50 Best Chinese Restaurants in San Diego

“Our server Cam was awesome and food was great! Got to try it. Great dumplings!!!“

“First time here, was pretty good. You get assigned a table; then you go up and grab your bowl to make your hotpot (at least a pound) . You can get a second bowl for skewers and hand it to the counter , I would recommend getting all your hotpot stuff first then going back for the skewers so its easier on your hands. Would go back again.“

“We had to wait a bit for a table for two, but it was absolutely worth it. The scallop with shrimp and pork dumplings, along with the chicken and pork dumplings, are must-tries! We sampled three different types of dumplings, plus the green onion pancakes and the beef noodle soup — all were outstanding. By the end of our meal, we couldn’t leave without calling over the waiter to compliment both the excellent service and the incredible food. Everything here is top-notch! Such a great find…“

“I haven’t been to P.F. Chang’s in so long I decided to take my friend here for her birthday. She’s never been, and this is hands-down, the best customer service I have ever experienced! Our server Kimberly. She was so incredibly kind, enthusiastic, and patient with us. When I walked in, I was greeted by Cambria, who was so sweet and thoughtful! She even stopped by to wish a Happy Birthday to my friend. Little details like this matter and they all leave such a positive impression. A special thank you to Kimberly and Cambria for making today very special!“

“The best Hunan food in San Diego! 热卤三结义 is really authentic!!! The sauce is bold—savory, slightly spicy, and deeply aromatic with layers of spices and flavors! The service is warm and welcoming, attentive! You won’t be disappointed if you come here for the most authentic Hunan food in town!“

“delicious food! all of it“

“The Chinese food was good!“

“Took me 15 years to discover this restaurant, love it here! Our go to is 100% soup dumplings, do not leave here without trying them. Broccoli/scallion beef and Kung pao chicken are our favorites but I haven’t had anything I haven’t liked yet. They also have homemade noodles here, pay a little extra for those for your noddle
Dishes and soups. My favorite part about eating here is there is no “food hangover” or energy crash after eating. You feel light on your feet when you leave. Also they have a great beer menu! Pricing in the image below, it’s very fair, and that might be the best part!“

“Came on a whim with my wife and son for lunch. So glad we did! We got the soup dumplings, pork buns, fried dumplings, and scallion pancakes, all of which were excellent. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. Definitely will be coming back!“

“One of the best Chinese food places in San Diego, Ca. Everything is super tasty and doesn't leave you feeling bloated like other Chinese food places. I gave 3 stars for the atmosphere because at lunchtime it can feel super crowded. Other than that it's a definite go to when I'm around that area. I always call my order a few minutes ahead and I'm in and out of there quickly freeing more of my lunchtime break to enjoy my food.“

“So this is like a ghost kitchen. Sort of. It’s a place you can get food, and there’s people behind the scenes, but there’s no a person in sight. Everything is done on Grubhub/UberEats/Doordash.
First time in person is wild for me. Just show your details from your phone to a camera and the door opens with your food when the app says your food is ready.

But as far as a “classic cheeseburgers” go, it’s a smash burger. No edits allowed (as least from what I saw)
That is what I got. And I gotta be honest. It’s one of the best smashed burgers I’ve ever had. The burgers are THIN and have that crispy laced edges. The sauce is insane, and the bread is perfect. Onions and pickles as well. 10/10 would recommend to everyone. And it’s a local place too. Which I love. Since it’s not a giant chain.“

“My 2nd time dining in, (3rd if you count a delivery). Skewers are great not only in price but in quality and amount of meat. I didn't know they have a special on Saturday lamb skewer for $1.50 each! My friend her first time here she said 12/10 and she wants to come back. The scenery is beautiful and yes I said scenery, the vibes are great and staff is awesome!“

“we've been 3 times in the past few months and every time was great. we went the day after my wife's birthday, the same day our pet passed, and the staff made it a very special experience and distraction from our loss. absolutely recommend 110%. great food, great people, great experience overall.“

“This is one of my favorite restaurants for noodles. I've tried several of their dishes (biang biang noodles, liang pi noodles, big chicken plate, stewed beef noodles, and stewed lamb noodles) and all of them were delicious. I love how the noodles are made from scratch, it's just a completely different taste and texture compared to dried noodles.“

“Bomb food 🥘 clean dining area good service“

“Braised beef noddle soup, dumplings in chili oil, house made dumplings, everything was fresh and delicious. The spice amount was on the mild side but adding chili oil provided at the table can take the heat to another level. Definitely a winner!“

“The BEST noodles shop in San Diego....Period.
Super friendly and welcoming staff no matter how busy they are, and they're always busy.
The Food is excellent and different than other Chinese restaurants because it's from a different region.
Halal meat served which is a Huge plus.
Clean and organized dinning room every time we come. They have a glass window where you can see the chefs making your noodles fresh right in front of you. We always comes here and the kids love it.“

“I moved away from San Diego in 2017 and their salt and pepper tofu is the one meal I miss the most 😂 Sooo good“

“Hole in the wall Chinese food. Nuff said.

I've been coming here since I was a kid and it still feels the same today as it did back then. It's a small, cramped Chinese/ Vietnamese restaurant with a lousy parking lot. Service is minimal but the new staff friendly enough. There was auntie in the corner speaking loudly on her FaceTime call while making dumplings. Felt just like home.

There are about 10 tables inside and the menu has a variety of Chinese inspired dishes.

The must get here is definitely the egg noodles with wonton and char sui.

We tried the specialty honey walnut shrimp and it was a let down. Soggy shrimp with very little sauce.

The fried chicken leg was crispy and savory and the fried rice was very yummy. Definitely recommend these 2 dishes and the egg noodles!

Overall this place offers a lot of value, but I would stick with the fried rice or noodles dishes. Good lucking finding parking!“

“On a Sunday night. We had a group of 12 and ordered the $498 family meal plus a lobster with noodles. This is my 2nd time there. The place was packed. It is a small restaurant. there were 4 large groups, as well as couples and groups of 4. The food was good, not your panda express kind of food. And the service was top notch. Food came out fast. They even changed out our eating plates. Even with 12 people, we had 8 to go boxes.“

“The Best Ever Chinese Restaurant I Have Ever Been To. My Tita's Loved It So Mucho!!!! 5 star Rating“

“Best sushi in San Diego at reasonable prices! Delicioso!!!“

“Had a nice dinner here, went there twice this week. First time had the Kung pow chicken, which I thought was good. They do a really good job at mix cocktails had an old-fashioned, which was very good, second time I had the chicken appetizer wrapped in lettuce sleeves this was excellent. I would definitely recommend reservations if you are dining here.“

“Very nice restaurant with a big menu. The tea had chrysanthemum and goji berries and was delicious. Shanghai rice cakes are always a good option and the dessert sesame balls were tasty. Highly recommend. There's also plenty of parking in this small shopping district.“

“It was my first time trying Hot Pot, the food was excellent. The experience was also great. Lots of options and everything was fresh.“

“The server was the only one working but she got our order out fast and was so nice. The food was absolutely delicious.“

“Fried garlic pork with steamed rice 😍“

“The moo shu wraps were already filled when the food was served. They were torn, soggy, and messy. I have never been served pre-filled moo shu wraps.

I could not put the plum sauce into the wrap as I have always done. I had to smear it on top, making the dish even messier.

When I fill my wraps, I put a lot of vegetables into them, including filling them end to end. Instead, my wraps were not full and had empty wrap at the ends, so my first and last bites were just flour wrap.

Receiving the vegetables inside the wraps also meant that there was less to the entree. I normally have a pile of vegetables to take home, but not in this case. My photo shows four wraps, but there were five.

The quality of the vegetables was very good, but I was not happy with the dish because of the aforementioned.

All of the other food that my guests and I had was otherwise good. Service was good if slightly inattentive, but staff was easily found when needed.

The complimentary crispy noodles and dipping sauce before the meal and the fortune cookies and almond cookies after the meal added positively to the experience.“

“Legit. I lived in China for several months years ago and became semi obsessed with the cuisine and avoid Americanized or fake Chinese food. This place is legit, we've gone 3 times, tried a bunch of different dishes. Regionally it's a bit of a mix, but there's a full on China-Chinese menu as well as the English one, and the food is very like what you'd get at a good restaurant in a Chinese city. Every time I've been if gets pretty busy and probably 80% of the clientele are Chinese. That's strong evidence that my opinion is on point.“

“Came here recently with a large group and was very impressed. All the food was delicious and came out very quickly. Excellent dim sum options and dinner dishes. Will come again when I visit again!“

“Yummy Chinese food! This family owned restaurant has great food fast.“

“We had the Mongolian beef, pan fried potstickers, long bao sampler, and bbq pork bao buns. And it was delicious! It was very flavorful and the Mongolian beef chow main was my favorite. Everyone was very nice and quick and it was reasonably price for the amount of food and quality. The broth that the dumplings was cooked in was very savory and I wanted to keep eating even though I was very full. We will be coming back!“

“Chill, friendly, good food & reasonable price.“

“Been coming here since I was a little kid and will forever go“

“This place has been open for decades & is one of the best! Great lunch specials & always fresh food. Their wonton soup is a hit or miss, sometimes there’s not that many wontons, more broth than anything but it’s so delicious! Definitely recommend it!“

“The best place in San Diego for tasty, authentic dim sum from push-carts!🥰😀“

“TOO GOOD ! It's been way too long since we have eaten here...close to 21 months. Even though there are heaps of Asian eateries around Irvine where we moved to in Nov, 2022 no one serves authentic Chinese food like this place. Forget about the cheesy ambience inside an old movie theater that is mostly an Asian supermarket...it's all about the incredible food. WEEKEND GETAWAY ! My wife and I hit the road at 10.30am on Friday to kick off our fun packed weekend down in San Diego. We hit heavy traffic as expected but better earlier than later. FIRST STOP ! We arrived here for lunch around 12.30pm. While my wife parked our car I headed inside to the restaurant....to my surprise Joe the long time manager recognized me straight off and showed me to a vacant table in the corner. TOO EASY ! When Joe popped over to say hi I gave him our lunch order. We knew exactly what we wanted...1 x Kung Pao Shrimp and 1 x Honey Walnut Shrimp. Joe came back with a pot of Jasmine tea and 2 tall iced waters. IT WAS PACKED ! Before too long Joe brought out my wife's huge serve of Honey Walnut Shrimp. Within 2 or 3 minutes my delectable looking Kung Pao Shrimp hit the table. MOUTHSATIONAL ! Trust me no one serves authentic Chinese food as good as here. My Kung Pao Shrimp tasted amazing...no tails on the shrimp and it was kicked up just enough. My wife was in gourmet food heaven enjoying her Honey Walnut Shrimp but I did have to pinch a few of her juicy shrimp with walnuts. THE BEST ANYWHERE !“

“Today I had their $13.99 lunch special and it was excellent! It was the lunch special board outside while I was walking dogs that made me think I haven't had Chinese food in a long time.
I remember I went when they first opened for dumplings and they were just okay.
Be careful of their front door because it is super heavy and it closed on the back of my healing hurt me and I remember that from the last time I went as well they really need to get that fixed before somebody gets really badly injured.
It definitely hurt like hell and I have a bruise there now.
Anyway back to the lunch special...
I got the walnut shrimp with fried rice you have a choice of fried or steamed and then you can choose soup or veggies chose the veggies but I thought it was going to be veggie soup so I was a little bit confused when I looked in my container and it was broccoli I'm like oh I love broccoli so that was fine.
I basically she pointed out that there was a spicy sour soup and then the veggie and I thought it was veggie soup so that was my bad.
So I never write a review that fast unless I'm really impressed and that was the tastiest broccoli I've ever freaking had and it just looked like steamed broccoli! It had a sauce on it and it was so good I ate all my broccoli first. In fact it was so good my dog who hates veggies ate some broccoli.
The walnut shrimp was really good and crunchy as well. The fried rice was typical fried rice nothing special but Lee was more impressed with the place the second time around with the lunch.
I might go back and retry the dumplings maybe it was an off day on that first visit of mine.“

“Food is so good and fresh . Pricey but all Chinese food in San Diego is around the same price .

They make everything fresh . The orange chicken beats out the surrounding Chinese food orange chicken around the area . Been looking for a good Chinese spot and so glad I found them .“

“I ordered the clay pot rice, which is very fragrant. The roast duck is a must as the marination is just perfect. Shrimp was on the greasy side and I’ll avoid next time. Turnaround time could be improved as I arrived at 4pm when they first opened up and didn’t get my complete order until 515.“

“Best BBQ Pork and the Lomein is great. Been coming since they opened and never disappointed.“

“Ying Li is an absolute gem! I can't get enough of their incredible Chinese food—it's simply delightful! The gizzard soup is a must-try, and the pineapple chicken in sweet-and-sour sauce is a flavor explosion. My partner is obsessed with the salt and pepper spicy shrimp—so good! The service is fantastic too; the friendly Chinese staff speaks fluent Spanish, which adds a unique touch. Plus, the restaurant is conveniently located by the border with plenty of parking. With such amazing food and prices that make you smile, I can’t wait to come back for more!“

“I wish I had the time to try each and every dish…what devoured was absolutely amazingly delicious“

“To go buffet review only: I’ve been here several times and swap between the 99 Ranch buffet. Ultimately, Woo quality, portion size is better than 99 even though it’s $2-3 more. Had the beef with broccoli, chicken with mixed veggies. Both very good and tender meat. Rice was good also. So, today not bad as it’s been less satisfying other visits.“

“Tried the new Hot Honey Chicken- BOMB 🧑🏾‍🍳 👌🏽💋 EVERYTHING WAS BUUUTHIIINN! 🔥 🤓“

“I loved 🥰 best place more more“

“Lunchtime specials are where it’s at! There is no place in Hillcrest with this portion, quality, and variety for under $10. You’ve gotta try the chicken teriyaki!“

“I saw online that this shop serves Northeast-style spicy hot pot, and when I arrived, I discovered they also have a newly launched surprise blind box of marinated dishes. I bought the large box for $10, which contained beef shank, chicken gizzard, pork head meat, pork ears, duck liver, and more. By the time I took the photo, I had already eaten most of it. The price and portion were truly surprising, and the taste was excellent. The Northeast-style spicy hot pot was also very good—you pick your own ingredients, they’re weighed, and then freshly cooked. The broth had a sesame paste flavor, which I really liked—it was delicious. Additionally, I ordered some fried skewers, and I highly recommend the chicken gizzard. The seasoning on the fried skewers was fantastic.“

“What a bargain for lunch! I was in the mood for lo mein and came upon this restaurant in my search in the area.
I didn't know how much their lunch special were until I sat down and looked at their menu. Wow! You cannot beat $11 for lunch these days and the food was served on a huge platter! I almost laughed when the waitress brought it out to the table.

This is a small restaurant with a few small patio tables in front. It was a weekday and it wasn't busy. The cashier/waitress was really friendly and nice. She had a ready smile for everyone who came in.

I wanted shrimp lo mein for lunch but only chicken or pork lo mein were on the lunch menu. I paid $2 more for shrimp and there were a lot in my dish. It was really good.
The side salad was plain and just mainly iceberg lettuce but the egg roll was good.“

“Says Chinese food but also has Thai food but a bunch of Vietnamese writing. Red curry is spicy. They included tail on for shrimp in the curry. Kung pao chicken was crispy and had a nice amount of heat. Pork and Chinese broccoli was good. Thai noodles with beef needs improvement and more beef. They didn’t include rice with my curry and wanted to charge $2.75 for some which is absurd. Parking lot in back“