Old style Taiwanese / Chinese restaurant, large proportion with genuine original taste.

I've been going to Madam Lu since summer 2011 because I live near by and I have always gotten good service and great food. Not sure what was going on when all these other reviewers got there, but my tea has always been hot, my soup has always been delicious, and the Chicken Chow Mien that I almost always order has always been fantastic. It's my favorite Chinese food in all of Santa Barbara. read more

Props to our current goto delivery chinese restaurant in Santa Barbara area. Also a good, classic atmosphere for dine-in, can get a big round table. My family likes lots of different things- very reliable dishes. Delivery is quick and great alternative to pizza. read more

Something has changed at this restaurant. Been going here for years. Owner was always there very hard worker. Now she is always gone or sold the business and the food has taken a big slide downhill. They eliminated the A, B & C dinner choices and now you have to order full orders of what you want, gets SUPER expensive really quick. Very sad looking for a new place. read more

Food was just ok. We ordered from the menu and the soup was so so so salty and beef was so over cooked hard.

Their service is pleasant and a little slow. The food is very good and authentic. 4 stars because they do not have Hunan Beef but I will eat there again next time I'm staying in Santa Barbara. read more

Really enjoyed the food here. We order the fried cheese wontons, shrimp fried rice, sesame ginger chicken, and shrimp in the black bean sauce. All the dishes were fantastic and delicious. Everything came out all fresh and hot. The atmosphere and ambiance needs a little work. read more

We had the lunch buffet for $10. Very small selection of food. One third of the serving dishes were empty at any one time. The food was not up to snuff for a Chinese buffet. Find somewhere else to eat. read more

We've been going here for 15 years and have watched it go steadily down hill for the last 6-7. In fact, we stopped going here regularly and only show up here when we forget how bad the last time was. Tonight reminded us again that we swore never to come back. Bad food and bad service. The worst experience yet and hopefully our last. read more

Went to have the lunch buffet, told my girlfriend they had the best kung pao chicken,,, it had been several years since I had the buffet. To my surprise the buffet was the worst I ever had. I told her they must have changed owners, the quality of the food is the worst, one thing I can say is that Panda Express in La Cumbre Shopping Center is far better than this. I must say the kung pao chicken in Panda Express is the best. I will never go back to Madam Lu again and will not recommend it. Very average to below average. I paid $26.00 for a bad experience, I felt like I was robbed w/o a gun being pointed at me. read more

Ordered won ton soup -- what could be simpler? Got brown beef broth with shreds of flat noodle and a few vegetables. Oh oh! They just lost me. read more

We have ordered food from madam lu for 10 years. We have always been very satisfied until tonight. I called in a dinner order to be delivered. After delivery and the driver drove off we realized we where missing part of our order. I called to resolve it and was told they didn't charge me for it and it wasn't added to my order . While ordering the lady repeated my order and YES, the whole order including the missing food was repeated to me!! The lady was very rude on the phone when I said I'm frustrated and won't have enough Dinner for my family now and when I said I'm never gonna order from them again she said , that's fine, have a good night then she hung up the phone.. grrr!!! read more

I love MADAM LU! She seems to always be working and is consistently welcoming and gracious. I was happy to see that she also has delivery so we can enjoy these large portions at home. Thank you! read more

Was in the need for take out and I was so pleasantly surprised! Not the buffet but made to order..... Great food, quick (pick-up), fresh, and friendly staff. I will choose this over other local favorites! read more

Good service. Average level food. Quiet place.

Very very unsatisfied with their customer service ! I was very disappointed because I waited 40 mins. In my car for the restaurant to open. Reason why I waited so long was because I had heard good things about this place and I was willing to try it out. The ladies there are so rude and I felt discriminated. To top it off I was from out of town nowhere near Santa Barbara. Crappy place to ever eat at! They need to better their customer service. I for sure will NOT recommend it to any of my friends or family ! read more

My experience at Madam Lu's was not a very positive one. The restaurant was obviously open when we arrived, but I definitely got the impression that when they closed the door to prevent more customers entering, they wanted everyone who was already there to simply evaporate! I requested specific items to be refilled in the buffet because there were things our fairly large group wanted to eat. Some were refilled, others were not. Long before the entire group was finished, the check was brought to the table, along with the fortune cookies, indicating that they would be most happy if we left. This did not contribute to a positive dining experience for me at all and totally detracted from enjoying the food. This is not a restaurant that I would choose to revisit. read more

My wife and I have been coming here for 12 years The food has always been good and every one working there have been nice to deal with Madam Lu has always been very pleasant. Nice atmosphere enjoy yourself. read more

The buffet is really a good deal... me and my husband went there to have lunch n it was a great experience. They have imperial shrimp which is my favorite, orange peel chicken, egg roll, etc. The hot and sour soup was very good. We will be back. read more

Walking in, there seems to be nobody and it was after their buffet lunch special. I doubted the food but i got the 牛河粉 and 鱼香茄子。 Technically those two are the most typical thing you can order in a chinese restaurant. I lived in LA most of my life and this is the closest to legit chinese food I ate in a while. read more

The absolute worst Chinese food we have ever had. The Won Ton soup had NO chicken broth flavor - just soy sauce and water - and the won tons were under-cooked. The shrimp were good quality but had no flavor and the broccoli was under-cooked. The mu shu pork just OK and the Mongolian beef was terrible. They serve bus loads of Chinese tourists at lunch every day. The tour bus operators must be getting a kick-back! read more

Pretty disappointed with this place after I heard a good review from my roommate. I arrived during the lunch time and the place was empty. I think I could see somebody behind the counter, but she had her face down, and I think she was sleeping or something... Anyways I was eventually seated by a waiter who was chatting and eating with a co-worker. I ordered my food and it came out in a timely fashion, however the food was less than great. My rice was soggy and a little stale at the same time (hard to explain). My main entree was okay (kung pao shrimp). Promptly after i ordered the bill was dropped on my table and the waiter walked away. The service was mediocre at best, and the food was sub-par. I want to give this place a good review, but from my experience, I can't. read more

One of the better Chinese places in Santa Barbara. You really can't go wrong when ordering from the menu here, everything's at least pretty good. They also have the best vegetarian options that I've seen in town. However, if you're a fan of spicy food, just make sure to ask for your dish extra spicy. read more

More like 3.8, but decent food and nice staff. Lunch buffet is an excellent deal.

woman in glasses standing in the center of the room and talking loudly in Chinese customers, so I can`t eat my food indigestible when standing over me and say loudly and logo in my ear !! I understand it was the landlady, she was not polite, relaxed and cultured! read more

I had expected a lot more from Madame Lu's because it had been rated real high. Inside I noticed alot of clutter behind the cashier desk and the buffet is out of site of the seating which I didn't like because I like to see what's going on. I ordered the pork chop suey and it came with fried rice, a wonton and an egg roll. The pork chop suey was so bland. I had to actually add salt and then soy sauce to it. I have never ever had to add salt to Chinese food! The fried rice was disgusting. It was dark brown, greasy, bland and unappetizing. Again with the salt and soy sauce! There were no peas or egg in it. I had expected a much lighter looking rice with bright veggies in it. The won ton had just a little tiny bit of filling in it and the egg roll was mostly cabbage. The egg rolls at Jack in the Box are much better! My mother and I think that they were too lazy to make a fresh new plate and instead got the food from the buffet. The food was not hot and steamy when we got it. It was just warmed as if it had been sitting around. My mom's tea was not hot at all. No one came to check on us until they presented us with the bill. I told the owner/manager that I did not like the food and I wasn't going to pay for mine. I had barely eaten anything. Not even all of the egg roll. She was mad at me. We sat and waited so my mom could get a box to take home to my dad who will eat anything just about, but we were given dirty looks and ignored so we went to pay at the front where​ I said we were waiting for a box but the cashier ignored that request. We will never return there again. I would like to give this place a half of a star instead of a full one. Don't waste your money there. read more