Craving Chinese food and Chef Chao was kind of a "meh but edible" situation tonight The honey walnut prawns were probably the best part, decent, but not giving the sweet crispy candied walnut goodness I was hoping for. My mom enjoyed her tomato beef chow mein, so points there. My chow fun though? The noodles were fighting for their life stuck together and it was lacking any flavor. The steamed rice also came out lukewarm like it had been hanging out in the rice cooker since lunch service. Veggie potstickers were solid enough. Not life changing, not offensive lol. This is probably my 3rd time here, last about 6 years ago and I swear I remember it being better before, so maybe tonight was just an off night. The people working there were very nice when I picked up the food though, so no complaints on the service side at all. Just wish the food matched the friendliness a little more. read more

See all

Delicious & lots of variety, huge portions, great service, and love the lunch special! My family loves this place, we try to make the lunch special as often as we can! Never had an issue with late food and all the dishes are delicious, even the healthier options! read more

See all

A bit disappointed! Just look at the photos! Not sure why they post a photo nothing like the real dish. read more

Chef Chao Restaurant - Not what I expected, small and dry - Chinese Near Me - Moraga, California

See all

Very good food and quick service. The food seems lighter than the typical rather heavy sweet sauce, at many restaurants Discount for cash read more

Can never go wrong with this restaurant. Food is always done right and delicious. Whether you eat in and have great service from our favorites Johnny or Ken or take out for lunch or dinner they never disappoint. Great booths or tables for small and intimate or big rounds for nice large gatherings. Been going here for over 25 years and they always remember our favorite dishes. read more

The food is always fantastic and Bill, our waiter, is always eager to please and is so kind and professional. We had a great time! read more

Chef Chao Restaurant - Lobby - Chinese Near Me - Moraga, California

We picked up bbq pork fried rice, broccoli beef, chicken chow mein, orange chicken and eggrolls this evening. All of the dishes lack flavor and left us all with a heavy taste of oil. The orange chicken was tough and had zero resemblance of orange flavor. The beef did not taste like good quality meat and the sauce was bland. For $73, we are all very disappointed with the poor quality, lack of flavor and oily residue it left in our mouths. We have given Chef Chao a few tries due to its " legacy" in Moraga and have been consistently disappointed. We will not be returning this time. Such a bummer to spend that kind of money for poor quality food. The reviews for this restaurant need to be updated. This place is not good quality nor worth the money. read more

The food is mediocre, at best. A fast food drive through offers better hospitality than this place. My recommendation is to go elsewhere.

Amazing food! I have been frequenting this restaurant for over 9 years and I have never had a subpar meal. I don't mean that to sound bad because the food here has always been incredible! I have brought many friends and even my wife before we started dating to this place and all of them now consider it a staple for Chinese food. Kenny and, I'm sorry I don't remember the others names (I should by now), are always nice and remember myself and my friends, even if I'm not with them. The food is always tasty and feels like it is made with the love of someone who wants to share their gift for cooking with others. Best Chinese food in the East Bay! Don't let the drive to Rheem deter you! read more

Always perfect!!! Everything is great and the restaurant is very clean. I cannot emphasize how much pride they take in their facility

My family has been frequenting Chef Chao since it opened. A number of family members come from as far away as Lincoln to dine there. The food is superb and the staff friendly always. Best Chinese restaurant in the East Bay Area. Now, I am going to have to go there tonight for a treat of Tomato Beef Chow Mein!!! Treat yourself to lunch, dinner or takeout there. You will not regret it. read more

I enjoy eating here. The place is a good size, ready to accommodate multiple dinner parties. It has a very welcoming dining area. I'm glad that they are busy tonight with the popular movie playing at the theater. They'll stop by to say hello as always. The food is fresh here and I rotate the dishes I order when I visit. There's many wonderful options available on the menu and all tasty. read more

See all

Great service and food! It is probably the best Chinese food you could get in the town of Moraga, and it is less than 5 minutes from Saint Mary's! The old man who served us was really sweet. I was not trying to spend any money and I actually didn't even know about this place, I just tagged along with a few friends that wanted to come. I didn't order anything myself because I'm saving money and didn't want to freeload, but the portions were big enough that my friends didn't finish their stuff so I just ate everything left, and it was a good amount! The dining room is kind of fancy, well anyway, nicer than what a typical college student goes to on a regular basis! read more

Chef Chao Restaurant - a table set for a meal - Chinese Near Me - Moraga, California

We tried this place for lunch for the first time and we were pleasantly surprised. My wife ordered the lunch special with vegetables and requested to have tufu added, and I ordered the lunch special with spicy eggplant and chicken. Portions were large and we shared both dishes. They were both delicious. Lunch special came with a choice of soup, an egg roll, choice of rice, entree, and a fortune cookie. Good value for the price. We go to the 24 Hour Fitness next door and have seen this place many times, but have not tried it until today. We will definitely be back. Service was great and there is plenty of free parking. read more

Chef Chao Restaurant - Spicy eggplant chicken and vegetables - Chinese Near Me - Moraga, California

I've been coming here for 40 years. It's always been outstanding. I've seen the same friendly faces all that time. Fast friendly service as always. The food is fresh and tasty. I feel like it's the best Chinese food in the East Bay. We live in Benicia and drive here frequently to dine in. Kenny is personable and funny. Johnny is professional and polite. If you celebrate your birthday there, they will take your picture wearing an epic hat! Great place! Highly recommend! read more

Can't believe I haven't written this review yet. As long as I can remember, Chef Chao has been my favorite Chinese restaurant. The potstickers and wonton soup are my go-to's. Also highly recommend the sesame chicken! Kenney and Johnny have taken great care of us as customers ever since we started coming here over 30 years ago. Long live Chef Chao! read more

We had a great time at this place. I loved the ambiance and the staff was so kind and helpful. It definitely has a classy vibe but it's acceptable to not be dressed up. We ordered the Rainbow Chicken, BBQ Pork Fried Rice, and Beef Chow Fun. The rainbow chicken was our favorite! Very tasty and we asked to substitute the chicken breast for the crispy chicken and our waiter was very accurate in getting that done. The bbq pork fried rice was also very tasty and I would order it again. Beef chow fun I would look somewhere else to eat this dish, it wasn't the most flavorful here. This is a great dinner spot and I would definitely come back to try more things! read more

Chef Chao Restaurant - Rainbow chicken (with crispy chicken), bbq pork fried rice, beef chow fun - Chinese Near Me - Moraga, California

I ordered the dumplings, lemon chicken, and chicken chow mein for pick up, the food was ready on time, and was delicious as usual when I ate it at home. Portions are always very big so expect delicious leftovers for the next day! read more

This restaurant was so delicious!! Definitely a hidden gem, we will be back. The ambiance and atmosphere is great, it's beautiful inside. They have a large menu and the staff was very kind. Here are a few photos (after we started eating already). The sesame honey glazed chicken is NEXT LEVEL. It's crispy and sweet. read more

Chef Chao Restaurant - Chowmein - Chinese Near Me - Moraga, California

See all

Not impressed at all. Wonton soup was super over cooked. The wontons were soggy and I had scrap vegetables in it. 3 snap peas and 5 celery sticks. So disappointing. When I get wonton soup I look forward to the bok Choy and carrots. I was not so lucky this time. The spicy wontons were not spicy at all. They were super sweet and cold to boot. The onion pancake tasted like fried wonton wrapper. No onions or onion flavor at all. I do not recommend and I will not order again. read more

Chef Chao Restaurant - "Onion pancake" - super greasy - Chinese Near Me - Moraga, California

See all

Was looking for a Chinese restaurant we haven't tried around the area, and Chef Chao came up. It was a nice surprise seeing Chef Chao was nearby other Moraga places we somewhat frequent. We tried the following, but unfortunately, most of it was rather bland. Sweet and Sour Chicken - one of the daughter's favorite dishes from Chinese restaurants. She thought this one was OK, but wasn't excited for it. My son said it was very bland and it took a while to get him to eat his dinner. I tried some, and agree with them. The dish looked really good, much better than it tasted. Chow Mein - pretty standard. Expected more for $12 for noodles. Fried Calamari - it was alright, not much to say about it. Spring Rolls - the person that ordered these said they were just okay. Glad that she tried them, but prefers elsewhere. Szechwan Beef - again, looked amazing, but bland tasting. It seemed some seasoning was missed. There were some other dishes we tried, but they were so unmemorable unfortunately. The restaurant has a nice space and the workers that evening seemed really nice. Ordering and pick up was really easy, but the common theme was that all the dishes lacked some kind of seasoning. Hopefully that means they were lower on the sodium side since it'd help if I lowered my sodium levels! Perhaps it was an off night, but who can say. read more

Chef Chao Restaurant - Sweet and sour chicken, bbq pork chow mein - Chinese Near Me - Moraga, California

A typical greasy spoon like most restaurants that always have the heaviest fryer oil in food. You can even feel the layers of stickiness on the floor as your new shoes glide across the surface. workers quickly prepared all the orders as found in factory conveyer belt. I am sorry to see they are making a mockery of McDonald's. Chao!! read more

we love coming here - especially for the lunch special! we order the sesame walnut prawns and the spicy eggplant chicken with fried rice.

Our favorite all time Chinese restaurant! Sesame walnut prawns, lettuce cups chicken and mu shu pork can't be beat! So delicious! And Kenny is the best! Our family loves celebrating birthdays here! read more

The service here was very unprofessional. The old guy by the door was very rude. We had a confusion about my order. Instead of fixing the confusion, he tried to argue with me over and over again, trying to push it. After it was solved, he threw the receipt at me instead of giving it to me properly. This place needs more people with proper manners. read more

I ordered from DoorDash last night. The food arrived very hot, which was great. Also, this is probably the best Chinese food I've had in the area and certainly the best I've had delivered. The shrimp egg fu yung was outstanding. I will definitely order from here again. read more

Consistently great food! Service is very good and it has a much nicer dining room than other Chinese restaurants in the area

Service was amazing and very attentive. Food was delicious. Great find highly recommend the asparagus prawns

Some people should just not be in the people business. ABYSMAL customer service skills. More than one worker, a lady and a man were so curt in their responses, and it was not even crowded or busy- zero reason to be so pressured. The pent up frustration permeates the dwelling. They need some young people with courteous attitudes to be the face of this aging relic of a once decent restaurant, that I believe would win first place in a "What happened to Moraga?" Contest. My best advice? There are two other Chinese restaurants on the same street. Try one that won't soon be haunted by ghosts. read more

Excellent food and service! Not too noisy. We had the small sizzling rice soup which yielded two small bowls for each of us. A lovely mild broth with perfectly cooked large shrimp and bits of chicken. The lettuce wrap chicken meal was also shareable! A $10 glass of wine was easily two normal pours! Attentive service even on a crowded Saturday night. All around a wonderful experience. My husband also recommends the mango chicken. read more

It had been some time since eating here and wanted to see if the memories were still true. Unfortunately, we were not wild about most of the dishes we ordered. They have a nice atmosphere with a lovely staff, but wasn't excited about the food. read more

Been excellent since the mid 80's. Darn I'm old! Very consistent. Our favorites are pot stickers, sweet and sour soup and Kung Pao. Wish they still had Ginger Chicken Mandarin Style though and Chung King Prawns. Enjoy. read more

At Chef Chao you know you will be given attentive service, enjoy a pleasant atmosphere, and eat delicious food from their extensive menu. Take out is great too - fast and ready when promised. So glad to have Chef Chao in Moraga. read more

We have only ordered takeout from here. The food is really good. I especially love their egg drop soup.

Items sold as vegetables either have meat broth or are cooked in the same oil as meat. My vegetable tofu stunk of fried chicken and tasted like it. Threw it in the trash. The eggplant dish said it had spiciness, but actually was completely bland. Never going back again. read more

I enjoyed our time here at this restaurant. The restaurant alone is beautiful and well lighted. Very welcoming as well! There was a worker named Johnny who is the reason I gave so many stars! He helped us exit the restaurant by holding the door for us and assisted my friend with a walker down the side opening and told him to walk slow. We appreciate you Johnny! Thank you! Service was PERFECT! Food came out in a timely manner and our server was very attentive! Thank you! As for our meal: We ordered Sesame walnut shrimp, crispy duck, Mu shoo chicken and a side order of pork fried rice. 4 stars for the walnut shrimp. (Next time please add more sauce. I couldn't taste it) 2 stars for the duck. It wasn't crispy but the buns it came with were GRAND! The chicken was okay as well. The fried rice was 3 stars, it came out very dry and didn't taste fresh. My only complaint; There were 3 in our party, 1 in a wheelchair and one with a walker so we definitely needed a table with space around us. I was confused why they seated us in the corner with literally no space to move the wheelchair and store the walker. It was so tight fitted that we bumped into the lady who was already sitting at the table behind us. (next time please be more considerate) I saw 2 tables we COULD HAVE sat at with more space but didnt want to bother asking because as soon as we were pointed to the table he chose, he left. It took us about 10 min to get seated. Next time we'll have to just order take out but other than the seating situation, I would for sure come back. read more

See all

My husband and I had the best experience! The service was great and the food was incredible. We got the sesame walnut chicken, pork fried rice, potstickers, pork buns and chow mein. Everything was 10/10! This is the only Chinese restaurant we will go to. read more

Best Chinese American food in the area. Still serving large portions and quick to go pickup, though expect a longer wait and difficulty calling in an order during peak times. My go to are hot and sour soup, honey walnut shrimp, eggplant tofu, green beans, broccoli. Less of a value are the noodles. read more

Food was excellent, I took my family for dinner and we where impressed Is hard to find good Asian now a days read more

I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a great Chinese restaurant. This is the best Cantonese cuisine restaurant I have been to in a long time! Everything was so tasty and all the veggies were so fresh and crunchy even though cooked. The service was fantastic, we never had to look for a server. They were always available and refilling our water without being asked. The orange chicken was crispy and hot, so delicious, not overly sweet or breaded. It's clean, and we didn't leave smelling like a Chinese restaurant. That's a must. read more