Great Wall of China II

New Paint Job

Location

223 F Street (in E Street Plaza, near Baskin Robbins)

Hours

Sun-Thu: 11:00AM-9:30 PM Fri-Sat: 11:00AM-10:00PM

Phone

(530)753-9203

Web site

Online Menu

The Great Wall of China II is a Chinese restaurant in downtown Davis. They have arguably the best Chinese Buffet in Davis. The main reason for this is that as of 2005, it was the only one to offer General Tso's chicken (also spelled Tsao). Now, a Chinese buffet isn't a Chinese buffet without the General Tso's chicken. An American creation (1972) named after Chinese General Tso Tsungtang, it's a deep-fried battered, sweet ginger-garlic spiced chicken dish.

They offer a number of other items, most of which are very good. Their buffet is $7.99 and if I remember correctly, you can get a to-go box which, if you don't waste room on rice, will fit copious amounts of whatever sort of meaty stuff you want to put into it. If you want meat, that is. They also are one of a few places that offer lo mein.

For dinner, their special is suggested, assuming you pay the upgrade to get general chicken instead of King Pao or whatever.

Dine-in dinner after 3PM is 10% off with Student ID. Local delivery is available for purchases over $20 for $5, compared to the $2 of most restaurants in Davis.

Comments:

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Drew recommends the chow mein, the fried rice, the spring rolls, and the pot stickers. I made the mistake of not reading this before I went, and I can definitely attest to the fact that the wontons are terrible. The orange (?) chicken was pretty good too. Great deal, I stuffed myself. —Drew

They have a good take-out option, I believe, with a discount. There's a family dinner with several decent dishes for between $30 and $35 (I think it includes a deep-fried flounder, soup, a vegetable dish, and a beef dish) that will easily feed 4 people if you get rice as well. I'm not sure if it's on the regular menu, though, so you may have to ask for it over the phone. —CynthiaHe

I ordered the "special dinner for one" and it was a freaking ridiculous amount of food for one person for 10 bucks. I really hate it when people post good deals at shitty places, but that's what I'm going to do now. Two people can eat easily. —JoeConte

I ate here for lunch recently, and the waiter said that you don't get a to-go box with the buffet. I noticed someone come in and order a to-go box and he filled it with whatever was left of the s&s pork, so I'm assuming you only get the to-go box if you get a regular meal and not the buffet. —DaiNguyen

"And don't forget the plastic bags." —TaylorClark

2007-01-27 15:13:48   The food here isn't the greatest, but it's the best buffet in Davis hands down. If you want to stuff your face cheaply, this is the place to do it. —ChrisMay

2007-01-31 08:50:31   Anyone want to figure out the TOGOBOX trick!? o.O —FrankYoung

2007-03-21 12:01:48   I think the To-Go box deal is that you pay for the buffet but you are not staying to eat in restaurant so get as much as you can fit in the box for the price of the buffet. I've seen people try to cheap by dumping food in the bag and was stopped by the wait staff. —HuyTran

2007-03-23 21:44:45   Pretty tasty for Davis. Of course, can't hold a candle to what you can find in SF. The folks are rude, no surprise. —KeithJose

2007-03-28 10:25:45   The food here is okay... seems like they use MSG though... but overall, it's okay. I get food delivered since I live in West Davis and the driver is always nice to me. If you're looking for largely more authentic Chinese food, go somewhere else! Most of their food is very americanized. —CalvinCheng

2007-04-08 22:51:13   It's not bad for Davis. We always order the same thing which I think is their best stuff: seven-ingredients soup, orange chicken (best OC I've had), and hot braised tofu w/ vegetables. The best deal is their lunch buffet, though. —noahsark

2007-07-16 13:31:50   Food here is good except I agree that MSG is used quite a bit which makes it taste the same at times. Most dishes are "Americanized" but I doubt many eat pure Chinese food. —BrandonToo

2007-07-17 19:10:09   I like the general chicken the way it was cooked about 2 years ago i like smaller crunchier pieces , i must say they have made improvements, for example the cheese won ton has more cheese finally awesome they do listen to customers. Also the sweet & sour chicken is good easy dish but very good and crunchy. Great other vegetable dishes also the beef broccoli is great and tender beef, they really made this place way better check it out!! —dickjones

2007-08-20 23:13:36   I took out some lo fun and the spicy garlic broccoli a few nights ago. Service was friendly and the food was good. Nothing to write home about, but tasty. It's interesting to hear comments about MSG because you can totally taste it. I will definitely ask them not to use it next time. —HopeMirlis

2007-10-06 10:27:24   I really enjoyed several of their dishes; its way better than back home in Placerville! I highly recommend it for someone on a tight budget like me, and wants variety. *Service was prompt, kind and friendly
*Lots of different kinds of great food
*No free refills on sodas
*Great Teriyaki Chicken for a (Chinese buffet)
*Sushi not so good (tightly packed, very limited varieties)
*Plenty of fried yummies

—AnnaF

2007-10-06 11:44:45   Not the best chinese food in town, I usually go to silver dragon if I'm downtown. —AlexJohnson

2007-10-07 22:38:24   I went there for the lunch buffet today with some friends, and I'd have to say that Great Wall pretty much meets the expectations for any Chinese food buffet. Heaps and heaps of mediocre, but filling food for a reasonable price. Tons of grease and fried food = a good time for a hungry college student with limited funds. I must say, however, that towards the end of my meal, my roommate found a fly, charred black and wingless, in his fried rice after he finished about half of it. For some reason, I can't say that I didn't expect something like this to happen. That being said, I'll probably come back here in the future and just hope the flies avoid the wok next time. —BrianMac

2007-10-08 13:48:05   I went here at the beginning of the quarter with my friend five minutes before they closed. The owner was so nice and served us our small appetizer. They stayed open late and did not pressure us to leave at all. They also gave us more then the 10% discount. They're dumplings are AMAZING and I highly recommend them. —dirtyblondebear

2007-11-05 08:32:00   Me and my friends often hit the lunch buffet for a chinese binge... —WillJobe

2007-12-25 17:30:25   One would expect the quality of food at a buffet to be lackluster, but not here. The trick is just to know what to get. For me, it's egg flower soup, steamed rice, general chicken, some fruit, and their tofu dish. Maybe even some jello if I feel like it. —thelonepiper555

2008-01-07 13:47:11   Got two take out items here for the first time last night. Vegetable Fried Rice was amazing. And Kung Pao Tofu was very tasty. Three meals worth for 11 bucks. —desiree

2008-06-06 00:46:35   The lunch buffet is now $8.35/ person

funny thing is... the price was at $7.55 fall 07/08. In winter, price went up to $8.10.. Now (spring 08), the price soared to $8.35

one of the workers told me items were getting expensive; seems awkward since the price went up nearly a dollar less than a year.
Well, I went to Raj's indian restaurant and the price remained the same.. woodstocks also —xcutioners

2008-06-06 01:39:26   $8.35 for their lunch buffet? That's starting to get a bit steep considering their buffet food is just OK. Honestly though, it doesn't surprise me that they are having to raise prices. Several times when I've been in there for the lunch buffet, groups of junior high or high-school kids have come in, chowed down, and then run out before the check comes. Perhaps they should re-format the buffet to pay before you eat. —RyanCoates

2008-06-07 14:24:46   To put my two cents in on the price raise, there IS a shortage of rice... and i suppose that has driven up the material price of things! Though i haven't visited them in awhile, i still crawl this page sometimes in case i want delivery... —CalvinCheng

2008-06-18 00:52:22   I found this place kind of not that great. Maybe because I had super high expectations for it, but I was pretty disappointed with the service. For chinese food that was extra greasy and just like packaged foods thrown together. Shrimp, canned mushrooms, packaged artificial crab..etc in everything. Super salty chicken..too. =/ Yikes! —MissAmyQ

2008-08-03 16:57:02   The last time I came here, I paid 10 dollars for the buffet. Hardly not worth it. —AvidSpots

2008-08-03 18:21:47   If I want Chinese (food), I'll go over to Woodland and have arguably the best Chinese Buffet in YOYO county for only $7.50. —shawn650

• but would you be spending at least that much just on gas..? AnthonyLam
  

2008-09-06 13:19:28   I got a ton of food here for a very small price. I stuffed myself, and the food was good. —ran123456

2008-10-31 16:54:51   it's cheap for a reason. —vchow

2008-11-21 14:05:05   pretty good food. The lunch special is unbeatable for 5 bucks. —manu

2009-02-20 20:03:31   Cold buffet food. Not very tasty. However, I have not had anything but the buffet, so maybe the freshly prepared items are better. —EricaMacGregor

2009-09-20 00:23:12   Ate here on a Monday night with my family and although the restaurant was empty, they sat us at a table right next to the only other people that were there... which we found strange. The table was sticky and the food was pretty terrible. But it was cheap, and they were really nice, so all I can say is that you get what you pay for. —JesBisagno