Golden China Restaurant

This place has been going down hill now for a long time but I believe Golden China has finally hit the bottom I mean I NEVER post negative reviews on here folks. But this spot needed to be BLOWN UP! It is strait nasty, like FOOD POISONING nasty. everything is dirty and old or broken, the buffet is over priced, under stocked and talk about «mystery meats» weeeeeeweee, let’s just say if you live in the immediate vicinity of this establishment keep a good eye on your cat/​dog DO NOT GO HERE!

I’m not from this part of town, so I can’t really compare to the Chinese food I’m used to eating. This was the only Chinese restaurant in Atascadero, so being the Chinese that I am, I had to eat Chinese food for Chinese New Year. Bad choice. First off, the buffet wasn’t worth the $ 13 dinner price. The food tasted all the same, and just straight saucy. Lots of fried items. Those items, are way overly battered. My favorite was probably the chow mein. The workers spoke Chinese, so that’s pretty authentic. I don’t think there was another Chinese patron around.

Second time I’ve been here. New to the area so I try to explore but I couldn’t help and come for the fried bananas!

Would give it zero stars if I could. The buffet was cold and looked like leftovers. Very little to choose from. Used to like it, but it’s been 5 years.
Won’t be back.

I agree in most of the other reviews. We did the buffet and the food was barely above room temperature. Service was OK but nothing special. I probably will never go here again. Panda express is way better but not that great.

We walked in and waited 10 minutes for someone to even notice we were there because no one was up front (restaurant wasn’t even busy) guy comes around the corner and isn’t even dressed in any type of uniform or work attire, says what do you want? We tell him we want 2 to-go’s and he says it’ll be $ 29… How is that the price when we haven’t even gotten the food yet? Well we buy it anyways because dragon palace is closed on Mondays and he throws the stuff (styrofoam containers, two plastic sauce cups, fortune cookies and a bag) on the counter and walks away. We didn’t even plan on getting a lot of food but with how much we paid, we thought to stuff the containers. We got home and started eating it and soon found out it all tastes disgusting. Food was over cooked and hard, steamed buns were a sad wet mess, sushi was rubbery, rice was mush, almost everything was deep fried and covered way too much in batter. While we were eating we started to feel sick. Our cat wouldn’t even get close to the fish or the shrimp we had. We threw it all out. Never going back again. Zero stars if it was possible. Go to dragon palace in paso instead. They weigh the food you get and its way cheaper. Two full containers cost around $ 18

Um, well they deliver. That’s worth a star since we needed it delivered.
Seriously, some of the worst Chinese food I’ve ever had. We had a beef dish and a chicken/​seafood dish. You couldn’t really tell them apart. The meat in both (well, I assume it was meat) was more like a firm gelatinous meat like product. Just avoid it.

The food is cold the service was terrible, we were never asked if we even wanted water so sad

As a local I’ve come here before several times in the past and although the food was great the service tends to be rather pushy with customers.
I thought it was just me till I seen others be told with a disrespectful tone they’d been there too long. I can understand the need to avoid detriment of the store, however they had only been there 1 hour. I like being a gentlemen I still tip, and the owners are great people. I just prefer to order delivery from now on.

The only game in town, and pretty darn good. We ordered shrimp fried rice, shrimp lo mein, sauteed veggies w/​soft tofu, and a vat of seafood soup. Portion sizes are very generous, so there was no need to order so much grub. The soup had an eggdrop-​type clear broth and was packed with shrimp, fresh crab, and tons of veggies including those awesome asian mushroom things. Two of us couldn’t come close to finishing the soup and it was only $ 11.95. The sauteed veggies were fresh and non-​greasy with a light «white» sauce. I’m very sensitive to salty food and usually avoid Chinese. I was pleasantly surprised how flavorful and non-​salty our dishes were. Prices are reasonable too. You can’t beat the fun ambience – Pepto Bismol pink walls, totally tacky chandeliers, and glass goblets for your Tsingtao beer! The customer service was good – We were seated quickly, and with a smile. I give it four stars because the buffet definitely looked a little funky. Order from the menu for an awesome meal.

Your basic Chinese food, it was good next time I’ll try the menu instead of buffet, I think that’s where you can get a better chance to enjoy a good dish. It was tasty.

Here’s an update to our previous review (dated 4÷16÷2014). The food today was really delicious and enjoyed by our whole family. A few months ago the Sunday Lunch Buffet prices were changed to align with dinner prices (like nearly all other restaurants these days).
We don’t understand how some of the other reviews are so extremely negative since we’ve never had a bad experience at Golden China. All the employees there are so nice and do a great job welcoming and serving.

So disgusted! This place has really gone downhill don’t waste your money unless you want some really old seafood and some food that’s been sitting for hours in a dirty restaurant and if you don’t want any water come here cuz they never come and fill it anyways

It’s rare that I stray from my fave Chinese buffet, but on this particular day, my 9 year old got to choose and she had remembered going her with her grandparents. I used to come here for lunch in the early 2000’s and it was pretty solid. They’ve since added more things to the buffet, but they weren’t good. Mostly everything tasted a bit «off» for lack of a better description, and it wasn’t the freshest either. Super greasy and heavy. Our waitress was nice, but unless this place has a major over hall soon, I think I’ll pass on coming back.

Ordered from here twice now (delivery). The food looks good, it’s just bland. Even the sweet and sour sauce is watery. The beef is also fatty and chewy. I honestly think I may choose Panda Express next time. Really sucks because this is the only Chinese food restaurant around. On a better note, the delivery is fast and friendly.

The food was pretty good. Typical faire. The starts are really for our waitress. So kind and friendly! We stopped in town on a road trip and decided to take the time to eat rather than drive thru. She was really a great pick me up for the drive home. Like I said… The food was average. The service is what would bring me back.

Terrible, awful food. The buffet features bland options that have been sitting for hours on end. The buffet price is high for what you get. My great grandfather came to eat here, ended up in the E.R. with food posioning, and passed away due to complications. I cannot and will not eat here ever again. I have told everyone I know to avoid this place and take the 10 minute drive to Paso where they care about safe food handling practices.

The staff is excellent and very attentive. Being that this is the only Chinese Food joint in Atascadero, options are limited.
The food is average. Nothing on the menu really pop’s and makes me desire to come back when we say «Hey, what do you want for dinner?» If I give my son the choice (who is addicted to orange chicken), he will pick a chain restaurant like Panda Express over Golden China. If we have the energy and time to pick up food, we’ll more then likely drive to Paso Robles, where you have a number of options; however, if you are in a pinch, and want Chinese Food, feel comfortable that you’ll get a filling dinner from this place.
The Buffet is okay, and if you eat a lot (we do not), it’s worth the cost; but I’d avoid the sushi.

Wonderful food, wonderful service!
We had a blast here tonight at the buffet with our little son. He loved the food, as did we! Very good food. They have a wide variety of options, and the best thing: They are extremely friendly and wonderfully helpful!

The staff there definitely goes far and beyond in regards to customer service, so I’m not going to fault them on that at all.
The buffet, on the other hand, was nothing exciting. It wasn’t bad tasting, but it wasn’t great tasting neither. It was just average.