Mission 261 Restaurant

Came here for Chinese New Year weekend and was pretty disappointed. Service gets a F. Sorry Mission 261 but you guys were probably the most unorganized wait staff I have ever experienced. We literarily had to ask for everything!!! Water, tea, drink order, order taking, check! The only one that seemed to know what was going on and that was most helpful was the bartender. When my husband went to see where our check was, he found the waitress with her face in her phone, texting!
The only reason it gets a 2 star from me was the food. The Lobster dish, Peking duck, garlic pork was delicious. Everything else was kinda, ok.
Don’t expect good service here.

Food is OK. Service was super slow. I asked for hot oil and pepper. I finally had to get up to get it myself. Food was put in at 11:52am. First plate not served until 12:14, even though it was partially empty when we ordered.

As many have already stated, there’s no more dim sum. (It would be nice if they updated their signage.) Also, as several have said, they stay since they were already there. The food was Garden Café quality with the markup of something of higher class. We went at lunch time on Sunday (remember, looking for Dim Sum), and the place was EMPTY.
I also got a hint of attitude from the manager when I inquired about there no longer being Dim Sum. I could tell he was trying to «save face», so let him be.
I considered this a reasonable alternative to Seafood Harbour, but no longer. Sorry to say I will no longer visit this once good restaurant.

Bring back dim sum
Lunch special was only half decent. Staff was friendly and helpful, which is why I’m giving it two stars, instead of 1.
I won’t return here unless they bring back the dim sum. End of story.

F this place, they straight disrespected my uncle when he asked «why there wasn’t anymore dim sum on the weekends»
Place went down hill after change of ownership.
Increased prices with more rotten attitude.
If you want to be disrespected, you will love this place.

Truly gone down the drain since the change in ownership. No dim sum. The food is edible, but basically you are getting very average Garden Café-​quality food but with smaller portions and much steeper prices. Awful service. The non-​Asian waiter is the only person who works hard and provides customer service while the Asian waitresses flit around looking busy without doing much and gossip loudly.
The good: unlike other Chinese restaurants, parking is excellent and there’s no wait — probably because there are not many customers.

*This place no longer offers dim sum*
Came here with my family for dim sum and didn’t know it was no longer available until the server served our tea and gave us a lunch menu. We decided to stay since we were there already.
We ordered 7 dishes and only 5 dishes came. Not sure if the waiter forgot to punch them in the computer or the items weren’t available. I didn’t bother to ask. But luckily we got to enjoy their special duck so I was happy.
The portion size of the remaining dishes were significantly smaller than other restaurants during lunch special hours and pricier, but at least the food was decent.
What bothered me about this place is that we were charged for tea when it’s no longer a dimsum restaurant. Second, they charge rice by the bowl while other restaurants include rice with your order. Service was good, the waiters were nice but the managers got some attitude problem though.
This place used to be my favorite dimsum spot but unfortunately I won’t be coming back.

As a manager for several years I would have to say that I have never seen a bartender work so hard as much as I have had the pleasure of having Willie as a server. He is sensational. This venue would not be the same without him. He is a captivating sales bartender!!! I would recommend him in any position. I felt at home by his service. A glowing review by willie. Thank you for all that you do!!!

What!!! NO MORE DIM SUM? What the flying f@#% Since when? I’m so sad
Time to go back to King Hua or Full House!

We came here on a quiet Tuesday afternoon for lunch. We thought the served dimsum but the staff claims they haven’t sold dimsum in over a year, despite all the other reviews. Anyway, we ordered off the lunch menu and while the dishes were all pretty standard fare, it was very good tasting. Service was fine, but it was not at all busy.

Alright. We made a reservation for a party of 12 at this location. The next day, they told us they couldn’t find our reservation. That’s okay, coz this place is mainly empty, on Dragon Boat’s Day aka the day you eat a shit ton of ZONGZI. (hint: it’s supposed to be full because it’s a Chinese Holiday!)
There’s a reason why this place is quite empty. Dim sum is just average and service is inattentive.
The duck, which they advertise for as lunch special, sucks. The shrimp chips it comes with has a disgusting fishy flavor that it’s not supposed to have. The cuts of the duck are off which makes the meat and bone weird.
Their lobster, sucks as well. It’s overcooked so the meat tasted old. Flavor was not bold enough for a stir fry dish.
Presentation of curry in a dish makes it hard to eat. The whole thing also looks not appetizing.
Yea, parking is easy to find. But man, don’t come here.

We came here just for the duck! Someone posted it on IG and it looked divine. It was cheap and yummy. Not the best but pretty good. They also have dim sum. Duck and dim sum, my food heaven.
There weren’t any real issues with service and the restaurant itself was quite spacious.

Ok we are in Chinese food heaven this San Marino, Monterey Park and Alhambra area. The competition is tough so these places better be ready to rumble cause if not they will surely go away. This place seems to be hit or miss in my mind. We had some dim sum and it was ok. The stir fried pork belly was meh but the noodle soup with pork was amazing. Love the interior as it is nice and nice outdoor part. It is located near the mission so that is a plus if going there or seeing a play at the playhouse. Over all if your there you can’t go wrong if you have time research a little more and drive.

This is a solid location, and the restaurant is good.
It’s a unique beautiful venue for dinner and those considering a place to hold a large party group for a special event should consider stopping by to see your options.
The banquet dinner menu options looks delicious!
I went to dim sum on a Sunday morning and it was not crowded at all. The format is the style where you get a list and write down /​check off what you want to order, so a bit less fun and spontaneous as the cart system where they roll random food by you and you pick and choose (by the way I’d speculate that could be a more profitable model, but at the same time maybe people tend to order more in advance by using the list).
The food is good quality, not necessarily the best of the best in Dim Sum, but at the same time not the worst or by any means bad at all either, I’d consider it average, and would definitely come back here again as well as recommend MISSION 261 to others as an A-​OK restaurant with a thumbs up approval.
Parking was rather easy and the location a bit hidden, but easy to get to and find. I like that it’s off the beaten path a bit and also the architecture isn’t standard, but seems to be something that was converted into this Chinese restaurant so has a unique style.

I went to this restaurant with family, so I didn’t have to pay (no idea about the price…).
Bad highlights first:
Their fried shrimp was not good. They fried the shrimp with the skin and the head, so it created an awkward situation for the careful eater. On the one hand, we can peel the breaded skin, on the other hand: that probably wasn’t meant to be eaten peeled… I chomped it, full bread and full dread and came out with shell in my throat. Not deadly, just uncomfortable. So, yeah, I don’t recommend you order this.
The Good:
This place serves the definition of Chinese food. We ordered about 8 dishes and notable highlights are the duck (very good), the pepper steak, and the fish. The duck had a delicious exterior (very flavorful) with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. Exactly what I expect.
The pepper steak was akin to Japanese BBQ (has a likeness, but not as good).
When you think of fish at a Chinese restaurant, you’ll get something like this. It was the most normal, regular, and standard Chinese fish I’ve ever eaten. It was good! Just don’t flip it.
For our 10 person party, the service was good (it helped that we spoke Chinese).
I came here with family and I had a nice traditional meal.

Eh. just eh.
Came here for dim sum. The food was standard, I thought it was pricier than most for the average dim sum you get. They don’t do food on carts, which isn’t a big deal to me.
Service was slow af, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt that we had came the huge rush and they had to make more? Or something.
They don’t have dried chili in vinegar oil and they were very stingy with giving us soy sauce and that part makes me very sad.

For customers that complain about service here, I feel sad for you. It is not the super customer service you will find but it is superior to most dim sum restaurants.
The dim sum is top quality in taste. This is a restaurant that does not pump them out in little carts. It is made to order therefore quality is not at all lacking.
Expect prices to be on the up and up but it is worth it. Sunday brunch is much better because therea re no lines. Park nearby the Mission or church and walking here woukd be the best course of action.
Anyway back to the food: we ordered 7 food items. The pork shumai, spicy pork dumpling, bbq pork buns came out 1 by 1. They were all delicious! I likened them to be the appetizers of this spot. Next we had the mushroom pork belly and noodles with beef. Those 2 complimented each other. The beef noodles were just right and we thought it would be a small plate but this one can feed up to 4 people. The pork belly mushrooms could use a bit more seasoning so I asked for some soy sauce. The last dish we had was the tomato and beef with egg. This one was sort of like a soup. I was hoping it came out dry and not immersed in a soupy base. I recommend to order this plate with some rice. For dessert, my wife ordered the mango pudding. It was light and sweet. A great way to end a feast.
Overall, I would go back here for the dim sum. Superior in quality and it is very tasty.

We had our wedding here on September 20, 2014 and James and his team did a PHENOMENAL job hosting us. I am not kidding when I say I am a control freak; I presented James with a four page list of notes (revised three times), added on things that are not typical of Chinese banquet style weddings (open bar with signature drinks, dessert bar, wine pouring at the beginning of dinner service, brought in outside chairs and a dance floor)…and James handled all of it with ease.
I admit, I was worried because of the change of ownership and some of the reviews on Unilocal.And it probably made me more anal attentive. But again James totally assured me and didn’t judge my bridezilla behavior at all!
Day of wedding went without a hitch. All of my requests were granted. The food was really, really good and my family is a total food snob, especially of Asian food. The banquet room was transformed with the lighting and chiavari chairs (Inlight Lighting). James brought in a white dance floor that was a fraction of the price of what we was originally going to pay for.
The open bar was set up outside in the patio area, which increased the square footage of our party… and got our loud, party friends away from our family. :) At the end of the night, our friends said it was one of the best and memorable weddings. And really, we have James and Mission 261 much to thank for that.
One more note: Go with the restaurant’s preferred vendors. They can get you a great deal on décor. In general, Mission 261 is very, very reasonable with pricing. THANK YOU so much James and team!

The customer service blows, the manager has no accountability for delaying my GF’s wedding banquet and the bride came close to bursting into tears over the whole debacle. Who makes the bride sit outside in the patio and says the food she pre-​ordered is running a hour late?! They didn’t step up their game until a hold from payment was threatened. (Throws hands in the air.)
Overall the dishes look good but they’re lacking in salt and flavor. Even if they had not started with the late appetizers, I still would stick to my guns and give the dishes a generous 3 stars.
Supposedly the dim sum is good here, but there are so many other places that I would rather go to. Meh.

The only beef I have with this place is that there’s no carts!
Order by the menu, which I guess helps with expediting the kitchen part. I ordered my basics Sui Mai, Shrimp Rice Noodles, Stick Rice, Chinese Broccoli, Sesame Balls etc… Needless to say, cart or no cart; I was blown away by the quality and taste of my meal. I don’t fancy myself with Dim Sum as often as I can and should, but Mission 261 in the heart of a Spanish mission clad location, brings it and makes a lot of places I’ve been to shame. Everything seemed fresh and the shear size of the Sui Mai was my surprise! Didn’t look like your average frozen out of the package ones that I’m used to.
Service was excellent; yeah in a Dim Sum joint! The place is very Asian Banquet style and yes I’m still weird out by the location, but it’s a new world now and our where ever good food may be I’ll be there! — Enjoy!