Yuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant

Just as Unilocal puts it, Meh. I’ve experienced better.
My hubby and I turned to Unilocal when we wanted some «Chinese» food tonight. We live in North, and have had Joy Luck before, but were interested in trying something different. Enter Yuan Yuan. Unilocal reviews were mixed– a lot of comments on service, mentions of glorious peanut butter chicken, and overall decent reviews.
We found photos of their menu on
, picked cheese rangoons, chicken fried rice, the three kinds of scallions, and the infamous PB chicken. The person I spoke with on the phone was very easy to understand and pleasant to work with. No problems, pick up in 20 minutes. We showed up 20 minutes later to pick up without any glitches.
The food– is OK. It’s Americanized Chinese, as most places are, and we prepared ourselves for that (note– I was hungover so fried anything was good in my book). The chicken fried rice is pretty status quo as far as fried rice goes. 3 kinds of scallion (chicken, beef, shrimp), were pretty bland. Cheese rangoons were the clear star of the show. Then… the peanut butter chicken.
In my head, peanut butter chicken read: chicken in a peanut sauce. Nope. Definitely. Not. Here is my take on it– chicken is coated in peanut butter, then deep friend, then dusted with some type of sugar. Sugar. It’s oddly sweet, but crunchy with a hint of peanut butter. Weird. Don’t get me wrong, I ate it, but it certainly is not something I will order again (if I ever order from Yuan Yuan again).
Overall, just underwhelmed. Hit the spot to help cure a hangover, but not something I will be panging for anytime soon.

Great food, the ambiance sucks and it’s in a really ghetto part of town so I would recommend take out. The peanut butter chicken is amazing, and their prices are cheap for the quality of food they have. People complain about them not speaking well, but it wasn’t an issue for me.

Good food, good value and one of few Chinese restaraunts on Broadway. Can get busy dining in so a 10 – 15 minute wait isn’t unusual.

Don’t listen to those 1 stars this place is great. The PEANUT BUTTER CHICKEN IS TO DIE FOR! go and try it. I love this place I have to stop there every time I’m in north minneapolis.

want good chinese food in north? this is the best place to get it from, hand downs! calling in a order might be tough because the lady doesnt speak good english (go figure, family owned/​ran place) but she has never gotten my order wrong and delivery time is not to bad. my food is always hot. i would and do pick this place over the places in uptown or downtown everyday.

As a fan of unauthentic Chinese, this food was terrible. My shrimp chow mein was 70% celery and 20% cabbage. Even worse, it lacked noodles. How does chow mein lack noodes?

Far beyond the amazing food and view that is North Minneapolis, Yuan Yuan is that little gem not so much hidden to the locals, but everyone else that visits this alien land.
Perhaps the only Chinese restaurant on Broadway Ave or so I thought until friends told me about Broadway Chow Mein.
Across the street from a favorite of mine (Olympic Café) Yuan Yuan’s ambiance and food might not be the best you’ve ever come across when it comes to Chinese culinary, but they certainly have earned a loyal following among discerning diners.
The dishes are not the best a Chinese eatery has to offer but it’s cheap and convenient for when I sleep over or visit friends in the area.
Unlike the other reviewer who gave this place a one star solely because they don’t seem to understand her, because English isn’t their first language; I have had the opposite interaction here. We have called, eaten and stopped by for a pick up numerous times and never once did the folks behind the counter or on the phone not understand what we were ordering from their menu.
Needless to say, I haven’t had discussions about Greek Mythology with the folks on the phone, and wouldn’t know what their take is, but so far they have gotten my orders right.

I agree with everything the previous commenter wrote except that I like the food so much I give it more stars. If not for the bad customer service I would give it 5 stars.

This place has great food and you can eat it if you are a patient person — otherwise forget it. The person who takes orders does not speak english as a first language –and surely not enough to qualify her for a phone position. And she does not care that no one can understand her. If you ask her to repeat herself too many times — she gets mad — which usually prompts me to call Village Wok. So, whenever I order take-​out, I have my son call and place the order because he thinks it’s funny.