Yet Wah

This restaurant is related to the venerable institutions in the City that dominated the area in the 60’s and 70’s, and reheated leftover takeout from a friend sure tasted good. Can’t wait to go there in person. I hope that this one lasts forever!
The ones in the City were absolutely fabulous!

Every time I come here it is inconsistent :(which is really unfortunate because I love their sesame chicken with white sauce. The only place that will make it with this traditional recipe. However, I recommend to never order their fried rice! Yet Wah definitely makes their rice FRIED. So fried that it was as hard as rocks and I actually chipped my tooth trying to eat it. I returned it back and asked if they could cook it softer and less fried and when I received the rice back, it was a bowl of slop. As soft enough for a baby to eat it.
On my last visit, I had gone in to order different items from their menu to be spontaneous. I ordered a half order of their egg flower soup, half order of their orange chicken, and half order of their tofu with chinese vegetables. I was so excited to eat but I ended up waiting FOURTY FIVE minutes IN the restaurant for my order to be made. When I finally got a chance to eat my take out, I threw all of the food down the disposal because everything was so salty to make up for the lack of real flavor. Waste of $ 20. The egg flower soup definitely had chicken/​poultry additive for the flavor and it tasted more like chicken noodle soup than egg flower soup. The Orange chicken had no orange sauce, but slices of orange. And the tofu with chinese vegetables was the only thing I did find somewhat tasty but still lacking in flavor like they did not want to use more oyster sauce.
I still come back to this place hoping that it’ll be a good time but the disappointments definitely outweigh satisfaction.

Horrible for late night carry out. They seem surprised when they get customers after 8pm. Usually some random person working the cashier in an unprofessional way. Doesn’t seem like a real restaurant. I posted a negative review before, but owners were somehow able to pull it down. I’m reposting as a service to the community.

This place is so bad, first of all, the price for what you get is disgusting. 11 $ fried rice for half of how much food hey give you. Second of all, the service here is bad. The host gives a fake smile and the workers stare at you. At least for the price of the food, the quality would be good, but no. The quality is like any other Chinese restaurant but lesser portions. Dont come here.

Terrible food, peking duck and buns without sauce. No more coming back to order I really hate the food in this restaurant

My wife and I have enjoyed the service and cuisine of Yet Wah since they moved from Larkspur. We have been steady patrons of this establishment and have enjoyed the company of the owner, Simon, and the food, service and environment that is until recently!
I took my wife there at 7:00PM on Saturday, May 7, 2016 for an early Mother’s Day Dinner and what was expected to be a very pleasant experience quickly turned out to be an ugly experience!
We sat in the front area near the windows as we always do while the restaurant was maybe ¹⁄₃ full of customers, we were seated, but it took almost 15 minutes before we had to ask a bus person to get a waiter for us. There was a woman servicing the whole area but paid no attention to us or to even acknowledge us. Then a young man came to our table and we ordered two iced teas which took over ten minutes to have served! Then this young man took our order, vegetable pot stickers, General Chicken (white meat), Green beans and steamed rice. He brought spring rolls to our table and we stated that we had ordered pot stickers so he went back to the kitchen and a few minutes later returned with the pot stickers. 35 Minutes later he came back with our Chicken and rice and said our beans would be up soon. 10 minutes went by and then being upset, I went to the register area and inquired about the remainder of our order so that we might enjoy our whole dinner at once as we had ordered. The woman asked what was wrong and why I was asking about the order and” they laughed and stated your order is cooking now”!! I stated that I ordered the beans with the rest of my dinner and was NOT HAPPY with the service or waiting as though I was eating a three course meal with items served separately!
Considering the length of time we have patronized this establishment we have unfortunately witnessed the degradation of service, the smaller portions with cost soaring! TOO BAD AS THIS USED TO BE THE PREMIRE CHINESE EATERY IN MARIN AND IN SAN FRANCISCO, NOW, IN MARIN IS NOT WORTH THE TIME OR EXPENSE TO EAT THERE AGAIN!

Dined at Yat Wah. Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA for late lunch and it had to be the worst tasting interpretation of Chinese Cuisine ever experienced.
Wish this was a better report but the service was poor; tea cup had lipstick on it; soup tasted like green onions and stewed tomatoes; appetizer (unheard of deep fried Shiu Mai dim sum) were very salty and unappealing. Ever heard of sweet & sour sauce and yellow mustard on the same plate as a dipping sauce?
Stir fried beef and snow peas & stir fried chicken w cabbage & water chestnuts, sweet & sour pork all lacked any real flavor. No distinctive flavors at all. Even Panda Express, a shopping mall place, would have had more flavor.
This meal happened on Sunday, May 8, 2016 at about 2:45 pm.
Throughout meal, another employee was having a loud personal phone call at the cash register. Despite relaxing facility, the service and food were poor. Well below par and not recommended to anyone who appreciates real Chinese food. Raised on cuisine and found this dining experience an insult.

I ordered hot and sour soup with vegetable potstickers. I got home and the potstickers were so greasy, they wouldn’t come apart from one another. They fell apart and left tons of oils on the box they came in. They were tasteless. The soup was also very bland, it tastes mostly like spicy celery water. Perhaps I’ll come in another time and try something else, but for 20 $ for this meal, I’m pretty disappointed.

I’ve eaten here now and then over the years. The service is unfailingly friendly and attentive. The food is consistently delicious and plentiful. I’m a fan of hot and sour soup — it’s great here. On my last visit, I went with a friend and we had an excellent table by the window. We talked for 3 hours. There never was any pressure on us to leave.

Yummy fresh food served promptly by the kindest servers. I’ve been here twice and both times was pleased with the somewhat quiet ambience. I’ve had the vegetable potstickers, Phoenix and dragon, three princess chicken and all were great. While the flavors were not incredibly complex, their dishes have been consistently good. I will return.

I thought the food was good but I will say: I was so parched the next morning I could not swallow. I had the duck curry. It was delicious. The pot stickers were great. The waitress was great. The room was cold and there was a broken crack in the window! The room was cold and heated with a space heater – Not so upscale on that! The waitress we had was very nice and provided great service. The food must have MSG and Salt. All I can say is: I could not swallow the next day. The salt and MSG or something in the food was not so great. The food was good but…

We keep coming back, and the food is consistently OK; but I have yet to have anything «knock my socks off»
Service runs from great to OK… and we’ve had no major complaints; I wanted to give a 3.5 but can’t so I rounded up due to good service.
By all means go here if you’re craving Chinese and are local to the area… but don’t mistake this for a destination restaurant.

I have eaten here for many many years, way back to the early eighties when they were in Larkspur. There is to better dish on earth than their potstickers! Consistently perfect for 30 years. Twice as good as the best you’ve ever had (assuming you haven’t eaten here). They make their own chili oil that is also delicious. The filling isn’t all bound up like a meatball like most potstickers and the wrapper isn’t doughy. All other dishes are great too, very flavorful and all with a twist. Home made ginger ale that is fabulous. But you haven’t lived until you’ve had the «Kuo teh»!

Came here on Christmas Day… apparently they made a big deal to my wife and sister about us being lucky getting a table as they were going to be very busy in an hour. When we left it wasn’t busy, possibly more empty. Seemed like they were keeping their larger tables in the back reserved for larger groups that never came, not sure what was going on.
Anyways, experienced a limited «Holiday Menu.» Didn’t really see anything special for the Holiday. No steamed fish, crab, Peking duck, or anything awesome for the holiday.
We ordered the egg flower soup Almond Pressed Duck, schezuan chicken, kung pao prawns, garlic green beans. Honestly nothing spectacular… possibly could be described as a fancier Panda Express.
But hey, it is Marin, and you gotta cater to people that don’t know what real Chinese food is I guess.

The service is okay, but the food is always amazing here. I really like that they’re open until midnight! Good place to head if you’re craving good Chinese food and a nice ambiance.

Best Chinese food in San Rafael! Their food is even better than the traditional Chinese food in Hong Kong! The owner is from Hong Kong too and he is super nice!

Remember when Yet Wah’s took over the SF Bay Area, especially the one on the corner of Clement Street in SF. I performed with my Chinese dance troupe on the 2^nd floor in high school… how times have changed in the city. I guess these days it’s the era of Ranch 99’s taking over the entire Bay Area, not the same though. I heard a story from a bookstore owner who remembers when The Rolling Stones rented out Yet Wah in the Diamond Heights SF location… talk about throwback!
There’s only one Yet Wah standing now in downtown San Rafael, owner Simon Young has seen everything. Ask him some questions, I’m sure he has many stories to tell. He embraces his community. He’s a local celebrity, and sometimes he makes deliveries personally. As I went in for dinner, the people in front of me asked for Simon as if they weren’t going to eat without his presence. My only thought was «hangry» lol.
For Marin County, Yet Wah is still my favorite place for Chinese, and it’s open late ’til midnight Tuesday-​Saturday. Open ’til 10pm on Sunday & Monday. Delivery is available from 5:00pm to 9:30pm daily.

Wor Shu Op! Ok, so they have almond pressed duck, which is really difficult to find any more. The dish on the menu is pressed duck served with sweet and sour sauce and then finished with almonds. For those looking for Wor Shu Op, simply order the almond pressed duck with «brown sauce» and scallions (no almonds). It’s a wonderful dish, tasty and exactly what I was looking for. The pot stickers (see picture) were wonderful and filled generously with well seasoned perfectly cooked pork. I also had a taste of the Orange Chicken and it was wonderful as well.
The staff was friendly and quick on the ball. The atmosphere is very appealing and I found it to be very clean. I will return. I have no idea why some of these ratings are so low.

I rolled here after an event .
They are open till 12am .
That really good for San Rafael .
I rolled in and was greeted and seated and presented a menu .
I ordered Pot Stickers, Mongolian Beef, Szechwan Chicken, Hunan Shrimp, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Hot and Sour Soup and Steamed Rice .
I like the Décor of Yet Wah especially the Statues at the Entry way.
The Hot and Sour soup came first it had good flavor .
Next out was the Pot Stickers these were good sized and tasted good.
The Mongolian Beef, Szechwan Chicken, Hunan Shrimp, Honey Walnut Shrimp and Steamed Rice arrived all together .
The Flavors were Good and on Point. Portion Sizes run on the small side .
Service was good .
I would eat here again.

We have used their take-​out a few times with good results. Our orders were ready on time and everything was properly prepared.