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Joy Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
1489 Beach Park BlvdFoster City, CA 94404
(650) 345-1762
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 3 pm
Mon-Sun 5 pm - 9:30 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
345 reviews for Joy Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"The hand cut noodles in XO is the best." In 43 reviews -
"The best stinky tofu I've had in the Bay area." In 77 reviews -
"Xiao Long Bao - Excellent." In 16 reviews
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345 reviews in English
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Review from Earl Q.
Redwood City, CA
5/9/2012
I love Taiwanese restaurants...
Joy is a great, authentic example of it.
Their Xialong Pao is amazing. -
Review from Steve L.
San Francisco, CA
5/2/2012 7 Check-ins Here
One of the few good, authentic Taiwanese restaurants in the SF Bay Area!
I LOVE their potstickers and mu shu hand-cut stir-fried noodles! If I'm eating with a larger group, I always recommend the wuxi spareribs and three cup chicken - I notice the cooking of these last 2 dishes can be inconsistent, but when cooked well, they're good! -
Review from Silvana I.
Foster City, CA
4/25/2012
Very dirty place. Cups, plates, chopsticks were not very clean. The soup bowls were "thrown" on the table so they spilled quite nicely and the bowls were sticking to the paper covers (that's what you have on the table - paper sheets). The interior is also quite dusty, old, and has a certain "glare" to it as if it hasn't been cleaned in a long time. It's difficult to tell the color of the carpet as it seems it has built up layers of dirt and food inside. So the "atmosphere" was not particularly inviting esp. for eating.
The food is somewhere at the bottom of my Chinese restaurants list - everything was too slimy, and I think it is still wobbling in my stomach. The only tolerable thing was that it wasn't super hot and spicy like most Chinese places, but I am sure this won't be a plus for most customers. The rice stayed in sticky chunks that were very tough to break down into smaller pieces. I'd guess it was quite old.
The staff was actually friendly (as friendly as it can get for a Chinese restaurant) but other than that I did not like this place. Sorry :( -
Review from Agustinus T.
San Carlos, CA
4/16/2012
Came with a big group split into two tables of 8 people each. This place is definitely great for big groups. We had quite a bit of dishes but I'm going to highlight just few of them since the rest are standard fare.
Pork (belly) with preserved vegetables: my friends were all looking forward to this but I think it's overrated. Good but there are better pork belly dishes.
Crispy duck: yum... crispy skin with very soft inside meat. Really good!
Lion's head (meat balls): took them good 30+ minutes to cook this and we ate this last... Was it worth it? Yes, it was. Tender meat ball in tasty soup.
I would come to this place just to get meatball soup and crispy duck! -
Review from Jane C.
San Carlos, CA
5/20/2012
Just had lunch there. Not happy with the service. Will not go back.
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Review from Karen W.
TIMELESS
Recently remodeled and expanded spatially, I've returned after a few years of being away, and I'm happy to find that this place is as good as 5 years ago!
AUTHENTIC & JUST PLAIN GOOD
It's rare to come across a restaurant that has so many noteworthy dishes. If I had to choose the most memorable, they would be:
- Pull-apart pancake/dough--literally-translated from Chinese: "Grab Biscuit":
Layered-dough, pan-fried to golden crispy and softer, chewier beneath the outer skin. You just gotta have this, you won't encounter a better Asian-style pancake.
- Shaved ice with a 2"-thick cap of unsweetened red beans, condensed milk drizzled all over. Huge bowl but you won't want to leave anything leftover. It'll confirm that a second stomach for dessert exists after all!
If you're going for a special occasion, the set menus are impressive, too. The $138 is course-after-course of scrumptious proteins, veggies, and starches rich in flavors that create a remarkable experience.
Focus on the food, nothing else matters! -
Review from Claire W.
Went there for lunch today with my coworker. Since he is not into the more authentic Chinese dishes, he ordered the sweet and sour chicken from the lunch special menu, which also comes with steamed rice and a hot and sour soup. The price is $6.5 with big portion for the chicken and rice. There is not much vegetables there; only a few slices of green bell pepper. This is the kind of dish I would never order myself as I am not into Americanized Chinese dishes.
I ordered the wonton combination soup ($7.5) , which contains a few (maybe 5) very small wontons with thin skin, slices of chicken and beef and a couple shrimps in the soup with a couple slices of bok choi. The bowl is huge though with mostly soup and small portions of the above items in the soup (see the photo).
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
The soup was light in flavor and was not overly oily, but still a little more oily than the soup base from Cooking Papa's in Foster City. I finished the ingredients in the soup but only drink a few spoons of soup. This is the soup to order when you are not hungry, as it has a little bit of everything but not very substantial to fill you up. That was exactly what I wanted for lunch today.
I definitely like their more Taiwanese style dishes on the menu better.Listed in: Mid Peninsula Restaurants, Favorite local Chinese/Taiwan…
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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12/1/2011
Was going to upgrade my rating for Joy to 5 stars given that they were open on the Thanksgiving Day… Read more »
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Review from Biqi C.
3/22/2012
Standard Chinese restaurant. Inexpensive, may be a bit on the gross side if you choose the wrong thing, may be on the good side if you order the right thing.
I just wrote this review because there is one thing on the menu I would advise not to get. It is the Chef's orange peel beef something something "must try" on their menu. You must not try it. It is really vinegary, extremely breaded, and way too sweet. Must not try. -
Review from Eric Y.
Jesus... What's up with this place?
Quality goes up and down every few months. Haven't been here for a good 2 months and now it's like "wow" did you guys just open?
Food lacked extreme taste today. All three dishes were bland. The Chinese donut was not crispy. Also the rice is always soft and soggy. Not only that, it's in weird ball chunks when your put it in your bowl.
Step up to the game or i will stop coming!2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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10/11/2008
edited (at night), btw this is my 300th REVIEW:
AHHHH!!!
my joy restaurant is back finally.
but, i'm… Read more »
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Review from archie r.
San Mateo, CA
3/30/2012
For fellow vegetarians:
This place has a very few options. It was a-ok . Nothing great to rave about.
You might want to try the nearby vegan place . -
Review from thomas c.
4/22/2012
Wayyy out in the middle of nowhere in Foster City, but good Taiwanese food. If you go here, might as well check out the view along the coast.
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Review from Christine K.
Los Angeles, CA
3/11/2012 7 photos
Yum. Every time I come back home for breaks, my parents take me on these food adventures to places they've discovered while I was gone. This place was one of the first restaurants this Spring Break that I got the pleasure to try. Turns out the owner's brother used to open this restaurant that I loved, but it closed because he gambled his money away. I was DELIGHTED when my mom told me that I could get all the dishes that I used to love here too. My family's very traditional, so this review isn't going to be laced with the usual American Chinese food. Enjoy!
FOOD:
1. Lu Rou Fan (Stewed Pork Rice): It's not all fancy like the ones many people are accustomed to seeing here in the States. It has the simplicity that I yearn for that I can only get in Taiwan. Of course, it's not the SAME as what I get in Taiwan, but it definitely hit the spot and made me smile. The flavor is just right, not too salty and the melt-in-your-mouth texture of the meat blends with the chewiness of the rice. http://www.yelp.com/bi...
2. Stir Fried Basil & Jellyfish Heads: You might have had jellyfish tentacles, but if you haven't tried jellyfish heads, you're missing out. It has an extra crunch that the rest of the jellyfish lacks. Paired with the fragrant basil and mustard greens, this dish is one of my favorites (at the restaurants that I can get it at). Sadly though, I was slightly disappointed with this one, because it was a bit underseasoned. http://www.yelp.com/bi...
3. Beef Tendon Noodle (Knife-Cut) Soup): I really enjoyed the spicyness of this dish. It wasn't covered in oil, but actually spice that emanated from actual chilis in the broth. I've never been a big fan of eating the beef in my beef noodle soup, but the beef was very tender and easy to chew. The knife-cut noodles were probably the thickest, most generous pieces of noodles I've ever had. Delicious, but that just means I got full fast.
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
4. Fried Stinky Tofu: I really liked the portion of this dish, but pretty standard. Was a little too drenched by the garlic soy sauce, but I wasn't too bothered by it.
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
5. Xiao Ti (Steamed Pork Leg?): Not sure what the real translation of this, but this is one of their specialty dishes. At the closed restaurant I used to go to, it was so busy you had to preorder it the day before to eat this. We were in luck today and they had one in the kitchen. The meat is so fragrant & fall-off-the-bone & the two dipping sauces (black vinegar with ginger and a sweet soy sauce with garlic and chili) complemented it so perfectly. This is my dad's favorite. I was too darn full by the time it came around to take more than 2 bites.
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
6. Red Bean Shaved Ice: At the old restaurant they used to give this HUGE bowl of red bean shaved ice with condensed milk as the "dessert" at the end of the meal, replacing the usual tapioca or jello some restaurants give. As a kid, it was the highlight of my meal and I've never seen it done at other places. They cook their own red bean so it's not the overly sweet canned ones from the store. This is one of those nostalgic kind of simple desserts. It's literally an enormous bowl of red bean, condensed milk, and shaved ice. We went without the condensed milk today, too many extra calories. Nothing snazzy, but simple deliciousness. & it's like $3-4 for a huge bowl. SO WORTH IT.
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
To cap it all off, it was pretty much the feeling of discovering a restaurant that I had lost forever. PURE HAPPINESS. -
Review from C. H.
San Mateo, CA
2/23/2012 1 Check-in Here
Great food, even though we only stopped by to get a snack while on a 4 hour walk.
We ordered the wrong stuff, and will be sure to order Taiwanese food next time, rather than Cantonese food. -
Review from Julia L.
Burlingame, CA
3/19/2012
One of the best (of the few) Taiwanese restaurants in the Bay Area.
Breakfast items are great. Noodle dishes are awesome, especially the ones with the "shaved" noodles.
I'm a lover of stinky tofu, and this place doesn't dissapoint with several dishes utilizing that fragrant, pungent piece of protein. You don't even need to look up, you can smell your dish coming your way from the kitchen.
For Chinese New Year, they even sell nian-gao from racks by the door. They usually sell out their inventory too...a real popular item.
Don't come here and order standard American-Chinese or Cantonese fare, this restaurant doesn't focus on that stuff... -
Review from Cynthia C.
Alameda, CA
1/17/2012 1 photo
Impressed by the location and the food.
Portions are hearty, which left plenty of leftovers:
-Wild vegetable with sea bass soup, very good, buttery fish, w/spinach & watercress
-Pea sprouts with garlic, a little salty for my taste, but not oily
-Shredded pork rice noodle Taiwan style, excellent, seasoned lightly, finely sliced vegetables and super fragrant shitakes.
Spiffy servers. They run tight ship here. Bathrooms are nice and clean.
Irked me: took 25 minutes to make some chive pancakes and when they came out they weren't even hot. Still good though.
After our meal, we went on a nice walk on the beach, while gnawing on some chive pancakes. A perfect afternoon.Listed in: In the know with the 6-5-0, Back to the Motherland.
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Review from Marilyn T.
Palo Alto, CA
2/6/2012
It's a little out of the way but worth the drive for better quality Chinese food. That said, it's still going to be greasy and heavy, but things are done nicer than at many other places around here. It also looks much nicer since the upgrade/remodel since a few years ago.
If you get any noodle dishes, get them with the hand cut noodles for the texture (whether it's stir fried or in soup). Rice cakes are also just the right amount of chewiness and have lots of flavor. Other more unique Chinese specialties to get include zhua bing (like a scallion pancake but without scallions and kind of flaky, broken up, meant to be eaten with the hands), mei cai kou rou (pork belly wrapped around marinated greens), xiao long bao (xlb, steamed mini buns, hit or miss on how juicy they are), hong you chao shou (wontons in hot chili oil).
If you're planning ahead, make sure you order these special items beforehand: 8-treasure duck filled with glutinous rice, dongpo rou (stewed pork), and lotus wrapped chicken. The duck has a ton of interesting ingredients, and what better way to eat sticky rice than after its been cooked in duck fat?? They used to also have this stewed fish soup that they made over the course of a day (I think with pork or ham added to it), but rumor is they don't do it anymore.
For vegetarians, the tofu casseroles are pretty good. Actually, all their claypots are pretty flavorful, including the classic lions head meatball (usually made of pork).
Service is hit or miss like at most Chinese places. They do take credit card (I think Visa or Mastercard only). Like I said, it's a little out of the way but is worth checking out for some more unique items (call ahead!) -
Review from Stephanie W.
San Francisco, CA
4/9/2012 2 Check-ins Here
this is one of my family's go to spot for japanese food. the food comes out fairly fast but the service is slow. (it could be because it is ALWAYS crowded!) they do have seating upstairs so the restaurant is definitely bigger than what it looks like on the outside.
the food is good. i always get the chicken teriyaki and it never disappoints me. they're sushi is also fresh and their pricing is reasonable!
definitely would recommend this place to a friend! -
Review from Andrew M.
2/9/2012 1 Check-in Here
Joy Restaurant is a preferred alternative to satisfy any misguided Panda Express cravings!
The Orange Beef, which has the irresistible "must try" label on the menu, is crispy, non-chewy, and appropriately saucy (not drowned in sauce, which is a popular Chinese restaurant technique).
The House Fried Rice is teeming with ham, egg, and veggie fillings, and provides a worthy complement to more strongly flavored dishes.
The sauteed String Beans with Pork is a wonderful compromise to ordering vegetables, since each scoop of the oily beans is laden with bits of salty ground pork.
The meal is slightly expensive for Chinese food - at $17 per person with leftovers for one meal - but the quality of cooking and readily available space make up for it.
Will be back to try other Joy Restaurant Menu items, especially the mysterious large bowled entrees that other tables were ladling out of. -
Review from Jackie S.
11/29/2011
I rarely eat at northern Chinese/Taiwanese food, so that was a nice change. The food was different than what I'm used to. Expect food with more oil, spiciness, and lots of garlic! We had a $200 set menu which came with a lot of food. The quality of the food wasn't bad for the price. I don't remember all of the dishes that we had, but we had a seafood soup, chilean sea bass topped with garlic, squash with dried shrimp, braised pig leg, braised duck (with lots of sauce), eel, circular rice noodle with beef, noodles with garlic, spicy salt and pepper shrimp, sea cucumber and mushrooms, stir fry beef dish, and fruit. The restaurant is known for their stinky tofu, and it was really stinky! Another table ordered it and the smell was pungent. In addition, our salt and pepper shrimps was made in the same oil as the stinky tofu since the shrimp smelled like stinky tofu. Yuck!
The restaurant is located in a strip mall within a residential section. Strange location. -
Review from Christine C.
Pleasanton, CA
1/6/2012
I LOVE this place! Ever since I was first introduced to this place, I have since been bringing coworkers and friends here and they always leave happy.
If you go for lunch: Try the lunch special menu- they will give you a bowl of Hot and Sour soup, and give you a pretty generous portion of what you ordered, a side of rice, and a fried wonton for about $6-7. Not super cheap compared to some other lunch special places out there, but you get a good amount of food. My favorite is the lunch special String Bean with pork- great flavor.
If you go for dinner (or whenever): I recommend the Mushu Dao Shao Chow Mein (Thick Noodles).
If you go anytime: You can't leave without ordering the Cheng Hua Lu Potstickers! Every single person I introduce these to now always go back for the potstickers over and over again. They give you approx 8 huge potstickers and they are the long style, attached with a layer of delicious crispiness on top. Delicious, tasty and crispy! (See photos) Just a tip: Order them first immediately when you sit down because they take sometimes 20-25 minutes to make.
Overall, if you're looking for a hearty, authentic chinese restaurant, I highly recommend Joy :) -
Review from michael g.
San Mateo, CA
11/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place is AWESOME! I have been eating here for a few years now and just realized that I had never posted a Yelp review.
I LOVE the food here. It is a little hole in the wall type place on the back side of Foster City, hidden in a little strip mall. But it is definitely a gem.
Things I love at this place, The pickled cucumber salad appetizer (not sure what it is called), Scallion pancakes, Shredded pancakes, Xiao Long Bao, wontons with chili oil, and the fried potstickers are amazing.
If you go on Sunday (I think) you can get this great rice roll with dried pork and stuff inside of it. And you can get Chinese donut with warm soy milk (AWESOME!)
There are some really good noodle dishes, especially one on the weekend special list with soybean sauce or something like that, it is really good. There is also another one with rice cakes and mustard greens that is great.
I might go here tomorrow for lunch now that I am thinking about it. It really is great comfort food, really friendly staff and one of my most visited lunch spots. -
Review from claudia y.
South San Francisco, CA
4/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
the food here is good! we had green onion pancake, three cup chicken and also shredded pork and veggie year cake. all of it was good! the complimentary hot and sour soup at the beginning was yucky. there were clumps of starch not stirred in all the way
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Review from Keith K.
San Francisco, CA
10/24/2011
My family and I went to Joy for dinner last night. We ordered a simple sauteed A choy. We found 2 white worms about 1.5cm long after we finished 1/3. The owner of the restaurant came explained to us, said " You found worms in the cabbage is good! That proves our ingredients are organic."
I'm sure she thought her explanation was clever n' reasonable.
We were quite disappointed with this place now. My family used to go there quite often when they were still a small cozy restaurant with a little lamp on the table. We missed the ambience back then. Since they expanded their business, we had seen the owner yelling at the servers in front of the customers, bitter Chinese zucchini (not Bitter Melon, Chinese zucchini is supposed to be little sweet but not bitter at all), we ordered twice in different months yet both times were bitter.
We decided not to give them another chance cause we lost our confidence in their food. There are more n' more competition in the neighborhood now. They better realize their problems and improve. Otherwise, more n' more customers will not go back to this restaurant just like us. -
Review from Ting L.
Atherton, CA
10/17/2011
Green onion pancakes and mu shu noodle spicy beef noodle soup rock !
Hidden in a random strip mall, a bit off the path...but great spot ! -
Review from Jean Y.
9/6/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Almost everything we tried here was delicious! The dishes were well executed standard fare.
-Pork strips with bean curd
-Mushu hand shaven chow mien
-Tofu with mushrooms
-Sauteed water spinach with garlic
-Scallion pancake
-Steamed sea bass with crispy bean sauce
The only things we tried that I would not recommend are:
-Beef noodle soup with hand shaven noodles: I loved the noodles, but the broth tasted more like chili oil than beef.
-Spicy wontons: If you like your spicy wontons spicy, you will be disappointed.
My friends and I were ready to order round #2, but the staff brought our check so we decided not to overindulge. -
Review from Robert S.
9/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
One of the better Chinese food restaurants I've ever eaten at.
Took the gf here as a surprise because I figured out they had stinky tofu, and she was a fan. Before we get to the stinky tofu, I want to cover everything else. All the rest of the food was excellent.
Xiao Long Bao - Excellent. A little small, and I definitely prefer the pan fried ones, but still delicious!
San Bei Ji - Thanks to Connie C. for this tip! Delicious! It was a chicken dish, with some sauce and parsley (I believe). Good stuff.
Eggplant in Spicy Garlic Sauce - Great texture on the eggplant, and the sauce was great!
Spicy Beef Soup w/ Handcut Noodles - Awesome. The soup was excellent, and the noodles were really tasty!
Now...the stinky tofu. This comes from someone who doesn't know anything about stinky tofu outside of what I read on Wikipedia.
Sweet Jesus and Mary it smells like death. When I walked in, I expected to be overwhelmed by the smell, but it smelled fine. So I thought "Ha, it isn't so bad, I'll be fine". Then we ordered it. Son of a bitch, it's the worst thing I've ever smelled as far as food. I could only manage one piece before wanting to die. My gf said it was fine (not as good as Taiwan, but good). I couldn't believe it.
I still think this place is 5 stars. But for all that is holy, if you've never had stinky tofu, don't get it. I think you need to have developed a taste for it. I was traumatized the next day just thinking about it. What a terrifying food. -
Review from David O.
1/23/2012
Been coming here for a few years, never disappointed with the quality of food or hard working family that owns this fine establishment... lately been ordering the set service for food to go and really love the peeking dinner and canton dinners if you get food for 3 or more people you get a better mix of items at a very good price point. I think anyone that loves well prepared Chinese food and lives in the area should frequent them.
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Review from Victor C.
San Mateo, CA
8/28/2011
Ok, I know that a lot of the asian people swear that the food at this place is pretty good and authentic.
I would have to agree and say that the food is pretty good here. Authentic? Well, maybe a bit too authentic? Because both my wife and I got pretty sick eating here. Let's just say Montezuma got his revenge on us today.
We should've known better when we looked at the chopstick and saw that there's left over dried leafy greens stuck on it. The tea cups were crusty and was in the same state of cleanliness as most chinese restaurant that are considered "authentic and good." We've eaten at many of these restaurants and rarely get sick so this didn't make us think twice before we ordered our food.
The hand made noodle in spicy beef noodle (?) was pretty good. We also got a lot of other food, most of which I do not know the name of so I can't recall it here. All were decent tasting.
If you have a stomach then I'd say go right ahead and come here but if you are of a more delicate nature, don't say I didn't warn you. -
Review from Heather s.
San Mateo, CA
8/14/2011 4 Check-ins Here
Great Taiwanese weekend brunch! Popularity is evidenced by the crowds of Taiwanese here -- you may have to wait during peak times, especially if you're a larger group.
Their tea is actually pretty cheap (probably Lipton tea bags) -- they don't use real tea leaves and it tastes pretty much like water.
Instead, complement your meal with their soy bean milk ($2 ea). I prefer the sweet version, which was spot-on in sweetness and flavor. My husband's salty version was sub-par (he prefers the one at China Bee in San Mateo).
Stinky tofu ($6) - crispy outside, juicy inside - with the perfect amount of a spicy kick and pickled cabbage side. Vs. China Bee, a tough call as to whose wins.
Potstickers ($7) - in my opinion, the star of the show. 5 star potstickers, worth the wait as they cook each plate to order. They're large meaty potstickers with perfectly cooked crispy bottoms. My husband, a previous FOB in his grade school years, proclaims these the best potstickers he's had this side of the Pacific.
"Taiwanese style buns" ($5) - a gamble when we ordered as we didn't know what we were getting. Another delicious rendition - white wheat buns (man to) with stewed pork belly and cilantro.
Definitely a good competitor of China Bee - our other preferred Taiwanese weekend brunch spot. Look forward to trying Joy's for dinner sometime...Listed in: Huh Jyah!
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Review from James K.
San Mateo, CA
7/21/2011
Joy is our go-to restaurant for authentic, excellent Chinese in the Peninsula. I've taken both friends and family here, from my Mexican-American co-worker to my old friend who grew up in China, and they always leave impressed and, more importantly, satisfied. As we've been here myriad times, we've tried all sorts of dishes on the menu--soups, dumplings, duck, meat, prawns, fried rice--they're all predictably delicious and truly authentic Chinese dishes.
My favorites are the mu shu, either pork or chicken (pork is always a better choice for mu shu, imho), the house special fried rice, the xiao long bao (soup dumplings), the prawns with walnuts--sweet and delicious, and any of the vast array of soups--the house special soup, hot and sour, and, one that I just tried last week, the seaweed soup--simple, light, and delicious.
The staff is friendly and personable, all Chinese-speaking (so you KNOW it's authentic... :-) ), and fairly busy, as this place attracts a solid number of customers on any given day.
Bottom line, if you're looking for good, Chinese home cooking, on any given night, make Joy your go-to place--always reliable, always delicious--you won't be disappointed. -
Review from Yo H.
San Mateo, CA
2/27/2012
I've been the customer of this restaurant for more than 5 years. Now the price is not reasonable.Ordered a beef brisket noodle soup to go in a Sunday afternoon. Restaurant is not over-full BUT waiter was day dreaming and another waitress was like over-worked. Dont ever think about ask for chili-sauce to go, they'll say soup was already spicy.... funny lady... I asked her if I can get some chilli sauce, she said no it's not available, then I asked her again, she said I had to wait coz she's now so busy.... this waitress should not serve customer...but just take a day off Sunday.
I gave it 2 stars because the food is okay. However it doesn't worth the price. Downtown San Mateo has lots of this kind of restaurant, more family like and more reasonable price... with a welcome smile...
Sorry, I like the owner, but I just can't agree with their customer service. Won't go there again. -
Review from Eve K.
1/18/2012 3 Check-ins Here
Unique hidden Chinese food spot with good food and an amazingly friendly staff. 4.5 stars
Food: 4.5, Atmosphere: 3, Service: 3.5
Cost to worth it rating: 5 (somehow fed 6 people for ~$11/person excluding tip)
Return worthiness: YES
Eve award: best potsticker presentation
Highlights:
- Potstickers: crispy top layer that looks like a huge disc when it arrives and under that are a set of the longest, largest meat-filled potstickers ever (which tasted delicious too). Note they take a long while so order them when you first sit down and they'll come halfway through your meal
- Staff: for a bare bones Chinese spot, I was happily surprised by the friendly, welcoming staff. We were seated and immediately greeted with a huge bowl of hot and sour soup. When we left the lady was all smiles and thanked us for coming (even offered my lunch bud hot and sour soup to go since she noticed how much his face lit up when he saw it at our table).
- 3 cup chicken: had no idea what it was but since I trust my fellow yelpers, I gave it a try. Big chunks of tender chicken in a soy glaze with wilted basil leaves on top
- Kung pao chicken: old standby done well here. Great flavor and nice real kick with the dried chile bits
- Interesting twists: one beef dish we had came with a bed of shredded vegetables and basil, giving it a bit of a Thai flair
- Lunch specials: 2 pages worth with Americanized items like sweet and sour to ones that are more unique like the mentioned 3 cup chicken
Lowlights:
- Schezusn shrimp: too tomatoey of a sauce for my liking but shrimp were cooked well
- Never got our hand made noodles we ordered, but they took it off the bill
The 6 of us co-workers were so happy to find this spot and it definitely made it as a part of our regular lunch rotation. -
Review from Jen T.
San Francisco, CA
2/13/2012
I'm unsure if this is Chinese or Taiwanese food. Based off the menu, it looks like Taiwanese and the waitresses speaks Mandarin only. I ate here for lunch since I was craving green onion pancake and some beef brisket soup noodle. I got there a little after 12pm on a weekday and was seated right away. When we ordered, they told us they are out of green onion pancake...so we ordered other items on the menu. We also asked for forks and ice water, one out of five waters came with a lemon. Maybe that was the last lemon?
Food:
1. Sizzling beef & vegetable platter - it was flavorful but too overcooked, everything was too soft.
2. Potstickers- it was good, the best thing we ordered. The potstickers were long, I've never seen it like that and it was pretty oily.
3. Brisket noodle soup - it only came with 4 briskets, not even enough for 1 per person.
4. Shanghai style chow mein - portion was large but the flavor was very bland
Overall, I would not come here again. The price wasn't as reasonable as other restaurants. -
Review from Jenny C.
1/4/2012
Had some of the food from Joy for a team lunch. The hand cut noodles are pretty good, they were in 2 diff dishes. I like this one dish that has tiny cubed tofu stir fried with pickled cabbage I think. 3 cup chicken was good...not sure greasy like most Chinese restaurants. Also had some other less memorable dishes. Good to know that I could count on the food to be good and homemade-like if and when I crave Chinese food.
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Review from Jamie T.
5/26/2011
I remember during the long drive to this place, I kept wondering WHY are we going to what seems like a place where there's nothing else around...BUT I love the Glutinous Rice filled Duck here...
You have to preorder it but it's very worth it. Now I think, very worth the drive! -
Review from Suravi T.
San Francisco, CA
2/10/2012
Working near here I have stopped in a few times, this place is fast, reasonably priced and overall a great experience. I give it a 3 star experience instead of a 4 star because if you go later in the afternoon (for a late lunch) the food is often just re-heated from earlier that day, not entirely the most delicious. Overall a good experience for the price!
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Review from Jack B.
San Mateo, CA
2/3/2012
Our go-to for Taiwanese food. We always get: fried stinky tofu, mushu hand-cut noodles, Taiwanese-style thin noodles, rice ball, three-cup chicken (soooo good), egg with picked radish, salty soymilk. Their other stuff is great too, but we like our go-to's so much we find it hard to branch out. Only reason we don't come here is if we had it too recently =) Great food, great service, really nice waiters and owner, great for kids - they are very very nice with my kiddos, and they have a nice aquarium at the front =) Oh their shiao-long-bao and potstickers are excellent too =)
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Review from Jason C.
Concord, CA
8/27/2011
Come here for the food, it's awesome.
I just recently took my girlfriend here for a late afternoon lunch as we happened to be nearby. What a strip malll gem. I've already been to Joy several times over the years and the food never dis-appoints. It's Chinese/Taiwanese fare and is probably as good as the food that I've gotten overseas at the moderately priced restaurants.
A huge menu, everything good (really)...how could you go wrong??? About the only thing I could complain about is the service (you have to call them and they tend to also be very blunt about menu descriptions)...but that only costs one star, and oh, this is not the easiest place to find either.
If you want some recommendations on what to order, try some soup, with a Dim Sum style appetizer, like the Pancakes with green onions. Then get some meat, perhaps the 3 cup chicken and some vegetables. It's all good, believe me.
Thumbs way up, food wise. -
Review from Wing Y.
3/13/2011 12 Check-ins Here
This is by far our favorite Chinese restaurant within 15 minutes of home. It's super authentic and delicious. We always order the potstickers and the beef noodle soup (with hand-cut noodles). We've liked pretty much everything we've ordered there though the xiao long bao can be hit or miss.
Unfortunately, because it's an authentic Chinese restaurant you can occasionally get hit by a busy day when the kitchen will forget to prepare your order since there are a ton of 10-person tables clamoring for food.
Joy also satisfies the most important criterion for authenticity - Chinese parent approval. -
Review from Kim L.
3/13/2011
Service from hell. Stay away at all cost. Rude! Rude! Rude!
Can't remember the last time a meal caused me so much anxiety and grief!
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You ever have such a horrible experience that you can't wait to write your yelp review? Whelp, that was me...and the above was how I felt while I was still sitting at the restaurant asking for my check..say..about the 3rd time!?! OK..now for my experience...
Our table of six arrived around 1pm on a Sunday afternoon. First thing upon arrival:
Waited for a table - 10 minutes (not bad)
Waited for the server to take our order - 15 minutes (EXCLUDING the time it took to review the menu)
Waited for our 1st dish - 15 minutes
Waited for our 2nd dish - 15 minutes
Waited for our next dish - " "
Waited for the dish that never came - 25 minutes
Received dish #1 that we didn't order - 5 minutes
Received dish #2 that we didn't order - 5 minutes
Received dish #3 that we didn't order - 5 minutes for arrival, another 10 minutes for them to take it back because they basically threw it at us and we didn't have time to speak up before they bolted away
I had to raise my hand like a fifth grader each time I needed anything and I had to raise it often as you can see here:
Number of times we asked for a high chair: 3
Number of times we asked for hot sauce: 3
Number of time we asked for our check: 3
Number of times we asked for a to go box: just 1...we were so fed up, we said "F" it. I don't want to take this experience "To go"
Finally, my husband just walked up to pay. I later walked over as well to make sure that they didn't charge us for the dishes that we didn't order but were delivered to our table. The woman who worked there, grabbed the check and slammed it on the counter!! She was actually pissed that I would even question the bill. WOW....REALLY?
We were there for over two hours and even after the rush. I understand poor service during the lunch rush but not when the place is only left with five tables. I don't get why people love this place so much. The food isn't even that good and the service sucks.
