We celebrated a birthday dinner on a Monday night with a group of 12 at Emma's, and it was a wonderful experience. We were the only dine-in customers at the time, although they had a steady stream of takeout orders coming through. Despite that, all of our food arrived quickly and everything was organized perfectly. Our server was incredibly friendly and seemed to be handling the entire dining room on his own--taking our order serving food, and the clearing table. He never seemed rushed and provided excellent service throughout the evening. We brought our own birthday dessert, and he graciously brought out plates and forks and helped us celebrate, which was a thoughtful touch that we really appreciated. The food was fresh, plentiful, and came out fast. My favorite dish of the night was the vegetable spring rolls. read more

See all

Mediocre food. Low in flavors. The flavors the dishes do give off taste off. Texture also off. What should be crisply fried is mushy and chewy. Not the worst I've ever had, but no where near good. Hovering at mediocrity. read more

I ordered the beef and broccoli, and unfortunately, I found a worm in the broccoli. I was completely disgusted and immediately lost my appetite. This is extremely concerning and makes me question how well the vegetables are being washed and the food is being inspected before being served. Very disappointing experience. read more

Emma's Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - San Rafael, California

See all

Heat, spice, flavor, action! Emma's Restaurant has it all and more. The space can accommodate large parties. We've walked in and always sat right away. Service is fantastic, fast, and full of love. The salt and pepper appetizer is my first go-to order. It's a large portion and I love the spicy dried pepper flavor. I also love their noodle dishes. It comes out hot and fast. Thank you for feeding the neighborhood, Emma's Restaurant. read more

See all

Emma's has become a favorite of ours over the years. The service is always fast and friendly and the atmosphere is usually quiet. On this visit we were their only dine-in customers but there were a lot of to-go orders being picked up. A few of our favorites are the tomato egg drop soup without tomatoes, chow mein with chicken and sweet and sour chicken. The sweet and sour chicken is always perfect having the chicken fried crispy and then being tossed in the sweet and sour sauce. We ordered all three plus vegetable spring rolls and egg fried rice this visit. We'll definitely be back. read more

See all

We are visiting San Rafael CA this weekend. This is our 2nd visit to Emma's : Chinese restaurant. We came for lunch, and was about half full when we arrived. It is very charming to the eye, and the staff are very friendly. We were greeted as we walked in and seated right away. We took a minute to look over the huge menu, and settled on the lunch special. I got half and half fried rice and chow mein, with orange chicken and my daughter got the same but with sweet and sour pork, both came with a spring roll. We added an order of crab stuffed wontons and they were delicious! The prices were reasonable and the food was good, but not many veggies on anything. But the flavors were very good. We also were given hot and spicy soup with our meals. We will return again to try something else on the menu on our next trip! read more

See all

Just had lunch delivered via Uber Eats. The food was awful the presentation worse everything was cold and greasy. I've eaten in the restaurant and the food was well prepared. This was like swap if I could, I'd ask for my money back, but I'll never order it for delivery again I don't think it was East fault I think it was the fault for just throwing this at Styrofoam. read more

Excellent quality Chinese delivery in San Rafael! Chicken Pot Stickers are superior! Seems like a simple thing, but these are not wet and slimy like many. Mongolian Beef, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Kung Pao Chicken are favorites. Generous portions ensure that no one goes away hungry. Comes with soy sauce, extra sweet and sour sauce, and fortune cookies. If you like Chinese hot mustard (like we do), request it. Great value for your money! read more

So so good!! Flavorful and delicious! Will buy again. Got delivery and the food was still so hot and fresh. Yum!

After reading all the good reviews, I was really excited to try this restaurant. So I ordered the chow fun with beef and vegetables. The only vegetables were a few bean sprouts and onions. Very little sauce. It was terrible. read more

My daughter and I had a great lunch here. We ordered MaPo Tofu Pot and the Ginger Sole Fillet. The fish was fantastic! Tender chunks of sole were on top of flavorful onions, ginger, and scallions. We really couldn't get enough of this dish. The tofu and pork was savory with small pieces of meat and slippery cubes of tofu. We ordered two orders of white rice and it was enough with a little left over. They have lunch specials if you want to save a little money. The owner was friendly and gracious. The interior is cozy and modern but fairly loud. There's not a lot of parking and the lot is a little tight. read more

Emma's Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - San Rafael, California

See all

We always go to Emma's when we're craving Chinese food . Good flavors and the right price . The orders are big. Our favorites are the the black bean prawns, chow fun noodles and Mongolian beef, all delicious! We usually order to take out but have also eaten there. If you're craving for Chinese food, Emma's is the place to go! read more

Good food, and very very nice service. We tried the lunch specials that were all good across the board Portions are huge, maybe they can make it bit smaller as they serve some delicious soup to start with as well read more

Ordered takeout last night for the first time. I like to wait and see how the leftovers hold up and we were not disappointed. The Mongolian Beef was tender and delicious. The S&S Chicken was full of nice chunks of chicken and also delicious. Kung Pao Chicken was great. Chicken pot stickers were perfect. The Crab Puffs could use a little more filling but were very tasty. I would prefer the Vegetable Chow Mein have a little more spice but that would be personal preference cause it was still tasty. Very nice food and will be at the top of our take out list from now on. read more

Frequent diner at this restaurant. It has maintained high quality food and service. Highly recommend it Johan Frey read more

Takeout dinner consisted of candied walnut prawns, garlic eggplant, princess chicken, sweet & sour pork, ginger sole filet, and combo crispy noodles. For the most part, everything was well seasoned and prepared. The candied walnut prawns dish was one of the best that we have had in quite awhile. The other dishes met our expectations with the exception of the following dishes: The portion of fish in the ginger sole filet dish was a bit small and pieces were battered and fried which distracted from the main focus on the fish. Using larger portions and braising the fish would probably improve this dish. The combo crispy noodle dish could be improved by increasing the amount of noodles which were not in proportion to the other ingredients and sauce. Food came out of the kitchen right on time and was piping hot. Will definitely return to try some of the other dishes. read more

Emma's restaurant is a hidden gem! I've dined here with my mom and the staff were very attentive to our requests. The food itself was incredible! I got the garlic eggplant and my mom got the orange chicken. Both were excellent! The vibe was very relaxed. I love how it's cozy and dark with ambient lighting from the overhead lights and the neon light in the back for aesthetic photos! I'd highly recommend! read more

Emma's Restaurant - Garlic Eggplant over Noodles - Chinese Near Me - San Rafael, California

See all

Went here with my wife and friends after a long road trip. Our food was served fast despite ordering 5 different meals and all tasted great. Staff were nice and approachable too. Place is clean as well and the place overall was great. Would definitely come back if i am craving for Chinese food. read more

Good, not great. Decided to try Emma's after reading the reviews and had a mixed experience. Some of the items were quite good, others not so much. We started with an appetizer sampler: loved the pot stickers and crab Rangoon, did not love the spring rolls (some weird flavor/spice added) and the chicken wings were just ok. Tried two entrees: the princess chicken and the mixed veggies. The chicken was described as a tender savory dish with crispy chicken: I can forgive the sogginess of the chicken as it was delivery, and I'm sure it would have been crisper if I'd dined in; but the chicken was overcooked and anything but tender. The mixed veggies were quite good, however - no complaints at all. There were a good mix of vegetables in a garlic white wine sauce. It was probably the best thing we ordered. We'll try Emma's again, concentrating on sautéed items and staying away from anything fried. The latter doesn't seem to be their strength. read more

Service was fast and helpful. Ordered magnolia beef for lunch special. It was a bit too salty. Family member ordered lamb curry and meat was too tough while lamb ginger was tender. Portions were decent read more

The calamari was so hard it broke the fork. It was terribly over salted, which concerns me as excess salt is sometimes used to mask the freshness of meat or seafood. I hope in-house dining guests have better experiences because I had heard good things about this restaurant. read more

I've lived in Marin for the past 5 years after moving from SF, and I remember searching for a good Chinese restaurant when I first got here. That's when I stumbled upon Emma's Restaurant -- and honestly, it's by far the best Chinese restaurant I've had in Marin. The food is always flavorful, comforting, and consistently good. Definitely one of those spots that became a go-to after the first visit. read more

The quality of their meats and vegetables are very good. We ordered black pepper beef chow mein, princess chicken, walnut prawns, 3 pepper lamb, potsticker, and BBQ pork egg foo young. Every dish but the egg foo young was really good. You could tell they care about the quality and amount of meat they put in their dishes. My favorite was the 3 pepper lamb. So delicious! I did not care for their preparation of egg foo young. The gravy was very runny and I prefer when it is prepared as smaller separate omelets instead of one big one. The bbq pork on it was very good though so I picked it out and mixed it with my chow mein. read more

This was my first time going here and I was very impressed! The food came out within 10-15min after ordering and on top of that the food was amazing. I would also add the portions are huge. read more

Really enjoyed the food, service, and ambiance. Looking forward to trying more menu items. Our server, Helen, was friendly and super helpful. Emma's restaurant is located in the old Ping's building and has not updated the signage, so you might miss it if you're driving by. The only branding I saw from the outside was the word "Emma's" on the attached mailbox. We had pork potstickers, fried chicken wings, wor wonton soup, combo fried rice, and sweet & sour chicken. We loved the chicken wings. They were crunchy and golden and had plenty of chicken. The sweet & sour chicken was also delicious! It was hearty and not overly breaded or fatty. The potstickers had a good filling, but the outer dough was a bit thicker than I generally prefer. The combo fried rice did not seem to include any pork, and there were only 3 pieces of shrimp. The slices of chicken and beef in the rice and soup were very thinly sliced, and there was plenty of it. The wonton soup had plenty of wontons and cabbage, as well. The interior was nice and had plenty of seating. We were greeted and seated right away, and the staff was super attentive. There was ample parking, and we were not rushed to pay. Overall, really nice experience. read more

The food was good, wish there was some gluten free options though. Service was good too, give a shout out to Jeff.

Arrived quickly and hot and delivery followed instructions. Large servings. Hot and sour soup - very good, nice peppery and sour taste, with large slivers of tofu, chunks of chicken. Bamboo shoots. Emma's rice - combo. Shrimp did not taste fresh and had an overly fishy odor. BBQ pork with green beans - where was the BBQ pork? What was served tasted as overly cooked, dry, roasted, not BBQ pork. Green beans were crispy. Honey walnut prawns - nice crust on the shrimp, but walnuts not packed separately so somewhat soggy. Orange flavor beef --- tender beef, good quantity, orange slices, fairly attractively prepared, but overly mild Chicken with snow peas - good dish, snow peas crispy and chicken juicy. If one compares the menus, you will see that Emma's is very similar, if not largely the same, as Ping's. You will also see numerous items on the Emma's actual menu (winter melon soup for example) are not on the delivery service menu. We tried Emma's to see if is better than Ping's. Unfortunately, due to the problems noted above, it is not, and is a little bit less than Ping's. read more

Not impressed at all., food was extremely over salted or had MSG added to it., anyhow I mentioned this to the waitress. They didn't seem concerned., nothing was comped at all. I just now know, I won't be eating here again. I usually go to Little Mandarin., but the ambiance is nicer here., and that's why I decided to try it. However better quality food outweighs the ambiance here. And the ambiance is okay, not anything to rave about at all. I got the feeling this place wants to be a modern Chinese restaurant. Especially with the way the egg rolls were presented. Half of the egg roll is missing and just the roll used as a handle of the roll?? :) read more

Been ordering take-out since their on-line ordering system went live. Oh-em-geeeeeee, talk about exceptional Chinese food. The chow fun (thick noodles) and tomato beef chowmein are outstanding. The lunch specials include an egg roll. All the entrees are full of flavor, and if you like spicy, get the Mongolian beef. Great Chinese food needs the following: - fair pricing - good portions - delicious food Can't wait to dine-in to see the remodel. These Chefs are OG's for real; they truly know what they're doing. I asked about happy hour in the near future, and that may be coming soon. 'Til next time ~ cheers and see you on Yelp (YELP)! read more

One of the many things I learned while living in San Francisco, is that everyone has a favorite, local, "insert your ethnicity here" restaurant. After the closing of our favorite Chinese spot in Mill Valley, we've been on the search for a reliably good Chinese restaurant in Marin as our "go-to." Emma's meets that criteria. They have a fairly traditional menu which is fine - it covers most of our favorites. Portions are generous, and are clearly made it order since they are always hot. The staff is very friendly and the service is great. It didn't make more than a couple of visits before we were recognized as regulars. The interior hasn't changed much since it was Ping's, but it is clean and presentable. read more

This restaurant has amazingly tasting good food. The service is nice the ambience well it's right a small shopping center if they are in a big shopping center that we just a successful. read more

Great service, portion size and VALUE! I always get their coupon card for $100 -- gives me $120 worth of food! The owners and staff are very friendly. We always get the "War Won Ton Soup" as well, so filling with everything in it. Delish! read more

Emma's Restaurant - Hosting "Comedy Nights" starting in March 2025. - Chinese Near Me - San Rafael, California

See all

The sign on the wall reads "innovation meets tradition" there's nothing innovative or traditional about using frozen egg rolls and potstickers out of the bag. Food was serviceable. read more

We were a party of 5, and each ordered a dish, plus soup. All were delicious, and very generous portions. It's old-fashioned, mostly-Cantonese style Chinese restaurant food, but some with modern tweaks, like mango chicken. There's an adequate array of spicy options, some with whole chiles. The hot and sour soup is hearty and flavorful - one friend uses that dish as a test of Chinese restaurant quality, and Emma's passed! The best thing was the service, and the fact that the staff allowed us to sit and visit with each other long after we finished our meal, with no interruption or sign of irritation. I love them for that. read more

I was really hopeful, given reviews, but was disappointed. Food was not poor, but mediocre. Lamb and beef dishes were virtually indistinguishable. Food was bland -- sauces tasted the same. And one dish we ordered did not arrive. Sorry. read more

Delicious lunch and reasonable prices. Service was great and waiter explained menu items clearly.

Delicious food, calm ambiance. Very clean and cute decoration. Was a lovely lunch at Emma's.

Pretty good place, came here on a Sunday got pot stickers, orange beef, sweet and sour pork and Combo fried rice. The potstickers were star of the show in my opinion and we devoured them instantly. The fried rice was also very good and had smoke flavor, Orange beef was nice and crispy. Sweet and sour pork is a pass though. read more

Been to this place a few times now over the past year. It's in a little nondescript strip mall. (The awning still says Pings) Emma's is quality good Chinese food. Does lots of take out but I enjoy eating in. Nice place, does comedy shows I believe. Very nice folks there and great they can figure out what we want if we ask for something not on the menu. Food, the reason I go back. Portions good, quality ingredients, cooked right. I've tried many different dishes from green beans, chow mein, various fish and meat dishes. I've not been disappointed in any dish! Some of the best Chinese in the county! read more

See all

We ordered take out: war won ton soup; BBQ pork buns; sweet & sour pork; and steamed vegetables with prawns (no sauce). Our order was ready on time and exactly as we requested. One tip for Emma's would be to have people opt in for packages of soy sauce and plasticware. Re: the utensils--bamboo and other organic ones are available and packaged in a sanitary wrapper. Two unwrapped plastic forks tossed in by hand doesn't seem sanitary. About sanitary: when I walked in to retrieve my order, no one was in front. I headed to the back to use the restroom. There was a large table covered with two piles of green beans and a pile of bean tips. The table had no special covering and a brown paper bag was on one side. I proceeded to the back where a man came out of the restroom. He didn't lower the seat or flush! Nor did he wash his hands. He was the front desk worker, I discovered when I went back to pay for my food. We decided to reheat everything a lot! The soup was good. The buns were okay. The veggies & prawns were filled with beautiful, fresh veggies and mushrooms and a half dozen small prawns. The pork was tough but okay. The two fortune cookies were very stale. We will likely try it again. Everything was okay -- portions are generous and if I'd not had such an off-putting experience inside, I'd probably feel better about it. read more