Highest-rated Chinese restaurants in Santa Cruz

Forget General Tso's and chop suey. Today's Chinese restaurants are skipping the American takes on Chinese food and instead are bringing diners on a culinary journey through the diverse regions of China. Fiery chili-infused Sichuan food, stuffed bao from Beijing, Shanghai-style soup dumplings, Guilin rice noodles, and Cantonese seafood and dim sum are just some of what the country has to offer.

By seeing the world through social media, more consumers have learned that there's more to Chinese food than fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, and egg rolls. Consumers increasingly want to go deep into Asian cuisine and understand the variety of flavor profiles, which in turn is influencing how we eat. Forty-five percent of consumers believe that Asian food and flavors will have a big impact on food trends, second to American cuisine by just 1%, according to the American Culinary Federation's 2025 trends report.

That's evident in the rise of chili crisp as a must-have condiment, which was on menus 77.8% more times between 2023 and 2024, compared to just 10.5% for hot honey, according to Technomic.

Social media and restaurant review sites have made it even easier to hunt out unique and delicious options for Chinese food. Stacker compiled a list of the highest-rated Chinese restaurants in Santa Cruz based on diners' reviews on Yelp as of July 2025. Restaurants with at least 20 reviews tagged as "Chinese" on Yelp and within a 10-kilometer radius of Santa Cruz were included. Some restaurants featured may serve other food items besides breakfast food. Also, in an effort to highlight independent businesses and local chains, national chains with more than 10 locations nationally, based on the Yelp data, were not included.

Mayflower Chinese Restaurant

1 / 25

#25. Mayflower Chinese Restaurant

- Rating: 3.1/5 (112 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 3555 Clares St. Ste R Capitola, California
- Categories: Cantonese
- Read more on Yelp

Tam's Restaurant

2 / 25

#24. Tam's Restaurant

- Rating: 3.3/5 (223 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 2403 Mission St. Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

ABC Chinese Restaurant

3 / 25

#23. ABC Chinese Restaurant

- Rating: 3.4/5 (222 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 219 Mount Hermon Road Ste A2 Scotts Valley, California
- Categories: Chinese, Vietnamese, Asian Fusion
- Read more on Yelp

Shun Feng

4 / 25

#22. Shun Feng

- Rating: 3.4/5 (362 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 420 River St. Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Vegetarian, Dim Sum
- Read more on Yelp

Tim's Express

5 / 25

#21. Tim's Express

- Rating: 3.6/5 (122 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 235 Mount Hermon Road Scotts Valley, California
- Categories: Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

Chinese Village Restaurant

6 / 25

#20. Chinese Village Restaurant

- Rating: 3.6/5 (171 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 3780 Capitola Road Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

Canton Westside

7 / 25

#19. Canton Westside

- Rating: 3.6/5 (208 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1230 Mission St. Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Chinese, Noodles, Soup
- Read more on Yelp

Mandarin Gourmet

8 / 25

#18. Mandarin Gourmet

- Rating: 3.6/5 (122 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 1010 Cedar St. Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Cantonese
- Read more on Yelp

Canton

9 / 25

#17. Canton

- Rating: 3.6/5 (295 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 900 41st Ave. Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

Dynasty Restaurant

10 / 25

#16. Dynasty Restaurant

- Rating: 3.7/5 (209 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 3601 Portola Drive Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Seafood, Szechuan, Soup
- Read more on Yelp

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Asian Express

11 / 25

#15. Asian Express

- Rating: 3.7/5 (405 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1955 41st Ave. Ste A2 Capitola, California
- Categories: Vietnamese, Chinese, Bubble Tea
- Read more on Yelp

Panda Inn

12 / 25

#14. Panda Inn

- Rating: 3.7/5 (263 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 783 Rio Del Mar Blvd. Ste 5 Aptos, California
- Categories: Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

Yan Flower

13 / 25

#13. Yan Flower

- Rating: 3.8/5 (337 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 617 Pacific Ave. Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

Ming's Palace

14 / 25

#12. Ming's Palace

- Rating: 3.9/5 (170 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 4720 Soquel Drive Soquel, California
- Categories: Cantonese, Szechuan
- Read more on Yelp

Chef Liu

15 / 25

#11. Chef Liu

- Rating: 3.9/5 (139 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 4303 Scotts Valley Blvd. Scotts Valley, California
- Categories: Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

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Scotts Valley Canton Restaurant

16 / 25

#10. Scotts Valley Canton Restaurant

- Rating: 4.0/5 (281 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 224 Mount Hermon Road Ste D Scotts Valley, California
- Categories: Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

Full Steam Dumpling

17 / 25

#9. Full Steam Dumpling

- Rating: 4.1/5 (64 reviews)
- Address: 1001 Center St. Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Pop-Up Restaurants, Dim Sum, Ramen
- Read more on Yelp

Noodle Time

18 / 25

#8. Noodle Time

- Rating: 4.1/5 (39 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 1314 Ocean St. Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Vietnamese, Bubble Tea, Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

Guang Zho Chinese Restaurant

19 / 25

#7. Guang Zho Chinese Restaurant

- Rating: 4.2/5 (341 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 3150 Portola Drive Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

Chloe's Kitchen

20 / 25

#6. Chloe's Kitchen

- Rating: 4.2/5 (209 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 2301 Mission St. Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Asian Fusion, Chinese, Noodles
- Read more on Yelp

Four Streams Kitchen

21 / 25

#5. Four Streams Kitchen

- Rating: 4.2/5 (113 reviews)
- Address: 7960 Soquel Drive Aptos, California
- Categories: Szechuan, Seafood, Soup
- Read more on Yelp

Fuji Sushi

22 / 25

#4. Fuji Sushi

- Rating: 4.3/5 (20 reviews)
- Address: 4610 Soquel Drive Soquel, California
- Categories: Sushi Bars, Ramen, Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

四姐 Special Noodle

23 / 25

#3. 四姐 Special Noodle

- Rating: 4.5/5 (997 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 415 Ocean St. Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Noodles, Chinese
- Read more on Yelp

Far East + Kitchen

24 / 25

#2. Far East + Kitchen

- Rating: 4.6/5 (107 reviews)
- Address: 5600 Scotts Valley Drive Ste C Scotts Valley, California
- Categories: Sushi Bars, Chinese, Korean
- Read more on Yelp

Fusion Fare Restaurant

25 / 25

#1. Fusion Fare Restaurant

- Rating: 4.7/5 (58 reviews)
- Address: 1003 Cedar St. Santa Cruz, California
- Categories: Szechuan
- Read more on Yelp

This story features data reporting by Wade Zhou, writing by Jill Jaracz, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 317 metros.

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