Mr Holy Gao

I came here after a long day of work. I ordered the wontons in spicy chili sauce and beef fried rice. Now I rather enjoyed the spicy wontons and I also liked the lettuce garnish they added to it. Most spicy wontons I’ve had never had that but I like it. It’s nice to have a crunch for added texture. Also I added the sauce from the wontons to the fried rice because it was a bit dry. Made it 3x better. The beef fried rice is quite good and I enjoyed this place. Now the spicy wontons weren’t that spicy so I asked for my chili oil on the side. It was way better in my opinion but my spicy tolerance is way higher than most so don’t overdue it folks. Play it safe and work your way up to the heat. The staff were pretty friendly and I can’t wait to come back and try more.

Very delicious, very good service. We're here on holiday from Boston. The price of this restaurant is much cheaper than that of our restaurant.

We ordered take out. It was ready within 15 min. from our call. We had house fried rice, honey walnut shrimp, Kung Pao chicken, Mongolian beef, chow mein, egg rolls. It was a lot. Adored the honey walnut shrimp -- big juicy tender shrimp with broccoli. The Mongolian beef was also tender. We really enjoyed the flavors of the dishes, none too spicy. The egg rolls and chow mein were just okay. The shrimp and beef were outstanding. The fried rice was still good 3 days later; it had a nice mix of stuff and was tasty. The shrimp was so good that there was no leftover shrimp. We had loads of leftovers, portions were way more than PF Chang's. Can't wait to go back and try other menu items (they have duck, so we really want to go back). The restaurant is in a tiny almost dead looking corner strip mall. From one street you can see the sign for Mr. Holy Gao, but from a different street and from within the parking lot the restaurant has a different name. GPS told us where to go but when in the parking lot we couldn't find it until we pulled out and saw the Holy Gao sign from the other street and had to double back to the strip mall. It's not far from Gravity Heights.

Chicken bowl was good,fried rice ok , egg rolls taste as it they were frozen because the veggies was mushie and potstickers was over fried had to ask for them to be cooked less time

The food is very good. The Walnut Shrimp is very tasty, and the food is decently authentic. The ambiance is nice, the restaurant is clean, and the staff are decently helpful. However, it is quite pricey. Factoring tips and tax, one individual will normally spend between 20-30 dollars, which is significantly more expensive than comparable Chinese restaurants.

Looks good but they where to busy, so I haven’t ate here yet. I just wanted to add the menu.

The food is average quality. The atmosphere is okay. I've never seen a Chinese restaurant charge you for white rice. It normally comes with the main entree. This was not extra rice. We were charged for 3 cups of white rice. We were also charged for the to-go containers. I won't be back. That just seems like a way to upcharge your already competitive entree pricing.

Dine in for dinner, restaurant so poor couldn’t afford to replace a broken bowl 😅 almost cut my finger, great job 🫡

If your idea of good Chinese food is Panda Express then you might be disappointed but if you are craving authentic Szechuan cuisine then you will be beyond pleased with the bold flavors of Mr Holy Gao. Each dish was delicious and well executed. The Dan Dan noodles were our favorite and nailed the use of the sichuan pepper. For those unfamiliar with this pepper, expect a tingly numbing effect. What kept my experience from being a 5 star review was the somewhat chaotic service. We were expecting some delays with the busyness but the issue seemed to be more of a lack of communication between staff and organization. Our server was very friendly and apologetic. Our party of 11 had reservations on a busy Friday evening and there were plenty of large tables that accommodate multiple large parties.

Medium sized Chinese restaurant with Chinese decor in a strip mall opposite Qualcomm campus. Place was almost full on a Monday afternoon. Wait time after ordering was about 10-15 minutes. Food is mostly mild and not very spicy, with a few standout dishes. Sauteed string beans - recommend. Honey walnut shrimp - recommend. Jian Dui (sesame balls) - a type of fried pastry with sweet filling and coated with sesame seeds - recommend. Ma Po Tofu - slightly spicy and paired well with rice. Didn't enjoy the hot and sour soup and other fish and meat items very much.

Searched for Ma-dasao but come to a link called Mr Holy Gao. The restaurant owner must not want reviews. The rating is more like 2.5 Came here because it is close to work. Owner changed and food went south. My friend's Hainanese chicken rice was too yellow. Was it dyed. Garlic shrimp was too salty. The chef must have a heavy hand on salt. Noodle bowl was ok. When we pay the bill, the waitress won't let go of the handle electronic device. It was so awkward and inconvenient to input tips and personal information for the receipt. Let go! I won't take the device home. Probably won't come here too often.

Delicious food. So far I 've enjoyed every dish I've tried here. Some are a just a tad on the oily side, and they could wipe their tables a little more before seating, but those are pretty minor issues.

The best Shanghainese cuisine in San Diego. 醬鸭 is always my favorite cold dish. The taste of 薺菜餛飩 brings out my childhood memories. 大煮乾絲 for my hubby who likes the delicacy yummy. 百葉結紅燒肉 master the three elements of "color, aroma, and taste" . Recently I had party in their nice private room with karaoke system to celebrate my daughter's graduation.

Authentic and had my taste buds dancing. They changed their name of the restaurant however still seemed as though it was operated by same people. The Dan Dan noodles were enough spice for me and I couldn't get enough. We also ordered about 10 other dishes and shared family style. The place easily accommodated for our party of 12.

Really good authentic Chinese food. They have different options during brunch time. Good service and nice decorations.

Overall: The food was good, very authentic, and it took 20 minutes for the food to come out. Fish with sour soup: The flavor is strong! But it was the perfect mixture of spicy and sour. I would highly recommend it pouring over and eating over the rice. Spicy Noodle Soup: Again, more spicy than sour. However, it was the perfect Mala spicy-ness Location: Its in a plaza lose to the Qualcomm work place with a lot of the other places to eat. The parking might be limited if it is a busy day. Service: Food came out fast. You know its authentic when you see a lot of Asian people eating there too. The ambiance was nice too, clean and minimally decorated. Price: It's a little pricy for my taste. However, the quality is good.

Amazing food, really, really amazing food. Very busy, even on a Tuesday night. It has a new name which may mean new ownership. Ma-Dasao

Good variety of classic dishes, good service and nice decor and tables. Better for dinner than lunch. I haven't had to wait for a table so far. The location is great, and definitely the best Chinese food in the area, especially if you don't want to deal with Mira Mesa Blvd. or Convoy traffic.

Horrible customer service I saw this place on the San Diego Eater list of essential Chinese eateries. I ordered the pork shank among several other items and instead received "pork belly with preserved Napa in brown sauce". NOT THE SAME. It was the restaurants error and when I picked it up they said I had to wait 30-40 minutes for pork shank if I wanted it. I couldn't wait and asked if they could take care of the incorrect item which the rude lady refused. So I paid for pork belly since it was for a work lunch and had to go. The pork belly sucked. I don't like to eat that much pig fat which was 50% of the meal. String beans were good, as were the egg rolls, Kung pao chicken and noodle soup that my colleagues ordered. I will never go to this place again as a service professional.

I don't get the low average rating for this place. Coming from Vancouver, BC -- which arguably has some of the best, most authentic Chinese food in North America -- this place is pretty impressive. They specialize in authentic, Northern / Szechuan style cuisine. We ordered their Spicy Green Beans ($14.95) and Szechuan Dan Dan Noodles ($13.95), requesting them both without meat (to make them vegan). Our order was ready 20 minutes later for pick-up. Both dishes were pretty sublime. The green beans were amply spicy, cooked perfectly, and nicely saucy, though a little too oily. The dan dan noodles came with a nice authentic preserved mustard greens topping that you stir in -- super tasty, though also a bit on the oily side. Overall, really tasty, authentic, Szechuan cuisine that far exceeded our expectations. Highly recommended if you looking for proper Chinese food in San Diego.

Unfortunately there's nothing lower than one star to put in here, food was terrible, people we're very confused, food took 2 hours to get to the table, ordered one thing and they brought something totally different than i asked for, communication was very bad as well.

Great food and service. Owner Ma Da-sao and manager Sophia are great at helping organize parties and private events. The banquet room comfortably seat 30+ people. New dishes and off menu items... all I had to do was ask. Highly recommended!

Take out review: Ordered on the phone for some walnut shrimp and house special braised beef. They estimated 20 minutes and timing was spot on. I was surprised to find out that the dishes do not come with rice. The walnut shrimp was pretty good but braised beef was just okay. I will have to come back and do dine in. Their dining room looks very nice.

Chinese food here is pretty good, and a step above our local Chin's. I like their Sichuan dishes most of all. Note that if you get delivery, they don't include regular rice with your order -- it's an add-on.

We recently explored this cozy Chinese restaurant, and we are in love with this place We love the atmosphere in this place, the service was excellent The food was delicious There are a lot of choices in the manu , and you can't go wrong any of them My husband fell in love with the honey walnut shrimp and I love shredded pork with Steamd rice also I tried green beans as an appetizer, which was so good Reasonable prices wich is really important We will definitely come back with my family and I would recommend my friends too.

Good Mon-Fri lunch menu. Decent Chinese food. Comfortable seating inside. Small parking lot gets packed during lunch time.

My 1st time and if the rest of the menu is as good as the house special fried rice, I can't wait to go back. House special fried rice is filled with beef, chicken and shrimp. Absolutely delicious . They also offer a discount if paying with cash. The portions will have you filled or extra for take home. Definitely can't wait to go back before we leave San Diego.

Delicious authentic Shanghainese style food. You'll probably be disappointed if you're anticipating cheap greasy generic Chinese food. Nice clean ambiance inside.

I like to come here when I'm in the mood for a chinese breakfast. That would consist of a big bowl of hot sweetened soy bean milk and a Chinese donut stick. They have other individual food choices like Taiwanese braised pork with rice which I thought had really good flavoring. Overall, a good spot for Chinese food in the sorrento valley are

They have the same owner as Mada Sao, which was a malatang/Shanghai restaurant we used to enjoy on Convoy, but during the pandemic they moved their Mada Sao menu over to combine with Mr Holy Gao in Sorrento Valley. The malatang at Mada Sao was set up so you could go up to a buffet and pick out a set number of skewers of your choice and then they'd cook it for you in a spicy-numbing broth and then bring it back out and serve it with your choice of noodles or rice. Now you have to ask specifically for the Mada Sao menu but it's all in Chinese and you just write down which skewers you want. Its about $25 for 25 skewers, with variety of seafood, meats, and veg to choose from. We opted for a malatang set instead of skewers, which allows you to choose just one type of meat and comes with variety of set veg like cabbage, daikon, lotus roots and mushrooms, as well as rice or noodles of your choice. We went with beef, flat glass noodles, and medium spicy broth, all for about $15. Honestly we coulda just split this because it was a lot of food That broth was magic - slightly spicy with only a touch of the citrusy numbing so it didn't overwhelm our senses or kill our taste buds from tasting anything else the rest of the day We also got the Yu Hsiang pork lunch set which came with rice, hard boiled egg and a spring roll. They have lunch specials from $10-$14 , which is a great deal for the portions they give. They have banquet space, so their menu has plenty of family sized traditional Chinese options too.

Was told a lot of Qualcomm employees liked this place for Chinese food. So we gave it a try. Our guess is they go because it is literally across the street from their building and there not much else around. The food was unremarkable. Definitely not the best Chinese food in town. Worst part was all the fungus Knats flying around our food as we tried to eat. We got tired of trying to shoo them away and then lost our appetite. Ended up eating about a quarter of our food and left. We told two workers, but barely got a response. So likely they did not care. Definitely will not go back here.

f there is a way to rank lower tha 1 star, I will do that. It is terrible on Food, service and also atmosphere. We tried the breakfast today as the sunday. 1. firstly, i think they violate the laws. We ordered the food based on the menu at the front desk. There are plenty of copies there, ( white color, on the side of front desk) (You can still find that in the google). And we got several copies from the waiters when we were ordering the food. But in the final bill, I felt weird to see the different prices in at least 3 dishes (Chinese donut) . I asked the cashier that the prices were different from the menu, she just told me the menu you saw is out of date, insist (several times) that you should use the ones shown in the bill. Then I asked if the menus were wrong, why the waiters gave them to us and why the menu was there. Then when we were arguing, another waiter/cashier came to see what happened and took over the waitress. He called the boss and finally updated the bill with the prices in the menu. The bill wasn't changed very much (from $53 to $50), but their service is disaster. I do not think if there could be two different prices in any restaurant. 2. The food is disaster. We have orderred several dishes, but I can tell all of them were worse than I expected, except (the chinese donut). (1) The congee with pork & preserved eggs, really just congee + 1 tiny pork+ 1piece preserved egg (you can imagine). The congee is not very good. The tiny pork is very hard to find. I spend a while to figure out that there is a very tiny one. The preserved egg is a small piece. I don't think anyone there really taste this popular food in China. (2) salty Chinese style Tofu, not much really taste of Chinese style tofu, it is salty with soy sauce. Taste really weird with soy sauce dominant; (3) sweet chinese style tofu, not much chinese style tofu, like sweet water. (4) original soybean milk, nothing special, I doubt it is got from the super maket. (5) porridge 6 side dish. We tried pickled mustard green-too salty, salted duck egg-too salted, no special, dried meat floss-- just so so. The other 3, fermented tofu+olive+edamame, look very ugly ( a black lump) and are hard to convince me to give them a try. (6) shanghai Veggie & yellow croaker wonton soup. Stinking smell as of rotten fish. I had a bite and almost throw out. We decided not to try at that time and took it home, but after several hours, the smells prevented us to try again. I think they were wasting the food, waste my time!!! 3 There were only a few visitors and 3 tables near the noon. I tried to complain the food twice, it was ignore first time. And I tried again second time, but I don't think they really heard my comments and no any feedback or response any more. I don't think they really take the suggestions into consideration. The waiters/waitress look not very busy, even so, I did not see much communications between the waiters/waitress and the customers. This is a minor thing. But the food and the services are disaster. I think they probably just want to make money from us one time, try to take out of the money as much as they can! STRONGLY NOT RECOMMENDED!!

Only for dine in, take out packing is very poor. Little pricey but food is really good. Being a vegetarian options are limited but some unique ones.my favorite is the eggplant in ginger sauce and the string beans. Ambience is not that great and service is also avg. Would not recommend take out.

Honestly I thought the food was really good. Very flavorful, tender Not greasy or oily at all. Beef was unusually tender. I would recommend and I would definitely come back.

We ate here the day after dropping by and seeing the menu and speaking with the very friendly and enthusiastic hostess. We should have passed. We had the walnut shrimp, tofu with shrimp, stewed chicken with mushroom, dry pot chicken, and green onion pancake. Most of the dishes were inedible. The dry pot chicken took "dry" to mean completely blackened and desiccated and the pieces were 95% bone. The stewed chicken was mostly fat, and the mushrooms simultaneously rubbery and stringy. The tofu and shrimp was not as advertised: 75% bland tofu and a few small pieces of shrimp. The rest was uninspiring at best. My dining companion and I might have chosen better if we could have heard the waiter over the loud and insipid soft rock ballads piped in through the sound system. The waiter also seemed to forget the receipt: he disappeared until we were able to flag him down.

Braised beef noodle soup was super delicious. However, thousand egg and pork porridge didn't have much flavor.

The food was good, not great, especially for the price. Id expect lower prices for your typical run of the mill chinese fare. We came an hour before closing and it was empty so you would think that service would be top notch..alas, it was not. A group of young wannabe trendy asians came in after us and the waiters treated them much better than us and were super attentive. I asked the weird chinese guy in the front for some sweetener for my ice tea and he literally brought me 1 single pack of splenda...bruh lol. We spent over 100 bucks for 2 people and cant say it was worth it. We only ate here because it was close to our hotel. The female waiters were super nice, hence the 2 stars.

The food is average quality. The atmosphere is okay. I've never seen a Chinese restaurant charge you for white rice. It normally comes with the main entree. This was not extra rice. We were charged for each cup of white rice. We were also charged for the to-go container. I won't be back. That just seems like a way to upcharge your already competitive entree pricing.

Food and service was terrible, ordered Szechuan beef soup and did not have a single piece of meat, only tripe and tendon and the one and only bite I took the broth tasted so rancid. The waitress never once came back even after I went up to the counter to ask for a menu to try something else. Horrible all around.

Food was authentic and came out hot. We did family style and got to try several plates. My favorite dish was the hot and sour soup and the house special fried rice. I will be coming back for their lunch!

Great authentic food. Spice level and flavor is great and very tasty. Really enjoy eating here.

We only ordered vegetarian dishes: The flavors are very good. Especially the eggplant dish. The tofu dishes were good but just tofu and no vegetables come with it. Would be great if some vegetables were added.

I feel a little bad reviewing this place - but it's a poor establishment that probably shouldn't be open. The workers are nice but I'm giving it two stars because while the food is edible, it's not what's in the photos and it's not likely what you expect it to be at all. It's mostly overpriced and your receipt isn't likely to break out what you ordered. You kind of have to do the math yourself to realize that rice is several dollars on top of the cost of an $18 mediocre entree that doesn't look or taste like you think it should. It's not even in the ballpark. I love Chinese food, I even love greasy Chinese food but don't stop here just because you're hungry - keep going East. There are many gems if you drive an extra 5 minutes to Mira Mesa. This place probably stays in business because Qualcomm workers don't have the time to get in their car for lunch.

Unprofessional. Called three times before anyone picked up the phone. After I placed the order, the person hung up without asking for my name or info. When I arrived at the restaurant, there was no staff to direct me to my pickup. Had to wait 20 min before someone acknowledged me. The food was terrible. The fish and vegetables were bland, and the eggs were cooked in some kind of thick lard. Had to throw them away after one bite. The chicken with basil had so many splintered bones it was a choking hazard. Not recommended.

Great place. Food was spectacular and the service was friendly and speedy. Tables are a little large for two people but I eral a wonderful experience.

Everything from top to bottom was delicious! Service was amazing and the new ownership takes great care of the place. Would definitely recommend if you love an authentic experience

Best and most authentic! Love the hospitality and great taste. Order anything and it's made real fresh.

My Favorite Chinese food place! Love their spicy fishes, honey walnut shrimp, etc. Decent prices at around $12-15 dollars for the big amount of food. They typically give you rice with your sides as well. All their dishes are decent and good. I would come back!

Solid! The tea smoked duck was delicious! I would order again for sure! Green beans were crispy and perfectly seasoned with taiwanese pickles. The one dish that disappointed a little was the rice-noodle soup with pork spare ribs in house broth with bok choy. For the most part it was delicious but the noodles were not what we thought we would be getting. Although they were classic rice noodles, I found them to be a bit too slippery, not chewy, and the lack of flavor sort of 'watered down' the rest of the soup. However, the flavor of the pork rib in the soup was fantastic- very similar to a classic dish of braised pork belly. And huge chunks of ginger helped season the soup which I happily slurped down. The bok choy was nice and fresh too. In the future I would just order a different noodle dish - maybe with egg noodles or the wide flat style rice noodles in a stir-fry. Service was outstanding and parking plentiful! Definitely will be back! I don't have to drive to LA to get my duck fix anymore!

Food was good, not great. The automatic 20% tip is complete nonsense and we are not coming back.

Mr. Holy Gao sits next to Hanaya Sushi, Naseem's Bakery, and the Taj Mahal, making it a bit low on my list of places to eat at when driving to this little shopping center. Still, with a hankering for some Fried Rice in mind, I decided to check it out one night while sneaking away from work. The interior itself is plain, kind of bare bones with a mild hint of decor. The staff is fairly non-attentive, causing lines of people waiting for take out to wander aimlessly around tables and the sparse exterior. I called in my order while still at the office, hoping to pick up my rice upon arrival, but ended up joining the wandering mob as it took an additional 15 minutes or so to get my food. When it did, I was impressed at the size of my tray and quickly backtracked to work to chow down. I ordered the House Special Fried Rice, which is a mixture of chicken, pork, beef, and shrimp. Upon cracking open my serving, I first noted that there only seemed to be a solitary shrimp floating in a sea of everything else. Sure, I wasn't expecting to see 20 of the little buggers in there, but only a solitary one felt kind of cheap. The same kind of went for the vegetables, with barely any carrots and peas gracing the dish. As for the rest, there was enough requisite oil, giving a nice coating to the rice, but the flavor was overall lacking. There was no salt from the meat, no caramelization from the frying, no good chew to the rice from being slightly dried out before cooking. It's not often I have to add something to this dish when ordering takeout from anywhere and to have to do so here was disappointing. Still, considering I've only ever had one selection, I can't really say I have a decent overall view of how Mr. Holy Gao actually is. But, with the sole offering so far being a bit of a tossup, it's tough to say I'm motivated to come back and try again. As for now, I'm left with a low 3-Star impression of the place.

Ordered stir fried kidney ($18.95) it was tasty but kidney was hard (supposed to be soft & tender) but because the sauce was good so the flavor was acceptable. I took suggestion from the front desk guy to try Dan Dan noodles... hmmm... it's just a lot of plan noodles with chilly oil, there's no meats nor veggies... only chili oil ($13.95) not worth of the price. Feeling ripped off. This place is more for Qualcomm engineers to dine in. Too expensive!

Mr. Holy Gao is back and better than before! Despite reports that it closed permanently due to COVID, it was open for lunch on a recent weekday. The Sorrento Valley restaurant's interior has been remodeled since my last visit about 4 years ago, and also now boasts a reasonable amount of shaded outdoor seating. The menu seems to have also been expanded to include more spicy Sichuan items and a host of specials that do not appear on the printed menu, but are described on chalkboards. There may be some 'combination' of the old "Mr. Holy Gao" menu with that of a restaurant called "Mada-Sao" from Kearny Mesa -- the payment receipts show the "Mada-Sao" name and address. Service was fine in taking orders, and the previous high quality of the food was maintained. Hot, just spicy enough, and authentic.

This place is in Sorrento valley and we went here after work to have hot pot, we decided to get the ayce for 18.95 but they charge a few more dollars For broth and a buck for sauces. We had lamb, beef, shrimp, tofu, mushrooms, boy chit and shrimp balls. The only waitress was nice and also gave us rice and noodles and I forgot a fried pancake, gyoza, and egg rolls. The owner was like you are doing it wrong lol cuz we just dumped all the food in there at once. It is very authentic cause everyone eating there was Asia :) the food was ok , but the staff was nice and not priced too high.

The food was good nothing to complain about there, however there are a lot of charges they don't necessarily tell you about. Rice is not included with any of their main dishes and they charge themselves an automatic tip 18-20%. We were not a large party where gratuity is automatically expected sure I understand that and I work in the restaurant industry so I do not mind tipping AT ALL. I just found it strange they just decided on what tip out they deserved and charged you for it. Irregardless food was good not sure if I'd dine in again.

Service super slow waiting for 40 mins for my order..AND GOT WRONG ORDER ordered spicy pork intestines dried kind but get the wet kind not recommended to this restaurant if you have 30-1hr lunch.

The only reason for the missing star is the service. If you open at 10:30 am for the brunch menu then enough employees should be available to wait staff. We sat around close to 11 am before realizing that there's only one waiter handling al the tables. The food is really good. Best soy milk and Chinese donut place in SD

The hubs heard about this place due to a coworker's recommendation. Plus it was close to their job. In any case, parking can be challenging when it's busy and that means during lunch time. Don't forget, lunch specials are cash only - there are signs and very reasonable priced. Anyhow, came here after the dinner rush. We got seated right away and our drink order was placed. We couldn't decide what we wanted every time they stopped by our table. By the time we knew what we wanted, they got busy with people ordering take out. But that's okay. Onto the food... We ordered the beef noodle soup, twice cooked pork and Dan Dan noodles. The hubs really loved the beef noodle soup. He said next time he wants to get the spicy version. The meat was tender. The soup was flavorful and the noodles had a good chew to them. He said that he wished there was an option for hand pulled noodles because it would make the soup even better. But he really really enjoyed it. The twice cooked pork looks like it would be spicy but it's not. I loved the black bean flavor with the chili oil. The pork was crispy yet tender. I don't know how to explain it but it was good. The pork was also thinly sliced and there were some parts a little fatty and some that weren't. But it was fine because it went well with the rice. The Dan Dan were just okay. It didn't have that numbing sensation that some dan dan noodles have so I just used a lot of chili oil in it. The noodles were cooked well and not mushy at all. The Bok Choy was steamed well and there were garlic bits. It was still crunchy and we loved it. Overall I would definitely come back here to try other dishes on the menu.