Walnut Tree Restaurant

Fast service, friendly and delicious food, my husband and I were in the mood for some Chinese we ordered walnut shrimp, Kung pao chicken and chicken lo mein. it had so much flavor we were very satisfied. Would definitely recommend this place to everyone who wants delicious food, big portions and affordable prices!

Coming here during the lunch special will definitely get you your dollars worth. They serve quite a bit of food during the lunch special, and for my meal alone, which includes soup, my entrée, rice, an egg roll, and wanton, is less than $ 7.00 during the lunch special. If it isn’t busy, taking the time to get to know the ladies running the front will definitely make your experience better. They know my order, right down to my drink order, too, as soon as I walk in. Servers constantly check in on customers to ensure everything is okay. The bathrooms aren’t the cleanest and don’t feel the most hygienic to be in, but overall I throughly enjoy this place.

The only thing I’ve ordered here is the chicken salad and it is HUGE!
Comes w/​lettuce, chicken slices, wonton strips, and dressing.
So good & tastes refreshing.

Went there today and is gonna be the last day I’m going there. The food wasn’t that good and the lady at the register asked me if I can leave a tip. I have never been asked at any restaurant before to leave a tip. Highly recommend people to not come here at all.

I’m gonna b nice and give them 2 stars for the food, because what the waitress did to us was inexcusable. I had been here once before in the late afternoon– the place was practically empty and the food and service were ok. This time we came about 12:30 and the place was packed. There were two empty spots — a table near the front that was ready and a booth near the back that needed to b cleaned. When the waitress asked which we wanted we replied the booth. We sat down on the take out bench to wait while they cleaned the booth. In the meantime a group of girls walked in and when the booth was cleaned the waitress seated them there! She then went into the kitchen. I went over to the booth and let the girls know I was gonna speak to the waitress because we had been waiting for the booth so don’t get too comfortable. When the waitress came back out I asked her what happened. She just said I’m sorry and tried to seat us at the table we already rejected. I told her No I wanted the booth we had been waiting for. She again offered the table, saying she’d already seated someone at the booth (still no explanation as to why). At this point I’m about to tell her give me the booth or I’m out of here but one of the girls at the booth very nicely came over and stated they would take the table– it would b no problem. I thanked her and we were seated at the booth but I’m still pissed because the waitress never explained why she gave our booth away in the first place. I did note we were the only African Americans in there at the time – I certainly hope this was not a factor. I choose to believe maybe she just forgot about us, but even so once her oversight was brought to her attention she should have explained her mistake to the girls and seated us at the booth. The service didn’t get any better after we were seated but I’m gonna give them a pass cause it was crowded and there were only 2 waitresses.
As for the food, it was ok. The Mongolian beef needs to be spicier. My husband liked his sweet and sour chicken.

The waitress didn’t allow me to park in front of their restaurant. It’s not a handicapped spot or anything special. So here’s what they get.

Growing up in L. A, we often went to ChinaTown to enjoy a meal. And I must say, there’s something about the taste of the food made in Chinatown that is really hard to duplicate.
Well, look no further, Walnut Tree has it. and I love it!
Even the Fortune Cookies are Authentic, they are in English with a Chinese Accent!
Today’s cookie read:
«All Thing has a cause. Look into your pass for answer.»
It’s like an audio book narrated by Jackie Chan. — AWESOME!!!
I love it when a place can pull 2 smiles from me in a day.

Ordered walnut shrimp, braised string beans, white rice & asked for paper plates included into the delivery order.
Food came at a timely manner, no long waiting. really generous sizes, were happy!

I only ordered takeout as I was craving their chicken salad. The portions as large and it had the right amount of dressing, chicken slices, lettuce along with the crunchiness of the wonton strips and rice noodles. This is probably the ONLY salad I crave from a restaurant (okay I lied. I love CPKs BBQ chicken salad just as much) and it totally hit the spot without feeling heavy or bloated!

Great Food!!! I’m here at least 4 times a week lol. My favorite is … All of them. I recommend this place to everyone

Came here yesterday for lunch with my mom. It’s a decent Chinese restaurant. It’s a bit small inside, and it was pretty empty when we came (a little before noon) but it quickly got packed once 12pm hit. There were only two waitresses working the front, which made service pretty slow. I felt bad because the lady was literally running from table to table trying to attend to the guests.
The food was pretty good though! My mom and I got items from the lunch special menu, which ranged from about $ 4.50-$ 6. I THINK it’s from 11pm — 3pm. The portions were generous though and we both got really full. We probably could have shared one entrée and been satisfied, but we still ordered two things.
We tried the Cashew Chicken and the Kung Pao Tofu, both with fried rice. They also serve soup, egg rolls, and crispy wonton pieces as appetizers. I liked the Kung Pao Tofu the best. Would go back because of the cheap price and large portions. Just go when it’s not packed because the service is a little slow.

great food, great portions, great quality and great price.
you can tell its homemade and fresh. they have good portions for a good price.

They have very good serves. They food are good, they are fast at deliver.
They are very nice to different people.
The food is not bad at all.
Very good at keep food warm, and they domseliever

I think I just found a hidden treasure of BOMB Chinese food for real decent price!
We had the lunch special thinking the portions might not be enough, I ordered a plate of the Spicy Chicken. This was too much! Ended up togo-​ing our left overs!
Portions are great! Just cant do Half of Half of anything here tho.
They also have Lunch & Dinner specials!!!

******PLEASE READ!!!******
Theyre food is prerty good and as a pretty loyal customer I was VERY shocked and appalled at what I found out.
Not too long ago, I went to walnut tree and ordered 3 items. I’ve known for a while now that they’ve raised the prices and decreased portion sizes which is to be expected with the price of everything skyrocketing — no big deal, everyone does it right?
Wrong! I called my order in and went to pick it up. When I arrived I waited to pay for my order. I noticed the girl write 3 prices down on a blank notepad. She then entered the 3 amounts onto their handheld calculator and the total into the register to generate the receipt, like usual (its always done this way at walnut tree as their register is a bit outdated) — no problem. Right before I handed her my card, I noticed the 3 amounts she wrote down on the pad. I asked why she charged me $ 14.15 for an item that was $ 12.95; her response was that this was the price with tax. This response made me think. She swiped my card and gave me the receipt to sign. I took my card, receipt, picked up a menu and went to sit down.
It was bothering me so I calculated the amounts of the 3 items I ordered plus the 9% tax that is required for LA county. My total came to about $ 3 less than the total she charged me. Then, because I’m a math major/​detective [;)], I calculated the tax per individual item and added each of those totals together. The answer was the amount I was charged.
Not only did they raise the process on all of their items, they also charge tax for individual items rather than the total amount of the bill like their supposed to which is against CA law. They are ripping each and every one of their customers off each time someone orders something.
Think about it…
If you order 1 item each visit and only visit a few times it wouldn’t really make that much of a difference. But for those who order more than 1 item and visit quite often, you’re paying about $ 2 – 3 extra each time you go. $ 3×3 visits per week x 52 weeks per year is $ 468 per year you could have saved by not getting ripped off. This may not seem like a lot but its almost $ 500 that could go to something else like a new iPad or phone or something that will last a long time and not «exit the building» on your next trip to the restroom.
They also have a doctored menu where they replaced the prices with labels that have the calculated the tax on each item (see picture of menu)

Although the food is still tasty, they do have a problem keeping the tables and condiment tray clean. The salt and pepper shakers are sticky to the touch and not much comes out of them. They really need to learn how to clean better.

Ordered the wor won ton, not bad but my mouth is dry. Must be the msg. Overall great place for cheap lunch prices.

I’ve been coming here for almost 30 years now. And i think i might be done. :/
What used to be a place with the best egg rolls & chow mein in the area. It’s continually on a steady decline of quality. The chow mein is overly greasy & resembles what you would find at most fast food chinese food spots that sell food by the combo. Same goes for the egg rolls :(
Maybe i’m being too harsh on this place. But i have memories of Walnut Tree being a solid & consistent spot for quality chinese food in the area. This place is begging for an update & a renewed dedication to being a real restaurant with a focus on quality.
The service is polite & quick. The portions are generous. And the pricing is very fair. If you’re in the area, you can definitely do a lot worse.

So I’ve been coming here on a regular basis (think: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) every week and so far, I’ve tried out most of their lunch specials. If I had not noted this before in my initial review, the lunch specials include the item that you ordered, say, Orange Peel Chicken, plus your choice of steamed rice or fried rice, plus a deep-​fried wanton skin and a veggie roll. It’s a good deal. The price has gone up by 0.50 cents in the past year but it’s still affordable for the area that this restaurant is located in: Walnut. Now, bear in mind, I’m from Los Angeles and I have a Chinatown that is located really close to where I live and I’m judging this restaurant based on the restaurants that are predominantly found there.
Given that standard, I’ve went from a 4-​star review to a 5-​star review. Why? Maybe I’m just a tad bit biased but the workers there are predominantly Cantonese Chinese people. So if you can speak Cantonese, they will hook it up, you know what I mean? (think bigger portions and/​or faster service). You won’t find this kind of special treatment at Mandarin-​speaking Chinese restaurants – for whatever their reasons. I’ve only seen this phenomenon happen in Cantonese speaking Chinese restaurants.
So every time I come here, «Ah Yee», is always there. She’s not there during Tuesdays and Thursdays to the best of my knowledge but her husband, the main cook, is always there to the best of my knowledge. Neat Fact: «Ah Yee» and her husband used to be from Lincoln Heights, which is my hometown, and they had moved out to Walnut recently. The owner doesn’t actually reside there at all. «She» pops in every once in a blue moon, if there was anything immediate that needs her attention but it is very rare if she comes in. I believe she is one of those Mandarin-​speaking Chinese people but I could be wrong. «Ah Yee» would need to clarify this on my next visit. She’s a bombshell, not that it matters that much to this review but I recalled that she looks like she’s in her late 30’s, she’s still quite pretty.
On Tuesday and Thursdays, there is this younger Asian male server on duty. He sucks. They need to get rid of him. Service is sub-​par, attitude is sub-​par, and just overall experience is sub-​par when he’s working there. But I’m guessing he’s still there because his availability is so wide that of all the necessary evils, he’s the lesser of two, so to speak. Oh well. I would suggest that you avoid coming here on Tuesdays and Thursdays like I have. He speaks Canto but he’s really Westernized. Not like the Canto people like myself and «Ah Yee» and her husband. I don’t know how else to put it. He’s just a guy who doesn’t give a crap about work.
Now, «Ah Yee» knows what’s up. She treats her customers right – every time – to the best of her ability. And when I say «every time» I mean, EVERY TIME. And the majority of the regulars that frequent that place are very understanding. There are definitely some days when they are so inundated with phone calls, customers in the restaurant, and more coming in wherever and whenever but I assure you that this is few and far in between. For the most part, the service is excellent even during busy hours. The wait time, however, may be a bit longer than usual but not usually that far off.
I recommend most things on their menu except for the sweet and sour [anything] and their pork chop. The pork chop tastes good but there’s hardly any meat. It’s mostly fatty meat. If you’re ok with that, feel free to order it but otherwise, I would suggest that you avoid that. The sweet and sour [anything[ – maybe it’s just me but I find it too tangy and it overwhelms the taste of the meat. Otherwise, it’s still edible. My favorites are: Kung Pao Tofu, Mongolian Beef, and Beef with Vegetables. Orange-​peel chicken seems to be popular here and it is GOOD but it does take longer to cook so the wait time is a bit longer than everything else, in my experience.
If you’re used to Chinatown food, this place will hit the spot, if you’re way out here in this part of town. Otherwise, if this is your first-​time, I’d totally recommend it. However, if you see a bunch of cars parked outside their restaurant on any given day, expect long wait times and slow service. They really only have 2 servers and 3 cooks at any given time. Come here, if you want some quality Chinese food at affordable ($ 5 – 6) lunch specials OR for their «a la carte» where they given GENEROUS portions!!!

Okay so I must have been having a really bad day or something the first time I reviewed this place.
I am literally OBSESSED with this place… I brought my boyfriend here not too long ago, because we wanted a lazy night in, with movies and Chinese take out… We got a little carried away and ordered about $ 45 worth of food. just for us two! Hey. we wanted variety okay. and plus we ate more for breakfast haha
But I love the food here, it’s delicious and authentic. I don’t know what the other ones who say is isn’t are talking about. But you be the judge? But this place and another place in China Town are my favorite! So that says a lot.
One thing I will absolutely recommend from here is their WONTON SOUP!!! SOOOO BOMB!!! People say menudo is the hangover cure? Try this wonton soup with a little but of sirracha and you’re set!
But don’t judge this place by it’s cover… You honestly can’t even notice it just by driving by, it’ so hidden and does not stand out what so ever. Even walking in, its small, a little out dated, but it’s about the quality and taste of the food, and that my fellow Unilocalers, does not let down…
It gets pretty busy during lunch time, but the service is very friendly and it’s fast.