Chef Lee ll had been my go to for Chinese food for years, after several poor experiences we stopped going. Today we decided let's give it another try after a good year or so away we were actually pleasantly surprised. We ordered the crab rangoons they were actually a bit too over cooked so this was a bit of a mis. Main dishes included sweet and sour pork the sauce was perfectly sour and sweet the pork was tender a tad over battered for my liking but crispy and fresh nevertheless. Cashew chicken was great tender pieces of chicken and zucchini and onions all sautéed in a delicious sauce topped with mounds of cashews. House fried rice was delicately fried with shrimp, chicken and beef and veggies complemented the main entrees well. Our service was pleasant and on top of refills and any other needs. The restaurant is a bit dated and in need of some tlc but overall clean. read more

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At Chef Lee's Mandarin Chinese Restaurant Again My Fiancee's Last Day Of School At Mt. Toro H.S. So We Met Here To Grab Some Lunch. I Am As Usual Getting From The Lunch Menu I Got The Happy Family Rice Plate It's GREAT..!! My Fiancée Is Having Curry Beef Plate. And To Go For Cassandra We Ordered The Extra Spicy Kung Pao Plate..!! read more

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I went in on Mother's day and they told me the wait time would be 30-35minutes so i put down my name on the wait list. After the given time they told me it would be another 30 minutes. They mentioned how they were short staffed yet they were taking online orders and prioritizing them. The restaurant had almost all the tables empty. Really a waste of time and poor management of the place! read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House II - Empty restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Salinas, California

I use to come here as a child and loved it. The decor is beautiful. It's a great size. The lunch I had wasn't great, with the exception on the green beans. The fortune cookies were stale. The fried crab wontons were overcooked. The fried prawns were ok. The sweet and sour pork was ok. The sizing rice soup was ok. I wasn't impressed enough to return honestly. read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House II - Sizzling rice soup, green bean lunch meal, expired fortune cookies and sweet and sour soup, crab wontons app and fried prawns appetizer. - Chinese Near Me - Salinas, California

I ordered the wonton soup.. the wontons were overly cooked. I felt like I was eating raw egg whites. Was not firm. A few years back had a bad experience. Felt I should give it a second chance. Never again read more

The pickup ordering service was fast and easy. The asian decorations were nice. Food is delicious.

Solid 3 star restaurant. With less than 3 people, I would find another Chinese spot. Chef Lee does not offer plate deals and I really don't like that. For me, it's variety I want at a Chinese restaurant. I want a little chow mein, fried rice, a couple of main dishes. You know, the typical Chinese restaurant plate. We only had a party of two so we had to over order for variety sake. The chicken chow mein was a little bland but the portion was large. The garlic chicken was almost all onion and I didn't taste any garlic. The Mu-Shu Pork was delicious. The service was really good. Our waitress kept the drinks full. The bathroom was pretty bad, and the paper towel dispensers were empty. The ambiance was good. I dig a Chinese restaurant with the traditional decor. Overall a good 3 star experience. read more

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I really like their sizzling rice soup, fast and friendly service. My cousin and I enjoyed a nice quiet atmosphere. Family friendly, delicious food. I will definitely return every time I visit. Plenty of parking. read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House II - a teapot and cups on a table - Chinese Near Me - Salinas, California

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My family and I had dinner at chef lees tonight, we have always loved it and received great service. But today was an absolute disaster. The sever we had today, we have never received service from. She was very rude and unprofessional. She had absolutely no patience when we were ordering. Asked for sizzling rice soup and she served our soup without the rice, and then brought the rice on a plate a couple of mins after? My husband went up to the front to pay and put change into a tip jar, she told him that was for the host and not for her, when she handed him the check she said the total and exclaimed that didn't include the tip. My family and I have all worked in the service industry and know how hard it is so we always tip well, but today I didn't even want to leave a dime. read more

We entered the door at 7:20 and were told they stop service at 7:20 even though there hours on the door are 7:30? How does a business turn away customers when they are still open. Pathetic. read more

We have been to Chef Lees many times but the won ton in the soup was so mushy.The noodle part was almost liquid. It will be a long while before returning.On a positive note waiters were very well dressed!My wife's family grew up near the Monterey restaurant. read more

The watress was excellent. She came out to check on us frequently...the dishes we got were delicious. However the sizzling rice soup was a giant fail. Not only did it not sizzle the rice was like soggy rice cakes. The rice was gelatinous and stuck together. This is NOT what they used to serve. read more

I recently placed another order at chef Lee's and I was very pleased to see that they had gone back to using the plastic containers for their to go meals! The food was delicious and the staff was very friendly and helpful. For dine in or take out this is definitely the place to go read more

They treat you well and give you delicious food And there really nice So well gve them a 80 dollar tip read more

Stood in front of the register to be seated for about 15-20mins. And when they Finally got to us, they told us no more sit down dine in. The only reason we came here was for sit down meal. They should've told us as soon as we walked in if anything. Very unprofessional. Plus the online hours are incorrect. Please update this read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House II - The posted hours - Chinese Near Me - Salinas, California

Don't listen to the times posted online or on maps. They may say open or open until 930. Tried going twice now, but closes at 730 and closed Monday and Tuesdays. read more

The stars are for the food, all the way. I've loved their food since living in Salinas. Service-wise, if you're carrying out, be ready for people to cut in front of you. My guess is that they're not aware there is a line for carry out. My suggestion is to have 2 separate lines: 1 for dine in and 1 for carry out. I would even add a separate podium for someone to take names for dine-in guests. The inside of the restaurant is beautifully decorated. I'll keep ordering from them, just hope they make the adjustment mentioned here. Also, please do check your food before leaving so you don't find out afterwards that there is still shrimp in your wonton soup at home. read more

I was shopping at a nearby store and decided to try Chef Lee's Mandarin House. Immediately, I thought to myself, don't do Chinese food in Salinas. Heck, I'm from an area that has dozens of great Chinese restaurants, but I had to have my Chinese food fix for the week. I ordered the Mongolian Beef and Sweet and Sour chicken. First, the Mongolian Beef was filled with green onions, and the flavor had an oyster sauce taste with no spice at all. The purpose of Mongolian Beef is the Szechuan style with some heat. This lack heat and flavor. The sweet and sour chicken was neither sweet or sour. I've had better from our local grocery store that sells Chinese food, i.e. Bel Air. I would stay away from this place. read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House II - Sweet and Sour chicken - Chinese Near Me - Salinas, California

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HORRIBLE customer service! We were ready for our tab and needed boxes, Our server wasn't in our area we waited about 10 minutes to see if she passes by we seen another server and asked her if we could get the tab she RUDELY said "look for your server" and walked away another 15 minutes went by and our server was still no where to be seen only that server that we have previously had that encounter with. We attempted to talk to her once again and ask her for the check she looked at us and completely ignored us and walked away!! Her name is suzy i believe, If you get her as your server good luck! read more

Asked for a water and getting seated down and waiting for 30 minutes and got yelled at horrible service read more

Chef Lee's Mandarin House II - This man right here got mad because I asked for a glass of water he started cussing me off in his language can't believe it - Chinese Near Me - Salinas, California

This is our favorite Chinese food in Salinas. Always great customer service and wait staff.

This is very hard to do but need to since it used to be our favorite place but what happened on Friday July 7 was not acceptable... So my daughter order food that came out to 95$$$$$$ We got our shrimp wrong .... And our fried rice was sooooooo hard I tried to warm it up with water and still hard My daughter called n complained that our food tasted like it was old and shrimp dish was totally wrong.. They said sorry We can't do anything.... Now money is very hard for all of us But if we are spending 95$$$$ Food should be good I used to love this place but after this I will not go again .... It very sad that they didn't want yo do anything Don't go here they sell leftover just warm it up I would give them no stars but had to give one to post read more

I went to book a "private" area for 35 ppl and put in a $40 deposit. I went back 3 days before my reserved date to change it to 45-50 ppl and Catherine, the person in-charge at the time, said that they can't accommodate us. Not because there's another reservation for a big party, but because they only have 5 servers. She also said "because they're trying to make business". First of all, why is it my fault that they are short-staffed? Secondly, are we not business? It's not like we're eating there for free. We are already guaranteed customers. Anyway, I came out of the restaurant feeling that they don't want our business. She didn't even try to work around something to "accommodate" us. So of course, I cancelled my reservation. You don't get the deposit back. Instead, they give you a credit. Bottomline, if you have a party bigger than 35, don't even try booking here. It was a blessing in disguise that I had to cancel my reservation. I ended up at a better place (Dim Sum Inn), where the receptionists are friendly and accommodating and the food has better quality. I must say that some of the servers are really friendly and nice. read more

I stood at entrance waiting to be seated, a large family came in after me. I waited 5-10 minutes. The host asked the family how can I help. The family let him know I was 1st. He sat me at a dirty table. They proceeded to serve at least 2 families who came after me. I had to approach The host to ask why haven't I been attended to, he just looked at me like I was an alien. Another waitress said she would take my order. Still no one attempted to take my order after 20 minutes I had to approach another waiter still no one assisted me. After 30min I finally got served water The food portions were small & had no taste, the prawns were medium shrimp cut in half & the batter was gooey inside. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant. read more

Good Food. My friends paid for us here and they serve a good amount of portion and it taste very good. I just lived an hour and half away from here but if I lived close by I don't mind coming here often read more

We have been here a few times in the past few years. It's our stop when we are traveling on vacation. Very friendly employees. They could do better at cleaning up after their tables. Maybe we arrived after lunch rush. Dirty tables and always dirty floors. This last time we were there. We have had storms and rain off and on. Where my husband was sitting the roof was leaking down onto him and his food. Looking up you can see were the ceiling tile has been soaked and fell apart from the water. The employees were very friendly and sorry about it. Said they had it fixed a few times. Apparently not or maybe do not seat your customers at that booth. Food was ok not as good as in the past. read more

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Yum! The food is amazing and the service is top notch! Always fast and courteous. Will always come back such a beautiful restaurant. read more

Long time satisfied customer. Something has happened here. Some menu items no longer available, food seems flavorless and sub par. A friend told us that the restaurant has undergone a change in ownership. I hate it when that happens. read more

Came in from Monterey and didn't want to drive to Santa Cruz. I should've drove to Santa Cruz. They got way better fresh food so I'm thinking nothing of it. The owners seem like they're very polite but anyways I ordered some shrimp chow mein some orange chicken and some string bean chicken I swear it came out so fast I was kinda alarm. I didn't think nothing of it but again yep the quality of the food that came out was horrible out of the scale of one to 1010 being the best Man I hate to say this, but that was like straight up at three. It was gross. It was like the orange chicken had no it was stale. The string bean chicken look like it was leftover and then the shrimp chow mein look the noodles look all soggy. The only thing that's consistent anybody can make is the white rice I spent like 50 bucks And gave us seven dollar tip and another thing is you got two young guys working there they see me walk in they start giggling and laughing and looking at me for I don't know what reason but it's all Rachel. It's all good. I'll never go back to this place. The owner seems very nice. I wish her the best. I will never I would not recommend this place. There's way better places in Santa Cruz. I hate I hate to say this but dude I should've just went to panda express and that's not even real Chinese food. At least it has some flavor little bit of flavor and taste. This is a horrible experience and I don't even know where chef mandarin number one is but I wouldn't even go to either one so either poor management poor Cook I don't know what's happening, but that was gross And I believe I told them too large white rice only only got one white rice horrible experience altogether again nice owners, but horrible food read more

This used to be our "go to" restaurant for Chinese, and it used to be excellent. We haven't been in a long time and decided to give it a try last week. Nothing had any flavor! Everything was super greasy, the rice seemed old and hard, and the egg rolls were completely soggy and flavorless. I'm almost certain they were frozen ones. For the price, we will absolutely not be going back because of the quality. We're extremely disappointed. read more

Not sure why this place has only 3 stars. The food is consistently good. The wonton soup is delicious. All of these lunch specials are great and come with rice and and soup at a reasonable price. The staff is very friendly and the ambiance is nice. Will definitely continue to come. read more

I came here for my boyfriend's great grandma's 95th birthday celebration. We rented a room. I wish I could give this place NEGATIVE stars. HORRIBLE SERVICE... the server was rude, rushed me and looked annoyed when I was ordering. The food was mediocre, and they automatically charged for a tip even with their completely terrible service. I won't ever come here again. Considering we gave them a lot of service you would think they would have been kinder. read more

Great and quick service, food tasted delicious, waiter checked on us frequently. Will be back soon.

A decent place for good Chinese food. The service is usually good. The restaurant can get noisy but it's family friendly (bring the kids). The food is served promptly, warm and well-seasoned. The servers are friendly and welcoming. Decent parking and large, spacious waiting area/lobby. Usually can get seated right away though. read more

It's Definitely not what it used to be, I remember coming to this place a few years back and everything tasted amazing. But now the quality of the food has dropped significantly and there is major portion shrinkage as well. I get the need to save money and cut costs but it shouldn't affect the quality and effort put into the food. For what they charge for their food I would not recommend this place. read more

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. read more

I think overall the food was mediocre. I ordered chicken and it was just okay. The chicken came out in small pieces.

I used to like this place for takeout, but no more. Every order lately has had problems with missing items and ingredients. For example, in my last order, my kungpao chicken had no peanuts, and was very souplike. The steamed rice was missing entirely, as were any fortune cookies (unless they've stopped providing those!) I made the mistake of not carefully inspecting all of the containers before leaving the restaurant. If you order here, don't make that same mistake! read more

Chef lee's is the best thing that's every happened to me! I'm from a near by area, I didn't find anywhere to eat until I came across this gift from god. This restaurant was created by an Angel from above . The food is immaculate, the service is pleasurable. The waiters are kind and some hilarious. The restaurant is nicely decorated, I love the art on the glass dividers. Truly touches my soul. All in all, Chef Lee's Mandarin House ll truly changed my whole entire life. God bless the creator, Amen read more

Not to be mean, Saw a rat waking out with a order of orange Chicken, My friend said that he was traumatized ever since.