Pearl East on Broadway in Santa Maria Closed Permanently... Sad, it's a good place! My good friend found out they have a Sister Restaurant off Broadway in the old Mervin's/Big 5 Mall called New Ocean! Same Staff as Pearl East! Food Delicious! People need to know they are there! read more

Pearl East we miss you!!!!! Come back! Somewhere, anywhere in Santa Maria! Your Egg Foo Young is unmatched! read more

Thursday at 12pm Party of 3 When we are in town we always have to stop in for lunch at least once to enjoy this iconic restaurant. It's great that seating is immediately available and in a booth which we always enjoy. We like that the menu hasn't changed much over the years and our favorites still taste the same. We started with our favorite fried shrimp and love that it still comes with a small ceramic dish with two different sauces. Then I always order Beef with snap peas. The sauce is on point and served with either fried or steamed rice. My choice is always steamed. My sisters got Beef with Broccoli to share. Sometimes we order hot tea but today we didn't. Prices are great and as usual, we were the last ones out the door for the lunch bunch. read more

Great food, very reasonable and huge portions! Dining area is very clean and lots of tables! read more

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Food: 3.5. Came by for a Tuesday early dinner (4 pm). This place is located in a shopping center and the parking and car situation could be tricky during busy times. When we left around 5 pm, it was hard to back out of our space because of all the cars driving through. When we entered, we were promptly greeted and directed to a table. The place was not busy with diners but people were constantly coming in to get their carryout orders. Unlike some other Chinese restaurants I've been to, there are no complimentary starters like won ton chips or fried noodles. We ordered the sizzling rice soup, Mongolian beef, shrimp with lobster sauce and steamed rice. Pricing was very reasonable. Food came out timely and at the right temperature. Soup was brought out first. It was a nice portion for the size and there were plenty of nice sized shrimp. Soup tasted very good. The other items we ordered came out afterwards. Both were good, but otherwise nothing special. I ordered the Mongolian beef because someone told me it was very good. Service was good. Staff does not pack your leftovers but they do provide containers and a bag. Seating is only inside. There is no outside seating. Place is a bit old but comfortable. Service: 4 Ambiance: 3.25 Value: 3.75 read more

Pearl East - Shrimp with lobster sauce - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

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Pearl East is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants EVER! Yes can you believe it??? Pearl East is in my top three best Chinese spots for authentic hole in the wall Chinese food and I would happily drive the LONG drive to eat here time and time again. Service: 5 stars. They hustle here and can get you in and out quickly which is awesome when I'm dining on a tight schedule. Also despite how busy it gets the food always comes out reasonably fast. Everyone is nice and my order has always been taken correctly no issue. They seat you fast and then you pay at the counter. Nice and easy. Price: you get bang for your buck here! The portions sizes are HUGE and for under $10 I leave full and happy as the food is delicious. I can't think of another dining experience as good as this one for a $10 lunch. They have lunch specials from the time they open until 3pm I believe so lots of flexibility to get in and get a cheaper meal. Now for the food: 5 star amazing Chinese food. Everyone knows this is my go to spot because they have some of the best egg foo young I've ever had. The Gravy is perfection & the soft noodle chow mien is to die for. My go is the lunch #2 combo. I've also tried the shrimp with lobster sauce and that was fantastic also. Another bonus, they have chili oil! Always available on the table. You know your in a good spot when the table is supplied with chili oil. I can't say enough how much I love this spot and I really hope you'll give it a try. Places like this deserve your business and we need them to stay open another 50 years please. Good Chinese food for cheap is hard to come by but Pearl East delivers a wonderful meal time and time again. read more

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Very delicious really great choices of food, and best chicken chow mein and good wonton soup. Great service. read more

Pearl East - Chicken chow mein shrimp, fried rice - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

Highly recommend this place, a bit more budget friendly but their food is packed with flavor. Lunch specials start as low as $9 if Im not mistaken which beats other chinese lunch specials which start at $14. Thoroughly impressed with the service as well!! read more

Pearl East - Hong Kong Style noodle with beef and porkf - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

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I have been dining at this place since I was young. It has the best Chinese food around.

We have gone there for years since it opened. Large portions and incredible taste. The lunch specials are perfect

One only because the food was done fast. I payed 116.00 and our food tasted so foul. The orange chicken had zero flavor. The sweet and sour pork was more like pickled fried pork.. I can't believe some of my family eats there. Never again will I eat there. read more

Still coming out here for take out, I wish I could say the food is always consistently great but sometimes its different, I guess they have different cooks. But I can say the egg foo young is always good. Today I got Broccoli chicken, I should of stuck with the beef, but the Broccoli and sauce was great. I also ordered almond chicken, it was good, not great. Looks like they are getting loads of take out, thank you covid-19, hope they open up the dine-in soon. Customer service is always good. read more

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This place has been in town for years, had completely forgotten about it, we went today and order the two person dinner. It comes with egg flower soup, pork fried rice, crunchy or soft noodles, eggroll or shrimp and sweet and sour chicken all for $28.99, this was a bargain, the food was really good. This restaurant is underrated. I need some more acknowledgment. Wish I would've gotten pictures that we were way too hungry. I recommend this place if you are at the mood for good Chinese food. read more

I am a repeat customer. Good food, good service, reasonable prices . Generous quantities. I can & do recommend them. One thing I particularly appreciate is that their background music is soothing, which is conducive to good digestion. read more

To go order, food is till good, egg foo young still the same. Lots of food for a reasonable price.

I have lunch there occasionally. The food is excellent. The price is reasonable and the service is very good. The guys who work there try hard to make your experience good read more

Food was great, service was great too. Ambiance was okay. Nothing great. Prices were not too bad.

Wow. Imagine an all white elementary school cafeteria in remote Minnesota trying to make Chinese food. Terrible. Awful. Flavorless. All the same shade of beige. The only color on my plate was the wilted celery. Staff is a bit surly, but I guess I would be too if I had to be around this food all day. Someone needs to introduce the chef to things like ginger & garlic, because there isn't any in the food. Hard NO! read more

Pearl East - Apparently this is chow mein and almond chicken. - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

There isn't much bad I can say about this place. Pearl East has been my definitive Chinese Restaurant for about 16 years now. Their mongolian beef and fried rice are some of the tastiest foods on earth to me. Service is always amazing and friendly. My only issue with the place is they don't have fountain drinks. They use cans which means that the drinks have a weird taste and there is a charge for refills. I do agree with some of the negative reviews on here that the food can look bland and uninspired. Its the taste matters and as far as I am concerned the food here is good. read more

I always get their chow mein with beef chicken or shrimp I've had them all and it's consistent every time and it's always the same guy when I go order. this place is it read more

Great food great prices and great service. This place hasn't changed since I was little- everything is 10/10

I love the food and service from Pearl East. They have the biggest potstickers I have ever seen before at a restaurant. I highly recommend this restaurant over all other Chinese food places. Five star quality read more

I have been coming here since 2012 and the food is just delicious and consistent. Egg foo young is a must, chicken chow mein ( I get it with soft noodle), sweet and sour spare ribs, curry chicken, any of their lunch specials, all are delicious with good portions. I live in Los Angeles now but every time I visit, a Pearl East lunch is always on my agenda. I even order extra to bring home to LA with me. That's how much I love their food. Also, their chili oil is perfect. read more

Nothing fancy, but it's a good place if your just in the mood for simple Chinese food. They have great reasonable prices compared to other restaurants in town. Their Kung pao tofu is delicious and so is there sweet and sour pork. They don't deliver or offer door dash that's one of the negatives of here. read more

$4.95 lunch combo?!? Is this 1986? I love Pearl East! The food is great, the prices are amazing, and they are consistent in every way. Consistently good food, consistently good service, albeit a bit impersonal. (we jokingly refer to the servers as the zombies because one would be hard pressed to get more than one syllable out of them at a time but they are pleasant none the less). Best Egg Foo Young, bar none, outside of the Bay Area! read more

Pearl East - #2 lunch special - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

I ordered 2 #2 lunch specials Pearl east isn't what I remembered the chow mein noodles looked like the package ramen noodles gross the egg fu yung was salty and the pork fried rice was hard. Pearl east use to be the spot for good Chinese food if I could I would give no stars never going back gross food!!! read more

Always a classic. Don't be mislead by the outside appearance/shopping center! The food is always delicious and the presentation is always impressive. They keep it very clean inside as well. It is usually not very busy, so it can be a little quiet...and akward. The gentelman that hosts, serves, buses, cashes out and answers the phone (ya, he does it ALL himself) is incredibly efficient, but seems to be shy and sometimes comes across as unfriendly. The food is definitely worth it though! Egg drop soup Hot tea Orange chicken Egg foo young read more

Pearl East - Egg foo young - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

Over the last 20 years I've gone to Pearl East a few times and was always always so disappointed in their food, maybe I caught the chef not on duty but it was always awful and I have to say I went the other day for lunch and the food was delicious, not great but better than it had been but your staff they have absolutely zero personality, like I said the food was good, when I go back, probably not! read more

It's better than terrible, but barely. Tasteless and stoic service. Couldn't get a whole lot worse, but they seem to be trying hard to. Came here 3 years ago and it was barely better. Not coming back. read more

We tried to order food from this restaurant at 9:00 pm they close at 9:30 p.m. The male that answered the phone told us and I quote, "We're closing our shit down right now and we're not taking any orders". Then he just hung up the phone. This kind of customer service is inexcusable. I used to love eating there, but not anymore if we are treated like this. read more

Food is delicious but the people working there have absolutely no personality! Jeez smile or at least talk to the customers!

Love the take-out lunch menu. Same price as a fast-food Chinese place, but tastes like a full restaurant. Lunch is about $7 per person: very generous portions Dinner is about $15. Your best bet is to go with a combination plate if you're frugal; lots of food at half the price for single dishes. They do use MSG, so if you're sensitive to the stuff you shouldn't be eating at most Chinese places anyway. read more

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Update: Dropped rating from a "3" down to a "2." Ordered potstickers for the first time from Pearl East. The potstickers struck me as being a tad undercooked and no sauce was provided. All I got was a little thing of vinegar and a little thing of what I believe to be sesame oil. Never, in my life, have I been given an order where I had to provide most of the ingredients and then combine them myself! This restaurant has, in my opinion, "jumped the shark" and I can no longer recommend it ... Which is sad because I have been going there since the 70s. read more

I can't say it's the Worst chinese food, but it could be better. Pros: They have quick service and serve hot tea at no charge. Interior is clean. Cons: They charge $1.50 for rice! Their seafood hotpot was NOT seafood hotpot. More like sauteed seafood with mixed vegetables. Only saving grace was that the food tasted good and had tons of shrimp and squid in it. Vegetables also were cooked well and tasted fresh. read more

Pearl East is decent food but I only go here if it's convenient. I think people really like this place but I've never been able to understand why. read more

This place goes back to my childhood!!! Food is good and tastes very authentic (or what I think Chinese food to be authentic would taste like) although the food has slightly changed several years back when the guys took over and no longer the little old ladies! I still love the food but miss the old ladies and the way their pork used to taste, not huge changes but subtle, but enough to know there were some changes in the food. The reason for 4 star, is because the guys who run is now, are somewhat rude(ish) and have no customer service skills whatsoever, they don't smile or talk or anything, which is a little annoying. Food is still good though!!! read more

Pearl East - Super cheap lunch special, under $6 with pork fried rice, pork chow mein and almond chicken. Super good and good portions! - Chinese Near Me - Santa Maria, California

Came here for dinner last night with a lot of people. It was wonderful. The waitress was really nice and the people working there were helpful. They gave us crab puffs and other fried appetizers 'on the house' (apparently my mom's friend knows the owners) The food was really good. The fried rice was tasty and I really liked it. The mapo tofu was the star. Me and my sister love mapo tofu. Usually we enjoy it when our family cooks it however they made it even better. It was spicy but also a tinge of sweetness and had delicious peas and bits of meat and it was just overall amazing. The salt and pepper shrimp was good. It had pretty big shrimp and was nice and spicy We also had honey walnut prawns and I didn't try it. (I don't eat mayonnaise) but my family said it was really good. We also had fried noodles and they were nice and soft and delicious. Would recommend and come again! read more

Salt & pepper fish before 4:00! Hus likes Kung pow. Great egg foo young! Great value and good food. read more

My all time favorite restaurant, have been coming here with my family for years and I don't think I have had anything better than there potstickers and Kung pao tofu. read more

My husband and I went here for dinner. The service was really quick; our water was refilled even before it got all the way emptied. For an appetizer, we got the fried wontons. These really are not worth it. There is about 1/4 tsp of filling and even that was just kind of bland. For our main dishes, we ordered pork fried rice, plain fried rice, and General chicken. Though the rice was a little oily, they were both pretty tasty. The General chicken didn't have the usual breading which was great. It was thinly sliced chicken as opposed to chunks - nice change of pace. Also, the portion sizes are huge. We had plenty to take home. If you are looking for something to eat over the nest few meals, then this is your place. Or, if you are looking for something to share, this would the place to go. Overall, we were very happy with this place and will probably return there again. read more