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    Happy Garden Restaurant

    4.0 (171 reviews)
    InexpensiveChinese
    Open 11:00 am - 9:00 pm

    Happy Garden Restaurant Photos

    Business Info

    HAPPY GARDEN RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Quiet
    Casual
    Dogs allowed
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Happy Garden Restaurant

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    3 of the 5 in the order
    Lori L.

    More yummy news for this amazing little Chinese take out place. Today We started out with potstickers for the first time mmmm mmm mmm,,,, so good! We were Expecting the usual size. Well, There were 6 really big ones , chock full of yummy goodness. I Could actually taste the pork, garlic and ginger in the filling ! The first dish we ordered was the hong kong pan fried noodles , it is our favorite go to dish. It did not disappoint ! It was the best version we have ever had. The key to this dish is having Enough of Flavorful sauce to let the crispy noodles absorb the flavors ! It was perfect! There was No skimping on the sauce! And It was topped off with so many unexpected fresh veggies ... broccoli, celery, mushrooms, snow peas and tons of proteins ....I was truly wowed! Bbq pork, chicken and shrimp ... amazing ! And it was delicious... i can't seem to stop saying that! We had no room to eat the second Dish we ordered . So it will be tonight's dinner ! chicken and mixed veggies ... smelled soooo good! It Had lots of the same fresh veggies as above , and in addition bok choy , zucchini and carrots . We have honestly had take out at least 6 times in the last month . Every dish is a winner. I forgot to mention one if the dishes , the amazing honey coated sesame chicken!!!! somehow it stays totally crisp and yummy even after being refrigerated and warmed up in my add airfryer! The only disappointment is it's hard to figure out what the most recent menu is...and certain items are no longer available... like hot and dour soup and BBQ roast pork snd veggies . Hopefully they have internet and can read these reviews and will post a recent menu ! FYI, no trouble parking ! There are Spots Usually right in front and if not there is shopping center on Potrero right next door!!!!

    Sweet-and-sour chicken, beef with mixed vegetables, barbecue pork, fried rice, chicken, chow mein, potstickers
    Denise V.

    First time getting take-out from here. Everything is excellent!! Potstickers, chicken chow mein, Beef w/mixed veggies, Sweet & Sour chicken, & BBQ pork fried rice. DELISH!

    Very tasty and reasonable lunch special, Walnut prawns over fried rice! Highly recommend and I will be coming back.

    Very tasty and very reasonable lunch special. Honey walnut prawns over fried rice. Highly recommend it.

    Menu
    Ben H.

    Food quality is consist and delicious. Staffs are so friendly. Only take out. This place is a hidden gem of restaurant in El Cerrito.

    Chicken chow mein
    Genevieve M.

    I've been ordering from here for years! And barely getting around to reviewing! They always take their time making it but trust me it's worth it! We ordered pork fried rice, which was so flavorful !!! let's just say hubby ate the whole thing not a drop of rice was left.. ha Chicken chow fun was super light and good! I was craving some wonton soup and oh my it hit the spot! Really really good wonton soup.

    This was $16 , I ate 3 shrimp 1 bite of rice . This is crazy small & it's basic steamed rice! $16 dollars
    Bri C.

    This was $16 , I ate 3 shrimp 1 bite of rice . This is crazy small & it's basic steamed rice! $16 dollars

    For today Thursday May 30
    Jana C.

    Dud Ordered beef and tofu-- got a paltry, hastily thrown into the box , small portion of beef and broccoli!!! Too disgusted to even drive back to complain. Needless to say, I now know why it took me 10 years to try this place.

    Veggie chow mein Garlic eggplant

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    5 months ago

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    10 days ago

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    10 months ago

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    1 month ago

    Fried Rice w/out the peas just extra green onions and extra egg OMG is so good my husband has it once a week and will eat it all!!

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

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    9 months ago

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    6 months ago

    Delicious food and great attitudes from the owners every time. Best wonton soup in the East Bay - plenty of wontons and lots of veggies too.

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    2 years ago

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    6 months ago

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    7 months ago

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    7 months ago

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    1 year ago

    Really good food! Service was quick and accurate. All food is take out ,which is not too much of a hassle. On all very satisfied

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    10 months ago

    Food was terrible. The service was okay but when they brought my food they dropped it. The ambience is okay but overall not great.

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    2 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Best AUTHENTIC CHINESE food I had in along time. Everything was fresh and still hot by the time I got home.

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    2 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    1 year ago

    The food is always fresh and good this is one of my go to spots. The owner and his wife is so nice

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Lunch specials is &10.25, not $6.99 as in the menus shown. All menu prices are out of date.

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    7 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

    Sweet and sour shrimp was soooo good. The Mongolian beef was even better. I am so happy this place is close by.

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    3 years ago

    Tasty, clean, authentic Chinese Food! Friendly and professional staff! Thank you, and God bless!

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    8 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    Page 1 of 5

    Ask the Community - Happy Garden Restaurant

    Do they currently allow indoor dining? (08/21/2022)

    When I went last month they were not.

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    Wojia Hunan Cuisine

    Wojia Hunan Cuisine

    4.3
    (626 reviews)
    2.3 mi
    $$

    I've been meaning to update this review for a while. Our family has been to Wojia Hunan several…read moremore times since our first adventure here. Food has been very consistent and tasty. Good spice level and lots of hot chili oil. The dish we always get when we go - D08 Glutinous Rice Ball. Start with tangyuan (gooey mochi balls filled with black sesame), deep fry them, and cover them with chili oil and spices. It covers almost all the tastes and textures (sweet, salty, spicy, fried exterior, gooey/chewy, with a liquidy filling). Only a mad genius could have come up with this dish and it works brilliantly. The rest of our dishes vary a bit each time we go, but it's usually some spicy dishes and at least a veggie dish. Really haven't had complaints on the food. A few watchouts - the parking lot next to the restaurant is not theirs. Street parking only. They also charge a nominal fee for takeout containers ($0.25/box) and a bag ($0.10/

    First time coming here. My friend recommended this place, so we came for Mother's Day lunch. The…read morerestaurant is kind of big and there are plenty of seats, but parking was kind of a struggle since the parking lot is pretty small and fills up fast (especially holidays or special days) We ordered 1.Yang Chow Fried Rice $25.95 2.Eggplant with String Beans $25.95 3. Braised Pig Feet & Chicken Feet $26.95 4. Glutinous Rice Balls (peanut filling) $18.95 5. Spicy & Cumin Pork Chops $23.95 The only downside was that they seemed pretty understaffed. We had to wait a while before anyone came to take our order. But honestly, all the food was really good. My favorite was definitely the eggplant with string beans, so flavorful and really well cooked. I also liked that you can ask for lower sodium dishes if you want. I would want to come back again to try other things on the menu.

    Photos
    Wojia Hunan Cuisine
    Most delicious Spicy Flavor restaurant near UCB, multiple menu and nice service, good choice!!!!!
    Most delicious Spicy Flavor restaurant near UCB, multiple menu and nice service, good choice!!!!!
    Eggplant, string beans my perennial favorite

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    Eggplant, string beans my perennial favorite
    Sichuan Fusion

    Sichuan Fusion

    4.1
    (599 reviews)
    1.5 mi
    $$

    The chef recently added a Xinjiang/Uyghur chicken noodle which is my new favorite thing. The spice…read morelevel is quite good with a light sweetness. The chicken wings here are insane. Half of the table prefers the spicy style and the other half prefers salted egg yolk. The fish is my other favorite. Doesn't matter if it's chili oil or pickled veggies. Always fire. The shrimp here is one of my favorites. Super crispy, spicy and juicy. Veggies are standard/quite good. I usually alternate between green beans, bokchoy and cabbage. The Chongqing noodles are surprisingly light in flavor with much less spice than I expected. Service can be hit or miss in terms of speed. There's often only 1 server so please be kind/patient! They're working hard. The interior is spacious, which makes it great for group dinners.

    Came by for a Sunday brunch with a few friends! None of us had been here before so we were excited…read moreto try something new. We got there around 12pm and there were only a few other tables seated at that time. They sat us immediately and our group kept getting distracted while we were supposed to be looking at the menu to order. They were so kind and kept checking in with us to see what we wanted to order. We finally made up our minds and ordered a huge spread: Spicy Chonqing Beef Noodles, Green Beans, Scallion Pancake, Salted Egg Yolk Fried Chicken Wings, Golden Crispy Pork Spare Ribs, and the Xiao Long bao. The food came out so fast! In less than 20 minutes, we had every single dish that we ordered. My favorite dish was the Salted Egg Yolk Fried Chicken. The batter was light, very crispy, and seasoned to perfection. The chicken itself was juicy, piping hot, and kept me going back for more. The mala level in the Chonqing noodle dish was very beginner friendly. If you're looking for an intense numbing sensation with a "oh gosh maybe I should slow down" type of spice, you should ask them to make it more spicy. But, it was just the right level for me to be able to enjoy everything else with it as well. I always appreciate a family style restaurant, it makes it easier for people to try new things. I will definitely be back and bringing all of my friends and family.

    Photos
    Sichuan Fusion
    Tan 92. Tan-Tan Noodles
    Tan 92. Tan-Tan Noodles
    Chicken

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    Chicken
    Dumpling House

    Dumpling House

    4.5
    (100 reviews)
    1.1 mi

    If you're looking for an Absolutely delicious and comforting to sit and eat this is the place. I…read morelove how their ingredients are fresh and flavorful. I know it takes so much effort and time to make a typical Mongolian dish so I'm impressed at the fast service and quality of the dish. Love it, will come back again.

    This was actually my first experience with Mongolian cuisine, so I was very interested to find out…read morewhat it's like. When we walked in, no staff was out front, so we stood around a bit before we were seated. The staff quickly disappeared again, and throughout our meal, they were usually disappeared somewhere in the back. If you want something quick like extra utensils or napkins, you may need to wait a bit before someone appears. When ordering, we wanted to try both the Beef Buzz ($14.99) and the Fried Beef Buzz ($15.99). The lady who took our order said they were the same thing, and offered to just give us one half/half order instead of ordering two of essentially the same dish. We agreed to that offer, but she didn't mention anything about how that'll be charged. Of course, we ended up being charged the higher price of $15.99. Not a huge deal, but some better communication there would've been appreciated. We also ordered the Beef Huushuur ($14.99). The Beef Huuchuur arrived first, and it didn't look anything like we expected. The photos from online reviews all looked it'd come in an empanada shape, but it actually came in a large, flat, circular shape. They were all laying against one another in a slanted position, and it made all the oil pool in the bottom of the dish, and the pieces that were covered became very oily and soggy underneath. The parts of the dough that weren't soggy were wonderfully crispy and delicious though. It'd make a significantly better difference if the Huuchuur were placed spread out from each other instead of lying on top of each other to maintain the crispiness on all surfaces. The beef filling was nicely seasoned and well flavored. The Beef Buzz had essentially the same filling as the Huuchuur, but different exterior. Unfortunately, I still have the same opinions of it being way too oily overall. The non-fried pieces sometimes broke apart at the bottom due to the sogginess. The fried version did not have a crispy texture at the bottom either, I'm guessing due to the excess amount of oil on the dish. Again, the flavors were great, but execution and presentation definitely has room for improvement. In summary, this was a great introduction to Mongolian dumplings for me. Very delicious flavors, and I'd love to try Huuchuurs again in the future because I love crispy fried foods with a good texture. However, I'd probably look for a place that goes way more easy on the oil.

    Photos
    Front counter
    Front counter
    Dumpling House
    Dumpling House

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    Noodles Fresh

    Noodles Fresh

    4.2
    (629 reviews)
    1.4 mi
    $$

    just made it !!$11.95 lunch specials Monday-Friday 11am- 2:30pm !!!…read more I love all the vegetarian/vegan options, so tasty & most are on the lunch specials !! W/take out you get a sampling of fried salted peanuts !! The tasty soup is in its own container separate from the chewy noodles & tasty gluten puffs & mushrooms so it travels well !! Service so quick & pleasant, it's always very zen in this space

    Feb 24, 2026 3:00 pm 3.7 stars…read more This place is smart to stay open when New Dumpling takes midday siesta. Always plenty of non metered street parking when I'm in the area for lunch. We are the only customer when we arrived. Very pleasant not overpowering jazz mood music plays. Our server has a very pleasant demeanor. We have Taiwan beef noodle soup. Nice and hot the way it should be. Perfect to my tongue textures of the beef cubes and egg noodles. The beef broth was amazing. At the end of our meal I was full. Too full to the point that I almost cried that I couldn't drink the last gulps but it was too small a portion to warrant taking home. Our Kung Pao chicken? Delicious. Chock full of chicken bites and delicious vegetables. Somehow the plentiful peanuts set my taste buds acraving. Wow wow Pao tasty. The only miss with this was that it was brought to us on a coldish serving plate. A common mistake. We didn't get to try this dish hot. We are now wanting our bill. Seems like long time wanting. To our dismay, our friendly server got herself enmeshed in an on again off again conversation with someone at another table shortly after we arrived. Then she disappeared for a while. We are tempted to guess the bill amount (turns out we guessed wrong by $1), leave cash on the table and walk out. Instead I get up and she appears at the register. Magic. We pay proper like and walk out respectfully. I wouldn't mind coming back.

    Photos
    Noodles Fresh
    Beef Noodle Soup
    Beef Noodle Soup
    Green tea- we so fancy!

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    Green tea- we so fancy!

    Happy Garden Restaurant - chinese - Updated July 2026

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