Listen--this place holds a special place in my heart. I think it's the only place in the Olympia/Lacey area where you can get actual chow mein, by which I mean bean sprouts and celery in a sort of gravy sauce with a bag of crunchy noodles to put on top. When I need chow mein, I go here. I'm not a fan of most of their other dishes, but their veggie dishes are yummy. I grew up in a small town where folks had STRONG feelings about their American Chinese food, which feels like a rapidly disappearing business model in this part of Washington for some reason. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE some good authentic Szechuan food or dim sum, but this place serves a very specific, important utility for me (hungover and/or spending the day on the couch watching movies) read more

not sure how this rating evolved but we still love Emperor's Palace Westside! Best Chinese food in the area from an asian perspective.

When in Olympia for various family-related business, I often stop in here for lunch - and, so far, I've yet to be disappointed. I usually order the teriyaki chicken lunch without sauce (too much and too sweet), which leaves me with a nice sized portion of grilled chicken breast, as well as pork fried rice, thin soft noodle chow mein, and a cup of whatever the soup of the day happens to be - today, a thick creamy curry rice concoction that was simple but pleasantly tasty. Lunch prices seem a mite high - $17.99 - until they arrive, when you learn that they're huge and offer enough for a decent leftovers dinner as well. Service is always friendly and efficient and I usually find myself dining in a room full of people of my general mid-60s demographic. Is it gourmet? No. Is it tasty? You bet! Do I actually set aside enough to bring home to eat later? No, I just tend to keep eating until it's all gone and then just skip dinner. read more

This is the WORST food I have ever had. I don't know who is cooking this food but they don't have a clue what is edible. The fried rice was hard as if it was days old. The sauces were so glutinous (shivers) I paid $25 x 2 for combo meals and neither of us ate anything. The waiters didn't ask why, they just cleared the plates. This place was so bad it wasn't worth arguing about. The tea, undrinkable. This place is a crime read more

The potstickers were good, but the hot and sour soup was gelatinous with way too much cornstarch and the Emperors Beef was extremely sweet

This is one of the better Chinese restaurants in the area. If you like Cantonese style Chinese Cuisine, you will like it here. My roommate and I have been here twice now and loved it both times. The service was excellent on both occasions which were during the dinner rush, once on a Saturday evening. The BBQ pork fried rice is some of the best I've ever had. There's a flavor in there I remember from having Chinese cuisine as a kid. I can't identify it, but it's the best kind. The Chow Mein has lots of veggies, and crunchy noodles underneath. You can ask for no crunchy noodles if you wish. The sauce on the Chow Mein is pretty good but not the best I've had. The Almond Fried Chicken is top tier, excellent. The chicken was tender, the breading was crunchy, and the gravy had excellent flavor with lots of almond crumbles. The Mongolian beef had a nice flavor but needed to be spicier. The menu said it was spicy, but I need it spicier than this was. The table next to us had what looked to be an excellent dessert. Between our visits we also tried both Egg Drop and Won Ton soup. I preferred the Won Ton out of the two but both were good. We also tried chicken pot stickers, BBQ Pork, Egg Rolls and Spring Rolls. All of these were excellent, although on our second visit the BBQ was a little tough... it was wonderfully tender on our first visit. One tip I have is that they need some sweet chili sauce, or sweet chili style sweet and sour for dipping the egg rolls and spring rolls. They brought me chili oil which was not what I really wanted. The ambiance is nice, and the lobby has a beautiful tropical aquarium with many fish. We met the manager and she was very friendly and talkative as well. Not quite 5 stars, but I cannot believe the other low ratings we've seen. That was definitely not our experience and WE WILL BE BACK! read more

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I spent $100 and nobody asked me for a glass of water. I watched one of the managers walked past me as he was drunk and he was very fun with people that were drunk as well. read more

Emperor's Palace Westside - Overpriced food that does not mean expectations If anyone wants listening, please don't don't get disappointed like I did - Chinese Near Me - Olympia, Washington

All the dish's we've ever had are very tasty! Excellent & Friendly service. Loved the Teriyaki chicken.

My wife and I and are 14 month baby had dinner here tonight. Personally, I thought the food and the portions and the prices were pretty good, and the staff was very friendly and checked in on us often. The staff was very gracious and brought us some extra stuff baby, such as a paper plate and some extra silverware.. I think all three of us had a good time and good eating and good atmosphere.. read more

Emperor's Palace Westside - Fresh rolls, BBQ pork and some wonton soup.. - Chinese Near Me - Olympia, Washington

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I was welcomed and sat at a nice booth. The restaurant was noticeably clean, even all the windows and ledges. My waiter, Freeman was so warm and welcoming and recommended several options for my lunch. He quickly brought me hot tea and ice water. From the time I ordered it wasn't long and I had a cup of hot steaming soup. Delicious. I ordered a plate lunch with general Tsos chicken and longing noodles. It also came with pork fried rice that was actually fried rice. Very generous portions and I ate about half. Everything was delicious and I especially appreciated the superior service I received today. I highly recommend this restaurant and I will return next time I am in Olympia. Thank you!!! read more

Great food, great service. The prices have gone up, but it's still great food! We got 3 dinner combos. 2x number 1: Pork Egg Foo Yung. 1x number 2: Almond Chicken. We usually get hard noodles with the chow mein, but got soft this time. It was great! Pan fried and delicious. read more

Emperor's Palace never disappoints! The food is fresh, flavorful, and always hits the spot. The staff is kind and attentive, and the whole place has a warm, welcoming vibe. Definitely one of my go-to spots, highly recommend! read more

Very disappointed. This was Chinese food in name only. Bland, and nowhere near what I've eaten elsewhere. I doubt the chef is Chinese.

Sugary American "Chinese" food and not even the good kind. Don't even bother. No flavor. And they use fake soy sauce in everything (the cheap kind with hydrolyzed soy protein and not brewed naturally. You can taste it.) read more

This place tasted like a non-chinese-american person cooking chinese-american food. A bit strange but it wasn't a bad meal.

Had a solo lunch at The Emperor's Palace near the mall in Olympia. I hadn't been there in years and was pleased to find it bright and clean. The fish tank that greets you in the lobby could use a good cleaning tho. They have some beautiful colorful fish in that tank but it looked kind of murky and boring. Poor, bored fish! I decided on one of their combo meals, asking to substitute the almond chicken for some teriyaki chicken instead. The waitress was very sweet and accommodating. I decided on the combo with General Tzo's Chicken, fried rice, teriyaki chicken and a spring roll. I also ordered a half portion of the crab puffs as an appetizer. The crab puffs were hot and full of cheese. I couldn't really taste the crab, tho. They were tasty, don't get me wrong, but definitely lacking in the fake crab used in these appetizers. My food came out quickly after the crab puffs, hot and fresh. Overall, the meal was pleasant. Nothing outstanding in any of the dishes, tho. The General Tzo's was extremely mild in spicing, which some people may like. I do like a bit more heat in my General Tzo's. The teriyaki was tasty, as were the rice and the spring roll. A solid, filling lunch, with hints of mediocrity. Nothing special or outstanding. If you're looking for a simple Chinese lunch, this delivered. If you want something that really wow's your tastebuds, then you may want to try someplace else. The waitress and other staff were excellent. Nice, polite and very accommodating. 5 stars for service but 3.5 for the food. I gave an overall 4 star rating, mostly based on the service. read more

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The walnut prawns are amazing!!! My mother and I have meals delivered about once a week, and have NEVER been disappointed.

Ordered drinks and food at the waiter's first stop. Took 20 minutes for drinks to come. After 45 minutes we still did not have our food so we asked to pay for the soda so we could leave--took ten minutes for them to come back just to say we didn't have to pay for the soda. Talked to the manager on the way out and were told they are not short staffed in the restaurant or the kitchen. Just zero excuse for poor service. read more

The older I get, the more I prefer take out. First, I have to say that Emperor's Palace food is good, but not for the prices good. Is it the economy? Minimum wage laws? The fact that they're one of the few Chinese food restaurants in town where you can count on consistency? I don't know. What I do know is that I mostly order three entree's to go. Chicken low mein, chicken chow mein, and sweet & sour chicken. Okay, I like chicken. I went there on Christmas Eve and my bill was $56. Sticker shock. I'm to the point where the food is not worth the price and will likely go less, if at all. I made that same decision with Olive Garden years ago. I don't like paying for over priced pasta. Now, I don't like paying for over priced Chinese food. Since I mostly order take out, i'm going to try market deli's for Chinese food. The quality seems to be the same, but that's a topic for another review. Like I said, it's okay but it doesn't reach the value price point. There are too many other options for take out. I'm not talking about fast food though. I don't eat in the restaurant because I don't care for the ambiance. It's a personal preference, not the restaurant's fault. For take out food, I'd give Panda Express a higher rating for quality. read more

What happened? This place use to have great food with fresh flavor & the last 3x it is bland. 2 basic entrees & an app (wings) at $60 plus tip & tax is not worth it. I wanted soup but that was ridiculous priced so I passed , fortunately. So disappointing read more

Drive to the coast and back, stopped by the Emperors Palace before the last leg back to a Federal Way. Didn't expect much and read some negative reviews. As soon as we entered the front entrance we were met with two staff who were waiting for our reservations as we called 10 minutes prior. Both staff were very welcoming and greeted us with positive energy and sat us at our table after discussing our day and what dishes they recommended. A soon as they sat us down our hostess had the same energy and answered all questions we had with the best attitude that I've seen for some time. She too had recommended a few of her favorite dishes and we tried what they proposed. The food came out hot and it was the probably the best Chinese food we've had in years. Seriously, I don't know what happened with the people who posted negative reviews but in no way could it have been the same staff that we were treated with tonight. There was five of us tonight and the bill was only $60 bucks. I look at the receipt twice and showed my wife and in laws. For all the food we were served and the absolute best taste, with the best customer service in years, you can't beat the price. We told them hands down when passing thru again we will be stopping by for another meal!! We truly appreciate this place and thank you again for your awesome customer service!! read more

Emperors Palace is not what you consider good or palatable Chinese food. Most dishes are identical in sauce, or vegetables. Dishes such as General Tso chicken have vegetables in it - that should never happen. Same with many similar dishes. They would benefit by having their main chef spending some time in Seattles international district and revamping their recipes. read more

Add my name to the list of disappointed customers. I've been craving General Tso's chicken and it looked very tempting on the menu. Unfortunately, the chicken was chewy and the sauce was overly sweet. Paying $20 for such disappointing food made my first and most likely last experience with Emperor's Palace very difficult to swallow. read more

I don't enjoy writing bad reviews. We avoided trying this place for years but today went lazy and ordered delivery. It's the worst "Chinese" food we've ever had. We read the reviews so ordered easy stuff. Haggen's Mongolian beef is far superior. Dry chewy beef in flavorless sauce, even the cooked onions were sad. Pork fried rice was so dry I swear I saw dust . The worst was the won ton soup. I'd describe the broth as tasting beige. Won ton was okay. Never again. We've been all over China and to Taiwan and lived in two cities with large Chinese populations. The stuff from Emperors Palace doesn't resemble any Chinese food I've ever had. I'm glad they can make a living at it though. It arrived fast and hot so one star for that read more

It's been a few years since I've eaten here so I decided to order take out for the family and overall, the food quality was pretty dang good and quite satisfying. I got Orange Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork, Cashew Vegetables with Tofu, and Krab Won Tons. Loved the Sweet and Sour Pork, it was cooked just right and delivered hearty chunks of meat with most of the pieces. The Cashew Veggie Tofu combo was a good side. The tofu had a firm outside with a soft inside which I enjoyed along with the yummy variety of veggies. The Won Tons were bomb! Crispy and crunchy outside with that deliciously warm cream cheese filling.. mmm, it was a a big winner. Only bit of criticism I have is about the Orange Chicken. The sauce was a little lackluster and didn't have a very strong flavor. And sometimes I'd bite into a piece but I wouldn't get any meat and just end up getting skin. But overall I still had a great dinner. I'd order from here again but skip the Orange Chicken and maybe try a spicy entree next time. I'd recommend giving this place a shot of you haven't eaten here before. read more

Emperor's Palace Westside - Orange Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork, Cashew Vegetables with Tofu, Krab Won Tons. - Chinese Near Me - Olympia, Washington

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Very disappointing and expensive. I chose curbside pick up and was charged .08 for the bag the food was in! Seriously? The combo lunch #5 with pork egg foo yung, pork fried rice, chicken chow mein and crunchy noodles was all slopped together into one take out container so by the time I got it home and dished it out everything had the sauce from the egg foo yung all over it, the crispy noodles I ordered were a soggy and wet (from chow mein) mess and overall the food didn't taste great. They use a spice that overwhelmed the flavor of anything else, I think it was from the sauce. I paid (along with the ridiculous .08) $19.38 and feel I just threw that money away ... since I won't eat this, I guess I did throw the money away. As an added insult the fortune cookie also was lousy. read more

Our favorite Chinese restaurant for sure! Great quality, great portions and great employees! We will for sure be back again and again. Our go to place :) read more

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Just okay, not a Chinese person in sight. The Almond Chicken is a C+. The Sweet and Sour chicken was kind of odd. What part of the chicken is that? read more

Out favorite chinese!definatly our go to.We drive all the way from tacoma to come everytime :) read more

Emperor's Palace Westside - Cashew chicken - Chinese Near Me - Olympia, Washington

I take no joy in writing bad reviews. This is the worst Chinese food I've had in 15 years. Tried it all, zero winners. The only reason I didn't give it 1 star is because the people were nice and I haven't gotten sick yet. If nothing else, Panda Express is nearby and it's faster, cheaper, and MUCH better. That's without getting into real Chinese restaurants. read more

The food really had no taste. I ordered almond chicken and it was Tasteless. Luckily the sauce is in an individual container. I added garlic salt, pepper, and curry powder along with ginger and cumin. I made it a form of curry. The eggrolls were so so the sweet-and-sour sauce was too sweet. read more

Great place to bring kids or eat as a group. The portions are good sized and pretty inexpensive. The ambiance is 1980's Chinese food with big booths so be ready for the throw-back. Vegetarian and gluten-free menus on request. Pop in when you like as reservations are not required. Check out Emperor's Palace if you want a low-key dinner without breaking the bank. read more

Yes Good food Great service Love this place Always want to come here when I go to Westside Olympia read more

I wanted this to be good. Came in for the first time hoping for something more substantial than Panda Express. First off, the service was excellent... fast, friendly and courteous. However, as others noted, there's a sickly sweet element to all of their recipes. Lemon chicken was crisp & tender but had the flavor of a melted lollipop. Similarly, the sweet & sour pork tasted like funnel cake with strawberry sauce. The bbq pork in the rice is a nice idea, but both the fried rice and noodles had a whiff of smoky dank basement infused in them. Sorry, this place needs an executive chef to reformulate the dishes with added complexity ... more umami, less candy coatings and less funk in the sides. read more

This review is for takeout. While visiting Olympia recently I stopped in for the famous almond chicken. And I'm so glad I did! We are from Olympia and now live in Las Vegas so when we visit we have a list of food to eat. This one is always among that list! They package everything so well to travel home with and it stays hot and fresh. Seriously, your moth will thank you if you get the almond chicken but you may be sad when you can't find it anywhere else. read more

DO NOT PLACE AN ORDER ONLINE THROUGH THERE ORDERING SERVICE. I understand that restaurants have added fees for using door dash but when the staff can't figure out there own delivery system then why not use door dash? I placed an order through there site and got a confirmation email saying my food would be delivered around 6. I called at 630 and spoke with 3 employees who couldn't fine me order despite having an order #. Finally they found my order- which hadn't been started. Had 3 kids waiting for food screaming and had to cancel the order as it was going to be another hour. Can't touch base on the food because they didn't prepare it. Very disappointed. read more

With a heavy heart I give a two star review. And I only gave two stars because one of those stars is because you can order online. I ordered my first time through the Yelp app and I got vegetable mei fun & vegetable fried rice. The price was pretty standard for the meal which was about $20-$30 for two items. It was ready in about 20 minutes which was great and it looked somewhat visually appealing. The mei fun was really oily and really didn't have a lot of flavor. It did have a lot of vegetables which was great, but the appeal of the vegetables was kind of spoiled by the overall oiliness of the whole package. It almost seemed like the vegetables were....juicy. I'm not making claims, but my stomach did feel a little unsettled after eating a few bites of the mei fun. The vegetable fried rice was also reasonable but not much to really remarked upon. It's just vegetable fried rice so that's hard to mess up. Also, when people exit the adjoining lounge they kind of cloister in the lobby area where people pick up food which kind of gives the place the feel that it's busy, but it really isn't. Also, if people are just standing around talking from the lounge, they should go outside or move to one side of the lobby so other people waiting to be seated or picking up food don't stand there waiting in a group of people who aren't eating. I really can't see myself returning here for food and I most definitely wouldn't sit down and stay for the dining experience. I had been wanting to try this place for a while despite the other one or two star reviews since you sometimes can't judge a book by it's cover. I wish I would have left this book in the bargain bin and just drove past the bookstore. read more

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If soup comes w your meal when you eat in , why not when you order to go ! Very good food. But to go orders should be the same service . When asked about soup . Phone person answered very rude and cut you off .. read more

Egg roll and crispy egg rolls were cold. Pork fried rice wasn't great either. At first, I couldn't see any pork in it. I probably wouldn't leave a review for just that but I ordered online and picked up and between bag fees, an open food charge, and the fried rice being $1 more - an extra $4.08 was added to my bill. I won't be going back. read more

Food has gone way downhill. Used to get takeout from here often. Our son love it. We tried it last month and it was awful. Almond chicken just crammed into the box so it was all broken up. Greasy batter on the prawns, broccoli beef had huge pieces of meat that were tough and hard to cut. Will not try it again. read more