Great place, pleasant service, with fantastic food at a great value, their establishment is always…read moreclean and well put together.

I made another stop here on my way home one afternoon, and was a little disappointed this trip. I…read moreonly got a chicken chow mein and house fried rice, but neither was as flavorful as they were on my last trip. The rice was dry, but had a decent amount of meat in it. The size/weight of each item was less than previous orders as well. It used to be worth the occasional trip to Ione, but I think I'll save the fuel and just get my Chinese food from Martell. Maybe they had a different chef this time? I might try this again down the line, but it'll be a while.

I don't know how many times over the years we've driven past Good Friend Chinese Restaurant while…read moreen route to the foothills and high country, and nearly every time we'll make a comment. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's pithy, sometimes it's out of curiosity, but usually it's in the context of "who would come to Valley Springs to find good Chinese food?" Well, recently we were returning from yet another trip in the Sierras and were kind of hangry, so we decided to settle it once and for all, and give Good Friend a try. We arrived relatively late - it was only 7:30pm, but they close at 8:30pm, so their dinner rush was well past and they were winding down. This is important. Throughout our meal, the staff could not have been friendlier or more efficient. They were not annoyingly so, but they didn't miss a beat. The food in the buffet stations was starting to run out. The sushi selection had dwindled down from what was probably a much larger offering, although what remained still looked pretty fresh, not old and tired, and in fact, the few pieces we had were much better than typical Chinese buffet sushi. (I know that sounds like faint praise, but the sushi was actually decent.) The green mussels that were next to the sushi did look a little dry around the edges so we gave those a pass, but in fairness, mussels start to look that way pretty quickly, so they may not have been out very long. The hot and sour soup was much better than expected. If I hadn't crammed so much food into my pie hole already, I would have had another bowl of it. It does seem kind of weird to eat a Chinese soup with a Western soup spoon, but when in Rome, I guess. Also surprisingly good was the beef & broccoli, jalapeno pork, and the ribs, keeping in mind again that it was close to closing time and most of the ribs in the tray didn't look that great, but I managed to find enough that were meaty and moist to satisfy my jones for them. Next time - and there will probably be a next time - I'll pass on the stuff that is battered and fried: chicken, frog legs, tempura-style veggies. The battering was soft, not crisp. I don't know if that's because they'd been sitting and cooling in the steam table or if it's the batter mix. They weren't bad, just not how I like my fried stuff. The fried chicken actually tasted pretty good other than the soft coating, but I was reminded after eating the frog leg that frog's legs don't excite me to eat as much as the idea of eating frog's legs. Too much work for too little payback, and frog's legs can sometimes taste a little fishy. That's ok if you're eating fish, but when the meat is more like chicken, fishy taste is just odd. There were a few items that, earlier in dinner service, were probably much better. The dry fried string beans (labelled as "sauteed string beans") were really in need of replacing although we managed to pluck half a dozen of them out that looked ok, and there were a couple of other mixed veg trays that were past their prime as well. We also gave a pass to the crab legs, but not on account of their appearance. We just didn't feel like working that hard to get at the meat. All in all, we were pleasantly surprised. It was not the best Chinese food we've ever had. OTOH, it was FAR from the worst. Even more important, we agreed that we would have no problem going back. Is it a destination place? Absolutely not. But we definitely added it to our list of places to eat while we're on the road and want something we know will be good enough. Again, that sounds like it could be faint praise, but there's a ton of places out there for which we would not say the same. I'll add for context that the 4-star rating is relative to what I'd expect in Valley Springs. If Good Friend Chinese Restaurant were in, say, Richmond or San Francisco or San Gabriel, for instance, there's no way I'd rate them at 4 stars. More likely it'd be in the 2-3 star range in those areas. But considering the location and expectation, Good Friend is not a bad option. All the cars lined up in the Taco Bell drive-through should have gone across the highway to Good Friend! It also gave the "divorced dads with kids for the weekend" vibe.

First time trying Good Friends - my spouse grew up eating here with his parents/grandparents…read more We stopped in for dinner on our way back from the Airport. We were greeted & seated as soon as we entered the building. It was not super busy but had a good amount of people dining in. They offer a full menu as well as their buffet. We had the buffet; and it had a wide variety of food options. Their beef broccoli was delicious. I would defiantly go back and eat here again.

I was recommended to this place by a friend and it did not disappoint! The food was delicious in…read morethe ambience was relaxing. The service was absolutely perfect and if I lived closer, I would come back all the time!

Glad to see the place has improved in the past year. Today I went there with three friends and…read moreeveryone liked what they had. The red curry is really good now, the drunken noodles are good and the service much better than the last few times I was there. I don't like the shrimp salad which is supposed to have grilled prawns and includes very little salad and all of it swimming in a soupy sauce, nothing grilled. I don't recommend it and the rest of the food can be pretty spicy, for Amador Co. The pad thai was a little oily the last time I had it but if you like Thai food, it's the only place in the county, and most people like it.

We ALWAYS get a great meal in at Le's. Dine in or take-out, guaranteed to be the best!read more

Hidden Gem in Pioneer!…read more We can't believe we drove past this place for nearly two years without stopping -- what a hidden gem! Being from the Bay Area, we're used to having tons of great Chinese food options, and this spot absolutely holds its own among the best. The restaurant was very clean, the staff was friendly, and we received our food within 10 minutes of ordering. Everything was fresh and flavorful. The hot and sour soup was easily one of the best we've ever had -- perfectly balanced and full of depth. The Mongolian beef was delicious, and the shredded pork in Peking sauce was outstanding as well. We're so happy to have found a quality Chinese restaurant so close to home. We'll definitely be coming back for both dine-in and takeout!

The food here was excellent. Great customer service and plenty of parking on the Sunday afternoon…read morethat we were there. Lots of condiments to spruce up your dish. We tried the pho, teriyaki chicken and vermicelli bowl and everything was tasty. Good sized portions as well. There was plenty of outdoor seating for our group and 2 dogs.

Always fun to eat at a trailer. My request was custom. I'm not eating rice, so I had my rice bowl…read moremade into a salad. My bowl was too full to close. The food was great. I like these folks. They are good at what they do.

Love this place very clean, the service was amazing very nice and kind. The food come out fast. We…read morehad the sweet and sour prawns and the broccoli beef if I could I would give this place a 10 out of 10!

***USP: A quintessential Chinese American restaurant in the…read morecharming remote mountain town of Arnold. The usual Chinese favorites like kumpao chicken, orange chicken, fried rice and chowmein all find a place on the menu. ***AMBIANCE: Typical 90s style Chinese restaurant ambiance. They used the large tables in the end of the restaurant for meal prepping as well so it was a very non formal relaxed home style setting. ***SERVICE: Can come across as rude but that's the typical on your face Chinese mom style attitude:) ***FOOD: It was umami heaven without going overboard! I mean this is what we come to Chinese restaurants for! Ooey gooey slurp worthy noodles, delicious chicken, delectable and crunchy veggies. Prices are low atleast when compared to the formidable bayarea prices. They have lunch specials as well which is what we went for. They come with soup, entree, carb: half and half noodles +rice or just noodles/rice. They had a hot and sour soup and I downed almost two bowls of it as the kids refused to have theirs. I enjoyed the bits of tofu in it. For my lunch entree I picked the house special chicken. And man was I in for a treat. It was thinly cut strips of chicken in an addictive sauce with jalapeños in it. I savored every bit of my meal. I sampled my family's string bean chicken and garlic chicken as well. The beans were crisp yet cooked through, just amazing!! The garlic chicken was delicious as well but came with a lot of large zucchini pieces.

OH MY GOD EVERYTHING IS SO BOMB!!?!!!!!!? First time here, orange chicken is so yummy you have to…read moretry it!! Also the salty chicken or whatever it's called, it is also very yummy! EVERYTHING IS YUMMYYY!!! Service was good! The people working there are so nice :)! Ambiance looks good, typical Chinese restaurant (not to be rude or anything) Everything else is good! (Too bad I wasn't able to take any photos, I was hungry af)

May, the owner, and her helper Kandie are the best. Her lunch and dinner specials are great. You…read morenever leave hungry. We love Wonderful Chinese.