Richmond Good Life :: Best Restaurants in Richmond, VA :: Richmond, VA's Best Chinese Restaurant

Richmond, VA's Best Chinese Restaurant 

This list will evolve over time as new restaurants enter, old ones leave or slip.

Name Address
(1) Yen Ching 9033 W Broad St (804) 747-7422 (West End)

Consistently the best Chinese restaurant in Richmond. The matriarch will always greet you at the register with that lovable dour expression. Interior is great, and the food never disappoints.

(2) Peking 8904-F West Broad St (804) 270-9898  (West End)
Richmond’s Chinese restaurant dynasty can vary dramatically in cooking quality from location to location. Stick to their West End branch near West Tower cinemas. If you like fancy ambiance, then the Libbie location is for you. Their Sunday champagne brunch is incredible, the best Chinese buffet in Richmond (quality not quantity (ie, Super King)…I’m thinking of Velvet Shrimp as I type).
(3) Shanghai Restaurant 9951 Hull Street Rd (Oxbridge Square Shopping Center) (804) 745-0866  (Southside)
Friend tipped me off to this gem in the Southside’s West End. I once ate there at the tail end of their awesome Sunday buffet. You know it was good as all the cooks came outside the kitchen to finish the leftovers. From a price standpoint, this is the best value of all the Richmond Chinese establishments. If it wasn’t such a hike to Woodlake, Shanghai might have vaulted to #2 or even numero uno on this list!
(4) Mandarin Palace 2811 Hathaway Rd (804) 272-8020 (Forest Hill)
One of the oldest Chinese restaurants in town. Located in Forest Hill, the chef used to cook for dignitaries at the Chinese embassy in DC.
(5) Lakeside Chinese Carryout  5607 Lakeside Ave (804) 261-4888 (Lakeside)
God, this place looks like a dive from both the outside and the inside! Don’t judge a book by its cover as they are the best of the “fast food Chinese”/takeout-delivery only places in town (the nearby Red House <1202 Azalea Ave (804) 266-8333> comes a close second).  Great prices.
Honorable mention (Longevity Matters!): Joy Garden (The oldest Chinese restaurant in Richmond.  2918 West Broad Street (804) 358-8012); China Kitchen (Another old school Chinese restaurant. 9157 Atlee Rd # C Mechanicsville, VA (804) 746-9103);  Yum Yum Good (great owner, solid food. 5612 Patterson Ave (804) 673-9226)

Author’s note: Yeah, I realize that PF Chang’s is on my Top 50 list, but are they really a Chinese restaurant? I’d say they’re more Chinese inspired. Also, a few words must be said about Full Kee (6400 Horsepen Rd (804) 673-2233). FK is universally recognized by local chefs and food fanatics as the top Chinese restaurant in town. Very authentic, very real. Unfortunately, my personal palate is very crude and primitive, as I tend to gravitate towards more Americanized types of dishes. As a Chinese restaurant owner in Goochland once told me, he’d never seen Broccoli until he got here to the States, and General Tso was probably some dude from Brooklyn.