Delicious food and great service. Love their garlic rice and noodles.
Jorge Pineda
We ordered our food to go. It was very good. Prices are what everywhere else is at. Fast service
Cary Boles
Spot on
jon lai
I’m leaving this review because I feel the need to provide some counterpoint to the last two 1-star reviews. My family and I came on a Monday night and ordered chicken crispy pan fried noodles, salt and pepper fried fish, Mongolian beef and eggplant and tofu with basil. All of the dishes were generously portioned, hot and DELICIOUS.
Sorry, no cardboard here.
I’m Chinese, but that doesn’t make me an expert. Kind of like how taking cooking classes at a local chinese restaurant doesn’t make me an expert.
If you’re like me and you just enjoy tasty food, come give them a try. Opened in 1983 by Uncle, Lai Lai has stayed in the family but they need your support. Let’s keep them thriving!
Glenn Hout
Some of the worst Chinese food we’ve ever eaten! And, I cook fabulous Chinese food at home 5-6 times/month after taking all of Chef Chu’s cooking classes decades ago. I’ve even morphed many of Martin Yan’s and Chef Chu’s recipes with my own improvements.
The fried shrimp appetizer at Lai Lai had battered crust as thick and about the same consistency as an Amazon cardboard delivery box! Same for the shrimp and other fried dishes our group had. Most of the food was pretty tasteless and not very appetizing. I was told it’s Cantonese vs Young Can Wok, Burlingame, which is Mandarin and fantastic and just 2 miles away!
Service was good, but restaurant didn’t feel “clean.” No idea why this restaurant is rated 4.3*’s unless they paid friends & family to shower their site with reviews. The most disappointing Chinese food we’ve had since trying Wonderful, Royal Feast, Minglabe (Burmese/Burlingame), Young Can Wok & even Panda Express! Sad that I’d rate Panda Express food as better than Lai Lai. I can’t even make this stuff up. This review comes after trying a raft of other non-memorable places in San Mateo, Foster City, Burlingame & Millbrae.
Shannon
Family style and the food was amazing and the owners were so welcoming and friendly.
Shah Aun Hussain
The manager or owner is super friendly, guides well as well! And the food was on point
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
David Hylton
Almost everything is Great!
David Hylton
Prices were reasonable and the food was tasty.
ron payne
My family and friends were going here for over 40 years. Gary and Vincent are there atmospheres of five when Jimmy was there it was a 6 Awesome family great people work hard and go over the top to pleasure customers. God bless him. Hope they’re around another 40 years
Each time we visit family in the Bay Area, we always make a visit to Lai Lai a priority! Our most recent visit was June 2024.
Our favorite dishes are schezuan beef, mu shu pork, and the honey walnut shrimp. You also can’t go wrong with the hot and sour soup.
Give this local restaurant a try!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mu Shu Pork 木須肉
Lily
Ordered some food via Uber Eats - the food is absolutely terrible, tasteless, terrible presentation. And we all were very hungry, but the food was so bad that none of 5 people ate it after trying. Don’t recommend at all!
Food: 1
Nancy Villalpando
I usually order to go.. always perfect… nice and fresh and hot. Szechuan Beef and Szechuan Chicken Wings are absolutely delicious… I highly suggest them
Absolutely the best!! Service and quality, clean and friendly with a wide variety of delicious food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Orange Chicken 柳橙雞, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Fried Rice, Veggie Lunch Combo and Szechuan Chicken Lunch Combo, Sweet & Sour Chichen Szechuan Chicken, Wok Fried Broccoli 炒芥蘭, Fillet of Fish in Black Bean Sauce 豆鼓魚片, Fried Chicken Wings Original 炸雞翅, Chicken with Assorted Vegetables 什錦雞, Chicken Fried Rice 雞炒飯, Mu Shu Pork 木須肉, Fried Chicken Wings Szechuan Style 乾 烹 雞 翅, Spindrift Sparkling Water, Prawns in Lobster Sauce 蝦龍糊, Snow White Chicken 生炒雞片, Wonton Soup with All Kinds of Goodies 窩雲吞湯
JY JY
To start off on a positive note, the woman at the front desk was extremely kind and welcoming.The negative is the food......The sezchuan chicken was extremely stale and a bit cold in the center which led me to believe that the chicken is quite old.Also, the beef chow fun had the texture of a paste rather than a chewy noodle which it should have been...the beef had so much flour on it that it also felt like chewing wet paper when eating.I had to throw away 95% of the food because it was inedible....$30+ dollars down the drain.
Delicious food and great service. Love their garlic rice and noodles.
We ordered our food to go. It was very good. Prices are what everywhere else is at. Fast service
Spot on
I’m leaving this review because I feel the need to provide some counterpoint to the last two 1-star reviews. My family and I came on a Monday night and ordered chicken crispy pan fried noodles, salt and pepper fried fish, Mongolian beef and eggplant and tofu with basil. All of the dishes were generously portioned, hot and DELICIOUS.
Sorry, no cardboard here.
I’m Chinese, but that doesn’t make me an expert. Kind of like how taking cooking classes at a local chinese restaurant doesn’t make me an expert.
If you’re like me and you just enjoy tasty food, come give them a try. Opened in 1983 by Uncle, Lai Lai has stayed in the family but they need your support. Let’s keep them thriving!
Some of the worst Chinese food we’ve ever eaten! And, I cook fabulous Chinese food at home 5-6 times/month after taking all of Chef Chu’s cooking classes decades ago. I’ve even morphed many of Martin Yan’s and Chef Chu’s recipes with my own improvements.
The fried shrimp appetizer at Lai Lai had battered crust as thick and about the same consistency as an Amazon cardboard delivery box! Same for the shrimp and other fried dishes our group had. Most of the food was pretty tasteless and not very appetizing. I was told it’s Cantonese vs Young Can Wok, Burlingame, which is Mandarin and fantastic and just 2 miles away!
Service was good, but restaurant didn’t feel “clean.” No idea why this restaurant is rated 4.3*’s unless they paid friends & family to shower their site with reviews. The most disappointing Chinese food we’ve had since trying Wonderful, Royal Feast, Minglabe (Burmese/Burlingame), Young Can Wok & even Panda Express! Sad that I’d rate Panda Express food as better than Lai Lai. I can’t even make this stuff up. This review comes after trying a raft of other non-memorable places in San Mateo, Foster City, Burlingame & Millbrae.
Family style and the food was amazing and the owners were so welcoming and friendly.
The manager or owner is super friendly, guides well as well! And the food was on point
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Almost everything is Great!
Prices were reasonable and the food was tasty.
My family and friends were going here for over 40 years. Gary and Vincent are there atmospheres of five when Jimmy was there it was a 6 Awesome family great people work hard and go over the top to pleasure customers. God bless him. Hope they’re around another 40 years
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Each time we visit family in the Bay Area, we always make a visit to Lai Lai a priority! Our most recent visit was June 2024.
Our favorite dishes are schezuan beef, mu shu pork, and the honey walnut shrimp. You also can’t go wrong with the hot and sour soup.
Give this local restaurant a try!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mu Shu Pork 木須肉
Ordered some food via Uber Eats - the food is absolutely terrible, tasteless, terrible presentation. And we all were very hungry, but the food was so bad that none of 5 people ate it after trying. Don’t recommend at all!
Food: 1
I usually order to go.. always perfect… nice and fresh and hot. Szechuan Beef and Szechuan Chicken Wings are absolutely delicious… I highly suggest them
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fried Chicken Wings Original 炸雞翅, Fried Chicken Wings Szechuan Style 乾 烹 雞 翅
Absolutely the best!! Service and quality, clean and friendly with a wide variety of delicious food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Orange Chicken 柳橙雞, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Fried Rice, Veggie Lunch Combo and Szechuan Chicken Lunch Combo, Sweet & Sour Chichen Szechuan Chicken, Wok Fried Broccoli 炒芥蘭, Fillet of Fish in Black Bean Sauce 豆鼓魚片, Fried Chicken Wings Original 炸雞翅, Chicken with Assorted Vegetables 什錦雞, Chicken Fried Rice 雞炒飯, Mu Shu Pork 木須肉, Fried Chicken Wings Szechuan Style 乾 烹 雞 翅, Spindrift Sparkling Water, Prawns in Lobster Sauce 蝦龍糊, Snow White Chicken 生炒雞片, Wonton Soup with All Kinds of Goodies 窩雲吞湯
To start off on a positive note, the woman at the front desk was extremely kind and welcoming.The negative is the food......The sezchuan chicken was extremely stale and a bit cold in the center which led me to believe that the chicken is quite old.Also, the beef chow fun had the texture of a paste rather than a chewy noodle which it should have been...the beef had so much flour on it that it also felt like chewing wet paper when eating.I had to throw away 95% of the food because it was inedible....$30+ dollars down the drain.
Food: 1
Service: 5
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