The Yin Yin has been here for decades, Serving authentic Chinese food from Szechwan, Hunan & Canton. Interior decored with Chinese designs, paintings, zodiac placemats. Offerings: soups, lunch specials. Appetizers, pork, chicken, beef, seafood, vegetables, fried rice. Chow Fun/mein, Hong style chow mein... Seated, greeted courteously, ordered, food came within 5 minutes. Bites: 3 ingredients seafood lunch special (15.99) -egg roll crispy, had moist veggie fillings. Sweet & sour dipping sauce the usual. Ok. -hot & sour soup near perfect with egg flower droplets, black fungus, tofu bits, bamboo strips. Nice tartness from vinegar. Hotness from white pepper. Legit. 3 ingredients seafood was a quick wok toss stir fry of blanched squid, scallops, shrimps, corn, bamboo slices, waterchestnuts, carrot shreds, cucumbers with a touch of light soy sauce. -not much sauce. Scallops undercooked, shrimps crunchy perfect with slight juiciness. 2 scoops Fried rice had nice wok hei essence, light soy sauce prescene. Nice firm chewy grains. Very good. Definitely no msg in anything. Sugar yes. 4.5 stars Worthy! Quality: good fresh ingredients, slightly undercooked. Quantity: reasonable read more

See all

Ordered take out with the same items we ordered table side a year ago: Egg Fo Yung & Pork Fried Rice. The Egg was more noodles than egg & fried rice was dry & bland. What happened? Portions are huge & for take out they provide everything needed forks, napkins, soy sauce and my favorite mustard. Fortune Cookies too. Disappointed for sure and we picked up on time. We will try again inside to see if that is a difference. read more

The Yin Yin - Pork fried rice - Chinese Near Me - Livermore, California

See all

Ordered a couple of items. My favorite is definitely the Spare Ribs With Salt and Pepper. Great service as well! read more

The Yin Yin - 4. Combination Crispy Pan Fried Noodles - Chinese Near Me - Livermore, California

See all

This is one of our favorites in downtown Livermore for years now. The quality & taste of the food has been consistently high. It's the place you go back to when you crave a dish & get it exactly the way you remembered! Cravings satisfied. We have never been disappointed. This time, I want to highlight their Special Dinners for $22.95. We first tried it for dinner when we were craving the staples - fried rice & sweet & sour pork. We tried the Special Dinner & realized that for the cost of those dishes, we could get another dish, appetizers, and soup! Check out the photos for the Special Dinner for 2. Service is always friendly & attentive. The dining room is well lit & decorated with Asian art pieces. It is casual & comfortable. We've always enjoyed it here. read more

See all

Yin Yin is very delicious and super authentic. Everything that you order taste really fresh and has great flavor. I ordered the chow mein, pot stickers and beef broccoli . You cannot go wrong with anything on the menu. They are very nice and the service is very quick. You don't wait long for your order to come out. read more

See all

I always love the food at Yin Yin, fresh and their service is fast!, but they are the best Chinese food in Livermore!

Mongolian beef lunch plate. Very very tender beef, very crispy onions. Not a large quantity. Plate also has limited quantities of both fried rice -and- chow mein. Both surprisingly tasty despite complete lack of vegetables or meat. Efficient service. Rest room is through a side door in the bar next door, which means you have to navigate past drunken people to get there. Signs says it's to the right, it's actually to the left. read more

The food was very good. The price point was not as high as I would've expected for a downtown location. The portions were generous. I forgot to take pictures of my food again because I grew up in an analogue childhood. But I got the string bean chicken and it was really good. My friend ordered their war wonton soup and that was pretty amazing as well. The vegetable fried rice had no egg in it for people who are looking for no egg food. I have some vegetarian friends who are no egg people so this would be a good place to get the rice. read more

Yummmmmy! Big portions and super flavorful! I usually don't like to dine out at Chinese restaurants but my co workers recommended it. It was pretty pricey but again, big portions. We had lunch and leftovers for dinner basically. It was to go, but I'm sure service is nice bc the person who picked up, was pleasant. read more

This was the first time my husband and I had been here and it definitely won't be the last. If you're looking for delectable food and quick service, this is the place to be. read more

The online menu does not match what they actually serve. I ordered a beef Hong Kong dish but they gave me a seafood dish and said they don't serve the beef one that's on the website. I'm ok with seafood so I just went with it. Problem is, it wasn't good! Not at all. Two other things to note. 1- She kinda wanted to argue with me until I pulled up their webpage and showed what I ordered. 2- No one else was there and this is a hoppin kinda area at 7pm. Good luck all! read more

Chow mein was okay. Sweet and sour chicken was not good. Chicken was very dry and hard and inedible. Not good for leftovers. Threw it out. Pork fried rice was dry and clumpy and smelled like seafood. Food was to go and there was lots of it but not very good. Prices are three to four dollars per dish higher than similar restaurants. read more

We've been searching for a new go-to Chinese place that has good prices and good food, and we think we've finally found it with this place! The food was nice and fresh and not greasy. It tasted great, and their menu has lots of choices that we can't wait to try. We ordered delivery through their website and even though the time estimate was 45 minutes, I kid you not 10 minutes later our doorbell rang. We both looked at each other and were like "there's no way".....but yes, it was the food! I guess they have some dishes ready to go and that works well for us lol. Pork Chow Mein ($10.50) - Pork does mean BBQ Pork (we weren't sure it would). This was my favorite of everything we got, it had a nice almost smokey flavor and wasn't greasy at all. It had lots of meat and overall tasted very fresh. 5/5 Chicken Fried Rice ($10.50) - This tasted okay when we had it with everything else. I thought it was a bit bland, and it's unfortunate the only vegetable in it is green onion. But when we had the leftovers the next day just on its own it actually tasted a lot more flavorful. Also it was fresh and not greasy, and you get large pieces of nice chicken. I'd try this again with another meat though to see if it was more flavorful. 3/5 Szechuan Chicken ($12.50) - This was disappointing, it wasn't spicy at all and it tasted more like sweet and sour chicken to me. That being said the chicken was great quality and it came with assorted vegetables which was nice. But I need me some spice and this didn't live up to its name. I wouldn't get this again. 2/5 I also love how much food they give you. For two people we got like two and a half meals out of this. Amazing value. I can't wait to try more things! read more

See all

The Food is fabulous!! I have now had the Wonton soup. Very authentic!! Just what the Doctor ordered! I also have had the Walnut Shrimp. Best I have tasted. Glad they are back open!!! read more

The Yin Yin - Wonton Soup , Just what the Dr. ordered!!! delicious. - Chinese Near Me - Livermore, California

See all

I grew up in the Livermore area years ago and happen to be there a couple of times this week. I remember it being the only Chinese restaurant in town and eating there. Amazingly the food is still the same and my two favorite dishes: Won Ton Soup and Fried Prawns. The first time I stopped by I didn't take pictures. I had my favorite dishes. The prawns were large enough to form a circle with a light batter that I think had a hint of garlic and nicely fried. The won ton soup is a pork and shrimp mixture that is blended nicely with a nice flavor. Both dishes are about as close to my all time favorite comfort food restaurant, King Wah which was in Oakland Chinatown but sadly they closed after 50 years in business. They had the best Cantonese comfort food ever. I have not found a place like it but at least I know I can get won ton soup and fried prawns similar to my favorite restaurants King Wah and before that, Lock Goon. I returned again and ordered combo take-outs for lunch. I ordered the Beef with vegetables and my wife ordered Sweet and Sour Prawns. The lunch combo comes with fried rice, chow mein, choice of fried won ton or egg roll and if you dine in egg flower soup or hot and sour soup. While I waited for my order they offered me soup, very nice of them to offer (the hot and sour soup was good). The combo lunches were good, the noodles had a nice flavor, the fried rice was a bit dry, egg roll was good, lots of assorted veggies which I liked with the tender beef with a slight stronger oyster sauce flavor than I prefer and the prawns were great. I highly recommend the Won Ton Soup and Fried Prawns if you like the OG home cooking like Lock Goon and King Wah (both long gone). Great service, priced well and the few things I tried has Yin Yin on my places to hit when I'm back there again. read more

See all

I got the: Pork fried rice Orange chicken Yin Yin chow mien & Egg rolls. Everything was fire , sorry no pictures. The prices were good, and large portions. read more

i can only speak about the soup, finding a hair is never pleasant situation. Had the Egg flower soup and when i asked for the plum wine, wasnt available(take it off the menu) and take the hair out of your soup read more

Over the last couple of months, Yin Yin has supplanted China Garden as my go-to for Livermore Chinese food. The quality of the food ranges from mediocre to fantastic. Our standard order typically includes the Yin Yin Chow Fun, Chicken and Corn Soup, some form of fried rice (either Yang Zhou or Fu Zhou), and a random fourth item. The Chicken and Corn Soup is pretty standard - it's on par to China Garden. The Yang Zhou Fried Rice is also pretty standard - the reason why it stands out is because I can't recall eating it at any East-Bay Chinese restaurants (it's something I would have ordered years ago from Fortune House in Sacramento or random South Bay Chinese Restaurants). I was pleasantly surprised by the Fu Zhou Fried Rice - there wasn't a description on their menu system, but Googling it returns a description of gravy on fried rice; the "gravy" ended up being saucy-seafood mixture, which is absolutely delicious. The Yin Yin Chow Fun is executed well - the noodles are neither mushy nor undercooked, flavors are right, and the ingredients (chicken, shrimp, BBQ pork, and broccoli) are spot-on. The mediocre items are the deep-fried foods. I've tried their eggrolls and salt and pepper tofu - in both cases, it's more fried batter than anything else. We typically order through GrubHub, but it looks like Yin Yin uses their own internal delivery person. He's great! GrubHub usually reports a 55-65 minute wait, but the food has always been delivered within 30 minutes. He's always masked up, and waits (6+ feet away) at the porch until someone gathers the delivery. read more

The Yin Yin - Yin Yin Chow Fun - Chinese Near Me - Livermore, California

See all

I hate that I'm finally writing a review after all these years!!! (Don't judge me lol) My favorite Chinese restaurant for miles!!! Their food is so good!!! I've tried many things on the menu and I'm never disappointed. I've never eaten there (as far as a sit down), but I've gotten my food to go at least 20+ times. I will always eat here. read more

Many years of great food and service. Been going to the Yin Yin since the early 80's. Yes. They even used to deliver so our weekend orders were many more then. Still the best Chinese food around. Family owned and always pleasant people to deal with. Today I met three friends for lunch. I had Bocolli Chicken lunch with egg drop soup. Additionally I got two orders of fried prawns for the table and as usually, I ate half of them. YUM! The decor is dated; not changed much since I have been going there. I did notice the goldfish tank of many years is now gone. Likely for the best as those fish outgrew the tank long ago. read more

The Yin Yin - Egg drop 3 Egg Flower Soup - Chinese Near Me - Livermore, California

Heard so much hype and was excited to try, but the food was completely flavorless and the egg rolls were like eating a shoe! They were impossible to bite through. Wondering if the owners have tried their own food lately? So disappointing as we wanted to support this family business that somehow has survived so many years. I personally won't be back. read more

Wow! I'm pretty shocked with all the negative reviews. I mean granted I've only been here once, but I thought it was decent eats. I'm also glad we didn't run into those issues. Apparently, this is a local Livermore favorite, but with all the Chinese food choices around here, it's hard to decide. Here's a bit of information about Yin Yin: ~ It's located in the heart of downtown Livermore, so you'll likely find good parking outside of 1st St. ~ The dining area appeared old. Not as in dirty old, but just all red and old. I mean I do know the place has been around since the 60s, so you catch my drift? Wasn't a big deal to me. ~ We (table for two) tried a bit of everything, only because we were hungry as hell and have never been here. So here's our order: Shrimp Sizzling Rice Soup ($7.95) - Not bad, but tasted more watery versus brothy. The chunks of shrimp were pretty big with the poop along the back pulled out. The wontons were plump and fully filled with pork. If I'm sick, I wouldn't mind getting this again, but there's a Korean restaurant down the street that serves it tastier. Combination Crispy Pan Fried Noodles ($9.25) - Talks about veggies galore! This dish was stacked with a lot of sauteed greens (broccoli, snow peas, bok choy, carrots, shrooms). Combine that with chicken, shrimp, BBQ pork on top of the crispy noodles, and man you've got one satisfying dish! Bok Choy With Garlic ($7.95) - Perfect! Crispy Fish With Salt And Pepper ($10.95) - MY FAV! It's gotta be the salt, but it's definitely crispy and light. I'd order this again next time if I could. It had a few deep fried jalapeno slices in which I love adding with every bite. If you're looking for a fish dish, this is it, GET IT! Princess Prawn ($10.95) - Surprisingly sweet and delicious with broccoli, onions, and red bell peppers. I'm not normally a princess prawn fan, but I thought theirs was enjoyable. The sauce wasn't over powering, nor did it soften the crispiness of the shrimp that much. So, to sum it up, I'd say Yin Yin is a place worth trying. It's been around for years and for good reason too. Maybe it's the amount of monosodium glutamate that made all the dishes taste and look pretty, but that didn't stop me from eating it. I mean, really it's in everything, so I can't really use that as an excuse not to come by here. But I was super full when I left the place lol. I do feel their ingredients are fresh and that says a lot for a place that's reasonably priced. It's really more of an average 3-star kinda place, but I found it harder to deduct a second star. read more

See all

When you first see it from outside, it doesn't look so welcoming, but don't judge. It's actually very nice inside. Good service. All the food we ordered was good, especially NO MSG!!!! #win Nice size place & there's borders in the middle for a little privacy for others on the other side. Will come again in the future. read more

See all

We ordered the dinner for 2 and the waitress never brought us our soup, which is included in the price. Their service is subpar and their sweet and sour "chicken" looks nothing like chicken... Ambience is odd, there are not a lot of people there and the servers do not check in after serving. Would not recommend. read more

I tried this place because they had moo goo gai pan on the menu and that's my favorite dish. Ordered fried dumplings as well - the order taker didn't seem to know that fried dumplings = pot stickers (no biggie, it's pot stickers on the menu) or that moo goo gai pan was on the menu at all (until the other desk person told him it was chicken & mushrooms). Then there seemed to be confusion about the steamed rice - I wanted a standard side of steamed rice. Finally got it ordered to go ($35.78 plus tip). The order came up much quicker than I expected and I took it back to my hotel room. The gyoza sauce was from sachets of chili oil and soy vinegar, and wasn't very good at all - definitely needed more vinegar, some garlic, green onion, etc (I've had much better bottled gyoza sauce). The dumplings themselves (6 count) were also a disappointment, even though they were nicely fried, the dough was very thick and needed more steam time and the filling was incredibly bland. I'd definitely never order it again. I think I need to completely give up on finding good moo goo gai pan in Livermore. The chicken was tender, but cut incredibly unevenly and some were over cooked. The sauce was a brown sauce (should have been a white sauce), the (canned) baby corn cobs and snow peas were massively over cooked and mushy, and the thin brown sauce made everything an unappetizing grey/brown color, and totally muddied the taste - nothing tasted freshly cooked. Even the water chestnuts and mushrooms lost their flavor. I didn't get just a side of rice (enough for a single meal), but a big container for a family. read more

The Yin Yin - Pot stickers - Chinese Near Me - Livermore, California

See all

I've been coming to Yin Yin for a few years now. The food and service are great. My favorite is it he fried rice and honey walnut prawns read more

See all

I hadn't ordered Chinese takeout in ages but finally decided to give one a try again and I regretted it miserably. I don't know why the orange chicken is such a popular item here. My order came room temp/cold and the only thing that gave any indication as to what the dish was supposed to be, were the orange slices in the container. No orange flavor or any real flavor whatsoever and I was so disappointed I threw away my leftovers and I am someone that HATES wasting food. I also ordered the cream cheese crab rangoons which didn't have any crab flavor either ...just cheese. The egg rolls weren't hot when my order arrived, and I tasted more of the fried wrapper than the filling that was supposed to be inside. The only reason I am giving this place two stars is for the pork fried rice and Mongolian beef dish that were the only two things I enjoyed. Sorry not sorry I didn't take any food pics to attach to this review.. read more

Parking is a little bit hard to fine but you'll find a spot located within 20 steps usually on a weekday. Mongolian beef is the way to go. read more

I've been a loyal customer of Yin Yin for going on 10 years. Still great food, and always great customer service!

So sad they closed. This place was a old school-legit-Chinese food restaurant to go to that you ALWAYS knew the food was going to be delicious! read more

This restaurant was AMAZING! The service was great. The food was fresh. My brother and I ordered quite a few items and we had no complaints. I think the Mongolian beef was our favorite. Orange chicken actually has an ORANGE flavor instead of just a sweet sauce. The hot and sour soup was perfect for the rainy day. Might be my new favorite Chinese restaurant. HIGHLY recommend. read more

See all

Ordered through GrubHub. The order said it would take 60-90 minutes to arrive. It was expected as it was Lunar New Year, but it was early. 40 minutes later and it was being delivered! Score!! The food was great! We have been looking for a good Chinese restaurant since we moved into the area. We've tried Uncle Yu's and were not impressed. Yin Yin's was spot on! -Shrimp fried rice- great flavor and large shrimp. Rice was soft and fluffy. -Chicken chow fun - noodles were fresh and dish was well seasoned -Pot Stickers - nice flavor and huge! -Fried Chicken - crispy well seasoned chicken wings, lots of crunch -Salt & Pepper spare ribs - this was a favorite! Meaty pieces of pork fried and tossed in s&p with a hint of spice. -Orange Chicken - chicken was moist and was not drenched in sauce so it had a little crunch still. Little on the sweet side, but kids didn't mind that at all. -Beef w/black bean sauce - tender beef, good flavor, but little salty due to the black beans. Nice dish overall. -Twice cooked pork - We got spicy. The pork was tender and it had good flavor, but would be better if they used pork belly. We'll be going back to try more dishes. read more

Christmas Eve. Ordered at 5:55 for pickup at 6:45. Still waiting to pickup food at 7:30. Terrible service. Phone is ringing constantly. People eating here get no service. Will not return. Got food at 7:30. Bland, no flavor. read more

This is still my most favorite restaurant for Chinese food in Livermore. I've been coming here since we moved to Livermore, in 1972, 50 years ago, this year. I've met people in here through the years, that used to live in Livermore, that drive back, just to have another delicious meal at the Yin Yin. My personal favorites are: Appetizer; Fried Prawns, consistently good and the same recipe, dipped in catsup, my personal preference, Egg Flower soup, and Hong Kong Style combination Chow Mien with Crispy Pan Fried narrow Noodles. The service is always outstanding, the portions are generous, as in another meal take home for the next day and the food is served quickly, steaming hot! read more

Love this place it's awesome. Some of the best chinese food i've ever had. I would definitely recommend. This is the only place I would continue to go over and over. read more

We heard of The Yin Yin from a rant and rave group and I decided to try the lunch special that everyone was raving about. And wow, it is true, very delicious lunch special! 1) ENVIRONMENT: When we walked in, it was clean and it was very nicely decorated. The tables already come with a spoon and a fork (so you don't have to ask if you don't know how to use chopsticks!) which was perfect for my son! They have a lot of space to seat different size groups and seemed very accommodating for us! 2)SERVICE: We absolutely loved the service. Both women greeted us immediately upon arrival and they served water and offered other beverages as well. After we ordered, the delicious soup came first and they EVEN waited for us to finish our soup and then served us our lunch dishes which came in a huge bulk! They checked on us afterwards as well and made us feel comfortable! 3)FOOD: We got a choice of a hot and sour soup and a egg flower soup which is awesome because usually there is no choice at other restaurants we've been do (we also end up with the spicy soup we don't like) but this place does an awesome job at giving choices! The menu itself had plenty to choose from for lunch special options! It was an incredible 30 item choice that was easy to read and very clear! You also get chow mien AND choice of white or fried rice AND an egg roll OR fried won tons! Incredible about of food and delicious! 4)QUALITY: We ordered the orange chicken with fried rice and egg roll and it came out really hot! It was fresh and the food did not taste as if it was sitting out or leftover,etc. We were able to get through half of it and still bring some home. 5)PRICE: The lunch menu ranges from 6 to 7 bucks for all the food! Me and my son spent under 20 dollars to eat there and we WILL be going back again! Reasonably priced for A LOT of good food! Thank you The Yin Yin! You gained new customers! read more

The Yin Yin - My lunch special of the orange chicken and fried rice with the egg roll! They give a lot of sauce with the egg roll (the red dipping sauce)! - Chinese Near Me - Livermore, California

See all

It's too bad you can't give negative stars! This place is the most disgusting food ever. How dare you even call yourself Chinese food? The food had no flavor and old. Very disappointed with my meal! read more

If I could give ZERO or NEGATIVE STARS I would. DO NOT GO HERE. EVEN IF YOU HAVE AN EGGROLL OR WONTON CRAVING. YOU GET CHEATED FROM YOUR MONEY. I was craving pork and shrimp eggrolls and meat filled fried wontons. I ordered over the phone. She got my order. Seems like an easy request, especially given their descriptions on the menu. Sadly, I received these sad pieces of... fried... wonton strips and a weird tempura battered roll of... salad mixed with cooked pork and whole shrimp. I paid 11 dollars and put in a dollar tip when this crapola should be less than 5 dollars and no tip. It was empty, and I should have seen the signs. Heed my warning, future eaters. You have been warned. read more

See all

Yin Yin is the go to for our family for over 40 years! Cant beat the prawns! Great lunch deals during the week. Parking is tough on First St, but park on Veterans Way and cross First St. read more

First time here !! I love it , service was lovely ,and the food is amazing ! I did a take out and order quite a bit and it took about 10mins , I will be back !! Thank you!! read more

The Yin Yin - I love the interior as well - Chinese Near Me - Livermore, California