4. Restaurants

JJ Chinese Restaurant

2500 W Alameda Ave, Denver, CO, 80219
  • (303) 934-8888
  • Store is closed

JJ Chinese Restaurant Menu

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  • Kimmy T.

    This establishment is dirty, outdated, the service sucks but I sure do love the food. My meal usually consists of Salt and Pepper Squid, Honey Walnut and Mayo Shrimp, Beef Tendon, Garlic Fried Pea Spouts, Whole Fried Fish, Fried Rice and House Special Crab or Lobster. The crab and lobster are buy one get one free or 2 for $23. Sounds too filling? I'm a fan of the Hot Pot here as well. Order individual items such as beef, fish, veggies, noodles and cook them in a simmering pot of stock at your table. They have the 'normal' Chinese dishes as well if you don't know what to order like sesame chicken, ribs, lo mein, etc. They have dim sum but I don't think it's really the best. If you need something, don't be afraid to flag down a server or you may be sitting there for a while. Sometimes you have to ask for things a couple times. Sometimes the service is pretty decent, other times it's horrible.

    (4)

  • Melody F.

    Best Cantonese food in Denver and definitely the best late-night Chinese dining. The owners changed this year and they got rid of the super inexpensive late-night menu. Food still tastes pretty good despite the change in ownership. We order anything salt-and-peppered, the beef tendon stew, the seafood and tofu pot, and the steamed fish often.

    (4)

  • Neena W.

    I guess this is not a place for everybody. JJ Chinese does offer good dim sum options, but not necessary the dim sum cart experience that many have enjoyed. No dim sum cart here, you will need to order dim sum from the menu. For those soft-shell crabs fan, the soft-shell crabs dish here is excellent. I will designate JJ Chinese as my place to go for curing the soft-shell crabs crave.

    (4)

  • Sophie L.

    Came here on Chinese New Year and had a good experience. It's a smaller space than some of the other chinese restaurants in the area. We had 1/2 Peking duck (plenty for 2 people) and it was delicious. Must try! The seafood with crispy tofu was okay. The tofu part was great but too much corn starch. Definitely want to come back and try other dishes and dim sum.

    (4)

  • Lisa K.

    We love to go for dim sum when we are in town for the weekend. After a few average, at best, experiences at our old favorite we decided to try JJ's. What a nice change of pace! We were only the second table when we arrived just before 11AM on a Saturday. But that did not last long, it filled up quick. They quickly sat us, gave us the various menus and a pot of tea. Now keep in mind, while this is dim sum, there are no carts. I wasn't sure how I felt about that at first, but let me say it was great. We ordered exactly what we wanted (the menus have pictures, if you need) and it was prepared fresh and brought to our table HOT! Not old and cold from sitting on a cart to long. We tried the following: Pan Fried Turnip Cake with XO sauce Fried Shrimp balls - done a little different than other places... least favorite Pan Fried Noodles with Chinese Broccoli and Sausage - dry style... favorite Steamed Scallop Dumplings Capelin with Spicy Salt - little fried fish... love them! OX soup - not for the faint of heart as it contains many organ meats... my BF is a little more adventurous than me! This was a LOT of food and we took a mountain of leftovers. But that's OK we wanted to get a good sampling of what they offer. There are so many other items on the menu that I can't wait to try. They also have the live fish/lobster/shrimp/crab in tanks. We'll have to try the lobster special for dinner some night.

    (4)

  • Melissa C.

    I really appreciate 2 major aspects of this restaurant; the fact that the dim sum is made to order and therefore extremely fresh, and the fact that you get the same portions and quality as other dim sum restaurants at a lower price point. It was much quieter and more relaxed than your typical cart service place, and that was a great deal for my hangover head. Although a bit empty at first, the restaurant started to fill as we were finishing. Even though some of the flavors weren't especially to my liking, I would definitely come back not only for the quiet ambiance, but also for the savings.

    (4)

  • Riza H. C.

    Saturday April 19th 2014. Time : 10:30hrs ish. Thank you Cheryl for organizing. Thank you Cynthia, for ordering. YES this establishment is OPEN, during the Weekends at 10:30hrs. But when we arrived there at that time, ERR, the Entrance DOOR is LOCKED! Gasped! Ohh NO!! What are we going to do?? Thankfully, one of the staffs opened the doors for us, coz we have been waiting like about 5 to 10 minutes before this establishment schedule to open. With 10 other Yelpers who are into DIM SUM, to JJ Chinese Restaurant we went. Yes, this establishment have DIM SUM just WITHOUT THE CARTS.. So you have to order from the Menu given by the staff. From what I could recall we had the following items : * Shrimp Har-Gow * Scallops Dumplings * Crystal Spinach Dumpling * Pan Fried Turnip Cake * Shrimp Rice Noodle/Crepe Roll * Fried Sesame Seed Ball with Red Bean Paste inside While the rest at our table, have the following items. These items contain PORK, so I DO NOT eat these items : * Pan Fried Pot Stickers * Pan Fried Leek Dumplings * Pork Siu Mai * Sticky Rice In Lotus Leaf * Steamed BBQ Pork Buns We also opt to have Oolong and Chrysanthemum Tea that morning as part of our beverages. The Staff also provide water for everyone at our table when we requested them. They have the "Thick Chili Paste" as part of the condiments if you request it from the staff, but it was NOT Spicy enough for my liking, and hence can make or break my Dim Sum eating experience here. All in all its the COMPANY that counts. As for the FOOD personally, the texture of the dough especially the Dumplings OR the Shrimp Rice Roll, could be slightly thinner for my personal taste bud, but in this case JJ Chinese Restaurant offer the "thicker" version. I like the Fried Sesame Seed Ball with Red Bean Paste inside, since those are my favorites that morning. Furthermore, it was FRIED, came out HOT and DEFINITELY Greasy! Remember the food can take awhile to be prepared, cooked, fried, steamed in the kitchen from the order you made. Hence do give them some time. Thankfully we had the WONDERFUL Yelpers to engage with good conversations all around. To boot, the Dim Sum that morning with tips and tax was $11 per person! SCORE!! Left this establishment at about 12:15hrs ish that afternoon. They are open 7 DAYS A Week. * Mondays - Fridays : 11.00am - 12 Midnight * Saturdays - Sundays : 10:30am - 12 Midnight JJ Chinese Dim Sum Seafood Restaurant 2500 W. Alameda Ave Denver, CO 80219 Tel : (303) 934-8888 @85/2014

    (3)

  • Fei Y.

    Waiting for 30 minutes, got an appetizer and a SPOILED dish on the table. The waitress just took the spoiled dish away, didn't tell us what they gonna do. I already took coupe bites from the dish, hopefully I don't get sick from it.

    (1)

  • Amanda D.

    Turtle soup was rare so I tried it... hmm interesting taste. I really liked the jelly fish appetizer and wood ear mushroom stir fried with celery. My mum had the shrimp dumpling and chicken feet dim sum; she said both were gourmet and it only costed 3 each. Really good service too...I am going to try their fresh eel etc...

    (4)

  • Sara M.

    This is more like a 2 1/2 star review and a bit hard to judge because of several disparate qualities. JJ was a different dim sum experience for me in that they do not use carts but you order off a menu. For a large group that can be a problem because you need to commit on volume before seeing the style of the items and it takes quite a while to reorder if you need more. It is also easy to over order something that turns out to not be what you were hoping. The entrance to the restaurant was quite disappointing to me as it is filled with rather unappealing and smelly fish tanks. I also found the dining room small and dark and they barely opened on time. However, of all of the dim sum places our group has gone this year, they did have what I consider to be the very best version of a shrimp and chive dumpling of anywhere we ate. This alone gives them most of a star! There were several other items that were tasty but rather plain and one or two that I found inedible.

    (3)

  • Andrea R.

    Horrible, the worst Chinese food I have ever had period. I had to throw out $50 worth of food.

    (1)

  • Jacqueline T.

    Love this place--definitely the best Dim Sum restaurant I've found in Denver so far. The building is old, dingy, and unassuming, but the food is just outstanding. The menu is extensive, and there is a huge selection of seafood (they even have jellyfish on the menu!); although I've never gotten around to trying it, as I can't get enough of the garlicy baby bok choy, dumplings, steamed buns, and fried tofu. Definitely not for the squeamish, but if you're into Dim Sum, you will love this place.

    (5)

  • Cyn C.

    I came here with ten other yelpers to enjoy some dim sum. We were given tea and ice water (after requesting) pretty quickly. Dim sum is ordered off a menu, no carts here. Though some may miss the carts, I prefer my food to be cooked to order so that it's steaming hot when it comes to the table. What I remember ordering/inhaling: har gow/shrimp dumplings (huge!) shrimp rice roll/crepes spinach and shrimp dumplings - yum sao mai (pork dumplings) potstickers (long ones, not the super doughy kind you usually find- really good) chinese chive and shrimp dumplings (EXCELLENT) turnip cake sticky rice in lotus leaf scallop dumplings bbq pork steamed buns sesame balls (filled with red bean paste. these are very large!) Everything was inhaled pretty quickly. I was particularly impressed with the potstickers and the chinese chive/shrimp dumplings, which were pan seared on both sides to give it a bit of crunch. Also, for those who do not know me, it is VERY HARD to impress me with a potsticker. These are not Lao Wang potsticker good, but by far, the best I've had in a full menu Chinese restaurant in Denver. Service was quick and friendly (relatively- friendly for a Chinese restaurant). They cut our turnip cakes so it was easier to share. Price: we got multiple orders of the above dishes, b/c we were such a large group. For this feast of deliciousness, each of us paid $11, tip and tax included!!! To sum up: An excellent alternative to the two super popular dim sum places if you know which dim sum dishes you like. Quieter and smaller than the larger restaurants. So dirt cheap, you feel like you stole something. I will be back!

    (4)

  • Joe Y.

    Dim sum wasn't all that great. No carts so it's slow cooked to order and Star Kitchen is where you want to go. Price is good ranging from $2-5 for dim sum plates. The seafood however is legit here. BOGO lobsters for $23 or Spicy Salt crab looks pretty good too. This place opens late and it's more of family sit down restaurant that can get crowded due to a limited number of tables. Website says Chef is from GuangZhou.

    (4)

  • Danielle L.

    This is a pretty authentic chinese restaurant. You definitly wont get orange chicken here! It can be a good and a bad thing with this place though because they have a large amount of pictures for each dish. It can be helpful but a little overwelming at the same time. So if you want something good you can always ask the servers there. Itll be helpful though if you know chinese. lol I did appreciate that when I got my tofu dish, I tasted it and it was a little sour. I asked if I could get a new tofu dish and they went back and got me something a lot tastier. That was greatly appreciated. They have fish tanks filled with large fishes that a few of them look like theyre dead. So, be careful on what you order from their fish tanks.

    (3)

  • Tianyi L.

    Several friends and I came here for Sunday dim sum. It's a much smaller establishment compared to some of the other dim sum restaurants in the immediate areas (there's about 10 tables total in a very tight space). Hence, there are no dim sum carts. Instead, you order off a dim sum menu and then they cook it on the spot (which takes anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on what you order). Because of this, the food is much fresher than the dim sum on the carts, which may have been sitting there for five to ten minutes as it makes its way around the restaurant to your table. Here, the dim sum is literally hand delivered from the steamer to your table. In addition to the standard dim sum fare found in all dim sum restaurants, there are some unique items on the menu that we ordered, such as the enoki mushroom and beef udon hotpot and the baked & fried peking duck. Lastly, the prices here are somewhat cheaper than the dim sum restaurants in the area. This is due to the "specials". An example of this is the shrimp har gow, which is offered at a significant discount during typical dim sum hours.

    (5)

  • Hanh P.

    This used to be my go to Chinese restaurant... The food is great. Service is horrible... But that is to be expected right? Well here's why I am giving them n a 1-star. Health hazard!!!! I was in the bathroom with my son doing his business. There's was an employee in the stall next to me for a very very long time doing their business... When I was washing my hands... She came out... And DID NOT WASH HER HANDS!!!! bye bye to one of my favorites... I don't want your hepatitis someday.

    (1)

  • Sean V.

    This review based on taste, food quality, and overall value (which is what I base my ratings on). Best authentic Chinese food in Denver (in many ways, best food) at prices that 'fine dining' cannot conceive. I come here often, too often. I am accustomed to/enjoy 'weird'-to -American-palate ingredients, and this has delivered every time with balanced, delicious flavors across the board, with the exception of one night (this is out of hundreds of visits). It's not fancy, you'll have to work with the servers at times (but they're at least keenly interested in your needs), but it's among the short list of most satisfying food experiences I have in Denver. Value is exceptional.

    (5)

  • David + Lindsay H.

    Two-flavor hot pot with 8 ingredients for less than $50 bucks. Does that sound good to you and 1-5 of your closest friends? Yes? This is the place for you. 3.5 stars. Rounded to 3 because I checked twice to make sure the car was locked before going in. The beef is phenomenal. I'm suspicious of the color, but marbled well and sliced so thin that it cooks in seconds. Egg noodles taste fresh. Pea sprouts are a must. Bak choi was great. Fried tofu and Chinese broccoli might be worth a pass. Wontons were decent. You are dropping fifty on the table and walking out, this isn't an episode of iron chef. There are thirty or forty more items (including intestines of at least two different animals that I'm sure won't be needing them any more) that I can't comment on, but when the plates come out, rest assured they will be heaping--they use the common trick of laying down some bean sprouts to help them appear even MORE full, but these guys don't skimp... And did I mention that with tip you are probably still walking out with all this for less than fifty bucks?! Cons: decor, atmosphere, location, soullessness Pros: polite and friendly staff, yum satay broth, and tasty effen hot pot that will keep YOUR intestines where they belong, all for less than 50 bucks.

    (3)

  • Shashu B.

    Food was pretty good for Colorado Chinese - unfortunately they were out of a bunch of dim sum when we went. Overall it's worth the trip - friendly staff and good fresh food.

    (4)

  • Nick S.

    Salt and pepper shrimp were the show stopper. We had so many different things and they were all tasty. Good service and tasty food means I'll be back.

    (3)

  • Ray K.

    Pan fried noodle Wonton noodle soup Onchoy with Malaysian souce ask for Dim Sum menu.

    (4)

  • Lucy S.

    Was totally underwhelmed by the food here. We had crab wontons, steamed pork dumplings, chicken fried rice and pork fried noodle. None of it was tasty. There was very little meat in our orders- the pork looked like canned cat food: tiny, frail pieces in tasteless gravy. The chicken fried rice only had salt on it- no spices or flavors. Lastly, there was hard crab shell in the crab wonton. I will not return here.

    (2)

  • Lily S.

    Dim sum used to be better before they changed chef. Last time I visited a lot of the items on the menu were out... If you have the time (usually 40 min), get the Frog Legs Clay Pot Rice, it's well worth the wait as they make it right as you order it. Can't get more authentic than that! I'd rate JJ's 3.5 stars.

    (3)

  • Jessica W.

    I am not sure what's big fuzz about this restaurant being great. I ordered from their Dim Sum menu on a Saturday morning. There was not a soul in the restaurant. Across the street, the Empress Restaurant's parking lot is half full. This is just an observation. I ordered four simple items from their menu: Fish filet congee, beef ball, fat noodle roll ( 腸粉) and Shang Hai dumplings. Fish filet conger: the best of all four. However, I am not crazy about the way they handle the filet. It's all almost like there's a coating of flour or something to protect it. The taste was alright. Beef ball: yuk! They should rename it Beef Blah, because that's what it is. You can't see the balls, but a blah of stuff. The big problem comes when the beef taste powdery. Either they didn't handle it well or the beef is not fresh. Fat noodle roll: It doesn't have the conventional texture. I am not sure what's the chef's approach, but the noodle stuck on my teeth and a bit gooey. Not good. Finally we the biggest failure of all four, the Shang Hai dumplings. The dough is mushy and all four of the dumplings broke at the bottom, so the juice all leaked out. The taste is rather blend. Every restaurant has its strength and weakness. Apparently, Dim Sum is not JJ's strength. I'll go back to try their lunch menu to see if it's as disastrous.

    (2)

  • Doug H.

    After more than five years since my last review, it's probably time for an update on JJ's. After a couple of years there where JJ's seemed to just be going through the motions, things are starting to improve again. It's like they've gotten a second wind: the food is noticeably better, the wait staff is friendlier and helpful. And it's still one of the highest value restaurants in the city; they don't charge a lot for a meal, especially at lunch. For late night diners, it's always a good bet. Where else can you get a fine hot meal at 10:30 at night? (I think they're open til midnight every night). The menu is huge (really probably too much variety), and it's authentic Chinese cooking. I've been a customer of JJ's for more than 12 years (when it was still on Federal), and I'd say they are the best they've ever been.

    (4)

  • Angie R.

    We tried again... Crab Rangoon were just ok. Nothing special. The sweet/sour sauce that came with them was not typical. I liked it. The dumplings (pork with broth shang hi maybe??) Were good. Nice and juicy. The fried tofu and seafood Hotpot was really good. I do not like tofu, but he does. The seafood was great! Baby octopus was delish! We also got an order of combination fried rice which ended up feeding us the next day. I'm glad we tried it again. We will be back!

    (4)

  • Phung L.

    This place is as authentic as it gets when it comes to Chinese food. You want sesame chicken? Go to Panda Express! The menu here is extensive and you can order some exotic stuff like turtle soup? O_o it's not too bad actually...think pork with a subtle fishy taste...hot pot here is always good. They also close at midnight which is always a plus...

    (4)

  • Jimmy W.

    Wow this place is legit. I haven't seen a restaurant serve frogs since I was in Guangzhou. I recommend the roasted duck, ox stew, beef fried rice noodles, and BBQ pork. If I lived here I'd be back to try more. Denver is lucky to have this place. And the prices are so reasonable, it's insane.

    (5)

  • Lezlie U.

    Good food and nice servers. I went during lunch time and still received quick and friendly service. Its a no frills place, but its worth checking out.

    (3)

  • Shawn L.

    Great, authentic,FRESH Chinese. Had noodle soup, sweet and sour chicken and a beef and mushroom hot pot. All were excellent. My new favorite place for Chinese.

    (5)

  • Robin M.

    Two-for-one lobster ($19.99 total for two lobsters) is a steal -- and it was the best lobster I ever ate. Some of the credit has to go to the wonderful preparation with ginger and scallions. There are other ways to order the lobster which all sound good. You must get both lobsters prepared the same way. At this bargain price, it makes sense. We added Shanghai noodles and thought the contrast was outstanding. There is actual curry flavor to the noodles here, not just a yellow tinge. So delicious -- it's become one of our new favorites. Note, the late-night pricing kicks in at 9:30 p.m. If you are a night owl, this is a wonderful option. You can get the $19.99 lobsters any time, however!

    (5)

  • Amanda M.

    I guess I'm not an authentic Chinese person. First off, the fish tanks scared me. There was one half-dead orange fish with HUGE eyes staring at me as we were waiting for a table. I had nightmares about it. We also shouldn't have had to look at that thing for 10 minutes while waiting since the place wasn't full. They just told us to wait, for no reason. To be honest, I wanted American-Chinese food, so I wasn't all that enthused about going here, but I did want to try somewhere new, and this is what my husband suggested. We ordered the pork buns, vegetable lo mein, garlic chicken, and short ribs in black pepper sauce. Pork Buns=Good and sticky. Lo Mein- Not what I was expecting. They use thin noodles, not crispy-but dry as if they were stale. The noodles also had a slightly fermented taste about them. I don't know if that's how their lo mein is supposed to be, but we each took a bite and regretted ordering them. Garlic Chicken- I wanted a light garlic sauce. Instead it was a thick sweet orangish sauce that tasted nothing like garlic. More like sugar and bamboo shoots. It's all I could taste. Short Ribs- These were actually quite tasty, but they are sliced thin with the bone left in, so it's hard to rip the meat off with your teeth while using chopsticks. A knife was definitely in order. My husband got so frustrated trying to eat these, he gave up. So over $40 later and 3 dishes only partially eaten (the lo mein virtually untouched) we will not be returning.

    (2)

  • Ellen L.

    We used to go to JJ's all the time in L.A. so we're happy to go here when we want seafood and have a large party.

    (4)

  • John M.

    Love this place! We are not night owls, usually arrive here for Sunday lunch and often are the only folks in the establishment that speak English. Families eat here in large groups, generations, once has four generations sitting at a large table. Authentic, things you will not see on menus in "typical" Chinese eateries, so be brave and try some of the exotic offerings. The turnip cake appetizer is wonderful. They do have wifi, ask for the password.

    (5)

  • Nancy A.

    This is definitely the best Chinese restaurant in Denver. Very authentic and delicious. Took my mom and sister here and they LOVED it. My mom can't wait to come back here. She is very picky about Chinese food so this place is definitely top-notch. They offer an extensive menu of authentic Chinese dishes. And lots of fresh seafood dishes. Haven't been here for dim sum yet but they offer all their dim sum dishes for $2.38. Definitely the cheapest I've seen in Denver. They also have daily specials like buy one get one free lobster or crab. It's hard to find good Chinese food so I was happy to have found this place. Definitely give this place a try.

    (5)

  • Jessica L.

    I come back a year later and this place is STILL AMAZING. You come here and order AUTHENTIC Chinese food folks. None of that (although addicting) panda food. It's like going to an authentic taco stand and wanting to order a hard shell taco. You just don't do that!! What I got 1. Deep Fried Flounder (I think. It's a deep fried fish) so delicious! their batter is always deliciously crispy and crunchy. I LOVE this dish so very much!! It's a whole fried fish! Inside of that crunchy breading is perfectly cooked fish. Top it all off with some of that sauce and you are set! 2. XO Razor clams (they didn't have clams with black bean sauce, sigh) I've never had razor clams before and I found them to be very good. Slightly chewy like a clam, but you don't get any of the minerally taste from the clam's insides. 3. Scallops with some leafy green vegetable. (it's not bok choy, or chinese spinach. I have no idea what it's called) YUM! You just gotta try this place out! They have a lot of pictures too, so don't be shy! If you're super nervous then bring along a Cantonese or Mandarin speaking friend. Everyone has one! haha. P.S. Also, keep in mind that you aren't in a Michelin restaurant. You are in an authentic Chinese restaurant where the focus is the food.

    (5)

  • julie n.

    Service was great...staff refilled water and switched out plates promptly despite being very busy on new years weekend. Lobsters were buy 1 get 1 at $22.99 each Salt and pepper lobsters...very good! lobsters in XO sauce...it was ok, dry salt and pepper rub was better Mom was very disappointed in the hot pot. The vegetable broth and the spicy broth are both very bland. And had snails...a bit salty but pretty good!

    (4)

  • Moni L.

    Hooray for JJ's! I've been eating here since they were at their smaller location on Federal. I have to say though that the food isn't as great as it was before. Well, I take that back, it's not consistent. I think the food is great some days, and a little off on other days. I still enjoy it though. The seafood is truly fresh and amazing. Like everyone has pointed out, you can pretty much pick and choose the seafood until it's prepared to your liking. The staff is not as attentive as you'd like sometimes, but that goes with great places with semi ok service. Overall, I'd continue to come here.

    (4)

  • Nara O.

    One of the best places to eat Chinese food. I love the steamed fish, lobster dishes, and snails there.

    (4)

  • Jon W.

    I first dined here while working on an election in 2010. Ever since on my few trips back to Denver I have spent at least one meal here. Why do I always come back? Two reasons: good food and affordable prices. Let's start with the Dim Sum. For the most part, the Dim Sum is fairly well made. The pork spareribs had just enough spice from the jalapenos and flavor from the black bean paste. Shui Mai were on par to many places I've had in California. Even the congee has a good flavor and nice consistancy between the rice and the broth. The one thing I was disappointed at was the turnip cake, which could have been fried a little bit longer for some outside crunch. And at $2.18 for any small, medium, or large (but NOT deluxe) Dim Sum, it's very affordable and almost rivals places around Los Angeles for value (and beats Super Star, hands down) The Wonton Noodle Soup I also tried on one occasion was pretty good too. The broth was not too salty and there were a ton of veggies along with my wontons and noodles (a big plus). For $5.95 it was definitely affordably priced and filling. I have also tried some of their stir-fried chinese broccoli and pea sprouts, both of which were done very well. They were both cooked with lots of flavor without overcooking or undercooking the veggies. The bonus? It's a family run restaurant with a very nice manager (and possibly, owner?). When I requested Portuguese Egg Tarts, she dutifully informed me that they were not ready but that I could come back in 15 minutes with them freshly made and in a to-go box for me. They apologized as well. After a brief walk to the supermarket I came back 15 minutes later with it all packed up for me and thanking me for my patronage. Now that I live in Denver, I'll definitely come here more after. Good food and affordable prices that rival many Chinese restaurants in my home town of San Diego. What more could I ask for?

    (4)

  • Robert M.

    What can I write that can best describe this amazing place to you? Firstly, this is one of my most favorite places to eat not just in Denver, but all the U.S.A. During the 90's my job was to travel this nation and I had a $20,000.00 per year budget for food on the road. I loved finding the special, truly ethic hole-in-the-walls that my nose would lead me to in every city. I've also been to Vietnam for five weeks to check out their food. The trick is trying to find those places that don't necessarily cater to the "honkies" (yes, I'm a honkie) but are true to their own ethic ways and it is where you also find those ethic people eating. JJ's is much more than a "Chinese" restaurant as this is a true "Hong Kong" style restaurant. This is NOT your typical gross American-Chinese place that most honkies seek out, so be aware! This is a place that attracts all the various Chinese people, Vietnamese, Korean and Hispanics as well. It is a rare type of Asian food that can do that and as such JJ's is a true "foodie's" jewel in Denver. JJ's offers several different menus, depending on the time of the day. Opening at 11 AM daily, they start with a special Dim Sum and Lunch menu. This might not be Denver's best place for Dim Sum, but it is very good and very reasonably priced. Known for their live seafood, much is kept at the entrance of the restaurant and is the first thing you will see. Usually they will have at least three types of live fish, eel, Dungeness crab, lobsters on hand. On some occasions they will also have live shrimp, scallops, clams, frogs and more! And then they also serve a lot of seafood that has been frozen, but there's nothing wrong with that, if it is done right. They do it right here! During their lunch hours 11 AM to 4 PM and then again during their late night menu being served from 9:30 PM to Midnight daily, you can get the BEST FRIED FISH DEAL in all of Denver!!! One whole deep fried flounder for only $6.95! Yes, that's correct! This is a perfectly fried fish, with a wonderfully light batter that bubbles up around the fish. The tail, fins and bones crispy and tasty enough to eat! Perfect white, steamy flaky fish that is served laying in a small pool of flavored soy sauce and thinly sliced scallions. (Now just take some of their chili garlic sauce and a little soy sauce, mix together and eat with the flounder.) During the lunch and late dinner hours, some of Denver's best food deals are to had right here. Between all their menus, there is probably more than 300 items! So it is difficult to tell you about all the wonderful things they serve here. They also include a house soup and dessert with your meal. (Not with just Dim Sum though.) I love their fried whole shrimp in a very tasty "salt and spice" coating that is more crispy garlic than anything else. They can use the same style for their squid, soft shell crabs, eggplant & shrimp, the live crabs or lobster. It is a must try! Though most of the times I go here I am by myself, this is really the place to bring a few friends and then share some wonderful dishes. Stay away from the non-Asian things that honkies order like Sesame Chicken, Sweet & Sour anything and the like and you will have a great meal! JJ's is primarily a seafood place, but they do have all things you would expect at an Asian place. Chicken, duck, beef, pork and lamb. If you like cumin, like basil and you like lamb, you have to try their cumin, basil lamb! Thinly sliced lamb perfectly sauteed in an amazing basil heavy cumin sauce with green onions! Wow! They serve the large family style soups where you boil your own meal at your table. This is very popular there. All and all JJ's is a very enjoyable experience for both seafood lovers and lovers of Asian/Hong Kong style foods. Whether by yourself, with a friend or a group, you will have a great meal here. In the last year they won a very prestigious award of being one of the Top 100 Chinese restaurants in the US!

    (5)

  • Kathleen A.

    Few things about JJ's - this is legit chinese food. If you want authentic dining, look no further than here. However, if you aren't Chinese they will treat you like shit. Also, if you order off the American menu, they will also treat you like shit. After a long camping weekend all I was craving was Americanized Chinese. Perhaps it's my fault for suggesting to come here knowing this is a legit type place. Regardless, just because I don't order the authentic stuff it does NOT mean you can completely ignore my table and cater to everyone else around us...people who ordered long after us all had a table full of food before our lone order of dim sum even came out. This last visit left a horrible taste in my mouth. I will not be back regardless of how good their food is. I would also suggest going to Star Kitchen which is close by. They will always give you top notch service regardless of race or what you order, as how a place should be.

    (2)

  • Diane N.

    As a regular, here's my walk-through: (+) Lunch menu prices/Happy Hour menu begins every night at 9:30 PM (+) JJ's closes late at 12 AM (+) Happy Hour dinner includes a broth/soup (+) 95% consistent, good Chinese (not Chinese-American) food (+) Menus are in basic English Recommendations: (+) Shrimp with Spicy Salt (I prefer eating it with the "shell-on") (+) Crab Fried Rice (buttery, fluffy, flavorful) (+) Lo Mein (this is not the Americanized fat noodles but a thinner, crisp egg noodle) (+) Chow Fun (I prefer the "dry-style") (+) Lobster in House-Special or French-Style sauce This is not where you dine, if you are looking for a PF Changs or Panda Express. In fact, you may not find your favorite sesame chicken made the way you would expect from an Americanized establishment. But, if you have the guts to venture into someplace new (i.e. abandon your privileged inhibitions about how people should act or eat) & surf Yelp reviews to help navigate the menu, you may find glory at JJ's Chinese Restaurant.

    (4)

  • MJ L.

    A solid 4-star! As others have said, this place is rather authentic. We were given three different menus: The one-pager with chef's specials, an authentic chinese menu (thickest of the three) and the last one which seemed to contain your standard americanized chinese menu. Oh, I forget that there were also 1 or 2 one-page menus on the table, under the glass top, so I guess we had a total of 5 menus. As you can imagine, it was quite a task to look through them all and decide. We all opted to order from the big boy (authentic) menu. Among the three of us, we ordered 2 dim sum plates to share and 3 entrees. Deep fried custard buns were just delightful! The radish cake pieces were delicious as well, especially a quick dunk in soy sauce and chili paste. The three entrees we tried were beef hot pot, tofu and scallops in black bean sauce and the third one was fried shrimp (can't remember the name). The fried shrimp was crispy and seasoned just right. Beef hot pot was also delicious but the rice cakes were rolled up rice noodles - they didn't have much flavor on their own and be warned, the texture may not be for everyone. I happen to love the gloopy, gloppy and maybe even slippery chewy texture of the rolled up rice noodles (think softer tapioca pearls), but it wasn't for my dinning companions. The beef and gravy part tasted pretty damn good though. The tofu and scallops in black bean sauce was great, but I think that the dish could have used a little thicker and saltier sauce. Also, because both tofu and scallops are on the softer side, I found myself wanting a different textural ingredient or something... Regardless, I was happy to taste all three. The portion size was pretty darn big that we ended up taking home half of everything which I happily ate for the next couple of days for lunch. The 2 apps and 3 entrees costed us about $57 before tip so the value is good as well. I can't wait to go back and try 100 other items on the menu!

    (4)

  • Dave C.

    First time to JJ Chinese and let me say....BRAVO!!! We had the twin lobster in ginger sauce simply amazing. Also had the Shrimp in Lobster sauce which was equally great. Very friendly service and not very crowded on a Tuesday at 5pm which was fine for us. I did have the Xiao Long Bao, while they were tasty, they were not the soup dumplings I remember from NYC.

    (4)

  • Justin A.

    Greeted by fish tanks and the unpleasant aroma of fish, lots of fish nevertheless, you know you aren't going to get your traditional Americanized Chinese food. JJ i'sn't a place you would go and order like Panda Express or others. Their menus only include very limited English with no descriptions of the item. While they do offer dishes such as Sesame Chicken, that is not their focus. If this is your first experience at a Chinese seafood restaurant, go with someone who knows how to order. Everything we ordered was good...Soup, fish, and even the American dish I ordered. Service was also pleasant. The waitress was nice and was pretty attentive when she needed to be. She didn't speak much English, but that wasn't an issue.

    (4)

  • David C.

    I am a little reticent to review JJ's because I want to keep it on the down low, but they really do deserve the recognition and praise. The chef in the kitchen must be from Hong Kong, or at least the San Gabriel Valley, because he knows how to make a down home meal. The lunch special is such a great deal. Not infrequently do I cave to a sudden craving for peking spareribs and honey walnut shrimp; at half price for full portions it's not hard. The fried whole fish is also a really great deal and a really great dish. They also have a "xiao ye" menu, which is basically the meal at midnight in the street market. The prices on the menu are awesome, but haven't made it out yet to take advantage. If anything like their lunch special menu, though, I'm sure it's great. Dim sum I've only tried once. It was okay. Not our top dim sum place in Denver, but pretty decent, especially if you don't want to battle crowds. They had pig feet marinated in black vinegar on the dim sum menu, which you don't often see. It was good too! Oh, their "bao's" as in clay pot dishes are good too, sort of half stew half dry dish cooked in basically a Dutch oven. They also had a $20 for 2 lobsters cooked one way (a few bucks extra if you wanted them prepared differently). We usually got them in ginger onion sauce. The other choices are like salt and pepper or black bean, I think. It was (is?) an awesome deal, got us through a period of random lobster cravings without too much damage. In short, JJ's is really solid. The prices on their special menus are also really good. I'm kind of surprised that there's such a good main dish sort of place here in Denver, but I was surprised at the good dim sum too, so there you go. We refugees of the coasts can survive quite well here thanks to Federal Ave. So Yelpers, don't go rampaging in your epicurean hordes on my favorite Chinese restaurant in Denver, like you have to Lao Wang's and Star Kitchen. Just enjoy in moderation! (Fat chance :)

    (5)

  • Anna C.

    JJ has Dim Sum now! It's pretty fresh even though it doesnt roll around in little carts like the other bigger dim sum places. Did I mention they have 4 menu books?? This place must have 100+ dishes. I'm impressed! I'm a fan!

    (4)

  • Richard C.

    View sad fish in tanks Stench of death wafting through air All night stomach pains

    (1)

  • Robert L.

    Ordered Beef satay, it was very very oily, veggies were tough and rice was just ok. But fish tanks were fun and the wait was short.

    (1)

  • Jen W.

    I almost never go out for chinese food. Being chinese, I guess I have a hard time believing that there is any really truly good non-Americanized chinese food anywhere in Denver. A friend had suggested this place, and after not being able to decide where to go for dinner, the SO and I settled on this restaurant. We were early (for once) for dinner -- showed up around 6pm on Broncos playoff day. There were only 3 other tables of people there at the time. We got a pile of restaurant menus - lots of stuff to pick from! The first thing I noticed was all of the "weird' stuff they had...preserved egg, chicken feet, jelly fish, etc...the first sign of a "real" chinese restaurant! LOL. And they had PEA SHOOTS! We ordered a clam hot pot, the house special crab fried rice, pea shoots, and turnip cakes. It was all good, and we had leftovers that were still good the next day. Service was actually really good too. The missing star is for the obviously-very-large-and-very-dead fish in one of the tanks that we saw on the way out. I would tell you which fish you SHOULDN'T order, but I don't know what it was. I'm going back with my parents in a week for Chinese New Year's...if they've cleaned out the tank and gotten rid fo the dead fish (let's hope so!) by then, maybe I'll give them the last star.

    (4)

  • Brian B.

    They prepared the food fast and were very friendly here. The pork lomein was decent and the sesame chicken wasn't sniper fresh, but the sauce was tasty. If I was in the area again, I would come back, but I would not to out of my way.

    (3)

  • Ellen C.

    It's been like 5yrs since I visited this spot. I got a gift certificate for $25 thru Restaurant.com so I thought I would give it a try. The ladies were so NICE! They don't have ladies pushing carts of food to you, rather they take orders of the Dim Sum or any other items on the menu. We totally went overboard and will probably have left overs for 2days, but I'm glad bc the food was really delicious. We ordered the following. - Shang Hai Dumplings - Scallop dumplings - Shrimp Egg Roll - 2 orders of House Baked BBQ Pork Buns - 3 large orders of Shrimp Rice Noodle rolls - 1 Shrimp dubmpling things - Jelly Fish - Snail w/ Basil and Black Bean Sauce Our favs were the Snails, all of the dumplings and the Rice noodles. Even my 6yr old picky eater was digging the Snails. We will definitely return here. Great customer service.

    (4)

  • Michelle K.

    There's not much in the way of decor or service in a place like this, but you're not really here for either of the above. It's just Chinese food, as real or as watered down as you feel like. The nice thing about this restaurant is that you can order freshly picked shrimp from one of the fishtanks and have them sauteed in garlic and served on top of glass noodles. That was the highlight of our recent visit to JJ's, although they do have decent shumai and the bean curd with shiitake mushrooms and black bean sauce was also pretty good. I'd definitely come back for more of the fresh garlic shrimp.

    (3)

  • Amanda G.

    I'm from LA and one of the things I miss most is being able to get tasty food at all hours of the night. I was stoked to find this place on Thursday. They serve yummy affordable food until midnight! We were craving noodles at 10:30p and this place delivered well. We had Chow Fun Singapore Style and Chicken Lo Mein. The Chow Fun had great flavor but wasn't very spicy and the Lo Mein was some of the best I've had in Denver. Both were under $8. I agree with Anna, for a min. I thought I was back in Los Angeles. What a great find. This place isn't fancy, they have fish tanks when you first walk in (although the seating area is nicer than the fish tanks originally lead you to believe), and the parking lot is small. But! The food tasted great, the service was friendly and fast, and the portions were large. I'm a fan of this place and I'll be going back again.

    (5)

  • Nathan B.

    be careful last time I ate here I got a reallllly bad case of food poisoning. I even know what it was it was the shrimp eggrolls. They were over fried and even had a spungie texture. I didint even get half way through one. I was sick for 3 days. I told the waitress they were bad and she didnt even want to take them off the bill. I finally got her to after going back and forth with her. They also had pork in them which was not listed. The two people I was with were muslum so Im glad I tried them first. But not glad I ate them!! This place is nothing special at best

    (1)

  • Doug Y.

    They've hired a dim sum chef from San Fran and added a dim sum menu. I might have to say that the har gow and siu mai may be the best I have ever eaten. There was 3 medium sized shrimp in the har gao and the siu mai was country style chunky pork with mushrooms and shrimp. The danh taat may be the best in Denver with a flavorful custard and a caramelized top. I actually said, "yeow this is good!" after I took that first bite. The dim sum menu may not be as extensive as others but so far, what they do they do really well! BUT! Just don't tell everybody else in town. Let's keep this between us. I don't want to stand in line to eat here any longer than I already have to!

    (5)

  • Milt W.

    I have been to this restaurant a couple of times. The food is good, and the staff is friendly. Today I had the "house special pan fried noodles". The noodles were like pan fried noodles should be, thin and crispy. The noodles were served with vegetables, BBQ pork, shrimp, chicken, fish, and an unknown kind of shellfish. It was all very tasty, although I wish they had not put so much sauce in it. Both times I was there the customers appeared to be mostly Chinese. This is an authentic Chinese restaurant, and I recommend it without reservations.

    (4)

  • Ruth B.

    We went here for a friend's birthday, with about 15 people. Wasn't a problem at all!! This place is great for really big parties. The circular tables are the best! Fantastic service, great food, and suprisingly a ton of stuff my boyfriend, who keeps kosher, could eat! We ate our faces off for $12 a person, including tip. Not bad at all! I will defenitly come back here for dim sum again . What a surprising and excellent find!

    (5)

  • Hans O.

    This review is just for their dim sum, I will keep going for their lunch special deals and late dinner. Went down there on Sunday, and it was pretty empty; service was attentive and fast. Dim sum verdict: It didn't impress me, siu mai and hargow were slightly bigger, but hargow filling was falling apart, and didn't have enough seasoning in it, siu mai was normal. Had the charsiu bun, bun consistency was good, not overly sweet coating but filling was overly sweet and quite garlicky than usual. Got some fried shrimp, and it was not good, shrimp was small and without the head, batter contained turmeric and not enough corn starch / rice flour, ending up in a soggy fried shrimp, same happened to the salt and pepper squid, squid was slightly worse because inside was mushy and uncooked batter. Prices are slightly higher and no carts...

    (3)

  • Bryan O.

    I had a great late night experience last weekend at JJ. I needed a chinese fix and it's nice to know JJ stays open late 7 days a week. It was my first solo visit and I have to admit their menu is a little intimidating. My waitress was very helpful and actually allowed me to add XO sauce to Beef Chow Fun. I'm certainly going back and will coninue to take the advice of my server. I even noticed (I think) the owner of an additional unnamed authentic Chinese restaurant who was dining in which makes me feel assured we're getting good quality. Anyone have suggestions for new things to try?

    (4)

  • Mei H.

    Try the lobster deal! We also loved their razor clam dish, but too bad they don't always have it.

    (5)

  • Mary D.

    My boyfriend recently said to me, "Before I met you, I never ate at JJ or Mizuna. My life was wasted." 'Nuff said. The XO noodles are addictive, and the squid with spicy salt turns me into a squealing, greasy, garlicky mess. In the best possible way. Try the late-night cheapo menu with a bunch of friends--they're open 'till midnight every day of the week. Also, the servers are super nice, and really patient with obnoxious, loud white people.

    (5)

  • Ted P.

    This place is excellent. The selection is enormous, the food solid+, and the feeling of authenticity palpable. I've been in here 3 times in the last two weeks, late at night, and almost everybody in the place is speaking Chinese. The waitresses (no men) are very nice but the service is terrible. Gotta love that they are open til Midnight every day except Tuesday. Easily the best place to eat at 11pm in Denver, IMHO.

    (4)

  • Scott D.

    I had the house special lo mein which had lots of seafood and amazing barbecued pork!! I also had steamed dumplings that were hand rolled and amazing. I am a Chinese food snob because it seems that the places back east are superior. But, this place makes me feel like Im back in china town in Boston. Lot's of fresh seafood!! The prices are very reasonable also with a late night menu too!

    (5)

  • Thomas S.

    After being treated like dog crap at Chopsticks, my party needed to find someplace fast that would satisfy our cravings for Chinese food. Luckily, my friends at Yelp have said good things about JJs, so we found ourselves here late on a Saturday night. We were seated immediately, offered some tea and water while we rooted through their two dinner menus. Yeah...I really hate long menus, which is why I tend to avoid Chinese restaurants outside of Dim Sum. Additionally, this menu does not look like your standard Chinese restaurant menu - you can't get those americanized Chinese take-out favorites sold at PF Chang's and their knockoffs. You know, those breaded and fried pieces of meat served in sugar sauce? Not served here. Instead, you get many ways of preparing fresh fish, frogs, crabs, lamb, duck and many other goodies. Our menu went like this: 1) Peking Duck - awesome! served with steamed fluffy pancakes and hoison sauce, the duck was cooked to perfection, thin crispy skin with succulent flesh - this duck rivals some of the best that I have had in SF's Chinatown. 2) Green Beans w/ XO Sauce - yea for veggies! The beans were also cooked perfectly, providing a little snap and a lot of flavor. 3) Turnip cake w/ XO Sauce - I like this dish a little better at Star Kitchen. Regardless, this makes a great appetizer and a dish that everyone will like. 4) Lamb chops with black bean sauce - Lamb chops on a chinese food menu? I'm in. 5) Whole deep-fried fish - I had to try some fish, since this is a seafood restaurant. They fried the bejeezus out of this fish, leaving the skin tenderly crisp. Fortunately, the meat was flakey, juicy, and full. One of the table favorites. 6) Porridge with egg and pork - classic favorite. I'd like to come back and try the many, many menu offerings. I was impressed with the prompt friendly service that complimented the fact that each dish was incredibly delicious.

    (5)

  • Zack W.

    I have yelped this place beforehand. It's really my second choice of the night. It was not the best foods but the choices were impressive. I met up with 2 friends for dinner. After going through the menu, they picked their favorite American dishes... sesame beef and curry fried shrimps. I ordered slice beef with udon in hot pot. We also had Shanghai dumplings and hot and sour soup. We did family style... sharing all dishes. First, the foods were kind of typical American taste. Even the hot pot (not sabu sabu or clay pot) was OK, with brown sauce and boring flavor. They do serve sabu sabu but at the wrong price range... same for the limited Shanghai dishes. They charge $4 for 4 Shanghai dumplings (xio long bao). I think it's hand made and they must be very proud of it. It came broken on 2, with juices wasted on the base. The taste was ordinary. I had better and cheaper in LA suburb ($5 for 10). The rest (wait service, cleanliness, ambiance) were mediocre. There were still clients dining after 8 PM. So diners, it's OK if there are no other choices. They open till midnight while the others don't. I wish them luck and I don't have plan to return... I can easily find other places as appealing if not better.

    (3)

  • Noah N.

    Ok first of all...... This is NOT American Chinese! Not by a long shot. But if you want the most authentic Chinese. This is the place in Denver. I have been going here well before they relocated to their current location on Alemeda. Back then it was much more rustic. A real hole in the wall gem. The great part is now they have a nicer ambiance and the food quality has gotten even better. Here are some of the things I have tried here. I have had the crispy fried garlic frog legs. Really good and very garlicy. JJ's uses fresh garlic sprigs (the top green shoots off the bulb). They chop these up and flash fry them. They are then paired with the frog legs and a bed of rice. Very different and very tasty. Frog legs have a neutral sweet taste to them. Snake soup - the soup has the consistency of sweet and sour soup with a rather bland taste. Add some salt and pepper. Its good for the adventure but not as a must have. Turtle soup - Another item good for the adventure but short on taste. I would order it again. But I don't think it was anything to write home about. Taste of the meat was sweat and chewy. Stir fried duck tongue - ok got this on a whim. Because it was a WTF is that? I figured hey......... why not no bones to deal with I can just eat and add hotsauce if needed. Well the plate comes to me and there before me are 20 or so little tongues. I bite in only to discover..... there is a bone in the middle of duck tongue. I still ate it, but what a let down. But now I know, and so do you. If you are in the mood for a food adventure. Go to JJ's There is normal and unique. The food is fresh and sometimes you can pick out of the tank what you want to eat. See you there.

    (4)

  • Breahna G.

    My boyfriend, my friend, and I decided to try this place based solely on the positive Yelp reviews. I ordered the Sesame Chicken, which was really good. However, our service was really, really bad. We walked in and noticed all of the fish tanks, which were really dirty. It took us quite a while to get seated, even though there were available tables. Our waitress asked if we'd like water or hot tea. We said, yes we'd like both. She brought only hot tea and no water, so I eventually asked for some and she seemed pretty annoyed. My water was gone when she brought my meal, I asked for more and she never brought any. She never came back to ask how our food was or if we needed anything. We also didn't receive any condiments that all of the other tables had (salt, pepper, soy sauce, hot chili, etc.) so we had to borrow from another table. She also never took our menus, so they were in our way the whole time we were eating. My friend received his Mongolian Beef way before we had rice or plates, so he ended up eating his food cold. Another Asian couple got seated after us, ordered before us, and left before us. That sucked. Also, the Asian girls next to us had to constantly stop the waitress (the same waitress as ours) and ask her for things. I'll never eat here again.

    (2)

  • Edward T.

    Have been fairly impressed with this place on several recent visits. I have been impressed with almost every dish we've tried here. standouts are the eggplant and tofu stuffed with shrimp and the tofu and fish hot pot. Dim sum was also very good too except for the shanghai dumplings which were mushy. They have tanks of live seafood in the front typical of cantonese seafood places. A little disconcerting were a couple of dead fish floating around in he tanks. Parking can get a cramped on the weekends.

    (4)

  • Boroka B.

    Yeah, JJ's is bound to be an interesting experience. I have been coming here biweekly since 2000, as I used to study Tai Chi less than 1/2 mile away from the restaurant. So, after each class, we would head over for their late night specials. I really liked the food, until I noticed that their "live" sea food is more dead than alive. Sometimes, there are dead specimens floating along the barely breathing ones in the dirty tanks, and it always made me wonder which they would give me if I ordered seafood... The tanks look like they are years overdue for cleaning too. Also, there is a waitress (the older one who transitioned with the restaurant when they moved to their present location) who seems to positively hate "round-eyes". Unfortunately, I am one of them. I noticed that if I went with Chinese people, she would ooze nice. If I go by myself, or with westerners, she is crazy rude. Literally THROWS the food on the table! She does not seem to have an overly good memory of faces though, because you would think she would remember then to be nice to regulars consistently. There are a few other waitresses, and they are super nice and unlike the one mentioned above speak enough English to understand the order, but unfortunately the mean one seems to be always there. :-p Speaking of consistency... I can't say that the food is consistent at all. Some days, it is fresh, others you get a feeling that you are being served something that was made 2 days ago. So yeah... Flip a coin, and if you feel like a gamble, visit JJ's. You could walk out happy, or shaking your head and swear that you will never return...

    (2)

  • Jerry S.

    This is the only place to get authentic Chinese food. This is the real deal folks. Trust me I'm Chinese. The seafood is as fresh as can be, since you can see it swimming around still. Be adventurous, and try something different. This is not your usual Americanized Chinese food, no sweet and sour pork here. Here are some suggestions; Lobster w/ ginger and scallions, oysters with XO sauce, snow pea tips w/ garlic, pork shank with hair fungus, braised pigs ear and tripe, and seasonal live shrimp. Yummy! Just have an open mind, everything's good. Happy Eating!

    (5)

  • Greg T.

    2nd time is the charm (been back a total of 3x's during my 2 week stay)! Love the service here, and the fish fillet and tofu skin was so well prepared and distinctively flavored that I have to give this place 4 stars for a Colorado restaurant. I'll have to write more when I'm not on my iphone.

    (4)

  • Maria M.

    Fantastic authentic chinese food. I'm deducting one star for their inability to do easy substitutions and over charging for a simple side of fried tofu ($8.95!!!)

    (4)

  • Alan Y.

    The only good Chinese restaurant in Denver. Thats my opinion and I'm sticking. Don't go if your looking for American style Chinese food. If you want the real thing this is the place..

    (5)

  • David S.

    Legit Chinese food. If you are looking for sesame chicken, go somewhere else. This is the real deal only. Enough said about that. My four year old loves it here.

    (4)

  • Hamilton B.

    I sympathize with Francis Y., but JJ's has always been consistent for me. I also know exactly who Francis Y. is talking about...if she doesn't recognize you as a regular, you're pretty much hosed. The problem is you have to go there like 10 times before she recognizes you. Then, she's all smiles. I've never tried to send something back, however. The other waitresses are extremely nice. Come here for the seafood. The other stuff on the menu is fine, but why waste the opportunity to eat fresh (I mean they are walking 'round the tank one minute before you eat them) shrimp. The fried whole crab with garlic tastes so good it'll make you want to slap your mama. The fish fried rice is delicious. I usually get a fried or steamed whole fish (they call it "gray fish" so I'm not sure what it's really called...except "tasty"). They throw giant chunks of garlic in the stir-fried vegetables...yum. Ok, it's not seafood, but order some cold, pickled chicken feet if you're up for something weird but surprisingly good. Downsides? There is a funky smell in the back of the restaurant toward the bathrooms--don't go back there. The place is a bit rundown looking. If they haven't cleaned the wall of tanks holding your lunch/dinner in a while, you might lose your appetite. All that said, I've never had a bad meal here. You won't impress your date by taking them here...this place is for people who put (sea)food before all other considerations.

    (5)

  • Andrew W.

    You would think Denver would have more Chinese restaurants downtown. JJ's is the best and only I found close to LoDo. Located in a sort of China-town district (just one city business block) JJ's is not street level, you have to look up and take an elevator/stairs to get there. I did not order anything too untypical, so I can only rate my simple beef fried rice with egg drop soup. Very good flavor, served on fancy Chinese print plates, wonderful service and great Chinese feel décor. I do expect to eat here again.

    (4)

  • Eltonovna E.

    Okay so the past couple of orders weren't bad except for....what was it bits of sea shells or hunks of sea salt in my plain beef fried rice? Whoa, wtf! And going on sundays is something weird too. It's not that busy and you seemed to get ignored for a good 10 to 15 minutes just waiting to place an order, wtf? They literally walked by me not once, twice, three, but six times (I was counting). They even LOOKED at me they even stood at the counter for a second or two but didn't even ask about taking my order. Seriously? Again, the place wasn't busy, in fact a total of 8 customers were eating. I had to wave at the lady and tell her "uhhhhh I haven't even placed an order yet?????" Food is alright, aside from whatever that was in my rice, but the service...now that was a bit ridiculous, seriously. I guess it's off to find a new place! The tanks are clean, FYI, and they're restocked with loads of crabs again.

    (2)

  • K R.

    WORST SERVICE and FOOD EVER! We got seated. They were kind of busy so we were understanding of that. We tried to get their attention a few times, but still busy. But when 2 other asian females who spoke the language came in. They got seated right away and was given tea right as they sat down. When we have been there longer. Took them about 15-20 minutes to realize that we were there sitting and finally gave us tea. Apologized to us. FOOD SUCKS! I don't know how people say this is the best place to eat. Their Hot and Sour Soup and Mongolian Beef SUCKED! It was bitter. Like it was missing some spices. The only good thing in that place that was made right was the Shrimp and Eggs. Get your palettes straight people!

    (1)

  • Sharon H.

    JJ Chinese Resturant never disappoints, I think they have the best Chinese food in Denver. We went there last night for dinner and had a great time. Great food, great price and good service. You can't ask for more. Highly recommend checking them out.

    (5)

  • Allen P.

    This place does great seafood dishes. The fried lobster stir fry is a family favorite and my older cousin gets it everytime there's family in town.

    (3)

  • Maria T.

    While this place may not have much curb appeal, the food inside more than makes up for it Prices are reasonable, food is well prepared Cantonese style, (no Chino-American) and portions are generous. The staff is efficient in the Asian way. Not too friendly, but not brusk. They just don't engage. Its a cultural thing, not personal. Their lobster special is a great value. We have had many different dishes here and have returned at least four times. Very authentic. We will return. Also, for variety, try Star on Mississippi and Federal on the Northeast corner. They are equally impressive.

    (4)

  • Connie W.

    If you are looking for P.F. Chang's, DON'T come here. JJ's only serves "real" chinese food. I have been to both the old and new locations and liked the older place better. The head waitress/host is kind of cold but if you are used to rude service at SoCal chinese restaurants, it will feel like home to you. I do think that she is nicer with Chinese folk who speak mandarin/cantonese as the first time I went, I spoke Chinese to her and she is ultra nice to us with each subsequent visit. Also, there's another waitress there who is really pushy with recommendations when you have a larger party. Great, great food!

    (5)

  • Mal O.

    I love this place! It's as Chinese as you probably can get in Denver (while still being able to have an English menu...) and I think the fact that my husband is usually one of only a few blond people in there is a good sign! I always get the Lobster special (2 for 19.99) and last time we weren't sure what kind to order and the Chinese waitress came and told us in her very pushy Asian way to order xyoiu (we really did not much understand other than salt something) so we ordered what she said and the salt crusted Lobster was heaven! I also love the wonton soup there. I adore the fact that they have so many Chinese dishes that you normally do not find in a regular Chinese restaurant. I certainly recommend this place!

    (5)

  • Caroline C.

    We decided to check this place out after I saw the recommendations on the "All things Chinese in Denver" talk thread (thanks, Lori M and Doug Y!). If you're a General Tsao's/Lo Mein kinda guy, you might want to give JJ a miss. The menu offered a huge and mind-boggling array of dishes, most of them completely unfamiliar to me (duck chin anyone?). I was most interested in the hot pot menu (you select your basic broth, then choose which items you'd like to go in it. Items range from regular pho-style meat and veggies, to jellyfish, frog, turtle etc) but I admit I was a bit daunted, so I decided on the "ready made" beef hot pot with enoki mushrooms and udon noodles ($12ish). He was uncharacteristically brave, opting for eel in black bean sauce (eel @ $22.99/lb). The server brought a couple of eels in buckets to the table for him to choose (I'm not squeamish but... ugh...) and twenty minutes later, there it was on a plate in all its glory! I don't really want to dwell on the eel experience - I'll just say he enjoyed it. My hot pot was scalding hot, fresh, delicious, and large enough to feed two people. While the decor isn't lavish and the atmosphere is lacking somewhat, you know you're getting the real deal at JJ. Our server was super helpful and attentive. We'll be back!

    (4)

  • sarah o.

    Two words: Hot Pot If you've never had Chinese hot pot, I highly recommend that you look it up on Wikipedia and then proceed directly to JJs. I like the rest of the food there pretty well, but the hot pot........ love it!

    (4)

  • Ken L.

    Authentic Chinese here. When driving down Federal just look for the yellow sign! Parking usually is bad if you go during dinner hours as the lot is kind of small. Decor, not really the best but aren't we here to eat??? Anyways, for dinner you usually get a free starter soup that is in a form of broth and some light vegetables. Don't expect a hot and sour soup or egg drop or anything as this soup is the traditional type Chinese restaurants are known for. I have eaten a ton of items on their menu and the notable favs definitely is the lobster when they have their 2 for 1 specials. Go for it served with spicy salt and also do it with onions and scallions. One thing they cook very well is the Frog legs Fried rice clay pot. If you order this, make sure you either allow extra wait time or call in advance. I think that this is also the case for the peking duck, though I still like the Peking duck better at King's Land. Many of the items they offer with OX sauce is good and fried tofu is also good... I can keep going on and on here folks. One thing that I do notice is when I order their fried type items, my throat would really get dry afterwards so I stick to one fried item only when ordering. Another plus is the free dessert item. It is usually a sweet red bean dessert or a small slice of coconut jelly (also nice). Lastly, a secret from Foodie Lu...shhhhhh. After 9 or 9:30PM or so, I believe there is a special happy hour menu with select items (quite a few, in fact) that are a good value and will extend the budget for your eating experience. Look for it!

    (4)

  • Rama W.

    Great food and a very accommodating wait staff. My wife was just diagnosed with Celiac and they adjusted the food without any hesitation. Food still tasted great and you can't beat the price!

    (4)

  • W H.

    I am quite partial to getting quality authentic Chinese food versus the Americanized sweet syrupy Chinese food you often find in suburbia and in the trendy parts of town (e.g., Little Ollies and P.F. Changs). So naturally, JJ Chinese would be such restaurant to appeal to my tastes. I've been to JJ Chinese on a couple occasions, probably around 6 or 7 times. I was most impressed whenever I ordered a seafood dish. The yellow eel in hot pot at the market price was among my favorites. It was quite unique being served bone-in. Let me say at the time I ordered the eel the fish tanks in the front looked much cleaner than my latest and last visit there. I ordered some spicy clam dish in a hot pot on another occasion; the sauce was nice, but there was some sand in the clams, not entirely pleasant. Serendipitously I ventured to JJ Chinese on the Chinese new year and ordered the razor clam, which to my surprise they finally had. The past couple times I tried to order that dish but they were always out of it and I could see why. Unlike my other clam experience at JJ, the razor clam had no sand in them and had a texture unlike any clam I had eaten before. Meaty yet soft, and they paired nicely with the spicy sauce it was served with. The shrimp with spicy salt was indeed an interesting dish, although I found it to be rather strong. I recall only have two meat dishes at JJ. One was the Lamb with XO sauce or some spicy sauce and the other a beef with rolled noodle casserole type dish. The lamb had a lot of fat on it, more fat than meat perhaps. I had the lamb at Chopsticks bistro and it was very lean. Chopsticks China Bistro serves authentic Schihuan cuisine, so we can't argue authenticity as an issue for an excess of fat on the meat, especially on a shredded meat dish as this was, granted many bone-in items have the fat on them, but that's different. My first experience didn't steer me away from making the mistake of ordering meat dish a 2nd time. It was a sort of beef noodle casserole with brown gravy-like sauce. The beef like the spicy lamb had tufts of fat surrounding the meat, and the sauce reminded me of instant gravy I put on mashed potatoes, not something I'd find even at a PF. Changs. The only meat dish JJ did right was the snake soup... Yes, snake soup. Probably half of the times I've been to JJ I've gotten the snake soup; initially out of curiosity, then habitually with no inhibitions because it was honestly a delicious delicacy of snake, chicken, and mushrooms in a savory thick almost gravy-like broth. The mushrooms provided much flavor to the broth, I believe they were shitake mushrooms. The chicken and mushrooms provided chewy textures while the snake provided a crunchiness, a meaty crunchiness similar to jellyfish (which I've also had a JJ). It was also consistently a good dish, until my latest and last time at JJ My latest and last time there proved to be quite unpleasant. A true litmus of the quality of a restaurant is if you can get a good meal there no matter the day or the hour--weekday, weekend, holiday, it doesn't matter. I figured I'd settle for my usual snake soup and try a different entree and got the seafood fried rice with XO sauce. The snake soup was thinner than I remembered the other times I have ordered it and there were no mushrooms or chicken in it. The seafood fried rice was anything but exciting. In retrospect, I could feel myself getting sick with each bite, which culminated to me vomiting a couple hours later. Let me put this in context, I have a cast iron layer surrounding my stomach metaphorically speaking. I've had XO sauce before and have eaten funky foods in 3rd world countries with no problems. The only thing I could hypothesize that led me to vomit was something was tainted in their food. Let's just say those things on the bottom of the fish tanks out front probably aren't barnacles, and should have been a red flag for me eating there in the first place. This place would be about a 3.5 out of 5 a couple months ago, having had both the good and the bad after a couple goes. But seeing what I can only assume was fish feces on the bottom of the fish tank (it was green and white) and then vomiting after eating their seafood, I can sadly only assume the worse. JJ does not hold the monopoly on authentic Chinese food in Denver. Best off going to Super Star Asian for Cantonese and dim sum or Chopsticks China Bistro for spicy Schihuan.

    (1)

  • Viviene W.

    I ordered 4 lobsters, took advantage of the the buy 1, get 1 free special... 2 prepared with salt and pepper, deep fried and 2 prepared with ginger, onions, and extra sauce. I found that the ginger and onion style was the best. I will definitely order this again. This was a to go order and I was very happy and my lobster craving was satiated. :D I would recommend this restaurant.

    (4)

  • Jennifer M.

    The hubs and I got mild food poisoning from this place. And I thought the "decor" was kinda gross and unappetizing. I'm all for fresh seafood, but do I need to be forced to look at the dirty acquarium to during my whole meal? Other reviewers are right, there aren't many items on the menu you'll recognize. But we found the server helpful to in helping us pick. We took forever to make our selections. The menus are kinda crazy. I won't be going back to JJ Chinese. I get the impression they'd be Ok with that.

    (2)

  • Safford B.

    This is one of the most authentic (yes, authentic) Chinese restaurants in Denver. Don't go here expecting sesame chicken or other Americanized favorites. Most of the patrons are Chinese, but they do have an extensive English menu. Their shrimp and tofu dishes are particularly notable. Don't confuse JJ Chinese with JJ's China Bistro in Sakura Square.

    (3)

  • Ashley G.

    ok so im from california and my mom lives in denver. I went here around thanksgiving and am planning on going tonyte for my sisters bday...THIS PLACE IS AWESOME! we ordered the chicken soup hot pot and ordered tons of sides for it like tofu, shrimp ball, pork ball, lamb, baby bokchoy, noodles, and a lot of other stuff...SO CHEAP! we also ordered 2 lobsters for $20 and u def cant beat that. We got it in the ginger scallion sauce and it wasnt very big but for the price welll worth it. There is NO place in California that would ever sell hot pot for this cheap!! There were 4 of us and the bill came out to like 50 which is crazy to me! the sides for hot pot at the most is like 5 bucks...go to cali and the prices are doubled....i cant wait to go back tonyte and itss sooo yummy!!!!

    (5)

  • Jon E.

    My favorite Chinese in Denver. Most adventurous menu in the entire metro area. Once you get to know the staff you are treated very, very well. Try it all.

    (5)

  • Mariko Y.

    Okay, so I was told to review this restaurant and also include this particular story.... Preamble: I am a fake vegetarian, meaning that I generally only eat things with beaks or fins, but upon arriving from Spain do sometimes indulge in a little piggy now and then. Story first: We had eaten at JJ's a few times and my dad generally always orders the pork that has peppers and salt. I had tried it on another occasion and the piece that I got was pure lard. Being used to eating rather lean poultry, this is not okay for me. So he ordered it, and I was pressured into trying it again. This time he selected a piece that he was sure would be really lean and delicious. No surprise, it had the consistency of jello and was surely pure fat. As soon as I finished chewing the waitress comes out and takes away that platter saying "wrong dish, wrong dish". As we tried to convince her that we had in fact ordered the salty pork, she said, "not pork, pig intestine". So much for my semi-vegetarianism. Good call Dad. Review: Despite the menu mix up their food is good. The seafood is literally swimming right up to the point that the waitress grabs it, puts it in a bucket and brings it to say "goodbye". Generally they will bring whatever live seafood you order to your table in order to verify that this is the correct weight or type that you want. Kind of morbid, but oh, so delicious. The duck is by far my favorite dish, and the cute little buns make it so much better. The desserts that come with the combos, or if they like you are an acquired taste, but still good.

    (4)

  • D C G.

    This is my comfortable food restaurant. It's by no means as good as places you can find on the coasts (that's why I can't give it a 5 star), but it certainly helps to make Denver livable for Chinese-Americans...

    (4)

  • Elizabeth D.

    Heard JJ's was a good as Chopsticks, which I really enjoy. JJ's is authentic and the food was OK.. Not as comfortable as Chopsticks, and the food just a star below....bok choy a bit wilted, squid was too greasy...be sure to ask for no MSG in your food...

    (2)

  • J S.

    Terribly disappointed. The quality of the food was the worst i can recall ever having-especially for basic dishes. The food was soggy and tasteless. And don't spend too much time looking at the stock of" fresh seafood" in the front. The crammed conditions and half-dead looking fish will be enough to make you lose your appetite.

    (2)

  • E L.

    Pretty authentic. Didn't care for the pea pod sir fried in garlic because it wasn't very tender and there wasn't enough garlic, but everything else we had was wonderful. They meet the minimum criteria to be an authentic Chinese restaurant - at least two typos on the menu!

    (4)

  • Lin W.

    It is my favorate place. Almost everything is very very delicious.

    (5)

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Map

Opening Hours

  • Mon :11:00 am - 12

Specialities

  • Takes Reservations : Yes
    Delivery : No
    Take-out : Yes
    Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
    Good For : Lunch, Dinner
    Parking : Private Lot
    Bike Parking : Yes
    Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
    Good for Kids : Yes
    Good for Groups : Yes
    Attire : Casual
    Ambience : Casual
    Noise Level : Average
    Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only
    Outdoor Seating : No
    Wi-Fi : No
    Has TV : Yes
    Waiter Service : Yes
    Caters : Yes

Categories

Chinese Cuisine

The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.

Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.

There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.

JJ Chinese Restaurant

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