We were long time customers of Mandarin House and being in San Diego for the holidays this year, we went in at the beginning of the month to ask about reservations for Christmas Eve. We were told they were not accepting reservations so our group of 7 should just walk in that night. Today they posted on social media that not only were they taking reservations, they were booked for groups of 6 or more. How were you deciding who to give reservations to? If you didn't want our business, you could have been a little more upfront about it than lie and act like no one was getting a reservation. No one from our group will be back here again. Disappointed with how you treat customers, especially considering we went in all the time when you reopened trying to support you any way we could but the quality of the food has definitely gone down. read more

This restaurant was next door to our hotel while we were staying in La Jolla a couple of weeks ago. We weren't planning on coming here, we actually planned on going to Pearl Street and grabbing pizza; however, as we got out of our car after touristing around San Diego all day, we all stopped in our tracks after smelling some delicious garlicky aroma! We realized it was probably Mandarin House and decided to freshen up and head over there for dinner instead, and boy were we glad we did! The restaurant is fairly large and the décor is adorable. The food was very good. We had the vegetable spring rolls, the Szechwan tofu, the Kung Pao Buddha vegetables, and the vegetable lo mein. The chili oil that they gave on the side was not really tasty in my opinion so the waiter brought out chili paste which was great and what I'm used to at Asian restaurants. I enjoyed everything! The vegetables were probably my favorite because of the kung pao sauce, but once I added the chili paste to the lo mein and tofu, it had the same amount of kick! The wait staff was fine. Nothing over extraordinary but good service! We noticed a ton of locals at this place, so we figured we made a good choice! I definitely recommend it if you're in the area! read more

Have been eating their for decades and only wish we lived closer. We live in Huntington Beach but drive down several times per year.

We've lived down the street for a couple years and are so glad we decided to come in today for the first time. We sat at the bar which was just perfect and the food was great. Service was amazing! Yip and every single employee we interacted with was just a delight. We will definitely return and you should check this place out for good food and amazing service. read more

This place is ok. The ambiance is average and the food is too. The orange chicken is not the greatest and the pina colda made up for it. The crab Rangoon was full of cheese and no crab. The severs are very attentive... possibly a little too over attentive. Yeah 3 read more

I have a real disdain for strip-mall Chinese food. This is LEGIT mandarin cuisine. The crab Rangoon were the largest I've seen in my life and perfectly paired with a house made sweet and sour sauce. We enjoyed the minced chicken lettuce wraps, chicken and broccoli, the "Kung Pao 3 ingredient" with chicken, shrimp, and beef, salt and pepper chicken, fried rice, and wonton soup. Everything was prepared with house-made sauces, seasoned well, and with little to no MSG, as far as I could tell. (Please confirm with restaurant if you have an MSG sensitivity.) It was delicious! We were lucky enough for our hotel to be within walking distance of this gem, and they carefully packaged our to-go order in a sturdy box, which I certainly appreciated for the walk back. It is definitely a place worth checking out if you're in the La Jolla area. Thank you Mandarin House! read more

We are so happy that the Mandarin House has reopened. It is truly a gem in La Jolla. The food is delicious and consistent in flavor. Their Mai Tai's are not to be missed. read more

So glad this restaurant is back and running! We ordered by phone and pick up was in 15 minutes, so it was quick. Everything was delish except the fried rice was a bit dry. We had egg drop soup, hot and sour soup ( big containers enough for 3 people per container). Generous amounts of food. Kung pao chicken, crab Rangoon and Shrimp chop sewey. Totally coming back!!!! read more

it was totally disappointing. We had to add lots of salt, pepper and cayenne to the mandarin soup to be able to eat it. The crispy duck was too tough, we couldn't chew it so we sent it back. Kung Pao Chicken was tasteless and overly sweet. Fried rice I know is with vegetables and eggs, the one they served us was only a dru brown rice. I don't think we will ever eat here again. read more

Interesting mix of good food (potstickers, Kung Pao Chicken) and bad service (manager) with the drinks being right in the middle ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The peking duck is amazing!!!! Recommmend asking for the plum sweet and sour sauce as well

Service and food are both amazing!!! Very nice inside the fried rice and Mongolian beef are so delicious!!! I will forsure be coming here when I'm in the mood for Chinese food !! Ask for Ben he is the best and nicest guy ever!!! read more

Unfortunately tonight we spent $106 and received a meal that we couldn't eat . For appetizers we ordered the vegetarian Egg rolls and egg drop soup which were the only items that were passable. The other appetizers we ordered were the dumplings (soggy and cold) and the "so called" tempura shrimp. As a chef I can assure you a thick, bland, doughy batter is not tempura. For our entree's we ordered, "Crispy Beef" (Soggy, bland and submerged in a flavorless watery sauce), "Broccoli Beef" (with the texture of a kitchen sponge and broccoli over cooked, mushy and smelt old), Sweet and Sour chicken (Soggy, bland and obviously previously frozen). Our Sides included fried rice, steamed rice and Beef Lo main. The beef was once again the consistency of a sponge and the Rice's and Noodles were obviously just thrown in the takeout box's with no seasoning or care. I'm sad to write this review as we were excited to enjoy a family meal together and try a local restaurant. I hope the restaurant goes back to basic cooking, basic seasoning and gets rid of the frozen products - it shows in every unpleasant bite and is such a shame! This was our first visit and most certainly will be our last. read more

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We had a big event at school and called Mandarin House for catering. We ordered 3 trays of Broccoli Beef, 3 trays of Orange Chicken, and 1 tray of Buddha's Delight. It included 7 trays of steamed rice. We called the day before to check in on the order and asked if they would deliver to the university close by and the stated that they do not deliver there (it's about a 7 minute drive). We called again and a lady told us deliver is $1 which was confusing. The staff rudely hung up on us twice and gave us conflicting information. We ended up continuing with the catering and picked up the food the next day. The manager/CEO wanted us to give a card number although I had already had a check ready for pick up. This made everything more complicated than it needed to be. The food arrived and I was unimpressed. The Buddha's Delight was bland, the Orange Chicken was just ok - not much orange flavor, and the Broccoli Beef was just ok. I will not be back here and we will not cater with them again. read more

I had their tofu Kung POW yesterday and it is by far the best Chinese food I have ever had. I highly recommend this place

Wonderful Chinese restaurant! We had a great dinner here on Thursday night for a party of 6! The wontons were the best we've ever had and the shrimp with ginger sauce was to die for! All of our dishes were great and the food came quickly. Best of all was our server who was both kind and funny, she really had us laughing! read more

Just got Mandarin House today to go it was awesome just like the old days so happy they're open back up

We were so thrilled with the quality, quantity and most importantly the flavor and taste of the items delivered to our home tonight! We ordered Pan Fried Dumplings, Egg Rolls, BBQ Pork Spare ribs, Wor Won Ton Soup, Kung Pao Chicken, Walnut Shrimp and BBQ Fried Rice. Everything was delicious! Many of the dishes tasted similar to dishes we've had and loved from back east! Finally we've found an Asian/Chinese food restaurant that we will continue to enjoy in the future! Thank you read more

I'm hoping I can revisit this place and update my review. First of all, it was hard getting them to answer the phone for a take out order but after a couple days, it worked. I got the crab Rangoons which had a yummy filling but were totally undercooked, the wonton was super doughy in the middle. I re-baked them myself to make them edible. I also got the hot and sour soup- it was disgusting and couldn't be saved. My husband tried and he's like "yea throw it away"" & he will usually eat anything. He ordered the orange chicken which he ate and I tried. It was not that great at all. I buy the frozen Trader Joe's one all the time and we both agree that is a lot better! The one thing that was ok way the wonton soup. I was really hoping this would be our new go to place but we haven't been able to order again... still too disgusted. read more

Food was so good! Buddha Delight vegetables were the BEST! Friendly, efficient staff and attractive decor. I have eaten here several times when visiting over past ten years and I think it has even improved over time. read more

Tasty traditional Chinese food take out. Fried rice, chow mein and egg rolls ordered through Uber Eats. Noodles were requested spicy and came with good heat. Unfortunately no utensils in our order at all which was strange-typically at least chopsticks are included. Reasonably priced, good portions and good flavor for delivery! read more

Mandarin House - Chinese Near Me - La Jolla, California

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Nelson...my family was in the neighborhood last night, Friday January 21, 2021. The phone rang, we thought we would just drop by and order some takeout...you were closed at 6:00 PM on a Friday night??? What up Nelson? Love your food, but why so unreliable? Sad. Yelp said you were open, Nelson. I'll try one more time in February. Hope you are able to get things going again but you've been closed for years and now open when you feel like it?? I know you had a fire...but this is ridiculous. read more

Had a great dinner this evening at the mandarin house. Brock provided great service and the drinks, food, and decor were great! We got the date night special where you can pick a lot of your own options and I highly recommend the mandarin lo mein and the Mai Tai-Rita read more

Hubby and I came to La Jolla for my birthday weekend and ordered dinner to bring back to our hotel. We really appreciated this place and the hospitality the owner gave. Seemed he really knows his customers from the neighborhood. We ordered Chicken Lomein, pork fried rice and sizzling beef and enjoyed them all. Very tasty and piping hot. Thank you for the experience read more

I recently moved in near the restaurant. I thought it was an abandoned building. When I saw the sign that said "open for business", we didn't think it was going to be good because the building looks like it was run over by a truck. We walked by the kitchen in the back and peeped in and it looked clean. They leave the backdoor open so we smell the food every time we walk by. I went in one day and talked to the owner and a few loyal customers waiting for take out. I was told this was one of the nice restaurants in the area for a long time and it had a fire and closed for a while but doing renovations now and will be reopen in a few months for dine in. We've been ordering take out about once a week. read more

Food was Horrible I ate there yesterday the shrimp fried rice was scorched taste burned and overpriced egg rolls grease and taste less

OK. Very heavy sauces on everything, doughy potstickers, not the most fresh Chinese food, but good "comfort" Chinese food...

We're from out of town and we're staying down the street and ordered some take out. wow so good. portions are big and everything was delicious. check it out if you're in the neighborhood read more

I stopped by Mandarin House to pick up a couple of soups to bring home and decided to enjoy an order of egg rolls while soups were being made. The egg rolls were good, but different than other places in that the filling seemed to be mostly vegetables, and therefore a little soft. I enjoyed the rolls but will check if they have other versions in the future. I took home both egg flower soup and hot sour soup, along with a generous amount of crispy wonton noodles. Both were very good. I want to go back to enjoy more entrees. I'll add that I liked the atmosphere... clean, Chinese-looking, classy, everything I'd hope for in an upscale Chinese restaurant. read more

Been going here for many years. Actually went here when it first opened in 1977. I was in 9th grade and my parents took us four boys for 'real chinese' food. read more

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Hands down best Chinese food I've had since I've arrived in California. I order take out and everything I've tried has been amazing. I recommend the cashew chicken, beef and broccoli, general tso (sp) chicken, and the fried rice. Serious flavor and great portion size. read more

1st timers, only the Wor Wanton Soup & Pork Rib appetizer & veggies in the entrees were good, the entrees very mediocre to BAD, especially the "fake" or highly processed "pressed" chicken slices in the entrees & the WAY too much mayo added to the ok Honey Walnut Shrimp (yep, I even clearly ordered it with "light mayo" as the online pics show WAY too much on the shrimp)...yuck. Less is more & better & healthier guys! Wanted whole baked chicken (so unprocessed & real), but owner/Manager said out x weeks...go shop! Would not rec. SD needs high-quality Chinese restaurants, yes, CHARGE MORE so you can serve real & fresh chicken or organic chicken or Grade A beef, not thin processed strips that tear & shred to nothing as serve! Yuck. Next. read more

This was the worst meal I have had in a while. The restaurant was short staffed. I ordered the upside down noodles and the beef was so cold it was like it was pulled out the the fridge and poorly reheated. The meat actually smelled bad and was slimy. The waitress was nice enough to take the plate off of our bill. The lemon chicken was bad as well. We got a side of fried rice and half the bowl was brown rice and the other half was white rice with eggs. This might have been a rare occurrence for the restaurant as they seemed unexpectedly busy. read more

It was a rainy and cold afternoon in la jolla and I was cravingggg Chinese! I didn't think I had enough time for it during my lunch break but I called anyways. A man answered the phone and reassured me that I will have enough time to eat in. Right when I walked in the waiter brought me a hot cup of green tea and to my delight left the teapot on my table. I ordered the cashew chicken lunch special with chicken wings and hot and sour soup... I kid you not I didn't have to wait more than five minutes for my food and it came in piping hot and soooo deliciously satisfying. The crunchy, sticky, tangy-ness of the cashew chicken was perfect and I'm a harsh critic when it comes to the texture of Chinese food. It wasn't over-sauced and the portion was perfect for lunch. My total came in just under $10 and I can't complain about that at all. read more

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So coming from the East coast I miss crab rangoons. I don't see it very often on menu's around SD. So I see that this place had it so I wanted to try it. It was NOTHING like the crab rangoons at home but it wasn't bad....it was just very different, in fact they can't even be compared! We got a dinner meal for two. We got mongolian beef, some sort of sweet and sour chicken dish and fried rice, and soup. We got wonton and hot and sour soup which were both pretty standard both being filled with MSG. The fried rice was kind of a joke..it was more like rice mixed with soy sauce or whatever they use to make it brown. The mongolian beef was good but the dish had more veggies than beef and the chicken was pretty good. So overall it was a decent meal, nothing to rave about but nothing to complain about. It's standard chinese food. read more

Everthing was great. We loved the won ton soup, sweet & sour pork, won ton chips, rice, and lemon chicken. waitress Janine was very entertaining. The restaurant decor is very nice. The tables are very comfortable. read more

To those who gave 1 star for this place, I must defend this place. This place is not so bad. They are OK. Why? Because I am from Boston and Boston has a place that is far worse than here. http://www.yelp.com/biz/nan-ling-chinese-restaurant-boston#hrid:962kB3ExPzzmOKazdtcAew/src:self read more

The best Chinese food in San Diego county! Any menu item can be customized to what you want. I wouldn't go anywhere else!

This is one place I would steer clear of if your in the mood for good Chinese. If my delivery order to the hotel would have included some means to actually eat the food such as a fork or chop sticks, it may have been a bit more palatable. Try washing it down with a warm can of coke you just paid $2 for, and all hope is lost. Flavoring is off on both the crab Rangoon and the sesame chicken, you can find much better read more

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This is our favorite Chinese takeout restaurant in the area! We have never had a bad experience. Thank you!