This place hits..... This is my daughter and I favorite lunch spot. We get the Sweet N Sour Shrimp (sauce on side) lunch special and share a sizzling Shrimp and Chicken dish... Absolutely Delicious.... The service is fast, the food is hot, and the setting is perfect. Highly Recommend. And don't forget the Crab Rangoon's as an appetizer. read more

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Have not been here for more than a year but last Saturday I have guests from the Bay Area and we were craving for Chinese food. I didn't know that this restaurant now has new owners. Well we gave it a try. We ordered hot and sour soup ( lacking flavor, not hot), chow mien (pan fried thick yellow noodles, not freshly cooked) salt and pepper pork(small pieces can hardly see the pork, all batter, not freshly fried) fish with black bean sauce ( all batter very thin sliced fish) sizzling beef platter with mushrooms looks like sizzling mushrooms with tiny pieces of beef). And the worst part was THEY RUN OUT OF RICE!!!! Been in the US for over 40 years and this was the first time a Chinese restaurant had NO RICE. How can u eat Chinese food without rice??? So I'm telling all my friends not to go to this restaurant. read more

Unfortunately have to update my old review. Since the new owners everything has gone terribly down hill. Ive gotten physical sick the last 2 times I ate here and the food is just completely different. Very sad read more

This place is in my opinion the best Chinese place in town. The food here is worth it when it comes to having a nice take out night. I understand they might be a touch pricey but when it comes to local business and everything it's worth it. There is value when it comes to good eats. Recommend the house shrimp and won ton soup as some of my favorites. While I write this review I can't wait to go back! read more

When my infallible sense of direction failed me when trying to find Dunneville Market & Kitchen (a story for another time), I ended up at Happy Café for lunch. Located in the Fiesta Plaza shopping center, the café is the store front closest to the Hollister post office. It is a narrow plant--when walking in, on the left is the work area and to the right are 3 2 person tables. Larger tables are at the back. Their business seems to be split between people eating in the café and takeout. They offer a huge selection of Chinese dishes, but my trips there have been for the lunch specials. With only two items of the lunch special menu priced over 13.00, I find this is a very good deal. Lunch comes with a cup of soup--so far it has been egg drop or sweet and sour--and food arrives quickly. The portions are huge, hot and properly cooked, and I end up taking food home. The staff is helpful and after a few visits, they are aware of my drink choices. In applying stars to the café, I am torn between 4 and 5. And there is no way to split the numbers. For an inexpensive and good meal, Happy Café delivers. This is miles above the poor food choices at Panda Express. At some point, I will try takeout for a family meal. read more

The food is amazing! Super fresh and amazing flavor! Staff is friendly! Will be back as much as possible!

I'm not sure if you are under a new ownership or have a new cook or just what... But our food was just less than mediocre. It's been a long time since we had been to Happy Cafe and were not happy with our food, but we decided to try again. Again... The food is just not what it used to be. Service was great and the wait staff attentive and friendly. But the food... We just won't be going back. read more

The service was great, the food was great and there was plenty of food. We got their chicken salad and two different dinner plates. We are always satisfied when we come here. read more

Specifically called to make sure there was no peanut oil used to fry the shrimp. We were told ONLY on the kung poa chicken, my brother is severely allergic to peanuts. After calling to make sure there was no peanut oil used my brother ate the shrimp. NO MORE than 10 minutes later did he have a reaction and could not breathe!! We had to rush him to the hospital! This could have been easily avoided!! It was a simple question?? this could end someone's life! DO BETTER! read more

Tried this out while we were staying over at the Cinderella. The crab Rangoon was FANTASTIC, no skimping, they were full of the filling. The Mongolian beef was fantastic, too, so flavorful. Only complaint would be the rice: it was dry, looked like soy sauce was put on it, yet tasteless. The staff was great, and I would definitely try it again the next time I'm in Hollister. read more

Fantastic food. Very quick take-out service. I get lunch from Happy Cafe several times a week and I've never been disappointed. read more

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We picked up carryout based on recommendations from our hotel. The Sweet and Sour Chicken and Orange Chicken were both tasty. The portions were generous and lasted us several meals! read more

This place has the best Chinese food I have had in a long time. The place might not look great, but don't let the looks fool you the food is awesome I had the house special chow main, pot stickers and the stand sour pork. The service was very good and the staff were attentive and checked back with me to make sure everything was okay. read more

The food is exceptionally delish and fresh! Their service is excellent! It's a small restaurant so very little ambiance but very welcoming! read more

The new owners of Happy Cafe are not even close to the quality of food I am used to getting there I have been getting my orders there for months and it's always been excellent but one time with the new owner has caused me to look elsewhere for my Chinese fix. read more

First time coming here, I was a bit nervous because the place on the outside always looks alone but it turns out this place is poppin! The ambiance is cute and comfy, I love the space, the service was good too, the waitresses were on top of things, the food omg the food was good. Even though yes, it's a little on the oily side that's the point of Chinese food! I ordered a single plate for $13.99 it was beef chow Mein, side of fried rice and the 1 veggie egg roll, serving was big so the prices seemed fair. Definitely coming back! read more

Happy Cafe - 1 plate came with soup, idk what it was but it had shreds of meat and tofu it was good - Chinese Near Me - Hollister, California

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Everything was soooo good! We ordered the shrimp chow mein dinner plate with fried rice and the orange chicken as well with the egg rolls and crab rangoons. Delicious! read more

Me and my family have been going here my entire life. High quality food, and the sweetest people I have ever met. I honestly hate getting Chinese food anywhere else because I'm always disappointed since this place is so good. We love the crab rangoon, and egg rolls. I usually get delux wonton soup or the egg drop soup or chicken chow mein. Mom loves dragons nest, and 3 ingredient delight and dad likes the curry chicken. read more

My favorite Chinese restaurant in town! Never too long of a wait for your food and their food always tastes great. I usually order crab Rangoon a, beef broccoli, beef chow main, and sweet and sour pork. Yum! read more

I wasn't expecting much from Hollister Chinese food, maybe too salty, greasy, too sweet. But instead Happy Cafe is incredibly bland. We ordered 5 dishes and the only thing with any flavor was the sauce on the mu shu, and I'm sure that comes from a bottle. Textures are also off, overly mushy, especially the chow fun. Yikes. read more

Love their House Rice and Mein. Always a great meal. Go there at least once a week average!

EXCELLENT delicious fresh servings everyday !!! Ordering is so easy with help of restaurant!

I have had both take out and dine in. The Best hot n sour soup I've ever eaten. Love the sweet n sour pork ( wish they would include more pineapple) beef with snow peas always awesome. Good fried rice. Felix seafood feast was good as well. What's nice on to go they put sweet n sour sauce separate so it won't get soggy. Service always friendly and prompt. Just wish they served egg foo young. read more

OK food, I wish it was less Americanized. Very pleasant service. Probably will try it again.

I spent 75 bucks and I had to ask for place settings, hot sauce, soy sauce's and fortune cookies all in that order. The lady said if you don't ask for it you don't get it. The food was good but the attitude is bad Wow! read more

We ate here for the first time when we were in Town. Was surprised on how good the food was. It was tasty and fresh. Won Ton soup was full of goodies along with everything else. Would definitely go back the next time were in town. The service was outstanding, and our waitress was pleasant and kind. The price was fair and the amount of food was plentiful. The inside was very clean. Good all around. read more

UPDATE 04-16-2018 Moving up a star and back to four. It seems the portions are finally matching their price increase. As always staff is very friendly and efficient. UPDATE 11-14-2017 As always tables tough to get. Portions over all are smaller. It may depend on what chef is working? Value in meals slips with price increase. This hurts but back to three stars. UPDATE 06-29-2017 Still a wonderfulv experience and tables still difficult to get. Plan ahead as usual. Watching portions slightly increase over time back up to four stars. UPDATE 06-08-2017 Portions have slightly increased but not what they used to be. Rating stands at three stars. Service is still great. UPDATE 05-01-2017 Price increase. Slightly smaller portions. UPDATE 02-13-2017 The serving sizes have AGAIN gotten smaller. Have mixed feelings about dropping star over it Will reevaluate in near future. UPDATE 09-19-2016 The portions have gotten slightly smaller. Confirmed across multiple dishes and days. The meals still have value however. UPDATE 08-18-2016 So it seems the portions may have gotten smaller. I will keep an eye on this and post back. Trying to compare serving sizes from current pictures to earlier pictures is difficult. UPDATE 07-28-2016 This place continues to please. Recipe for sweet and sour chicken seems to have changed but still good. UPDATE 06-28-2016 No tables at 12? All tables already eating? I guess lunch starts at 11 here. UPDATE 06-07-2016 Been having good luck getting a table shortly after 1 lately. UPDATE 05-04-2016 Early or elsewhere. No tables at late lunch. May the 4th be with you! UPDATE 04-18-2016 Came by the other day and had to go elsewhere as it was packed. Today i got lucky with a table. As always, plan ahead and come early. UPDATE 02-03-2016 Still loving Happy Cafe!! Great specials! Ice cold beer! UPDATE 12-01-2015 This place is still great. Love the fast and friendly service. UPDATE 10-21-2015 They changed up the specials by rotating between included egg roll or crab cheese wonton. This place is still great and still one of the best values in town. UPDATE 05-15-2015 I like that they change up the daily soup that you get with their lunch specials. UPDATE 03-16-2015 They have three tables outside. I still recommend being EARLY! Ok I've been here several times now. Don't know how I missed this place before. I've been missing out! Right up front I took off one star ONLY because they need more seating LOL. If you don't come early / late for lunch you will wait. That's the only reason for the one star. Everything else is great! Ingredients are fresh. Meat is sliced thin. Portions are big. They have several types of drinks including beer. Cashew chicken was probably the best I've ever had. I'm not kidding. I've been to china four times. Hong Kong six times. Seriously the best. Orange chicken was an unexpected delight. They serve it mildly spicy while maintaining the usual sweetness Think Kung pao without the extra zing. I thought it was great. Spring rolls are crunchy and tasty. Pretty amazing as it's mostly vegetables. The crab cheese wontons are also very good. smooth and creamy. Hot and sour soup was real good although I might be used to a little more vinegar or something. Do they put vinegar in it? LOL Fried rice your standard faire. I didn't try the steamed rice but seems very popular based on others. The staff is very friendly and attentive. The chief is a busy guy. Makes great food. Not sure about the white sox hat though LOL sorry chicago Check this place out but be early! Nine tables inside. Two tables outside. read more

I just picked up an order of hot and sour soup and a lunch special Mongolian beef. Both were very good and fresh. The beef was not chewy at all, and actually tender. Good ratio of beef to onion. Generous portion size. The rice was OK, nothing crazy. A few wontons, which were also pretty standard. The soup was hot, not too salty, just the right spice level. I would have liked to see some mushrooms in the soup. No complaints though. I'll be back. read more

Outstanding food and service. Always a very pleasant environment. Highly recommend anytime.

Honestly the worst Chinese food I've ever had. Flavorless and oily. The "beef" was hunks of grisly fat and the noodles tasted like unsalted cardboard. Two stars cause it was cheap and there was a lot of it. read more

love happy cafe! can't believe i went to cheung chung for so many years. this is so much better ! and the staff is always friendly ! read more

Happy Cafe - lunch special. mongolian beef an friend rice - Chinese Near Me - Hollister, California

I'll give this place points for convenience. They feature individually-portioned dinner specials which are just like the lunch specials. My husband & I were staying at a hotel in Hollister after attending the Renaissance Faire at Casa De Fruta. It was REALLY hot & we were too exhausted to go out to dinner. We wanted Chinese food, but not the traditional Chinese-style takeout with a bunch of dishes in containers, because we had no plates or serving utensils. So being able to each get our own dinner was perfect. So why not more stars? Well, after reading all the great reviews about the food, we found it to be pretty hit or miss. The potstickers were very good, better than most. My Mongolian Beef was tender, but had way too many white onions, & not enough green onions. It also didn't have any of those little crunchy rice noodles that it usually has. My husband's Kung Pao Shrimp was bland. Have you ever heard Kung Pao described as bland?? The biggest disappointment though was the fried rice. It contained no vegetables! Just rice & egg. And it was unusually dark brown in color, as if it contained a lot of beef broth/soy sauce. Just odd. But again, for convenience, I'd probably go back, & just order something different. I've uploaded photos of their menu, because they don't have a website. read more

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Price was great (under $7 for a lunch special that includes rice, entree, soup and an appetizer) for the portions. Could easily feed two people. The food was fresh - perhaps a bit TOO fresh, since some of the veggies (carrots, onions) were undercooked. I could not eat the sweet/sour soup included within the lunch special since it was WAY too salty. Waitress brought the food, then never returned. I had to walk to the register to ask for the check. No delivery, lots of parking (located across from the DMV) but very small quiet restaurant; maybe 6 tables total.. Rated 50/50 for the portion and price but horrible soup and lack of service. =/ read more

Happy Cafe - Lunch Service - Chinese Near Me - Hollister, California

My Girlfriend (now ex girlfriend) took me here a couple of times..I live in Salinas and work in Marina so never really went to Hollister unless it was with her. First time I made the mistake of ordering 2 plates thinking it would be small. Learned my lesson in a good way. 2nd time kept it simple...best sweet and sour pork I've ever had. The pot stickers were pretty good to..Waitress was beyond nice both times. If I'm ever in the Hollister area again I'm definitely coming back here..you won't regret trying it. read more

I come here weekly for the Mongolian Beef lunch which is excellent. Staff is wonderful and very friendly. Recognized my voice when I order, so you know it is a great local place. Love it and can't recommend it it more. read more

I order food from here when I come into town to work. Hey are pretty fast and the portions are good for the price. I usually have a soup like won ton or hot and sour... and an appetizer like egg rolls or entree like house fried rice read more

Take out only due to covid19 quarantine. This is the only restaurant that serves roast duck in town. Otherwise, I wouldn't order here. I tried calling a few times to put in an order yesterday. No answer. So, I decided to drive there. When I got out of the car. a lady came out of the restaurant and told me that they were on a 30 min break. Which was understandable because it was 3pm. As I was getting into the car. The cook came out of the resto then said they have no water for over an hour. he wasn't sure when the water was going to be turned back on. Could be 2 hour or more. This is bad for business... 1. answer your phone, if youre open. If you can't serve, put your phone on an answering machine that you aren't open till a certain time or just say you are closed for the day. 2. Tell people the truth, don't lie...I originally was gonna go back after their so called 30 min break. But since you lied. I will not be coming back here at all. read more

Called for take out and the person who answered was RUDE. No reason to yell at a customer who just wanted to support local business. We'll go to another local business l. read more

Just tried the Happy Cafe for the first time. The food was very flavorful, cooked perfect, and an awesome find! We ordered the family meal #2 plus musu chicken. We ate pretty hardy for lunch and have plenty for leftovers. Highly recommend the Happy Cafe! read more

Always My go to Chinese place in hollister , the food is delicious and never had any problems since I always pick up to go