Little Hunan

A big disappointment. Dinner menu said $ 7.35 for the dish I ordered and he rang me up for 8.85. When he saw the look of confusion on my face he said it was for the «service — tea and (fortune) cookie». I didn’t want those and expressed this and he just shrugged and turned away. Seemingly didn’t care if I wanted it or not. I was starved and was happy at first just to have food finally in front of me, but this Chow Fun had just two shreds of beef I’m it. Two. And save for those couple bits of beef and a little green onion, the dish was very bland and excessively oily. Chow Fun is just rice noodles. It relies on everything else for flavor. I thought, given the fierce competition in this campus area, they would at least try. Décor is dreary, depressing… like the food.

The food was fairly tasty, and the prices very reasonable. We ate there as a group of 6, sharing dishes, and it came to approximately $ 11 per person.

sorry but anyone who rates this beyond one star is on crack. and someone said fresh vegetables? u crazy.
I got the general tso and there was hardly any chicken mostly celery (who tf likes celery?) and it was so salty it hurt my mouth.
that said, 9 out of 10 «Chinese» restaurants are on par with this slop so if ur taste buds are that wack else where u may be content.

I come here pretty often. The chow mien and beef chow fun are probably the highlights of this place, particularly the chow mien. For the incredibly low price of five bucks, you can get a cheap yet delicious chow mien. I’ve had it many times and I’m still not tired of it. Not a big fan of the crispy chicken and princess shrimps, but that’s just me. I feel like the portions from the latter are a bit lacking. Definitely ask for the chow mien though! It’s just bursting with flavor!
The overall vibe is pleasant. I usually order my food to go, but when I do decide to eat there, I feel pretty comfortable. The owner is nice and when he’s not rushing to deal with loads of orders, you might have a nice chat with him. If you read the other reviews, you’ll find out that this place has been around for a long time. If it’s been around for 20+ years, then it must have some decent food. The place is pretty old, so don’t be surprised to see a dirty interior. I really wish they renovated the place.
A couple other problems are that sometimes, it takes a long time to place your order or that you have to wait a long time to get it, depending on what it is and how busy the place is. There are only two employees, so it’s perfectly understandable, but it’s still frustrating. But sometimes, it can’t be helped. Just know that if you come in when the place is packed, be prepared to wait for a long time, probably even 10+ minutes (like what happened to me :/​).
If you do decide to eat there instead of ordering to go, remember to ask for the free soup!

have no idea why it has low star… Everything here is fast and tasty. Don’t miss here if you want some real Chinese food.

Tuesday afternoon. We decided to stop in Little Hunan for lunch. I’ve had the Egg Drop soup before and had a craving on a cloudy October afternoon. We walked into this restaurant and witnessed some workers removing the grease traps from above the stove-​they stood on the stove with their shoes on! Holy @#$% this was already starting to look like a bad idea but we’re so hungry we just decide to wait for someone to hand us a menu. We wait and wait but they’re too preoccupied to notice they have customers waiting so I ask for a menu and the female cook snapped at us and pointed to the ONE SINGLE filthy menu near the counter. The menu is situated near the register.
The register is located near a very long counter top. We grab the filthy menu and try to decide what we want to order (three of us were ordering). I order the Seaweed Egg Drop soup while my friends are waiting their turns to order… when suddenly the female cook snaps at us to move away from the counter and to give the menu to the next customers who had just arrived behind us. We inform her that we’re still ordering and she yells for us to move away from the counter and that we’re blocking the next customers from ordering. We’re like wtf? We’re not even done ordering and why do you only have ONE menu? She was getting angry with us that we were still standing at the counter in the middle of my friend getting her money out to order and pay. She demanded that if we didn’t know what we were ordering we should sit down. The cashier then informs me that my soup is suddenly 0.50 cents more because I’m taking my soup to go and that a to go container costs 0.50 cents. That makes absolutely no sense and I realize these are really cheap people who run this restaurant.
The cook is still snapping at us while we order our third plate, she wants us out of the way so that the next five customers can order… it’s not like it took us a long time to order and it’s normal for people to have to wait in a line, especially downtown. We finally moved to the other end of the counter to watch our food be cooked (I was nervous that the cook would do something nasty to our food…). My friend noticed how unhygienic the entire cooking process was; the wire brush that was used to clean the wok looked like it hadn’t been replaced in 6 months, the plates were chipped (a nice cozy home for bacteria), the counters looked grimy as if they are never wiped down. The guy at the register was confused and made my friend chicken fried rice instead of chicken chow mein and when we informed him that the order was incorrect, the guy at the register and the cook started in on us again, yelling, shrieking etc. They wanted us to just accept their mistake or else…‘you have to wait…’ we said we’d wait for our correct order and they were annoyed at that.
I watched the woman make the chicken chow mein and not even kidding she added about seven small pieces of chicken and some vegetables, then the noodles. We had waited for about 30 minutes to be yelled at, had the wrong order given to us and cheated out of what the meal was actually worth.
My friend said that was the worst restaurant experience she’d had in her entire life. We had been excited to try Little Hunan and left pretty angry. This place will never get a cent from me again.

This is the oldest Chinese café in Berkeley. The food was very good very small place so the food is fast and fresh. Service personal l would eat here again

Food is pretty good, but service/​pricing not worth it. Called for takeout in 10 – 15 mins, get there half an hour later and they just started making it when I walked in.

I probably wouldn’t eat there again. My husband and I went there late last night. We were grateful that the place was open and we were able to have something to eat. My husband was the one who don’t have dinner so he made the order only. The owner was kind of noisy that he wanted to find out if we were Sharing the meal or why I didn’t order. It made me feel that I was unwelcome because I didn’t order. Then he came over trying to find out where we came from, how long we lived in US/​Berkeley. I understand he maybe was being nice. But we were obviously in a hurry (trying to catch last train) and in the middle of a deep conversation, can you leave us alone? I tried to be polite. He then complained about my country and boasted about his knowledge of my country (come on man. That was 20 years ago ok. Outdated. And not the best way to go if you want me to come back.) The so called Daily special meal (kongpao chicken and a bowl of rice) ended up to be 11.80USD. 20% more than Chinese restaurant in SF and 40% more than China town. He asked my husband where he is from. His face glowed when he heard the answer. What a racist! After all, I am grateful for an overpriced meal at such a late night. At least we got food to eat. But no, not going back.

Terrible. All onion in my house special beef. Smallest portion I’ve seen in a Chinese place around here. Literally got 3 bites. And the owner kept asking me directly if I enjoyed my meal… I did not. Not coming back.

I’m really not sure how this place stays open. Nothing is fresh. I saw them microwave the soup and everything from their chicken to their spring rolls/​prawns/​pot stickers are originally frozen. I saw them prepare all food from freezer to frying pan/​wok. All the food had that disgusting frozen taste. If you like Chinese food — avoid this place!

This place is amazing!!! They have great food and are very friendly. I’m looking forward to visiting this place often — it’s my new favorite restaurant.

Super nice folks who run this place. You can’t beat it for the money and their hours. I discussed din tai fun with the owner and he made 4 dumplings for us to try on the spot. Home made! No sysco delivery here. Delicious!!!

Love the hot n sour soup lol. I need to try other things there as well. Very good prices.

Came here to get spicy vege chow mein to go as I was craving chinese. The food is excellent and the service was quick and easy. Great take out, but never tried dining here.

I was Hungry after watching Meow Meow at BRT. So I rolled me Whip Black Beauty to Little Hunan. I was able to Park across the street .
I strolled in to Little Hunan and was Greeted and Seated and presented with a Menu. My Server informed me Little Hunan is the Oldest Chinese Restaurant in Berkley. They have been in business for 28 years and he has worked ther for 23 of them .
I perused the Menu and decided to order the Combination Chow Fun with Black Bean Sauce which is an extra $ 1.50 .
The thing I like about Little Hunan is that you can see into there Kitchen and watch them cook your food .
So the Chef cooked my food on Her Woks of Steel and I had my Piping Hot Chow Fun in 15 Minutes .
The Chow Fun was good but the Portion was Small than Im used to.
The Dining Room is Dated and could use redecorating.
It is Cash only .
I received my Tab and paid Cash.
I would eat their again.
Most Of their Business seems to be Take Out.

My dad is from Hunan, and on a bout of missing him on my lunch break I decided to venture into Little Hunan. This restaurant is owned by a lovely couple, and they did their best to make me feel absolutely loved and welcomed as I ate there. My Mongolian Beef & Broccoli with rice lunch special came out to be $ 5.50. It was piping hot, delicious, and definitely hit the spot.
This is one of the oldest restaurants in Berkeley! The hosts were both incredibly gracious, and had plenty of recommendations of what to try next time I come in. I would absolutely recommend this place to anyone who misses an inviting home-​cooked meal.

If your looking for an inexpensive Chinese food spot this place is for you… CASH ONLY!
Majority of the plates are under 6 bucks.
My boyfriend has loved this place ever since high school. He said plates back then used to be in the 3 dollar range and they used to give way more meat. Same owners too.
One thing I to complain about is that everything is so salty. I’m sure they use tons of MSG in their food.

I know, it’s a very inexpensive place to eat.
Thin cuts of overcooked meat that are mostly bone that had no taste whatsoever.
Rude servers. Nonexistent service.
And they tacked their own tip onto the bill.
I was quite underwhelmed.

Not nearly as bad as I feared it would be. It’s perfectly fine.
* Very friendly and earnest owner. Friendly Cantonese/​Mandarin speaker.
* Standard Chinese-​American menu, but rather well executed. Look for the good seared flavor to the wok-​fried noodles and meats.
* Surprisingly smallish portions.
* Effectively a self-​service operation for minor needs; expect to stand up and get your own water & beers.