Good Times Restaurant

This place is far from being Chinese food, this not only feels like they re-​heated old food. At least add some flavour, the chow mein was white, no chicken or vegetables as I ordered, no side order of soy sauce packets. Amount of food is ridiculous! They weren’t willing to re-​send their driver knowing I’m bed-bound…I’m sorry I’ll never return

Visited: January 9, 2016. Around 4:30.
Occasion: Grabbing meal before Modesto Con event.
With: Me, myself, and I!
Service: 2 stars.
Food: 1.5 stars. Maybe.
The Good: Uh … no wait time. And you get fortune cookie.
The Not As Good: Small portions for take-​out, bland & soggy food, confusing credit charge, warm water bottles.
Accidentally stumbling in here thinking it was something else. Actually, just more so was trying to «discover» something new without relying only on Unilocal reviews and only checked what place it was after I had finished the confusing process of ordering my food. After reading the reviews as I waited for my food I found myself just hoping it would be better than most of the reviews say, but it’s really not. At all. The sad thing is, it is one of those places that really does not seem to care because they do not have to.
As soon as I walked in the waitress popped up from the table she was sitting at to take my order. At least I can say I appreciate her promptness. The restaurant itself is just a normal space, it has plenty of seating (which I am sure is never full) with basic white table clothes. There were a bunch of menu items posted on the front door that did not seem to match the printed menu inside. At first I ordered one of the regular specials from the front door, which there had said was $ 6.50 (I believe). The lady asked me if I wanted anything to drink, I responded that just water was fine. She said «Okay, a bottled water» and I told her if it was bottled then I did not need it. (Personally, I’d prefer not to use plastic water bottles at all). After that she said something about a $ 1 fee on the card. I’m not sure what exactly she meant because she was not really looking at me or speaking too clearly, but I just said okay. Then, my total came out to over $ 11. For a $ 6.50 meal and then one water bottle. Clearly, I was confused, and asked about it … to which she responded that the specials ended at 4. It seems like that was something you could have said when I ordered the special not once the price rings up. Then I switched my order to a combo meal that was listed as $ 7.50. My total came out to $ 10.23, which to me seems a bit expensive for Chinese food.
After my order, she came to hand me the water bottle — which was room temperature. Clearly had not even been put in a fridge. Maybe it’s not that big of a deal, but I’ve already paid for a plastic water bottle I did not want and now it’s not even semi-​cold water.
At this point I’m just hoping the food is good, but it just wasn’t. It wasn’t completely bland, like it had some taste to it. Yet, the portions were incredibly tiny. Most of the take out plate was covered in rice with two not even full scopes of the others items (broccoli beef + sweet & sour pork). You know how there is that section that’s bigger than a section for the sides? The rice was piled in the side section, then over the top and filling most of the big section. The food was also soggy, drenched in sauce to the point a puddle was left after I had the few bites. Mine was in a take-​out box but I ate the food immediately in my car. If I had waited any longer or actually driven home with it the vegetables would have been even more soaked/​soggy. The beef was stuck together and not even fully broken into pieces. You it was edible, but it definitely wasn’t good.
Overall, this place has nothing to stand out. The only reason I could maybe possibly see coming here is if you are craving Chinese food and absolutely need it, but there is nowhere else in town to go. Even then, it seems like it’d probably be more worth it to cook it at home or drive somewhere or at least wait until you have decent food to satisfy your craving.
Almost want to give them another star just because I feel bad and the lady was decent despite the confusion, but I’m really going with the «me thinks not» option on this one.

My aunt lives in town and we decided to try this place. I must say that I make better Chinese food at home and I’m Puerto Rican lol My LORD! Small portioned and tasteless! I will say that I did have a taste of my sister’s linquica sandwich and milk shake. was pretty delish. wish I ordered that! The owner was a nice lady but I can tell she didn’t like the teenagers in her place.. kinda rude.

This place is really good. Only 3 out of 5 stars because the take out plates are skimpy. But the ladies who work there are really nice. Delivery is a +

Owners are not kind, don’t expect much if you’re unsatisfied. Kind of a last resort if you really are craving Chinese food in Newman. Realistically, you might as well make the drive to Patterson, because this place makes me sick. I have gone twice and both times got food poisoning.

The only Asian cuisine option in town. Food is bland. I usually re-​seasoned my chowmein at home. Also, can be overpriced. $ 8.75 for fried prawns!!! In Newman? I only eat there when I’m craving some Chinese food and don’t want to drive out to Turlock or Patterson so it will never be my first choice.

Been coming here for years since they were in Gustine. The place clean the food is very fresh and the portions are good. The owner and staff are very nice and you get your food very fast even if it’s really busy.

As a visiting guest from a big city, I guess I should have known better than to expect just as delicious Chinese dishes. If you’ve had others, you’ll be disappointed. Great staff though.

Gross food, I can’t believe they are still in business.

Good Times Restaurant capitalizes on the fact that Newman is limited in its selection of restaurants. Specializing in both Chinese and American food, I know that at least their Chinese food is good… not great… just good. I look forward to trying their American dishes.

Great Chinese food! We actually get it delivered to Gustine from Newman and it still arrives steaming hot and delicious. My husband loves the onion rings.

Embarrassingly gross Chinese food, maybe they have better American food.

Here is a All-​American to Chinese cuisine Diner. Simply love it. Everything from Chilli-​Dogs to Dumplings you will find here only in Newman. Service is wonderful and very cozy. Love the fast service with a smile.

great small-​town joint for chinese food in small Newman. I dont eat anything but the fried rice man I could eat that stuff all day.

The one nice thing about the place is the variety of the menu selection ranging American to Chinese and even a mini ice cream parlor.
I decided to go Chinese and went with my default choice for all new Chinese restaurants, the beef chow mein. I judge their culinary skills based on what they can do to that dish. I didn’t expect much since the unappreciated beef chow mein is often overlooked at by the chefs and never the star and pride of the restaurant. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.
They didn’t win any brownie points either for their take-​out box. I never understood the concept of why a metal handle is attached to a box that may need to be reheated in the microwave later. As expected, the noodles looked «colorless» and plain to me with no special seasoning or flavor to it besides the 1 packet of soy sauce given (if requested). The beef was thick cut and tender just the way I like it, not thin sliced like I’ve seen in some places. Having saying that, however, the beef was disappointly cut in small proportions, a sign that tells me they’re from a small town and trying to stretch their budget. Thus, the reason why I gave them the additional star. This was the ONLY Chinese food in town or even in the nearby towns for that matter. So if you’re in the area and craving for something other than burgers, pizzas, and Mexican, you have to stop here (not as a recommendation but what other choice do you have).

I was on my to Phoenix (again) with my sister. We were driving down I-​5 and it was getting close to dinnertime; we saw signs to Newman where we lived until five years of age. Decided to see our parent’s old house on Yolo Street and get something to eat. I told the story when I was fixing my parent’s house for sale way back when about an A&W that served Linguica Burgers! We later learned that that A&W was now out of business.
First thing we noticed about Newman now is that it is about twice the size than when we lived there back when we were little tykes. Almost got lost trying to find our parent’s first house! Believe it or not!
I wouldn’t do this in a bigger city on the risk of getting shot… But we went up to our parent’s house on **** Yolo Street and asked the present owners if we could see the inside of their house, as we lived there when we were little tykes. Surprisingly they gave their consent. Learned that the present owners were just a couple of years younger than we were! If we stayed in Newman, we would have been classmates! The husband was in the Service, just like I was. Essentially, the house had changed very little since we lived there! And the present owners were very congenial and hospitable, to boot. Nice experience!
Enough of our family history! Now for the restaurant review…
We went down Main Street afterwards looking for a place to eat. Seems like most of the restaurants were Hispanic. Saw the sign for Steaks and Hamburgers and found out it was actually a Chinese restaurant once we went in (the ONLY Chinese restaurant): Good Times Restaurant.
I guess Asparagus was in season and the waitress, Rose, was pushing that a lot when we asked her what the specialty of the restaurant was. I ordered Beef Asparagus, with double the amount of Black Bean Sauce that they usually use. My sister ordered Chicken Asparagus, not over Rice, but substituted with Chinese Noodles.
When the dishes arrived, both on huge plates, we immediately noticed the freshness of the Asparagus. But the overall taste of both dishes was a general blandness. I asked for double the Black Bean Sauce, but there was no indication that the cook followed my directions. Although I did not notice this, my sister stated that Good Times Restaurant uses MSG… Got to take her word for it…
Besides the Fortune Cookies that come after every meal, we ordered some Ice Cream from their fountain. My sister tried a single scoop of Vanila, and I had a double scoop of Rocky Road… Mmm Good! My sister got jealous because she thought Rose was treating me preferentially… my double scoop looked like a quadruple mound of Ice Cream! You gotta hand it to Rose!
We found out that Good Times Restaurant was originally located in Gustine; I guess they moved the restaurant to Newman for a bigger population base.
All in all, a very good experience… Good Times Restaurant has to spice up their dishes, especially if the customer requests it. The owners were very congenial and talkative; and Rose was especially nice and helpful (she’s a cutie also, guys… but she wants to get into law enforcement… so watch it!).
Good Times Restaurant also delivers: from 11am-​2pm, and 5pm-​9pm. Rates: Free for orders over $ 15, $ 0.50 otherwise.

Good Times serves both Chinese and American food. I have only tried a few dishes here, and so far it’s OK. The Chinese food isn’t the best, but the chicken chow mien is pretty good. The pot stickers and egg rolls are also good. I tried the orange chicken and it tasted like sweet and sour sauce. It was OK, but nothing special. I have also tried a steak from there and it was way over cooked. One nice thing about the place is that it delivers, so sometimes my husband and I will just order chicken chow mien and pot stickers. It works as dinner in a pinch.