Mei Mei Cafe

If you want to try real Northeastern Chinese fried skewers and giant chicken cutlets, this place is a must. The flavor is super authentic and really reminds me of the street food back in China. There aren’t many seats inside, so you might need to wait a bit, but you can also pack it to go and enjoy it at home.

What a lovely spot! Very nice lady serving and the food is perfectly cooked and high quality. The salt and pepper fish is masterfully fried and flaky. The eggplant is soft and flavorful with the perfect amount of corn starch in the sauce. The beef ho fun has incredibly tender beef and satisfying noodles. I would recommend coming in to eat at one of the four tables and having a pot of tea with dinner!

Lived in the UDistrict for five years now and only just now discovered it! Some of the best Chinese (maybe Chinese American food) I’ve ever had. I order takeout at least once a month as it is literally my favorite restaurant. It’s in an unassuming spot and I would never have thought to come by until I was craving some honey walnut shrimp and saw that they sold it. My partner and I love it and think it’s literally some of the best we’ve ever had. It’s so crunchy and saucy! I also love getting the sugared biscuits and crab wontons as these were some of my favorite childhood eats. It’s also a small local business that looks like it’s only run by a wife and most likely her husband. I’ve never dined in before but they do have around four tables of four to sit at :)

We brought home a few dishes of takeout and this is a very solid American Chinese food option that happens to be very affordable for the portion sizes provided. I probably won’t go back because the chef was a bit too heavy handed with the salt and MSG for my tastes, but I can see how it appeals to the standard American palate.

Remind me of my childhood street food. Chicken chop is highly recommended!

Small, unassuming restaurant with amazing Chinese cuisine! The owners are kind and efficient. We ordered seafood tofu soup, Beef Ho Fun, Mongolian Beef, and Walnut Prawns. Beef Ho Fun was our favorite. All the dishes had amazing flavor! Walnut prawns were delicately fried and melted in your mouth. The restaurant itself is very small. Perfect for lunch or takeout. Excited to try other items on their menu!! It has a small shared parking lot, which is a plus!

This tiny cafe is pretty simple and small, but the quality and flavor of the food is excellent. The owners are super sweet and personable. I decided to go with an item on the specials board, a red braised pork with Chinese potatoes. The lady was concerned if I would like what she said was very Chinese dish and offered to make me a sample. She came out with a small sample for me and my friends, which was delicious. The food portions are quite large and meant to be shared, Chinese style. 1 dish with rice could easily feed 2 people. Dishes were about $11-13 on average. They have ample parking. They don't deliver but they do have an online menu system to place a take out order. Highly recommend!

Taste great! Staffs are very friendly!

Surprisingly good! A big group of us were next door at Timeless Tea and we were looking for a place to eat nearby. Around eight of us wandered into Mei Mei Cafe on a whim. We're all Asian and foodies so I was a little worried that people would be picky... but everyone enjoyed their order! Their menu is pretty big with lots of options that are good for folks with different dietary preferences. The winner was definitely the salt and pepper tofu! The fried outer skin was so delicate and crispy. Lots of family-style dishes to share. If you'd prefer your own plate, they also have a really great lunch combo deal for only $11.99, which includes white rice and a soft drink. I got the Boneless Pork with Maggi Sauce, which was super yummy! The inside of the restaurant is pretty small, with a couple of tables and seating for around 16-20 people at the most. However, since they're a couple of blocks away from the Ave, it's typically a lot less empty and packed with students than other spots in the U District.

I wanted some Chinese food and remembered this place. Not wanting to pay the insane charges from DoorDash, I called in my order and picked it up myself. Mei Mei is a small and unassuming Chines spot. It was pretty small inside and empty when I went in. I ordered the Mongolian beef, fragrant eggplant, and chow mein noodles. A+ for portion size. They give you alot. I could have shared with some other folks. Unfortunately, the food was subpar to me. The best item was the eggplant, but it was drowning in sweet and salty sauce. The noodles we extremely greasy. I had to kind of drain them before eating and the Mongolian beef was just ok. They have alot of stuff on their menu, so I don't mind going back and trying other items, as I saw other stuff that looked good. Give this place a try!

So so yummy!!! I got their sesame chicken and I STILL think about it (I went here a few weeks ago lol). I devoured the entire plate. Perfectly crispy, tangy, and flavorful. We ate inside and it was a small shop. Most people seemed to get their food to go since there isn't a ton of seating.

Honestly, my favorite hole in the wall for Chinese food in Udistrict. It's super mom&pop and authentic- tastes just like food you'd get in Chinatown (e.g. Honey Court, Jade Garden, etc.) Their batter for the deep fried stuff is SO crispy. I take my friends here all the time. They really cater to take out now since seating is limited (3-4 sets of tables, so maybe max 10-15 people?) - even served food in take out containers. Their chef specials have gotten pretty pricey ($18-21 per entree) but that's inflation.

Some of the best Chinese we have had in a while. Our mom was in the hospital and she was craving Chinese food. We got a wide variety of food and not a single dish disappointed! We ate 7 different dishes and ate all of it between 4 of us! Don't judge a book by its cover!

Amazing salted fish chicken fried rice. Beef chow fun looks so good and Singapore noodle-- i want to come back for more. Epic and swift. They have Chinese sausage fried rice here too, I think.

My family and I were in the area and in the mood for Chinese food. While looking for basic dishes like Kung Pao, Fried Rice, etc, we came across this place. It seems like a family owned restaurant, with the owners working as the server and in the kitchen. The lady owner, was friendly and quickly took our order after we sat down. It didn't seem busy for dining in despite it being dinner time on Friday. We ended up ordering 4 dishes. The beef ho fun, kung pao special, house fried rice, and Mongolian beef. The food was freshly made to order, with all dishes coming out steaming hot and glistening. All the dishes avoided the two pitfalls of stir fried food, being too dry from having too little oil, and having way too much excess oil. The meat dishes were good. I thought that the Mongolian beef dish and the kung pao dish was a tad salty though. Not bad when eating with white rice, but you need to eat a lot of rice to balance out the saltiness. And definitely too salty to eat with the fried rice. But disregarding the saltiness both dishes were delicious and had good portion sizes. My favorites were the beef ho fun and the fried rice. Both were perfectly seasoned. The noodles had a nice springy texture and the rice had a nice form but not hard texture as is preferred in fried rice. For the price, portions and taste this restaurant is pretty awesome. It's a good spot for nearby college students to visit for takeout food when they're craving Chinese.

Really Good food. Not much atmosphere. But definitely good for take out They are closed on Tuesdays

Cozy little restaurant in a small strip of businesses. Decided to try it out after visiting the music store next door. I am glad we did. I had the Szechuan Cabbage with Beef with some rice. Very tasty but not very spicy. We also had an assorted vegetable dish and a wide noodle dish with pork. All very good. Washed it down with hot tea. There is parking but there are two other businesses. Service was great.

We have gotten take-out from here a few times. My husband said the lady working was super nice, she insisted on helping him out to the car (he had our food and two hot teas). This time we got the pan fried dumplings and sugar biscuits. Biscuits are pretty dense but my husband said they were good. The dumplings were ok, not really carmelized like I expected, but flavorful. We also got the BBQ pork fried rice which was tasty, the Shanghai bok choy with garlic, it was nice and crunchy, perfectly cooked. My husband got the general tsao's chicken (their spelling) and it was really good, still crunchy even with the sauce. It says it is spicy on the menu but neither of us felt it was spicy. I LOVE their hot tea after I add sugar. We will definitely eat here again.

Really good, solid food with very reasonable prices and good portions. Very sweet lady at the front. Unassuming place in little strip mall but a dependable go-to for us.

We stopped into this place because we were getting pedicures next door. It absolutely did not dissappoint! Small local owned business with a lunch special 7 days a week. The lunch special is now $9.99 and you get a protein, two scoops of rice, and a soft drink/bottle of water. The women who worked there was so nice! This is mostly a takeout place, but they do have a few tables in case you'd like to dine in like we did. The chicken was so nice and crunchy, it's more of tempura fry then a Panda Express orange chicken fry. But the orange chicken sauce was so light, fresh, and sweet! The dumplings were very good and the sauce they bring with it plus the spicy on the table was really great. It hit the spot! I think this is my favorite hidden gem lunch special place now :)

This place has great lunch specials and comfort food. The portions are huge and can last you another meal or two. Would suggest ordering takeout since there's not a lot of space inside. There's not a long wait for food. I tried the Singaporean rice noodle last time and wished there was some more flavor to it though.

Love this little Chinese cafe, it's walking distance from our place & it is a regular for us. Super nice couple, food is great and nothing bad to say about it at all.

If you level set your expectations for American Chinese food this place is good. We ordered the beef ho fun (solid), orange chicken (really, really citrusy! if you're expecting Panda Express style orange chicken this isn't it), and the fish with salted egg. This last one was the biggest pleasant surprise with a strong salted egg flavor and tender fish inside. Everything was cooked / fried fresh to order! The owner is really nice as well :)

Love this restaurant!! I ordered vegetable egg foo young, the stir fry shrimp with vegetables and the spring rolls. EVERYTHING TASTED AMAZING!

Wow delicious ! Ordered the General Tso Chicken lunch special and the hot and sour soup ! So delicious the soup was really flavorful and yummy and the chicken was cooked crispy and the sauce was also extremely good ! Have never been here below will totally be back ! Easy parking lot to pull into and then you can easily get back on 50th towards I-5

A very simple Chinese restaurant and I really like their dishes. The lady who takes orders is also sweet. I hope they don't move.

A solid spot in the U District if you're looking for some no frills Chinese. It's a small space, and it appears the owners are the server and cook. The service was friendly and it didn't take long to get the food. I had the Chicken Chow Mein with the Hot and Sour Soup to start. The Hot and Sour was HOT! Also a pretty large portion of it. Give these folks a try!

Ordered Beef How fun and got orange chicken instead. If you order take-out here, make sure you check your order before you leave

Cannot recommend this restaurant enough!! Best food/service/atmosphere. Definitely order the sugar biscuits and sweet and sour chicken, thank me later ;)

Good lunch special, wish it came with soup. Lots of rice. Their seafood tofu soup is good too.

Food was amazing and the prices were very reasonable. I ordered the chicken wings, crab Rangoon, and beef noodles. The lady provided great service, and even came outside to let me know when l the food was ready. 10/10 recommend !!!!

Amazing family owned spot! Great quality and the best price in town! Orange chicken was fantastic and not too much breading on it like other places do!

The food was good and tasty and the costumer service was good too but that one can improve a little bit more

I come here from Tacoma often. The family who own it are all so friendly. I come here primarily for two things. Their BBQ roasted duck and their Roasted Pork. It's the best south of the ID in Seattle.

As much as I love Asian food, I really struggle to find the right fit for me when it comes to Chinese food. The Chinese food I grew up eating was of the Chinese-Korean variety, always jjajangmyun (black bean noodles), jjampong (spicy seafood noodle soup), sweet & sour pork, and deep fried potstickers. Super authentic Chinese restaurants (Six Pack Foods, Xi'an Noodles, etc.) don't seem to be a great match for my palate, and at most Americanized Chinese restaurants, I end up with greasy bland food that never lives up to expectations. However, I was encouraged by Mei Mei Cafe's reviews and stopped by after a quick errand at Ted Brown Music. I had the Chef's Spicy Chicken Lunch Special ($8, BTW! Insane.) and WOW! THIS. This is the EXACT flavor profile in a Chinese American dish that I've been searching for all along! I typically douse any and all Americanized Chinese food in sriracha, but there was no need here, as it was seasoned so well. The chicken remained crispy despite being covered in sauce, and the hot & sour soup it came with was a pleasant surprise. Approximately one bite in, I texted the BF that Mei Mei Cafe needs to be our go-to Americanized Chinese spot. We'll definitely be back!

Good option for Chinese food that's reasonably priced. Great variety and always on-time.

I first started going as a student and loved the cheap lunch specials which come with rice, veggies, and soup. It was a very homey feel and that's what o felt when I ate at the restaurant. My favorites are chef's special chicken and the tofu beef.

I came in as I was craving just some quick chinese food in the area and low and behold Mei Mei Cafe! There was no one inside, but was quickly greeted by the delightful woman behind the counter. Ordered spicy chicken lunch with hot & sour soup. It was nearly enough food for two meals all for around $10. Hot & Sour Soup - this was pretty decent. Not the best I've had but overall flavor was there. Nice to kick start the meal. Spicy Chicken - pretty darn tasty. Was a weird mix of general Tso's and sweet & sour sauce? Tasted a little sweet with a kick at the end. Not really spicy at all (I added sriracha) but it was good and cooked nicely. All in all a great stop for some quick eats. Their lunch specials are great and their dinner's aren't horribly priced either. I will certainly be back to try some other options!

Updating my review based on my visit from last week. I ordered their spicy chicken combo for $7.99. It was ready under 10 minutes from placing my order. It had a great amount of chicken, two scoops of rice and a good size bowl of hot and sour soup. Taste wise it was great! Everything I want in an American Chinese dish. Their lunch combos are available Mon-Fri 11 am to 3 pm. Everything I've tried here has been good except the honey walnut prawns. It could've been an off day tho. Quick, yummy and well priced...can't really go wrong. I'd definitely come back for their lunch combos and most likely dinner too!

This place is so tiny, didn't even know it existed! I thought everything was wonderful, flavor, freshness, portion and pricing. Came with rice on the side as well. If you're looking for a dine in I would look elsewhere but for takeout...try it out!

Food was really good with a large portion, the owner is a sweet old lady. It's a small but cozy place, reminds me of Chinatown.

Got take out from here the other day for lunch. Their fried rice looks like my preferred style, so I have been wanting to try this place for awhile now. They do offer lunch specials (you can find these on their website), but I wanted leftovers so I ordered off the regular menu. I ordered pan fried dumplings, chicken fried rice and general tsao's chicken. From the time I called, it took about 15 minutes for the food to be ready, perfect for my walk there. A few people were eating in and their food look delicious too. The lady was very kind at the counter and helped me get the to go order into a sturdier bag to walk back to my office. The portions are HUGE!!! The fried rice definitely hit the spot, the chicken in the rice was soo tender and delicious- I've never had better chicken in chicken fried rice (silly, but true). It also came with the peas and carrots, just how I like it. The General Tsao's was good, but a little too sweet for me. However the chicken was very good quality and still crispy when I got it back to work. I enjoyed the dumplings too, but would probably get crab rangoon next time. Anyways- if you're craving some Chinese take out, I definitely recommend this place!

New to the area, so we have been looking for our Chinese food spot. We have found it! We ordered pickup and it was ready in less than 10 mins. We ordered sesame chicken, spring rolls, egg drop soup, crab Rangoon and pan fried dumplings. Overall the food was excellent! They forgot my rice for the sesame chicken but luckily I had some at home! The spring rolls come in an order of 2 small rolls, we made the mistake of o my 1 order but they were so good so I recommend an order per person :-) I have nothing negative to say, and definitely recommend. We will be back to try more of the menu!

I'll start by saying these people could not have been any nicer. The interior is tiny, 3 tables that can hold 4 people each, and not comfortably, and not recognizing social distancing. It's clearly more of a take out spot. The menu is great, if you like Chinese food, you won't be disappointed. It's the size of a Teriyaki spot, but the menu is complete. Eggrolls were ok, gyoza wasn't good or worth the price. We both had Mongolian Beef, which was really Mongolian Onion, It was 75% Onion, 25% beef, at best. It looked nothing like the photos, It was tasty, I'd give the flavor 4/5, but it was clearly void of beef. Would I return, maybe, but Yummy Cafe is just 5 minutes east and the food is hotter and fresher, This place needs to realize stir fry is known for meat and if they is no meat, it's veggie and I didn't drive across the county for a veggie stir-fry. Flavor is a slid 4, but the value ad quality of what was served brings down the overall score.

Food was good ones. But after many many tries they always let me down bugs in sauce on tables, meat very tuff and either like under cooked no pictures of the food which isn't fair.

This is a hole in a wall place, with some really tasty food with plenty of vegetarian options. The owner made sure with the chef that all ingredients were vegetarian. The service was great as well.

I was looking for chinese food in the area and I saw that they had a pretty good lunch special here. I got the spicy chicken, hot and sour soup and asked for fried rice instead of white rice, which was an additional $2. Normally $8, $10 with the fried rice customization, which is still a great price. The chicken was good, fried rice was bland, I wouldn't swap it out again, and the hot and sour soup was pretty good, though I feel like it was a bit sweeter than the ones I've usually had. It also had chicken in it, I've usually had it with tofu. But who knows, maybe it's different on the west coast, I still love hot and sour soup! Overall, solid chinese food at a great price.

Good prices, good food, nothing else I can ask for. Very good spot in the u-district food is really good for the area I recommend the General Tsao and Beef Chow Fun!

For some simple Chinese, wok-fried tasty goodness, Mei Mei is the place. Our usual order is Singapore Style Rice Noodles, Fish with ginger and scallions, stir-fry green beans and crab wontons. IT IS SO SATISFYING. Today we tried some new items and they did not disappoint. We ordered the Beef Ho Fun, stir-fried chicken and green beans, sesame chicken and fragrant egg plant. Everything was well seasoned, not too salty. If anything, the sesame chicken did get a little soggy by the time we got home, but it was still very good. I'm looking forward to when we can enjoy meals hot and fresh at a table in Mei Mei Cafe. ::Thumbs up::

The definition of a hidden gem!! Although tucked away a few blocks from university way, it is definitely worth the trip. I've tried the salt and pepper fish, xinjiang chicken (da pan ji), salt and pepper pork, and steamed chicken with chili oil sauce (kou shui ji). Everything is super delicious, especially the kou shui ji, which is the best I've had in Seattle so far. I also love their HK style milk tea, although I would recommend to take it with less sugar. My favourite part about this restaurant however is the service. The waitress/owner is the nicest I've ever met, giving us free things to try and guessing our needs before we even ask. The prices are great too, because the portions of the dishes are huuuge. Ahh can't wait to go back already!

The food was not good, none of it. Hot & sour soup first taste included cartlidge of some sort, the BBQ pork was the "special" and had all kinds of fat and very little flavor. The black pepper beef was also tasteless and the vegetables were barely cooked. We also had meh tasting chow mein. The only decent thing was the fried dumpling, which was just "decent". And then to top it all of there is no public restroom. We drove 30 minutes because of the reviews. What a waste of time and $. Our bill was $64. Which would have been fine for a good meal, but not for bad food and a bad experience. Don't bother.

The service was horrible, my husband wasn't done eating and the rude lady wanted to take his plate away. She threw our bill on our table. It was as if she was upset that we ordered a lot of food.

No regrets. Delicious food & great prices. Thank you Mei Mei Cafe for the experience. I'll definitely be coming back

Super delicious Chinese food! Good price, too. We got General Tso's chicken, 6 egg rolls, pan-fried dumplings, and chicken chow mein all for $36. This will be our new go-to spot! Get the General Tso's if you like chicken. Perfectly sweet, not too crunchy, and flavorful. The egg rolls are also huge. Very satisfied!

I tried this place out because my normal Chinese place was closed for renovations yeah I mean you get what you pay for it wasn't the best they used a bunch of potatoes to flap it up and make it look like there was more chicken and there actually was taste was just me I wouldn't eat there again

Great wings and the Ho fun was delicious. The place is small but I took out. It looked clean and the folks working there were friendly.

Update: They are well set up for take-out during this pandemicpalooza. Call your order in and they'll have it sitting on a table inside. Quick run of the credit card and you're out. They're as lovely as ever, and the food remains delicious. ------ Thank you, Yelpers! I would have missed this place completely. A TED talk*, of all things, made me crave American Chinese food. I look forward to trying more authentic dishes here in the future, but tonight I really wanted General Tsao's Chicken. We ordered that, the beef ho fun, and stir fried green beans. All were incredibly fresh and DELICIOUS. The couple running the place were lovely. We ate there - it's my kind of place. Low key and spotless. *The TED talk is called "The Search for General Tsao." Recommended, but it should have a warning label on it that cravings you haven't had since college will clobber uo