I came here for a family dinner the other night and it was stellar. Why can't I find hong kong style noodles on the east coast??!

I came here for an early dinner a few weeks ago and ordered a dinner combination. The prices were all right, probably pretty good for that area, and the food wasn't too bad. judging it for what it is, this is a pretty good seemingly whitewashed Chinese restaurant. I imagine it's a real hit with the type of people I saw coming and going when I was there (middle-aged, white, looking for something foreign but familiar to their palate). With that said, if you're in the bay area and just looking for good Chinese food (especially authentic food), do yourself a favor and head over to Castro St down El Camino. Heck, there are probably better Chinese places closer than Castro, but that area seems to have a small plethora of good choices and it's within a stone's throw of here. I'd probably take some of my older relatives here to spare them the excitement of something too foreign, but even my own parents would find this a rather timid highly Americanized Chinese restaurant. Still gets 3 stars because sometimes that's just what you want. read more

Great place! Delicious food and wonderful environment! This is my go to place when I am craving Chinese! The hosts and waiters are really attentive especially Han! He gives great service! Recommend to everyone! read more

We ate here a few weeks ago and really enjoyed the ambiance and the dishes we ordered. The wait wasn't too long for the two of us to be seated on a Friday evening. All the food is more Americanized versions of Chinese food, but delicious nonetheless. read more

A lot of places seem to have gone down in quality during the pandemic, but not Chef Chu's. The staff is super polite, the bathrooms are spotless, and the food is as good as ever. I haven't been in a while, and was pleasantly surprised. Will definitely come here more often. read more

I've been going here with my family from day one. Love this place. So family-oriented and AMAZING. Plus, Chef Chu himself is a nice guy and so is his son. I consistently get an order of spring rolls, wonton soup and the sizzling rice with prawns/baby corn. Solid and filling. read more

I've never stepped foot in the restaurant and am only basing my review on the experience I've had whenever my sister orders take out from here. My sister regularly orders the Pork Bun, Shrimp Fried Rice and Crispy Panfried Seafood Noodle (HK style) which are all big hits with my family. Sure, it's a bit pricey for standard Chinese food but it's to be expected given the location. The noodles are NOT greasy and made with excessive amounts of MSG which is a huge plus! I will check them out one day.... read more

A solid Chinese restaurant in south Palo Alto/Los Altos. 3.5 stars. They certainly have a history in this area, and you can find a whole plethora of celebs who have visited the place before. In terms of the food, things are surprisingly authentic, if you choose the right types of food. Anything sauteed is generally quite authentic, and they usually do a good job balancing all of the flavors, and they tend to use solid ingredients. I myself am not a fan of things like Chinese Chicken Salad or Lemon Chicken. So don't ask me about the dishes here for the "guei lo"s...(No offense, everyone.) read more

Saturday, 1:00 PM. Quickie: + Food quality + Friendly staff - Hygiene - Slow turnaround + Layout And then...? Chef Chu's stands out from its peers in this area. ********** Stuffed my face in: 1. Vegetarian hot and sour soup + Nice kick from the spice. 2. Stir-fried vegetable delight + Black beans were prominent but not overwhelming. 3. Braised tofu + Firm exterior, soft interior with a delicious savory sauce. 4. Braised eggplant garlic + Garlic enhanced the sauce; appropriate size for the pieces. 5. Tangy lemon chicken - Sauce is bit too thick and heavy. 6. Kung pao prawns - It was tough to eat the prawns because of the grease. Constructive comments: *Do you compost? *Source ingredients read more

Chef Chus is not about authentic Chinese Cuisine, but it's the best Americanized Chinese food experience possible. The service is impeccable, the food delicious. Go in the off hours if possible. We always shoot for 2 in the afternoon, because it's packed. Any time of day, it is packed. Family favorites include: Chinese chicken salad Mu Shu Pork Smoked Duck But we've never gone wrong ordering anything off of the menu. The only real danger of ordering here is not having enough leftovers to take home for another meal. As a precaution, avoid taking small children. Chef Chu's is very child-friendly, but the wait times for a table can be very long and distressing to younger guests. read more

First time here for lunch together with my foodie chinese boss, who proposed all the dishes (in our boss we trust :-) ). We got minced chicken or vegetables in lettuce cups (typical chinese finger food, my boss said) which I loved, half a boneless tea-smoked duck with pancakes (surprising dish and so flavourful!), Kung Pao prawns (right spiciness, tasty but rather ordinary dish). To conclude ice-cream: green tea (the absolute best I have got in SF, really far from what all japanese restaurants I have tried so far serve), litchi (way too sweet ... almost unbearable). All in all, a very good meal and I definitely recommend this establishment. read more

Besides excellent food, Chef Chu's restaurant has the best hospitality among all Chinese restaurants I have been to in the US. He greeted customers by visiting their tables (and we also took a photo with him!) Reservation process is also very smooth. Recommend to reserve for a Beijing duck as well for a busy day. This place has become one of my favorite restaurants. read more

I finally got to try this place after having it bookmarked for half a year. I had a reservation at 1:00pm, but didn't get seated until like 10-15 mins later. This restaurant's smaller than I expected inside, but whatever I guess. We read that Peking duck needed to be ordered 4 hours ahead of time, but we were lucky to have been able to order that without preordering it. We ordered the winter melon soup, Hong Kong fried noodles, BBQ pork bun, chicken salad, fried rice, almond jelly and Fish slices on top of the Peking duck. This was for 6 people btw, food came fairly quickly and the food was good for US standard. This is the standard flavor for Hong Kong Chinese restaurants. I didn't taste any msg or anything super heavy. I usually avoid Chinese food because I hate oily and heavy food. I liked the chicken salad the most because it was light and had good flavors. The pork bun was a bit disappointing because there was so little meat and a lot of bun. (See photo). Soup was good and fish tasted fresh. I didn't try the fried rice or noodles, but overall satisfied with the entire meal. It is definitely hard to find good authentic Chinese food (without all the heavy oil & msg ) in the Bay Area; therefore, I will definitely return in the future. read more

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Food was tasty, service was ok. Wasn't anything to write home about though. Maybe too much hype online?

The best chinese food i've ever had! Chef Chu's has not let me down yet and i've been coming here for the past 2 years at least 2x a month! There are foods here that won't leave your mouth oily and greasy compared to other Chinese restaurants. You can legitimately taste the quality. Highly recommend eating here! read more

Wow! After two surgeries between the two of us over the last 7 months, Chef Chu FED US! "He" was our "chef" and the restaurant was our "kitchen". DELICIOUS healthy dishes, generous servings. The healthier among us would drive over to super efficient parking lot non-contact pickup! I can't imagine how much we $$$ spent, but it was worth every penny. Chef Chi healed us both! Every dish is delicious! read more

Well, I felt about as welcome here as a cheetah at a wildebeest watering hole. And, yes, that's how you spell it. Now, if you are an aging Standford-looking professor type, they'll fawn all over you, I guess that's who they want to cater to. Now me, I don't look like I know how awesome a Singapore noodle dish can be, but I do, and they were not quite it. It's not bad, I don't want to mislead you, it was good. However, I'm not sure I found more than four dime-sized shrimp in there. I ought to be checking my blood sugar considering it was 95% rice noodles. But, they were in the general vicinity of what it should taste like so it wasn't a total loss. Then again, the odd feeling that I wasn't welcome did not add to the experience. Sad thing is, it wasn't the waiter, he was alright, it was the hostess, maitre D, and other folks. You know what I'm talking about, when the staff somehow feels that working at that restaurant is some sort of superior position. It's almost comical if you've experienced it. 3 on the food, 2 on the rest of the nonsense. Gonna go with a 2 for effort on their part. read more

Absolutely love this place! The food is definitely of high quality, and this establishment has been running successfully in the Palo Alto area for a very long time. Dishes that I particularly enjoy: Sizzling Prawns with Rice, Hunan Chicken, Tangerine Chicken, and their Vegetable Egg Fried Rice. The prawns are delicious--not spicy but a nice, filling, healthy dish with the crunchy rice. The Hunan Chicken is spicy but very tasty. I have never seen Chef Chu mess up with that dish, and the Tangerine Chicken is pretty good as well. Out of all the Chinese restaurants I frequent, Chef Chu has the best Vegetable Egg Fried Rice. Not too much soy sauce or salt. I have been to this restaurant far too many times to count over the past 20 years, and the food continues to taste amazing. The owners, owner'a family, and staff are very friendly and kind, and the ambiance is clean and pretty. Not overly decorated in the modern-hip fashion, but it has a comfortable and nice look. Once again, very authentic food here, and the service is great. Plus, many actors and famous individuals have all frequented the restaurant. Highly recommend!!!! read more

This place caters to my work at FriendFinder Networks almost at least once a week... They are hands down one of the WORST places that caters here. I'm really not sure why they still have them come... I'm guessing it's because they can probably save money because almost everyone in my section goes out & buys food on the days they come. The food is cold, overcooked (kind of makes you scratch your head), drowned in sauce or no sauce at all, and I could keep going on. They're here catering right now as I write this... I just went to try & get food (lunch has only been open for less than 30 mintes). All the sweet & sour chicken was gone as was all the beef & broccoli. I asked one of the workers if there was more & she just turns around & walks away and starts talking to someone else. Completely ignored me... Tried to ask another person & got the same treatment. Absolute & pure crap. Would not recommend to anyone for catering. I've had in person before and it's a bit better. It seems like they send their C, D, or possibly E team into cook for us. read more

Alright, so lots of white people go here. Though normally that would scare any asian looking for legit chinese food, Chef Chu has devised a wonderful hybrid between american and authentic chinese food. I would give this place 3.5 stars if I could. What is lacking is the quantity compared to the price. It's not cheap friends, but maybe that's because there is a big fat dragon on the wall that probably raised the price of the experience 10 fold. All in all, I like it. But for chinese food that's just as good or better, I would go to cupertino. read more

I've been coming to Chef Chu's since I was in elementary school. I love this restaurant on so many levels. Whenever I have someone to impress I bring them here. We've been knowing Joanne for over 10 years and she has worked her faithfully over 20 years! Now that's dedication. When the food comes out every time it looks like a masterpiece. The way the food taste is so delicious it's feels like the food was made with love. This is one of my top favorite restaurants in the World! read more

Chef Chu's - We love this guy!!!! - Chinese Near Me - Los Altos, California

My favorite Chinese food! AND, you get really good service!!! Which is usually not the norm in most of the chinese restaurants I have gone too. My fav dishes here are the vegetarian chow main, vegetarian egg rolls, the chicken salad, hot and sour soup. I don't eat too much meat and this place has tasty food that necessarily doesn't have to have meat. Also, you can ask them to make the food low sodium and they will custom make it for you. I really enjoy myself every time I go there, the only down side is the long wait before you get seated. I'd say give yourself anywhere from 30-60 minutes on Fri-Sat nights. Lunch is also a long wait, but that tells you that how much this venue is loved by everyone! read more

I didnt see anything unusual about this place. Standard large Chinese American place, same old fecor, feel, atmosphere, and food. Pretty decent hot and sour soup and average kung pao chicken, nothing more to say. I've seen hundred places like this in US. Go to China or Singapore for authentic experience read more

I had such high hopes for Chef Chu. I'm in the area for work and always on the prowl for a new place to call a favorite and this one missed the mark. Arrive at the wrong time and parking is miserable as there are several eateries in the same locale. The outside of the place looks fun and exotic and I couldn't wait to get inside. Upon crossing the threshold the decor changes dramatically... not a bad thing but noticeably different from outside. Still having high hopes we (a group of guys from work) get a table and proceed to order. The wait staff was on point and the service was pretty darn good. The food was just mediocre in my opinion and it seemed to be the general thoughts of everyone at the table.I did enjoy my wonton soup and it wasn't that the rest of the food was bad but it wasn't as flavorful as it should be and to me was pretty bland and the seared chilis were burnt leaving the taste of that for a finish. For what you pay I feel they under delivered on the food but not on the service. Two stars only for the service. read more

I can't figure out why other Chinese restaurants in the area can't get their food to taste like what Chef Chu's produces. This is my go to place for top notch chinese food when I feel like waiting (if I don't have reservations) or don't mind dishing out the cash (it's also the most expensive chinese food in the area). My favorites are: combination chow mein, fried rice, mongolian beef, snow white chicken, sea bass. Although this place can get crowded, the staff makes you feel at home and the service has always been top notch. We sometimes get take out, and the line to pickup can be quite long, but it's worth the wait. read more

Love love love this place , the service great compare than another Chinese restaurant around the area. They have best crispy duck it so delicious read more

My team at my company came here for a going away party for a member that was moving to another team. We came and we had the "Cooking room." I think they are cook in front of you or something. But, they didn't do it for us. A bunch of food was pre-ordered for us by our admin. The food was ok. We had lemon fish filet, chow mein, some other random stuff. Nothing really stood out to me. I have had much better. To an extent, the chinese food was very typical normal chinese food. Nothing special, and I didn't see anything that was a specialty. If they did have a specialty, we either didn't get it or it didn't stand out to me when I had it. read more

Chef Chu's - achieving excellence in every way. From culinary to customer service, i must say, good job! I recently hosted a company dinner, which with the help of Larry and Joanna (i hope i spelt the names correctly) - went really well! I was coming in from out of town, called Chef Chu's to see if i can get 15 people in, and not only did they make room for us, we also went thru a few rounds of customizing the menu for my vegetarian colleagues. All this was accomplished within 2 days. Chef Chu's did not hesitate to deliver. The menu was excellent and my co-workers got to experience a full blown Chinese style 8 course (including appetizer and dessert) family dinner. In addition to that, our server, Roy was very detailed oriented and proceeded to describe each dish that was being served prior to it being served.. :) Yummee in the mind first, then yummee in the mouth, proceeded by happiness in the tummy! Food: We ordered from the Banquet Menu and got some customized vegetarian items but here are the highlights: - Tea Smoked Duck- must try if you love eating duck. - Candied Pecans with Jumbo Prawns- I know this is more of a westernized dish, but i'm still a big fan of it. - Black Pepper Steak - tender steak, well spiced, awesome to bite into and a kick with the black pepper! - Steamed garden veggies with choice of 2 sauces - I think this was a hit on our table, but sort of a miss on the other table.. - Fried Fish Fillet with Spicy Sichuan Garlic Sauce - Tasty - Veggie Options: - Definitely try out the Eggplant in Spicy Garlic Sauce. This seems to be a hit with my vegetarian friends - We also substituted the BBQ pork fried rice with Veggie Fried Rice which was good. But having tasted the BBQ pork fried rice before i must say, it is Yummy. Thank you Chef Chu's for making our team dinner tasty and fun! :) read more

Chinese food for Mother's Day? I'm in! I've never been in the restaurant before but I've had tons of leftovers most Sundays because my boyfriends mother goes here fairly often. We had a reservation for 10 on Saturday at 7:30pm. Our whole party wasn't there yet so we had to wait about 10mins before we got seated upstairs. As our party finally arrived a couple minutes later we got seated and helped right away. We order appetizers to start off our meals. For our appetizers, we got a large chicken salad, pu pu platter (combo) and mu shu chicken. The chicken salad was DELICIOUS. The dressing tasted like watered down soy sauce with a very sharp hot mustard. The pu pu platter had fried cream cheese wonton, eggrolls, friend shrimp and chicken skewers. I only got to try the cream cheese wonton and chicken skewer though. The cream cheese wonton was quite delicious! It had a nice crunchy shell on the outside and creamy cheese filling on the inside. Next was the chicken skewer. It was a bit dry for me in my opinion. They overcooked it a bit but if they cooked it right, it would of been perfect. I wasn't really familiar with the mu shu chicken but I decided to try it anyways. The 'pancake' that you use for the mu shu chicken was very thin. I wrapped the filling in the pancake as if it were an eggroll. I wasn't too huge of a fan of the mu shu chicken since it had a weird mushroom taste to it. ( I hate mushrooms!) We then ordered entrees, tons of it (literally). Due to the amount of food that we ordered, I only tried the eggplant, kung pao shrimp, honey walnut prawn and chow fun noodles. The eggplant dish was just your typical Chinese meal. The kung pao shrimp was good but the only thing it was lacking was the spiciness! The honey walnut prawn dish had huge prawns! This is a must get dish every time you go to a Chinese restaurant. The prawns were very good but the only I was confused by was the fact that there was pecans instead of walnuts! The last dish I got to try was the chow fun. You can never go wrong with this dish. The noodles were cooked to perfection. The only thing I would of changed was the choice of veggies in the dish. After eating such a huge meal, we decided to order some desserts to share. We got green tea ice cream, friend banana with ice cream, almond delight(?) and lychees. I highly recommend the almond delight out of all the other desserts.The almond dessert looks like a fruit cocktail but with the crunchy almond jello squares. It was the type of dessert that I needed especially after all the food I've eaten. My overall experience here was pleasant. The waiters came by constantly to refill our drinks and help us order our food each time. I will most likely come back here again but order not so much food! read more

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As soon as you enter, you will see some of their famous customers since they have their pictures lined up in the wall. It's a two story place and parking is quite convenient. They have a very good selection of Chinese food. The decor is very classy specially if you're on the second floor. They even have a room for cooking classes of some sort. Food is great. Very flavorful minus the msg. Great selection including alcohol. Service is quick and prompt. The servers are quite friendly and professional. It's not your typical Chinese restaurant where they will just put the food down on your table and will not refill your drinks promptly unless you ask them. It's reasonably priced as well and good portion for sharing. read more

Another 3.5'er. type of review. One of my colleagues told me that this place was superb so another colleague and I decided to check it out. We ordered: Szechuan Beef (my choice) Pad Thai (hers) The Szechuan Beef got me all excited because it looked good and smelled good. The ultimate question - Did it TASTE GOOD? Dun-Dunnn-DUNNNN... It DID!!! The sauce was thick and tasty, the beef had an excellent crunch, the rice noodles were good... I just could not stop shoving this stuff into my mouth. Serving size was pretty big, I would say good for two or else 3 if you are sharing other things on the menu. As for the Pad Thai, it looked really dry and well, DRY. Colleague was not very pleased and just looking at her equally dry, dab, and disappointed expression, I chose not to even attempt to taste it. Sorry, Colleague...here, have some of my Szechuan. I would have really liked to give this place 4 stars, but I came back (alone), and ordered the Szechuan again and didn't find myself quite as enamored as the first time. It was a little too sweet and just really overwhelming. I took a couple of bites, and I was done. I might give this place another chance, but probably not any time soon. read more

I probably don't know what authentic chinese food should be. I usually eat the kind of chinese food that korean people eat, which to this day, I don't know the name of. I know when I look at a menu and see the 3 things I like. Chef Chu's is not one of those kind of restaurants but it's still good. The mopa tofu is really good as well as a spicy seafood dish that I don't know of. On the waiters.com menu, it's in the little box of specials on their menu page. They always sent huge portions. I pretty much only ate food from here because I got it free at work. read more

My parents have been going to Chef Chu's for years and decided this Christmas eve they were going to cater from Chef Chu's for their holiday party. I placed the food order 2 hours prior to pickup on Christmas eve and when I got there, it was obvious many other people had the same idea of catering for their holiday party. The food was ready on time, as promised and the staff was incredible. Instead of being siloed in one role, the staff was taking on multiple jobs for maximum efficiency. Their quality of food didn't go down either. My favorite dish they serve is the lover's prawns. I'm a fan of both the garlic white wine sauce and the spice red sauce. I liked their Hot & Sour Hunan Style Beef and Singapore Style noodles. I think the only thing I haven't really liked are their fresh vegetables, but that also has to do with the fact my parents order it steamed with light sauce - I think you only eat those for nutrition, not flavor. I highly recommend Chef Chus, even if you're just looking for a quick bite to eat. It's a great family business with superior customer service and delicious food. read more

Five star Chinese dinning in every respect. Atmosphere, service and food. This is a real pleasurable place to dine. Can't wait to return for dinner very soon. read more

Went here again with my family for dinner, we made a reservation for 5ppl ahead of time, which I think everyone should do because they are consistenly busy all throughout the evening. Finally tried the hot and sour soup and it was pretty good!!! Other things we tried: Char Sil Bow- This is a pork bun, only one bun... and the bun was really fresh and soft, really good for those who always get bow bows, these were the softest I ever had. Beef Sauteed With Special Sauces- We chose CURRY, it was a bit salty, but the curry was interesting and I actually liked the surprise. I've tried Thai curry and Indian curry, but not Chinese curry so this was interesting, yet I'm glad we ordered it. Taiwan-Style Chow Fun (Angel-hair Rice Noodles)- I am a huge beef chow fun kinda gal, so I wanted to try something diffrent. I really liked the thin noodles, it made it less greasy (for those who get the flat chow fun noodles you know what I mean) and you could taste the mushrooms and veggies more istead of just eating straight noodles. THIS WAS MY FAVORITE dish we tried of the night, besides the Char Sil bow. Chef special fried rice- Ok, I had better at my usual pho spot the other day, so this was just average for me Basil Chicken with garlic in a Hot Clay pot- I liked the sizzling clay pot that arrives at your table, makes you feel special of course. But after eating a couple chickens, I noticed a lot of them had huge chunks of fat on top from the skin, usually I like eating the skin off chicken, but these were just too fatty and chewy for my preference. Our night was good, I still give this restaurant 4 stars! The owners are all very friendly and accommodating and for that I will be back again! read more

Quality Americanized Chinese food to please the American palate. Good service. Not my favorite place for Chinese food, but I can see how it pleases the masses. Located on the corner of El Camino and San Antonio with bright red lighted sign, this building is hard to miss. Chef Chu's occupies the entire building, having both an upstairs and downstairs dining room, so this place is rather large. The building is surrounded by parking, but given that this place is pretty popular, you still have to drive around a bit to find parking. They accept credit cards and reservations, and like many Chinese restaurants, there are fish tanks in the front. The interior could use a little updating/refreshing. Apparently it is a longtime neighborhood staple for the locals. read more

One of the oldest standing Chinese restaurant in PA/MTV area. Good reliable food. Bit salty, not the best value for your dollar, good ambient... read more

My wife and I have been partronzing this business for years and years and well before the name change. During the last twelve months it has slid considerably in terms of its performance. Today, I purchased Crispy Chicken and Vegetable Delight for lunch. The bill was just under $28. There were no customers in the establishment when I ordered. I was told it would be 20-25 minutes. To which I thought was a bit long for Chinese takeout but I said, "OK". I had a bit of shopping to do so I walked up the block to Trader Joe's and returned 25 minutes later. The clerk at the front with who I ordered said its not done yet and would take another 20 minutes. I would have appreciated knowing that on the front end. If I had known I would have cancelled the order. So I nodded and walked up the street and did another quick errand. Twenty minutes later I returned and my order still wan't ready. When I inquired It was just delivered to the front counter. So 20 minutes longer that I was initially told - Strike #1. My wife and I were hungry so we started eating in the car. I started on the Crispy Chicken and my Wife began with the Vegetable Delight. The Chicken was very dry, bland, very greasy, had loads of bones, and was, in general and in my opinion, of low quality meat - Strike #2. The Vegetable Delight is supposed to be a medley of various vegetables. It consisted of snow peas, water chestnuts and two mushrooms. Certainly no medley - Strike #3. We'll be foregoing Chef Chu's from now on - so unfortunate. read more

"Decent" Chinese food. And by decent, I mean pretty good. Not like my friend's definition of decent, which seems to be just "edible". I was expecting the orange chicken to be a little more fried. The vegetable fried rice was complete mush due to the vegetables they used and NOT very fried. The Hong Kong style crispy noodles were good, but I wish there were more noodles. I liked the fish fillets in white wine sauce. I wouldn't mind coming here again, but I think it will take some experimentation to see which dishes to avoid and which ones are good. read more

Bit of a drive for us, but this is our favorite place in the Bay Area. We both enjoy the Kung Pao Prawns the most. I enjoy bringing family here when they come to visit. We usually do take out---most of the time they're pretty fast. Authentic, schmauthentic, it tastes pretty good to me. I always see quite a few Asian people eating here too, so I don't believe that it's totally white-people Chinese food. There are places with better food, but none that we have found in this area. read more