This place is a diamond in the rough!! The service is spectacular. Both going in or calling it in they greet you with a smile and are very welcoming. They cook it when you order it. It is ALWAYS fresh and they give huge portions that are great to share or split into multiple meals! We have tried the chow mein, fried rice, king pao chicken, chicken and beef Pho... every dish has been excellent!! We can't wait to try the wings next! Family owned, def worth moving it a shot! Don't Judge a book by the cover! read more

Chen Golden Palace - King pao chicken. Huge lunch portion - enough for 2 meals or to share!! - Chinese Near Me - El Cajon, California

This has been me & my family's GO 2 for the last 4 in half years I believe, family is very nice and friendly love how they greet you when you walk in never awkward or have you waiting. The other day "mama" helped me to the car with the food and my 3 kids :)) I loved & appreciated that so much . She remembers me & my family all the time & I love that ! Well more so my husband cause he's always doing the 1 ordering but I loved she remembered me :)) my son fav dish is the orange chicken & noodles mines the fried shrimp and bbq fried rice . read more

Ordered Pad Thai! They used the sweet and sour sauce instead of the peanut sauce. The once can of soda is $2.00! Saw some people go in, and the. Just left. Should have followed the crowd. read more

Wonderful and long established family owned restaurant. The staff is always so warm and welcoming. They are straightforward with their pricing and you get what you pay for. Food is ready in about 15 mins from order time if not busy, you can also call ahead of time and pay at pick up. This establishment is cash only so be prepared. Working our way through the menu, can vouch for the house special chow mein, Thai house friend rice, shrimp chow mein, cashew chicken, chicken egg rolls, and honestly, nothing we've ordered has wronged us. My only complaint is they are tight with their hot sauce yet I'm sure they have their reasons. read more

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I don't have any pictures of my food for this place since we always get it to go but this home style Chinese food is such a gem. My family and I have been going here since I'm 10 years old I am now 32. LOL it's cash only fyi. There war won ton soup is my absolute favorite! The Thai tea is also a must. I can honestly say they have the best orange chicken!! Nice and crispy with the perfect sweetness. Also the kung pao chicken is a must! I can say that about everything since my family and I have been going here for years lol if you go during lunch you'll get a sweet deal. read more

Chen Golden Palace - Chinese Near Me - El Cajon, California

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The food is great! Ambience is casual. Service is outstanding! This is a cash only location. We have been coming here for years! read more

Took my mom for lunch to this hidden gem. I really love the flavor -brown sauce on Kung Pao. The lunch special serves 2 people. My mom and I shared and ordered pot stickers and size of friend rice. I could have eaten the potstickers by myself. They are so good and fresh. It's a great spot to eat in or pick up. I am excited to try more dishes. Been looking for a good spot for Chinese food. Good customer Service. read more

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Great food and lots of it!!! Good prices! Extremely cheerful, friendly and helpful employees!! Can't wait to go back!!!

Service is 10/10 The friendliest woman is taking orders over the phone and enthusiastically greets each and every person who walks in. They're quick, food is fresh and they have large serving sizes. I ordered two days in a row and the quality was great both days. Orange chicken entree was my go to but I also ordered their teriyaki chicken. Although the teriyaki wasn't as sweet as I normally like my teriyaki, I really enjoyed the quantity of crunchy veggies it came with. Side note: they offer quite a lot of rice per entree. read more

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Waited 1 hour for a chow mein and orange chicken. The place was super unorganized with their orders and after ordering on a slow day and sitting right in front of the register waiting they still failed to realized what I had ordered and paid for. It was only after waiting 45-50 I had to alert them I was still there waiting. Definitely will not be back and I would not recommend this establishment. read more

First time here and the food is fresh & delicious! We will definitely be back It is cash only so make sure to withdrawal first read more

Chen Golden Palace - Orange chicken w/chow mein & szechaum shrimp w/fried rice. Absolutely delicious! - Chinese Near Me - El Cajon, California

Chen is the best Chinese restaurant in East county. The food is the best and does not compare to any other restaurant. The service is incredible and friendly. With an ambiance of China. The people are so nice and friendly and very welcoming. Try them you will not regret it. read more

Really solid lunch specials. Heaping portions, the food comes out fast and hot and the customer service is great! I've yet to eat inside and have only come in for take out (twice) but it seems like a casual place. They're cash only! read more

I love this place !! Such a cute little fast food restaurant. It's important to mention they are cash only. So bring your cash. The women working here are absolutely adorable and helpful answering my menu questions . They make Chinese and Thai food. Their menu is big and every dish I've tried I really enjoyed. They serve huge portions and the food is very fresh and delicious. My favorites are their orange chicken and beef pad see ew . Their orange chicken is cooked to perfection , it's very juicy and fresh and their orange sauces really great. They use lots of sauce , so the dish is not dry at all . The pad see ew is also bomb! Very fresh and delicious. Not too spicy. I highly recommend giving this cool business your support during these challenging times. They deserve it. read more

This is my go to spot for Chinese takeout! Not only is the food amazing, customer service is always so great here. The lady behind the counter is such a sweetheart, definitely recommend giving this place a shot! read more

Food is great healthy portions Service is fast and very friendly And ambiance is real chill read more

Best place I've found so far in the El Cajon area. The lady who runs the front has the happiest and most exciting attitude towards her customers, she really makes my kids and I feel like part of the family. Then there is the food. Cooked to delicious perfection with very generous portions we are never feeling unsatisfied after dinner and usually have left overs for later. I recommend them whole heartedly, give it a try and you'll see what I'm talking about. read more

Best chinese spot in San Diego!!!! I've had probably 10 different chinese spots in the San diego area, and this is by far my favorite place. The employees are superrrr friendly I seriously love them lol the older lady is my favorite, here and there she'll offer me a soda, she's the sweetest!! Food never takes too long to come out, and it's always super delicious! I get the orange chicken with chow mien, honey shrimp, cream cheese wontons, and the chicken and vegetable egg rolls. My husband got the broccoli beef and salt and pepper chicken wings, which i also loved !!Everything is always super fresh and I personally love the thick noodles and slight garlic taste of the chow mein. The only right option for chinese !!! read more

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There are a lot of Chinese restaurants in the El Cajon area. But this one is supreme and superior to the others I've been to. Kind lady at the register, beautiful smile very friendly and welcoming. The food was amazing the fried shrimps were fluffy yet crispy. The house noodles soft and moist. And the egg foo young along with the broth it comes with is my favorite. I definitely will be visiting this place more often. Oh yea and the boba tea was so delicious and fresh. Very clean dining area as well. Nice Chinese art on the walls with lots of pics of the food items. read more

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Best food in El Cajon everytime my family and I get food here we never get disappointed. I always get the beef pho soup. It's delicious I highly recommend it. The spicy shrimp noodles and Hawaiian shrimp rice are delicious too if you like spicy food. We are a happy family customers. The service is amazing they are really friendly. We get our food to go but if you decide to eat there the ambiance is relaxing and calming nice place to have lunch or dinner. read more

The king pao shrimp was prepared in an unusual way and wasn't very good. The hot and sour soup was delicious though

This is a hole in the wall Chinese spot that is so underrated! Great, authentic Chinese food with even greater customer service. The woman that works there reminds me of my mom and is the sweetest angel ever! Highly recommend this spot! read more

The service is wonderful!!! The lady in the front is so nice the food was so good!! I definitely recommend this place !

The orange chicken and egg rolls were pretty good and the service was great. The price is very fair for the amount of food you get. I will be back. read more

Delicious and fresh authentic Asian cuisine. Very generous portions. Very friendly owners and staff. One of my families favorite places to eat. We've gone here for years and never have had an issue. read more

' ' ' ' We Love The House Special Fried Rice. Yum Yum Yum . Great Staff Very Great Nice People. ' ' ' ' read more

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Decided to have Chinese food for new years and now it was amazing! The lemon chicken was perfect, the bbq pork FR was excellent, the egg rolls are huge and yummy. Best Chinese food in El Cajon!!! read more

Visiting a city it's always fun to discover new places. Chen's Golden Palace is an awesome carry out Chinese restaurant. The lady who runs it was amazing and friendly. She gave us 5x extra almond cookies because the packages had broken items. The food was delicious and abundant. We had the Cashew Chicken combo, Spicy Shrimp Noodle, wontons and pork dumplings. The entrees were excellent and very reasonably priced. I appreciate the reviews on Yelp because the shrimp noodle dish wasn't an item I'd necessarily order, but the reviews were complimentary so I tried it and the only regret is that we are only visiting El Cajon and won't have access to this restaurant when back home. read more

Chen Golden Palace - Abundant options at the restaurant! - Chinese Near Me - El Cajon, California

So I just moved to the area and I was looking for something to eat. And I stumbled upon this Chinese spot. I went inside to order food not realizing that it was cash only. So I left and I went to the 7-Eleven right by and pulled cash out because I wanted to support a local business instead of eating at Carl's jr Or something that was in the area. I came back and the lady at the front cashier was very grateful and happy that I had returned to buy food. I ended up ordering Kung Pao chicken with lo mein and a side of fried rice and it was really good. I noticed someone mentioned that there's no peas in Kung Pao chicken, but this is Americanized Chinese food. There is no right way to make it in my opinion and it was delicious. Lots of flavor chicken slightly overcooked but that tends to happen at these places and that doesn't tend to bother me. I also ordered a Thai iced tea a little bit light on the t side. I wish there was more but other than that it was good. read more

Good takeout every time I've been here. I enjoy their fried rice and their house special chow main.

Best place in El Cajon to get an actual LARGE Thai tea. Other places only have small/medium cups

Went back for another quick bite. Still came out piping hot, still a great deal, still with a nice home made flavor. The bowl was enough for me to eat two modest servings read more

Chen Golden Palace - Teriyaki chicken bowl - Chinese Near Me - El Cajon, California

I love small authentic restaurants and this is definitely a great one! As we first walked in the owner was super nice and the place smelled amazing . We got the chow mein with chicken and added cream cheese wontons which were delicious. We would have gotten more but the kids were really the ones in the mood for Chinese. We will definitely go back to try the Kung Pao and Orange Chicken. read more

Great tasting food always served by a friendly staff.The portions are large and sometimes really fill you for the day. Alot of very tasty food.. The only downside that many gripe about is that after twenty years in business the place should not be cash only.This is 2021... We know many people who love the place and between paychecks dont have the $100 cash to feed the family,but would gladly charge and pay when the bill comes in.Simply meaning a great restraunt is loosing alot of customers by only taking cash. Highly reccommend to all.. read more

Amazing little Chinese food place! The lady up front is so kind and funny. The portions are big and the food is wonderful. Heads up, this is a cash only restaurant so be prepared or ypu will have to go to the 7-11 in the parking lot. read more

Chen Golden Palace - the interior of a chinese restaurant - Chinese Near Me - El Cajon, California

Friendly, Kind and excellent food! Proportions beyond my expectations. We had been here before during a local car show. Sure am glad I looked on Yelp and recalled the visit. We ordered Orange Chicken, Won Ton Soup, Spicy Noodle Shrimp, Hot and Sour Soup, and Pork Dumplings. We REALLY wanted Chinese and were not disappointed one bit. Orange Chicken was large pieces, tender and juicy with just enough sauce Won Ton soup was the best I have had including shrimp, eater chestnuts, snap peas, onions and chinese vegetables- yum Spicy Noodle Shrimp won my husband over and the Hot and Sour was spicy good, then he moved over to my order and raved about the Won Ton soup and tender shrimp... I know I am full and have enough for a couple more meals. No complaints on the value especially since restaurant food prices have increased for them to survive. We will be back! read more

The prices were okay and the food was okay. I got two chicken dishes (chicken and broccoli and chicken w/garlic sauce) as well as an order of cream cheese wontons. The wontons were good average. The chicken dishes had an over cooked texture but taste was okay. The white rice was a little old. The portions were large. read more

The food is really delicious like best I have tasted in El Cajon. On top of that, the service was quick, courteous,and just sweet people. Plus, it's a cute place, but we did a pickup order read more

The food here is so good and the owners are so kind! They're very quick to make the food and it always comes out piping hot!

Their chow mein is really nice and tastes nostalgic. I liked the orange chicken, not super crispy but I liked how it wasn't overly sweet. The rice has a nice flavor too. The portions are pretty big and overall it's a great place for nostalgic, cheap Chinese takeout. The lady there is always really nice, too, and it seems like there's a big variety of dishes. I love the casual nature of the place, it's very comfy and definitely you can tell it's authentically Asian casual food. read more

Chen Golden Palace - Orange chicken with noodles and fried rice - Chinese Near Me - El Cajon, California