I've had the most bizarrely inconsistent experience with China King. I've only ever ordered the same dish, four times, over the phone for takeout: the China King Special Chicken. It's $13.50 and has no other description on the menu. The first time I had it, I was actually really surprised - it was far and away the best American-style Chinese dish I've ever had: big, crispy-coated hunks of juicy chicken in a savory and sweet-but-not-too-sweet sauce that seemed to have a special umami something that made it really moreish and interesting. Like the consummate version of General Tso's-type chicken. So, I ordered this again the next time, and it was terrible. Half of the chicken was replaced by broccoli (the first version was 100% chicken). This remaining chicken was extremely dry white meat (the first version was all dark meat) with a soggy batter coating. Third time, I called, a woman answered, and I requested specifically dark meat chicken; lo and behold, I got the first, stellar version. Thinking I was onto something, on my fourth order, I again asked for dark meat. This time, a man had answered the phone, and he said the dark meat would be a couple dollars extra. Sure, I thought, if it's going to be good. ..........Nope. It was the half-wood-pulp half-broccoli again. And I paid extra for it, too. So, with a 50% track record, I have since stopped trying my luck with China King. Maybe with more time and money I could deduce the pattern of managers/cooks and pinpoint the optimal time to get the good version of China King Special Chicken. But there are other places around that are good and much more consistent. read more

What a great authentic Chinese food restraint I love this place very fairly priced and the food is just amazing and the staff are so nice I would recommend this restraunt to my family, friends and clients!!!! I'm very please with there customer service! Goleta is blessed to have this restraunt in there area!!! read more

This place is amazing! I absolutely love it. Jen and Jerry are awesome people. Cashew chicken is the best thing I've ever eaten. Thank you guys very much. read more

It was my first time going to the restaurant and, last, the service was very poor. We sat down and the manager or the waiter did not come to see us. After 10min of sitting down without a menu, I went to the front to get a menu, our food was delayed and it was cold and very salty. The waiter did not offer us anything to drink or even refill our drinks after they were served. We could not finish the meal. We asked for the check. I passed my concerns to the manager and the response I got was very rude she said "there is nothing she could do because they were short stuff?" However, there were not many people eating in the restaurant. I do not recommend it to anyone. read more

First time at this restaurant a d I couldn't be happier with the service and food. We ordered 4 items and all four were delicious. We will definitely return in the future. read more

What a gem of Chinese food in Goleta! Went in hoping it would be better than Panda Express, then found it's actually on par with Mandarin Palace, but more affordable! The eggplant and the mango shrimp dishes were both sooo flavorful and perfectly cooked. Added cashews to my beef & broccoli, and this dish was also tasty! The meat was seasoned really well. We ordered everything mild, and all the dishes came out non-spicy and very tasty! Service was fast and pleasant. Will be here again! read more

The best ever! The owner is such a sweetheart, she always remembers me when I come in, and spares no effort in providing quality food, and excellent service. read more

I just love this restaurant! The food is fresh and healthy. The space is ultra clean and pretty. My kids love it too. Jennifer is so friendly and gives helpful suggestions. Hot sour soup is my personal favorite. read more

Never written any review but had a such terrible experience with this restaurant that compelled me to write this review: Ordered salt and pepper fried squid/calamari, it came both soggy (yuck!) and very unfresh like it had been frozen for months. When confronted the lady owner, she flat out said the ingredient are frozen and the sogginess is just "normal". Well if this dish is a "normal" representation of the food in this restaurant I just can't recommend anyone going here. Since the owner would not take it back, I ended up taking the squid back to my dog. She enjoyed it. read more

I have been here several times for lunch and tried a different dish each time. The experience is always good. The people are very nice and the food is excellent. I have had Kung Pao Chicken, Spicy Basil Beef, MuShu Pork, Orange Peel Chicken, a couple of different soups. I haven't been disappointed once. The lunch specials are a great deal. read more

We ate there for the first time on Friday. It was GREAT!! The food was everything we expected. The sauces are the same recipes from Mandarin Palace a few years back which won tons of awards. We'll definitely go back. read more

One word: awful. I hardly ever bash a place because I've worked in the food industry and understand the challenges that come with that but there's no other way to describe our experience there. First off my food was given to the wrong customer (which is understandable I guess) but it took her like 5 mins to figure it out. Secondly, they didn't put in the whole table's ticket so while I got my food after the initial mix up we had to wait another 15 mins for my gf's food to come out. To add to this issue the server never came to explain the situation. The owner finally came out and explained the kitchen didn't see the whole ticket but by that time we were already a bit pissed. Lastly, and most importantly, the food just wasn't good. Mine was cold from the long wait and the mix ups but both the orange peel beef and the orange peel chicken that she ordered came out a congealed mess. Microwaved orange chicken from the frozen section would have been better. The orange sauce was thick and slimy while both dishes mainly tasted like salt. Next time we'll just go to Panda Express cause that would have honestly been better. read more

Visited this place one day for take out. The entire time there I felt like I wasn't welcomed. I chucked it up to unfamiliarity although I witnessed how friendly they were with other customers. When I asked a question about something on the menu it seemed as if I was annoying the owner of the establishment. I finally received my food and went back to my hotel room to find out I was not given a fork or a spoon. I called them about this and they apologized and said I'd have to come pick them up. I took the experience in stride and days later decided to give it a second chance with two of my Co workers. Let's just say this was the beginning of the end. The waitress asked us what drinks we wanted, my Co workers asked for iced tea and I asked for a lemonade and we also placed our food orders. 15 minutes later their iced teas are brought and she looks at me and says no lemonade, then walks off, not even offering me another drink choice. At this time a group of asian students walk in, I assume from ucsb. The waitress has now focused her full attention on serving them. They are getting food brought out to them and drinks while my Co workers and I are still sitting around waiting. Next thing you know, she is just dropping random.food at our table every 5 minutes. Wrong orders to the wrong people, just complete chaos. Appetizers coming out with the entries with the wrong food. When I finally get my food entree (which was also wrong but I was irritated already with the service so I decided I wouldn't send it back) I asked about the chow mein I ordered and she ignored me. While I sat there and waited on the rest of my meal to come, I notice small flies starting to fly around our food. 15 minutes later after shooing flies I was done. Flies got into my food. I told the owner of the restaurant what happened and she proceeded to go to the back and put the food in a box for me to take home! We were clearly discriminated against in this restaurant as the Chinese students behind us were getting served on time and in a respectful manner. This restaurant does not appreciate the patronizing of races other than asian and white. The hispanic family who came in and we're seated at the table on side of us were starting to experience the same problems we were as we decided to leave. I highly recommend if you are not white or asian to never eat at or from this place ever. They will treat you with disrespect and expect a tip at the end of the night for treating you like shit. read more

Wow! What an amazing restaurant!!! You HAVE to go here for lunch! The service was a little slow, but it was worth it. The food was amazing, as was the preparation. My mouth is watering just thinking about it now! :) It was bright, open, and extremely friendly, with everyone smiling. Our host was also extremely friendly and very helpful. All I can say is that China King has found themselves a repeat customer!!!! Keep up the amazing work China King! read more

This is our favorite Chinese food restaurant! Thai Basil Beef and Chicken are out of this world! Their Mango Shrimp is outstanding! I've never been disappointed with a meal here! The owner is on sight and oversees the business. She is a delight. read more

Very good food! We walked in and where greeted with a smile and "welcome" and seated immediately. The restaurant was at about 80% capacity on a Saturday night around 7 with lots of people coming in for take out orders. This is not pre-made food, they make the food when you order it so it comes out piping hot. Everything was really tasty and the prices are great. The portions are normal, we had enough to take home. The restaurant is in a strip mall with a bowling alley providing lots of parking, Their menu says they deliver with a $25.00 minimum order. The restaurant is really clean and welcoming. I think we found our new favorite Chinese food restaurant in Goleta. read more

This is probably the worst chinese restaurant I've been to. First, poor service. I sat at the table for 15-20 minutes and nobody took my order or brought any water. Secondly, the food turned out to be very disappointing. I ordered a simple chinese dish from chinese menu. But the ingredients were far off. I couldn't imagine any other places cook it that way. The combination of those weird ingredients just didn't taste good. I felt I wasted my time and money there. The bright side is the dining area of restaurant looked clean. read more

We ordered salt and pepper fish filet, mushroom beef, sautéed green vegetables in garlic. Everything was exceptional!! The food was juicy, delicious and straight from the kitchen. The ingredients were fresh and flavorful. The quality of the meat was excellent. The service from the owner and her wait staff was also exceptional. This is my new Chinese Food restaurant. read more

Probably not the most amazing chinese food, but its not bad either. I've had takeout twice. People there (for the 10 seconds i was there) were nice. I'll probably go again. Prices are pretty expensive though.. They do have some coupons on there website so be sure to check them out! I haven't used them myself yet. read more

I loved everything about my experience eating @ China King. Exceptional customer service Great food Decent prices what more can one ask for!!! I haven't been satisfied with anyone's version of sweet & sour shrimp, except for China King's. The shrimp was so plump & juicy, it kept falling off the fork. The tempura was light, not dried out. The sauce wasn't overly thick & they cooked the veggies to perfection, not crunchy like so many others do!!! My lunch special came with so many other delectables, I felt like I had a dinner course. I'm adding this restaurant to my top 10 list!!! read more

Just moved back to Santa Barbara, and I am happy to be living in Goleta. I'm starting to check out the local restaurants. I'm not a fan of "chain" restaurants, so I always want to support a local "family" place. I used a Local Flavor coupon, and I'm glad I did. It was a Sunday night, and I'm glad to say there were others eating there and smiling. I liked the menu, not to big but a lot of dishes I wanted to try. I had the sizzling rice soup and the lamb chops. The soup had a nice light base, fresh veggies and a generous amount of shrimp and chicken. I had a cold, and it was just what the doctor ordered. The lamb chops had a very nice sauce and tasted quite good. I look forward to coming back to try their special eggplant, their tofu hot pot, and a combination dish that had all the veggies I like. The staff was very sweet. read more

Terrific food. Had General Tao's chicken and China Clay Pot Chicken. Both excellent. Very good service. Best of all the many Chinese restaurants I've tried in the Santa Barbara area over the past 20 years... read more

This place serves decent Chinese food at a decent price. The ingredients are fresh. Shrimp was fresh and the quantity more than expected. Wait time after being seated was a little long. I would say this is a 3.5 star rating. Overall a good place to have lunch when visiting UCSB. read more

Really like this place! Tried it out 2-3 weeks ago and got it again a few days ago. I'm vegetarian, so my options are usually limited at asian restaurants and I'm also not a huge fan of vegetarian soy meat. However, we really enjoyed their vegetarian kung pao chicken. We also tried the eggplant szechuan style (yum!) and their vegetarian pho. Everything was delicious. I will be back! read more

Went here for lunch today. Food was okay but really not satisfying. Hard to believe this was really Chinese food and not a generic copy. I wouldn't choose to eat here again and not really understanding the other good reviews... have they actually eaten good Chinese food? The dishes were bland and the spicy was absent from the spicy dishes. The water had a chemical taste as if it'd been poured from machine cleaned with lots of bleach. Serving sizes were generous. read more

Great food and friendly staff. The food tastes great and isn't overly salty like some other places. I would definitely recommend eating here

Been coming here for a while now for take out and dine in and the food has been on point as well as the service. Ordered the spicy seafood noodle soup and the broth was spicy and had rich flavor from the seafood. They have a great American Chinese menu but their side Chinese menu with specials are even better. If you can't read Chinese you can ask them what they would recommend. All of the fish and vegetable dishes are delicious and not too heavy or oily. The owners are very friendly and care about your stay and experience. Very convenient for take out as well If you are coming to get a meal in between classes. read more

The manager lady was really nice and offered good service. This place is fairly priced, honestly the best Chinese food place you could find in sb. read more

It's really hard to find a Chinese restaurant in town that can remotely emulate the ones in LA, but you can always find certain authentic dishes. This is the case here. I came here not more to have great Chinese food than to try something new in the first place, until I discovered one dish, beef stew soup noodle. I really like this dish, the beef stew is really soft and there are also some tomatoes and spinach in it. The soup is tasty. They don't have it on the English menu so you will need to ask. Not sure about other dishes but def don't miss this one if you ever wanna try this place. =) read more

The orange chicken that we ordered for delivery was so tough that you cannot eat and the lady owner refused to have it changed because they said it should be eaten right away!!! Too bad, they just lost a valued client!!!! read more

Yummy food but extremely overpriced. For one entree of tofu is was over $14 for takeout. Tasty, but too unreasonably priced.

We ordered take out but when we arrived, they gave our order away to the wrong customer so we had to wait for a new order to be made. The food was very bland. The orange chicken did not have any sauce but did have orange peels and the rice was stale. The vegetable chow mein was bland as well. Not a whole lot of flavor for the whopping price. Go to Panda Express instead! read more

Great lunch. I did not know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. The relationship and history with Mandarin Palace influenced me to try this restaurant and I was not disappointed. The vegetable soup needs to be rethought. Otherwise, awesome entrees for lunch. read more

If you are a chinese food lover then this is a must try chinese place. I ordered the clay pot tofu, orange chicken and kungpao shrimp and they are perfect. The service was good fast and friendly. read more

Awesome mandarin chicken lunch!! Must try this place and they deliver too. These are past owners of Mandarin Palace in SB

It took 55 mins for my simple pick-up order to be ready. That is unacceptable. The food was decent, but the service was poor. They never apologized or thanked me for my patience.. They had to calculate the total on their Iphone calculator.. Never got a receipt.. Hope i was charged properly! I will probably order from Ming next time since it usually only takes 15 to 20 minutes there. read more

My girlfriend and I stopped by China King for lunch today, and it was extremely tasty! The hot and sour soup was delicious (my girlfriend is in love with it) and well portioned. Her sweet and sour shrimp and my orange peel chicken had just the right crunchy texture and oozed with flavor. I was shocked that we were the only ones eating there for lunch -- this place deserves way more customers. I guess not a lot of people know about it yet. I expect that will change. read more

Service mediocre. Ordered Kung Pao beef.minuscule portions of tough meat. Rice was cold and the salad disgusting.avoid in the future.

My family and I went here after reading some of these Yelp reviews, I was on vacation this week and was looking for something different than Panda even though we love Panda. My wife and i ordered the combination kung pao (shrimp, beef and chicken) and my daughter ordered the orange peel chicken and on the side from the dinner menu I ordered the chow mein soft noodle three meat delight. Service was slow but the lady was friendly so we all liked her. Food arrived and everything was very fresh but the kung pao sauce was quite different than any other kung pao we had ever tasted (Wings, China castle, Ming Dynasty and a couple others), it was WAY overpowering and dominant after 3 bites it was already getting to us, on top of that the rice, the noodles and kung pao (besides the sauce) all were REALLY bland and you couldn't taste any of the individual flavors so we were all really disappointed and I felt like it was a total waste of money and wished we had just stuck with the places we knew were good. As i say lady was nice and friendly and everything was fresh and visually looked great so i was quite surprised. The eggroll's were really good and the wanton as well but the main meal was really bland and tasteless. Obviously a lot of people like this place based on the reviews so their house flavors just weren't to our liking. read more

The best.. If Jerry is cooking you can count on every dish being made with TLC... They love our family and always take such good care of us. No MSG also makes it great as you won't be eating it all night. read more