I have never paid over 10 bucks for a fried rice plate and today was that day. I can take eleven but Jesus 15!!! I’m glad I left no tip because their service was horrible too. To check in was slow, to order slow and to get out was worst. I wish I could go back in time to eat somewhere else.
Patrick T.
Place rating: 2 Clovis, CA
This place used to be Golden Dragon. I had gone to this place when I was younger. My mother had said that she comes here all the time with her friends. Well… there is so many better places to go. The food is ok only. The problem I do have is that these women were coming off the street and handling the food in the cart. I was sitting across from these women and they were holding up the cart. They got up and actually started just lifting up the bowls that were in the cart. They were not taking them from the cart and putting them on their table too. This pissed me off because, «hello, I don’t know where your hands have been». I’m wondering if they owned the place or something, but even if they did, they know better not to do that. Now that I see a warning on their Unilocal page, this totally doesn’t surprise me. So please go some place else. Unilocal it first.
Brian And Kristy O.
Place rating: 1 Phoenix, AZ
Stay away! Far away! Service is terrible and rude. Waited 30 minutes after our first bit of Dim Sum and decided we had waited enough. Decided to leave and the staff was rude! They used the kitchen as an excuse when four tables that were sat after us got food. So, they tried to lie their way out of it! Wanted to dash without paying but then I would be stopping to their level. DON’T EATHERE!
Anshuo L.
Place rating: 1 Honolulu, HI
Bad food. Bad service. Bad attitude until we threatened to not pay tip. Don’t come here.
Garry Y.
Place rating: 3 Honolulu, HI
We stopped here after sightseeing and a recommendation from one of the workers in the fortune cookie factory around the corner. Decent dimsum, and service. They ran out of some items but it was because it was late in the day. I would try it again.
Eugenia W.
Place rating: 2 Millbrae, CA
I was pretty scared to eat here since there was a notice on Unilocal saying it’s dirty. We came here with my grandpa and he picked this place. I was actually surprised there were people eating here… but none of them were chinese. In fact, we were the only chinese table there. Hmm, it used to be the old dragon restaurant… that’s where the massacre was back in the day… could it be haunted? Certain days, upstairs, there’s karaōke and dancing… In the mornings, there’s dimsum, and in the evening, it’s just dinner. The food was decent, but I was paranoid! Ordered the xo beef and I liked it, one of the veggie dish was overcooked. The prices were more expensive than the other restaurants. The rice was complimentary but now I know why, it’s hard and clumpy. hm. Probably won’t be back…
Darrell K.
Place rating: 3 Seal Beach, CA
This place got such low ratings and I don’t know why. I enjoyed the restaurant friendliness and I enjoyed the dim sum. While walking around Chinatown, I wanted to eat Chinese. Big surprise, huh? All the restaurants looked the same, but for some reason, I was drawn to this place. The wait was long, but they seem to move people fast. Once seated, the dim sum came fast with plenty of choices. The food was good too. Give it a try; don’t think the low rating is merited.
Chris F.
Place rating: 3 Honolulu, HI
This was one of the few sit down Chinese restaurants we were able to find on a lazy Sunday morning. We stood around waiting to be seated for a full awkward minute while various patrons stared at us intently. Getting past this, the food wasn’t bad — uniquely flavored compared to what I’m used to from dim sum even — and the cart service was okay, though it should be noted the patronage is still currently rather sparse. Personally, I don’t think it’s quite the train wreck that some others have described and the price isn’t unreasonable for the decent portions.
Ali T.
Place rating: 5 Jackson, WY
UNDERRATED! This place has awesome Yum Cha and dim sum! So delicious and excellent price. Two of us absolutely pigged out for lunch and the bill totalled about $ 30. Our favourites were the steamed pork buns and the sesame buns for dessert. Forget take away dim sum. This place is full of Chinese people. They know what’s good for them! Highly recommend for a good feed. Don’t expect great English, you’re in Chinatown after all.
Steve S.
Place rating: 2 Healdsburg, CA
This use to be «The Golden Dragon» restaurant — and was«the place to go» for dim sum in Chinatown. Then some shootings there years ago, and it’s now«Imperial Palace». When I was there it was a zoo of people clamoring around and the flow of food was disorganized. I’m usually okay with dirty Chinese restaurants… but this one pushes my limits.
Christina T.
Place rating: 4 Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Delicious choice for lunch! So many places around here but we are glad we chose Imperial Palace. The Lemon Chicken is divine! Breaded lightly with a tangy lemon sauce. Also had the Mongolian beef which was my favorite. Spicy with fresh onions and peppers. We ventured out and tried the salt and pepper prawns which were fried with the head on and they were amazing. Also had combination fried rice and combination chow mien — both which were delightful. I recommend this place for sure. Service was good and people were friendly.
Susan D.
Place rating: 1 San Francisco, CA
Like eating roaches? Then this is the place for you. My Niece found a roach in her food while I was packing our leftovers to go. When we told the staff, they laughed and then they said they’ll see about giving us a discount. Seriously? We over ordered so had a lot to take home but weren’t going to be able to eat it(not fans of eating bugs) he finally looked at us again and asked us to pay for he 3 cans of soda. We just wanted to get out and forget the experience. I gave him $ 6 for the soda and they were laughing as we walked out the door. Wow, not what I was expecting from taking my Niece for authentic Chinese food in Chinatown but maybe I have too high of expectations.
Danny C.
Place rating: 3 Los Altos, CA
We went on a day-long field trip to San Francisco last summer with our family friend Henry’s movie club. Our group split up for lunch, and about half of us decided to eat at Imperial Palace. The approximately 13 of us got here during peak hours, so we had to wait a bit before we were seated. But despite the huge amount of people, the quality of service did not seem to be affected, and the food came quicker than expected. I know some other reviewers have had issues with the service, but that was not the case for us. The food was fairly palatable, with my personal favorites being the daikon cake and the broccoli with steamed egg. The desserts were also delicious; the mango pudding was among the best I’ve ever tasted. The only issue with regards to the food is that some of the dishes were a little salty. However, Imperial Palace tends to be on the expensive side. Our group didn’t order that many items, yet the final tab came to around $ 23 per person. For the same price, one could have gotten up to twice as much chow at similar restaurants. While my parents and I overall enjoyed the food here, the prices are a turn-off. – TL;DR version – Highs: Fast service; most of the food is fairly good Lows: Can be a little crowded; high prices; some items are kind of salty Bottom line: Imperial Palace isn’t too shabby as far as Chinese restaurants go, but I’m not a big fan of the prices. Final verdict: 3 stars
Eric J.
Place rating: 4 Pocatello, ID
As an American Born Half Chinese person who lives in Idaho I come to San Francisco with one thing on my mind. That thing is Dim Sum. So you know that Chinatown is on the list of places to go. I’m not here enough to have a regular place, but we happened in on the Imperial Palace. The flavor were great and the selection was good too. Everything that I wanted in my dim sum experience was there. Even the chicken feet were good! Overall the atmosphere was great but just know it’s going to be loud and crazy. If you’re and ABC like me you live for that atmosphere. Imperial Palace Dim Sum is great!
Brent J.
Place rating: 1 Placerville, CA
GOELSEWHERE! Painfully slow, unattentive service. The food was SOMEWHAT decent but the total lack of service ruined the meal. I must have asked 4 or 5 times where our pot sticker appetizer was which finally arrived after our subpar meals had already been eaten. Then, to my sheer surprise, they brought them out with sweet and sour sauce! The waitresses acted like that was totally normal, which is plain absurd. I literally had to ask for my own ingredients and create a real pot sticker sauce myself at my table! Even freaking Panda Express serves actual pot sticker sauce! My girlfriends claypot was nearly inedible as the rice was burnt to a solid crisp. By the time our food finally arrived we just wanted to get the heck out of this place. Was the first time i sincerely considered sending all food back and refusing to pay a cent. Had the staff spoken english I certainly would have done exactly that.
Helen M.
Place rating: 1 Henderson, NV
We walked in after 3:00 pm on a weekday. The place was empty, only one couple was there. We ordered dim sum out of their menu, and some veggie chow mein. While waiting for the food to arrive, our first dish came to the table. Oily vegetable egg rolls, as if they had been fried 10 times! Oil dripping from them and simply disgusting!!! I got up with my guests and simply walked away, without waiting for the rest of the dishes to make it to the table. If you start my meal with this picture, forget it… the rest will be a disaster. You cannot make a mistake with egg rolls. If you do, you are giving me left overs that were re fried and that were sitting in the fryer. Not cool to do that. What an experience and frightening!!!
Bradley B.
Place rating: 1 Tampa, FL
THISPLACEISTERRIBLE, DONOTCOMEHERE STAYAWAY We got ripped off pretty bad, and chinese fast food is way better… stay away for sure…
Elliott N.
Place rating: 1 San Francisco, CA
Accessibility(Parking /Wait Time) 0⁄1 Star: parking is impossible in this area. Only chance would be to pay at the parking garage down the hill. _____ Service(Waiter /Cleanness /Ambiance) 0⁄1 Star: dirty old messy _____ Taste(0=Not Edible /1=Edible /2=Good(average) /3=Must Try!) 0⁄3 Stars: the vegetables were full of sand or dirt. It was very obvious that there was no attempt to wash the veggies before cooking them. Fish was not fresh and tasted funny. The fish was also small. _____ Overall Experience 0⁄5 Stars _____ Last Words This review is based on the banquet area on the 3rd floor.
Kris T.
Place rating: 2 Concord, CA
Terrible. My family a party of 7 came here for lunch the other day. No one explained what the cart system they used was, and I constantly had to flag someone down to order and beg for water refills. Seriously, 2nd time in a week(my first being china delight in Carmel) where I have gone to a Chinese restaurant and got poor service. The mongolian beef was good, as was the bbq pork fried rice and the siu mai, which is why I’m giving the 2nd star.
Soo H.
Place rating: 2 San Diego, CA
Smile and grin at the change all around Pick up my guitar and play, just like yesterday Then I’ll get on my knees and pray We don’t get fooled again The Who — Won’t Get Fooled Again Bait and switch at work here! I was checking out the menu outside and the price seemed ok. After sitting down a different menu was given to me and the price of the won ton soup was higher! I didn’t feel like finding another restaurant so I stayed and ordered the bbq pork won ton soup. It was $ 10 a bowl. Pretty pricey for Chinatown… The char sui lacked flavor. The mushrooms had a flavor I didn’t like. Broccoli was ok. Won tons tasted like they were mostly pork… Shrimp and pork won tons are the best. Flavor wise this dish was ok but over priced. I won’t be back.
