La China Restaurant

They are literally THE best! Great food, great price, great amount of food, great staff! All and all I give them 110% the ONLY not perfect thing about this spot is the wait time when you order inside for to go.. but guess what? That's because it's made fresh to order!!! I will sit my happy ass in my car and wait for it to be made knowing I'm about to have an amazing meal!
It's like 20-40 minutes. Not horrible considering it's a busy spot and you do an in person take out order.
Call ahead is my recommendation. Love you guys!

This place came well recommended on Yelp, so my wife and I decided to try it. We were greeted promptly and the service was very good. That's where the great experience ended.

The place looks very dated and under construction. There are storage boxes everywhere, and even an old payphone on the wall next to the restroom. I don't know if it was still in working order. There was an old Non Smoking section sign in the front area... just how old IS this place?

My wife got a shrimp with lobster sauce, I got Mu Shu Chicken, and we shared brown rice. The rice was good, but the other dishes tasted off. It was a disappointment for sure. We need a better choice in Chinese Restaurants in East County. The classic ones are dying off or shutting down.

First of all, what's with the name? La China sounds like an inappropriate conglomerate of Americanized Spanish tacked onto China as an afterthought. Then again, this is an east county hole-in-the-wall next to a CVS so I'm not surprised.

How did I find myself here? I went on a very lackluster date and sad to say, this restaurant was a mirror image of how this date went. So, what baffles me is that the east county locals dig it. I guess I'm not too shocked...

But before I open that can of worms, I just want to be kind and nuanced with a few positives about La China:

- cheap, decent portions
- friendly service (although the server quickly threw fortune cookies and the bill at us when HIS plate was sucked down despite MY plate being 3/4 full)
- quiet and I guess intimate for those who have been hitched for a long time

Now, for the lame details:

- lukewarm food with a watery, canned taste
- terribly bright garage-style lighting
- lackluster decor
- entrees don't automatically come with rice (this I could somewhat forgive but considering the blahness... you can at least make white rice free)

So, there's my two cents. I would never go on another date with Mr. Lame La China guy and I would never come back here.

I was craving egg drop soup and sweet and sour chicken so decided to check out La China in San Carlos/El Cajon.  It's in the strip mall with a bunch of other shops and looks to be primarily focused on take-out, though I saw a few tables filled inside.  

The food we ordered took me back to my childhood eating fried sweet and sour chicken, egg drop soup, mongolian beef, and cream cheese wontons.  Everything was hot, made with good quality meat and a decent price.  

The egg drop soup was okay, I enhanced it by adding soy sauce.  The fried wonton pieces are always my favorite and they provided a nice side bag of them.  The sweet and sour chicken was all white meat served with pineapple, onions and peppers.  I asked for sauce on the side so it would still be crisp when I brought it home.  The Mongolian beef was very good.  Tasty, tender cuts of beef with a generous hand in thinly sliced onions and sauce.  The cream cheese wontons were fried and served with the same sauce as the chicken.  I was hoping it would be a sweet chili sauce but still good.  

It's by no means traditional Chinese food, though they do have specialties.  It's a clean shop and the lady who took my order and helped me was super friendly and helpful.

Had the teriyaki chicken and the soft noodles with a side of barbecue pork. Food was delicious and filling. First time for my brother and he seemed to like it. Got here I time for their lunch combo's

I usually order out and the food and service are delicious.

My favorite dish is there saute beansprots with the orange spicy tofo

We are celebrating Christmas by ordering our favorite asian dishes...This place is the best...Panda Express cannot compare to La China's dishes that are plentiful and simply yummy.....So glad this place is still going strong...we love and support this  family business....on behalf of my self and
my partner who ordered today to be delivered you still rock....Sammy Gross and Trent Smith....Golfcrest Drive....SD CA 92119

Delicious with generous portions! I love that they offer brown rice also! My husband got the general tsao chicken and I had the kung pao! We were well pleased! Excited to try their other menu options! We did take out, so I can't speak to the dine in experience (yet)!

This place was definitely surprising to me. It's a small hole in the wall and not very busy. The food is very good. My dad ordered a vegetarian dish with rice and said it was the best he had ever had. I ordered a chicken fried rice for my daughter and garlic chicken for myself. I ended up eating my daughters fried rice with her and skipping my chicken as it was not quite my taste buds. But the fried rice was actually better.

I would review this place a little bit higher, but there were a couple interesting things about it. First of all, in the kitchen we could hear them yelling at each other. That went on throughout the night. We weren't sure if someone was going to hit each other or there was going to be a fight that burst out of the kitchen door because it was very loud and consistent. But looking around at the waiters nobody even seemed to notice.

That was so unsettling that everybody was a little bit nervous and on edge for the whole meal. I am assuming that that was a one time occurrence. But I am not sure. Also, the ambience was not what I prefer when sitting down inside of a restaurant. The lights were very bright and there were many things still being stored in the dining area. But, if this place is going to be for takeout, I would most likely order from here again as the service was good.

One final note, I could not find a glass of wine that I enjoyed. The selection was very limited to very inexpensive (cheap) wine. My dad did order a Cabernet and could not even drink a few sips. I would love to see this place maybe get a couple good bottles on their list to match their food quality. With these tweaks, I would give it a five star.

The food is good ... kind of bland
But the biggest issue is they need to change their to-go containers. They suck.  
By the time I get home all of the liquid from the containers has leaked out and it's very annoying and messy.  
Also they need to improve the entrance of their restaurant. There is all these boxes and stuff and it's not very presentable as a clean and orderly business.