Must try! Hidden Gem in Santee, CA. Service - prompt, friendly, packed our food for us. Timely service with no long wait. Food portions were generous and satisfying. Prices felt fair and worth it. Clean and well-kept environment. Just make sure toiletries are stocked Food was excellent -- generous meat portions, tender yet crispy orange chicken with balanced flavor. Rice was fluffy and filling. Hot and sour soup was a standout, especially for the price. **Overall: 10/10** Dad approved read more

Lucky Chinese Food - Located in Santee, Ca - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

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So, I have ordered and even dined-in at this restraunt with my wife and kids for the past few years. But tonight changed a lot of that. So, to start, my wife will occasionally get treated rather well at the restraunt; she was even given a few freebies while she was pregnant with our twins, so I usually thought rather well of this place, but every time I go, the treatment is different (maybe because I am not a tiny little Asian woman, who knows) but anyways, I go there tonight and I order roughly 120$ in food, and that's where things go south. First they charge me 1.50 for asking for my rice noodles without curry (my wife dislikes curry), which I am used to, but I think might offend them. From there, there is some confusion about my order. They almost forget one of my sides in the proccess, and forgot I ordered fried wontons, but again, that is NOT why I am leaving this review. I am leaving this review because of what happened in all this... So, to begin, I ordered off the menu because I wanted my food fresh, but still, they grabbed all our sides and two of my entrees right out of the to go bar; which would be fine EXCEPT the food on the menu is more expensive because it is FRESH, and not soggy or soft from sitting in a metal tray for like an hour and a half! The next thing that happens is while trying to find out about my wantons they: GO THROUGH MY FOOD. They literally touched all my fried items with ungloved hands while I am sitting there at the waiting table with them; trying to figure out their mistake like I was trying to steal food from them. The kicker being that they forgot to charge the wontons! So instead of being like: 'sorry about the inconvenience', they straight up go: 'oh hey, let us charge you for those after we touched all your food'. Needless to say, I was a bit aghast by all this, but what was worse than the service is the fact that the cook purposefully gave my wife bland unseasoned noodles because I asked for then with 'no curry' as if paying an extra 1.50 wasn't enough, they had to also be like: 'screw your taste buds for not liking our spices!' I mean, none of this was necessary, and it all felt pretty gross and rude by the end as I just took my food and left. All that said, my wife was pretty disappointed to hear about this and thinks we may need to find a new chinese place which really sucks. Yeah... but giving me old food, messing up my order, not preparing my food right (even after they charged extra for it), and touching my food makes me realize it's probably for the best. But hey, at least they remembered to charge me fried wontons, customer always comes last, you know? read more

Went to try Lucky today based on some friends' recommendation. I've been searching for 35 years for good Chinese and Szechuan places to dine here in San Diego. But, racked up another fail. We ordered the Kung Pao Chicken and General Tso Chicken dishes. The portion size was tremendous and came with noodles or rice of your choice. But, who wants a lot of just bad food? The K Pao was very strange, including in it were peanuts, red and green peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms!?? I would'nt have minded that it wasn't the traditional green onion and peanuts if only it had tasted good. I felt that if I ate too much of it I might become ill. The sauce was very strange. I think they use a weird kind of oil, or maybe the sauce was old. The chow mein noodles that came with the dish WERE old. They had a gooey, sticky consistancy, with again the taste of old oil or something. The G Tso was better, but not by much. The pieces of chicken were huge and there was probably 1/2 a chicken on the plate. It was sprinkled with a few green onions. This came with Singapore noodles which were a little better than the chow mein, but they looked like they had come from a cheap ramen bag. My plate was dirty and I had to ask for a new one. My husband's legs were getting bit by some insect under the table. We moved to a table close to the windows and they were pretty dirty, and flies. Probably could have ignored all of this if the food was any good! The people here were very friendly, and we had high hopes since it was recommended. But, I can't recommend it. It was not Szechuan in any way, and the ingredients were not fresh. I wish people from Viet Nam or other areas of Asia would stick to what they know and what they are good at. I would love a good Vietnamese restaurant in the east county. One that comes to mind is Pho Van in Santee, but we could use others as the Vietnamese cuisine is huge. I'm simply looking for authentic, fresh food, with care in the cooking of it. I am spoiled I guess because I grew up in the Bay area where good Chinese and Szechuan food is there to be had. I will continue my quest in San Diego for good Chinese and Asian food, and let you know what I find. read more

I've always opted for takeout from this place, but today, my husband and I decided to enjoy a late lunch on-site for the first time. We were thrilled with the experience! The server was fantastic, and the food was simply delicious. I'm already planning to return with my adult children; they'll be happy to try the dine here. It was a wonderful first dine-in experience! read more

Lucky Chinese Food - Walnut Shrimp - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

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This is my in-laws' favorite Chinese restaurant in the area. They enjoy the pork fried rice especially and like the pricing. We got to try this place out with them recently and wow, you really do get a bang out of your buck here with the portions! Every entree, which includes your choice of rice, chow mein, or Singapore noodles, had enough to feed two or three people for the price of one. I personally ate my chicken entree between two meals and my husband snuck a good portion too. The restaurant was clean and comfortable. The service was great too, and we enjoyed everything we had here (orange chicken, black pepper chicken, and egg drop soup). read more

Lucky Chinese Food - Egg drop soup, Singapore noodles, orange chicken, pork fried rice - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

I just love this place. Absolutely the best Chinese food in town. The staff is super friendly and prices are very reasonable. Love you guys!!! read more

Expensive puke session!!! Wife and I stopped here after church on Sunday about 1pm. No lines waiting to order but there were a few people dining inside. Being our first time here, we found the menu was easy to understand. We both ordered a 2 entree plate. I got double grilled chicken and chow mien. My wife ordered some sort of yellow rice noodles with beef and broccoli and some other dish with chicken and mushrooms. My plate looked good as it was being packed for take out, however while kitchen man was refilling the warming trays at the ordering counter, the lady server was digging from the bottom of the pile. The chicken she placed in my container was so hard that I couldn't chew it. It had to be sitting there for days. I mean I had leftover bbq before and it wasn't this hard and dry. The noodles seemed mixed with fresh and old, texture did not match at all. The taste was bland, texture was awful, and prices were ridiculously high. The wife took 2 bites of her combo plate and fed the rest to the squirrels in our backyard. It was a soggy mess of basically a soup now. I ended up vomiting a few times, spending the rest of the day and night water fasting. $30 later-we learned we will NEVER return here. I should have listened to my wife when she said let's go to Panda X! Long story but very necessary... 1) STAY AWAY FROM HERE 2) LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE This is tuition...we paid to learn. read more

Lucky Chinese Food - Old stale leftover food - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

1st time here! Very interesting set up, you can do traditiona  take out  or dine in. Portions are generous, I must say eating this chinese food felt nostalgic, the food had a lot of flavor and wasn't bland like a lot of chinese take out nowadays. I did have some strong bowel movements after eating the food lol but I'd give it another shot! read more

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Food is yummy .. my husband loves coming here the food portions are worth the price would recommend

I'm always really skeptical trying new Chinese since it always seems to be hit or miss.. but this place HIT the salt and pepper wings on the head they were so bomb! I also got the crab rangoons and they were also perfection The wings were Crispy, flavorful and they're to go service was perfect timing. Will return! Thank you! read more

Absolutely bomb! So much bang for your buck, quantity is crazy generous. Service is great. Dine in or take out. Lots of seating to accommodate all party sizes. Lots of food options to choose from. My opinion, I'd choose this place over panda, yes! I said that. Orange chicken and pepper beef were my fav. Literally got two huge plates with two entrees for only $27, you can't beat that! read more

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Want good and flavorful Chinese food, give Lucky Chinese food a try. The service is always friendly as you walk in. The atmosphere is a chill laid-back type of vibe. The food is made fresh and is served right in front of you. They give you tons of food that is definitely worth the price. One entrée with two meats can definitely feed two people. But if you're really hungry, don't share that's your business. This establishment is within a plaza center where there's plenty of parking. The price is affordable and the taste is good. My go to favs are the orange chicken, teriyaki chicken, egg drop , beef and broccoli, and the really skinny noodles as a base for my entrée. Give them a try if ever in the Santee area. read more

This place is a regular for us whenever we're craving Chinese food. Convenient location in Santee. Never too crowded for dine in (line is usually out the door for takeout). And service is always fast and on point. I was craving salt and pepper green beans - and to my surprise, Lucky had them! And they were so good. Lots of garlic, green onion, and jalapeño pieces all over - though not spicy. Right amount of crisp when it's fresh. This was my first time trying the salt and pepper wings. They were very big in size - the menu said it came with 8. I thought the plate had 12, but I counted and it was indeed 8 - just large wings. A little too salty for me, but great crunch and flavor. We've been here so many times over the years and everything is good. We've often go for the beef and broccoli, Beijing beef, orange chicken, egg drop soup. Great food, great service. read more

Lucky Chinese Food - Salt and pepper green beans + salt and pepper chicken wings - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

We chose table service; there is also a line for ordering a la Pandas. The walnut shrimp was comme il faut, but I did not care for the almond chicken as it had a slightly off flavor as if the wok had been used for shrimp just before. It did have nice celery slices and a generous amount of almonds. My wife ordered a side "noodles" and maybe that's what I got, but it was just chow mein noodles. If we had half stars it would be 3.5. read more

Lucky Chinese Food - The to-go area - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

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I really liked this spot, the food was really good. The service was fast and friendly. It's just as what you'd expect a good Chinese restaurant to be. They even had this food bar? Like Panda Express where you go down the line next to the main seating area for those who just want the food to go. It was really good Chinese food and the area was clean. read more

I picked up some wings for a party and they were really delicious (even though they had to sit for a bit before we got to eat them) -- still super crispy and flavorful I was kind of confused when I got in but there's an Order sign and a Pick up sign (for the to go part of the restaurant) read more

Don't don't don't , bugs on the floor under the bench ! Went to pick up for an elderly lady ! read more

My Boss recommended this place over Panda Express and I had to try it. The beautiful staff were really nice and friendly. They recommended to try the BBQ Pork and ever since then, I've been obsessed. They are conveniently located next to my gym and so I've made a routine to go there for my Chinese food fixation. 10/10 read more

Huge servings, friendly service, good food, spacious restaurant with take out counter - 10/10 would recommend read more

Lucky Chinese Food - A mountain of orange chicken - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

Great food thank you This is my go to place for Chinese food in United States. Highly recommend read more

11/23/2025 - I haven't been here in a year. Here we go. I tried to call for literally 45 minutes to order an item to go. No one picked up and the audio call goes to a voice mail. I decided to drive there. Standing in line it was chaos. I called them while I was in the store in line and the phone just rings. No one attempting to pick it up. I heard it. I asked when it was my turn to order why they don't pick the phone up? She told me if they are busy they don't pick it up. I then asked why don't you leave a message on the VM to explain this? She looked at me as if I was crazy. I ordered the item number 2. A two item selection and an either fried rice or noodles. I grabbed the noodles and pork meat and black pepper beef. 10 minutes later as the food was pending in the counter to move down to the register. I decided to get the black pepper beef because there was a lot of beef from the area they were serving in and I saw they placed a lot of meet in there. Well, when I return home there is no meat in there for the black pepper beef!!!! I couldn't see how the meal was prepped since the cover was closed and placed in a plastic bag already tied up to give to me. All veggies at home and no beef. OMG, I tried calling them and again they don't pick up to complain. I'm not driving back to correct this. The pork was dry. I was planning on this being a purchase for 2-4 meals for myself. I was ripped off. Total of 2 stars. I gave 2 stars to the cashier, and zero stars since they didn't give me any beef and the pork was dry. I tossed the pork away. Just paid $13 for average tasting chow mein. I won't go there again. See the bill. A waste of time and money. My previous visits no issue La at all and was great in the past. Perhaps a bad night to go. Not sure. read more

Lucky Chinese Food - The bill. Check your food before leaving!!! - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

They are quick to prepare your plate. The orange chicken is delicious! Service is quick and efficient. They also have a separate dine in area option. read more

I walked in here on a whim because I didn't know what to have for lunch. I read the reviews and it looked pretty good, so I thought I'd give it a try. When I walked in it was a bit confusing. It was clearly marked Dine-In and Takeout. I didn't know if I could order at the counter or go sit down. Hmm. I ordered a 2 entrée plate with half rice & half noodles. I also had peppered steak and orange chicken, with 2 egg rolls. I had the egg rolls first and was pretty full.. So I just munched a bit more of everything, and I was done! Pretty good job with each dish, just wish I was hungrier. I'll try something different next time. read more

Lucky Chinese Food - Chicken eggroll - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

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Best quick service Chinese food I have had in a long time. The cooks made special food for me. The place is small and cute and smells delicious inside! read more

Lucky Chinese Food - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

So, I have ordered and even dined-in at this restraunt with my wife and kids for the past few years. But tonight changed a lot of that. So, to start, my wife will occasionally get treated rather well at the restraunt; she was even given a few freebies while she was pregnant with our twins, so I usually thought rather well of this place, but every time I go, the treatment is different (maybe because I am not a tiny little Asian woman, who knows) but anyways, I go there tonight and I order roughly 120$ in food, and that's where things go south. First they charge me 1.50 for asking for my rice noodles without curry (my wife dislikes curry), which I am used to, but I think might offend them. From there, there is some confusion about my order. They almost forget one of my sides in the proccess, and forgot I ordered fried wontons, but again, that is NOT why I am leaving this review. I am leaving this review because of what happened in all this... So, to begin, I ordered off the menu because I wanted my food fresh, but still, they grabbed all our sides and two of my entrees right out of the to go bar; which would be fine EXCEPT the food on the menu is more expensive because it is FRESH, and not soggy or soft from sitting in a metal tray for like an hour and a half! The next thing that happens is while trying to find out about my wantons they: GO THROUGH MY FOOD. They literally touched all my fried items with ungloved hands while I am sitting there at the waiting table with them; trying to figure out their mistake like I was trying to steal food from them. The kicker being that they forgot to charge the wontons! So instead of being like: 'sorry about the inconvenience', they straight up go: 'oh hey, let us charge you for those after we touched all your food'. Needless to say, I was a bit aghast by all this, but what was worse than the service is the fact that the cook purposefully gave my wife bland unseasoned noodles because I asked for then with 'no curry' as if paying an extra 1.50 wasn't enough, they had to also be like: 'screw your taste buds for not liking our spices!' I mean, none of this was necessary, and it all felt pretty gross and rude by the end as I just took my food and left. All that said, my wife was pretty disappointed to hear about this and thinks we may need to find a new chinese place which really sucks. Yeah... but giving me old food, messing up my order, not preparing my food right (even after they charged extra for it), and touching my food makes me realize it's probably for the best. But hey, at least they remembered to charge me fried wontons, customer always comes last, you know? read more

The food is addicting. Sooooo delicious! Huge portions that I happen to eat by myself. Will defiantly be back.

East county's finest Chinese establishment. The salt and pepper tofu is great. The Kung Pao tofu is amazing. The staff is nice and they are quick! read more

Incredible portions for great prices. I got take-out and was blown away by the amount of food. The container struggled to contain. The sheer volume. The magnitude. All for $12. Is it the best Chinese food ever? No. But does it represent the true American spirit of an affordable way to get a weeks' worth of sodium, fat, and calories into one meal? Absolutely. I couldn't choose between 2 meats, and I asked for the 1 option meal, so the server gave me a piece to try of the second meat in my plate! Super nice service with none of the nonsense I've seen in other places (you know, where they level the scoop to make sure that one piece of chicken isn't hurting the bottom line). A typical Chinese diner style restaurant, the process was clean, quick, and I was out the door in minutes. Definitely need to psych myself out for next time, as I only ate a quarter of the plate, but will definitely be back when the need for fast Chinese strikes again. read more

The Salt and Pepper Wings from Lucky Chinese are excellent. We recently hosted a party and we ordered 60 wings. Our guests devoured them. Of all the food we had - and we had a lot! the S&P wings were easily the most popular. My only complaint is that they are $1.50 each regardless of how many you buy. There is no break for buying in bulk. read more

Great food, crispy beef, chow mein, beef and broccoli are all amazing dishes. Service is quick and friendly. Plenty of parking, great location read more

Went there tonight for the first time in Santee. The food was delicious and fresh tasting. Big portions in the times when everyone is cutting back. Great experience. Clean and enjoyable Will be coming back read more

This is my go-to place for Chinese food. They never disappoint when it comes to quality, freshness and portions. If I'm starving I don't hesitate coming here. The people are very nice and friendly too. Highly recommend! read more

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First time here. Food was great, and a good value! Had Orange Chicken, Broccoli Beef, and Kung Pao Chicken. Portions were generous, price was right, people were friendly, place was clean! read more

This local spot is an absolute hidden gem! Not only is the Chinese food amazing, but their chicken wings are great -- crispy, flavorful, and always fresh. They're also wonderful at accommodating food allergies. For example, we needed soy- and gluten-free options, and they were more than happy to make our food from scratch to avoid allergens. Everything came out delicious and thoughtfully prepared. If you love Chinese food -- or you're a fan of great wings -- you've got to give Lucky Chinese Food a try. Highly recommend! read more

Had garlic chicken and walnut shrimp - top notch, really good. Staff was so friendly.

I picked this up for dinner and was so utterly disappointed I had to get rid of it. I opened the box to the greyest beef that smelled rotten like fish. The sauce is chunky when it's clearly supposed to be smooth. I was truly scared to eat and had to get rid of it. Waste of $30. Do not come here read more

Lucky Chinese Food - Grey beef - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

Was in the area last weekend and craving some Chinese food, so I decided to try this place out. The establishment didn't feel like a typical takeout place because there was restaurant style seating attached. Service was friendly and quick. Ended up getting two orders to go and the portion sizes were pretty good. The food itself was fresh and tasty. Wouldn't mind returning to try more items. Good first experience. read more

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First time here. Very clean, uncluttered, spacious place to eat. Service w a smile. Assembly line food under glass, about 8 entree choices, appetizers, Soup, along with rice or chow mein and fortune cookies. I got the 2 entree w chow mein, 11.95. The portions are enormous. My orange chicken was perfect. The tender bbq pork came w sauce on the side and the noodles were thick and chewy. Easily two meals in one box to share or take home leftovers. Fountain drinks available or a small cooler selection. 2 huge lunches w drinks and tip came to about 34$ Wheelchair accessible. Parking is great, located in a giant mall. I will happily go back to try the hot n sour soup and the egg rolls. My fortune said: A kind word can keep one warm for a long time. read more

Great Chinese spot here in Santee! They have been here for a long time, and the quality of the food has never changed! Their menu is pretty straight forward though they also offer containers you can buy if you want al carte they offer in two sizes. Their egg drop soup is delicious and well made. Their wonton strips that go with the soup are great - I usually buy a bag or two just to snack on. They're very kind and also have a small soda dispenser in the corner. Their service is very speedy. I once ordered 8 egg rolls and they have to make them on the spot and it didn't take that long at all. Overall a great spot and recommend it if you want quick and great Chinese food read more

Lucky Chinese Food - chow mein, orange chicken, szechuan chicken (mainly veggies than chicken) - Chinese Near Me - Santee, California

My lunch bunch really enjoys going as a group there. The food was delicious and plentiful.