Without a doubt the best Chinese food in the East Bay and a pilgrimage site for vegetarians all over the world

lunch special til 5 pm. vegetarian Mongolian beef tastes like real beef. I've never liked vegetarian food since hubby brought me here about 7 years ago. apparently this place has been here for many years. their vegetarian meat tastes like meat... goodie! love the mushu veggies, their fried rice and their eggplant dish. this time I ordered their cream cheese, crabmeat wontons...loved it! cheap prices, good food. I just wish they'll up the decor a bit but hey... I'd still go here to get my chinese food fix read more

I wandered into this place by accident. I was doing an errand next door and decided to try it for a quick lunch. The lunch special was a vegetarian entree served over brown rice, with soup, spring roll and tea. And all for $5! The sauteed tofu with vegetables lunch was delicious. The vegetables tasted very fresh and the tofu and brown rice together with it made for a delicious and healthy meal. The service was quick and friendly. Great find- I'm going to be a regular! read more

I'm a sucker for service and this place takes the cake.

I came here expecting good food considering all the reviews it had, but the sweet and sour vegi chicken was disappointing. I'm vegetarian and have always loved sweet and sour foods but their chicken was deep fried and made my stomach feel bad and the sauce wasn't very good. I'll try it again but for now, it deserves two stars. read more

The lunch special is so so worth it and really yummy. Totally recommend. The restaurant itself is a bit old and could definitely use renovations, but where else can you find vegetarian/vegan chinese food? Nothing is too salty or MSG-tasting, and it's not spectacular but it is satisfying. I would avoid getting the chow fun, it was really dry and didn't taste fresh when I got it to go. But the price can't be beat. read more

WOAH THERE WOAH THERE ... vegetarian beef? Who has heard of such a thing? Well guess what, it's amazing! The meat substitues they use here are great. I really like their mushu appetizer too! The service was great and the PRICES ARE SO CHEAP! $4.55 for a full lunch combo? BOMB! Anyways the food is delicious, the service is friendly, the prices are great! This place is pretty much awesome. The only downside the service is pretty slow. During the 7pm peak dinner hour when I was there, they only had to waiters scurrying around trying to take care of 10+ tables. So -1 star for slow service. Cause having to wait 20 mins to pay the bill is not very fun. Overall though, great place to try out and then become a regular cause it's so cheap! read more

Pretty cheap, pretty bad. I miss all the vegetarian options in LA... If you'd told me then that vegetarian food in LA tastes better than in Berkeley I'd have laughed. Now I cry. (Or more accurately, now I don't eat vegetarian much any more.) read more

All meat-less at this restaurant, but they do a really good job at it. It's not tofu, but some kind of textured protein stuff. $5 for a great lunch special that's fast and piping hot. Really good when you're in a rush. I had the Kung-Pao Vegi-Chicken and it was flavorful and the "chicken" had lots of flavor too, although it was in the shape of a cube. read more

This place has great crab cheese wontons. The part that confused me is that they have regular meat things on the menu, but also the vegi stuff. It's confusing. Like, are we sure we are actually eating vegi beef or is it real beef? I would have given this place 4 stars if there wasn't so much sauce on every thing we ordered! First couple bites were good, then it was just way too saucey. Kung pao vegi beef was delicious though.Vegi orange chicken had way too much batter on it, I would have liked less batter or more tofu (is that what it is?). Regardless, I am not a vegetarian, so I can't really compare this to meat subs since I haven't had them anywhere else. But I would return here to try the rest of the food. Or maybe just to eat all the crab cheese wontons. Yum! read more

Cheap veggie food. Great fake meats- I like 'em even though I'm a carnivore. The family meals in the back of the menu are a great deal when you have a big group. You'll have more leftovers than you'll know what to do with. They're really nice about substituting dishes and the fried crab cheese appetizers are so tasty you won't mind the heart attack that sets in soon after. A good place to grub before heading to a movie on Shattuck or when you have a bunch of veggie friends with hungry bellies. read more

I love this place simply for its prices and selection of vegi meat. Their soup that comes with lunch is delicious! Its thick and spicy. I enjoy the fake beef and the sweet and sour vegi pork is good. Some dishes don't have as much flavor as I'd like but others are yummy. I guess it's hit or miss in the flavor department depending on the dish. Great great place for vegetarians and those on a budget. You can't beat a $4.55 lunch. read more

I ate here about three months ago. Service was so-so; the food was not worth even the very cheap price. I ordered a lunch special, which came with hot & sour soup which had very little flavor, and the fake orange chicken, which really didn't taste like soy OR chicken. The sauce was also completely wrong for being orange chicken - it tasted bland instead of rich and thick. If you like Chinese food, don't go here. Even if you're a vegetarian, you can always go somewhere else and order tofu - it would be better than this place's fake meat. read more

If you're looking for Chinese food with ambience, decoration, a full wine list and high prices to boot -- go somewhere else like PF Chang. This place is unpretentious, has good food at great prices. Seriously, what's there to complain about? Especially love the hot and sour soup! read more

Stopped in based on the vegetarian reviews. This place is moreso Chinese than vegetarian, the portions are heaping for two (or leftovers to go) and if you have the pleasure of eating in than you get soup too! All for a really cheap price, including prawn dishes. Overall, go if you want a Chinese meal, but not if you want a vegetarian dish. read more

Long life? I have been in recovery from some serious food poisoning from them. I've been coming here for about a year now and the food was alway good until recently I went there and it was sick to my stomach for about 4-5 days. Thanks to me being an herbalist I was able to give myself a detox to save my life. Long life Vegi house was the only place that I had food at that day. It was during lunch time and after my consumption literally 7 hours later I was very sick and hot. This had done it for me, this review was long over due. It's very sad because I actually liked this place. read more

Love this place! To be honest most of the food is just good but not mind-blowing. But it's a casual local spot, affordably priced, half of the menu is vegan, with some of the friendliest owners... and I just can't get enough of it. :) A lot of the dishes are best to share family style. As in order something like the Long Life tofu and also the Broccoli. And might as well get some sizzling rice soup while you're at it ;) But if you're looking to order just one and want some dishes with tofu *and* vegetables, I suggest the tofu clay pot or the sizzling platter. My friends are all obsessed with the broccoli with veggie duck, though vegan meats aren't really my thing personally. Oh and try the hot sauce on the table. Super good! read more

I really want to give them a 3.5. The Good: The hot and sour soup is wonderful. As others have noted, it's more hot than sour. To me, that's a good thing. The lunch special is an insanely good value: for $4.95, you get soup, entree with a hearty portion of brown rice, and a spring roll. Bonus point for the brown rice. LOTS of fake meat. I love fake meat. In theory, the fake meat options should earn them four stars, but . . . The Bad: The spring rolls. They taste like something that could come from the freezer section of your grocery store. I really love veggie egg rolls and spring rolls, so I was incredibly disappointed about this. The spring rolls are the main reason why they don't get a higher rating. Also, while the fake meat is exceptional, the entrees seem pretty average overall. It's a bit of a Yelp mystery to me that this place is so popular while my beloved Hunan Chef in Bernal Heights isn't. :( That said, I will go back because it is excellent in terms of food options, mostly good in terms of food quality, and fantastic in terms of value. If I can get an entire edible meal for under $5, I am sold. UPDATE: I no longer want to give them a 3.5. They're a solid 3 now, with the potential to get knocked lower. The fake beef is disappointing. I wouldn't order it again. And even though I don't like the egg rolls, it's kind of pathetic that they don't have them after 3 pm. Worst of all: I don't know if they do this with dinner to-go orders, but when I got the lunch special to go, they put the entree in this big container with the brown rice. Two problems with this: 1) rather soggy brown rice 2) I had a ridiculously huge amount of brown rice and a surprisingly small portion of entree. This was very disappointing as that is not the case when you eat in the restaurant. I felt cheated and it pissed me off. read more

OMG, I'm pretty sure I'm in love with this place. They have the BEST lunch special ever in Downtown Berkeley. ~$6 for an entree w/ either brown or white rice, a vegi (hehe) eggroll, & some sweet & sour soup. The portions are HUMONGOUS -- I can only eat half & have to take the rest to go. The food is pretty standard fare, but I like that its a full ~meal~ & a pleasant place to sit down for some cheap ass food. As a warning, if you get the brown rice (which you should), dont eat too much of it because that shit expands like crazyyyyy! read more

It's a no frills kind of Chinese restaurant. Not a diamond in the rough, but for the price you pay and the amount of food you get, it's not bad. Best deal is the lunch specials. For about $8, including tax and tip you can get rice, some entree, soup, and an egg roll and be completely full. If you're looking for amazing Chinese, try somewhere else. But if you're looking for a good deal and some decent food. LLVH gets the job done. read more

When I use to live on Spruce and was a raging Vegan... this was my place to go to on budget tight days, back in the day. I recently was in the mood to revisit an old favorite. I always got the textured meat or other tofu dish with mushroom. But this time, I order the Sliced fish with rice... Ahhh, since I'm no longer a raging Vegan! The fish was tasty and spicy with some kind of special sauce and the rice was good. I recommend this place to strap-cash students, or anyone who is a vegan or not... the restaurant is not modern or that great looking, but hey as long as the food is good... who cares if it is modern looking. read more

Now, I'm not a vegetarian so I'm going to review this food for it's taste and not the fact that it's veggie meat. First off, their veggie beef LOOKS 100% like beef, but still just tastes like dried tofu. The sauce for the beef broccoli wasn't that flavorful so the whole dish was pretty bland. We ordered the shrimp w/ prawns and scallops w/ spicy garlic sauce and what we got was just stir-fry veggies with tiny amounts of seafood in different colors sauces. Disappointment. The seafood hotpot was basically the SAME set of veggies as the two above dishes w/ the tiniest bit of seafood. The mushu veggie was just some stir fry cabbage with bad eggroll wraps that are tasteless and rip easily. All and all, I would say this place has an affordable lunch special but if you're not vegetarian, this place isn't all that great. Stereotypical Americanized-Chinese food. read more

the vegetarian "meat" here is LEGIT. i highly recommend coming here, especially for their weekday lunch specials (~$5 for entree, rice, soup, and spring rolls). i came here with 2 other friends today and we ordered 3 a la carte and a combo bun. 1) sweet & sour pork - 4.5/5 even though it's probably hella unhealthy for you with all of the deep fried batter, it tasted just like real sweet & sour pork. well, there's a lot of air in it. probably want to dry their beef next time 2) ma po tofu - 3/5 i was not very fond of this because i could tell that the seasoning came from a can. it didn't taste as fresh 3) mushu - 4.5/5 mushu was really good! they give you the asian thin tortilla thing and sauce. very delicious! 4) combo buns (taro, veggie, plain) - 2/5 it comes with 3 buns, pretty small in size for $3. i didn't think it was really worth it and it was a bit dry as well. i feel like they kind of just microwaved it. overall, the chinese food here is definitely a change from asian ghetto food. in addition, they do serve seafood that are REAL. you will definitely get a whole lot of food here. read more

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After two midterms, all I really want is some tasty textured vegetable protein. There was also the promise of some delicious sweet and sour soup (thanks yelpers). It's a Tuesday night, so it looked pretty slow. Decided to order the 'beef' and tofu in a spicy garlic sauce ($6.75) with a side of rice + hot and sour soup ($1.60). The hot and sour soup didn't come with the usual egg, but it didn't need it. It was so yummy, i almost licked the bowl clean. The beef and tofu was just as yummy--it came with sliced carrots, zucchini, onions, and bell pepper (all of which was really fresh, you can definitely tell). My meal also came with some complementary tea. Also, the woman is no longer pregnant... I saw a cute baby in the back table. Such a nice family... great service, my glass of water was never more than half empty. Dinners are served a la carte, so I always have lunch for the next day. Love this place! They also give you fortune cookies and sweet orange slices at the end of your meal! read more

This place is a serious bargain. Their vegetarian noodle soup is $4.95!! It comes with a flavorful broth and generous servings of egg noodles, bok choy, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, water chestnuts and some fake meat (kind of nondescript in kind... just savory like meat!) made from wheat gluten. It's just about the perfect noodle soup, except sometimes the shiitakes bring it down a notch. They use dried shiitakes, and sometimes the pieces aren't rehydrated enough so they have that weird dried, chewy shiitake taste. I also like coming here because the staff is very nice, and their super cute kids are often hanging out at the big back table, snacking and watching Chinese TV shows. read more

I like the concept of this restaurant (vegetarian/pescatarian with veggie-meats available), but it didn't deliver. The menu is extensive but the food was pretty boring. My broccoli and mushrooms had close-to-raw white mushrooms and broccoli with a couple carrots over a mountain of brown rice (seriously, it could have fed a family of four). The sauce was bland. The egg roll that came with the dish was really greasy and its filling was seasoned with an overabundance of black pepper. The decor of this place leaves much to be desired. I was pretty anxious to leave...and never return. read more

Solid veggie Asian food in low-key setting. Nothing fancy and definitely standard menu offerings, but I was a happy vegetarian.

This is my go-to place for vegetarian Chinese food. Even though we may only visit every couple of months, the friendly owner always remembers our favorite dishes and our particular dietary requests. The portions are generous, the prices are reasonable and the food is tasty. The new location is much brighter and nicer than the previous hole-in-a-wall place. This is not gourmet cuisine, but it's great for families, people with food sensitivities (they are very accommodating about leaving out certain ingredients) and anyone looking for decent food at a good price. read more

I've been eating at Long Life Vegi since I was an infant, and I've been coming back ever since. My usual is the spring rolls (best in the bay), mushu vegetables, hot and sour soup, and long life vegi chicken. The staff is polite and attentive and the food is always fresh. I was a vegetarian growing up, and it was always a comfort knowing I could come here and have good, healthy food. They do serve seafood also. If you are a small party and they get busy, they may offer for you to share a big round table with others. Back in the day, this was a lot of fun, we ended up sharing food with strangers and making new friends. Now, it's less like that, people generally keep to themselves, but the friendly atmosphere remains. Their lunch specials are awesome. Broccoli chicken, brown rice, soup, and an egg roll for under 8 bucks! Can't beat that! When I was a student at Berkeley, I would get the lunch special and read there for a while. This is a modest and clean restaurant with a long-standing history in Berkeley. Check it out! read more

Very good, I think this should be the best Chinese restaurant in Berkeley! I hope I can come back again! read more

Long Life Vegi House - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

I have gone here multiple times at the old location and the new location, and this is a great option for delicious and authentic Chinese food in Berkeley that is also vegetarian-friendly. Just a heads up, they also do serve seafood, which is good for the pescatarians out there and the people who are skeptical of only eating vegetarian protein. I really enjoyed their sizzling rice prawn soup, spicy ma po tofu, vegetarian chow fun, and honey walnut prawns. I found that a number of their dishes were less greasy than typical Chinese food perhaps because they are not made with animal fat. The service here is good, and the prices are definitely reasonable. read more

This is my favorite Chinese restaurant in the world. It has some competition from a restaurant in Tallinn, Estonia, but that's it. My family and I have come here almost weekly since I first went to Berkeley about seven years ago. (Whenever we are in town.) Everything is delicious and very well-priced. They have a ton of vegan food (obviously) and I hear rave things about the fake meat as well, though it's not my cup of tea. Speaking of tea, here's a regular meal: Delicious tea: As much as you want. Really helps with digesting the amount of food you'll eat. Vegetable chow mein: no matter what I do, I can't get homemade chow mein to taste like this. Tofu and eggplant with garlic sauce: sweet goodness with everything perfectly fried Kung pao tofu: crispy bites of tofu with tons of peanuts Hot sauce on the side: they make magic hot sauce. I can and have eaten it plain. It has black beans in it. The best hot and sour soup in the world Other favorites: anything in black bean sauce, broccoli in hot garlic sauce, ma po tofu, basically everything on their menu. (Also they give a ton of food. Lunch menu items come with a spring roll and soup, white or brown rice, a lot of the entree, and of course endless tea.) And they are super sweet, kind, and thoughtful and will make you any combo you ask for or put the rice on the side for the lunch menu, etc. Now that I won't visit the area anymore after my sister graduates, this is one of the two restaurants I'll miss the most. (The other is Madras Cafe for South Indian food in Sunnyvale.) I had to at least leave this Yelp review (very overdue) behind. read more

Beyond Burger who? Honestly, the texture of some of the fake pork/chicken dishes was almost hard to tell from the real thing. I recommend this place for anyone craving Americanized Chinese food, vegetarian or not. Even though I'm not a vegetarian I enjoy coming to this restaurant. Service is also friendly! (However, the single-occupancy bathrooms are still gendered, which actually is against California AB 1732) read more

My first really faux-meat-centric dining experience, so it must be worth something. Some items on the menu have overly syrupy sauces, but standards like fried rice and general tso's are usually satisfying. I highly recommend the vegi-ham, but I would like to caution you against trying the duck! It is oddly reminiscent of an actual roasted duck, albeit in a weird tofu-mold sort of way. There is faux shadowing and an odd texture that is supposed to emulate crispy duck skin, I think. Even if that description sounds intriguing, its oddly sweet smoked flavor is all wrong and you will be better off with any other faux meat. If I lived closer I would get take-out from here sometimes, I swear. Other than that it is not the best Oakland has to offer, but it's good for the general area. read more

I am not a very picky eater, but this place brings a new definition of terrible to vegan food. Usually, I enjoy vegan food because it's healthy and tastes relatively good. Long Life Vegi House will definitely shorten your life span if you go here for healthy vegan food. Their entrees are loaded with heavy sauce, which defeats the purpose of going healthy. Not only that, their sauce is bound to spike up your blood pressure. Their food gives a really heavy unsatisfying feeling accompanied by horrible customer service. And I mean horrible. So if you are around the area, avoid Long Life Vegi House and find a different place for vegan food. read more

This place reasonable good for a Chinese restaurant: Pros: 1) The prices are extremely cheap compared to other Chinese Restaurants in the area. 2) The service is quick, the food is out very quickly and it is hot. 3) The hot and sour soup is OK, it got better when I added additional chili sauce in the soup, along with a pinch of white pepper and salt. The egg-roll was OK as well. 4) Many of the dishes are decently good. 5) Gluten Free somewhat. Cons: 1) The decor needs an update, maybe some spring cleaning. 2) They need a good fried rice!!! All Chinese restaurants have optional fired rice with the lunch specials. 3) The charge .40 cents for orders under 10 bucks. 4) The Kung Pao chicken dish doesn't have peanuts in it?! 5) Some would consider this a Safety hazard, owner's little toddler running around with things in his hands. 6) They keep the good chili sauce in the back. so ask for it. But overall decent experience at Long Life Vegi House, I would return to try different dishes in the future. read more

Amazing food I got the hot and sour soup it helped with my cold and I got some dumplings they were so good and I got the onion pancakes so good as well I also got the sweet and sour chicken it was good! Al tho it was pretty messy in there when I went to get my food i understand why the have to clean up every thing so that people can't sit down on there seats there are still seats only one waitress and she work fast and was helpful she assisted every in a fast speed when phones were ring and taking orders this place is a nice place I'm coming here every so often now cause I live only 1 minute away and I decided to drop by to test out the food! read more

Made a reservation 2 days ago for a party of 6 for tonight, 12/21/18. I called them a couple of days ago on 12/19/18 to make this reservation for a birthday gathering. The lady took my information and my phone number and confirmed the date and time. I needed to reconfirm late this afternoon to let them know there would be an extra person attending. I got a voice recording stating that they are going to be closed on 12/21. WTF? They didn't even have the courtesy to call me to let me know they wouldn't be open. read more

Great lunch deals!!! Some of the fake meat is weird, but the faux-chicken puffs (especially w/orange peel) is wonderful. Sometimes it's loud, because the workers' kids are running around playing--but whatcha gonna do? The child care system is messed up, and they should be with their parents, anyway. Also, they're cute. Other solid choices: veggie sweet and sour pork, dumplings, chow mein. read more

I adore this place. As a starving student at UCB and a vegetarian, it couldn't have been a better fit. If you make it for the lunch special (before 5pm), you get an insane amount of food for something like $4.27. And it is DElish. The waitresses are also really sweet. Kinda want to go now. read more