Went back to nyc for new year 2025 , and went to chef yu where I used to go for lunch when I was living in ny . This restaurant is not the same anymore, waiter were liars , I ask what is the pric for Lobster which they have it post as special ! He said 9.99$ each ! That's a good deal I said , told him I will order 2 and stir fried . It's came and some lobster pieces smell like ammonia or bleach?? , and some were ok ? Think they gave me one really dead dead one mixed with one good one . When the bill comes , it was 60$ for 2 lobster order ?? I ask why , you told me was 9.99 each ?? He said no , it's 29.99$ each !! They are liar and pretend to be stupid ! Dishonest bad bad people worker to owner . They refunded 1/2 ( 29.99 ) pls don't go !! no star for me but I have to put at least one . read more

10/10 for the purpose it best serves - a large corporate dinner with coworkers! I always end up in these types of restaurants for coworker lunches and it's super fun. read more

See all

delicious food, staff and great location. Highly recommend you make a reservation. Food is flavorful and abundant.

Good food, Good service. Nice place for a date or quiet dinner with family and friends. The food was good

First time in NYC and only Chinese place we had time for, did not disappoint. Pork dumplings were amazing, we ended up ordering more. Great drinks, entrees were so good. Really surprised that it has only average rating. read more

The food was good but the staff were very rude and unpleasant. I ordered the duck dumpling soup and it was delicious. Next time I will only go in case of extreme hunger... read more

Great choice of food. Very well prepared and delicious. Good service and nice atmosphere

THE LADY WHO SITS IN THE FRONT & takes orders is a NASTY UNPROFESSIONAL DISGUSTING SPIRIT! Ive been eating here for years! NEVER AGAIN! I have dealt with her rudeness for years! Brought clients here spent a lot of money here! Sh charged me $3 ...$1 for onions & $2 for bell peppers to be added to my kung pao chicken & I TOOK THE PEANUTS OUT CAUSE IM ALLERGIC! She still charged me $3 extra! The waiters & other servers never charged me! NEVER AGAIN! In this business climate u treat people like this??? Thats why the restaurant is always empty! AWFUL CHINESE RESTAURANT CUSTOMER SERVICE! NOT WORTH THE STRAIN OR NEGATIVITY! read more

In terms of food, this place is like upscale Panda Express. Expect heavily Americanized and super sweet takes on classic Chinese dishes. The tables are set with forks and square-shaped plates, and you have to ask for chopsticks if you want them, which is not what I was expecting for a Chinese restaurant. That being said, the venue is quite nice with high ceilings, big windows, and upscale decor. Our waiters were attentive and kept our water glasses (no ice) full the whole time. It's a convenient, respectable, quiet place to dine if you find yourself hungry near Penn Station/Garment District. Their lunch special are a good price. read more

Chef Yu - Beef With Broccoli - Szechuan Near Me - New York, New York

My wife and I enjoyed a romantic dinner here. The food and service were amazing. We shared the orange and sesame chicken dishes.

Ordered delivery on a rainy night, for the sesame chicken with white rice (white meat only). The food was above average and I would give it a solid 7.7 based on previous times I've ordered Chinese but from different restaurants. I wish the portions were bigger for the price and it being dinner. read more

You can never go wrong with Chef Yu in the City. The food is always delicious and tasty with plenty of options to choose from the menu. I always get the spicy diced chicken with carrots and broccoli; soo good.. Very affordable prices all around. Definitely a must!! read more

See all

So this is an overdue review. I've eaten in the restaurant before and ordered take out but just never remembered to write it. The restaurant is nice and clean and service is excellent. My two favorites on the menu are the Chicken and Broccoli in spicy garlic sauce and Chicken and String beans in spicy garlic sauce. The garlic sauce is so good, one of the best I've had. The chicken is cooked perfectly and the sauce is not too thick which is a pet peeve of mine. The egg rolls are amazing, crispy and not greasy and fresh. I may try and order some other menu items but I can't seem to get myself to try something different when I love what I usually order lol. They offer lunch specials during the week and it's reasonably priced. If you're looking for a quick bite near Penn Station, this is a great option. read more

Good food beautiful ambiance great service -- I'll be back ! Skip the spring rolls ... they are fried

Great food- great service! We love heading there after a show. The service is always quick but not annoying- food is fresh! Drunks are nice as well! read more

Chef Yu - Triple delight - Szechuan Near Me - New York, New York

See all

Arrived early for lunch, the coward was light. The rest was sprinkling clean with crisp, white tablecloths and napkins. The bathroom was very clean. We had Steamed Veggie dumplings, Veggie PanFried Noodles and Sesame Chicken. Servers were very attentive making sure our glasses stayed full. Very good meal! read more

Its a better location to chill at than it is a restaurant. The place is an excellent lunch meet up for meetings or discussions. Location/Ambience: 4/5 Off the corner along 8th avenue, inside tall ceilings and does a more modern restaurant feel to it than Chinese. Big windows, upscale decor, strong lunch option Food: 4/5 I am a meaty dish loving kind of person so I have a preference on having a good portion of meat in there but considering the style of the cuisine its more vegetable portioned over the meat. But its still good Staff: 5/5 Good and friendly service, always walking around to check or be in the area. Price: 4/5 Lunch specials usually take the cake for the pricing feedback, I don't think I ever spent more than $15 per lunch. Accessibility/Layout 4/5 Corner location with seating that has an additional back seating secluded per preference. Circular tables all around except for the back seating with square seating and left side against the wall seating. read more

Chef Yu - Szechuan Near Me - New York, New York

I love this place, I always make atrip whenever I am in the city. The staff are very polite, there's never a line when I go. This place looks and feels expensive but the prices are very reasonable. Each table has white table cloths on with matching white napkins. The food it so delicious. This was my first time returning since the pandemic. I was very please to see this little treasure thriving. I can't edit to go back. read more

See all

Great date place. Very elegant eatery with delicious classic chinese food. I epsecially loved the fried dumplings. With the white table clothes and elegant wait staff, I was very satisfied and impressed! I also love neighborhood. There is so much to do! read more

This soup was delicious! Chef Yu also has happy hour 7 days a week, so drinks are very inexpensive read more

Chef Yu - A6. Spicy Stewed Beef Noodle Soup - Szechuan Near Me - New York, New York

We came here on a Friday with large group as part of a wedding rehearsal dinner of around 30-35 people with a reservation. Pros: The restaurant is clean and well kept. They had a section in the back that is slightly separated from the main dining area so while it was not a completely private room, it was great for big groups and events. The bride was able to order for the group and they served everything family style. Service was pretty quick and my drink was actually pretty strong. Cons: The food itself was just ok. Nothing amazing. read more

Rounded up. I'd give this place an overall 3.5 stars. Surprisingly delicious. Needed to grab a quick bite in midtown and expected a typical weekday commuter and tourist trap. I was pleasantly surprised. Service was good. Fairly priced with nice portions. Give the salt and pepper squid 5 stars! The batter was thin so you could really taste the tender squid. It's hard to find a place that does this dish well. Other dishes I had were... - Dumplings: homemade but very meaty (personally like mine mixed with veggies) - Kung Pao: pretty good with lots of chicken and peanuts - hot and sour soup: not bad Overall a decent meal at a fair price. If I'm in the area and need a place to eat, I'd go back. (If only for the salt and pepper squid!) read more

Chef Yu - 210. Salt and Pepper Squid - Szechuan Near Me - New York, New York

Shrimp fried rice was very tasty but I little greasy! The ribs were very good and bbq duck was good too! Service was top tier & the setting had great ambience!! Will return in the future!! read more

Chef Yu - Shrimp fried rice !! - Szechuan Near Me - New York, New York

See all

Not only is this place beautiful on the inside the service and food are absolutely AMAZING!!!! We started out with some drinks (tequila sunrise) which were super GOOD!!! The food tastes amazing!!! Not just that the price was super affordable and our servers were so kind and friendly!!! Definitely recommend if you want great tasting Chinese food in a really nice restaurant!! Check This restaurant out asap! read more

See all

Food was great, service was very good. Dan took care of us good. Salt and pepper squid was exquisite, must try it. Will recommend this place for good Chinese food. read more

Chef Yu - Szechuan Near Me - New York, New York

Felt very rushed and they were floating around our table the whole time. We asked to split checks different ways but they refused. Never coming back read more

Tried something new b4 Ranger game. ENTRANCE- there is a hostess stand but no one there. A lady came up front to man the bar and seated us AMBIANCE- very nice looking with table cloths and comfortable seating. The design is narrow and long you would think it small but there is a second floor with more tables WAITRESS- very nice and quickly took our order. It was a slow night by that I mean maybe 5 tables of guests. However our waitress was not very engaging just operational. SERVICE- very friendly the bus and servers were nice and we needed them to order additional drinks. MENU - they had a special drink menu to order exotic beverages but also wine and beer albeit limited selections. I had the Chinese beer that was good. I don't drink beer often but I also never order wine in a Chinese restaurant. They have a separate menu for food. They offer all of the basic dishes you would expect to see. FOOD - OK not a home run I've had better overall. Best part of meal were the steamed dumplings worth a try. The egg rolls were small, bland and hardly any pork I wouldn't get again. The beef with scallion dish was very good. The beef with mushrooms and vegetables was kind of salty but overall good. The pork lo mein was not particularly tasty almost bland PORTION SIZES- not very generous by Chinatown standards and given thee prices I would say not a great value. PRICES- for what you get I consider this place on the pricy side even by manhattan standards. Almost $120 for two people but they do have excellent happy hour drink prices. read more

Chef Yu - View from the front. At 5:00 on Sunday - Szechuan Near Me - New York, New York

While the service was great - our server was extremely polite and professional, the food was not. My wife ordered pad Thai which is served with a lime. She got a lemon - and chopsticks which are not common in Thailand. I ordered shredded pork but I am 99% certain I received chicken and it wasn't particularly shredded. I even asked and was assured that it was pork. It wasn't. Oh well. Didn't taste terrible - just not what I ordered. Prices were good for midtown manhattan read more

See all

Excellent dishes and service. The food was fresh and delicious. Very generous portions too! We all loved it and would definitely recommend Chef Yu's. read more

See all

We just got to midtown Manhattan and Chef Yu is close by. The two-story place looks nice, so we took a chance on it. We liked it enough that we went back two more times including takeout, and may go back again. Some key points: - I see online comments about surly waiters. I observed the waiting staff and they all seemed quite courteous - The food is authentic and very good. The diced spicy chicken is a wonderful dish, but it is best eaten on premise so that the finely cut and fried tender chicken pieces don't lose their crunch. The Chinese bacon (seasoned pork belly) is thinly sliced to cut down on the greasy texture, and has authentic Hunan taste. I highly recommend both dishes. The scallion pancakes were not what I expected - I grew up with the stuff. Their version is extra crunchy and comes with a sauce that appears to be a sesame paste suspended on top of dumpling sauce (soy, sugar, vinegar). It is tasty enough and the serving generous enough that I will forgive them for going off script on this. Just call it something other than scallion pancakes - I deducted one star from the rating for two reasons: 1) the dishes can be pretty greasy. While oiliness is part of the deal if you want authentic Szechuan and Hunan dishes, I still think the grease in the dishes are excessive; 2) they have a tendency to be heavy-handed with corn starch. The hot and sour soup was like a thick gravy, and dishes that come with a sauce can get too thick when cooled down. Out takeout shrimp curry became like pudding after 30 minutes (and the curry taste was not strong enough). So, stick with the stir-fried dishes. - If you want to get their very tasty food for take out, be prepared to pick up quickly. They get the food ready in five minutes flat. Impressive! And be ready to gouge yourself, because they give you a lot of food. Plus, the white rice comes free with your entree, unlike many others places who charge you two bucks for that little rice. - Their price points are very reasonable. Compared to other Chinese and Asian eateries around midtown, I have not found another with such reasonable prices. Overall, the stir-fried dishes are wonderful and the portion generous, the prices reasonable and the service proper. There are quite a few crappy Chinese restaurants around midtown, and one could do a lot worse than Chef Yu. Recommended. read more

Excellent choice in an area void of quiet, light, calm spots to meet up, have a cocktail & a conversation without shouting. Love that they have round tables for parties larger than 4.. Enjoyed the crisp white tablecloths & napkins and very attentive service. I imagine that anyone commenting on less than gregarious wait staff is not from NY because for a Chinese restaurant the staff was more pleasant than most. Drink menu is vast and under 8 dollars 4-9pm, this is a strong selling point and the food is very good. Consistent with any similar place. Relaxing space to carry on a conversation undisturbed. Loved the dry string beans with pickles ? didn't really find pickles but lots of garlic and perfect string beans, also eggplant & chicken which was very good. Vegetable pan fried dumplings, ok..not amazing. Lychee Martini, perfect, strong. 2 is the sweet spot. In the vast wasteland of a zombie apocalypse horror walk down 8th Ave from Midtown to Penn Station, this is a great find and I hope to return soon. read more

The food and service is always outstanding. I have been dining here for many years and have never been disappointed. read more

The restaurant had really good ambiance and the food was really tasty, especially for the price. We'll definitely plan to come back.

You would think this place was all the rave given the location and decent interiors. We ordered a mix of things: Singapore noodles, chicken and broccoli, and lo mein, and literally NOTHING had flavour. I'm not joking when I say they could have at least added salt. They're adorable and the inside was decent. So they get another star. The service was trash. The lady at the front was so rude, and when we asked for extra soy sauce and chili oil, the older lady acted like we asked for them to harvest the chilis themselves. The younger one was more friendly, but still. After tasting our food I was so glad we asked for the sauces! Please do better! You have so much potential where you're at! read more

Chef Yu - Entrance - Szechuan Near Me - New York, New York

Fast Thai food. Strong drinks. Good service. In the heart of midtown. Near MSG and LiRR

Came here for a late lunch. The food was amazing. Service was very attentive and nice. The eggplant was awesome. Loved the General Tso. Had a great experience. read more

See all

Love the steam bun. The large and the pork steam bun. I wish they make the brown bun.

It's 25 degrees out and the idea of having a bowl of Chinese noodle soup was very appealing. My colleagues and I ventured a couple blocks away to have lunch at Chef Yu earlier. They've visited before and I knew it would be American Chinese food, but I joined anyway. Chef Yu sits on the corner of 36th Street and 8th Avenue. A bi-level restaurant, it was already packed when we arrived. We were seated upstairs. The atmosphere was white tablecloth type of setting but overall, this restaurant is the Chinese (American) equivalent of a greasy spoon. But they have a loyal following since this area leaves a lot to be desired in terms of good restaurants. The menu contained many pages of meat categories, appetizers, seafood, etc. There was also a lunch menu served between 11 am to 4 pm. Since it was cold and I didn't want to eat unhealthy by selecting a greasy/oily entree, I decided soup would be the best option. There were two categories: Cantonese and Mandarin style (both equivalent in price to a lunch special selection--about $10). The waitress said that both styles were the same. I wanted to make sure that the broth was chicken based since I do not eat red meat. My selection was the sliced chicken soup. At $8.75, it was served in a big bowl and included noodles (my choice, mei fun), sliced chicken and topped with fresh spinach leaves. I was limited to most options because they included pork or beef. My opinion? The soup was very yellow and and a good sized portion, but the flavor was pretty bland. Still, I rather choose bland over consuming a bowl of salt. I asked for some chili sauce and that kicked things up a notch My colleagues chose from the lunch menu and it appeared quite oily. In fact, most people's dishes at every table looked the same. I think they were satisfied but didn't brag about it. Generally speaking, I love soup and I like noodles. But I like authentic Chinese soup most of all. This wasn't it. I did appreciate my lunch because I was hungry and it was cold out--perhaps allowing my selection to be the best option from their menu. Meh. read more

Chef Yu - Szechuan Near Me - New York, New York

We had great service By a nice at around 6 o'clock in the evening. The chow mein chow fun garlic eggplant and orange chicken were all tasty. And happy hour is from 4 to 9, 4 dollar Heineken's read more

Not going to lie, I was surprised by the overall 3 stars review here. The only major downside I saw here was the service but it wasn't because they were curt- it was because it was slow. I'm not sure if they were understaffed as this place is a lot more spacious than it seems (two floors, lots of seating) or if this is just how it typically is. I had to wait over 10 minutes for a menu but again, as long as the service isn't out-of-line in other aspects, I don't see the point in reading that much into it. I decided to stick to what seems to be popular here (and also what's really good according to a friend of mine who works nearby) and got the shrimp dumplings szechuan style. For $8.50, an order of 12 is pretty reasonable. Yes, you can find cheaper ones in Chinatown, but this place is a gigantic restaurant in midtown- it's expected. If anything, I thought it was a bit cheaper than what I thought it would be. Now, the dumplings. Honestly, they weren't the most amazing dumplings I've ever had but they were pretty damn good. On top of that, I think the sauce they were in made me love it even more. It was a hybrid of hot chili oil and peanut butter sauce and it just worked perfectly. I know I've drenched wheat peanut butter noodles in hot chili oil (or sriracha when times were tough) before, so I like that it already came fused as one. There was enough shrimp in them as well. All in all, if I ever frequent back here it would be for the classics as they're done pretty darn well. read more

Chef Yu - Shrimp Dumplings Szechuan Style - Szechuan Near Me - New York, New York