The Emerald

Definitely the best Chinese place in Pullman. It has the most authentic dishes (from the Chinese menu) and the staff is always super generous. I recommend the Pork Intestines and other spicy dishes, and then get a ton of white rice to go with it.

Looking for some late night food on a Sunday night Emerald was one of the few places left open so I decided to give it a try. I must say I regret my decision. My boyfriend and I ordered beef and broccoli, sweet and sour chicken and almond chicken. First off the chicken dishes were a joke. The almond chicken had almost zero breadcrumbs. It was as if the cook forgot they were supposed to be on the dish and at the last second took a tablespoon of them and threw them on the plate — not even on the chicken, just in a small portion of the sauce. The port fried rice was extremely bland. I only took a few bites and decided I couldn’t push through eating anymore. The beef and broccoli was okay… not the best. There weren’t many people in the restaurant, I think we actually could’ve been the only ones, and I don’t know if it’s because not many people were there but the staff seemed rather unprofessional. An employee there talked VERY loudly on her phone on speaker throughout our entire meal which I found very inconsiderate. Also when we got up to go pay for the meal the cashier/​waitress just stares at your receipt as you figure out your tip which was very uncomfortable as I felt like she didn’t earn much of a tip at all. On just a personal sad note I’ve also never been to an American Chinese restaurant that didn’t give a fortune cookie out :(all in all I would say definitely stay away from this restaurant. There are plenty better choices in Pullman.

I would say this place is just as good as Golden Teriyaki. I don’t come here often but when I am craving Chinese food it’s either this place or Golden Teriyaki.

I don’t like eating at Asian restaurants because well… I’m Asian and I make a lot of Asian food (Cambodian, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese cuisine) at home. I’m a serious CRITIC when it comes to Asian food. But my friends and I got lazy and we haven’t been here so we decided to try it out.
Wow. OUR food was awesome! We ate FAMILY style cuz we’re Asian and that’s usually how we eat. It had lots of flavor. The batter for the fried salt & pepper squid was tasty. And it wasn’t oily. The long river prawns and the twin happiness (I think that’s the beef & scallops) was delicious. The service was pretty cool. The waiter was very patience with us (we took more than 30 minutes to decide what we wanted) and he was very knowledgeable about the menu. He answer all our questions and he plays Clash of Clans lol (irrelevant). The tea was alright and they kept coming back to give us more ice water.
Again, OUR (my friends and I) food was delicious. Some of them think the food is alright but I have to say, the food is GOOD FOR PULLMAN. But it is our first time going there so we’re definitely gonna come back again and I’ll add more to this review.

I have some friends that eat here fairly often, but none of them LOVE it. I have been here 3 times and have NEVER had good service. The food is slightly better than the buffet in Moscow, but MUCH more expensive. Please, do yourself a favor and drive another two blocks to Golden Teriyaki… you will be glad you did!!!

My son (a former Coug) recommended this restaurant as well as New Garden. I guess they are owned by the same family. The food was incredible! I am always looking for delicious Honey Walnut Prawns and this place did not disappoint! This dish was absolutely divine and I wish I could have them deliver to Gig Harbor… we also loved the chow mein (chicken).
We will certainly plan to go back when we are again in Pullman.

I used to love their food but the size is too small now. Their roasted duck is really good.

Solid Chinese if the other places are too busy or you want something different. Not the best, but is solid and consistent.

First of all, I’m not Chinese, but I love Chinese food and we often try Chinese restaurants, but this restaurant was the worst ever. Here’s why.
The food was just ok, nothing special, nothing that would prompt us to go back there. If it was only for food, I would’ve gave it a 3 star.
But here’s my worst experience ever. We were invited there by someone, among a group of about 20 people, most of them we didn’t know. We sat around the table and looked at the menue. Since we had special food restrictions, we checked the ingredients carefully and ordered some that we could eat. It took them About 40 minuto bring us the food, during which time there was no entertainment for the kids, not even a coloring page. The waitress was clumsy as well, pouring water all over the table while trying to fill someone’s glass. Finally the food arrived, but they just served all the orders at either end of the table, just shouting the name of the food in Chinese, and we were like, what the hell is going on!!! Just imagine our disappointment and frustration at that time! After 2 – 3 dishes were served I tried to ask the waitress if each of the served dishes had any of our disliked ingredients and they were totally unfriendly in responding. So we were left digging around each food to find the ingredients inside, that was awful. I’m not even sure if we finally could find what we really ordered, but had to find something we could actually eat among all the food on the table. that was definitely our worst experience ever, there was absolutely no respect to the customer. Would never ever ever ever ever go back there again.

I read the poor reviews to this place by some and I can only feel sorry for the reviewers. These chaps simply don’t know anything about real Chinese food. They only know Americanized Chinese food and therefore they complained about the «Sweet & Sour Chicken» or «Orange Chicken». I Dick Darlington could care less because I only like to order authentic Chinese food in a Chinese restaurant.

When I entered this establishment I was delighted by the fact that a number of Chinese were eating there conversing in their native language; which is always a good sign. I also noticed that some of their daily specials were written in Chinese for Chinese customers on the wall by the entrance. I also observed that when additional Chinese customers entered the restaurant they were given a different menu (green coloured) other than the standard menu (red coloured) which they gave me earlier. I requested to see the other menu and it was 2 pages full of authentic Chinese items written in both Chinese and in English. I proceeded to order a few dishes from the Chinese menu for myself and lady Darlington, who was dining with me that evening. The food in my opinion was very good and the dishes were authentic and executed well. It is too bad that this restaurant is located 70 miles away from my residence or else I believe I might become a regular here.

I took off one star from my rating for not offering me the Chinese menu from the start assuming that a distinguished gentleman like me will not like what they have to offer in the authentic menu. The service was good and the restaurant was very clean. My dear fellow, my tip to you is to ask to see the «Chinese menu» next time when you go there. However, I must warn you; that menu has no Sweet & Sour or Orange anything on it.
Kind regards,
Dick Darlington

Wow! This place is our new go to for Chinese food in Pullman. I always get sweet and sour chicken everywhere I go, and this is the best sauce I have ever had. We also had the broccoli beef and almond chicken. The beef was so tender and the sauce was spot on. They use white sauce for almond, which I prefer over the brown kind served at other places.
The thing I was most impressed with was the cleanliness. While the décor desperately needs an update from 1980 (hence 4 stars instead of 5), everything was nice and clean. Best high chairs available for people with kids that you will find anywhere. That was really appreciated!
Food arrived so fast after ordering, and the price was very reasonable. I will absolutely be back.

This restaurant might look kinda dead from the outside, but waitresses are nice and if you complain about the food you might wanna ask for the non americanized Chinese food, they have a different menu for that lol, food is really great there!

Bland, boring, greasy… just like the rest of the Chinese joints in town. Seriously Pullman, get some good Chinese already!

Enjoyed the ambiance, complimentary Jasmine tea, and friendly servers. Schezeuan chicken is our dish of choice.

So, I should have known better based on the pictures, which are actually pretty accurate, though I think indications of how bad this food is. Maybe bad is too harsh, but it’s bland for my palate. I ordered the dinner combo No. 3 and a house combo with General Tso’s (which I will say they did without charging extra) and an egg roll.
The No. 3 had pork chow mein, pork fried rice, and sweet and sour chicken. The chow mein was pretty good and was probably the best thing we got, but their idea of anything being pork is to throw the thinly sliced BBQ pork on top (seen in the pictures associated with this restaurant). It is NOT incorporated into the meal and is hardly enough. The pork fried rice was horrible. It was just rice with egg with the pork strips thrown on top. Hardly any flavor at all — I could have made better without trying. The S&S chicken portion was TINY — 6 «balls» of chicken drowned in S&S sauce. Additionally, the chicken was of questionable quality — when cut open it was an odd grey/​pearl color that made me wonder if it was possibly pork.
The General Tso’s was decently spiced and sauced, though, again, the portion was small for a dinner meal and considering the other part of my combo was an egg roll. The egg roll itself was burnt; I’ve never had a burnt egg roll so not sure how they did that… but I don’t recommend it. The meal was also served with pork fried rice, which was the same as the other combo — tasteless.
I also did not like the front of the house very much. It started off nicely — she gave me a glass of water and told me to take my time, but then came right back and asked if I was ready to order (while I was reading the menu). So I felt rushed. Then she came back and took my card right away and watched while I signed. Yes, I have to pay. But there’s a place for a tip. I felt pressured to leave one even though I hadn’t even seen my food yet. I guess it’s partly my fault for waiting while my food was prepared, but I still think this is poor form.
Overall, while this food is edible, I think most other Chinese food I’ve had is far better.

Actual phone conversation today:
«Emerald.»
“Hi, I’d like to place an order for delivery?”
«To where?»
«[my apartment complex name]»
«Oh sorry, we don’t do delivery to apartments. We only do delivery on campus. Ok bye.» [click]
How rude.
Their food tastes exactly like New Garden too, same menu and all. I’d rather go to New Garden because people are nicer there.

Not my go-​to choice for Chinese in Pullman.
We’re seated very quickly and our food also comes out quickly, which is very nice if you’re really hungry. However, the food is a bit bland for my taste. I remember the noodles being a bit too over cooked so they were kind of mushy. The food just wasn’t what I was expecting…
After our meal, we were given orange wedges. Random, I must say, but still delightful.
Although the prices were pretty inexpensive, the food quality definitely matched up.

I’m not sure if it was the Orange Chicken or my pop, but something went very wrong that night and I won’t be back.
I had a sharty evening.
Didn’t even make it out of the restuarant :(

Service and food were great. I had the Hunan chicken and it was delicious! Chinese in general isn’t my favorite type of Asian food (why it’s not getting 4 stars) but even at that, it was really good! I’m sure we will go here again…

This place seriously set the bar for Chinese food. I have yet to discover a gem like The Emerald anywhere in the Tri Cities. Cravings of their delicious sweet and sour chicken (what is in the amazing sauce?) and chow mein never subside. Even their fried rice is better than any I can find here. Portion size is always enough for two meals. Service is great.
The other Chinese places in town are NOT as good as The Emerald, despite what some may say. Trust me!