Uncle Yu's is great. Whenever we have guests new to Lafayette, we bring them to Uncle Yu's. We have never gotten a complaint and our guests literally rave about the food. We think the food quality is excellent and the service is extremely prompt. The waiters and busboys are very attentive. We get take-out there when we don't have guests because some of the seating is not comfortable for only 2 people (some tables very small and in a noisy high traffic area). Wish they had booths for 2 to 4 people and fewer tables. The only other negative is that the prices are expensive. I don't mind because our guests are so pleased with the meal. If you like Chinese food, Uncle Yu's is definitely worth trying. read more

This is my family's go-to Chinese restaurant. This location is also much better than the San Ramon location because the food is much tastier. I've ordered everything from Mongolian Beef to Honey Walnut Prawns and I can say Uncle Yu's knows Chinese food. There's no doubt about that. The service is pretty fast too regardless of whether you're dining in or taking out. They also have a new smartphone app where you can order on your phone which is pretty cool. Uncle Yu's is hands down my family's favorite Chinese restaurant. read more

Uncle Yu's delivers some of the best chinese cuisine you'll find in the east bay. What makes it stand out? Everything is cooked fresh and made to order. I've tried just about everything on the menu and have yet to be disappointed. I've certainly had better asian food in SF chinatown and NY chinatown as well as a terrific little dim sum haunt in Philly, but I'm rating on area chinese food and Uncle Yu's certainly rises above the rest. read more

I have been enjoying Uncle Yu's food in San Ramon, Livermore, Pleasanton and Lafayette for years. I ordered take out from them last night and got a bag of cold, crappy food for $104. read more

Good food. Excellent Wor Won Ton Soup. When you place an on-line order for pick up, make sure you have a receipt that you paid. The lady there will try to charge you again. read more

I ate there with my friend and both of us had very salty food. Salt was dominating flavor. After eating there I immediately got sick. I am celiac and ordered my dish from gluten free menu. Originally I thought I got glutened, but after I got high fever I realized it was food poisoning. I barely made it to my home and stayed in bed until next morning. My friend also noticed that food smelled funny. Stay away from this place. read more

Very fast take out, nice portions, nice place and nice people. Best Chinese food around!

Our go to Chinese restaurant in the Lamorinda area! Even our family from out of town looks forward to getting take out here when they come to visit! Our favorite dishes are the pot stickers, lemon chicken, and Szechuan beef! Couldn't recommended this place more! read more

My SIL touted Uncle Yu's as her local Chinese restaurant of choice. The service was good, but it was pricier and not any tastier than options in Pleasant Hill. For her I think convenience is a factor. For us, we'll stick to the Hill. read more

In Lamorinda today and I was famished and needed a really good lunch. Uncle Yu's presents a convincing image from the outside, a restaurant that takes itself seriously and serves good food. Don't be fooled: Uncle Yu is a lousy cook. I ordered kung pao chicken on the lunch special. That comes with hot and sour soup, choice of rice or chow mein and a side of vegetables. The hot & sour soup was very nasty. Bitter and bland rather than hot and sour. It was a very tired concoction, one with a long career as a soup somewhere, maybe a can or a plastic pouch. The julienned pork, it was gray and when chewed turned into something like paper pulp in the mouth. Various other components of authentic hot and sour soup were completely missing, like the lotus blossoms and dark fungus slivers. Very disappointing. On the luncheon plate, the side of veggies seemed like they'd been prepared from fresh veggies, but it was like I was a patient in a convalescent hospital: they were steamed and had no flavoring at all. Utterly bland. The chow mein was obviously pre-portioned, nuked in a plastic bag and simply slid onto my plate. It had No Flavor At All. Utterly bland. It had never seen a wok, or oil of any kind, or salt, or even fucking soy sauce. The kung pao. How hard is it to cook kung pao from scratch? It is Chinese 101, kung pao. This kung pao had the same bitter undertaste as the hot and sour soup. It had none of the tastes of kung pao, the savory chicken against the nice onions and peppers, the crunchy peanuts and their earthiness. This came from a plastic bag with tired, soggy peanuts having been saturated with the old, nasty brown sauce. They threw some fresh red peppers in to make it look like something. And everything on the plate was permeated with the unnatural heat that comes from the silver box with the bell. This is crappy, imitation Chinese made for slow, thick white people who don't know any better. Save your money. read more

PRO: - Good food - Nice environment - Clean CONS: - Service was really bad - Timing of the delivery of food was bad - The waiters and helpers were not paying attention to who was sitting at our table( IE kids and such ) - Got darker and darker, sun went down more, the dimmed the lights more. Go figure. - Server didn't pay attention to us - Not friendly( not all, but the ones mainly attending to us ) In relation to the "Waiters not paying attention": It was my wife, her friend, my 2 kids ( 3 and 9 months ) and I. The servers were placing the drinks/food in places that were dangerously accesible to my children. We made places for them so that wouldn't happen and they didn't even attempt to make sure of their safety. This is just the start too. So they placed HOT TEA right next to my 9 months reach, which I grabbed right away and moved. They placed the hot soup then right next to her reach ( which she did reach for, but we moved quickly ). The biggest safety issue that I had was when one of the servers during started bringing candles to tables. Rather then him put it in a place rather safe, he put it RIGHT in front of my 3 year old. I wasn't really away of its proximity, what I was aware of was the sudden Flames from the umbrella of her Shirley Temple drink being caught on fire and her handing it to me. While I would of just moved my kids to a safe area of the table, they were in respectful places so that to be away from things, the servers just placed crap right in front of them. In relations to the service: Our waiter had 1 other table which had about 6 people, so he had a total of two tables that night. He barely took our order reluctantly and then after that, never came back till food was at our table, even then he didn't really show up, he walked passed. At the end of our meal, we were very obviously done, stacking our own plates and giving the hey, we are done signal. We ended up waiting another 20 minutes just to get attention while he passed us many times in order to cater to the other table. It wasn't till the bartender took note of the irritation of our table that he started to make note to our waiter who came over, dropped bill off and then walked away not asking any questions. read more

One of our favorite place to have lunch or dinner. Great quality of food, good flavor of dishes. Our favorites are: chef's crispy prawns, tomato braised fish, sweet and sour prawns, Mongolian beef. Great customer service. read more

In a way Uncle Yu's has ruined Chinese food for me because I refuse to eat it anywhere else! I crave their potstickers whenever I'm away at college and everyone I have introduced Uncle Yu's too has become a huge fan. They have a great area for dinner parties and the restaurant itself is so cute. The take out is always great as well! They really have something for everyone there. The best Chinese food I have ever had!! read more

I visited Uncle Yu's 3 times over the last 2 months. I order from the gluten free menu as I have celiac disease and my first two visits were fine. The last time I ate there was December 20, 2013. I had a very bad experience on December 20th. I have been eating at Uncle Yu's because they have a gluten-free menu. I was also told that they had very good procedures to prevent cross contamination. One of there safety procedures was to serve gluten free food on dishes with a green border. My dinner was served on a regular plate and I questioned the waiter about whether or not it was gluten free as it was not served on the appropriate plate. The waiter seemed really bothered that I questioned the food. He went back to the kitchen and came back and told me the cook said it was gluten free. Again I asked about their standard procedure and why it was not followed. I can only describe the waiter's behavior as rude as he just brushed me off and would not respond. I went ahead and ate the food and have been very sick with a celiac episode. These episodes last about 2 weeks and start a few days after the exposure. I don't recommend this restaurant to anyone who has a serious gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. If you have a preference for eating gluten free and have no particular reactions to gluten then it would be fine. I am a holistic health coach and I was planning a dinner for a gluten-free group that I teach. We were planning on going to Uncle Yu's in Lafayette. Of course now I will change our dinner location and inform them that this restaurant is not safe for those following a gluten free diet. read more

Cannot complain about Uncle Yu's. We generally get pick up and the food is always on time (regardless of how busy they are) tastes great and prices are pretty reasonable. This is a great go to spot if you want some good Chinese or when you can't decide what else to get for dinner. read more

They weirdly wouldn't seat the 3 of us in a booth - even though they were empty and about to close. Whatever. The food other than the fried rice was good. Nothing special. Nice clean restaurant. Wouldn't rush back. read more

The service here was absolutely awful. At lunch today, we received our hot and sour soup. It was undeniably salty. My mom pointed this out to the waiter, who said immediately "Well I like it". We still insisted on sending it back. Thereafter, another guy came to our table and proceeded to tell us that hot and sour soup is their most popular dish and nobody has ever complained. We told him it wasn't our first time eating hot and sour soup. Instead of providing good service and taking it back and just saying sorry, he thought it would be a good idea to lecture me and my mother. Another customer (a pretty passive aggressive guy himself) made sure to tell the waiter in a loud voice that he enjoyed the soup. Frankly, if he wants to get a stroke thats his own business. I prefer having low blood pressure with less sodium. The customer should be able to decide if they want their soup EXTREMELY salty. When we left, we found a more sympathetic employee at the register but we still received no apology from the two waiters. Despite having decent food sometimes, I recommend avoiding this restaurant based on the rude service alone. read more

I have been eating at Uncle Yu's for about a decade. I just had my last dinner there. I broke the "rules" and brought my 18 year old - so were put in the "kid section. The hostess was indifferent if not rude. Wanted to know if we had reservations and we said no. The place was empty and yet we were seated in the lobby area not one of the two dining rooms. And she wouldn't move us. The waitstaff circulates and no one ever follows up to see if you need anything, asks how your meal was, etc. We ordered appetizers which must have been pre made. They were hot on the outside and cold on the inside. We had to ask for hot mustard twice. Forget getting the soy sauce refilled. The only upside is the bus staff. The soup was awful, chow mein was slimed and Mongolian beef inedible we all left feeling slightly queasy. Don't waste your money - overpriced, rude staff, inedible food. read more

Excellent fried rice! You can request it without peas and carrots (I don't like peas). Service is good, and a nice space to sit and eat. OI-C Bowl is our favorite, but this place is closer and does a good job on everything we've had. read more

Great location. Great food. Am a fan of their famous Salt and Pepper Tofu dish, which sadly isn't made to the same detail and taste as their former San Ramon location. Still good, but not that mouth watering deliciousness I'm used to. For that reason only minus 1 star. Still thought service, presentation, and overall experience was excellent. Will be back! read more

Reminds me of Chinese food from growing up. My Shu made at the table. Strong pot stickers. Cheap. Fast. Stoked to be in the burbs and have a spot like uncle Yu's for 90's style suburban Chinese grub. read more

Our second disappointing meal from Uncle Yu's this month. Normally to-go orders are fairly consistent, last night Cashew Chicken with NO CASHEWS! Earlier this month ordered Combination Chow Fun, we received rice noodles with minimal meats, a bunch of veggies, bok choy, carrots, broccoli & mushrooms in a soupy sauce, wrong preparation, no bean sprouts or onions, TOSSED OUT. What's going on at Uncle Yu's? read more

I think there must be new ownership. That's the only way to explain a table full of bad food after 20+ years loving this place. Not one dish on the table was decent. The Honey Walnut Prawn Salad (which used to be one of the best things on a phenomenal menu) had limp, inedible greens. The wait staff wanted to give us more bad food as compensation. We had to force management to take the salads (we ordered two) off our tab. Our out-of-state relative ordered the ribs, which used to be mouth-watering. His assessment: "I've had better." This NEVER used to be said by anyone at Uncle Yu's. Ever. It's sad to see that the food and service are both now sub-par. Is it the end of an era at Uncle Yu's? Say it ain't so! read more

They serve fewer scallops by far these days, and they only serve a very bad champagne. The sauce is no longer drizzled prettily across the top of the scallops, either. Presentation seems to have gone by the wayside. read more

Hit and miss again. Rib aps - cold, undercooked, void of meat. Potstikders - cold. Fried rice - lots of rice, few other ingredients, rush cooked. Too much volume, not enough quality. read more

Thank you Uncle Yu's for your good food and great service as usual. Our order was made perfect and have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow.

Sadly Uncle Yu's is not up to what it once was. Their won ton soup was awful. The won tons were doughy and tastless . I just ordered a chicken salad to go. It has in the past been a sure fire great treat. Tonight I ordered one to go. Sat down with my family to enjoy our favorite treat. NO SALAD DRESSING! I called the restaurant. They didn't apologize or even say Oops! They wanted me to come back to Lafayettte to pick up some salad dressing. No way! Too bad, they used to be soooo good. read more

I'm Chinese and Uncle Yu's is not very good authentic Chinese food. Overpriced and dishes lacked taste. We ordered about 5 dishes for the three of us. The calamari was deep fried but had no flavor. The spices seemed to be on top of the food but not fused into the food. The tea duck was dry and the sauce was like watered down catsup. The mooshu vegetable dish had no taste. Won't go back. Rather eat at Panda Express. read more

This is one of our favorite Chinese food places of all time and we like us some Chinese food! Great place for a date, family meal, or group of friends or colleagues. The service is definitely good. The pot stickers are num-alicios, the lemon chicken is seriously great, the chow mein is very good too. We also love Hot n Sour Soup, but it's seriously hard to find good soup and we are picky, this is one of the best Hot n Sour Soups around for sure(9 out of 10)! Excellent wine list. Parking is no bueno, but the food is more than worth it! Expensive, but again worth every penny for great quality Chinese food!!! read more

Amazing, amazing Chinese food. I could not believe the quality of the food, wonderfully fresh and creative. We had a mushroom/Chinese greens saute, fresh steamed spinach potstickers, General Tsou's chicken and szechuan prawns. Each and every dish was void of grease, cooked just enough, and plated in a show of definite artistry. Oh and my friend, who has been coming here for years, insisted that we had to have wine...I questioned whether wine at a Chinese restaurant would be any good. Boy was I wrong. The waiter chose a delightful Gewurztraminer for us that paired well with the plates we'd ordered. I highly recommend this place and cannot wait to return soon to try more amazing dishes. I feel like my appreciation for Chinese food was just raised to a new level! read more

My partner's wish for his last meal: Uncle Yu's Mongolian beef- Extra Spciy. 'nuff said. Stick with the menu items- the specials often disappoint. read more

Absolutely my favorite Chinese restaurant, highly recommend the perfection they call 'Honey Walnut Prawns'. The missing star is for being kinda pricey and not offering delivery. read more

Very fresh! I was happy with the Kung pao chicken lunch. My only complaint is that my lunch came with a heaping portion of steamed veggies.. Get them off my plate! read more

Unexpectedly, we chose this restaurant on Easter because we were in the area. I had the sweet and sour prawns, and it was very good. The food was served very fast, and the lady that waited on us was sweet. read more

It's alright. They do a subpar job in terms of food. The service is very unfriendly and is pushy and rushes you into taking an order.

Very good Chinese and great service. They also have an AMAZING wine list. The seafood has always been fresh and the dishes have never felt too greasy or salty. Can't think of any other Chinese places in the East Bay I would recommend this highly but that just means I have to get out more!!! read more

As for positives... The service is great. They have a bar. The food does the job, meaning it's food. High ceilings. Did I mention the great bussers? As for the rest... It's the kind of place you go if you just want good service and aren't picky about your food. You will never see any Chinese adults here, or Asians of any kind for that matter. I've gone there a LOT and have finally given up on the place after ordering vegetable fried rice and getting one vegetable: asparagus. Can't the cooks at least PRETEND to care? I wish the food were good so I could give them 5 stars. read more

Ok - the food is alright however there were no memorable dishes. What does seem to shine through is how bad the service is. Took about 20 minutes for our waiter to even come by although the bus boys were around with water. When he did arrive- no mention of specials or even asking if we would like another drink from the bar. After food servers brought us our entrees, we never saw the vagabond waiter and left paying cash because I feared a credit card would take another 20 minutes. Note to owner- we are not coming back and the food is not good enough for a take-out trip. read more

My coworker RAVES about this place. I finally decided to go with her, as she's been asking us to go for a week or so. When I walked in, I was impressed with the restaurant decor. However, the smell wasn't too appetizing. It smelled like an Asian supermarket. You know, that fishy smell? I grew up on that smell, as I'm Filipino, however I didn't expect it from this restaurant. When I sat down, I noticed the special. It was roughy. That was the source of the smell. I knew for sure that I wasn't ordering it! I have to say, the crabmeat puffs are quite tasty. However, there was hardly any crab meat. All I mostly tasted was cheese. It was good, but I expected more crab, less cheese. They weren't too oily and were very crunchy. By the way, they are wontons... if you look for wontons on the appetizer menu you won't find them... they're disguised as crabmeat puffs. I ordered the prawns with assorted vegetables. I was pleased at the presentation. However, the rice - the rice was D R Y! I ordered steamed rice... they could have added a bit more water to the rice while cooking. Can I get some moisture with my rice please? It was gross so I didn't even touch it. I felt like I was eating over priced Panda Express or Pick Up Stix. Another gripe I have is that the busboys moved dishes off our table too quick, and I constantly had busboy arms in my face while I was eating. My coworkers eat faster than I do, and as soon as they pushed their plate forward as in "I'm done," the busboys came running and grabbed the plates around me... while I'm still eating. I was also trying to have a convo with my coworker infront of me, and I was very annoyed because I had to keep talking around busboy arms. The service was okay. I can't complain. However, with the mixture of the smell, the terrible steamed rice, and busboy arms, I don't see myself going back. I don't know see what is so great about this place, and I won't be highly recommending it to anyone. read more

Went for dinner with a group of friends. We shared potstickers as an appetizer and wonton soup, all tasty. I ordered prawn fried rice. Points deducted as they were unable to honor my request to have my fried rice made with brown rice and egg whites. I would have paid more for the special order. The group seemed to enjoy the food. Overall ok chinese cuisine. Still nothing to write home about. read more