There aren't many Chinese food joints around these parts. This is one of them, and...I'm thinking that's why they're still in business. To be fair, I've always enjoyed my order. It's good stuff. But I'm of Chinese descent, and this isn't authentic. I knew this. I also knew that the style was more Sichuan and not Cantonese. They're different and I know them equally well--I lived in the Sichuan province for nearly half a year. This is American Chinese food. Still yummy in its own right. But I've had better. Good for groups, I suppose. Not a friendly, family-fun atmosphere... Dark dining room, deep booths. It's not bad. But no self-respecting restaurant should have to rely on reviews like this, phrases like "It's not bad." Come here if you have a hankering for American Chinese food or if you have the munchies. The mein might do the trick. read more

Ok, it's not the best Chinese, but where can you find good Chinese in San Diego? The answer is nowhere, sorry SD. I recommend the kung pao chicken (yummy!!!!) and the shrimp lo mein, and don't you dare forget to order wontons, so delicious! The delivery takes forever, but hey, it's usually worth it for decent chinese by the beach. I wish they would get on the EAT24 App to make delivery easier. read more

The manager or the owner am not sure . He was the only one with a blue shirt is way too rude . And he keep cussing in front of the customers. He said the F word like 5 times in 3 mins ..stay away from this place . Couldn't stay in this place more than 10 mins. read more

This is the typical Chinese food for Americans joint. Food is not terrible but nothing great either. Priced reasonably. read more

For San Diego, I don't think it gets much better than this unless you are willing to go down to Convoy. Def the best if you live in the La Jolla area. I had my doubts, being from D.C where the Chinese food is endless and awesome. But I was impressed. The Crab Rangoons were crispy and tasty, their hot mustard is NO JOKE. The Kung Pao chicken is a must. Spicy, sweet, and delicious. The Lo-Mein is ok, I'd opt for the Fried Rice instead. Delivery takes forever, but pick up was quick and the staff is friendly. read more

Place is kind of dark and gloomy but not in a dirty way. Staff is really friendly and the food was great. Would definitely come back. read more

Mandarin House - Orange chicken and mangolian beef. Part of the dinner for two. Only $32 - Chinese Near Me - La Jolla, California

Over cooked to burnt egg rolls. Chicken wings had zero flavor. Dumplings were the mushy and gross. Shrimp fried rice was actually ok. Generic Chinese food does not have to be this bad. Restaurant also did not provide utensils for our take out order. Be to avoid when staying in La Jolla. read more

We were so sad when the downtown location closed. This is our favorite Chinese restaurant. We make the drive to La Jolla for special occasions because we love it so much. Get the Kung Pao chicken, crispy beef and salt and pepper chicken, you won't be sorry. read more

This restaurant is closed for remodeling. Notice posted on door. No indication on website or anywhere else that it is closed. If you look it up anywhere, it gives you the hours of operation and says it is open for business. If you call their number, the phone will ring forever with no answer or message. read more

This was the worst Chinese food I have ever had in my life. This was not however the worst experience eating I have had, as my friend and I had a great time, and the service wasn't bad. Let me say this: I lived in China for 3 years, I know what Chinese food should taste like, and in fact can cook a lot of dishes on my own. I also must say I love American-style Chinese food-- get me some General Tso's Chicken any day. We ordered: Hot & Sour Soup, Egg Fried Rice, Yu-Hsiang Pork and String Beans Szechuan Style. The first dish to come out was Chinese 'Chips and Salsa'. Only in San Diego-- Fried Won Ton Skins, Spicy Mustard, Sweet & Sour Sauce and a Spicy Chili Sauce. Delicious fried-ness, but as I said, only in San Diego. Our soup was fine. Everything you would expect. Our dishes were to come out next. The only word I can use to describe the String Beans is wrong. They were covered in some sort of sticky sweet and sour sauce and were not spicy at all. Nothing like Chinese food from China, but also just not good. The only thing that made them better was covering them with chilies and soy sauce. I suppose they were fresh-tasting though. The Yu-Hsiang Pork-- another very standard dish in China-- was also just terrible. Lacking in any flavor, and again drowning in sauce. Don't get me wrong-- I don't mind lots of sauce, as long as it has flavor. The perfect finale to the dish-- my Fortune Cookie was grammatically incorrect. I would say that I will probably go back to Mandarin House (I live up the block), but only to torture my Chinese friends. And I will only order very standard American Chinese items, such as Sesame Chicken. My guess is that this must be their specialty as the place was pretty busy. The food may have been terrible, but I enjoyed my meal, and as I said, my friend and I had a great time. read more

We've been here 3 times. Food C+ Service D- ... very rude. Servers seem unhappy and annoyed at guests. Very surprised for a restaurant in LaJolla. I wouldn't stop here again. read more

Dirty Restaurant with Super Salty Food & Poor Service! I was in the mood for Chinese food & this place is just around the corner from our house, so we decided to give it a try despite previous warnings from family members. Big mistake. I noticed that the windows were dirty from the outside which was a pretty good indication of what it was like on the inside. From the air conditioning vents alone, I could tell this place had been around for a while ... & that's never a good sign of what the kitchen could be like. Despite the restaurant being fairly empty, the service was very slow - perhaps because our waiter was busy watching the local evening news on the very large tv in the dining room. When the food finally arrived it was all extremely salty. It was not inexpensive either. I do not recommend this restaurant to anyone. read more

We got there 15 minutes before closing time on a Sunday night. I knew that everyone there wanted to go home but they were more than happy to take our order and the service there was very quick. The owner stopped by our table to shmooz and couldn't have been nicer! The restaurant has been open for 39 years so you know that they have to be doing something right! I'd come back on Christmas Eve if they weren't 2300 miles away from home. read more

This is an absolute champion in its league (which is Americanized Szechuan served with a healthy doze of unpretentious fun). To begin with, the restaurant is around for 42 years in the out-of-the-tourist-way place in La Jolla, so they must be doing something right. Portions are as expected in an Americanized Chinese place, i.e., large and food tastes as it should (i. e., better than in 90% of the Chinese restaurants). Two things made our evening an excellent one, though: the cocktail and the service. We chose the Volcano cocktail for two that was just like the rest of experience, unpretentious yet fun. The waitress had clearly enjoyed constantly cracking jokes (after fifteen years at the place!). When I dropped the napkin it was immediately replaced with a new one before I noticed that I had dropped one; this level of attention is usually a trait of the Michelin-rated places. To enjoy the place, one needs to calibrate the expectations, of course. Do not expect some flashy decor - the place looks like it was designed 40 years ago. Some will call it retro, some will call it kitsch; I say it is amusing. Do not seek fancy drinks, look for entertaining ones. Good for a low-cost (the dinner was $30 per person) date night with a significant other that has some sense of humor (the humor-challenged people are not worth marrying anyhow). read more

Trying to find a Chinese restaurant in La Jolla or Pacific Beach is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. My family had an itch for Chinese so we decided to try this place out. Needless to say we won't be coming back. We ordered $60 worth of food togo. $60 got us 1 noodle dish, 2 soups and lemon chicken. A bit pricey if you ask me but we went with it. We asked for sweet and sour sauce and the host only gave us one and didn't budget when we asked for 2. Really only 1 sauce when we ordered $60 worth?! The food was less then tasty. The Lemon Chicken was bland and soggy. With very little lemon sauce. The hot and sour soup tasted like it had been burnt and tasted so bad I couldn't eat it. The Golden Corn soup was delicious! It tasted fresh and was perfectly seasoned. The chicken lo mein was yucky and the noddles were a bit el dente - not to my liking. Over all too much MSG and not enough flavor or seasoning. It was such a huge disappointment!! Sad to say we will not be back for a second dinner. read more

Mandarin House has some very good food... but for the price I wouldn't come here unless it was a very special occasion or I'm right near it and craving Chinese food. Service is alright. They don't come to your table frequently so you may have to flag someone down for a refill of your water (and boy will you need it if you order one of the spicier dishes!). They are friendly and are willing to get takeout orders for people. Their eggdrop soup is a great way to start the meal, and the plates of meat like the yummy Kung Po Chicken are served in LARGE portions. You will likely not be able to finish one on your own. My friends and I usually get three different entree plates and we share them between the 4 or 5 of us. Try coming here on Christmas. You will be in for quite the loud and funny evening. People in yamakas yelling, "HEY MAO, CHOPSTICKS!" read more

This is a great place. First the service was excellent. Chui was our waiter and he was prompt and attentive. We ordered the meal for two which includes appetizers and soup place two main dishes. We had the spicy barbecue chicken and fried beef. The fried beef was a little over done for my liking but the chicken was marvelous. If in La Jolla don't miss out. read more

Looking for a chinese place and friend said he's seen this place for years, but never gone. Probably wasn't kicking himself that after all these years he hadn't tried it because it wasn't very memorable. It was just OK. Service was slow but friendly. We started with a couple of cocktails that came adorned with HUGE fans sticking out of them. They were good, just not much alcohol....I guess drinks with umbrella's/fans don't need to be strong because they look so cool? We had the po-po platter to start. It was just ok. The best thing on it was the tempura shrimp. I could eat that by the handful! I ordered the kung-po triple happiness. Shrimp, chicken, beef in a (supposedly hot chili sauce) It had veggies in it and the meat/veggies were good, but the sauce had no flavor at all. It was just red, greasy, and bleehh!! Friend ordered the green pepper beef. He said it was just OK. I do have to say the portions are large for the entree's and you could split them for sure. The menu was pretty extensive with a large variety of options. I think I was more exciting reading what the entree's were versus how they actually tasted. I wouldn't go out of my way to come back here, but I would make a u-turn on la jolla for the tempura shrimp! read more

This place is our family favorite. Their consistently delicious meals never disappoint. Good Chinese food is so hard to find, we aren't local, but whenever we visit we go out of our way to squeeze in a stop. We don't get food like this back home. Egg rolls and steamed dumplings are the perfect start. All the cocktails are stiff, the volcano and mai tais are fun to share. Salt & pepper chicken is the one dish we never skip, you shouldn't either. Shrimp and walnut is a great combination of sweet and crunchy. Lo mein and fried rice are easy crowd pleasers and the orange chicken rounds out our top selections. Be sure to get it spicy. read more

Having Ginger Shrimp with steamed rice. The shrimp is lightly breaded, the sauce is pungent - kind of sweet and sour and spicy, the vegetables consist of sliced green onions and shredded ginger. All together, tasty. Good service. read more

February 16, 2007 Forget this place By martytib - See my reviews We get to La Jolla once in a while. Last time we tried this place the food was good. I don't know what changed but we had take-out that went directly into the garbage. Perhaps a new chef or new owners but you couldn't do worse. read more

I moved to La Jolla about 4 months ago and I live about a mile away from here. I drive by the Mandarin House all the time and I rarely see many (if any) cars parked out in front so I always wonder how this place stays in business. I finally decided to give it a shot because I was craving Chinese. I ordered the Crab Rangoons, Kung Po Chicken, Orange Chicken and their Shrimp Lo Mein. I was not impressed with the Crab Rangoons, it had a weird taste to it and I wish they folded the wonton into some better shape instead of just in half (triangle), just the appearance of it didn't look very appetizing. The Kung-Po Chicken was standard but not worth $12 imo. Orange Chicken was good in that it was mostly white meat chicken and not batter (like Panda Express) but I wish they used dark meat chicken instead of chicken breast because it was a little on the dry side. The Lo Mein was pretty good and tasty and probably the only dish I would re-order again. All in all I think the Mandarin House is just average. Kind of overpriced for what it is but its located in La Jolla so its understandable. read more

I've been going here for years. The food is excellent, and so is the service. This place is kid-friendly, which is a plus since I have two small kids. I've tried a lot of the menu items including, hot and sour soup, egg rolls, dumplings (fried and steamed), crab rangoon, shrimp fried rice, pan-fried noodles with veggies and shrimp, sizzling platters, and beef and broccoli. The food has consistently been excellent. I haven't tried their desserts. We're usually too full for dessert! They have fun cocktails as well, like a volcano drink with fire in the middle. The staff is friendly. If you're looking for Chinese comfort food, I recommend the Mandarin House. read more

We've gone there for the first time and was served by Gene or Genee. She was super sweet and nice. The food is allright. I should had not ordered the Plum wine as it was way too sweet. The appetizer Pork slices were also super sweet for my taste. Kids liked their food though. It is a kid friendly restaurant but still like to find a better chinese place in La Jolla. Overall the food was ok, not super authentic. read more

Best Chinese food period. I live in Los Angeles but am from La Jolla. Nothing compares to he Mandarin House. I look forward to either going in (always the best) or ordering take out every time I am in town. My favorite items.... Popcorn shrimp Lo Mein War won ton soup Moo goo gai Pan Asparagus chicken Imperial chicken Broccoli beef Flaming volcano drink! (So fun to share) Mai Tai's read more

The food was excellent & the service was outstanding ! Jenny was our server & she was the best!

This was perfect. I mean perfect. We wanted vintage old school chinese and this place delivered hard core. We started with a volcano drink which was fun and on fire. Perfect. Then we ordered a dinner for two. The sesame shrimp was amazing as were the ribs. Really big fan of the cashew chicken and the crunchy beef. The wonton soup was a little mushy. Whatever. Lost in a sea of awesome. Exactly what we wanted. And our server was awesome and hilarious. Highly recommend. read more

When in doubt, get drunk off the lava bowls and order as many full ducks as possible. Nice little throw back Chinese place in birdrock.

Up on a hill in La Jolla you'll find a true Chinese American classic. Game-changing, piss-drunk making mixed drinks and some of the finest damn duck I've ever had. Would come back to San Diego just for this. read more

This is one of my favorite spots to eat in San Diego! The crispy beef is my go to order. It is delicious!! Also, I def suggest this as a place to eat when you have a large party. They are very accommodating and always great service! Love love love! 5 stars all the way!! read more

The quality of the food is abysmal at best. With every bland bite you take, your taste buds urge you to stop and reconsider. Your mind suddenly speaks to you, " Is this really Chinese food?" The conflicting past memories, of tasty MSG, from every other cheap Chinese establishment, immediately begin to earn immeasurable credibility as "tasty takeout". "How can something drenched in grease taste like boiled chicken?! *you continue to chew* ...maybe the fried rice will redeem this Beef Chow Mein.." NOPE! Cardboard pellets that taste slightly like some knock-off Latin/Hispanic rice!... "okay,okay, the sesame chicken is last on the menu and my taste buds won't ever forgive me if I deceive them." *fingers crossed* ............. ............. ............. Welp, it seems we are done with this establishment! read more

We ordered a variety and none of it was great, or really even good. The egg rolls were soggy, the fried rice had zero flavor, the sweet and sour chicken was tough and all sugary sauce, the cashew chicken was the same - very sweet and seemingly overcooked. We ordered take out, but the restaurant itself seemed decent and the people were nice. That said, we won't order from here again, so I won't learn! read more

Ride or die Chinese. Get the pungent shrimp and volcano drink for two! Been coming here since I was a young lad over 25 years. Still the same great food and friendly service read more

Fabulous! We had a party of 12 and ordered 4 apps, and 10 different entrees & everything was absolutely amazing. Highly recommend! read more

I fixture in the neighborhood and really good Chinese food. Not much else needs to be said. Our Favorites are the kung pow chicken which is completely different than any other place I've ever had and the Mongolian beef is solid. read more

I ordered the orange chicken and my husband had sweet and sour pork. He thought his was really good and I liked mine, but I realized I just don't like orange chicken that much. I should've ordered something with veggies. This was just chicken and rice. The chicken was good white meat and fresh, I just ordered wrong. read more

I ordered the General Tso's chicken with fried rice. The chicken was average. The fried rice was truly terrible. It was dry and unevenly cooked and seasoned. It tasted like they just poured soy sauce over dry rice and scrambled part of an egg and added it to the rice, but parts of the rice were still plain and did not have anything on them. It tasted like the soy sauce was just put on top of the rice (it did not taste like they had cooked the rice with the soy sauce whatsoever.) It was just really bad. I don't think I'll order from here again. read more

kind of disappointing. For starters... we ordered take out the moogoo gai pan and the sesame chicken, each was supposed to come with it's own egg fried rice. what we got for 31.00: 1 large fried rice that looked and tasted like it was just tossed around on a hot plate in soy sauce. Very bland and plain and NO EGG whatsoever - not good. The sesame chicken pretty good, tasty. The moogoo gai pan was decent enough. White meat chicken with some tasty vegetables in a tasteful sauce. It was less than we expected and the fried rice...nope. The host was nice enough courteous and helpful but the quality of the food...not good. I am regretful I ACTUALLY tipped 5.00!!! We will probably not go back even tho it's very close to our home. We will continue our search for Chinese food. This place is just NO Silver Dragon. Hey!! Mandarin House!! ...Google: "Mar Far chicken & pink sauce" and "pork fried rice"! You may want to incorporate this into your menu! its Fuqin AMAZEBALLS! read more

Mandarin House - This is our 31.00 Chinese Meal! The more I look a it the more I regret it! - Chinese Near Me - La Jolla, California

great food and service. Best in LJ

I called the Mandarin House to help cater my sons red egg and ginger party. The manager was very friendly and helped me choose the right order. The food was excellent, on time, and easily fed the whole family. I ordered the vegetable lo mein, broccoli beef, and kung pao chicken...each in 10 person orders and my dad picked it up at the restaurant. (You can order anything on the menu in 5-person or 10-person orders). I called the manager a week in advance, but really probably only needed a few days in advance. My family and friends loved the food. If we have another event, I will choose mandarin house again. read more