Best Chinese Food in Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Virginia — updated August 21, 2026
Eight Chinese restaurants in Charlottesville, ranked by what the ratings and review counts actually support, from a downtown dumpling counter open since 2001 to the Route 29 takeout rooms.
Listings verified
Charlottesville's Chinese restaurants split cleanly by geography: a couple of specialists downtown near the Mall, and a run of long-standing takeout kitchens strung along Seminole Trail and the shopping centers off Route 29. The ratings split just as cleanly, and the gap between the top of this list and the bottom is real. Below, eight places ordered by how strongly the evidence backs them, with hours noted because several close earlier than people expect.
1. Marco & Luca Dumplings
The highest-rated Chinese kitchen in town on the largest well-settled sample: 4.6 across 430 reviews, which is proven rather than promising. Family owned and operated on West Main Street since 2001, it works from a deliberately short menu of dumplings, cold noodles, buns and chicken curry, so ordering takes about fifteen seconds. Doors open at 10:30 AM Monday and Tuesday and close at 8:00 PM, meaning it is a lunch and early-dinner proposition, not a late one. If you have never been, order dumplings and the cold noodles together and share.
2. Peter Chang China Grill
The most-reviewed Chinese restaurant on this list by a wide margin, with 623 reviews behind a 4.1 rating. That volume matters: a score that holds up over 600 opinions says more than a higher average drawn from a few dozen. It sits in the Barracks Road area at 2162 Barracks Rd, and the takeout operation runs 11:00 AM to 8:45 PM seven days a week, so it is the reliable answer on a Sunday when other kitchens are dark. Expect a fuller Sichuan-leaning menu than the dumpling counter downtown offers.
3. Oriental Express
A 4.5 rating, but from 186 reviews, so treat it as strong and still settling rather than established the way the two above are. The kitchen is at 3440 Seminole Trail, north of town, and Yelp lists it as closed on Mondays with Tuesday hours of 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Lunch specials run 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM and come with a spring roll and rice; they are not offered on weekends or holidays, which is the detail most people get wrong. The veggie egg roll is listed at $1.95, fried cheese wontons at $7.25 for six.
4. Ming Dynasty Restaurant
A 4.1 rating from 318 reviews puts it in the same tier as Peter Chang on score, with about half the sample supporting it. It is at 1520 Seminole Trail and runs from 11:00 AM to 9:30 PM, giving it a later kitchen than most of the field, including the downtown dumpling shop that shuts at 8:00 PM. That makes it a useful option for a dinner that starts after work rather than instead of it. Crab rangoon is listed at $7.90. Menu categories cover the standard range of fried rice, lo mein, chow mein and mei fun.
5. The Red Lantern
A middling 3.9, but from 395 reviews, which is a lot of consistency in one direction: this is a known quantity rather than an unknown risk. Tucked at 221 Carlton Rd, it keeps the longest hours here, with takeout Tuesday through Thursday 11:00 AM to 10:30 PM, Friday and Saturday until 11:30 PM, and Sunday from noon to 10:30 PM. Monday does not appear in the posted hours. The specialties list leans fried and shareable: whole chicken wings, chicken sticks, jumbo shrimp, drumsticks at $8.75 for four.
6. Taste of China
Also 3.9, from 389 reviews, so it sits alongside The Red Lantern on both score and sample size. The difference is location and format: it is in Albemarle Square at 612 Albemarle Square, open every day from 11:30 AM to 8:30 PM, with a separate lunch menu running 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM. The all-day menu reaches into higher-priced territory than most takeout rooms in town, with smoked chicken listed at $17.95 and fish fillet at $32.95. Come for lunch if you want the cheaper end of the menu.
7. Szechuan Restaurant
A 3.6 rating over 285 reviews, which is enough volume to call it settled, and settled at a lower level than the places above. It stays on the list because it opens at 11:00 AM and runs to 10:00 PM per its Yelp listing, and because the lunch service, 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM, includes an egg roll and fried rice with the plate. Find it at 2006 Holiday Dr, off the northern end of town. The menu is broad, with separate pork, poultry, seafood, beef and vegetable sections.
8. Jade Garden
The thinnest evidence here: 3.6 from 146 reviews, the smallest sample on this list, so the rating is less settled than the others and worth reading as provisional. It is the only entry on the south side, at 1139 5th St SW, and it is closed Mondays, then open Tuesday through Thursday 11:00 AM to 9:30 PM, Friday and Saturday until 10:00 PM, and Sunday from noon to 9:30 PM. Lunch runs 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Wonton soup starts at $4.05 and vegetable fried rice at $7.75, which makes it the cheap, close option if you live nearby.