The food is terrible. We have tried this place in 2022 and gave it another try recently. Both my husband and I had GI issues after having their food. The wait staff were rude on our first visit, she basically got upset that we ate very little and decided not to bring it home since it was so bad. I chose not to return. My husband heard there was new management or changes in the kitchen. He went to eat there a few weeks ago and brought me leftovers, which were inedible in my opinion. Got sick again from the food (you don't want details). Please don't eat there. The food is awful. The ambiance has changed a little and their side room looks nicer than before but the food continues to be horrible. Reheated chinese food..... People who like this may like the alcoholic drinks..?? not sure why. read more

Spacious old-time joint with many years under its belt and a sinking reputation to dispel. Two dinners and a lunch in the past year or so have had a mix of great, near great, just okay, and iffy, so I'd say 3.5 is the right number, but leaning higher because it's definitely better than the current rating. Spareribs on the Bone: A very large serving for $16.50, painted red and additionally drizzled with honey, which drips into the bottom of the bowl for dipping. Tried twice: one time elite, one time near-elite. Good old-time flavor. Slightly firm bite that still has tenderness and moistness even aside from the glaze. Chicken Wings in Black Bean Sauce: Dark, bumpy, scalding hot, and relentlessly fierce, with unenhanced, undiluted, wonderful black bean flavor. Good quantity, good size, and nice marinade flavor under the sauce, but zero crispness. Messily delicious, and the potential is there to be near-elite if even only somewhat crisp. But as served, a little above average. Lobster Sauce: Dark and strong flavored. Near-elite. Sweet and Sour Chicken (on a combo): Big pieces, puffy and crispy, with not the greatest meat-to-batter ratio, but still solid enough. Standard issue red sauce, though nicely done. Overall, a bit above average but not noteworthy. Pork Strips (on the same combo): No other way to say it: dry, dry, and more dry. On the other hand, still average, because pork strips are usually dry. Duck sauce helped. Egg Roll (on the same combo): Very, very good, possibly near-elite. Crisp shell, mostly celery, nice moistness, very detectable pork. Pork Fried Rice (as full orders and on a combo): Mixed results, with two out of the three looking and tasting very tired, with light grains, light flavor, and even lightly colored/flavored pork. Much fresher and brighter another time. Boneless Ribs: These were excellent, and most likely cooked entirely from scratch after I ordered it. Bright red shellac, nice porky flavor, extremely fresh and juicy, not too sweet (though sweet is certainly fine on boneless, a la Ray's in Needham). Elite for sure. Quality runs the full gamut, but old-time, somewhat divey atmosphere helps if that's your thing. Service isn't polished, but very pleasant. read more

See all

Not much,food was not good egg roll yuck,beef and mushroom sauce had something,odd taste lousy aftertaste rice was mushy not a good experience read more

I got horrible food poisoning from this place and it wasn't even worth it because the food sucked.

Chicken Wings, Lo Mein, Chicken Fingers, & Crab Rangoon = $55.00 take out. Very expensive. Called to place order and they answer "Ya, Hello" Chicken fingers were over cooked and very doughy, crab Rangoon had a weird taste, Lo Mein was "eh" only food half way decent was the chicken wings and they were a 6 out of 10 at best. This place is a step back in time. Its is very old and dingy inside and not many people were there except for a few people at the bar playing KENO. We will not be going back. read more

The worst food I had the crab ragoon was so dry the bonesless rid even worse , the beef strips was dehydrated and the rice tasted old mind u I ordered at 1pm I won't even take it if the food was free read more

Amazing lobster, crab Rangoon, noodle stir fry, pork fried rice, sesame chicken, and teriyaki. The inside is massive making it great for large parties! There's an AYCE buffet too. They even do catering and are extremely reliable with friendly service. read more

This place brings back memories of my youth. We used to have all our family outing and reunions here back in the 80's. The decor hasn't changed a bit since then either. Though the buffet has been taken away since Covid. The food is ok but nothing to write home about. The servers were very attentive and pleasant. Really just came back for the memories as a cousin was in town from Quebec read more

I just moved to Dracut, and I stopped here for take-out. I got crab rangoon and orange chicken. The portions are huge, and the lady at the desk was pleasant, but unfortunately the food is mediocre. read more

Can't go wrong here, so glad the buffet is no longer available, food is cooked to order and always fresh. read more

See all

Wow this is bad Chinese food. Look at the general Gao. I emptied the white box into a bowl . It's a big clump of garbage. Chicken wings were cold and flavorless. Rice was just ok. Crab rangoons were white wet soft moody. I wouldn't recommend this place to my worst enemy. I'm giving them a 2 because the rice was okay. read more

Lo Kai Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Dracut, Massachusetts

I grew up in Lowell and our family routinely went to the Lo Kai for both table service and the Buffett. We recently started going back to get take out for my mother who now lives in Dracut. The food is always freshly prepared and still hot when we get back to her house. And as is customary, the food is delicious. We get the same thing every time to share: vegetable lo menu, vegetable fried rice, spring rolls, and a very hard to find item-meatless egg rolls! For those that are vegetarian and avoiding meat but like traditional egg rolls-this is the place to get them. read more

Ordered the food to go and unfortunately it's all very low quality. The crab rangoons remind me of the ones you get at the mall. The rice was very very dry. The dumplings were ok but not great. The real disappointment was the general gaos. It was so bland with almost no sauce. Hopefully this place can step it up in the future it has potential read more

The food literally tasted as if a vomit took a dump, and then they served it in a plate. Shame on you!

This Chinese restaurant is pretty old school, which has that mid 1980s feel inside. There are several dining rooms as well as a cocktail lounge with TVs and Keno. Mass Lottery scratch ticket machines are in the front lobby. There is live entertainment offered. The menu offers basic Chinese food including Cantonese, Szechuan, and Polynesian foods. Luncheon Specials and Combination Dinner Plates offered. A Lunch Buffet ($6.75) is served Mon-Sat (11:30AM-2:00PM) and Dinner Buffet ($9.75) is served Mon-Sat (5:00PM-9:00PM) and Sun (12PM-9PM). See the menu and gallery at http://www.lokaiweb.com I had lunch at the Lo Kai recently and I came here for the Lunch Buffet, offered in the back room, where I was seated. The waitress brought over tea and ice water and bread & butter. There were two hot buffet stations present, but only one hot station was in use. The lunch buffet offers around 20 items including vegetable lo mein, pork fried rice, lobster sauce, beef & broccoli, moo gai pork, chicken fingers, chicken chow mein, chicken and vegetables, chicken wings, boneless ribs, chicken kabobs, egg foo young, egg rolls, hot & sour soup, chicken rice vegetable soup, green salad, fruit, and soft serve ice cream. In general, the food on the buffet was decent, some of the food was lukewarm and several dishes were piping hot, fresh food brought out constantly by the manager. I did enjoy the fried rice, egg rolls, and chicken fingers. 7 bucks for an all you can eat buffet, I was fairly content with the meal. The service overall was decent too with the older waitress not talking much, just clearing plates between each trip to the buffet. NOTE: No checks accepted. read more

Lo Kai Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Dracut, Massachusetts

See all

Worst buffet ever. They didn't even have crab-rangoon at a Chinese buffet! Thats asinine, blasphemy I tell ya!!! They don't even have enough food or variety to even be considered a buffet. They only get one star for having soft serve ice cream. The waitress Diane was very nice though. read more

We haven't been to the Lo Kai in quite a while, but had lunch there yesterday. Michael, the owner, greeted us as warmly as a long lost friends. He remembered us and was genuinely happy to see us and happy that we had survived such a brutal time of coping with Covid fears. The food was absolutely great. Everything was fresh and hot, and plentiful, to say the least. I would absolutely recommend Lo Kai to satisfy your craving for Chinese food. We will be going back very soon. Elaine and Joe, Hudson, NH read more

Never again. Used to go here as a kid but didn't remember since it was so long ago. Stopped by for a drink and was VERY disappointed. The mai tai tasted like Hawaiian Punch and cheap rum. Not garnished with oranges or cherries. Mold on the bathroom ceilings, outdated decor; overall not a good time. Would not recommend to anyone. Felt bad because the staff is very nice but looks like we're leaving Lo Kai in the past, never going back. :( Zero stars read more

It was decided that we return to Lo Kai tonight. ... again to the bar. Arrival time was before 6 pm. The bar area was nearly full with Mai tais obviously the most popular drink - everywhere. We sat at the bar and ordered. I always enjoy someone intoxicated shouting into my right ear political rants while chucking chicken bones across the bar - a real classy joint. No thanks... Yuck! Bobby the bartender was present. He doesn't disappoint with his creations. All in all this man makes a serious Mai tai. If it's your thing, this is it.... Just keep in mind that you will experience it along with the feeling that you have arrived to " retro-land " as you sip. Again, I'm only able to review the bar lady's room... Outdated, but very clean. read more

didn't even make it out of my house to go here. they show a buffet online so I called to confirm and check pricing, no more is the answer I got. so I told them, maybe take it off the Google listing then. read more

I grew up coming here, and the food has always been serviceable for your typical generic fake Chinese, actually American origin food. There was never anything wrong, and the atmosphere always fine. Now as an adult, and weary of these stereotypical fake Chinese joints, Lo Kai is a sit down venue, which should suggest more care and time put into their food than simple counter service places often with "Golden" in their name. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Going easy on them, all I ordered was white rice and vegetable soup. The white rice tasted a day old, was cold and stale. The vegetables were not cleaned prior to serving, nor cut properly. I was literally served dirty vegetables ends in hot tap water. This place is trash, and needs to shut down. This is not a local gem, nor anything worth salvaging. If you're not willing to prepare fresh food that is made properly in house, then the building would serve better as an abandoned relic. Do not eat here. read more

The worst Chinese food I have ever eaten pork strips were tasteless pork fried rice had hardly any pork lo main looked like regular spaghetti with no taste read more

Not DSLR friendly. Bringing a screaming baby would probably prompt less questions and curious faces. Food The food's quick and fattening. Many of the items on the menu have an exotic name to it, but they're nothing special. The beef teriyaki here is different from other Chinese places; it has a light ginger and scallion taste to it. It is also very tender, I think I would have preferred it a little more smokey/charred. If you're also thinking of drinking something, don't worry - they kind of do the suggesting for you. Mai Tais seem pretty popular here along with the scorpion bowls. From experience, the Mai Tais aren't really as strong as other Chinese places. However, the scorpion bowls must pack quite a punch because we saw three people take down four scorpion bowls - and they were getting to the point of obnoxious tipsy-ness. Atmosphere It's like an asian gambling den dated a fast food restaurant, and had an illegitimate baby. From the entrance to the bar (about 10 steps), I saw two scratch ticket machines, one keno, one horse racing, and one big screen TV with sports on it (probably being gambled on too). The other thing you'll notice is the predominance of overweight caucasian people. I say overweight, but I probably should have said "regular sized" as they seem to come here a lot. Most will be in their 40's, and the rest are probably mid 20's. Staff The staff jumps on you if you're not a regular, as if they're trying to convert you into a sloppy-food zombie. I was particularly offended because I had a DSLR with me, and the staff commenced their secret interrogation over the course of fifteen minutes. "What you going to do with that? A little spying?" "Where you live?" "Where you come from?" Relax guys. I'm not an undercover cop, and I'm not here to steal your crappy recipes anyways. After a while, they just let up on the fact that I was a secret agent. They serviced my friend and I like regular customers, and did their own thing. Final Thoughts Lo Kai is definitely a low-key place. While they do have plenty of entertainment options, and reasonably priced drinks - the food and atmosphere leaves one a little disappointed. read more

Lo Kai Restaurant - I also realized, for an establishment older than myself - they don't have a lot of photos. - Chinese Near Me - Dracut, Massachusetts

wow what happened too this place went their for my birthday on November 10 2018 and the buffet food was terrible dried up chicken was horrible my party of 13 left to another place hoorible customer service I said to the man that the chicken was yesterdays when I said that he said why don't u get the dinners instead we all left no more lokai for me its been 3 years i hVE NOT RETURNED TO THIS PLACE I HEAR THEY ARE CLOSING TOO BE SOLD FOR CONDONMINIUMS wow years they should should have been knocked down the food is bad dogs get better food than they cook read more

I think Lo Kai translates into "time machine". This is the exact type of place I remember going to back in the '70-80's as a kid. Its not the best food around...but its tough to find another Polynesian style place like this. I had a lunch special and everything was OK....great wings & egg rolls by the way. Coldest beer in Dracut. Don't expect 5 star food.....but I love the atmosphere. read more

Lo Kai Restaurant - C'mon....step into the time machine. Pretty good food....great egg rolls and chicken wings. Still love the old Polynesian joints - Chinese Near Me - Dracut, Massachusetts

After having bad service at Lo Kai in October, I figured I would try Lo Kai again because there was another Elvis show. I had Diane as my server and she did an outstanding job and I hope the owner gives her a raise due to her great service. I ordered food with my friends, gerneral gao's chicken, ham friend rice, beef and brocolli. The food was served hot at my table, diane did a check back to back sure everything was fine, which it was, Diane was also very tentive in seeing if any of my guests needed more drinks or food, and kept our dinner table neat and clean, and refilled waters at all times. She received a 22 percent tip from myself. I hope to get Diane again as my server and if anyone goes to Lo kai, I recomend Diane, best server there, and I really mean it. read more

See all

Went on a Saturday night,drove 10 miles just to go there, bar closed,restaurant closed,take out only,owner was rude. Mike needs to retire and sell this place to someone who cares again,he's burnt out, no buffet ,this place used to be a staple for Chinese food and drinks but, has been gone by the wayside, I have been going here for over 45 years and sadly will not go back unless I hear it's been sold. Prices are sky high but no pay raise for help,now, he complains no workers but he's cheap and won't pay, skimming profits! Everyone knows what's going on here and some of his longest best employees have left. Just sad read more

Terrible bar service. The bartender stood for 15 minutes watching the tv and never took my order. Nothing about this place pleased me. First an last time here read more

Went there last night and had the buffet. Not good. The entrees all seemed to have the same gelatinous gravy on them. Wicked overcooked boneless ribs, chewy crab rangoons and some kind of soup that looked like a cross between egg drop and maybe chicken noodle. It was apparent that the food had been sitting there for some time as everything was room temperature. There was a small table that had a covered bread tray. Sitting right next to it was someone's half eaten plate of food that stayed there the entire time we were there. Plus I was charged $1.50 more for my drink than what was listed on the menu. Dismal. read more

Why are they still open this place sucks! Drinks are nasty and I'm scared to order food which used to be good

After our Easter plans fell apart we decided to have Chinese food. -plastic plates -acted unhappy that we didn't want the buffet. -disappearing waiter -literally handed us each a plastic wrapped fortune cookie. No pineapple or cherries to be found. -appetizers were good dishes were not so good. I felt awful for the people that came almost 2 hours after we got there as we were leaving and got the buffet, it had been sitting untouched the whole time we were there. read more

Food was decent. I was there for a party Friday night and the 80s band was rocking! Bar service was a bit mayhem, huge crowd and the staff wasn't there and Bartender was throwing out Random drink prices! Bathroom needs love, I will give it a try if in the area. Def not a Phantom Gourmet worth driving too spot read more

Awful awful awful. The food. The food must be days old and reheated. I'm not talking buffet, I'm talking food we ordered off the sticky menus. It's not cooked to order. Came out gray. Everything was gray, the fried rice was gray, chicken fingers were gray. Were we served yesterday's uneaten buffet food? The waiter in the bar area brought out a dirty little trash barrel to clear uneaten food off tables, then went right behind the bar and grabbed plates of new food and drinks to be served. No hand washing in between. He was friendly but come on. Gross. The people dining beside us went up for massive plates from the buffet. I pass on buffets since you never know how long the food sits around growing bacteria. They must have been "quantity over quality" type people, I guessed as the man belched loudly for the next 15 minutes. Zero stars. No redeeming notes. Tear this place down. read more

Thefood was wonderful, the waiter was very attentive and the food was fresh . the drinks were string and delicious but no fruit

Love the manager he was so sweet and so fun. The food was delicious and what a drink menu... WOW. Plus they have a really cool room to rent

I've been going here for 15 years, and have always loved it. Recently, it has gone down hill. The buffet food is disgusting - aside from the ice cream. The noodles and rice were hard as rocks, and the rest of the food was cold. Waitress was very nice but even though we went on a Tuesday night when there were maybe 4 tables seated (all serving themselves at the buffet), we could never get her attention. We were also given someone else credit card back after we paid... But the worst part was the bathrooms. Upon walking in, I realized there was not a single toilet I could use. All toilets were either backed up or filled with a good amount of unflushable waste. I decided to try and put some toilet paper down, and realized there was none. On the positive side, drinks were cheap and strong. Our waitress was very sweet. Bread was very fresh and warm. read more

Lo Kai is conveniently located off Lakeview Ave near Dracut High School and the Lowell/Dracut border. It's incredibly hard to miss- there's always a pack of cars outside. Upon walking in to the lobby, you'll notice the small, tucked away bar area (with decent sized booths actually) as you pass through one of the many "rooms" which take you to the buffet area. My party of three (including myself),were greeted by a nice enough oder gentleman who brought us to our table. Shortly after, we were greeted by a woman, who knew the clientele, who took our drink orders. No one ordered any mixed drinks or beers this time, so I can't comment on the bar. Maybe next time. Alas, the waitress informed us that you could either order from the menu or experience the buffet. We three decided to take our chances on the buffet. To be honest, the food looked less than savory. The white rice looked as if it had been there a while. Although it looked as if the fried rice looked was changed a time or two before our arrival, it was also atypical of Chinese take away. Moreover, the "entrees" like egg foo yung, veggie's delight, chicken and broccoli, etc, were slightly flavored and lukewarm at best. The appetizers like egg rolls and crab rangoons were NOT bad. I'd go again specifically for those items. On a relative note, my H was completely enthralled to have found a local area that serves his beloved lobster sauce. I'm sure we'll make our way again. Lo Kai is known to have "amazing" live bands and we'd like to experience it. Hah! read more

Wanted to try a different Chinese restaurant and had heard the Lo Kai was good from a friend. It turns out my friend likes bad Chinese food. They have a lot of options on their buffet but the quality and flavors are not up to par. I'm not a picky eater and very easy to please...especially at a buffet...I can always find items that i want seconds on....but the Lo Kai is that bad. After our meal, my family drove away wishing we had gone to our usual place and wondering why there were so many cars in the parking lot. Maybe there aren't a lot of options in Dracut. ps.....scuzzy, skanky inside read more

Amazing all around! Also the manger is the best, such a sweet guy and great at his job! Love this place.

So you're craving Chinese food (the classical 70s style greasy, salty type not new age healthy style). You know, the kind of Chinese food that you chow down, then the next morning you wake up not feeling quite 100%, then you eat some of the leftovers anyway? Then it hits you..."why did I eat that?". Then you run to the gym and detox for a week.....well if that's the type of food you're looking for (which is great once in a while), then this fits that perfectly. Otherwise you will be disappointed. It's an icon in Dracut for a reason. It's a dinosaur, a throwback, but that's what I expect every time so I'm not disappointed. That's why I gave it a 4.....for what it is, it does it very well. I'm eating raw veggies for a week... read more