On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Loading...
Growing up, we used to call this place "Chef Meow" for all the stray/feral cats hanging out near the back door. As they have expanded and grown over the years, the cats are gone. Draw your own conclusions.
Best Chinese food in Lamorinda (yea, yea, I know), although significantly better if you eat there, rather than to go. The food loses half its flavor and texture when you take out.
Potstickers are excellent, the fried artery-cloggers are just right and not at all greasy. Pretty much everything's great.
They'll tweak dishes or swap meats upon request, but not without giving you a disapproving look and tone of "stupid round-eye, bastardizing dishes from the Ming dynasty". The tweaked dish will come out exactly as you envisioned and hoped.
Kenny (waiter) and Johnny (who works the front and whom the unelightened call "rude" but who's a real character and very entertaining) are institutions.
Best Chinese around! Kenny, Amy , and Johnny are all so nice. The food comes out fast and hot, they remember what we ordered last time. Loooove the crab cheese puffs, yummmmy! Sizzling beef, mu-shu, hot sour soup are all great...uh oh, I'm making myself hungry. Maybe I'll go there tomorrow. I am picky about the food I eat and I go to this place, a lot. Nowhere else around here can compare.
I had tried to get takeout at this restaurant awhile back and arrived at 8:45 PM, 15 minutes before closing. I thought, "that should be enough time." Nope. I got rebuffed in the lobby. "Sorry, it was slow so we closed early." Ka-pow! A sock to the jaw. I was not pleased. So when my friend invited me to have dinner there, I was interested to see if the food was as good as I had heard when I tried to get takeout. The food was good. It was a bit on the sweet side but overall, the flavors were strong but not overpowering. The Lemon Chicken was crispy but the sauce was more sweet than lemony. The Shrimp Fried Rice was good with just the right amount of saltiness and the Honey Walnut Prawns were very good, about as good as I have had elsewhere. Overall, 4 stars. It was good enough for a return visit.
My new favorite Chinese food in Lamorinda. We had their lunch (great specials) and the portions were what would be dinner-sized at other places! My husband had the lemon chicken, which is great. Light, crisp breading, not too sweet, not greasy, not too heavy. I had the spicy house chow mein - chicken and shrimp with different veggies. By far some of the best chow fun I've had in the East Bay. I can't wait to try the summer specials!
P.S. It's open to 9:30 or 10 PM! That's unheard of here!
Our favorite restaurant in Moraga. We always look forward to going. We really like their food! It's not the typical greasy, mystery meat Chinese. The sauces and flavors are delicious and the portions are generous. Some of our favorite dishes are Hot & Sour Soup, Szechwan Beef, and Combo Fried Rice. Our kids absolutely love going there. We've been going there so long (20 years) that we know all the staff and they greet us by name. We highly recommend!
5 stars!!!
Chef Chao is a great chinese restaurant to spend a evening in moraga! They have great food, good service, and the management there is very nice! They have been there ever since i can remember so obviously they are doing something right, go there and experience it for yourself!
There's an unspoken rule of Moraga that every citizen must celebrate their birthday at Chef Chao, at least once. Need proof? Check out the 5 gajillion pictures of people wearing the festive birthday hat near the entrance.
A slightly lesser known rule is that every teenage citizen must enjoy an awkward date here at least once. There are STILL pictures hanging up in the house of lanky me in an irridescent mint green dress and my much shorter date from homecoming my freshman year of high school.
Anyways, stroll down memory lane aside...foodwise, Chef Chao is GREAT! I may be a little white former suburbanite, but I've never had better Chinese. Ever. Anywhere. And I know it's totally an Americanized dish, but when I was in college, I would literally have dreams about their chow mein. Amazing.
I'd suggest one of their current specials - mango almond chicken is a perfect light summer dish. Menu standbys such as Mongolian beef, fried rice, walnut prawns, lemon chicken, wonton soup, beef & broccoli are also yummy.
As for attire - while the white table cloths and twinkly lights might suggest a fancy outing (which definitely works for an early teenage date), it's much more of the standard Lamorinda polo shirts-and-khaki shorts shindig.
Go in with an open mind and don't immediately dismiss the place as yuppie soccer mom fare. You won't be disappointed.
I love Chinese food, but I love no Chinese food like I love Chef Chao. If only I still lived in the East Bay , I would be able to say hi to my friend Kenny, who always makes sure I have the best service.
The moo shoo (spelling?) is fantastic and so are the potstickers and spicy tangy chicken. Mixed with a nice Tsing Tao, it's a dinner to remember. Be sure to rub the Buddha's belly on your way out. It's good luck after all.
Wow, I just made my mouth water.
While I've had some dishes better in other restaurants, the truth is in the end I compare all Chinese food I eat against Chef Chao and few places do a better overall job. Above all the food quality is consistently excellent, and even though it's more expensive than some lower quality competitors, it's well worth it. the tempura eggplant appetizer is a personal fave.
*Interesting tip: for take out orders if you want to keep your sweet & sour pork or lemon prawns from getting soggy before you get home - they will pack the sauce separately if you ask.
Hands down, this is the best Chinese food we have had in Lamorinda ever since we moved here from the city! The flavors aren't over-the-top, smack you in the face with sauce flavors, but that is a good thing. The Lemon Chicken was great with the perfect amount of crispness and flavor without being overly sweet or syrupy. The vegetable chow mein was also good without being overly greasy. All around everything was good and we will definitely go back. In addition, they don't tell you that take-out orders are 10% off if you pay with a credit card or 15% off if you pay with cash. Definitely a nice bonus!
Great food - Friendly service - AWESOME Walnut Prawns!!!
I've never eaten at the restaurant, always got take out. But I'm not sure why this place has such good ratings (maybe because it's one of just a handful of restaurant options in Moraga...)
The three or four times I got take out here, I always regretted it. The food was always super greasy and the taste just mediocre. The people at the front desk weren't particularly friendly either.
I have lived not far from Chef Chao for nearly 4 years, but never ordered a meal there. Frankly, I hadn't heard great things about it. But after reading the reviews here I was encouraged to try it. Well, sorry, but I won't be going back again. The food was bland and overly sweet, very Americanized. It's a nice looking place with friendly staff, but this is nothing like what you'd get in Chinatown in SF or Oakland. Oddly, despite the ability to afford good food, people out here in Lamorinda have a dearth of good restaurants, especially ethnic restaurants. A trip to Oakland, Berkeley, or SF is necessary to get something decent. Can't someone out here open more interesting restaurants?
I have lived not far from Chef Chao for nearly 4 years, but never ordered a meal there. Frankly, I… Read more »
mmmmm this place is SO good :D the funny thing is when you have a birthday there, they'll give you a hat that the emperor of china wore and take you picture and then hang it up on the wall near the entrance. THe waitress, Amy Lee speaks canto and she knows my aunt mimi XD It's right across from a day care center :) service is really good and it's clean
Kenny and Johnny are great!!! Kenny made sure they wouldn't discontinue the pot stickers. I like the lunch specials better than the dinner.
The price is getting a little high, but not bad for Moraga.
As a Chinese guy, this is the only chinese food place I go to in the Lamorinda area.
Awesome chinese food. The manchurian beef is the best around and the service is quick. We have spent many meals here and they are always stellar. Can't wait to go back!
Best chinese ever. Kenny is the man!
This is one of the most dependable restaurants you're going to visit. The food is always fresh and delicious. Personally, I love the Mu Shu Pork, the Black Bean Sauce Chicken and the Mongolian Lamb. The specials are usually great too. For example, their Mango Chicken was fabulous. The wait staff are attentive and friendly. They are very flexible about making changes to our orders too. They do "take-out" and usually have the food ready in 10-15 minutes. They give you a small discount for paying cash...10% I think. Parking is easy and there's isn't normally a big wait.
best place for chinese this side side of the tunnel
Check us out on Facebook!
Walnut Creek, CA
Happy Hour | 3PM - Close | M -…
Lafayette, CA
Moraga, CA
Category: Italian
Moraga, CA
Category: Chinese
Moraga, CA
Category: Chinese
Lafayette, CA
Category: Chinese
Orinda, CA
Category: Elementary Schools
Lamorinda. Also known as "I don't know where that…
