We weren’t feeling well & wanted to eat Chinese food that was loaded with garlic. When we get sick, we load up on garlic as that usually makes us feel better quickly. We originally wanted to eat at Mandarin Garden but were there at 3:45& they didn’t open till 4:30. We couldn’t wait so we went to Golden Dragon. We ate at to Golden Dragon several years ago but hubby didn’t care for it so we never went back. When I ordered, I asked for extra garlic in all of our dishes. The gentleman was very polite & made it look like he was writing my request on my order. When we got our dishes, we didn’t get ANY garlic. NONE. The dishes are on the spendy side for the amount of food they serve. The beef dish we ordered was also mostly onions, & the beef that was in there, had a strange texture to it. It was a little mushy. We were very disappointed as we went to a Chinese restaurant just for the garlic & our dishes didn’t have any garlic from what we could tell. The positive is that the family that runs the restaurant is very nice & welcoming.
Fabiola Z.
Place rating: 1 San Pedro, CA
Chinese fast food that was sitting for a while… rice was hard and to top it off the lady got my order wrong then refused to take back the order. I’m suspicious of their higher ratings… there’s a place next door called Pei Wei which was reasonably priced and much fresher
Ryan S.
Place rating: 2 Irvine, CA
My wife & I were craving chinese food the other night, but I wasn’t feeling very well so we figured we would find a chinese restaurant that offered takeout. We read the reviews online of the Golden Dragon & didn’t really see any negative posts so we figured we’d give this place a shot. Long story short, we found the food to be mediocre & plain. I can honestly say that we’ve tasted better chinese food at panda express! We will definitely not be coming back to the Golden Dragon.
Kayla M.
Place rating: 4 Laguna Hills, CA
I’ve been here twice now. The staff here is so nice & welcoming, always smiling. I appreciate that a lot. I’ve ordered to go both times & obviously it was good enough for me to come back a second time. I ordered the combination chow mein. I wish it had more meat in it but other than that it’s good. I’ve also ordered the orange chicken, the flavor is great. And the house special chicken, I think it’s what it’s called. It was also good. Their brown rice is better than their white rice. And the wontons & sauce it comes with are great! It’s close to my house & decently priced. So I will be a returning customer :) Especially since the people working their are so great!
Esther P.
Place rating: 4 Lake Forest, CA
If you’re looking for a place for some decent Chinese food that isn’t Pei Wei or Panda Express, I would come here. The boyfriend told me about that place and at first, I was skeptical because all the sign said was ‘Chinese Food’, but my mind was changed when I tried the food. I’m a huge fan of noodles so I ordered their house special chow mein and ordered the hot and sour soup and mu-shu pork. Everything was very flavorful and decently priced.
Justin S.
Place rating: 5 Laguna Hills, CA
Place is great, cheap and really good food! And most of all it was very clean inside!
Josh S.
Place rating: 5 Mission Viejo, CA
Very pleasant surprise. Some friends suggested this for dinner on a Saturday night. They said it was great so we were in. 3 of us went in person while the wives put in the phone order. Place was jamming. Virtually no place to sit and eat there so mostly a take out spot and by the time we left, the line was 8 deep and out the door. Phone rang off the hook. Just while picking up and paying for our order, she took 6 calls. Food was very good. We had kung pao, mongolian beef, orange chicken, fried rice, lo mein, beef and broc, some shrimp dish and very little remained after 6 adults and a couple of kids went back for 3rds. I’ll put this in the rotation when needing a chinese fix. Funny that it is basically next door to Pei Wei. Way better.
Darrevy K.
Place rating: 2 Laguna Niguel, CA
Mediocre Chinese food that did not satisfy my craving for Chinese food. I ordered the house special fried rice and salt and peppered chicken. The fried rice was under-seasoned and dry. The chicken was ok, again, lacked flavor and there was much more breading than chicken. I did appreciate that they used white meat. Service was good but unfortunately I won’t be stopping by again.
Brian C.
Place rating: 2 Laguna Niguel, CA
The food here is very good. I just have issues with the slow service. If you place a phone order on Friday-Sunday expect to wait 15 minutes when you show up to pick up your order. They usually only have one person taking all the orders including phone orders. They need to do a better job handling the front of the restaurant.
Adam B.
Place rating: 5 Laguna Niguel, CA
. The fried rice & beef broccoli was perfect. Carrie, the lady behind the counter is very sweet. If you’re from the New York/New Jersey area, it’s as good as back east. Took me a year to finally get a great Chinese joint.
Priscilla M.
Place rating: 5 Visalia, CA
Food was delicious!!! Customer service was amazing! Super friendly! Orange chicken, string bean, and broccoli need was a MUST!
Jackie H.
Place rating: 5 Aliso Viejo, CA
Never disappoints. Consistently great and friendly service and quality food. I am from the east coast so Chinese food is staple.(Chinese food is the Mexican food of the east coast). The General Tso’s chicken is so bomb, best in OC! The special fried rice my husband scarfs down in a couple minutes. orange chicken is good as well. You will not be disappointed eating here.
Ali A.
Place rating: 4 Mission Viejo, CA
Good food, large portions. Fast service.
Ronnie M.
Place rating: 2 Glendale, CA
We ended up here because a family member had a hankering for chow mein, but left with a wrong order. First of all, the Mongolian beef was a little bit cold, probably because the onions were raw. The sauce was bland and added more texture than substance. The main reason, however, this place got 2 stars is because of their subpar ability to complete an order with accuracy. I ordered a «#4» and was given a #5 and insistence that I had ordered potstickers, despite never having uttered those words for my order. I had chosen to skip ordering food by name and used their corresponding number on the menu for simplicity. I also ordered the garlic string beans which never were given to me, in their place was steamed brocolli. I have no intention of going back to this place, even their fried race was beyond salvation. No vegetables were present and the long grain rice was absolutely soaked in soy sauce. It was almost red !
Alyssa L.
Place rating: 5 Aliso Viejo, CA
I can only speak on behalf of the hot and sour soup, but there was a point in my life where I had picked up 6 orders of large hot and sour soup for myself in less than 2 weeks. It was an unhealthy obsession, but it was that good. I have searched high and low for a place around here that had the right balance of both hot and sour, and often times I found good soup that just wasn’t sour the way it was meant to be. This place nails it on the head. I started coming in so often that they started calling me Honey! That being said, the staff is lovely here. By staff, I mean the lady that runs the counter because she is the only one I ever interact with, but she is a sweetheart. You won’t find much seating in this place, but it’s more of a take out joint, so I am not taking that into consideration here.
Sopa S.
Place rating: 5 Irvine, CA
I was not terribly impressed when I first visited this place, but it gradually grew on me once I discovered their Salt & Peppered Chicken. It originally came as an appetizer, but unfortunately due to low demands(note: apparently I was the only person buying it) it was stricken off the menu. Fortunately they are nice enough to still make it for anyone who orders it(e.g. me). It’s one of the better salt /peppered chicken out there — highly recommended. I like this spot.
Sofia D.
Place rating: 5 Irvine, CA
This place is probably the best Chinese take out I’ve found so far in the OC. When you walk in you’re immediately greeted and made to feel welcomed. The menu has a good variety of items to choose from, including sesame chicken that is done right(kinda like finding a unicorn under a rainbow here on the west coast for some reason). Everything is extremely fresh and made to order, which is a LOT better than some of these other fast food-court style restaurants where rubbery chicken has been sitting under a heat lamp for who knows how long. Needless to say, if you’re looking for hot, fresh, tasty Chinese take out, this is the spot to go to. Recommendations: Beef Chow Fun, Steamed/Fried Dumplings, Orange/General Tso/Sesame Chicken.
Nirmala S.
Place rating: 5 Laguna Niguel, CA
My family and I love this place! It’s our last minute default place to go when we can’t make a decision on food. We especially love the hot and sour soup and cashew nut chicken. This restaurant has speedy to-go service, a decent price, and friendly staff.
Duke K.
Place rating: 4 Aliso Viejo, CA
Value: 5+ Service: 5 Food: 4 Atmosphere: 3 Exceptional value at lunch and dinner. Good food. Super nice people. Top notch neighborhood Chinese takeout.
Jerome W.
Place rating: 2 Costa Mesa, CA
This place has it’s weak points. Their won ton soup is disgusting. It resembles nothing like wonton. I had to ask the lady to point out the wonton and there were a couple of slivers of dough and nothing that resembled meat inside. My special chicken was dry and if it weren’t for the Chinese greens mixed in, it was borderline inedible. These Aliso Viejo people have been tricked into thinking this is real Chinese food. You can douse anything with oyster sauce and it’ll taste good. They need to work harder on their food quality. If you’re going to be selling wonton soup, you’d better make sure it’s good stuff. Other than that, it’s basic at best.