14 Best Chinese Restaurants in Santa Cruz

“Nothing fancy just really good Szechuan food.“

“We found them by default

We came to go to another restaurant in town but they were closed because of electrical outage

So we drove around and found this GEM

We both shared a combo dish and it’s gone and good

We also ordered pork fried wontons
So yummy

We even had a lil to take home

You will not be disappointed : )

The photo is after we served ourselves“

“A very delicious but reasonable price Chinese Restaurant. The regional flavor is mainly Cantonese taste that is what we prefer. Recommended.“

“I love Canton Restaurant. The food is delicious and the service is great!👍“

“Staff was welcoming food was good especially the sesame seed chicken 😋😋 chicken wings a little over cooked but still good“

“I cannot recommend Chloe’s Kitchen enough. Fantastic food, exceptional service, and people who clearly care about their customers. Huge shout-out to the employee who went the extra mile for our family... You deserve 10 stars!

Here's why! I recently had an incredible experience at Chloe’s Kitchen in Santa Cruz.

We placed an order later in the evening and mentioned to the staff that my family and I were planning to have our meal at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. After picking up our food and arriving there, I received a call from the restaurant letting me know they had accidentally left one of our bags behind.

What happened next completely blew me away. The staff member immediately offered to bring the missing bag directly to us at the Boardwalk, and she arrived in less than 10 minutes!

That level of care and customer service is incredibly rare. She went above and beyond to make sure our family had everything we ordered, and it genuinely turned a small mistake into one of the best customer service experiences I’ve ever had.

And to top it all off, the food was absolutely amazing.“

“Went to this place by chance. Love the food, generous portions. Had the family meal #3. Very reasonable prices. The only downside was the service. It was slow. Took too long to take our order. Had to ask for our water glasses to be refilled. Despite the service, will go back“

“Great food for a very reasonable price. I had the compound chicken and it was delicious.“

“The food is super delicious!“

“My favorite restaurant in Santa Cruz. Great lunch and dinner specials, and I’ve never had a dish that I didn’t like - even the black bean eggplant was surprisingly good. The service is fast and the prices are reasonable. Highly recommend!“

“Had one item from the lunch special, General Tao's Tofu, which I highly recommend. The other dish was Snow Peas, Broccoli and Blsck Mushrooms (one of my favorites) which was nicely cooked (not over cooked) but could have benefitted from a little tastier sauce. However we mixed the two dishes together and loved it. Portions are generous and easily shared by two or three! Service was outstanding. We sat on the patio and we're handed menus within moments. Order was taken within minutes of arrival and the young lady who took our order was great about helping us "veganize" a vegetarian dish. Food was delivered piping hot in less than 10 minutes. I'd have no problem returning for lunch. The patio area means well-behaved and leashed dogs may accompany their humans. I do wish they had more vegan items available (like Daiya, Gardein etc.). Nevertheless, the lunch special is a bargain.“

“I really wanted to give this place a 5-star review because the food is absolutely amazing—truly outstanding. The chef deserves 10 stars!

Unfortunately, the ordering process took away from what could have been a perfect experience. Orders are placed exclusively by scanning a QR code, with no printed menu and no server available to answer questions.

The four of us came in exhausted after a day at the beach, ready to fill our hungry stomachs. Three of our phones were nearly dead, so we had to use just one phone to browse the menu. Since none of us had been there before, it took me a while to scroll through all the options. Then I had to pass my phone to each person, who naturally had questions about the dishes before deciding what to order.

By the time we finally placed our order, we were already pretty frustrated with the whole process, which unfortunately affected our overall experience.

That said, I want to mention that two servers came by after we finished eating to ask how everything was. They were genuinely kind, attentive, and made us feel welcome.

I've always been very supportive of small businesses and truly want them to succeed. My only suggestion would be to offer printed menus for situations like ours—or for elderly customers who may not be comfortable using QR codes and smartphones.

Despite the frustrating ordering process, the food alone is worth coming back for. I would absolutely return because it was that good. Hats off to the chef!“

“Came in because I was craving phô.. I have to say I was disappointed with the flavor of it so I would not order that particular plate again.. however, their spork spring rolls are really good. I just wish their peanut sauce was a bit thicker... the salt & pepper wings def were the hit of the night. I would go back and order more wings if my stomach could handle it, lol... overall, I had a good experience there, and the staff was friendly.“

“Look, it’s not fine dining and maybe not the best for a romantic date night. But if you want a reasonably priced, decently portioned, tasty meal, it’s perfect! Food is terrific for what it is. It might take a try or two to figure out your favorite dish, but it’s worth the experiment. Once you find your order you’ll want it every week!“