My favorite Chinese restaurant in Santa Cruz! Authentic, locally owned, and way less expensive than other options.

The lunch special is a great deal. The service is super fast, and the options are so much more than any other place. I got the garlic pork and it was perfect. read more

Excellent place. Great food, great service. It's clean and comfortable and the vegetables are fresh and food comes hot and is quite flavorful. Love the vibe here, totally returning with friends. read more

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Great local place :) Kind people and a Santa Cruz classic. Lived here for 20 years, you've gotta go.

Always fresh and amazing! New Year's Day the staff is here and friendliness! Fantastic food hot and fresh. Always delicious

My go to for takeout amazing prices, AMAZING portions especially for what you get here in santa cruz very good chow mein i order everytime on doordash definitely check it out read more

Mandarin Gourmet - Chow mein - Cantonese Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Authentic, delicious Chinese food! The store is quite quiet but have a decent amount of seatings. The old man was nice and ordering was straightforward. I got their lunch special of Mongolian beef (around $11) that come with a soda and rice. For rice, you can choose plain or fried rice and I picked fried rice. Their Mongolian beef is not watery or bland and has a spicy kick. It is delicious and great price for the meal. read more

Mandarin Gourmet - Mongolian beef - Cantonese Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

It's been a little while since I dined here so I decided to give it a go today for lunch. I ordered the sweet and sour pork lunch which came with soup, fried rice, pork, and fried wontons. I actually loved the wontons, they were light and crispy and I could have eaten double the amount. I usually don't even bother when those come to the table but these were yummy! I enjoyed everything I ate and the service was speedy and very friendly. Food was reasonably priced as well. I will say the interior is a bit rough around the edges but it didn't bother me much. The bowl that the pork was served on was pretty beat up, lots of chips around the rim, so that's something I think they could benefit from is new dish-ware. Overall, I enjoyed my meal and would dine again. read more

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Food- 1/5, SUCKS Service- 1/5 horrible service, it seems that everything is regulated Ambience- 0/5; there is no set theme or ambience read more

Best Cantonese Chinese food in the Bay Area! We are from San Jose and we've been coming here for years. We make the drive over the hill to satisfy our cravings. The food is THAT good. It's a small mom and pop shop but service is always great! The mom and dad are very wholesome people. Food is always consistent and cooked with a lot of love. Highly recommend!! read more

Mandarin Gourmet - Mapo tofu, chicken chow mein, general Tso chicken - Cantonese Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Best Chinese food in San Jose, possibly in all of California. The perfect meal? Crab Cheese Puffs appetizer, Hot & Sour Soup, Mandarin Fried Rice, and Crispy Prawns with Salt & Pepper. You're welcome. read more

The food was very bland and the portions weren't good. It was all veggies with barely any protein for every order we had. The service was good and food came quickly There really isn't an ambience and looks outdated Wouldn't come here again read more

Ordered about 10 large trays here for my daughter's first birthday. PAUL & his wife (the cook) were wonderful! Couldn't have been more happier with the service & TASTE in dishes! My family kept asking me where did I order the food from because everything was so good!!! I am not from the Santa Cruz area but if you are or you're visiting & want yummy Chinese food, GO HERE!!!! read more

I work downtown and I could eat here every day. The food is always very high quality and the portions are fine. The restaurant itself is straight out of the 70s diner scene. Get the lunch special/ the soup is addictive. read more

I want to say that the service and food were great and it's clear that the staff cares about their customers. Will definitely return for another tasty meal. Also I want to add the tables and utensils were very clean which made it a great experience. read more

From the outside it does not look like much but I was surprised the food was very good, it tasted fresh just made and flavorful. The ambiance is nothing fancy very basic but good food and prices were ok. read more

Mandarin Gourmet - Chicken chow mein beef and broccoli and fried rice - Cantonese Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

I'm in town visiting and was eyeing another place nearby, only to find out it's like $30 a plate. Trying to get in out of the rain, I spotted Mandarin Gourmet and ran in. I looked a bit of a mess, but the man behind the counter welcomed me in warmly. He was sweet and friendly and the food was cooked very well. I had issues getting into the outdoor bathroom and he walked me all the way out to help get the door open. I spent less than half of what I would at the other place and I'm willing to bet the food was just as delicious. Definitely try them out. read more

The food here is delicious and flavorful. We ordered Kung pow prawns and tofu eggplant. Service was great, very attentive and friendly. Ambience is calm for a nice meal, would definitely recommend! read more

I love mandarin gourmet I don't know why there's such a low rating. Definitely come during their lunch menu because you get so much food. Best Chinese restaurant read more

Mandarin Gourmet - Kung pao tofu and orange chicken it's so beautiful I love mandarin gourmet - Cantonese Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

I wasn't expecting dry braised shrimp, a dish which typically comes with a little water chestnut and bamboo, to be so loaded with mushrooms and snow peas, but they worked awfully well with the sauce and were the best part of the dish, actually, even though they're veggies I don't normally much care for. The shrimp tasted as if they'd been cooked before putting them in the dish. Not a bad meal. read more

Easily the best lunch deal and quality downtown. Always tasty and fresh! Everyone I've had join me here has come back multiple times. A great place to enjoy downtown! read more

The service was great! the atmosphere was calm and clean and the location was really easy to get to. We ordered the sweet & sour chicken and the pork pot stickers. Both dishes were so good. We'll definitely be back. read more

I've often remarked that what they serve at Mandarin Gourmet is "barely food." I worked in downtown Santa Cruz for about two years prior to COVID-19. In that time, I've had lunch or dinner at Mandarin Gourmet about a dozen times, usually because I was pressured to accompany friends who were already going. The food here legitimately has the taste and texture of plastic. The Hunan beef, all of the various fried chicken dishes I've tried, even the rice all feels like biting into styrofoam. How do you even mess up rice? Do they not have rice cookers here? My advice is to avoid this place at all costs. Reviewers who liked the food here have a VERY specific taste that is wildly different from the average person's. Do not trust them. You will regret it. read more

Best Chinese food in the greater Santa Cruz area!!! Seriously! I just had the best mongolian beef ever. The meat is super tender and a little sweet and a little spicy. Delicious. The important thing to know is that this restaurant has the same dishes and recipes as the Silicon Valley white table cloth Mandarin Gourmet restaurants. They use very high quality meat. The chicken is always beautiful tender white meat and, as I mentioned, the beef is tender. Get your takeout at this place. read more

Bland food Not good at all i would not return Service was ok Ambiance was ok Bathrooms were clean read more

I enjoyed the food and how it is served. Very nice and smart how they bring a whole jug of water to your table so they can better assist other diners. This is probably the best chinese style restaurant in Santa Cruz. ihad the Garlic Beef and it was great. The portions were very satisfying and enough for left overs even though I tried my best to finish it. The owner serves and the wife cooks and they laugh together more than I have heard at other restaurants while being very courteous to the diners. Happy owners are good to see. I am very happy they are here. If you have a bad experience there I think it is more on you than on them. There is a comment from an ALEX R in which he complains about the food but admits he visits the place often with friends. Does that make sense to anyone? read more

The food here is amazing! Everything down to the veggies was 10/10. Went on a Wednesday evening with 5 friends, we were greeted very friendly & the service was quick. I'd recommend this place to anyone in the area. read more

Had a great, quiet dinner the night of the Super Bowl. We were the only customers but the service and the food were best Chinese food we have had in a long time. read more

This place rules!!! The food is delicious. The service is fantastic. The owner and his family really care about their customers. Can't recommend this spot enough. Eat here, you'll be stoked. read more

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Went there for dinner, family of 5, waited forever, asked for water while we wait, the guys said "I don't have time to give you water." Meanwhile, he answered the phone for take-out customers multiple times, and still had no time to give us water while we waited for our order. We'll never go back here. Bad customer service. 今晚去咗食晚餐，五個人，叫咗菜之後等到頸都長晒。我外母問老闆"could we have some water while we wait" 老闆就話「我冇時間，冇時間」。我叫咗五杯水，老闆仲話「我唔得閒」咁我聽到老闆幾次傾咗電話，唔理堂食啲人客。 我哋永遠都唔會返去呢間餐廳。 read more

I've gone to Mandarin gourmet a few times now and have enjoyed their food so when I ordered lunch today I wasn't expecting the extra treat I got in my sweet-and-sour sauce. It is a full grown cockroach that is pretty disgusting and I am very repulsed by this and will probly never go back to this restaurant. I had already used the sauce previous to seeing the bug album so grossed out I don't know what to do. read more

Mandarin Gourmet - Cockroach in sweet and sour sauce - Cantonese Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Terrible customer service and very unprofessional !!!! They are super rude and disrespectful ! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE !

I just moved to SC from Chicago to start school here and I've had a lot of very good Chinese food in my life. My friends and I stumbled upon this place and I was astounded at how good it was. We've already been twice in the span of 2 weeks. This place is the definition of don't judge a book by its cover because the physical look of the restaurant isn't very promising but the food sure is! We love the chicken chow main, string bean chicken and the pot stickers. Highly recommend! This is definitely going to be a regular spot for us! read more

My Granddaughter and I had lunch here last Thursday. Yummy! Everything we ordered was delicious and hot. I plan on returning again soon.

Best Chinese restaurant in town! Can't believe we didn't know about it. Definitely a family staple now.

I think this is one of the better Chinese places in town. Their mu shu is really good. We almost always get a family dinner, and have liked every version we've tried. Service can be slow sometimes, but it's worth it to eat better tasting Chinese food in town. Their prices are slightly higher, so we cycle this place with a few others around town. It's not as fancy as the high end Chinese restaurants we used to eat at in SF/Oakland/Berkeley, but all I really need is a constantly good Chinese spot, and this fits the bill. And they are super kid friendly, which goes a long way with a 4 year old. read more

My husband and I discovered Mandarin Gourmet by accident one late night just looking for someplace close to where we were. Imagine our surprise when we arrived and it was in the bottom of a parking garage. But they had the BEST spring rolls that I've ever had in Santa Cruz. We love their food and have been back many many times since then. Their restaurant has white tablecloths and feels like a really fancy date night out, but won't break the bank. The owner oversees the guests and his wife does the cooking. It's just the two of them there so sometimes it can take a while to get food if you're there in the middle of dinner rush, but it is always worth the wait. read more

Meh, edible is how I'd describe the food that we got for dinner with delivery through door dash. Appetizers -Spicy wontons were a huge disappointment...it was mushy wontons in a really thick hoisin/maybe-peanut sauce. It had flavor but the texture was mush, and it wasn't spicy at all. -Hot and sour soup was just bland and boring. Mains -Combination fried rice was pretty bland as well and there were almost no veggies to be found. -Walnut shrimp was the best thing we ordered. Had good flavor and the shrimp was fresh. -Orange chicken also tasted good but the chicken itself was dry and stringy. I'd pass...based off very mediocre yelp reviews across the board, I'm wondering if Santa Cruz has any decent Chinese food at all. I'd stick to Panda Express cause at least you know exactly what you're getting at a decent price. read more

Perfect place for lunch offering good food at affordable prices. It's a good change of pace from the regular lunch-faire of burgers, sandos or burritos in downtown Santa Cruz. They only have one waiter serving the whole joint but he's super efficient and uber-friendly. We were told today that their menu is going to change a bit in the up-coming week or two so I'm anxious to try something new. Sounded like they're gonna try to accommodate more of the "hippy" crowd by adding more veggies. Just don't change my kung pao chicken and I'll be good. read more

Mandarin Gourmet - Wor wonton noodle soup... destroyed - Cantonese Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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Dropped in just because I had been shopping at Atlantis Fantasyworld. The business lunch special of kung Pao Prawns included fried rice, fried wontons with sweet sauce (delicious!), soup, fruit and fortune cookie. Very inexpensive ($9.85). Very good. Glad I stopped. read more