John's Shanghai

I was first impressed by the cleanliness of the restaurant, and how friendly the staff is. The woman greeted us with an authentic smile, the kind that truly appreciates you as a guest. Their service reflected the same. I felt welcome.

I appreciated the silver chop sticks, and the upscale atmosphere. If you are looking for an excellent dining experience, this is the place! I ordered Sesame Chicken (which does have a bit of a rubbery texture like another reviewer had mentioned), but the flavor was amazing. I chalk it up to being unique. They use a different cooking method than others. I like unique! Leftovers tasted even better the next day.

My husband ordered General Tso's chicken. Said it was the very best he's ever had. He had just returned from 6 days in AZ on a food conference experimenting different foods for his job, but said this was probably the best food he had tried all week!

The dinner specials are $8.99 ( includes, soup, main entree, side of rice, and caraffe of Jasmine hot tea).

Our new favorite restaurant♡

The pork n buns are fantastic and they are the only ones in town with Shanghai style soup dumplings (probably the best in the State and the most comparable to the ones I've had in China) ... And the Thai iced tea is delicious and also the cheapest in town

Very tasty dishes! Big portions! Servers were very polite!!! Would highly recommend the pork soup dumplings (;

Their crab meat xiao long bao is delicious. If you want to experience Chinese dishes. This is the restaurant you must go in State College

I have eaten in once and gotten delivery once and was very impressed both times. The atmosphere in the restaurant is very lovely and I especially liked the metal chopsticks. The fried rice was delicious, as was the chicken I got. A lot of Chinese food in State College is pretty bland, but John’s Shanghai has so much rich, delicious flavor. My new go-to for Chinese in town - I’ve been recommending it to everyone!

John's is on my list of favorite places in town to grab authentic food. There's only one other one. They both tie for the first spot.

The staff is friendly. The food servings are more than enough. My partner and I frequently John's. We are able to order enough to have lunch for the both of us the next 1-2 days.

The staff remember my pork allergy. They've accommodated me by replacing pork with beef, chicken or fish.

I love this place!

I got the rabbit here and I personally really liked it! It’s interesting and different. This restaurant is definitely the BEST AUTHENTIC Chinese cuisine in state college. Prices are fair considering it’s legitimate Chinese food. Love love love this place. The general Tso’s here is the best in town.

The staff were kind, welcoming and respectful. The food took a little while to arrive but I generally like to think of this as a sign of food that will be prepared well. Unsurprisingly, the food was absolutely delicious. We ordered the General Tso's chicken and the sliced beef with tofu which I highly recommend.

They have excellent authentic Chinese food. The Dry Sauteed String Bean (with ground pork) is fantastic. Everyone should get that at least once. Also, the Pork Steamed Juicy Buns are a great appetizer. Will definitely be back.

This place was fantastic. The menu is huge - whatever you're looking for, it's probably there. I had the Shrimp Dumplings and Shrimp Hot Pot. The best and most authentic Chinese food I've ever had. If you're in town, do yourself a favor and eat here.

Yes the iced tea was delicious. The service is fantastic and the food is top notch. Best quality and great prices. I’m so disappointed that over my 3 years of living here we never tried this sooner. The first time we tried this in July it was delicious and we thought it was a fluke. Tried it again today and it was phenomenal. I’m putting in this review so others don’t make the same mistake of overlooking this place. My entire family was very pleased and that’s not easy to do. Thank you for a great meal again!

Went for lunch and ordered the General Tsao lunch special ($6.99). For this price I received hot tea, a generous portion of delicious egg drop soup, and a perfect lunch sized portion of chicken. It is the best General Tsao I have had in State College, and I have tried many different places. Delicious flavors and the chicken was crispy and nutty. I will be back again and again!!!

Ordered for pick up and I’m pleasantly surprised. I’m actually amazed at how delicious they can make something as simple as vegetable fried rice. It was ready in 15-20 minutes, cooked fully, to direction, hot, and delicious. Would definitely recommend for pick up/delivery YUM

A relatively quiet and surprisingly unknown place close to downtown that serves good food. The hot pot is a must try, especially the fish one. Loved the "spicyness" of the food. One of the few places in State College that serves proper spicy food.
In short, a must try for Chinese food in the area.

This place has one of the better Chinese food I’ve eaten in the region, and I recommend this place over the more American Little Szechuan. The Roasted Duck was actually pretty close to the authentic Hong Kongnese style, compared to Little Szechuan which just deep fried the whole thing. The service was done by a husband and wife (possibly) and they were really genuine with their customers and food. Will come back again.

They have the most delicious, fluffiest, juiciest steamed pork dumplings. My go-to place. Being honest, they're better than the ones I ate in Japan, even. 100% recommended.

Authentic Shanghai cuisine in middle of Pennsylvania! Xiao Long Bao (crab and pork soup dumplings) were excellent! Comparable to the best of NYC and Flushing! The skin of the dumpling is so thin and delicate. Phenomenal. The rice cakes with pork and Napa cabbage was excellent! Also cucumber with garlic was just as great! Try these 3 authentic dishes instead of typical Chinese American dishes such as egg rolls and general tsao’s chicken

Nice new restaurant! Different than little sechuam and not as crowded. Would ask waitstaff for recommendations, but the soup dumplings are unique in town.

Been here for lunch many times, we love it. First time for dinner. Superb meal. Double cooked pork with chili and leek. Fantastic. Service friendly and helpful.

We looooove the "juicy buns" (aka soup dumplings). After having them at Joe's Shanghai in NYC, we we're hoping someone in State College would start serving them. Happily, John's version of soup dumplings stands up to Joe's!!