Dave Wong's Restaurant & Deli — Restaurant in Stockton

DAVE WONG'S CHINESE - STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA

This is the best Chinese restaurant food we have ever had...and we are not unfamiliar with this cuisine.

Several years ago, while driving through Stockton, I was riding shotgun with a friend who mention that the next time we were passing through, we needed to stop in to Dave Wong's so he could introduce me to some of the best Chinese food he has ever had. Of course, I had to tease him about it because come-on...the best Chinese is in Stockton?!? (He didn't say the best IN Stockton, but the best ANYWHERE is in Stockton, just so there is no confusion about how ridiculous this claim was.)

Fast forward to the next year when we did time it right so we could stop in for lunch at Dave Wong's... Welp, sure enough, it was the best Chinese restaurant food I've ever had. (...the best EVER Chinese food we have had, restaurant or otherwise, by far, is made by Chinese friends of ours at their incredible friends and family dinners, but when not celebrating with them, this place hits the spot.) No, this is not straight up traditional, like dim sum in Chinatown, but holy cow was it good. But sure enough, my wife had the same reaction to my raving upon returning home after lunch with my friend as I did to my friend's raving a year before. "Come on...I can't believe the best Chinese is in Stockton."

Fast forward to this past weekend when my wife and I just so happen to be driving through Stockton... She lobbied hard for some other great local choices but finally caved in and will be the first to admit she is glad she did.

Knowing how great the Garlic Fried Chicken, Mongolian Beef, and Shanghai Ribs are from my prior lunch, we ordered the same so my wife could try. She also wanted a veggie (go figure), so we ordered the Wok Charred String Beans, as well as the Crab Rangoon appetizer.

Our server extraordinare, Joudy, didn't even bat an eyelash at how much food we had just ordered for only two people, so we were already starting to like her. (I assume we aren't unique in ordering everything on the menu that looks good.) She then asked if we wanted rice or chow mein to go along with the other dishes. I thought she was talking about a simple side, but when I said chow mein sounded good, she recommended the Szechuan Chicken Chow Mein, at which point I realized she was actually recommending a fourth entree (plus two sides) for just the two of us! ...Joudy is someone who clearly loves good food, so this recommendation confirmed our new bond with her. When she mentioned this was an item not on the menu but was her favorite, we were sold!

Wow...just wow. Of course, all the regular dishes I had tried with Leland were great, but Joudy's Szechuan Chicken Chow Mein was absolutely fantastic and might very well be the best Chinese restaurant dish I have ever had. And kudos to my wife for her veggie selection because the Wok Charred Green Beans were excellent, especially when mixed into the Chow Mein.

Joudy happily packed up all the extra food for us and we ended up having it for lunch the next day at a picturesque picnic table alongside Millberry Creek in Markleeville, and there were still leftovers for dinner that night. And the whole meal was only $90, which is a total bargain considering it fed the two of us for three meals.

If you are going through Stockton in the future, I highly recommend timing it so you can stop into Dave Wong's for lunch or dinner, and I highly recommend you order everything on the menu that looks good, and simply accept that you'll be enjoying leftovers later.

And definitely ask to be in Joudy's section (usually in the lounge/bar) because she is one of the best servers...

Update: Monday, July 21, 2025 PM

I think we’re pretty much finished with Dave Wong‘s for now. The last couple of times that we’ve eaten there the food does not seem like it is cooked to order. Tonight, we had beef chow fun, fried prawns, crab Rangoon. We had to send the crab rangoon back. It was soggy and barely warm. The beef chow fun seemed a bit fresher but it was greasy as hell. The fried prawns were not cooked fresh! I would swear that half of that food was stuck in the microwave to heat it up. But the owner claims they do not own any microwaves! Next time, for Chinese food will probably go back to Dynasty and try them again. Too bad that Dave Wong has lost the reputation that the old man works so hard to maintain! —————— Update: March 23, 2025 PM

The good: walnut prawns, chicken fried rice.

Not good: they deep fry the barbecue spareribs. They have no real flavor. And they are dripping with oil ‼️🤦🏻‍♂️ Chinese chicken salad has potential but the chicken they put in there is terrible. You can barely chew it! Either use fresh white meat or maybe use dark meat so it’s edible. I like their sugar and vinegar dressing.

I don’t know if any of the staff read these reviews. But it would behoove them to implement some changes. Go back to the quality when Dave actually ran the business‼️🤦🏻‍♂️😳 ——————- Update: January 28, 2025 PM ‼️DELI REVIEW‼️ The good: The chicken in foil was very good! You get six pieces for $9.05. The sliced barbecued pork is some of the best around. I’ve had it a few times and it is consistently good. It’s lean and you get a good portion for $10.50! The Chinese chicken salad is basically good. ($11.10) The lettuce was very fresh and crunchy. The dressing is my favorite. A nice tang from the vinegar. But the BAD PART of the salad was the chicken itself. They slice up white breast meat. So tough and dry…almost in inedible. This takes the score down a couple of notches. If they would use a better grade/freshness of chicken it would be 10 out of 10. Please fix this Mr. Wong! Other than that this was a great experience from the deli. —————————- Update: Saturday, November 9, 2024 PM Consistency seems to be an issue at Dave Wong’s. Last time we were there we had an excellent meal. Everything was hot and fresh. Tonight, pretty much the opposite. Everything was barely warm, soggy and not fresh cooked. The crab Rangoon was not hot. They were just warm and quite chewy. The order of fried prawns were almost hard. We sent them back for a new batch. Our server took them and 30 seconds later came out with another batch which were better but again were not cooked to order. The sweet-and-sour pork was edible because they don’t put the sauce over it till it’s served . The pork itself was warm but the sauce they put over is quite hot so it tends to heat up the pork a bit. The chicken fried rice Was made fresh. It had to be, since we ordered it with no veggies…just rice, eggs and a little bit of chicken. I spoke with the owner and conveyed our concerns. He seemed to be concerned and offered us a complementary dish next time we dine there. They were very busy and I’m sure they pre-cook a lot of the food. But that’s not a good way to do it. When people pay decent money for their dinner they would like it to be cooked fresh and hot for them. The portion size…noticeably smaller than in the past. You don’t get nearly as much food as before! Come on,Wong’s, don’t decrease your portion sizes. Raise your prices a dollar instead. Hopefully, Dave Wong’s will handle this issue because they have a...

Wake up call! After all of the goods things I hear on social media about this place, my wife and I finally decided to try it. We were sat quickly and the overal exterior and interior of the restaurant is very nice and modern. We started out with an order of potstickers. $11 for 6 small ones. They were bland and devoid of flavor. Plus the restaurant doesn’t even offer hot chili oil and vinegar for them! Those are both Chinese staples and should be on every table!

We both ordered the lunch specials. My wife ordered the choose your own combo of Garlic fried chicken and paper wrapped chicken with pork fried rice and I ordered the Sichuan chicken with pork fried rice. Both were ample portions of food (good) and both combos were bland and without any type of Chinese food taste (bad). Seriously, Panda Express tasted better. No hint of garlic or ginger in any of the dishes and mall food court Chinese restaurants seemed like a five star cuisine compared to this bland and tasteless food.

One thing that was good was the staff seemed busy and were normally available. However, they did not seem happy and never smiled. Probably because they are forced to eat here for their meal breaks.

I have eaten at a ton of Chinese restaurants all over and this one is way down towards the bottom for taste and texture. I have no idea how they have won area awards. I guess this is the only Chinese restaurant in Stockton?

Bottom line is go somewhere else and don’t waste your time with this place unless you just like to look at...