Little Joe’s Express

Had some of the off menu specials (hand written on the wall) that were pretty good — egg braised tofu and garlic noodles with crispy chicken. Went back a second time and got some chow mein and kung pao pork and it was terrible.

I use to go to another place in china town to eat Chinese food but the place closed down. My wife and I wanted to try something different. This place got 4 stars under Unilocal.Boy were they right! The food is GREAT! So much flavor and a variety. We have the sweet and sour pork, that was good but not great. The beef Chow fun was super delish. The shrimp lobster sauce over rice, which we have never tried, was pretty tasty. Shrimp fried rice was amazing. Kung Pao Chicken was very flavorful and delicious. This place was so good that we went back for more the next day!

I thought I would give this place a shot since the pictures looked exactly like shrimp and lobster sauce over rice/​ho fun noodles from Onluck aka hole in the wall in Oakland. But nothing can compare to Onluck and sadly no one can ever experience it ever again.
The environment was alright, it was very small. Probably about 5 tables. It looks like any other Chinese restaurant.
The service wasn’t that great, the waitress seemed shy and it seemed like she didn’t speak good English. Besides taking our order and giving our bill, she did nothing else. She did not check up on us or refill water when my cup was empty (we were the only people in there eating at that time).
The food was okay, they give really big portions. I got the shrimp and lobster sauce over ho fun noodles and I also told them to make it spicy (it was spicy af because they add habanero peppers). The ho fun noodles were average. The lobster sauce wasn’t that great, it tasted bland and didn’t have much flavor to it. The shrimp they used were big, juicy, and tasted fresh so that’s a star.
Overall, if you miss Onluck’s shrimp and lobster sauce then this place isn’t worth the try because it’s nothing like it. But for someone who likes fast Chinese food and is hella hungry then this place is for you!

Pretty good food, classic American Chinese food and satisfies the greasy craving, can’t complain. Service wasn’t so nice though, I felt a lot like an inconvenience if I asked the staff any one question. Never okay in the food service industry. It was close to their closing hours I suppose, but even so they could have just politely asked my two friends and I to leave.
If you’re looking for quick take-​home take-​out, though, as is the case with most Chinese food orders, this is your place.

Defiantly I would come back because the wait time for my to go order is fast with good quality ! Usually I only have 30 min lunch time so I really expect my lunch plate to be ready as soon as possible, the waitress understand I m in a rush and they always tried to get my food done before I arrived to pick it up (and I know they are very busy at lunch time) ! The portion is big and the price is reasonable, and the string bean with garlic sauce is amazing!!! The chief really pays attention on every single request such as less oil /​salt, etc. They do have lots of food choices to make you come back .Best recommendation to this place and give it a try !!!

Love the Garlic Chicken. Make sure you order rice it doesn’t come with dish! Everything I have had has been super hot. Nice neighborhood Chinese!

This is the place where I get too lazy to cook. Overall the dishes are pretty good for me, but if you ask which are my favorites, I would say deep fried chicken wings, sesame chicken, beef chow fun, tofu & fish filet claypot…, And btw, I like their lunch special, too, which the prices are reasonable.
The 2^nd point I would come back is their services. I remember the first time I went there, I have no idea what I should go for. When I asked for recommendations, the waitress was very patient and nice.
If you wanna experience family style Chinese Food, come here and give it a try!

Did not enjoy meal today. Ordered sweat and sour pork with fried rice. Usually a good meal, that’s why i gave two stars.

I have rarely had more bland Chinese. The beef and broccoli tasted the same as the Kung pao. I will say the folks in my party who had the hot and sour soup said it was very good.

Been trying to find a place to satisfy my craving for prawns and lobster sauce since on luck closed down. This place could be the closest though, not as thick and little saltier it was still good and closest thing to on lucks ive had. It was flavorful just make sure you get side of rice. The beef chow fun with extra gravy was delicious as well. The place is cozy and it was really cheap with large portions. Prawns with lobster sauce with side of rice and beef chowfun with gravy was around $ 20. Highly recommend these two dishes.

My friends have been talking about this place for years and we finally made a point to come eat here. The restaurant itself is small and pretty out of date. But the amazing food totally makes up for it. Everything is cooked on a wok and I have to say confidentially that this is the best Chinese food in the east bay! The wet chow fun or chow fun with gravy is the best that I have tasted. The west lake minced beef soup is the best all around. We ordered about 10 different dishes on our first visit and I must say everything was top notch. Definitely will be coming back here again and again and again!

I’ve never posted a Unilocal review until now because I didn’t want to sound like all the other whiny Unilocalers who complain about trivial things such as «no soy sauce» or «terrible packaging.» However, I felt it was my duty to chime in with the other reviews of Little Joe’s Express.
Unfortunately, I cannot agree that this place is, as one Unilocaler put it, «as good as it gets» when it comes to delivery. I’m a native San Franciscan and perhaps being so close to our Chinatown has brought me up to have much higher standards when it comes to the quality of the Chinese food I order… so here it goes!
It wouldn’t help you to see pictures of what I ordered because it wouldn’t show you the blandness of the dishes or how overcooked everything tasted. This is what I ordered:
Potstickers: the dough was too thick and smeared in my mouth when I bit into it; the filling was bland and underwhelming, no hint of ginger or any other familiar tastes
Honey Walnut Prawns: the prawns were dry and tasted like the tails weren’t clipped off; the other Unilocaler was right about the mayo sauce being «goopy»
Sweet and Sour Pork: this is supposed to be a can’t-go-wrong classic, but in this case, it was a letdown as well; the meat was dry and the the pieces were hard all around
Wor Won Ton Soup: the meat inside the won tons were as bland as the potstickers; the shrimp tasted pretty fresh in comparison the prawns from my other dish; overall, this was mediocre at best
Beef Chow Fun in Black Bean (dry style): although the beef was bland and dry, the flavor of the noodles was my favorite thing in this entire order.
On another note, this was a pretty difficult order to place considering you can’t order online; add to that, the girl who took my order didn’t speak English very well either. I did appreciate how fast my order was delivered. I thought I’d be waiting for 45 minutes, but it came in 20! That’s the only reason why it didn’t get one star.

Good Chinese menu. I love the salt and pepper fish and the beef and mushroom dish. It’s right across the street from my local bar AND they deliver barside.

If you’re looking for great service and authentic Chinese food you need to try out Little Joes. If you want horrible service then you proceed with the other Chinese spots on Webster Street. I been coming here for years and always leaving on a positive experience.

I went to this place growing up. Through the 3 different owners it has gone through that I know of, it has kept it’s constancy and value. The sizzling steak is sooo good with plain rice. The sechuan chicken wings are on point with the side of broccoli it comes with. The dishes are great and I haven’t found a whole in the wall kind of place that can beat it. I challenge you to try.

This is the go to spot when I don’t feel like cooking.
Most of the dishes I’ve ordered are pretty good. Haven’t quite had anything that’s disappointed me, but then again the expectations aren’t too high, plus it’s relatively cheap.
They have quite a few off the menu specials written all over the walls.
Would recommend to others.

I crave Little Joe’s and weep on Sundays when they are closed!
Every order must come with their Chicken Chow Mein, crispy Hong Kong noodle style!!! It is the best, anytime I try this dish anywhere else it is not the same
Have also tried the broccoli beef and the honey walnut prawns, also good!
Looking forward to trying many more dishes, both there in the cozy place and as delish take out

Food plentiful and tasty. Had the fried chicken and vegetable rice. The chicken was fried perfect. Thanks Unilocalers for the good reviews.

I don’t have a lot of restaurants I haven’t tried in Alameda. However, this one has slipped my radar for years. So off I went to give em a try.
The restaurant is a small neighborhood joint, clean and nicely maintained. Service was fast with waitress being very efficient and polite. Ordered their set menu A and walnut prawns. That’s more than plenty of food for my husband and myself.
The combo contained wonton soup, egg rolls, chicken fried rice, chicken chowmain and sesame chicken. Here’s what I thought:
Wonton soup — mild in flavor, not bad, a very standard soup, but the BBQ pork in it was really dry and tough. 2.5 stars
Egg rolls — crispy and hot. again decent, but nothing special. 3 stars
Chicken fried rice — good fried rice with light flavoring, fluffy in texture, not mushy. I liked it a lot, except that the chicken wasn’t every good — rubbery and cut in big chunks. I’ll remember to order bbq pork or something else the next time if I go. 3.5 stars
Walnut prawns — not very good. smallish prawns but lots of them, with flavor on the sweeter side compared to other places. the disappointment for me here were the walnuts — not really well coated so missed that sweet, crispy outer part. 2.5 stars
Chicken chowmain — noodles were on the mushy side although it wasn’t terrible. veggies in the noodles were good. Again the rubbery chicken. 2.5 stars
Sesami chicken — small chunks of chicken with lots of batter, over fried and dry, even with the sauce. 2 stars.
Service was good. I’d rate this restaurant 2.5 stars if I could. I may try their other dishes to see if they are any better.

Mixed Veggies Egg Foo Yung & Honey Walnut Prawns!
Excellent! Love these two dishes plus many more.