This is ma and pa kind of american Chinese style restaurant. Parking is no issue. While the lot in back is small it's the right size for this restaurant. There will always be room in it for you when you come. The inside has your typical table/chair combos in varying sizes. Overall the decor trends towards function over form. Not a classy sophisticated spot but everything is in good repair and is impeccably clean. Service is quick if not overly friendly. You'll be treated well but not pampered. The food is hot, fast and the portions are large. With some exceptions the quality and flavor is good if not great. Be warned that the hot and sour soup is just that. Very hot and extraordinarily sour. I'm not the biggest fan of that flavor, but if you like sour good news for you. actually the appetizers are on the something isn't quite right side of things. The fact that the entree's are solid make up for this however. they do a great general tso's anything. Best of all this is a wallet friendly spot. It's very possible to get enough food for two meals (leftovers foirn the win yo) for around ten dollars. Less if it's a lunch special, and it's almost fast food fast serving time as well. So while it's not terribly sophisticated it's very much good enough for when you gots the cravers. . read more

Service was great and food was fantastic! I am extremely particular and will definitely be coming back here.

I ordered from Chef Liu and had my someone pick it up for me. I have to say that I was very disappointed at the quality of the food. The potstickers were dried out and bland, the fried rice had no spice and to top it all off it cost twice what it did last time. I know that staffing is hard right now and I am very patient for that reason but to serve terrible food and charge twice as much as usual is ridiculous. read more

I really liked this restaurant. I had the chicken fried rice and the orange chicken and they were great! I feel like the prices were also pretty low for the large amount of food you get. I enjoyed this place and I will be back again. The reason for 4 stars is I have had better Chinese food in the past for sure. read more

Bought an order of Beef Fried Rice for $11.10. I got about 1.9 pounds. The portions were generous for the area. Unfortunately The rice was extremely bland and I had to drown it in Chili sauce and soy sauce.. Hopefully I caught the off day but will return read more

(Note: I would give 3.5 stars if Yelp allowed that, but rounded up to 4 stars since they don't) In true Jewish tradition, I went here for takeout on Christmas Eve... and I'm new to Scotts Valley, so this was the first Chinese restaurant I've tried here. Having lived in San Jose & San Francisco previously, I'm a little spoiled when it comes to Asian foods, so wasn't expecting TOO much. Service was fast and friendly, and I thought the price was a little high until I saw the size of their dishes. Way more food than I needed! I got lemon chicken, veggie chow fun, and spring rolls. The chicken itself was a little chewy and didn't reheat well, but the breading and sauce were quite yummy. Chow fun could be lighter on the oil/grease, but otherwise pretty standard quality. Honestly, the best part of my meal was the spring rolls... they were fat, crispy, and delicious! Overall I'd say it was okay, and I'll come back if the other places in town don't prove to be better. read more

I've been searching for a good Chinese restaurant in the Santa Cruz area for a while with dismal results, now I can safely say I've found the best Chinese restaurant in the area. One critical thing this restaurant does well that all the other local restaurants seem to fail at is making soft, fluffy fried rice. Everywhere else the rice tastes old or is tough and/or bland, but this rice was exquisite. The other dishes were good as well, with a fresh taste to them. All other restaurants taste like the food has been sitting under a heat lamp all day. The decor inside the restaurant is a little plain, but who cares. Finally, some GOOD local Chinese food! I can't wait to return and try some other dishes. If the decor is a problem, just get takeout like I did! Nice staff as well. Very welcoming. read more

I go to Chef Liu a few times a month and it never disappoints. I chose to eat at the restaurant most of the time as the food is best fresh. Michael, an employee, is always extremely welcoming and helpful. I love their chicken chow mein, orange chicken and their sizzling rice soup! read more

They may have a new name, but they still have the same great menu! I've been coming here for years because they do chinese right. Everything I've tried has tasted fresh and great. Plus, it's nothing like the chinese food that makes your stomach upset after. Whenever I'm stuffed up with cold, I order a large to go container of their Hot and Sour soup. So yummy, and the spicy kick is sure to clear up your sinuses. Give this place a try, you won't regret it. read more

This place used to be Mei Garden. The same great family still has it and cooks all the food. They changed the name because people would call in orders for the Santa Cruz Mei Garden and then not pick them up. So, to end the confusion, as Confucius say..... New Name! We love the Wor Won ton soup, which is a meal in itself on a cold evening. It's not salty at all & It's full of white meat chicken, prawns, BBQ pork & lots of fresh veggies, oh, and large won ton. We also love the Fresh green beans with chicken and spicy garlic sauce. Their General Chicken is a spicy favorite also. They will cook any item specially, just like you want it and have no problem with special requests. I always ask them to cook all my veggies very crisp, fresh & delicious.( No soggy veggies here.) They have dozens of wonderful lunch specials every day & always have new specials on the board. The service is wonderful and they always treat us like family. Call on the way home from work and your food will be ready for pick up. read more

Excellent family run restautant with great customer service. I also like the fact they dont have a huge salty aftertaste to their food..Egg Rolls are excellent and home made.I had the chop suey and it was excellent tasting, and the fried rice was well cooked not oily and fresh vegetables. I also ordered the Mongolian Beef, Spicy, but with well rounded flavor. If your like me and don't like very spicy, just remove the peppers or tell them and they will adjust the order..In my opinion some of the best chinese food in the area read more

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Love Chef Liu! Always come here when I'm in town. I especially love the garlic chicken eggplant and hot and sour soup.

This is the best Chinese food in Scotts Valley and Felton by far. The vegetables are always fresh and never overcooked. Service is fast. Prices are good. They're family owned. No MSG. They have a great lunch special too. As a vegetarian, I appreciate that the soup and the egg roll that come with the lunch special don't have pork or other meat in them (a rarity!). read more

The new menu prices are way to expensive. We don't go as often because of this. Some of the food is ok but they don't give you many vegetables with the 'Chicken Chow Mein' just noodles and chicken. The best part of Chef Liu are their 'Fried Prawns' appetizer. Fresh made with batter not the bad frozen package ones every other Chinese restaurant has around the area. They never have water chestnuts to add to some of my dishes. We go now to Tim's in Scotts Valley their prices are better and they do have water chestnuts. Like we say the new cost is way too steep. Scotts Valley is not Beverly Hills yet. Maybe they can buy some window cleaner $ to clean their dirty windows with the extra cash they take in now. read more

1) way to pricy...$20.40 for and order of 3 egg rolls, and 1 dish. I could have gotten quality sushi with good portions down the street for less. 2) For the price i was expecting more veggies. 3) The food was over cooked, there was no cruch. 4) The portion was not bad thats why I give it 2 stars but I have gotten the same for half the price. 5) They have raised the prices from the last menu. So, I am updating it. read more

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A spectacularly delicious, family-run Chinese restaurant. Scotts Valley offers a lot of choices for Asian cuisine; this one tops them all for overall deliciousness. Fast and friendly service, the freshest and most delicious dishes you'll find anywhere, and reasonable prices - these are all among the reasons why Chef Liu cannot be topped. And a note to Pokemon Go players - there's a generous pokestop that can be spun from the dining room, and the bathroom is a Pikachu nest. Top THAT, ABC! Try their crisp, tasty potstickers. read more

Had a double billing on my only visit but got refunded by CC company.Excellent Hunan and szechwan Beef soooo crispy! I live 45 minutes away w/ traffic but w/ be back. Easy location to find.Nice people. read more

Without a doubt, a complete ripoff now. Their prices have skyrocketed over the past year. The food has become below average at best. ABC, Canton, and even Tim's are way better. If you go inside the place it is dirty and unkempt. You don't want to think about your food being cooked in that kitchen never mind the tweaker white dude cooking it and smoking cigarettes out back. I got 4 dishes and pot stickers and the total was over $75. That's absolutely insane. The menus you see on here are way outdated and everything is basically double. I got a shrimp dish that was absolutely disgusting and it cost 18.99. Mixed veggies dish 12.99. That should tell you all you need to know about the prices now. I wouldn't mind if the food was good or even if the place were clean and well kept, or if they actually told you the price over the phone before you picked up your food. The didn't, which now seems misleading because once you get there, trust me, you'll be shocked. Then, when you get home, you'll be disgusted when you open the boxes. Even the damn fortune cookies are the cheap knock-off ones. read more

Chef Lou is my favorite place for Chinese food. It really is good and I've tried about 7 places in the county. Plus, they are flexible to substitutions like: please leave out the bell peppers and sub with zucchini. Very very good food! read more

If you love spicey garlic eggplant and spicey garlic green beans with chicken, you will find no better! read more

Chef Liu - Chinese Near Me - Scotts Valley, California

This place was recommended to me by a friend who has lived in this community for years, I was so shocked when I ordered a plate because of the amount they serve it's enough for a couple meals! I have always had great experiences here the people make amazing food, and are always friendly! Must check out I've only gone here a handful of times and the young man at the front desk remembered me definitely was very welcoming & home like environment read more

One of only a handful of places in the area that offer sizzling rice soup in a red tomatoes broth as opposed to clear broth. IMO so much tastier than clear. Add shrimp and you have a fabulous meal by itself but don't be afraid of their other delightful dishes. read more

The tangerine beef is AWESOME! We also have had the orange chicken and general tsao chicken-- all are great, but try the tangerine beef and you'll probably want it every time! I also love the fried egg rolls; a tad greasy just how I like them. Very nice people and take out is always a breeze. read more

This was by far the BEST Chinese food I have had in a while. We ordered orange chicken, eggplant garlic chicken, beef broccoli and the hunan beef. Everything we had, had great serving sizes. All of the ingredients were clearly fresh, and their rice was cooked perfectly. I'm a bit of a fatty and decided to put all of everything together and try it out (I'm weird I know )... and all I have to say is AMAZING. Not to mention the gentleman who took our to-go order was very personable, knew my mom and my brother and somehow knew i was another relative. Thumbs up. Great great service. Great people, great food. A huge dinner for a family of 4 for $50. Can not beat it. read more

Food is ok but inconsistent. Ordered chicken fried rice and where's the chicken? And some new waiter tells me the food is "all edible". Really? Dropped one star from my last visit. read more

I had a to go order of orange chicken and noodles. Yummy! The staff was courteous even during this time and even clearly being overworked and understaffed. But that didn't show in either the food quality, their estimate for when my food would be ready, or their attitude. read more

I come here whenever I'm in town and it's a must to visit chef lui. The food portions are big and delicious. It can get busy during dinner rush but the food is worth waiting for! read more

Nothing really wrong with Chef Liu.  I was a little freaked out when I realized they were using a microwave to heat the soup, but once I was over that, the food was actually very good. read more

Well, I'm ashamed to admit it, but my wife and I have driven by here hundreds of times over the last thirty years and were never impressed from the outside. We finally gave it a try and wow, we're we missing great Chinese food! The chicken with beans and garlic sauce was fantastic. Fried rice very good and moist, lemon chicken lightly breaded and Delicious. War won ton also very good. Very good portions for the price. Can't wait to go back and get anything with their garlic sauce! read more

DacronDan... out and about and enjoying another wonderful meal at Chef Liu... Three generations... Yep. Three generations of DacronDanians have been dining at Chef Liu... and we are ALL fans! My wife and I came here years ago... then we had our boys and continued to come by *(still my oldest son's favorite). Now my grand daughter has the joy of dining at Chef Liu! Folks, I am a fan of plain family cooking. A place where you can take your family and relax... a place where the food is good and the staff know your name! Smiles... that is the legacy of our dining experience at Chef Liu. Happy smiles and warm hearts, happy meals with the family, joy of a familiar table and remembered meals over the years. Legacy... The food is great. But really I will eat many great meals... but Legacy. That is what lasts... the Legacy of Chef Liu and my family is one of Joy and Warmth. Ok... ; ) the General Chicken and hot n sour soup are awesome! Start your own legacy! Stop in and have a meal...it's all so good! read more

In our first night in Scotts Valley, we were at a loss to find something for dinner. The clerk at our inn was not much help, so we resorted to just driving around. As we drove down Scotts Valley Dr, we saw a sign that said Chef Liu. Since we hadn't eaten Chinese food for awhile, we stopped here. There is a rustic parking lot in the back and you enter from there. There is no door on the Scotts Valley Drive side. It was a Wednesday night and they weren't very busy. There was one Chinese waitress and we seated ourselves in one of the booths by the window. The booths were clean and so were the floors. Our table was smooth and clean. The lighting was a little eclectic but not too bad. The large mirror across the back gave the restaurant an appearance of being bigger. Since we were a bit tired and not really starving, we just ordered a couple of dishes. We ordered a sizzling chicken platter ($10.35) which consisted of sizzling vegetable platter of mushrooms, bell peppers, carrots, asparagus, snow peas, zucchini, onions, chopped garlic, water chestnuts, and a small amount of chicken. Our second dish was a special chow mein with pan fried noodles ($7.75). It had pieces of shrimp, bbq pork, and chicken. Both dishes were very tasty and filling. Certainly it is better than most Chinese restaurants in small towns. It is comparable with many of the value Chinese restaurants in the Bay Area. No tea was brought out. Since it was warm that evening, we didn't bother asking. The restaurant appeared to be family owned and is opened 7 days a week. Our rating of 4 is a comparison to other Chinese restaurants we have eaten at. read more

Love this place ! My buddy Michael Lui who works up front is always welcoming and the food is always fresh and delicious!!

Tomato beef chow mein! Yes! Hunan Beef! Definitely!! Salt and pepper shrimp and you will go home happy.

Great tasting dishes. Good prices. The beef with garlic green beans and walnut shrimp was fantastic.

Been my faforite as of late. Been going here 20+ years. They know me at this place. They know I eat with sticks, so they always bring them, and they're not those crappy little balsa wood sticks. They bring me the big ceramic sticks, like overly large pencils, so you can actually pick stuff up with them. Not to be a snob, but I'm annoyed by people who eat Chinese food with a fork. I also like that there is hot sauce at the table in addition to soy sauce. There is a lunch special I love so much, that I won't even reveal it here. Don't want too many people to know. I like that with lunch, you can choose from steamed rice, pork fried rice, chicken chow mein, or beef chow mein. And it's always a mountain of food. Probably enough for two meals, but it's so delicious I just can't stop, as I pile on more Soy and Sri Racha, culminating in that moment where I lift my plate and scoop those last remains into my gullet with the sticks and lick the plate. Mmm Mmm! I also like that they serve "Caraffes" i.e. Liters and 1/2 Liter of Wine. A lot of classier Italian Restaurants maintain this practice as well. It's old school thing that I dig. I also like that in their menu they say that they specialize in "Szechuan" and "Cantonese" cuisine, rather than simply "Chinese". read more

Really enjoy Chef Liu Always fast and friendly The owner Gina remembers all her regular customers with a big hello and her sister Lisa is always welcoming and helpful with the menu selections A delicious family restaurant read more

Yum!! I've been in Coeur d'Alene, ID for a few months and the food there is so-so. I treated a girlfriend who likes this place to lunch. My first time here. I loved the hot & sour soup, garlic beef and pork-fried-rice lunch. She said she prefers the egg-drop soup over h&s but I guess ya get the soup of the day and I lucked out. Lots to choose from on the menu. Guess I'm taking off 1 star because the forks and napkins were stored on our table and it's kinda weird having other patrons and staff taking those items from the table at which I'm sitting. read more

Tried it for the first time after reading some of the good reviews. Was hoping it would live up to the legacy that so many Yelpers have claimed. I think Legacy here is overrated. The food was average but by no means outstanding. It's good for a Chinese food fix but it won't be one of our regular joints. I over-ordered which I love to do when trying new places so I can compare and contrast. I did ask for low-sodium which they accommodated. 1. Sizzling rice soup: better than average, lots of veggies 2. Appetizer platter: fried shrimp was less than average, tiny shrimp in a lot of batter. Even my son who eats any type of fried shrimp wouldn't eat it. Pork was fairly lean. Eggrolls were average and appreciate they weren't overly greasy. Wontons were blah - really thick and heavy. 3. Chicken moo shu: the best dish out of what we ordered. Was not over cooked, the cabbage was crisp and no funky chicken. 4. Orange chicken: nothing amazing here, sauce wasn't too heavy, lots of crispy pieces. 5. Sweet and sour shrimp: too much batter on the shrimp. I ended up scraping it off the pieces I was eating b/c it was overwhelming. 6. Special chow fun: second best dish out of what we ordered. No funky meat, good noodles to veggie/meat and not overly greasy. read more

Great food. Fried rice is not dry like a lot of Chinese restaurants.

Yummmmmmmmm-O!!! I ordered the sweet and sour chicken and it's absolutely delicious!! Perfect in fact! The steamed rice was also made to perfection! Just hope this wasn't a fluke! Definitely worth the lunch price, lots of food for your money!! read more

Chef Liu - Sweet and sour chicken!! Delicious!! - Chinese Near Me - Scotts Valley, California