I read the reviews ahead of time and thought this might be a nice option for Chinese food. Boy was I wrong. The restaurant was very plain, with empty boxes piled up high on the side, and when the food came out, it was totally unimaginative. We took one bite and decided to leave. The food tasted awful.We paid for our Coke, but left very disappointed. No one was in the restaurant which should've been a sign. The windows were dirty. It for sure looks like the kind of place to avoid. read more

My wife drove to Castroville for the purpose of testing this restaurant out.. She brought it home...I must say 'EXCELLENT!!EXCELLENT. Old school Chinese food..vegetables cut in large proportions...chicken are a nice size to include the beef in the broccoli beef.. The fried rice is exactly... I can go on & on...so what I will say ...thank you to the owner(s) for making us feel welcome not only to your restaurant but also to your kitchen.. (Note: We did not physically go into your kitchen,I use the term as a metaphor of welcoming & the presentation of the best.) read more

Can't go wrong with Li Yuen. Good food generous servings and consistent quality food. Fast service and it's something special when a family has owned a place like this for so many years. Their chow main is the absolute best. All that cabbage (without having to ask for it) yummm Noodles will get you there everything else will keep you coming back read more

I found this food pretty underwhelming. I got the hot and sour soup , and the Mongolian beef lunch special with fried rice and a pot of green tea. The fried rice was actually just rice w soy sauce. Large portions but I found it greasy and not very flavorful but maybe it's just not my personal preference. Some of my friends swear by their chow mein so maybe try that first if this is your first time trying this restaurant. read more

Very upsetting! My husband went in and ordered chow mein ,Mongolian beef and pork egg foo yung with the sauce on the side. He had to fight Mother's Day traffic. When he got home there were 2 orders of chow mein and no egg foo yung . I called and the woman insisted he said 2 chow mein. Never happened. The combination chow mein was not a combination but just a lot of greasy chow mein noodles with a few pieces of pork in 1 and a little beef and chicken in the other. Very few vegetables in both. The Mongolian beef was way too spicy hot to eat. Total waste of $37 !! Never going back. Jim's in Prunedale much better but avoided going as it's not as convenient. Li Yuen used to be our go to Chinese. Sorry it's changed to read more

Amazing food especially the orange chicken. Reasonable prices for the amount of food receiving. Fast service.

First off, the customer service sucks. The lady was all grumpy and unpleasant. The sweet and sour was hard and didn't hardly have any sauce. The fried rice was just rice mixed with soy sauce. no egg, no green onion. Yuck... the chow mein had no flavor at all, and the pork that was on it was nasty, just big slabs of pork . The beef and broccoli was just ok. What a waist of $40. read more

The food here is really great. I wasn't sure what to expect as I recently moved to the Castroville area and wasn't really sure if there were any good Chinese restaurants around here. This is the only one lmao but the service is always really fast and great and the ambiance is your typical Chinese restaurant (which is a good thing!!). I always pick up from here and I like how they verify where I'm located since I have a different area code. As an Asian American, I approve. 10/10 would recommend! read more

I live in San Jose and seen this place and decided to give it a try man I was not disappointed the food was fresh, delicious and great portions. read more

Awesome food, great service... Fresh authentic hot food ......years of amazing food and great service consistently

i got take out today, and it was so good!! the orange chicken was spicy but had such delicious flavor! cream cheese won tons were delicious too and i will definitely be ordering again!! read more

Li Yuen Chinese - orange chicken, vegetable chow mein, brocolli shrimp, and cream cheese fried wontons (crab rangoons) - Chinese Near Me - Castroville, California

Delicious Chinese food, Quick to prepare and they have Specials on dinner plates and family specials. My go to is Family Special many goodies at excellent price. read more

Tables were dirty and was disgusted with how the food looked. The food had too much water with soy! ‍ the guy Chef doesn't know how to cook smh but we don't appreciate the food anymore. We will not come back again read more

Awesome food and owned/operated by very nice folks! Always greater with a smile, and food is out quick and fresh.

A good Chinese steam table is like a good taqueria and I have been to my share of both. Price is often a factor and usually the funkiest the place the better. Li Yuen did not disappoint. The food was good and the price was excellent. Dont let the appearance fool you into not going it was well worth us stopping in. read more

i've been eating here for almost my whole life and the food here is the best ever! i saw someone say the chow mein was thick and chewy and honestly i prefer it better that way or maybe im just used to it if i had to choose between the chow mein at panda express and here i would most definitely chose here. The shrimp is also delicious best shrimp ever and the broccoli beef too someone said it was too salty but for me it tastes just right! i recommend this place to everyone i meet. I will forever buy from here unless i move or die! read more

We haven't been here in quite a while so we thought we'd stop in for lunch. We were the only ones in there today, whats that tell you? I ordered Three Delight and Hubby got Curry Chicken. Had soup first, it very pretty thick and tasted like cornstarch. Mostly broth with a few peices of carrot and tiny shreds of egg. Blahhh The Szechuan Three Delight was mostly bamboo shoots and water chestnuts with some carrots and zuchini thrown in for color. It also had some chicken a few peices of beef and 2 shrimp. The sauce was good but the rest was skimpy. The Curry chicken looked better than mine, Hubby said it was ok. The bell peppers were old and wrinkely, yuck. The rice that came with both lunches was just rice thrown in some soy sauce, not very good. The egg rolls were crispy but they only had celery on the inside, weird. Sorry but we won't be back. read more

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This place is just right around the corner from us and we have never been there in the 10 years we have lived here. Never saw anyone inside or coming out of the place. But the other night, getting home home after a day of work, getting dark early, we decided "hey let's check out that Chinese restaurant around the corner!" We love Chinese food, Thai food, Japanese food, etc..made a phone order and made it simple. And order of combination chow mein and an order of egg rolls. Picked up order, got home. Did ided the packed container and egg rolls. The chow mein noodles were THICK AND CHEWY, not what I expected for a chow mein. Maybe they misunderstood me!? I doubt it. Did not like, at all. Chow mein should be thin and tasty, not big, fat and chewy. The egg rolls were just so-so, reminded me of frozen though. Will try one more time, something different, then I will make up my mind. I always give a restaurant a two time try. After that, oh well...but this time read more

I drove by here all the time by finally stopped by. I ordered the # 5 dinner special. Boy was I disappointed, everything in it came deep fried. I regretted coming here, I will not be coming back. I gave them 3 stars bc their service was fast. read more

I truly recommend Li Yuen. On top of the good service they have a great selection of food, and its tasty as well!

The best chinese food around, better than any place in salinas. The location and restaurant itself doesn't look that nice but the food is off the hook. combination fried rice and chow main all day with some beef broccoli and spicy chicken! The only place i go for take out! read more

The chow main was good the orange chicken was dried and stale from some parts and the broccoli beef was a little to salty the chicken fried rice was ok and the broccoli shrimp only had 6 shrimp for a take out box didn't have chicken teriyaki or any other shrimp dishes which is a bummer it's great if you are in a need of Chinese food but not the best quality read more

So ive been going to this place for the last 3yrs at least once a week.This is the best chinese food around the price is reasonable and they pack your your plate to the top. Everything is always fresh. Good food. read more

So we just got back on a Saturday night. 7:00 and we were the only table. Our combination order got mixed up plus no soup on the weekend? Main dishes: sweet sour chick, lemon chick, were good. Fried rice was mushy. Water was tap. Server didn't want to be there either. Probably won't give it another chance read more

This is nice, small,and local. Quick service. Never a long wait. You can even order over the phone. Me and my family been coming here for years. I love their Tea, and sweet & sour pork lunch special I recommend this place to everyone I know. read more

Excellent food, priced right, you will not be disappointed. I live in Salinas with all the Chinese food options, I will still drive to Castroville for this Chinese food. Definitely worth the drive. read more

Above average food. Had Mongolian beef and orange chicken. Mongolian was pretty spicy and orange chicken was drowning in sauce.

pretty good chinese food at this price point in the monterey area

For those who like quick and good food that is not the best but definitely satisfies that hunger for Asian food this is a great place. I would have given it a 3 but I decided 4 because the orange chicken is definitely the best I've ever had. read more

Ordered two dinners and pot stickers. The pot stickers are really good, but disappointed the rest of the food. My dinner was suppose to be soup, cream cheese wantons,fried shrimp, sweet and sour chicken, broccoli beef, and fried rice. I asked for the rice to be separated in it's own container; This was an extra $1.00 charge. Everything was crammed into one container. No soup, rice in the container with everything. The fried shrimp was combined with sweet and sour chicken, and covered in the sauce. The other dinner had fried prawns, more like fried breading with tiny shrimp. No soy sauce. Will not be going back ever. The shrimp and prawns are over battered and taste like breading. read more

The shrimp is pretty good. I didn't liked the orange chicken. Other than that its alright.

Food here is very good actually. Try to go every once in a while during my lunch time. As opposed to the other reviewer I actually enjoyed their rice and their eggrolls are very tasty in my opinion. Prices are very good too. read more

Stopped here on a whim after a very long hike. Ordered the fried wontons. We thought they were dumplings but just fried strips of dough for $4. Our mistake. I ordered the mongolian beef lunch special with fried rice and an egg roll. Egg roll had like one ingredient in it, not bad, not great. Fried rice was just rice and soy sauce. I could make better at home. Beef & sauce was good but the vegetables were onion & a ton of celery barely cooked... Not a very good combo. It seemed like celery was cheap so that's why it was in there. The bbq beef lo mein was mediocre at best. It was just beef & noodles, no flavor besides the ton of oil it was cooked in. Definitely felt like a waste of money. read more