I heard that Chef Chao was celebrating their 30th anniversary and I thought I'd try it out. As you enter the restaurant, I was are taken aback by the wall of pictures documenting local diner birthday parties certifying Chef Chao's is deeply ingrained as Contra Costa's favorite Chinese restaurant. My friend and I had two 30th anniversary specials which consist of an appetizer of egg rolls, pickled veggies, deep fried shrimp, wonton soup, and sesame green beans. The highlight here was the presentation and deep fried shrimp, which was tender and large compared to some restaurants which consist of all batter and no shrimp. The rock cod fillet was fantastic. It was well-cooked and tender, overall delicious and generous in portion. The best part: The attentive, personal service, and price (each 30th anniversary special cost 12.95!!!) I will be coming back!~ read more

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White table clothes, linen napkins, classical music, clean bathrooms and purposeful decor. Amazing flavors and a "diet delight" menu. The only thing typical about Chef Chao's for a Chinese restaurant is the affordable pricing. read more

Been here about 5 times & it was good! Fine Chinese food & well priced . Staff is nice & accommodating. Good portions, orange chicken & sweet and sour pork is crispy with sauce which makes it BOMB! Gave them a 4 because last visit fly was in my water!! read more

We have been going to this restaurant since I was little with grandparents. Four generations have enjoyed this family run business! Be sure to order the walnut prawns, they are delicious! read more

Doesn't make sense. They offer party trays for egg rolls, entrees, fried rice, etc. but they won't sell you a party tray of steamed rice. They want you to pay $1.50 a person for steamed rice. That's $60 for 40 people. Ridiculous. Very unaccomoodating and manager was rude. Guess they don't want a $500 order. Told him I'll go to Uncle Yu's. He said go ahead so I will. He created bad will and lost a regular customer. read more

I think Chef Chao is the best chinese food restaurant in Lamorinda area for sure! their Orange Chickens are irresistible. I have never had orange chickens so good anywhere! you get 10% discount if you pay cash;) read more

Our favorite Chinese food in the area. Located close to the 24 hour fitness in Moraga. The family feast menu options are a fantastic value. We have only gotten takeout thus far but will dine in one of these days! read more

My family's favorite Chinese restaurant! I've grown up eating here but my boyfriend is from out of state and insists on getting Chef Chao every visit. He claims it is by far the best Chinese he's ever had. He especially loves the BBQ pork Chow mein. All in all this a wonderful place with great people and food. read more

Great service, decent food. My Hunan Shrimp were cook to perfection, but were not spicy as ordered. My one lunch-time Pot-sticker was good, but almost room temp., not hot. The Hot & sour Soup was good. They get an extra star for being out in the middle of suburbia. read more

Let's put it this way, I compare all Chinese food to Chef Chao's food. I've been going here for over 20 years and I, and all of my family, love it! Kenny rocks and knows each of us by name. This place is a must! read more

This our our favorite Chinese restaurant. The service is always fast, the place is very clean and the food is the best Chinese food I've had. Never disappoints! read more

Horrible! We ordered pot stickers, orange chicken, and a beef dish. The chicken was bland, no taste. The beef dish was just fried breading and had very minimal taste. The pot stickers, and even the sauce that came with these sucked. The only decent thing in our order was the white rice. Save your money! Go anywhere besides this place... even frozen section grocery store Chinese food tastes better than this garbage. read more

Our family has eaten here for decades. Love the place! Many happy memories here. Looking forward to making more memories here

Food is USUALLY pretty good. Strangely inconsistent. I have dined in many times and the food is usually 4 - 4.5 / 5. I ordered pickup the other day. This experience was completely different than my dine-in experiences. The lemon chicken tasted very rubbery. No one in my family could eat it, so the garbage can had it. Very disappointing however I must say, this was a very surprising experience from a place that has served me well over the years. I will return but if it ever happens again I will take my business elsewhere. read more

So, last Saturday night my husband and I decided to try Chef Chao and then hit a movie across the street. We'd been to Asia Palace a few times and loved it, but this was so close to the theater, we thought we'd give it a try. We walked in and got the cold shoulder from the host. We were in jeans and t-shirts and we felt a little under dressed, maybe that's why? I don't know but we definitely didn't feel like we belonged there. Whatever, we were hungry. On to the food. I got the chow fun noodles, my husband tried the lamb curry -- admittedly, not a good idea to order out of ethnicity unless you really know the place, but it was ranked so highly we thought nothing of it at the time. What I noticed first was a serious lack of vegetables in my veggie chow fun. Bummer. The noodles were so clumpy and glutinous and tasteless. I mean, throw some damn garlic in there or something. But ya know what? I was so hungry, and it wasn't atrocious or anything. So I ate it. My husband was a different story. He had like 2 bites and then had to stop. He seriously was going to get sick from his lamb (he didn't think it was actually lamb). The manager was nice enough to take it off our bill, but only after hemming and hawing and checking that he didn't actually eat much. We HATE to send stuff back, and in the 6 years we've been together, neither of us has asked to take something off the bill (or sent something back, we just don't do it) but this really was making my husband sick. Basically, we had to go home afterwards while he was belching and about to throw up. There went movie night! Thanks Chef Chao. read more

Very satisfying birthday experience at Chef Chao with good food and company. Try to go there at least once. read more

I grew up in town, and for as long as I can remember, Chef Chao has been a place of joy and celebration. This place has a great family atmosphere, is welcoming and fun for kids, and serves quality food. The honey-walnut prawns and egg-drop soup are always on our table! read more

Growing up, we used to call this place "Chef Meow" for all the stray/feral cats hanging out near the back door. As they have expanded and grown over the years, the cats are gone. Draw your own conclusions. Best Chinese food in Lamorinda (yea, yea, I know), although significantly better if you eat there, rather than to go. The food loses half its flavor and texture when you take out. Potstickers are excellent, the fried artery-cloggers are just right and not at all greasy. Pretty much everything's great. They'll tweak dishes or swap meats upon request, but not without giving you a disapproving look and tone of "stupid round-eye, bastardizing dishes from the Ming dynasty". The tweaked dish will come out exactly as you envisioned and hoped. Kenny (waiter) and Johnny (who works the front and whom the unelightened call "rude" but who's a real character and very entertaining) are institutions. read more

This place is good. Very good food and very efficient take out service. I think it's best Chinese food I've ever had in Moraga if not one of the best restaurants in town. read more

I love this place. I have been coming here for decades. My favorite dishes are the walnut prawns, green beans and spicy eggplant. Waiter Kenny is terrific. Highly recommend. read more

My family and I always order food here every Christmas Eve as it's our family tradition around the holidays. I love their egg rolls and chow neon the most as well as their shrimp and eggplant dish. The reason why I'm giving it four stars is because the staff is friendly and the food is amazing but the service is slow. This past Christmas Eve my parents ordered take out for us as we usually order take out every Christmas Eve. I wish the woman had more staff to help her as my mom said she looked overwhelmed since it was packed on Christmas Eve. Overall, good food as it is better than most of the Chinese restaurants in Monterey where I live but growing up in the east bay I've loved this place since I was a kid and so going back here or ordering take out brings back a lot of childhood memories for me. read more

Went here with the whole family as well as 3 elderly folks.. The food was pretty good and we all were stuffed. I had a a lot of different dishes and it was all good pretty much what you expect from a place like this just a typical Chinese restaurant.. Now I do have to comment of how RUDE everyone is here the one short redish hair waitress is extremely pushy and then doesn't listen. It made me very mad not for me but for the 3 old folks we were with. They had a very hard time getting any good service. Also the grumpy man at the front yelled at me for holding the door for the elders in our group. Good food terrible service and when there is no shortage of Chinese food that's a big deal read more

Is totally tasty food and best quality..love the environment, very friendly and pleasant

3.51, rounded up. Our granddaughter is appearing in the Diablo Stars production of "Fiddler on the Roof" at the Campolindo High School theatre. Yesterday we dropped her off to prepare for the evening's performance and went to Chef Chao Restaurant for dinner before taking in the performance ourselves. The dining room is spacious and illuminated during daylight hours by the wall of windows facing the parking lot. The entryway was studded w/ myriad photos of patrons over the years, reminding me of Moeders in Amsterdam. It was a charming, homey touch. An assortment of large modern glass vases, each w/ an artificial flower or branch, adds interest and screening to the windows. Chinese art decorates the interior walls. We arrived shortly after 6:00. After dark I would expect it's a bit dimmer and more cozy, w/ light cast by the ceiling fixtures. We took a look at the menu and decided on the pot stickers, which had received high marks in other reviews, a combination of prawns, asparagus and broccoli which was described as spicy, chicken in lettuce leaves and one order of brown rice. The pot stickers arrived first and the waitress served us each one on a smaller plate which allowed us to mix soy sauce, vinegar and hot oil w/o getting them on the larger dinner plate, a very nice touch. The filling was quite good, but the wrapper was on the thick side, rather than delicate as Yummy's are. We both liked that an order was 6 rather than 8 as at Yummy and will ask whether we can get a half order next time we're at Yummy. The prawns and asparagus arrived together w/ the chicken in lettuce leaves and again the server put together the first ones of the latter. The sauce on the prawns was more sweet than spicy, a bit too sweet for us, but the prawns were large and tasty and the asparagus and broccoli were nicely cooked just past al dente. The prawns and the asparagus were coated w/ sauce while the broccoli wasn't, so between the broccoli and the rice we were able to cut the sweetness and enjoy the dish. The chicken in lettuce was very good, w/ 6 leaves, a generous amount of chicken mixed w/ finely chopped water chestnuts, a small amount of fried rice noodles and peas, accompanied by a large serving of plum sauce. Service was attentive. Plates were cleared and water glasses were refilled regularly. There were cards on display on the table giving a few polite and useful phrases in Chinese. There were parties nearby who were clearly regulars, known by name or culinary preferences. Our meal ended w/ a half orange for each of us, skillfully cut into quarters inside the skin, and fortune cookies that were fresher and tastier than the norm. Because we have so many excellent Chinese restaurants closer to home we're unlikely to make a special trip out here, but it provided us a delicious pre-theatre dinner, which was all that was needed. read more

Had lunch here. Lunch definitely isn't cheap here, but it's consistently good. The quality of meats that they put into their meals is top notch. A must order here is the pot stickers, they are homemade. In fact they took so long they came out after our entrees. Yummy, the kids scarfed them down like there was no tomorrow! read more

My family and I have been coming here for decades. In fact, my aunt and uncle had their rehearsal dinner here over 25 years ago. This place is amazing and the staff is awesome. First off, I'm surprised to see no reviews regarding their hot and sour soup because it is literally the BEST hot and sour soup I've ever had. I've lived in New York and now I'm sf and nothing compares. I actually have tried probably 100s of hot and sour soups and they're never the same. Their other dishes are phenomenally delicious too. Other "go to" dishes include: manchurian beef (deep-fried, sweet), Mongolian beef (spicy), spicy asparagus prawns, lemon chicken. read more

This is our favorite Chinese restaurant! We love their kung pow chicken and they have an asparagus, shrimp dish that's to die for. We have a lot of friends in the peninsula and every time they, or their kids are on our side of the bay they want us to take them to Chef Chow's. read more

It's nice having such a good Chinese place so close in Moraga, easy for take-out (10% off) and a nice atmosphere inside as well. I always go with the Gun Pong Chicken Wings, nice and crispy. And you can't go wrong with the Hot and Sour soup, potstickers, Manchurian Beef and fried rice. read more

A girlfriend and I have been celebrating birthdays here for years. They have duck, our personal favorite, on the menu for lunch. Food is fresh and finely spiced. The restaurant is usually fairly empty at lunch and packed by dinner. Service is very good and prices are comparable to other restaurants in the vicinity. Totally recommend this restaurant. read more

I never expected to find such great Chinese food in Lamorinda! Chef Chao exceeded all of my expectations! I eat at Chef Chao about once a week! They have the best potstickers I have ever had! Love the mushu pork and kung pao chicken, too! Nice, friendly service, to go along with really yummy food! read more

Awesome food and great service. Really friendly staff. The steamed dumplings are to die for. The moo shu is great as well. Everyone in town eats here so if you're from out of town, this is the place to go. read more

Food is about average, portion size is average, seating is spacious & uncrowded, service is good, . . . but Chef Chao is way, way overpriced. Now that Yan's in Lafayette has lost its lease, I have been looking for a new Chinese restaurant for lunch. I had lunch at Chef Chao on Monday, 7/30/12. I ordered the Mongolian beef, my favorite, and the dish I use for comparisons. The beef itself was good quality, but the sauce was rather mild & bland, and frankly had a somewhat different taste than Mongolian beef at other restaurants - Not a bad taste, just different. Overall, the Mongolian beef was about average, and just a tad inferior to the same dish at China Moon across the street. The big shocker was price. The lunch order of Mongolian beef was $9.50 (before tax & tip), which is the highest lunch price I've encountered. It is $2.00 (27%) over the Lamorinda average of $7.50, and $3.00 (46%) more than China Moon ($6.50), the restaurant across the street, which has larger portions and slightly better food. To be fair: Other Chinese restaurants typically offer only (no choice) soup of the day and spring roll - Chef Chao offers (1) choice of won ton soup or soup of the day, and (2) choice of pot sticker or spring roll. Chef Chao is OK, but you can do better, and for a lower price. COMMENT: I lunch at Chinese restaurants at least once per week, sometimes twice. (I love good Chinese food.) I spread my business around among 7 or so Chinese restaurants in the area locals call "Lamorinda" (after the 3 small, adjacent cities of Lafayette, Moraga, & Orinda). I've decided to publish Yelp reviews on the 7 Lamorinda Chinese restaurants I patronize regularly. I'm doing full reviews on all 7, but here is a summary of my personal opinions - The first letter grade (after the name of the restaurant) ignores price, the second letter grade considers price, and is a "value for money" grade. 1. The Great Wall (Lafayette): A A- 2. Uncle Yu's (Lafayette): A B 3. China Moon (Moraga/Rheem): A- A+ 4. Szechwan (Orinda): A- B+ 5. Lily's House (Lafayette): B+ A 6. Chef Chao (Moraga/Rheem): B+ C- 7. Basil Asian (Moraga): C+ C- read more

This is the best Chinese Food Restaurant I've ever been to in my life. I love the Hot and Sour soup... It tastes amazing!

Always on the search for a good take-out, we tried Chef Chao last night. We ordered three dishes. Two were bad and the third, though tasty was not authentic. The Crispy Duck was very over-cooked and dried out. The Twice-Cooked Pork was terrible. Instead of a luscious pork loin that has soaked up the liquids from the cabbage, sauce, etc, it tasted as if the chef threw in some bbq pork at the last minute. Salt and Pepper Prawns were tasty but sweet. Our search continues... read more

My family has been coming here for as long as they've lived in the East Bay (over 30 years!). You start out with hot tea at the table. For apps we love the potstickers & My mom said it's best hot & sour soup she's ever had. For main courses, The mu shu pork was great & they even roll it up for everyone at the table. Get the walnut prawn.. Just trust me! Chow mein and Hunan chicken were very good also. The service is just the best. They are very attentive but not overly hovering. Kenney always puts a smile on your face. Always finish with fresh orange slices and fortune cookie. With Chinese food like this, I'll keep coming back! read more

Don't know if you guys have tried egg foo young, but I tried it here for the first time and fell in love. I got the combination egg foo young, I wish I had saved the picture (it's been a month or so since I went). Next time I'll probably just stick with the pork or chicken version, but it was a great experience. The noodles in the chow mien were thick too, thin chow mien noodles is an issue I have with a lot of Chinese places. Orange chicken was stellar as well. Great pricing too, three entree plates for just over $25! I will definitely be coming back, if for nothing else besides that amazing egg foo young. read more

This is one of the most dependable restaurants you're going to visit. The food is always fresh and delicious. Personally, I love the Mu Shu Pork, the Black Bean Sauce Chicken and the Mongolian Lamb. The specials are usually great too. For example, their Mango Chicken was fabulous. The wait staff are attentive and friendly. They are very flexible about making changes to our orders too. They do "take-out" and usually have the food ready in 10-15 minutes. They give you a small discount for paying cash...10% I think. Parking is easy and there's isn't normally a big wait. read more

Our favorite restaurant in Moraga. We always look forward to going. We really like their food! It's not the typical greasy, mystery meat Chinese. The sauces and flavors are delicious and the portions are generous. Some of our favorite dishes are Hot & Sour Soup, Szechwan Beef, and Combo Fried Rice. Our kids absolutely love going there. We've been going there so long (20 years) that we know all the staff and they greet us by name. We highly recommend! read more

The food at this restaurant,consistently disappoints. The "chicken"in the Chinese chicken salad ,was chicken flavored ,dry,overcooked dough.we keep trying,for years,but is very clear that the staff does not care about their customers,serving forgettable and often, barely edible food read more

Great restaurant! My fiance and I recently moved to Orinda and have just started exploring the area food-wise. We stumbled upon Chef Chao Restaurant on a yelp search for nearby restaurants. What a find! The restaurant is very nondescript, but seems to be a pretty popular place among locals. We ordered the following: egg drop soup, mushu vegetable, and vegetable chow mein. Great service - the waiters and waitresses served the soup and even rolled up our mushu vegetable for us! Also, complimentary fortune cookies and orange slices to round out the meal! Will definitely be back. Will also have to try take-out also - apparently, 10% off your order when you get take-out! read more