Veggie Lee

Awesome veggie food!!! Distinct flavor. Ordered Vegan Orange chicken, vegetable chow mien and salt and pepper tofu. The salt and pepper tofu was super soft on the inside which my hubs hated. The noodles in the chow mien where big with good texture. Was not offered dessert as other reviews indicated.

This is the cleanest Chinese restaurant… EVER. Don’t get me wrong; I looove my greasy Chinese food from all the classic C-​grade joints — you know… the ones with the interestingly stained carpets, flies buzzing against the fingerprint-​coated windows, kitchen staff clearing their throats loudly as they cook… I’ve grown up accustomed to these places — what seems ‘dirty’ to non-​Chinese people, or restaurant regulars, is normal for us. It’s just how it’s been and it doesn’t seem to bother anyone who eats at these places regularly.
But let’s get back to Veggie Lee. Pristine set up, new-​looking carpet and furniture — just all around CLEAN. Very well kept.
Between me and my parents, we shared: Assorted Cold Cuts, Vegan Prawns w/​Mixed Nuts, Vegan Sesame Chicken, Vegan Pork with Sicchuan Sauce (slightly spicy), Crispy Dry Soy Seaweed Fried Rice. This was PLENTY for three people. We ended up taking home almost the whole order of ‘pork’ and the fried rice, plus a bit of the ‘chicken’.
I have yet to go to a vegan Chinese place that wasn’t good. Veggie Lee was great! The ‘meat’ was flavorful and chewy. The chewier the better. It was very ‘meat’ textured and impressed me with how well the imitation was. Favorite was the sesame chicken and the shrimp! The cold cuts were so good too. We finished that plate so fast — too bad it made us full before the entrees!
I’m not full vegan or veggie (slowly tryna make my way there) but I do not eat seafood at all. The shrimp was frighteningly real… the slight pink coloring kinda put me off. But I just had to keep telling myself it wasn’t real… I don’t like the texture, smell, taste and look of any seafood — at least there was no ‘seafood’ smell or taste to this! It was good despite the very real texture and look.
Can’t wait to be back! I was so sad when I finished the leftovers the next day. I live across the bridge but I wouldn’t mind making the trek and bridge toll just to get some more delicious veggie food.

There’s truly something special about this restaurant which chooses o promote a healthy diet with Chinese flavors. After only eating here once, I knew I wanted to come back because it was absolutely delicious.
Veggie Lee was one of my brother’s last meals, and he built a relationship with the owners to try and emulate their recipes on the daily. I knew I had to try this restaurant for myself in his honor, and I am glad that we did.
Don’t let the stereotype of Vegan food being bland affect you. It was all but basic here.
My Mama and I shared a dish of Salt & Pepper Pumpkin, Bean Curd, and Pan Fried Noodle with Vegan Prawns. Everything came in large portions, so this is definitely meant to be family style eating. My favorite of the three was definitely the pumpkin slices. While fried, they weren’t heavy and had a great coat of salt & pepper to satisfy my pallet. The Vegan prawns were a great surprise! If you’re curious, definitely go for one of the substitute meat options here.
Our meal was great and I can certainly say that I’d love to come back again to try more dishes. There were a lot of older folks dining with us, and many had the same questions: how can this food be good if there’s no meat?
You need to taste it for yourself, and don’t be surprised if you take a ride on the Vegan train soon after.

I’ve gotta say this is probably the best vegan Chinese food I’ve tasted. I’ve tried vegan orange chicken, Mongolian beef, and all sorts, but I never had vegan mapo tofu before. Mapo tofu is one of my favorite Chinese dishes, and I was thrilled to find that mapo tofu was on the menu. If you ask them for mapo tofu only without the noodles, it’s possible. The noodles that are originally with the mapo tofu are made with eggs, making it vegetarian, not vegan.
This place is definitely a place to try if you are into Chinese food and are open to try vegan foods.
The waitresses are very friendly and open to answer any questions you have on the menu. All in all, my visit to this place was very enjoyable.

Man this place is a gem! If you’re on a raw vegan diet and want to take a break but still to continue to stay vegan… This the spot! I highly recommend the vegan sweat and sour chicken. The «beef» fried rice is also really good! They hardly use any oil which is great. The only Chinese spot that won’t give you food coma lol. It is a little pricey but worth it! Been here 4 times in the last 90 days

We’ve been meaning to check out Veggie Lee for quite some time. A Chinese vegetarian restaurant that uses little oil and no added salt (jackpot!), but no onion and garlic? We love our aromatics! Hmm… this should be interesting.
It may be a tad hard to find on busy Hesperian Blvd. Just look for Quickly’s across from Chabot College. The restaurant is sandwiched between Subway and Quickly’s…hahaha, see what I did there :P Be sure to park in the lot by Quickly’s. Spaces are more plentiful there and the smaller lot is for the smoke shop.
Anyway, to the good stuff… it’s a wonderful place to dine. Cleanly decorated without the usual tackiness that’s so common in Chinese restaurants — overdone wall decorations. The menu was immense, great selection for herbivores. I must admit we were overwhelmed a bit, not knowing how to choose 3 dishes to order. Having looked up the restaurant’s Unilocal page, I had to try the lemongrass bean curd with lemon ($ 13.95) — looked damn good. The dish did not disappoint. The lemongrass and lemon were so complementary to each other… extraordinary. It was a flavor explosion with every bite.
Another dish we ordered was the pan-​friend noodles with tofu and curry sauce ($ 10.95). When it arrived on our table, I wasn’t sure how it would taste. The curry was mild in flavor and spiciness. I like that the tofu was fried tofu. It was my second favorite dish we ordered.
We thought since there were 3 of us, we needed to add another entrée. Mapo tofu it is! (I don’t recall the price and couldn’t find it on the Unilocal menu.) It had good flavor with slight heat. It needs rice though. We packed most of this dish for later.
Two entrees were enough to feed the 3 of us, which is under $ 30. The lunch menu is available on weekdays, with entrees around $ 9-​ish, including rice and soup.

So I’ve been vegan for only 3 weeks now, and decided I wanted to look up some vegan restaurants. I came across Veggie Lee and saw that it was only 10 minutes away. I ordered online and picked it up and the workers are very sweet and welcoming! When I went to unpack all the food I noticed they gave me free rice (a HUGE portion of it) which exceeded my expectations for this place. I will definitely come back here soon!
P. S. They give big portions for a reasonable price! :)

The soup is awesome! Very rich favor with all different kinds of vegetables!
Another one is Chao Zhou fried rice. Good for hot, and also good after 7 hours!

I’m a vegetarian and been to Veggie Lee couple times within the last 10 days. The food was decent, authentic Chinese food. It does not make one thirsty after eating there, the food does not drown in gravy or oil.
But the server was not customer friendly at all, we used to Crystal or Mei who always greet their customers with a smiling face, recommending dishes. The servers need some training. Waiting table is more than just take orders, put the food down on the table and hand U a check after dinner.
I will think twice before I go there again.
For the food I’ll recommend it but not the service.

TLDR: sweet sour pork and fu kin fried rice is good.
For being a vegan restaurant, this place is pretty good. I am not vegetarian, but I really enjoyed the sweet and sour pork and fu kin fried rice.
I tried to get buns for take out but they needed 1 hour and a half to prepare fresh ones. So I haven’t tried them. If you want to give it a shot, call ahead of time.

I had the vegetable wonton noodle soup. It’s was exactly what I was looking for. The broth had a really light, natural taste to it. Not bland either! The veggies were nice and tender. NO MSG!!!
The waitresses were very attentive, polite and helpful!

OMD!!! (Oh My Dog) This place rocks! What a find — just passing through Hayward and after searching vegetarian restaurants — Veggie Lee’s popped up. Loved it! I had sweet & sour chicken, potstickers and Crispy Dry Soy Seaweed Fried Rice. I was in heaven.
Veggie Lee is my go to for Hayward now.

Great Vegan & veggie restaurant
Many choices with very reasonable price, with nice service. The veggie meat is great. Highly recommended for lunch!

AMAZING! Definitely worthy of the five star review!
Wow! My husband I had no idea that this amazing gem existed! We wanted to eat and we’re trying to find more healthy food options closer to home even though it can be tough in the Hayward area… we stumbled across Veggie Lee by typing in vegetarian :)
We were really unsure about it because we never eat Chinese food anymore because of the msg and just feeling gross and bloated afterwards and or in need of a nap. Two words Food Coma…
However much to our surprise this was super clean amazing food!
We had the vegan sweet and sour «chicken» option which is really a mushroom concoction that really tastes just like chicken!
The mixed vegetables with avocado and black pepper is a bit pricey $ 13.95 and the vegan chicken being $ 12.95 but again amazing healthy food so completely worth every penny!
If this is more than you’re used to paying choose this place when you’re in the mood to splurge a little ;) If this is totally affordable to you then make this one of your regular spots.
Can’t wait to get back and bring friends and family. My husband and I finally have a Chinese restaurant we can feel great about going to and still feel great after eating it.
You won’t be sorry! Enjoy!
I’d rather splurge here then at PF Changs…

I might as well write a review while I am actually at the restaurant.
This is my second time coming here. I got similar dishes but both times, it is exceptional!
The prices are somewhat high here, but the quality of the food makes up for it. They also give you free hot tea and ice water if you ask. I like this since a lot of times, the tea enhances the flavors of the food. The place is also clean and service is prompt.
The first time I had Salt and Pepper Mushrooms and Sesame «Chicken».
The mushrooms were the good kind of mushrooms (nothing wrong with button mushrooms, but the one they used is better for deep frying IMO). Great dish and glad it is in the appetizers section.
The Sesame «Chicken» (will end quotations here since I am just wanted ensure readers that this is a vegetarian restaurant). This is a great dish too which is served with broccoli. I think they stir fried the broccoli as it was not bland and had good flavor on their own.
My second trip here I got the two dishes I included photos of which are Salt and Pepper Pumpkin and General Tso’s Chicken (sp?).
The pumpkin is in line with the mushrooms which is fresh tasting and crispy. While the General dish is in line with the sesame. The sauce is different but they both have similar qualities. Great dish on both ends.
I would come here more often, but since I live an hour away (almost), I don’t get that opportunity much.
Would definitely come back when I am in the area and want to indulge in some good food. Will bring friends one of these days so we can have more variety of dishes as I tend to crave certain dishes when I think of this restaurant.

Came in after a run to try their vegan concept, at first glance it looks like a traditional Chinese restaurant but with a twist. The vegetables are seasoned like any other but with a meat substitute. Didn’t really get it at first but the texture and flavor have drawn me in. I ended up with vegan prawns and mixed vegetables. Very well put together and the seasoning was delicious. Couldn’t get passed the chewy imitation meat but after a workout I didn’t complain. The menu is very extensive and covers all the dishes with their vegan concept. Overall very pleased and love the concept. Service was good and the location is convenient. Keep in mind the college is across the street so during the peak hours this place can get packed real quick.

My kids said I should say OMG — but seriously OMG! This place is AWESOME! I’m thrilled to have found this place not too far from home. I love vegetarian chinese food — when it’s NOT all JUST veggies! They have vegan chicken, pork, beef dishes that mimic the taste and textures and they are delicious!
We started with their Pan Fried Bean Curd Roll as recommended by our waitress as one of their most popular dishes… and she was spot on! It’s bean curd rolls with chopped up mushrooms on the inside — then lightly pan fried on the outside. Then cut up in in bite size slices. So what you get is lots of flavor and TEXTURE in your mouth. The LIGHT crispiness of the outside — with the soft bean curd and on the inside and the flavorful chopped up mushrooms! I could’ve eaten another plate of this! Best eaten hot when it first comes out — and it comes with a sweet and sour sauce which if you add a little — elevates all the flavors!
I really wanted to try one of their vegan dishes — so we got the vegan chicken with sweet and sour sauce! IT was DELICIOUS! the «chicken» was fried like bite size chicken bits tossed with chunks of pineapples and green bell peppers. First of all the «chicken» was so tender and had the «meat» type flavor though hubby thought it tasted more like pork than chicken :) And btw — I am not a big green bell pepper fan but I totally gobbled these up — they were thick and JUICY… never really had JUICY bell peppers — and it had a great flavor to them with the sweet and sour sauce on them. I’ve had them at regular chinese restaurants but they tend to be thin and crunchy — no juice or flavor — just a crunchy piece of veggie that has the sweet and sour flavor… but not this dish…
Lastly we ordered the Ma Po Tofu on Ew-​fu noodles. This was so different than what I expected. The dish had big square chunks of tofu — was a little spicy (due to it being Ma Po) but they added bits of pickled veggies — so it gave it a bit of a pickled bite with the spiciness. AND add that to Ew-​fu noodles — which is a vegetarian type noodle (my ALL TIME FAV) — it was awesome! And they give you ALOT!
We were SO HAPPY with this place! Unfortunately it was only the two of us so we couldn’t order too much — so we’re planning to bring the entire family so we can order more dishes! We saw quite a few pass us to other tables that smelled and looked mouth watering delicious! Really want to try the pumpkin! Can’t wait to go back!
OH and service — was pleasant, efficient and great — kept checking on us for water and tea refills and took away empty plates when were were done! Love this place!

This place exceeded my expectations.
It is very clean. The dining room has a lot of tables and is very simple but well-​maintained. The menu is extensive. I mean pages and pages of options with pictures. Everything sounded so good! I love all the vegan and vegetarian options.
I tried the salt and pepper pumpkin which was delicious. The pumpkin is battered and seasoned well. I also had the veggie soup with sizzling fried rice. It was soothing. I couldn’t finish my meal so had leftovers. They don’t cook with onion or garlic (I love both) but I didn’t miss them in the dishes I ordered.
Service was prompt and the food came out very fast.
This is a place to come and share items family style so that you can try more things. I will definitely be back to try more items.

I’m so glad Hayward has Veggie Lee. The other Chinese vegan/​vegetarian restaurants are either in Oakland or Milpitas and I’m just not interested in driving either direction.
I am addicted to the wonton noodle soup. My friend loves the sizzling rice soup. The salt and pepper mushrooms are addictive. The chow mein has that nice smokey wok flavor. I recently tried the Thai Style Rice Hot Pot. I was told it would be spicy but didn’t feel any heat. It might be my high tolerance for spice, but the fragrant rice mixed with glass noodles, mushrooms and veggie chicken was delicious.
The salt and pepper tofu was a little heavy on the five spice but great with a bowl of rice. The pumpkin curry was delicious as was the pan fried noodle with tofu and curry sauce. I loved the Singaporean style rice noodles too. The kung pao tofu is not like my beloved Carry Outee’s (RIP), nor is it like mom’s, but she doesn’t live up here and I don’t feel like cooking so I will order it again when I’m feeling like kung pao.
There are so many other dishes I can’t wait to try. Veggie Lee, I was there for lunch today but you just might see me again for dinner! Thank you for coming to Hayward.

Veggie Lee is one of the newest place this old spot, but what a great spot it is. This is one the best spot vegan/​vegetarian spot all vegan/​vegetarian chef cooking all vegan/​vegetarian place.
This is one of the yummy spot I found :3 this time I had chance to the owner for a bit before dinner, he tells that this place is all vegan and vegetarian friendly. He ensure me that food are made with no meat product ect, and everyone that works here are vegan or vegetarian. And understand all special diet needs and will to for fill all needs. It is hard to find a really good place that does that.
My folks and both vegan and it make really happy to find a place that I take them to with out worry about it.
But the best parts the food it really taste, all the food is made with freshly made to whatever u like and let say, am not vegetarian but dam I can eat here all day long if vegetarian food taste this good I may just have to Covent over ! :3

I must say, some restaurants I go to and if I ate only pasta, I would be hungry in 30 minutes as if I had not eaten at all. But eating the food at Veggie Lee, I leave full and left overs in hand.
Our menu went something like this
Mixed vegetables with Avocado
Mixed mushroom and mixed nuts
eggplant and tofu
sweet and sour pork
Malaysian noodles
beef chow fun
pot stickers
salt and pepper pumpkin (fried! Yum)
and shark fin soup
Even with a group of ten, we still had a lot of left overs.
the clear favorite was the salt and pepper pumpkin, because it’s fried with a nice batter on ti.
Other favorites were the pot stickers, beef chow fun, sweet and sour pork and mixed vegetables with Avocado.
this was my second lunch visit, and parking is easy, the staff is great, and the food shows up pretty fast.
Highly recommended, but don’t do what we did, got some fatty desserts after eating healthy =)

A solid 4 stars.
Service – excellent. Staff is so warm and welcoming. We felt like we were eating in the home of a good friend.
Ambiance – Comfy and welcoming
Food — We only tried a couple of dishes:
Vege Chicken Salad — Large portion, very good but I think I make a better one.
Spring Rolls – nice vegetables inside but I was turned off by the 5 spice (which includes fennel or anise – my least favorite spice) Crunchy and fried just right.
We had the following lunch specials which come with soup, rice and a friend won ton strip.
Soup was on the bland side.
Deluxe mixed vegetables: A nice selection of vegetables. Mr Rinky liked it.
General Tso’s veg chicken – tasty but son of Rinky’s gobbled it up.
Veg Sesame Chicken – my dish. Liked it.
We will probably try it again when we come with a larger group of friends.
Lots of dishes to choose from.
Service could not be better!
fyi this place is a little hard to find since it is partially hidden by the store next to it.

I really like my proteins, but every once in awhile I feel like having a meatless meal. Veggie Lee is a location that fits the bill for that, but not without a few faults…
The food is very quick and fresh. It only took about 5 minutes for our orders to start rolling out, and we received a generous helping on each dish. Temperature is a big deal with Asian foods. You want it either adequately chilled, or piping hot, and this place knows which is which.
However, because of their healthier approach of less oils and no MSG, you can really taste the difference in their food. As much as I’d like to say I like it, it didn’t have the typical Chinese flavors I’m looking for. I found it too bland for my taste, as whenever you remove something, I feel like you have to be innovative to make up for the substitution, but I didn’t feel that here.
As for the décor, it’s very typical of family run Chinese restaurants. However, the tables are VERY sticky. I’m hoping it’s because they don’t wipe down the detergent/​cleaning agent they use very well, and it’s not residue from food/​waste, but the look and feel of the table killed my appetite a bit.
Overall a decent location, but not something I’d probably ever have a craving for. But if you’re eating with a party of all vegetarians, you can do much worse.

My first time trying Vegan food and I must say I was impressed! WAY TO GO Veggie Lee!
Are you looking for vegetarian Chinese food? Well this is the place for you!
I came for an evening dinner with a friend and I have to admit when I heard vegetarian I was getting a little worried. I mean come on, you’re talking to a female that LOVES to eat and I wanted to make sure that once I see that menu I was going to be excited. So I Unilocaled about this place and received mixed reviews. After a while I was like, «Come on, let’s go».
This location is perfect! Across from Chabot College, right next door to a quickly and across the way from a Celia’s! Nice! What more can you ask for.
Veggie Lee just opened May 1^st 2015 and because of their grand opening they are offering a 20% discount until June 1^st.
Veggie Lee comes with an extensive menu with dishes like:
~veggie chicken salad with peanuts or with sweet and sour sauce
~pan fried noodle with tofu and curry sauce
~Chicken & Pineapple Fried Rice (My favorite)
~Veggie beef with black pepper sauce over chow fun
When you open the menu you get a little history on the chef Veggie Lee and how he made his lifestyle change to eat healthier and moved Vegetarian to vegan and then opened up this nice restaurant!
May and Cristal are the servers and cashiers here and they are truly amazing and greeted us as soon as we walked in!
Prices are a little high but who ever said that good food was cheap? All the food comes out piping hot and sizzling! Food comes out in less than 10 minutes. When you are done eating they give you a fair nice size of watermelon! Yumm!
I LOVE it! Major props to Veggie Lee.
There is plenty of parking in the back as well as on the side of the building!