Holly’s Mandarin

What’s impressive about this place: the décor, the service, the presentation of the dishes. What it lacks: deliciousness.
Holly’s has a welcoming attitude with friendly, efficient service. The food, however, is best described as typical American Chinese, presented with decorative flair.
We each had a cup of hot and sour soup, best described as meh. Not bad, just not wonderful. Then we split a prawn and vegetable dish, described as spicy. The prawns were very good, and the dish (which was quite large) looked very pretty. It was fine, just not outstanding. It certainly was not spicy.
The other dish was mushrooms and greens, which was a variety of mushrooms and bok choy. It too was attractively presented. It was fresh and clean-​tasting. I would have preferred all black mushrooms, as these had the best flavor.
This is a good restaurant if you’re looking for a healthy version of standard American Chinese food in a pleasant atmosphere. It’s just not a taste explosion.

The food here is pretty good and the people are generally friendly. The service is a bit spotty though.
The restaurant is clean and the ingredients are fresh. Their sizzling rice soup is pretty good. The rice has a nice toasty flavor and it has just the right amount of veggies and protein, yummy chicken and shrimp.

Great food! Great service!

A great place for a celebratory lunch and dinner. A friend of mine recently gotten a job and to celebrate we decided to check dine out. Walking down Piedmont ave we stumbled upon this gem. Interior was neat and clean and a bit decorated with a chinese flare. It was between lunch and dinner hour so it was easy to get a table of our choice as we were greeted by the hostess.
The menu looked good. What stood out the most was the meal for two at a great deal. sorry I remember the price but it was moderately priced.
Appetizer: We had Hot and sour soup fallowed by Crab wonton, fried Prawn, and vegetarian egg roll accompanied by Sweet n Sour sauce and (not sure if it is) mild horseradish sauce. Artistically plated I may add.
Entres: I ordered the Kung Pao Three Combo, loaded with veggies, and again art work. The dish look amazing with its carrot garnishes garnishes. I forgot what my friend had ordered but it was a pork dish she was satisfied with LOL.
The waitress was kind and food arrived promptly as the courses progressed.
DIsclaimer, forgive me for not remembering prices and the other menu items. I was going through my Instagram account and found my old pics and felt like it was imperative to give these guys a review. the pics are from 7 months ago. I’d totally pic this place over little shin shins

I love Holly’s Mandarin! My mom and I used to visit weekly when she lived at Piedmont Gardens. Holly is a friendly host, the atmosphere is pleasant, and the surfaces are clean. I come often for lunch and the food has always been freshly prepared, hot, and delicious. The staff is friendly, and the servers are swift, and smiling. Holly’s is one of Piedmont Avenue’s gems!

After seeing the long line for a Saturday afternoon matinée at the Landmark theater on Piedmont Ave ($ 8.50 a ticket) we decided not to wait and eat chinese food. Took a stroll down the street and ended up at Holly’s Mandarin Chinese restaurant. Ordered the fried chicken brown rice, the combination noodle soup (with seafood) and the special combination meat with vegetables. Today was combination day, a little this and that.
Overall the food was tasty, not too salty and had the right amount of seasoning. On a cold day what could be better then some chinese noodle soup and a main entrée.
Good service and reasonably priced.

I’ve seen Holly’s Mandarin for years, driving or walking down Piedmont Ave., and for whatever reason I’ve never felt compelled to drop in and try it. On a Saturday with my family my dad finally decided he wanted to try Holly’s, so we stopped by for dinner.
The inside isn’t hyper fancy but it looks like the owners are trying to make the place appear a bit nicer, especially since its recent closure by the health inspectors. I was expecting the menu prices to be a little higher than most Chinese places I eat at, but was surprised to see how reasonable everything was priced. Nothing was any more expensive than I’m accustomed to paying at Chinese restaurants, and in some cases was even a little less. We went with the kung pao chicken, triple mushroom chicken, beef chow fun, and potstickers.
My only complaint was the wait staff and the time it took for our food to come out. The waitress who seated us was super nice but disappeared immediately after and no one else was around to take our order. We kept waiting to flag her or someone else down, and had to get the attention of a busboy that finally appeared, who had to get our waitress. There were only three other tables occupied in the whole place but the food wasn’t coming and the waitress apologized a couple times for the wait. Wasn’t like we waited an hour for food, but I guess they felt we were sitting too long without even our appetizers.
But the wait was well worth the food that eventually came out of the kitchen. Holly’s easily became at least my second favorite Chinese restaurant, if not possibly my favorite. The kung pao was definitely the best I’ve ever had, even had slices of jalapeño mixed into the other veggies, which were super fresh. The triple mushroom indeed had three different types of fungi, and a lot of all of them. And that beef chow fun was outstanding, also the best I’ve ever had. It wasn’t too oily, there was lots of beef, and it was surprisingly lighter than most chow fun. The potstickers were delicious, but the meat could’ve been cooked just a little longer.
The portions here for the price you’re paying are impressive. I took home what was left and had it for lunch the next day, and the food held up great for leftovers.
Highly recommend lunch or dinner at Holly’s Mandarin. Maybe give yourself a little extra time to eat here, to be safe, but I can’t wait to have another meal here.

Coworker and I decided to get lunch from this place about a month ago. ended up finding not one but two bugs in her food. I was just too disgusted to even attempt to continue eating my food. When she went back to show holly all holly said was «sorry, it’s the company’s fault who we get out vegetables from? WTF?! do they not WASH they vegetables?! (B.s response to a customer) Don’t blame someone else for your mistakes.
Update: 11÷4÷15 Improvements are being made and holly is trying her best to fix the mistakes that were happening in the past. I must say I was scared about eating there but I missed it and it was really delicious!

Really happy Holly’s is back up and running again. Was really upset when me and my boyfriend came for lunch from a long hiatus to find it closed.
The food is spectacular as always and the Chef’s beef is even spicier! Really delicious.
Their service is still top notch from any other chinese food restaurant we’ve ever been to.
Glad to have them back! :)

EVERBODY deserves a second chance. Holly’s Mandarin got tagged, learned from the experience, fixed the problem & passed the inspection to reopen.
I’m going back there today for lunch with my parents after church. Moving on…

Love their lunch special!

I liked this place. I personally don’t think you can go too wrong with Chinese food. But you can go better than usual and I would say this place was better than usual.
I ordered to-​go and the service was prompt and thorough. Though, I added shrimp to the tomato beef chow mein and each shrimp was almost $.70 (unfreaking heard of).
I ordered the Yu Shiang Eggplant and wish I would have gotten the eggplant tofu because of my need for texture but the flavor was pretty on point. But all the dishes were good and tasted even better as leftovers. The Wor Wonton Soup (they call it Combination Wonton Soup) was really good… especially the second day.
But next time when I’m ordering 6 dishes please put more than two sets of utensils in the bag. It’s the small things. ;)

I am upgrading my review from One Star to FOUR because the management was caring and professional enough to get back to me with an apology, and actions taken to rectify my complaint detailed below. And yes, the food is good!
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As my Unilocal motto states in my profile, «I value warmth and quality in exchange for my dollars and cents.» I never got the warm, exciting smile, and the endearing welcome that I observed other customers receiving. The waitress never checked on me to see if I was OK, or if I needed anything else. When I finished my meal, I had to get up from my table to pay the bill.
I like leaving good tips when eating out, especially if I am treated warmly and professionally. My attire was presentable, and my behavior was as civil. Since I was eating alone, I read a book until my meal arrive. So what was it about me that would warrant treatment so different from other customers? Ha, I’m not as naïve as this question might imply!
I brought this to the attention of the woman working at the reception desk, and she laughed it off as though my negative treatment was no big deal.
i doubt if management reads their Unilocal reviews like other responsible business owners, so I plan on writing them a nice letter explaining why my patronage is being terminated.

Apparently, this place is currently closed due to health inspections. Sad, considering that this restaurant was owned by one of my high school classmate’s family.
While this may not be the cleanest of restaurants, this is a great choice for large groups looking for Chinese food. Just a couple of blocks down from Fenton’s ice cream (where my family and I would get dessert after dinner here), this restaurant is quite roomy, and everything here is really delicious.
In general, I try to avoid what I call «White People’s Chinese food.» Meaning, the generic, greasy, Americanized crap that my mother’s cooking would put to shame. So, I avoid General Tsou’s Chicken, Fried Rice dishes (I can make this at home anytime), and regular Chow Mein.
All the soups here are great. You can’t go wrong with any of them.
Here are two of my favorite specialty dishes:
1) Honey Walnut Prawns – a dish piled high with sweetened walnuts and prawns. I love love love this dish, and usually get this whenever I’m at a Chinese restaurant. I love that the platter is piled full here, unlike some Chinese restaurants, where they kind of skimp.
2) Tea Smoked Duck – the duck meat comes nice and crispy, and not too greasy, just the way I like it. I’m particularly fond of duck legs, just because I like eating meat off bones. The pancakes that come along with this are like very thin, delicate tortillas that you can wrap the duck meat with, like duck burritos. Yum!
Hopefully they’ll re-​open? I was only here just a month ago!

***currently «closed» for suspension until restaurant meets health and safety code.
Man. Where do I begin? I have been a Kaiser employee for 8 years. Been coming to Hollys for probably 6 years and of course they cater to Kaiser. My streak has ended. A total of 6 people came here with me for lunch and we saw a ROACH on the wall, Alive and moving! We told holly and she just grabbed a napkin and smashed it like nothing. As I received my lunch I found a WHOLE ROACH in my Mongolian beef. This is disgusting. This means that place must be infested with ROACHES! Eater beware. Check out the pic I posted. Long story short, that was my last time eating at Hollys Mandarin. Trust me I have witnesses if who ever reads this may believe to be false. I know for the longest they’ve been the «cleanest» Chinese restaurant on Piedmont, but I think when you get to comfortable with making money, you forget the little details!
Worst part is she didn’t apologize, she said «no, no don’t worry the foods on the house». Lost all respect for the establishment.

Checked out reviews & photos on Unilocal today, so decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did. Placed a phone order, the man who answered phone was nice & explained the difference between their Szechuan Beef (sautéed) their Mandarin Beef (fried). I went with the Mandarin Beef, which was slightly sweet & really spicy, yum! For my taste it could’ve been a little more fried/​crunchy, but it could’ve just been that I brought it back to work with me & it got a little soggy during the ride. I really like that chow mein & vegetables were an option with their lunch special, but I wasn’t able to try the soup because like most places they won’t give you the soup with the lunch special when you take out. I would definitely have it again, & will probably eat there next time.

My husband and I went here for lunch and it was great! The portions are pretty big and the price was reasonable! Hot and sour soup was fresh and I loved my string bean chicken. The chow mein was good but the noodles were. Little to thick for my liking. I liked that they added veggies but they lacked flavor like salt and pepper. Would definitely recommend this place.

Okay my parents own a chinese restaurant so when I eat at other restaurants, I can be pretty picky and critical. But man oh man, this place was so good! Everything tastes fresh and the service is great! They even give you little sesame balls at the end of your meal.
I love the mandarin beef, anything Kung pao, and the lettuce wraps! They have a pretty big menu and I would love to try every thing!
The lunch specials are a great value for the low price. You’ll be full, trust me!

I can’t believe that I haven’t reviewed this place yet! It’s a go-​to spot for Sunday lunch after church. I have two young kids who highly approve of the mandarin chicken and the lemon chicken. I like their steamed fish fillet and my hubby always gets the salt and pepper fish.
The best part? Lunch specials start at only $ 6.50 — that’s a heaping plate of veggies, noodles or rice, and your entrée. It also comes with a bowl of soup, and on some special days, a small dessert too.
Customer service is also very attentive and friendly– which is a major plus. They definitely cater to the non-​traditional crowd, and they do a pretty decent job at it too. Décor is a little outdated, but for the price, the service and the location, Holly’s is a great lunch spot that you’ll be coming back to.

This is our usual go to place, when we want fast service, and food that’s always delicious. The family running this restaurant know our taste buds, and so they usually just tell us extra ingredients that we probably wish to be included in each of our dishes.
Holly is a super efficient, quick boss and owner, who when rush hour begins, seems to move as fast as a swift eagle, throughout the large dining area, and back kitchen. Her hubby too, slides across the area with a deft ninja like manner. However quickly they move, it’s all done with grace. Never are we disappointed with service, and the mouth watering dishes that come flying out of the busy kitchen.
Mapo tofu is so great. The tofu’s consistency is always as I desire, super silky soft. It comes in veggie too. The chicken lettuce wraps are hot proteins evenly layered with savory spices, coupled with crispy cold iceberg lettuce! The walnut shrimp too, is a sweet concoction of moist shrimp, with sweet crunchy walnuts. The savory salt and pepper shrimp, with the skin intact, is another no fail option. Plus, if you eat the outer shrimp shell, you get the added benefit of eating the healthy chitosan!
The steamed fish with ginger and green onion, is a great healthy option, and so über soft. It’s paired with a large side of bok choy. The black bean fish is another dish that fills your salivating taste buds too!
Goodness, I could go on forever! The lunch specials are perfect portions of delectable fare, that always come with a cup of soup. At the end, the owner usually gives us freshly made, hot sesame balls, filled with sweet red bean paste. Our absolute favorite Chinese dim sum sweet choice. It’s so cute and small, yet delivers a huge taste of moist sweetness, that just melts as you savor each bite within your mouth.
I really enjoy our large to small get together lunches and dinners, eaten family style, at Holly Mandarin! They even open on Holidays! :)