Emerald Dragon

Lucky Chef, formerly known as Emerald Dragon has no discernible advantage over Panda Express. I noticed how basically all the prices on the menu were over $ 10, so I ordered one dish, the Walnut Shrimp. If the dish was actually good, I wouldn’t complain about how much I spent on it, but it wasn’t. There were a dozen shrimp, dipped in a batter and deep fried so it becomes all round. Then they were laid to rest on a bed of fried wonton strips with some caramelized walnut pieces scattered around it. Normally, I don’t expect shrimp to be dipped in batter because give the dish a discordant texture. Rather, I expect it to be glazed in honey and/​or coconut oil/​milk. I’d much rather order Walnut Shrimp from a sit down restaurant, rather than pay $ 1+ per shrimp at Lucky Chef. I did get some mayonnaise to dip the shrimp in, but it didn’t help.

So, it has a new management and a new brand name now (Lucky Chef). The first impression: prices are higher, portions are smaller, and food is meh… My beef and tomato lunch meal was really disgusting. Please make yourself a favour and do not order it.
I’m very disappointed having no desire to give them a second chance. What a pity… The old Emerald Dragon was one of my favourite spot for quick Chinese food to-​go.
I put two stars instead of one just because their front desk stuff (the young man) was nice and friendly.

Lalalalalalaalalove this place! Best Chinese take out in this area, it’s hard to find go Chinese take out but this place is good I love there kung poa chicken, deeeeelish

Order Mongolian Beef, mixed vegetables, and chicken fried rice, all good, Easy to find, reasonably quick, and I would not hesitate to order from here again.

I would give a higher review but they made a huge error. I specifically asked if there was shrimp in anything we ordered and if they keep foods separate. Cashier said «no and that foods were kept separate». So we ordered and went on our way. Got home and there’s shrimp in our won ton soup. Good thing my husband saw it before he ate it. Otherwise we’d be headed off to the hospital.
Food was really good though.

Nice portions inexpensive fresh food is what I got from here. Would recommend to any and everybody.

Tried it today for the first time since it changed owners (was not a fan of Hongs), loved it. Great for take out. Good food, fast friendly service, made fresh. Will go back in the future

The menu here is almost identical to Jade China and as it turns out — they share quite a few other similarities too! Huge portions of great (for the most part) Chinese food at super low prices. But honestly it’s so cheap you can afford to try out everything. They also use the same kind of batter to fry things like sweet and sour pork that makes it turn into an oily looking blob of dough (you’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it).
That aside, Emerald Dragon has some of the best tasting chow mein I’ve ever had (the wifey loves chow mein and we order it from every single chinese place we go to). It has great flavor, is never too salty, and is loaded with meat and not placeholder veggies. The hot and sour soups includes wood-​ear mushrooms and meat for only about $ 5! Most restaurants will charge upwards of $ 8 for and it’ll be missing these 2 ingredients. Definitely worth checking out!

Delicious. Our go-​to for takeout. Great service. Great prices. Big fans. The combo plates are really big portions and super cheap. Their wonton soup is our favorite, and even on our bigger orders, they’re really quick.

I’m glad I gave this place a second shot. I tried this place out for lunch a couple months back and was not too impressed. Maybe it was an off day or the dish that I ordered, but I didn’t think I would come back. Well, I decided to pick up dinner last night and the food was great. The fried rice was delicious and the sweet and sour pork was very tasty. Portions are hearty and the price was more than reasonable. Give them a shot. $ 10 CC minimum.

It took me awhile to get here to try Emerald Dragon after Hong’s closed down, but I’m glad I finally did. I’ve had a number of the rice plates for lunch and they have always been good, I particularly like the Yu Shiang Pork. All of the rice plates are more than enough for one person and come with a couple of small egg rolls which is a nice touch. The Hot and Sour Soup is one of the better versions you’ll find in the area. The Won Ton Soup is very flavorful as well but is a little bland for my taste, but then so are most restaurant’s versions of it because I like spicy hot food, so no harm there. I’ll update this review as I try more things but everything I’ve had thus far has been really good. The only remotely non-​positive thing I can say is that they appear to sometimes close early. Don’t know if it’s a staffing problem or it’s just a slow night but you want to call before going to make sure they’re open. The young woman who takes phone orders and is usually at the front is named Jennifer, who is super nice and will take care of you. Give them a call — you won’t regret it.
UNFORTUNATELY, THEY JUST CLOSED AND ARE NO LONGER IN BUSINESS! :’(

Got the 3 item combination for $ 6.99. Very large portions for the price. A similar meal at panda would cost a couple bucks more.
The taste is what you’d expect from an Americanized Chinese fast food joint. If you’ve eaten Chinese fast food in the past you’ve eaten here.
My only negative on this is the options are limited. For the 3 item combo you can only choose from 3 or 4 entrée items (ie: sweet and sour pork, Kung pao chicken, etc).

The service and food is great at a really good price. The Mongolian Beef, BBQ Pork Chow Mein, Fried Shrimp and Crispy Chicken are excellent. Not the best Chinese in San Jose, but for the price, speed, and flavors you can’t go wrong.

Great food and great prices. The spicy garlic crispy beef is my favorite. Way better than pearl river.

My wife went and picked up some chinese food from Emerald Dragon after I had told her about a positive review of the place. I know I’ve already given away the conclusion to this Unilocal review with my 1 star rating so I’ll quickly sum up my take on our take-​out.
Hot & Sour Soup-​yuck
Egg Rolls-​tasted like egg rolls from the frozen section at the grocery store
The rest of the meal-​far from edible
I’m surprised by all the glowing reviews of this place that it makes me wonder if I just caught them on a bad night. Unfortunately it was so unappetizing that I would never make my taste buds intentionally relive this nightmarish meal.
Now who wants my leftovers?

Nice pleasant person who answered the phone. Food ready as expected. Small interior, only a couple tables. This place seems to be set up more for take out. Surface parking plentiful, in the same parking lot with Nob Hill and a Starbucks.
No fortune cookies.

Tried this place for the first time. I’ll definitely be back. Wor own ton soup was great. I’ll try more things next time

Probably the best $ 4.99 Chinese lunch special you can get. Worth the money. Little things that makes this a great place: real high quality BBQ pork in their fried rice, nice deep fried crunch in their chicken wings and hand-​packed hot sauce in containers (instead of those pre-​packaged packets you usually get).
Would go again to this place.

Awesome food with a great price!!! Their meals are so fresh and just completely gnarly

I have been a fan of hongs since 2003. I would order the Mongolian beef over rice almost every other day… I became well known to the family that operated hongs based off of my frequent business… When I learned that hongs was closing and emerald dragon was taking over, I was a little skeptical. I didn’t like the idea of change. I had my routine dishes that I would order, and it would be the best tasting Americanized Chinese take out I’ve ever had… So, when I got the chance, I went to emerald dragon and got the honey walnut chicken with bbq pork fried rice… Not only was i impressed by the portions they give you, but the flavor was amazing! I’m happy that emerald dragon took over, they are very caring to loyal customers and have the best chinese in San Jose!!!

This is where Hong’s Take Out used to be. I don’t know if they have the recipes that Hong originally had created/​cooked (I say created because Hongs had been around since the late 70’s early 80’s from what I remember and had a few off menu items), but I will say that their Mongolian beef tastes EXACTLY like I remember it or comparable to what Hong created. The menu is very similar. After Hong had retired, the new owner didn’t seem to care maybe, but the taste of the food just went downhill. I decided to try Emerald Dragon because great Chinese food take out is hard to come by and Panda is good but it’s one of those annoying chains that can become too expensive if you want any other item other than orange chicken, which is what the menu is drilled down to. Everything’s 1, 2, or 3 dollars more in addition to what the dollar amount is on the menu. Anyway, I had the Mongolian Beef, Chicken Fried Rice and Honey Walnut Prawns, and it tasted amazing! Give them a try… you’ll love it! Glad to have a good Chinese food take out «go to» place again!!!
Emerald Dragon
Phone: (408) 227 2522
6033 Snell Ave
San Jose, CA. 95 123‑4127

For a person who doesn’t generally gravitate towards take-​out, this place definitely changed the game for me.
Although I ordered to go, the service was still A+! The cashier not only remembered me calling earlier with dietary questions, she made sure to answer them and still remembered what I was considering to order when I called on my break.
I was a little late to pick up my food and she gave me no trouble for it at all. And my food was still hot and fresh.
Last but not least it’s an amazingly cheap deal and also tastes great.
Will be coming here on my breaks more often!