving our check the waitress told us we better give her a good tip because she felt the ones we left in the past weren't enough. I was always mindful to tip at least 15% (I guess 20% is the standard now?) so I'm not sure what the issue was but we ended up adding additional dollar bills until she was content. The way she was bent over on our table counting out each bill we added was so embarrassing and my father, who was with me that visit, has refused to return since that incident. read more

Decided to give this place a try. The food was eh. The people were nice and friendly though. We ordered some chicken chow mein with garlic sauce and found a piece of hair in it. We told the lady and she made us a new one. When she brought it back, there was a strong foul odor. Not only did it smelled bad, but the taste was horrible too. The basil chicken didn't have much basil flavor. The Mongolian beef was bland and wasn't spicy at all. The bbq pork was ok. Nothing special. Kind of dry and tough. The only orders that were good was the beef chow fun and the Hunan chicken. read more

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This is my first yelp review. I don't know what possessed me to review Golden City for my first review. Perhaps it was to counter the lukewarm response that other reviewers seemed to post. Looking for a sit-down place to eat on a Thursday night is not an easy task. Stumbling to Golden City they served us even though they were technically closed. We started with the egg drop soup, which was surprisingly light and fresh. For the main course I split two entres with a couple other people, which was plenty of food. We had the mongoloian beef and the salt and pepper shrimp. The standout dish was the salt and pepper shrimp. It was quite delicious. The mongolian beef was also good, but not the best I've ever had. The staff was also very attentive and helpful. I'd suggest this restaurant to anyone looking for a nice cheap chinese restaurant with family sized portions. Enjoy! read more

Price: Most items under $10 Portion: 1-3 servings worth Service: Nice waitresses who don't understand everything you say but many smiles Taste: Think greasy fast Chinese takeout, it's cheap don't expect too much. Recently moved to Santa Cruz from LA and have been craving some good Chinese food. Unfortunately, SC isn't exactly San Gabriel or Rowland Heights. Usually come here for walnut shrimp-light on the sauce, take-out but decided to eat-in the other day while doing laundry. Ordered the combination plate and shoot it was SO MUCH FOOD. I usually eat a lot but dang this food is heavy and is worth 2-3 meals.Chicken chow mein and pork fried rice--not as stellar as the reviews say but good for the price. Sweet and sour pork--nice crunch favorite of the 3 items, don't leave overnight. I was unimpressed, except for the portion size :0 Come here if you're looking for a cheap filler, not for gourmet Chinese. A star for price, portion, service and overall positive experience. I'd like to say it's 3.5 stars but I like the manager lady and their fortune cookies. read more

The employees were loud enough to be yelling at each other our booth was inbetween the 2 booths that they were cleaning and it felt awkward to be caught in the crossfire. The food was good but not great. We wanted to take our food to go when we finished but they never came back to check on us or bring us our bill we waited some more till our food had collected all of the fruit flies around and my +1 decided to wait in the car. One of the workers was on a personal phone call while chopping up vegetables at a booth nearby the whole time we ate and didn't notice we we're trying to get their attention for the bill so I gave up and went to pay at the counter. Don't come here unless you like hearing people yell, and like being ignored by an employee on a personal clall. read more

I drive over 6 HOURS just to eat at Golden City. I live in LA, and this is one of THE BEST places for Cantonese food. I'm so happy every time I am able to sit down and order amazing dishes from their menu. Give their food a try, I promise you won't be disappointed. read more

Best Chinese food in Santa Cruz. Have been here twice. The owner Sue is a really sweet gal and her brother Dan is cool as well. Their cashew chicken, steamed rice and chicken chow mien are fantastic. read more

Some of the food here is really good. Just don't get anything deep fried. It is WAY over cooked! Then they serve the the sauce, (sweet&sour, general, lemon, orange, etc.) separate. When I say over cooked, I mean the meat inside is completely dry. And this has happened on a regular basis. read more

I used to live in Santa Cruz in 2006-2009 and my husband and I love to eat here! This is our favorite Chinese restaurant. I love their orange chicken, hot & sour soup, mixed vegetables, mixed or chicken fried rice, and almost everything in their menu are delicious. Whenever I visit SC I still come back here even if I live in San Jose now and always ordered for take out. I even introduce this restaurant to my family and they love it. Now my nephew is coming here today and I ask him to buy me some for take out! read more

We were six people and had veggie cho main, some veggie dishes and the family meal. All was great, and tasty. Friendly stuff. I do recommend the place. read more

A great place to go for some good Chinese food. The staff are extremely friendly, and the potstickers are really good. The fried wontons pleased even the pickiest eaters in our party. I give it five stars for the enormous menu, full of delightful food, and friendly service, and a clean interior. (: read more

I attended UCSC from 2001-2003 and graduated here. I have nothing but wonderful memories eating in this Chinese food restaurant with my sweetheart. I can't wait until we visit this little town one day in the not-so-distant future! Small place but it packs big taste! From what I remembered, the service was good. Language was sometimes a barrier but never a problem. I truly loved the Kung Pao Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork, Egg Drop Soup, Beef Broccoli and Mongolion Beef. I hope it will taste the same when I visit one day. I also remembered the lunch specials were great deals as well. I recommend this place to anyone feeling like some Chinese food. The best in Santa Cruz! read more

My bf and I have been going to this place for quite awhile now. We have had excellent service every time. The food is amazing and fresh. You get a lot of food for the price. I love the chow mien and broccoli beef. We will be back again for more! read more

This place is awesome. Best Chinese restaurant around Santa Cruz! For its low prices, it gives a good portion of food. I ate their beef chow fun today, it was yummy! The people working there are extremely friendly and nice. I would definitely come here again! read more