Only got the crab rangoon as a snack but my goodness, it was so good. Loved the ginger and mustard sauces, tasted fresh and not from a can. Perfectly fried with a bubbly homemade shell. read more

We hadn't been to Changsho for years - and although we found it not-so-special back then, we heard that it was under new ownership. We ordered Har Gao appetizer, Roasted Sesame Cold Noodles, Mu Shi Pork, and Basil Eggplant in Garlic Sauce. The Har Gao was A+, freshly made with excellent quality shrimp. But with only 4 small har gao for $13.50, it was easily the highest price Chinese restaurant we've ever seen. The Roasted Sesame Cold Noodles were ok, as was the eggplant (which had almost zero basil). The Mu Shi was boring. The service was extraordinary - attentive, welcoming, and friendly. The decor was tasteful, the music was American jazz, which was nice. The food was tasty, but other than the expensive har gao, definitely not worth Changsho's high prices. read more

I had passed by Changsho countless times in my weary life, and yet had never been enticed to go within. This, sadly, was in no small part due to the concerningly low rating that Changsho holds on this platform. This changed in November 2025. If you penetrate the brutal but not brutalist concrete building on the side of Mass Ave, you find yourself in a space that is clean and colorful, yet you find yourself with a weak sense of something being slightly off. An indoor waterfall cascades to your right. A sense of vague unease comes from the bowels of your soul. For me, the aesthetic brought me back to Orchid in Garden City, NY, which I visited a number of times in my childhood. Changsho is a Cambridge staple (allegedly from 1977) that recalls a lost style of Chinese restaurant in the US. Put simply, it's as if the restaurant were designed to give the locals a taste of "The Orient" in a way that would also greatly appeal to the locals. As a result, you have wood-paneled walls, large ceramic vases, East Asian instruments, and other such decor throughout the venue. There is surely more that can be said in this respect, but I shall stop here. That aside, I can now move to the food. I sampled several items, including a formosa crispy chicken, streamed edamame dumplings, vegetable spring rolls, and dry cooked string beans. The chicken was salty, as could have been expected, but I was very pleased overall with the food. The green beans in particular were flavorful and delicious, coated in a sumptuous ointment-like sauce. I read several reviews about evil and vile service at Changsho. This was not at all my experience. The wait staff were some of the friendliest people I met this month, and the food emerged quickly to be readily shoved down our eager gullets. The restaurant is not cheap, but not extraordinarily expensive -- it is in line with what you would expect for a slightly nicer (but not fancy) sit-down dinner. The Changsho experience was impressive, and I would readily return. read more

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Excellent dinner for four people with a variety of vegetarian dishes. Lots of gluten-free options. Drinks were tasty. Service was excellent and attentive. As always, food was delicious. Also a nice touch was very pretty jazz music playing in the background. Reasonable prices good value. read more

I don't understand how this restaurant is averaging just slightly above 3.0 stars... we had an excellent experience. We made a reservation for Christmas Day. So, we arrived and the restaurant was expectedly busy. However, this did not impact our experience. We were seated promptly and received efficient service throughout our meal. Since there were 6 of us, we ordered an incredible amount of food. I had never eaten chinese food in New England before, so I was excited to try some regional standouts like peking ravioli and short ribs. Both were delicious! We also had peking duck, general gao's chicken, mapo tofu, shao mai, among other dishes. There was one dish I didn't enjoy. Again, I'm not understanding how this restaurant isn't getting better reviews, so I'm hoping they are consistent with the food quality and service that we received. read more

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Great Chinese with many options and big portions. We had: Apps: Scallion pancake (so good) Shrimp and chive crispy dumplings (my favorite) Shao mai (shumai) Meals: Peking Duck (half) - great) Sen Bei Chicken (good) read more

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Went here for Christmas Day and it did not disappoint. Every dish was great. I mainly love Chinese food for the dumplings and the Peking ravioli were amazing. Fried and juicy, just how I like it. The scallion pancakes were also exceptionally good, much better than usual scallion pancakes. I got general gau for my entree and it was satisfying. Decor is a slightly more upscale Chinese restaurant but it's still laid-back. Our waitress was fast and attentive. A great place to bring a larger group. Only thing I wish they had was the revolving giant plate at the table. They had that in the past and that made it much easier to share food in a big group instead of constantly asking people to hand you a plate. Can't wait to be back for our annual Christmas tradition! read more

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Judy makes a great drink! When the restaurant is quiet, the service is good. The food is always good! BUT THE MICE!!!! I just can't...they were running around in circles, chasing each other. Maybe the road work... The odor in the bathrooms is alarming. read more

This is for delivery ... and we were not impressed. Sauces too rich and the chicken in the sweet and sour chicken was very dry. Not ordering from there again... read more

I came here on a quiet Sunday and I thought the space was visually appealing. The furniture and decor was beautiful. My server was quick to greet and seat me. I didn't wait long for my food which was nice. I had the Mapo tofu, I was expecting it to be spicier but most places in Cambridge don't have the spiciest foods, I assume they're catering to the area's demographic. I also had the house oolong tea which was $2 for an entire small pot and it was delicious. read more

Changsho - Mapo Tofu - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

This is our go-to neighborhood Chinese. Food is on-point. Not too salty, not too greasy, with clean, bright flavors. Portions are pretty massive for Cambridge dining. We usually order three dishes for the two of us, and we have enough leftovers for 3 or 4 meals. Not sure why there are so many poor ratings. Unlike some of the registered complaints, service for us has always been excellent and the food is prepared fresh, hot, and quickly. My guess would be that part of the poor ratings maybe due to the ambience. The restaurant is huge for the clientele demand and it harks back to an era of high-end Chinese with a resplendent weekend buffet. Post-COVID, that is no longer this place. So perhaps the ratings result from the mismatch between what the somewhat dated decor and scale and what the restaurant actually does -- crank out excellent Chinese food with generous portions that make up for the admittedly high prices. read more

This restaurant is not what it used to be. Before the pandemic, it was one of my favorite Chinese restaurants and I came here often, but over the past few years the quality of the dishes has been terrible. I will not return read more

Two hours for delivery of two dishes, while paying a service fee and a tip. I called the restaurant and they blamed the driver. The food is good but nobody wants to wait two hours for General's chicken. Going back to Chow Joy next time. read more

I've been going here for 35 years !!!! Ever since I moved to Porter square area. It's been my go to restaurant for takeout and in restaurant dining for that entire time. Last week I ordered a take out order of mushi pork. I took it home and found to my horror that there were large bits of gravel in the food. I barely escaped cracking a molar trying to eat my meal. I removed four pieces of stone and gravel and placed them in a plastic baggie to show the restsurant staff when I returned to get a refund. It was too late that evening to return the food so I just ate a ham sandwich. I returned on Sunday evening two days after this episode and to my surprise the restaurant manager refused to return my money and yelled at me continually and at length about how I should have returned the food that same evening. But what shocked me was when the manager continued to refused to refund me the price of my hazardous snd unsanitary meal. DO NOT EAT HERE if you value your dental work. I will attempt to file a small claims court complaint to receive the justice that eluded this one formerly very loyal now disappointed customer ! read more

Pretty fair. The food was good. But it took a long time. Like it took 20-25 minutes for our apps to come. The soup came in like 10 minutes. But the entrees took forever. I would just do take out next time. The bathrooms are very clean and the establishment itself is very nice. read more

Changsho - Mapao tofu. It was very good. - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Nice authentic Chinese food and Dim Sum Beautiful healthy Sesame sauce Noodle, Stir Fried Green Veggie ! Green onion rolls stuffed with Stewed Beef! Shrimp Dim Sum Fried Won Ton They are mouth watering read more

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At my school we were learning about immigrants so we went on restaurant field trips. Each one of us went to a different place. Each place had food from a different country I went to Changsho around 11:30am on Tuesday with 5 other kids in my class. I loved the edamame dumpling. The food came pretty fast. They also have delivery. I recommend you go there! read more

Today, my wife and I went to this restaurant for lunch and were told that they did not offer the lunch menu because it is a holiday. While I wish today (Election Day) was a holiday in the U.S., it is not a recognized state holiday and as such the post office, banks, and schools are all open. To me, this seemed like a way to extract extra money from customers already in the restaurant. We understand this to be a deceptive policy of this restaurant since it happened to us once before on another day that was also not a Federal or State holiday. On that occasion, we simply paid more than double for dinner prices. Their menus simply state that lunch is not available on holidays, which is deceptive since EVERY day is a holiday for someone somewhere. This means that if you enter during the lunch hour specifically for lunch portions and prices, they can tell you that you must order a dinner portion by simply claiming it is a holiday. This is dishonest. I as a customer simply wanted a typical lunch and had been a regular and loyal customer of this restaurant since first arriving to Cambridge in 2016. I will not be returning after this experience. Read your reviews, people enjoy the food but even your lunch pricing is viewed to be a bit high at $15.50. Now imagine coming to your business willing to pay $15.50 but instead told you must pay $25.00 for the dinner pricing. This is a great way to lose loyal customers... read more

As fast as Quicksilver! I wanted rice for our takeout dinner at home, so I placed an order online, biked there, and voila, our rice was ready! Super pleased with their service, and looks beautiful inside. Hope to dine there soon! read more

Went to this place for lunch.. Very nice interior and a friendly staff I had the general gao chicken which was on the lunch menu. It was excellent though a bit pricey at 15.50 But overall a good experience read more

If you want to sit down and just get started eating, a buffet is the way to go. Changso in Cambridge has lunch time buffets every day but Saturday (excluding holidays). Weekday lunch buffet $14.95, 11:30am - 2pm Sunday buffet $26.50, 11:30am - 3pm Changsho is located on Mass Ave a walk from the Porter Square T station. Parking is mainly metered parking on Mass Ave since the side streets seem to be permit parking only, and the parking lot next to them belongs to their neighboring businesses. But don't say they didn't warn you as they have a large sign posted on their wall facing the parking lot and have another one on their door warning guests against parking there. We came for lunch on a weekday and the restaurant was well populated. After sitting down, they offered us our choice of two soups: Hot and sour or Egg drop Then we proceeded to help ourselves to their single two sided buffet station which also had a dessert table set up across from it. The buffet was well labeled and the trays looked quarter sized, which gave me the impression that their food was fresher as they refilled it as needed. Veggies were crisp and green (at least those that were supposed to be green anyhow), chicken and beef tender. There was indeed soup in the soup dumplings - I recommend using their little glass sauce dishes for those since we usually place them carefully on a soup spoon in order to avoid losing any of the tasty soup. I am loving their crab rangoon, though I limited myself to two of them. The fruit was sweet, the chocolate layered cake tender and non-too-sweet. Jello was a nice touch and I helped myself to their whipped cream canister. I was directed to a bathroom in the basement, though I wonder if there might be another somewhere on the ground floor. Although I couldn't find either listed on their menu online, our host had pre-ordered appetizers for the table - chicken skewers and some kind of avocado seafood salad which came presented on soup spoons. The chicken was white meat which I tend to think of as dry and the inferior choice when compared to dark meat, but theirs were cut plump and were nicely tender. The other appetizer was cool and refreshing. *** At an event in Cambridge, we had catering from Changsho and they delivered big time. I don't know if is their normal course of action or if was through special arrangement, but they arrived early, handled the set up of the chafing trays with the heating elements, and labeled the dishes in both English and Chinese for our mixed language group. I'm not into spicy, so I hit the dishes that looked more tame to me. The vegetable fried rice was more homestyle than American Chinese Food style as the rice was still white. Yi Mein noodle - good. Braised Tofu, which came with mushrooms, bok choy and carrots, were good. San Bei Chicken was tender. Chinese broccoli (listed as seasonal greens Chinese Broccoli Sprouts) crisp tender. Baked Fish Filet moist. You can really sense the tea smokeness in their cold served jasmine tea smoked duck appetizer. read more

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So a very mixed bag--I found myself in the vicinity of Changsho when I really needed a sit down place and a light meal. The place was almost empty on a Tuesday night, a barely-open vibe. The waitress was efficient and just a tad obtrusive. I had hot and sour soup and shrimp dumplings. The soup was fine, and har gow were some of the best I've ever had, freshly steamed with large fresh chunks of shrimp and a soy-based, slightly sweet dipping sauce. But crazy expensive--they charge for tea (and for rice). If one orders an actual main course, it would be hard to spend less than $30. So I don't know--it hit the spot today, but the combination of the high prices and sad vibe means I can't wholeheartedly recommend it. read more

the worst food ever, i have asked the lady whats spicy in the menu she was talking to me with so much of attitude and i asked her is lo mein spicy she said we can make it spicy, and then its soo sweet! . worst food every dont go here at all read more

It's our first time here in Massachusetts. We celebrated our Christmas here. We walked around to explore and got hungry. We looked for a ramen place but the one the we're supposed to go to was closed then we saw this restaurant and decided to give it a try. Food was fine. Waitress is unfriendly and pushy and we didn't really like the service. I also worked as a server before so I know how to give a good service and also we're from New York we know how to tip and it depends on the service too. Are the servers here only get paid based on tips? We gave 2x of the tax that was on the receipt for her tip but she came back and we thought the money we gave for our bill was not enough but instead she said "you're tip is not enough, it should be 15% minimum" This is the first time that we experienced this and I never did this to our customers when I was a server. I told her you should put the tip options on your receipt and plz indicate it there that it should be 15% minimum. The restaurant looks nice though. read more

It's so bad that writing a review feels like a waste of time. Also extremely family unfriendly. Dare your baby starts crying.

Good food, good ambience, good service, overall nothing to complain about. The parking situation is somewhat strange, not that it's a big deal. read more

Little food, high prices, snobby middle-aged waitress. It's no wonder there are only a few customers at dinner time.

I've been coming to this restaurant (through numerous changes in ownership, it seems.) There's no longer a dim sum buffet on weekends. Today, my granddaughter and I had lunch there. The food was good, but the service was indifferent. When the bill came, I gave the waitress $60 for a $45 dollar tab. I asked for $5 back. After some time, she came from the back and handed me 5 single bills, each one folded over on corners. I thought this was a surly reaction to giving her a $10 tip (more than 20% for a $45. bill. The prices have increased so that shrimp chive fried dumplings cost $13.95 and we only got FOUR. Sorry to say I'm not returning again. Too bad. read more

We enjoyed a relaxed dinner and good conversation. Service was excellent and genial. I needed a restroom, they saw I had a cane and let me use the staff facilities instead of downstairs to the main restrooms. Always enjoy this restaurant. read more

We were there last night knowing that we would get " gourmet " Chinese food as we have been going there for over 20 years. We have had large parties, graduation parties,and Birthday parties going way back so we are very Familiar with them. I will start with We understand that there is a worker shortage and supply chain issues. However there are plenty of establishments that have adapted quite well so I do not want excuses. The menu was slashed. We were disappointed with the limited selection from the start. The server was excellent despite being short staffed. We ordered the sampler app and some egg drop soup. The soup was good but the app was fatty salty and bland. Then we ordered the cashew chicken and pork fried rice and two mai tais. The chicken and the rice were soo salty they were both inedible. The two drinks were both weak. The server came over and asked how everything was. Wo we told her. She went and got the manager. The manager said she would take the food into the kitchen and taste it with the cook. She came back and said that the food was perfect. Really? Perfect? She eventually told us to not come back. Nice. Real nice. And we will not. read more

Good environment, feel like back home, while the taste is so-so for Chinese. Service is great read more

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Solid Chinese food at Changsho. My favorite dish was the pork soup dumplings but also enjoyed the mapo tofu, fried rice and sizzling black bean chicken. Big portions, lots of leftovers. The restaurant is huge inside and filled with lots of art. Good service. read more

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OMG, bro! Wow! I had been here many moons ago and remember it being good and decided to take my One here to remedy our hangovers from a Halloween party at my flat. We arrived noonish on Sunday and turns out it was the Sunday Brunch Buffet. Initially we had mixed feelings when peeping out the buffet. The selection was small and seemed underwhelming. But upon closer inspection the food appeared both well made and unique, quite gourmet if you will, and prepared in relatively small batches. Not the usual mess-hall-sized trays of Kung Fu Chicken and Moo Goo Kow Pang, etc., to sit out all day and get all janky. The soups are served separately and prior to the buffet. They were very good although egg-drop soup is not my cup of tea -way too eggy for me. After our soups, we "went up" as they say. Lemmie run down some highlight items: Jellyfish Salad, Three 'Shroom Salad, Baby Bok Choy, Crab 'Goons, Fish with Scallions and Chiles, Salt n' Pepa Scallops, and Smoked Tea Cold Duck... and sorta much more... All dishes were scrump AF. The Duck was the winner for me -very smoky and tea infused. The 'Goons had big-ass shreds of crab. These 'Goons were the real McCoy and not just some cheap-O cream cheese with the usual microscopic flecks of fake crab. There were Steamed Dumplings and Fresh Rolls n' stuff. The Jellyfish was excellent and had perfect texture and flavor. Let's talk about Scallops: My One particularly enjoyed the Salt n' Pepa Scallops. They were beefy-sized and deep fried in a panko-esque batter and deemed the most "Shoop-worthy" item by her but she also went mental over the 'Goons. The dessert selection was very tennie but featured Sesame Balls which were brought out piping hot and ooey gooey choowy and very popular as they went like hotcakes. Lastly, was a surprise: A Chinese stage act with traditional colorful costume and very well MCed by a dood in a suit, possibly the owner. The clientele was mostly Cambridge intellectuals. A nice change from the ghetto crowd that is normally seen at buffets. A pricey brunch at about 28 quid each but wicked worth it. We loved this brunch a bunch. Peep it out ASAP, YELPers! Thank you, Changso! You push it (food) real good :) read more

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We have been here several times now, and can speak to yummy food and consistency. A very nice selection of a la Carte dim sum as well as regular fare and Szechuan. We just had dinner for Chinese New Year, and the buffet was stand out, and the show with 2 dragons were terrifically entertaining!!! Our servers Jonathan (who we've had the pleasure many times) and Jennifer (new face to us, but so amazing!) were attentive, quick to help, and incredibly friendly towards our rambunctious children. The service, in my opinion,!has been exemplary. That being said, we haven't really eaten here at peak hours (we make it a habit to avoid eating at restaurants during peak ours with the kids anyway). read more

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I had my 70th Birthday Celebration banquet there recently. Jennifer Huang (Pre and Post the event) was Very helpful, friendly and she followed through with the attention to detail needed, for return business, and to help make my event a success! The food, service and accommodations were worth what I paid. I'm rating the Changsho restaurant itself with 5 Stars despite their not having a Parking lot! The On Street metered parking can be an issue! But as for me, I read previous reviews during my restaurant search and was able to give a parking situation Head's Up to my guests in advance. A good time was had by all! I plan to return to the Changsho restaurant. read more

I've been to Changsho a few times in the past and it was quite good - a great place to go when you wanted "fancy" Chinese food. Sadly, my most recent meal from there was the worst take-out I've had in a year (and I've had a lot of take-out in the last year). New management? The food was totally bland. I had to add my own soy sauce to my Chicken and Vegetables to give it any flavor. It was only then that I knew I didn't have Covid. The Paid Tai was also flavorless. The soup dumplings were teeny. Changsho is certainly pricier than other Chinese restaurants in the area. In the past, I found their premium to be worth it. Not this time. I've never been more disappointed with food for which I had pretty high expectations. Nope, I'll be heading back to the Dumpling House for my next Chinese takeout. read more

I thoroughly enjoyed the buffet! It's fairly reasonably priced and everything at the bar was delicious. The waitstaff was very attentive and prompt in clearing out the dishes. I wasn't a huge fan of the sour spicy soup but I think it's just my palate. One thing I'd point out has to do with the check--the restaurant wasn't overbusy, like people waiting in line, but we were given our check halfway through our meal. I'm pretty sure that the waitress might've just assumed that we were done by then but customers could get the wrong impression that they're being shoved out. Other than bumping into this bizarrely rude customer who started talking to us in Japanese out of nowhere, and then blurted out a wrong Chinese phrase and left without a proper apology (everyone in my party was Korean), it was a very pleasant experience overall. read more

Changsho - Hot and Sour Soup, lunch buffet - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Had a totally fabulous dinner here last night. Had a fish dish never had before a fish dish that is spicy (don't eat the red peppers!) called Shuizhu. Absolutly yummy. Paired that with Szechuan eggplant that comes in real pieces (not over cooked and gooey). Service was friendly and fast. Prices reasonable. This restaurant has been a tradition and never fails to delight. read more

Was excited to try this spot out given the popularity, but was disappointed by sub par lo mian that I got food poisoning from! Even illness aside, I wouldn't pay for those tasteless noodles again :/ I guess the hunt for local American Chinese continues... read more

Changsho - Vegetable Spring Rolls - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Happened to eat dinner here on Chinese New Year. I think the service was a bit slow due to the new year crowd, but I thought the food was excellent. It is a large place; it was not too noisy despite the crowd. We had soup, scallion pancakes, Beijing duck, Cumin beef, and a special fish dish from the New Year menu. It was my first time here. I'd certainly come again. read more