Chef Lee's Mandarin House 2

1616 N Main St, Salinas
(831) 442-3385

Recent Reviews

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Yessy Patino

Do not eat here!! Their food is disgusting
They gave me dirty dishes with lipstick
The chicken chow mein came with hair in the noodles

MARIO GABRIEL

Service was exceptional! Food was okay. Recommend the Won Ton Soup a small was enough for 3 persons to share before main dish.

Steven Funderburk

Chef Lee's is hands down the best Chinese restaurant in town! The food is always fresh, flavorful, and perfectly seasoned. Their General Tso's Chicken is crispy and tangy, the dumplings are handmade and packed with flavor, and the hot & sour soup is the best I've had. The portions are generous, and the service is top-notch—friendly, fast, and attentive. Whether dining in or taking out, the experience is always fantastic. Highly recommend this spot for anyone craving authentic and delicious Chinese cuisine!

Kandy Love

If you order by phone they will tell you il be ready in 20 min i waited for 20 min the food wasn't ready and I waited an hour

Rolando Lopez

It's an excellent place to eat there, everything is very tasty...

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

H C

I grew up eating at this place. Loved it. Moved a couple hours north and missed it.

My dad died recently. I came back to town to clear his house out for a weekend. It was emotionally and physically awful. Tonight, Sunday, after all the work we did, I was STARVING. My husband and I decided to go to Chef Lee's. I was SO EXCITED.

I asked for a booth and they were really accommodating. But then we sat there for 15 minutes waiting for someone to take our order. We weren't on our cells or anything. Menus closed. Several staff walked by us. There weren't a lot of people in the restaurant... Nothing...

As we sat, I noticed the floor was absolutely filthy. It's gotta be an impressive amount of filth in carpet for me to notice when the lights are dim and a dark carpet.

So then we just walked out. I don't even think the lady at the front noticed us leaving.

We walked across the parking lot too at a restaurant. Got service reasonable amount of time were able to do something.

I'm never going to Chef Lee's again. It sucks to be overlooked when you're hungry and you're being reasonable about it. It's things even more crappy when you cleared out your dead Dad's house and you're treated with apathy. And that's how I'm going to remember this place from now on.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 1

Bill Madden

Hoping it's just because we hit near closing. The food was good but not the Chef Lee's quality that I remember. Still better than most but not amazing, it was missing something. The staff was friendly and extremely efficient.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Orange Chicken, Fried Rice, Chicken Chow Mein, Beef Chow Mein

Joel Falcon

It's been a while since I last visited Chef Lee's; when I went there this past Sunday, Surprisingly, it wasn't as busy as I expected, which made for a good dining experience.

Our server was incredibly attentive, ensuring we had everything we needed throughout our meal. As for the food, it was delicious! We ordered the chow mein, orange chicken, and beef & broccoli, and each dish was a hit. The portions were very generous; with just the two of us, we were able to enjoy seconds and still had leftovers to take home.

The bill came to $55 after tip and taxes, which we found to be quite reasonable considering the quality and quantity of the food. Overall, it was a fantastic dining experience. Highly recommend!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Orange Chicken

Candice Sadorra

Always a go-to Chinese diner. Service is fast. Food is always good. Hot take: Sizzling rice soup best eaten on cold rainy days ?

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Sizzling Rice Soup

Pat Ledo

After our last visit a year ago, I must say the food and service has definitely changed for unfortunately the worse. Chef Lee's when you first walk in is very nice and pleasant, a bit dark for my liking but overall okay, if you have difficulty seeing, reading glasses are a must to read the menu. Ordered the sweet-n-sour pork, mongolian beef, chicken chow mein, won-ton soup, white rice and fried prongs & egg rolls. Let's start with won-ton soup, it tasted a little weird and I got zero shrimp, not sure what meat is in the won ton soup but tasted spoiled, sweet-n-sour pork... it was like Chicharrón's, way over cooked and dry, after finding our waiter, I mentioned to him my issue and how dry it was and he said yeah its like that with pork, the white rice was dry like it had been sitting for awhile, can't understand that for the obvious reason, mongolian beef again was dry and over cooked, it did however have decent flavor, chicken chow mein was tasty but lacked anything else, little chicken and zero vegetables, Again I asked waiter who said they make it like that at times, the egg rolls and fried prawns were very good. Restroom had one stall out of order but clean, waiter was not attentive at all and restaurant was not busy for a Saturday night, waiters at front counter just talked and talked and could've filled water glasses, taken dirty dishes off tables etc.. kids. Overall I'm not overly excited about going back and spending $100.00 on 3 people for what I got. It should've been a clue when the restaurant was not busy on a Saturday night. I think the waiter should've made some of the dishes right or at least compensate. Over priced and greed is all I can think of. Dine at your own risk when Panda is right down the street, cheaper and far better than what I got tonight.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 2

Recommended dishes: Egg Rolls

Tricia Anne

The food was great. The server was really nice. There wasn't a lot of people when we went here. So we didn't have to wait to be seated.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Honey Walnut Shrimp, San San Soup, Fried Rice, Shrimp Fried Noodles

Sylvia Santos

Tasty Chinese food in large portions in a family friendly

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Sizzling Rice Soup, Orange Chicken, Chicken Chow Mein, Mongolian Beef, Egg Rolls

Sherry Cox

Very friendly staff and great service!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Mandarin Fried Chicken, Sizzling Rice Soup, Hot and Sour Soup, Chicken Chow Mein, Soup

Malachi Licea

Overall it wasn't the best food, not the best service, also the drinks we had both tasted like dirty water (we had soda). I walked in approximately 2:10pm and the lunch special ends at 3pm there was no one waiting for a seat yet took about 20mins to be seated, i asked if they could honor the special since i was there on time and it was about 2:30-40 and i was told no.This place needs a deep clean and more staff.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 4

Carol Newman

First time there.Best hot& sour soup I've had.Very attentive staff.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

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