Wow! I hadn't been here in a very long time. The food is DELICIOUS! The attention to the customer was the best! Stephanie was the most attentive waitress we could have had. Thank you!!! read more

Disappointed. We've always liked their honey walnut shrimp years ago. We always get them. It used to be drenched with the sauce. Now we got some and it was so dry and hard. Not the same at all. We also got the wanton soup and it had 3 pieces of wonton and all water chestnuts and bamboo. Like packed with them. No wonton at all. Just sad that it's changed and now we might not go back again. read more

North China Restaurant - Dry - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

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North China has been a tradition for the Wife's family for decades. I've never been much of a Chinese food kinda guy, but this place changed me! For starters, I love the ambiance! From curb side (old school, Santa Maria building) a century old+ building, to inside, with nice decor that you'd expect in a Chinese food establishment. The bathroom was clean, with a nice relaxing waiting area with chairs/stools too! Our service was impecable. On-the-spot, but not overbearing/annoying. Our orders were brought out quickly, with attentive & appropriate timeliness with serving staff to ensure our needs were being met. The quality of the food, freshness and flavor was superb. Too often I've been in Chinese places that seemed stuffy and the food not that appealing or dominated by one or two spices. This place is lively (it was quite busy at lunch when we went) the portions are fantastic, and everything is absolutely fresh and seasoned balanced for dining delight. This not-so Chinese food guy is very much looking forward to going back to North China! read more

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North China gives quality every time. The food comes out piping hot. We got the dinner for 4 and got a larger portion of food that fed 6 people. We still had a ton of leftovers. Our server kept our drinks full and our tea hot. The inside has a wall of all their well deserved rewards. read more

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The food here is always made fresh to go, they've never mixed up an order and their produce is excellent. It's our family tradition to order Chinese takeout on Xmas Eve and North China always delivers! I highly recommend this business. read more

The food was great we will go there again. The servers were very helpful and nice. Thank you. read more

This place is absolutely delicious. Hands down the best Chinese food I have ever had. We ordered orange chicken, egg rolls, beef soft noodles and fried rice. Everything was just super tasty, just like Chinese food should be. The service was perfect too. read more

The food is always so delicious and the portions are very generous. I highly recommend North China!

This spot is serving some SERIOUSLY Delicious Chinese food. I was honestly so impressed when I stopped by in December of 2024. Came by on a Monday around 6pm for dinner and they were busy! Nice dark ambiance in the resteraunt with booth and table seating. But considering how busy they were, the service was great and our food was out very quickly. We went with the vegetable chow mein and honey walnut shrimp. THEY WERE BOTH INCREDIBLE. The chow mein was a huge portion and very flavorful, a 10/10. The honey walnut shrimp was also a huge portion and considering the price a great deal. The shrimp was of good quality. Overall they have a large extensive menu and serve basically a bit of everything. You gotta check them out it if your in the mood for Chinese. Thanks North China for the great food and hospitality! read more

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This is an amazing authentic Chinese restaurant, don't get fooled by the dark lights and the old looks but the food quality and portions and service are all amazing. Worth the try! read more

First time coming here. Came with co-workers. There was a wait, and I can see why because the food is incredible. This may be my favorite Chinese restaurant in the entire central coast. Just something about the way they cooked the fried rice and orange chicken was delicious. Can't explain more than that - you just have to go try it! It's small inside and the tables/booths are all close together, so it's noisy when full. But it's a lot of fun. read more

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Food is terrific and never disappointing and the series always top notch Staff is always friendly and and attentive

This is literally my favorite Chinese food restaurant. I've had Chinese food all over the country and this place has always delivered on taste and quality compared to everywhere else I've been to. It pains me to give a lower than four star review but their service continues to decline. Went on Saturday evening around 5 PM. The place was packed. Got sat fairly quickly but at a tiny table for the four of us. My biggest issue is the past three times I've come they've been unable to deliver our drinks before the food was served to us. This time they never brought the tea. The tea is part of the experience you have to have the tea with this food. The excuse was the back was too busy to wash more tea cups. It's really disappointing when a restaurant can't deliver on this basic part of dine in service. I'm still going to go back because the food is unmatched, but it's gonna be a long time before I do. Do better North China. read more

North China Restaurant - Waiting room - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

In town visiting fam and my family wanted Chinese food. North China got good reviews so we decided to eat here. Ordered orange chicken, broccoli and beef, chicken chow mein, pork fried rice, and pot stickers. For drinks my daughters had pink lemonade and diet soda. My man ordered a beer. They brought us out some complementary tea. Broccoli and beef was really good. Broccoli was fresh and cooked to perfection. Everyone enjoyed the food. Potstickers were very good crispy and not too thick . Employees were friendly. After they brought cookies . The only negative was the beer was warm. Will definitely be back when in the area. read more

Arrived for dinner around 5pm 2 ppl No wait There was limited parking We ordered food for two We were allowed to make substitutions to the already chosen dishes Good customer service. read more

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The noddles are fantastic! I forgot to take a picture! I am sorry. The ambiance is very good. The food is great and the service could use someone a little less judgmental. Other than that, it was great! read more

My family has been going to North China for years. My MIL always raves about North China and always has North China as the bench food to compare other Chinese Food. I probably only come here once or twice a year. We came here on Friday night. I was a little surprised that it didn't seem as busy as it normally was. My FIL mentioned North China recently sold, and after looking around none of the wait staff looked familiar. Service: 3/5. Service was ok, but we had to remind server several times about drink orders or to go boxes. My FIL wanted to split 3/6 wontons with 3 pork and 3 cream cheese and he wasn't happy about it. Over all service fast not great. Food: 3/5. We ordered 1 order of beef and broccoli, sweet and sour chicken and mushy pork for our main. Egg rolls, cream cheese wontons , and wonton soup. They were out of Broccoli so we had to get beef with snow peas. (How does this happen on a Friday night?). Chicken was slightly over cooked in the sweet and sour chicken, just a little dry. It was kinda masked by the sauce. The mushi pork and egg rolls were great. The noodles in the wonton soup were good , but the broth was kinda bland. Overall 3/5. Willing for to give North China another visit the next time I am in town. Obviously when business change hands it may take a few months to figure things out. So trying to be constructive with any criticism and I will revisit my review the next time I am in town. read more

My first time trying North China was both tasty and interesting! I ordered egg drop soup, which was delicious, filled with flavor and soothing! Customers can enter the restaurant through the front entrance or through the back of the restaurant, walking through the kitchen and service area, a bit of an odd experience but nonetheless, it takes you to the restaurant where you can dine in house or pick up food to go. Staff seem friendly and based on the business of the restaurant, it seems like a popular place to go. I'll probably return! read more

North China Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

The food is delicious!! Service was great, cute place. I will say their portions are gigantic! Two of us ordered 2 entrees which could have fed 4 or 5 easily. We were traveling so took leftovers and gave them to the desk clerk at our hotel...he was delighted! read more

Given large portions, a little pricey but again large portions tasteful food. Will definitely come back!

Another fabulous meal at North China. I called ahead to make a reservation and when we arrived were greeted and seated right away. We like their booths and got one right away. I ordered for starters Cheese Wontons and pork dumplings. They came out within minutes, fresh and hot. Next up some Wor Wonton soup, oh boy full of shrimp and beef and really good pork wontons. Broth was awesome and felt so good going down my throat. Some of the best sautéed greens beans with pork. The pork and sauce was so delicious. Their Honey Walnut shrimp is another favorite. Super good. Portions were plentiful and I was happy to have leftovers cause tomorrow I'll enjoy it all over again! Yum! read more

We finally made it back after all these years and I just can't say enough about this place. The service was so sweet and friendly. The moment you walk in, you're enveloped with the warmth of hard working crew, wood paneled engraved walls, and food that takes you down memory lane. We had the sizzling rice soup, sweet and sour pork, and Mongolian beef. All my lifelong favorites. This is what I yearned for all these years and finally taking my kids to the place I so enjoyed was getting me all teary-eyed. Places like this just don't exist anymore! I wish I took more photos, but I legit dug right into it. The crisp, the sizzle, lathering of sauce to perfection. What more could I have asked for? The portions were gigantic for the price. Four dishes enough to feed a family of ten with enough to take home. Considering the rampant inflationary food prices these days, I'm not sure I can complain. Even after all these years, this place is spotless which is always comforting to me! No lifeless fish tank out front and the most transparent kitchen in the back even after 13 years!! There weren't stacked open boxed veggies outside of refrigerators in random parts of the kitchen like you might see in a kitchen in the Bay Area. I wish they could all get trained here before they open restaurants. As a fellow Asian I seriously appreciate this! I had hoped the quality would stay the same and now I can say it did AND this has been time tested! I can't think of more than two places across California that serve the authentic Chinese-American food and experience anymore. I hope we don't take this place for granted and I hope this place will stick around for another lifetime. As an Asian-American, this is what I call home. read more

North China Restaurant - Sweet & Sour Chicken - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

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Our new favorite Chinese restaurant! We try and go here often for lunch because we love their great food and service! We have tried different items on menu, and they have all been good. Would definitely recommend this place! read more

We went on Christmas Eve and the restaurant was so busy. It took forever to get our food but the waitresses were so attentive and sweet. It wasn't their fault the kitchen was so busy. I feel bad for the servers who were getting yelled at by customers. The place was clean but some dishes still were kinda dirty. The food was amazing though and the portions are huge and definitely worth the price! read more

North China Restaurant - Orange chicken! Pork Chow Mein! - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

Best Chinese food in town!!! Always tastes so fresh and delicious. They are always polite.

Northern China Restaurant located in Santa Maria (Santa Barbara County) receives many accolades...including from a lot of my Yelp "Brethren" on this very site. Our normal "go-to" Chinese Food Restaurant is Mei's (Shell Beach), but due to the rave reviews...we stopped in for lunch recently, to experience this venue for ourselves. Walk in and you are in front of an initially impressive Shoji Screen....but, don't look too close, for you, dear Yelp Review Reader, will see that it is well worn. Past the screen is an open dining room...not really anything but "plain". Again, once seated...don't look too close, on this occasion the carpeted floors were not clean. Initially "Service" wasn't as prompt as expected. Oolong Tea was brought to the table and the Menus were presented. Our Server for this meal was Crystal. She was knowledgeable regarding the offerings and provided our table with "good" service. The Menu is extensive (couldn't take a pic of every page...sorry), and after some time we ordered the following: Appetizers:Cheese Wonton 5/5 (yummy) Fried Wonton 3/5 (not as yummy) Spring Roll 3/5 (bland) Mains: Honey Walnut Shrimp 5/5 (probably the "wining" dish of the meal...impressive presentation) Orange Chicken 5/5 (yummy) North China Fried Rice - 3/5 (bland) Shrimp Chow Main 4/5 w/Soy Sauce (without the Soy Sauce...would have a lower rating) Northern China Vegetable 3/5 (best part of dish were the sliced Water Chestnuts). I wished I could "rave" about the food...but unfortunately, as a whole, I just wasn't "blown away" by the dining experience. Which was sad...due to the great reviews and high expectations. Fortunately...Mei's in Shell Beach isn't too far away. On this occasion, in this Yelper's opinion...Northern China Restaurant on Broadway in Santa Maria provided our party of 4 with a very "average, if there's nowhere else to go" (guess ya love it or ya don't) 3 Star luncheon experience. read more

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The food definitely has gone downhill since it has been under new ownership! You can really taste the difference. I always loved the sweet and sour chicken or pork. When you bite into it now it's so dry and stringy, the sauce is like water! This was the only good Chinese restaurant in town. Now it's just like the others here! read more

This place is awesome! The food is so delicious and if you're unsure of what to try, ask one of the young servers. Most servers won't tell you the truth, but not here! read more

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Passing through Santa Maria and wanted to stop for lunch . Had a Craving for ChineseFood and seen this Restaurant had good Reviews. Food is ok ,Customer service is GOOD. BUT The Restaurant is SOOOOOO DINGY , if I was a local I certainly wouldn't return. They definitely need to do better ! read more

I went to this restaurant 5years ago, I like have goog food and good service. last week came again I feel disappointment,food just so-so,

The food is so good! We enjoy it every time we go. The staff is so attentive and friendly always! Restaurant is neat and clean and it actually wasn't packed on a Tuesday night. The dinner entrees are enough to share family style. read more

North China Restaurant - Pork Egg Foo Young and Green Chinese Embassy String Beans with Chicken - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

It seems that Fridays when they open is my thing to do. I once again was pleased with the food & service. Tried something different again & it was awesome. Had the Hot pepper pork. The sauce taste was like in between a sweet & sour & orange sauce. I thought it was a really good sauce. Also had the North China shrimp. Those were good with a little dab of hot mustard. I'll most likely be back to try some more dishes read more

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Food: 3.5. We came by for a Wed lunch. We parked on Broadway. Unsure of the overall parking situation because, if parking only on Broadway, it would be insufficient for the amount of seats inside. The place was pretty busy at 11:45 am. We were promptly greeted and shown a table. We ordered their Sizzling Rice Soup, Chinese Embassy String Beans with Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp, and steamed rice. Food came out timely even when our server said there might be delays. Soup was fine. The string bean dish was good. The shrimp dish was good. If I come again, I will try other dishes. Service was very good. The ambiance was comfortable. Service: 4.5 Ambiance: 3.5 Value: 4 read more

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The food taste, quality has definitely changed since the new owners took over. Last few dinners and lunches have been totally different especially in taste. All our usual favorites that we have gotten are not the same anymore. Even the sweet/sour dipping sauce was like water it was so thinned out instead of it being thick and would actually stick to the food instead of running off like water. What a shame.....we've been going here since 1989 but its sad the food quality is gone. read more

I was sad to hear its under new ownership. I had placed an order to go, food is still delicious as I last remember and service is friendly. The only reason why I gave 1 less star is because they charge for rice! Its not a lot by all means but you're already spending over $20 on a entree and should come with a complimentary rice. read more

Excellent food and dining experience. Great service with nice atmosphere. Our team loves to have lunch here and it's a favorite of our family. read more

I went last week after 1 p.m. The wait was not long when I got seated right away. The server promptly took my order and my food arrived on time.. the table was comfortable and they had Wi-Fi at the restaurant so I didn't ask for the password. Overall, I would give this a rating of 4 stars due to the variety of the menu options. read more

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Excellent food, hugemugus portions. Taste delicious. We love the walnut shrimp. It comes to the table as a tower! We get at least 5 meals from One order of food. Great friendly staff. This one is a do not miss. Go!!! read more

Horrible pork dish. It was bad. Honey garlic shrimp was awful too. Restaurant was getting ready to close for lunch break.

Went last night for dinner, worst experience there! North China egg foo young with burnt, the sweet-and-sour chicken was mostly breading and dry. The beef and broccoli tasted different and the meat was not tender as usual. Service was horrendous! The chairs and tables were dirty. We need a better Chinese restaurant it has gone downhill. read more