Pacific Grove

Honestly the only two things I get here are the pork lo mein (extra veggies) and the beef teriyaki and its always to go. That being said, those two items are always done in less than 10 minutes and are fresh, hot and delicious.

huge place!
bar!
really good standard american-​chinese cuisine
no delivery

I’ve ordered out from Pacific Grove a number of times and I’m impressed with the quality of the food. it is always tasty, not too salty and never greasy. I love love love their house Lo Mein. The chicken and cashews is always a winner in my house as well. The beef on a stick is great– not overly cooked and always tasty. Only complaint s nothing is really spicy. Its is tasty enough, but sometimes I like a little extra kick without having to add sauces myself.
I remember going to this place when it was Royal Dynasty and I think the food is much better now. This is a good go-​to Chinese food restaurant.

Excellent Lamb with Scallion, Mongolian Beef, Vegetable Low Mein, Chicken Shrimp & Pork Fried Rice. Fresh al dente veggies in the dishes. Some of the best beef & lamb dishes I have ever had. Personally I would highly recommend this restaurant to try. I also loved the duck sauce & I consider myself picky about my food & flavors. Each entrée comes individual so you need to order rice etc extra at night. Still food this good makes great left overs at home. Excellent service too!!! I’ll return with friends & family.

The general gau chicken is good but if you want to feel some heat you better order it extra spicy. The chicken fingers are tender and large and have never come out over cooked (which is a pet peeve of mine). The beef teriyaki is made with the red spare rib sauce. They also come out tender and delicious every time.
Basically its solid, consistent and I like the food. I do have a criticism about the front desk. Its set up in a way where you can see all the trash and disorganization behind the cashier and the bar. Its unsightly and uninviting.

We ordered take put from here last night. The food was hot and fresh. The vegetables in our entrees had great flavor and crispness to them, most places have terrible soft veggies, this is not the case here. The garlic chilli noodles are great! The only thing I didn’t care for was the crabrangoon it was very sweet, almost like cheese cake. The egg rolls are about the same as any other place, kinda hard to mess that up. The fried rice was good as well. The entrees we had though may have been the best, Kung po chicken and Hunan Chicken, delicious! We will certainly order from here again.

I love their Chinese food they’ve been there for a long time me and my family go every year Christmas parties they are very friendly nice and I would recommend people to go have cocktails and play Keno great place

Pacific Grove (formerly known as Royal Dynasty) is a great local place to have Chinese and/​or Japanese food including sushi. Since the change of management two years ago, the outside had a moderate facelift, the inside of the restaurant had a complete makeover. The bar size doubled, the television sets tripled, and the ambiance improved tenfold.
The Chinese food is fresh and tasty. My husband is a fan of the sushi. The cocktails are fantastically generous. But the best thing about the Grove is the waitstaff. The Grove’s staff are always friendly and, since we live close by and are «frequent flyers,» know my husband and I by name. While there was a recent waitstaff change-​up with its sister restaurant, China Cuisine in North Reading that displaced some of our favorite bartenders, hosts and waiters, the new staff has made every effort to please their customers. And while we find the table service is not at times quite up to the previous standard, we acknowledge that it is improving each time we are there.
The Grove has entertainment on Friday and Saturday evenings — karaōke or live music band — and can get very loud depending on the entertainer and attending crowd. Sometimes the music can be too loud for the size of the room, which forces you to scream across the table at your dinner companion. However, lately I’ve noticed the volume seems to be more under control.
My husband, family, friends and I frequent the Grove because of its proximity to home. However, I can also recommend it to people in the Wilmington area, because the food and drink are good, the location is convenient (right off I-​93), the parking is plentiful, the prices are affordable and the staff are always welcoming.

Went with 4 others and we got lunch plates, the food was really good.
I got sweet & sour chicken with fried rice and crab rangoon. The sweet & sour chicken was really good, I liked that the chicken fingers were still a little crispy as some place put the sauce on too early and they get soggy. The crab rangoon were awesome and well stuffed. I noticed another review said they were gross bc they were sweet, I personally prefer them slightly sweet so I loved them. Fried rice was good too. Also it was only $ 7.50 and comes with soup.
I was a regular at Royal Dynasty but it’s last year’s the place was so dirty, I’m definitely liking the new (cleaner looking) place now.

This was a lunch on the go. I’m not from the area so I wasn’t sure about stopping in. Chinese restaurants can be so hit or miss. My experience was very good fortunately. I was greeted promptly and cordially. I interacted with several of the serving staff and they were all cheerful and helpful. Their command of English was not perfect, so the gentleman next to me trying to order a Samuel Adams Boston Ale (not Lager he stated) had a tough time, but it all worked out fine. My sushi was very good. The Volcano roll and Salmon Teriyaki roll were great. I would recommend Pacific Grove for those who like sushi and would like the option to have Chinese food too.

I live nearby, and when this was Royal Dynasty we were regulars. Royal Dynasty had its ups and downs, but there were a few dishes you could rely on as being excellent.
I had really hoped that Pacific Grove would keep the good and improve the bad, but that is not the case. The great things about Royal Dynasty are all changed and not as good. There are a few things that Pacific Grove that are better, but overall there isn’t anything outstanding.
Worst of all, the staff they retained look miserable compared to before the change. From the outside, at least, it doesn’t seem like a happy place.
So, the bottom line is that we’ve stopped going. Despite it being in walking distance, and us being huge Chinese food fans, mediocre food at a slightly higher price just isn’t worth it when there are some very good places within a short drive.

I liked Royal Dynasty, but Pacific Grove is better! Cleaner, better atmosphere, the food is great, and still has the spectacular customer service!!! Jerry is wonderful! The waitstaff actually knows my regular order! They are all wonderful!

I’ve wanted to stop in and check out the Pacific Grove for quite awhile, but my partner and I haven’t been in the mood for Chinese until the massive snow storm hit the other day and we just had to get out and get some food. The location is great — in a plaza along with a grocery store, a bank, a liquor store, and a Dunkin’, and with plenty of parking. I was very impressed by the interior. I loved the fish tanks. I was even more impressed with their varied menu. I had no idea they served sushi! We went with the cashew chicken, fried rice and egg rolls for take-​out. They said about 15 minutes so we wandered over to the grocery store to kill some time. Came back, and it was ready for us to take back to our snowy home. The food was very good. I don’t eat Chinese all that often but the rice really tasted like the best that I can remember in well, forever. The chicken cashew dish was yummy too. Price-​wise, it was fantastic for the amount of food we took home. My only complaint is they forgot the fortune cookies. Alas, I will not know what 2014 has in store for me without that little note to guide me! We’ll definitely be going back, and will likely try the sushi next time.

Finally popped in here tonight (Unfortunately Hubs doesn’t share in my passion for Chinese food.) Both of us were impressed and I’m wondering where these negative reviews are coming from? Perhaps takeout is iffy. We sat at the bar with Steve, the bartender and he whipped up two delicious drinks. We had to ask for menu’s-NBD to us but perhaps some people would be annoyed by this. We ordered spicy garlic chicken wings, crab rangoons, spicy tuna roll and lo mein. Everything was yum. Also, they have HALF sizes of most items available at the bar. Amazing.

I’m being kind by giving 2 stars. I ordered take-​out. I had the basil pad thai which is supposed to have chicken and mixed vegetables in it (sounded like a healthier option to the pad thai). The vegetables consisted of a few over-​cooked pieces of broccoli (I think there were 3 pieces) and about the same amount of over-​cooked snow peas… it just wasn’t good and I was hungry. I also got the chicken teriyaki maki. It tasted a little fishy so it made me wonder if they prepare it in the same area as the raw seafood. If it wasn’t for the fish flavor I think these would actually be kind of good. The chicken teriyaki inside tasted good.
The new décor looked pretty good and everyone is super nice but I don’t think I would go here to eat again.

This review is only on two times here and one was take out. I will follow up after one more visit since they were recently new when I went. The food was fresh but lacked flavor. The folks were very nice and the place looked clean but again it was new.

Took the kids out for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. It was a late lunch, maybe 2pm. We were anxious to see the difference after spending many past years eating at the Royal Dynasty. RD was my favorite Chinese food restaurant growing up and I was very disappointed to see it close.
Upon entering, the changes were noticeable immediately. Colors have been updated and it appears the bar area had been extended. We were met by the hostess that sat us in the bar area. Apparently they could not accommodate 5 at the booths in the normal restaurant area. Surprising because I sat in those same booths (older colors!) with 5 many times. We were seating at a very new looking high top table with very comfortable chairs. We were a little upset with the noise level, normal for a bar area, but not to our liking for the lunch we were looking for.
Service was quick in exceedingly courteous. Menu was typical Chinese type. They did have a large sushi menu which I will try at another time. We ordered a few Pu Pu platters, lobster sauce, and some rice. The waitress told us that they had a special going for the weekend where you get a free app if you spend over $ 20. We went for the garlic chicken in brown sauce, and very glad we did! It was the best of all the food!
The food was good, hot, crisp, fresh, I wouldn’t say it was the best I have ever had, but it was certainly good. We will be back. This place is a good visual upgrade from Royal Dynasty. The restaurant was immaculate and the staff was kind. Definitely check it out.

We tried take out from the new PG last night and with the negative reviews on Unilocal I was worried. We ended up being pleasantly surprised. We ordered 4 maki rolls: spicy tuna, philly, sunset, and rock n roll. All the rolls were very good, fresh fish and veggies, nice tight roll that did fall all apart after your first bite. Unfortunately they were out of duck so we tried the ginger beef. The beef was super tender, the veggies fresh, pineapple sweet, paired with a nice brown sauce. I’d get it again for sure. They threw in a free appetizer too for us. We had the boneless spare ribs and they were excellent.
We will definitely order take out from here again and can’t wait to dine in as well. Don’t let the unfavorable reviews scare you off, the place was packed when we picked up our food.

Tried the Sampler #2: The Crab Rangoons were horrible; too sweet. I was still sick from them hours later…
Too much batter on the tiny shrimp & chicken fingers. The boneless ribs were sweetened pork shavings. All fried appetizers were too oily…
The Beef Mushroom Chow Yoke was delicious and filled with plenty of fresh mushrooms and the Pork Fried Rice was fluffy and fresh BUT BOTH WERE OVERPRICED!!!
For these prices, I’d expect better.

There are, I think, 4 Chinese restaurants in Wilmington: 2 take-​outs, a «nice» sit-​down and this one, which recently took the place of an older Chinese sit-​down in the same location. I don’t know that I ever went into the place that closed, but apparently everything is new inside, and it’s clean and pleasant and devoid of hokey «Chinese» décor. Sadly, the entryway reeks of cigarette smoke that carries into the reception area.
I got take-​out one night recently and enjoyed the food enough to suggest to my wife and daughter that we eat there to check it out on an evening where no one felt like cooking. For a Thursday evening, the bar was packed and the wait for a table was 20 – 30 minutes, so they’re bringing people in, but my guess is that there’s still a good percentage of people like us checking it out and that long-​term it will be the bar crowd that keeps it going.
The menu is pretty standard American Chinese, with the addition of sushi and some basic Japanese items and a small list of «Chinatown style» dishes. We ordered egg roll and gyozas for appetizers, which were typical but enjoyable. For main dishes we ordered Garlic Spicy Lo Mein, Moo-​Shu Veggies, Crispy Pepper Pork (from the «Chinatown» list) and my daughter ordered Chicken Teriyaki from the Japanese selections.
The dishes came out in random order and not well-​paced at all. We got the lo mein first and waited a while for the next thing to arrive (the moo-​shu, I think). Luckily, the lo mein was excellent — definitely the best thing we had. The moo-​shu was tasty, but we were disappointed to get supermarket flour tortillas instead of real rice pancakes (kind of inexcusable since there’s a huge Asian grocery in nearby Burlington). The Crispy Pepper Pork was completely devoid of any kind of sauce, so it was just some deep-​fried strips of pork with some shredded lettuce and some jalapenos. The teriyaki was the last to arrive, by which time we were almost finished with the other dishes, and the chicken was as dry as the pork.
I don’t know that I’ll bother to go there to eat again; the other sit-​down place across town is a much better choice for going out. I will, though, try the take-​out at least once more to see if it’s consistent with my first experience. Can’t really recommend this for now, though.