Royal City Restaurant & Tavern in Guelph

Good food. Made quick. Affordable

Always good food for a good price

Very affordable Canadian Chinese food, decent quality! Ordered the combination plates with some friends for takeout, each plate was $10, taxes included. Lots of food! Kind of dingy interior though. They do not have a lunch or dinner buffet anymore November 2024 update: prices for phone order have not changed (website has inflated prices), still great value and good food!

Food is great and reasonably priced. There is a reason why they have been a mainstay in Guelph forever , while others have fallen away. Always my go to. I suspect there are new owners. I ordered 2 days ago and tasted tarragon which should not be in what I ordered. I dont think they wash thier pans/woks.

Good

Parking: Anywhere parking ,plenty Food

Fast and friendly service. The food is delicious. I order from here at least once a month, and the prices are amazing.

Yummy and fresh

I recently visited this restaurant. Very clean and the price was excellent. Food was great quality. Owner was very professional and courteous. Next time I visit I will be sure to visit again since the price and quality of food was excellent. Food

Cheap and Best

Excellent food and good value. I challenge you to find a Chinese restaurant that serves your meal faster!

Very bad customer service

My go to place for chinese food in guelph

Ordered at 445, 3 eggrolls and soup waited until 550 with no delivery and cancelled the order...used to order in the past and this one of the reasons we stopped..cold food and long delivery.

Always tasty food at a great price.

Food is okay and reasonably priced but the restaurant doesnt want to open again.

The prices are good but not the quality. The vegetables were very undercooked and bland (inedible) with no water chestnuts or bean sprouts (only broccoli, onion, and carrots, again, all undercooked). The fried rice doesn t taste fried, it s just bland rice with peas. I m sure other dishes are better but the ones we got were not good and we aren t excited for the leftovers (almost apprehensive about eating them). Wok s Taste downtown Guelph is far superior (which also has relatively new ownership, a few years ago, and awesome food now).

Spring roll was spoiled, spare rips were deep fried, gristle and bone in for some reason, chicken fried rice was with canned ingredients. Best to avoid lunch menu.

The service is great the food is terrific with good portions and they are quick to bring your order.if you go away hungry thats on you keep up the 5 star service.very tastey.

I am not a big fan of Chinese food. But this is aces to me the chicken balls are almost perfect. Egg rolls absolutely delicious. Its my very favorite guilty pleasure. Besides all that the staff is wonderful. They great everyone. They are very nice to everyone. The price is awesome. What is not to love as long as Im in Guelph Ontario this is my favorite place. You guys rock fan for life. Im going to call in about 5 minutes. Thanks so much. Omg I am so upset yesterday was the very first time I ever got food from them that wasnt very good at all even when busy its be 100 percent. Last night was so upset I love food but every one is allowed 1 I still think they are the best my chicken balls were not cooked n they didnt taste right but I gave my neighbor the rest he was very happy just to have food.

Great Food

Yummy food, super quick and friendly service!

Ive been going here for a long time. I always get special dinner for 4 and sometimes add honey garlic ribs with it. Tons of food and cheap at around $51. The food is always fresh and always packaged properly. Fast as hell service too they usually have it ready in 10 minutes.

Food is always great! Highly recommend the chicken wings

Always order from here, I would dine it but that awesome buffet is gone unfortunately.

Good take out but not a good atmosphere to dine in.

Amazing Chinese Canadian food. I dont know if the restaurant offers eat in anymore but the take out is amazing. Best in town hands down.

My family has been going here for decades. I still order here and do an hour of driving to pick up the food now that we no longer live in Guelph. The price is reasonable and the food is amazing. No complaints, but Ive never dined in so I cant comment on the atmosphere.

Was very expensive will not go back and there is no buffet

Very good food and great prices.

The food is so yummy and fresh, very friendly service and extremely fast and all this at a great price! Couldn t ask for more!

We went for my husbands birthday Service was fast! The food was awesome! I had to take half of it home, though as it was A LOT! The only thing I would like to see is for them to update the restaurant part and bring back the Buffet!!

Ordered the Chicken Fried Rice, Egg Roll, and Chicken Balls. Might I add, it was only $10 for a fully customizable plate. Food was out extremely fast. The staff were nice and the food was great. Highly recommend!

Have been ordering takeout from here for many years. They have always been consistent in food quality and order accuracy. Their prices are also very competitive. Great place and people, definitely recommend. I just wish they had crab claw balls; but nowhere else in Guelph have them either unfortunately. Their hot and sour soup is the best in the area for sure.

Mmmm sooo good.

Ladies are friendly and keep track of your last order making it easy to order again.

Ordered Cantonese chow mein and it was dry. Tried calling to talk about this as it has never happened before but was told to just order more sauce next time. Wont be ordering from here again. Was my go to for Chinese but disappointed in how this was handled. I work in the restaurant industry and as such realize how difficult guests can be but if you have a legit complaint it should be taken care of

Would be great to eat in the restaurant

Good inexpensive food.

Just tried this place. Oriental foods only at this point. They do offer Canadian, just not now. You get a lot for the price paid! Food

Very impatient to take orders on the phone. No time to explain stuff. They got to do better with customer service on the phone.

Take out only Parking: Friendly service. Food : 5/5 |

Very good western Chinese food, always fast, hot and never disappoints.

These guys are the best around.

Honey garlic spare ribs are just delicious

My go to place for Chinese food, not the cleanest place to sit and eat, the dinning room is only 3 or 4 decades out of date. But the food is good and flavorful.

Good food as well as good portions for a cheap price. Recommend to anyone looking to try Chinese food. Great service too.

Got delivery, lady on the phone was very rude and disrespectful. Started calling me gUrl in a sassy voice to try to get me mad I just called somewhere else to order. Very much so avoided this place because of service for mid food. Kid-friendliness: Don t know how to speak to children from my past experiences and have 0 patients.

Had take out real good

I will no longer order from this location and neither should you. I ordered the bacon wrapped shrimp. Once, I realized it tasted off I had 2 of my neighbors try it and they Agreed it was revolting. Upon closer inspection, the bacon appeared to be undercooked and had a yellowish tinge to it and smelled disgusting. I returned the item to the store and was told I would only receive half the cost of the item refunded despite it being under cooked, an had spoiled nasty smell. I hope the $6 profit you made is worth upsetting your customer base and possibly making someone ill. Eating raw/undercooked bacon can increase your risk of foodborne illnesses, such as toxoplasmosis, trichinosis, and tapeworms. Therefore, its unsafe to eat raw/undercooked bacon. Also Bacon that has been spoiled by bacterial growth can cause food poisoning, which may result in symptoms like stomach cramps, severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, high fever and diarrhea. Telling a customer to delete a photo of a nasty inedible item you served before being given a generous offer of Half the price you paid for inedible food Is despicable. I did not delete the photo.

The best Chinese food in town .

There is no buffet anymore, the female waitress has a stinky face and looks like she does not welcome customers in!

Awesome food will fill the need

Pretty good food.

First timer. Take out Combo #3. I ve read many of the reviews and tried it anyway. Lady on the phone was indeed short and curt, typical of someone answering the phone all day at a restaurant trying to process many orders. Rude meh!? Food. 20% chicken balls, 35%fried rice, 45% low mein. Quantity was good, packed into container. Value was good given the price. $10.74 Quality was also ok/good. Everything cooked through. Not particularly flavourful. Three large chicken balls with sweet n sour. Rice had good mix of veggies and had a slightly burnt flavour, which I like. Low mein had plenty of cheap veggies/bean sprouts and chicken. One piece of broccoli. I ll try again.

They serve the food fast but the customer service is lousy very rude,doesnt even say hi or smile. It felt like the server doesnt want to be there.and Im not the only one who commented on it

Food was passable. The batter on battered dishes was much too thick. The biggest problem is that I am writing this 7 hours after eating their food the MSG is STILL keeping me awake. My heart rate is abound 90 bpm. Cant recommend.

Good customer service

Love this place been going here since high school

Ive been going to Royal city for over 30 years. Hands down the best Chinese food around. I come from Hamilton to pick up food here and bring it home. The ladies that run the place treat my family like family.

Sorry to say there is no buffet. Dine-in off the menu, pick-up and delivery still going strong. My favourite is their Wonton soup. Staff friendly.

NO buffet

Its okay. Food is fine but delivery prices are crazy. I ordered chow mein one time and it wasnt chow mein and when I called to let them know the woman simply argued me and said I was wrong. No fixing it or replacing it. Food prices arent bad

I did not like the food cause it did not have the taste like it did back in the 90s. It made me sick after eating. Did not sit well in my stomach.

I have been going to this buffet for 20+ years since I was a kid. My dad and I love this place. They no longer have a buffet so I won t be coming back anymore. They were very angry when I called and asked if the buffet was back yet

No dine in, rude walking in. Sooper dingy.

This is by far the only place to get your Chinese food in Guelph. We have tried others, but nothing has compared, so far.

Absolutely love this place, definitely my go to for Chinese food in Guelph! My family has been coming here for generations and have gotten to know the amazing people that work here. Highly recommend this place for great Chinese food at a great price!

Very good food for a great price.

My family and I stopped by to get lunch (take out). The food were delicious and very affordable. I highly recommend

The best China food

Best Chinese in Guelph. I have tried most places and this one is great. Fresh not over cooked veggies. Places looks old and worn out but the food is great. Try it!!!

Best Chinese food in Guelph

Food was nasty really gone downhill.

Been going there my whole life! Consistent, friendly, and most of all GREAT FOOD AT AFFORDABLE FAMILY PRICES!

Worse place for chinese food that I have ever eaten! would I go there again?? Never! No parking spaces marked out......someone told me to park my car in one of the spaces. that was not there. Place is drab and dark. Never again! We threw most of the meal in the garbage. More dough than chicken in the Chicken balls and very greasy. Rice was tasteless My opinion. Mr Husband liked the hot and sour soup.

Food tasted great

Weve ordered in from them a number of times. This time we went and ate in the restaurant. To our amazement the portions were even larger. Great food! Reasonable price. Will be back for sure. So glad the dining room is open again!

My go to place for take out Chinese food! The food is always so delicious, and the prices are reasonable.

I am not having a good experience with this restaurant and I dont think Ill be going back I ordered the special dinner for four which is only 37 dollars okay and I changed the chicken out for shrimp and two cans of coke with a side order of honey garlic ribs it cost me over $61 and I never got no sweet and sour sauce and nobody told me that it doesnt come with it really what Chinese restaurant doesnt give sweet and sour sauce Ive already posted on Facebook and I will post everywhere else

Great price , good food Vegetarian options: They have a variety of foods that a vegetarian would appreciate Parking: Parking is easy access Kid-friendliness: The restaurant can accommodate children without a problem Wheelchair accessibility: Everything is on one level easy wheelchair accessible

My family and I have been ordering from here for over 8 years. We have not had it for the last year or so because of covid though. We ordered tonight and I dont know what theyve done different if its a new chef or owners but the quality of the food is 10x better. The chicken wings were MASSIVE , everything was crunchy not oily and soggy. Garlic and ginger were perfectly applied to everything. The food got here quick and hot. The chicken balls had more meat than bread almost more than anywhere else Ive ordered, not sure what buddy is talking about in the other review. I think someone was just having a bad day. Honestly have absolutely nothing to complain about. Good job guys

Love the food here. Always good.

One of my all time favs!

We had the special dinner for five, it was not good. The lemon so guy was over cooked and tough, the noodles were mushy. We have been dining here for many years and this is the first time it was not enjoyable at all. Will look for a new place.

The worst place, it has gone so far down hill it is unbelievable. Service was bad food was NOT too far behind. Had to ask or water 3 times got 2 small pkg of soy sauce and 2 plumb sauce, when we asked for more the waitress just thew it in front of us. Never came back. Told her no MSG on a separate dish bc I react to it badly got MSG any way. Definitely do not recommend nor will I ever return.

Amazing food, fast service food is ready to go on time amazing work well don five stars!

They have been serving our family for over 15 years with excellent food and service.

Im a local Guelphite and Royal City has been here forever. The food is always the same quality. In my opinion it has gotten better through the pandemic. The staff are always friendly, smiling and ready to help or offer a suggestion if your not sure. Highly recommend them.

Best Chinese in Guelph! Still!!!

I have come here for years. I have dined in, dined out, and delivery. I am never disappointed. Parking: Reasonable

My favourite place for takeout Chinese and great prices. Great deals all the time and love their fresh menu.

Ive been coming here forever to purchase the American (chicken balls/sweet & sour sauce, General Tso chicken etc.) Chinese cuisine.. I drive 50 mins just to pick it up since the city i live in has nothing palatable.. Im grateful for the memories I still have when I enter the building. They will always have my business..

Good food for the price.

Best place in Guelph to get truelly delicious fresh Chinese greens not to mention the amount of oil used in the meat and noodle dishes dont create an unapitising meal as some food establishment leave there food drowning in oil. Could recommend it higher but there is only 5 stars

Decent Chinese food and lits of it. It had plenty of meat in the dishes and good flavour.

Got take out dinner for 3. Very good.

Best Chinese food in Guelph

I would usually give them a 5 star rating but not for yesterday. The beef and broccoli that I always get was very watery and flavorless. All the other dishes we got werent too bad but far below their usual food. They were extremely busy so that might have had something to with it.

Pre pandemic I loved going for their buffet. Yummy and affordable. Since the pandemic, they have been my go to place for restaurant food. I order from them every week, and I have never had a bad experience. I love their General Tao, and chicken fried rice! Its great to see a family owned and operated business still running when so many others have fallen.

We have ordered from here forever and Tonight we waited an hour and 45 minutes for supper when we called to inquire we were told no customer discount and was hung up on, very disappointing!

Nice portion size, delicious food.

Pretty decent chinese food at reasonable price

Best Chinese Food ever!

Amazing food and prices for over 20 yrs, kind people, clean great food, great quality and quantities on take, great family specials

This used to be my favorite Chinese restaurant because of the large portions and reasonable prices. However the quality of the food has gone downhill in the last year. The soup tastes watered down. Watch out as the egg rolls and spring rolls are extremely greasy and there is too much salt in the food across the board. I used to order from them once a week but have stopped. Sadly I will not be in a rush to go back.

found a sharp peice of bone in my chicken n rice. I thought it was a peice of chicken at first until i took my bite. I will not eat anymore, for the sake of my health.

Large portions.

Very disappointed, I wasted my money.

My first time here just because I was hungry and it was right there....and what a nice little surprise. The food was quite good and the proportion was very generous. The buffet was still closed so I had a takeout. I like how they prepared their fried rice; its a certain Chinese style which I like. The chicken meat balls had too much batter, but the meat in the rice and noodles are healthy portions. You WILL get enough protein here. I like how they still put their takeout food in aluminum containers which kept the food warm for a long time. I am coming back to this place and I hope their buffet opens soon also. One of the staff is less polite and personable, but Im still giving them a 5-star overall.

My family, friends and I have been to this place many times. We always get food here for family gatherings and parties. The family who owns this restaurant is really nice and provided me with great service.

Food is delicious, the staff is very friendly. Newly renovated, must have spent a lot of money, because it looks amazing! the variety of quality menu options and the love and dedication put into the food and the overall restaurant service is unmatched! 10/10 would recommend to anyone, this place is a local treasure to Guelph

Awesome food

My go to place. My entire family grew up visiting Royal City. Take devotion presently. Cant wait to visit again

We live in Exhibition Park and have known Royal City Restaurant for many years. The food is always so fresh and delicious every single time. I highly recommend making this restaurant a favourite. The staff are so friendly and very reasonable prices especially in trying economic times. Fast and friendly pick up service every single time. Thank you Royal City Restaurant!

This restaurants buffet isnt kept fresh and it gave my husband food poisoning today and me diarrhea. One of the waitresses is unwelcoming as she never says your welcome as we thank her for filling our glasses, it makes us feel ignored. The bathroom is freezing, old and dirty and the whole restaurant needs an upgrade.

The food is good, but the people at the restaurant are some of the warmest, most delightful people around.

Food is good. Service excellent

Summary: Not spectacular. We visited Royal City on a Thursday night after 8PM for some takeaway. The very large restaurant was mostly empty and the buffet had already been shut down for the day. Unlike our experiences at other Chinese food restaurants here in Guelph, ordering a few small items required an explanation of veganism and explicit details about the requirement of a lack of animal products and oyster or fish sauce. After the explanation, and asking what was suitable for us, or what could be modified we were left with the impression that there was not a lot on the menu for us, and that the kitchen could not really accommodate our needs; but we did ultimately find a few items. Our order came out of the kitchen in less than 10min, and when we got home, everything seemed ok. The fortune cookies at Royal City are vegan! The Mandarin on Woodlawn has repeatedly expressed that they can accommodate vegans, and would be happy to host us, we will try and get to Royal City to see what the buffet offers, but if we do, we feel like wed need to call first, just to make sure.

This place is not bad at all. I give this place 2.5stars. The waitress is very friendly and nice. If your craving for some Chinese food that is cheap. Go here but dont expect so high. We came here for lunch and they have variety of variant foods. We came here because I was craving for Chinese food and I want to try something else and different...

The food is what you d expect, there s decent selection. However I saw the waitress take our bill with the 2 $20 bills and come back to the table saying we only gave her one 20. We looked around on the floor but couldn t find anything. We still had to fork over another 20 after she lost it. Idk. Just seems a bit suspicious (update: its the next day and my stomach still hurts)

Nice

This is our comfort Chinese food when we are hungry and want to visit friendly owners and staff. We always feel welcome.

My go to for Chinese takeout. Food is delivered fast, and it tastes great. Perfect quantities for a large group. Although there s not a huge selection - they stick to what has been perfected.

Food lack flavor. The buffet dishes are dry. Chicken balls are nothing but breading & whatever chicken meat in it is tasteless. Even the wings are bad. There are more desert items than main dishes. The sneeze guard is dirty with smeared grease. It looks as if it was wiped by a little child using dirty towel.

Amazing lunch buffet always hot and fresh

Fresh and tasty! Fast delivery and friendly staff. Best Chinese food in guelph! A repeat customer. Ordered dinner this weekend for my mums birthday and it didnt disappoint as always! Thank you.

Not great. Food on the buffet was old and didnt taste very good. The restaurant is old and dated. Ive heard the take out is really good, but from what I experienced, I wont be going back.

No complaint here :)

Food was good. Service was fast and efficient

Pretty much the only functional Chinese food take out in town that taste good

Best takeout in town. Best delivery in town. Best bang for your buck.

Our go to for Chinese party tray take out in Guelph.

Great food and price.

Great food fast service

Best Chinese food in Guelph!

Weve ordered takeout here a few times now. Portions are always very big. When we ask for spicy, they deliver. And faster than any other chinese food delivery weve ever had. 100% recommend.

It amazing friendly and good food

Whenever I go to Guelph I always stop there...good food and friendly staff!

I eat here fairly often, its not the best but i think they are reasonable.

Good hospitality... great food!!

A great spot for a Chinese fix on your pallete. Simple tastes for the price. Salad bar could be improved.

Good food , was happy with prices also

Really good. I ve noticed that unlike another place in town (well now defunct), they make takeout orders fresh on demand. The other place use to just fill containers from the buffet.

They didnt really have much of a selection but what they did have I was craving. We went in at 7pm on a Tuesday and there was only a couple and a lady there (Im assuming theyre slow at this hour). Take out was fast and sizzling hot. Large portions and so delicious. I got the beef lo mein which had loads of beef and vegetables the way I like it with the perfect amount of sauce on the noodles. I like that they are open later on Sundays than most places

Legit the BBQ Spare Ribs are quite delicious and tender. With all the right parts to tantalize. Lo Mein is a well rounded dish.

Always fresh and reasonably priced

Needs salad

Great place to order Chinese food. Always fast.

Best deal on dinner for 4 . Cheap and good food

Bad all round. Little variety. Food looked a bit stale and the place looked even more stale. I guess you get what you pay for though because the food is very cheap for a buffet.