San Gabriel Valley Chinese food guide: where and what to eat

The best Chinese food in the Los Angeles area is mostly in the San Gabriel Valley, the suburbs east of downtown, in towns such as Monterey Park, Alhambra, San Gabriel and Rosemead. Valley Boulevard runs through the heart of it, lined with strip malls full of restaurants serving Cantonese, Sichuan, Taiwanese, Shanghainese and many other regional Chinese cuisines. Go with a group, order to share, and plan on a car or a bus ride from central LA.

Why is the San Gabriel Valley known for Chinese food?

Monterey Park is often called the first suburban Chinatown. In the 1980s, investment and immigration from Taiwan transformed the city, followed by immigrants from mainland China and other parts of Asia. The community spread east into neighboring towns, and the San Gabriel Valley became one of the largest centers of Chinese American life in the country. Restaurants followed, serving the cooking of particular regions rather than one generic menu, because their customers knew the difference.

Which towns should you visit?

The core towns sit close together east of downtown Los Angeles:

• Monterey Park, the first suburban Chinatown, with long-running restaurants and bakeries.
• Alhambra, with Valley Boulevard and Main Street both packed with restaurants.
• San Gabriel, home to large plazas of restaurants and shops along Valley Boulevard.
• Rosemead, further east along Valley Boulevard.

Much of the eating happens in strip malls and shopping plazas, so do not judge a restaurant by its parking lot.

What regional Chinese food can you find?

Style	What to look for
Cantonese	Dim sum, roast meats, seafood, congee and clay pot rice
Sichuan	Chili heat and numbing Sichuan peppercorn, mapo tofu, dry-fried dishes
Taiwanese	Beef noodle soup, breakfast spreads and tea shops
Shanghainese	Soup dumplings, braised pork and pan-fried buns

The variety is the point: on a single stretch of Valley Boulevard you can find restaurants from many different regions right next to each other.

What is dim sum like in the San Gabriel Valley?

Dim sum is a Cantonese brunch of small shared dishes, such as dumplings, buns, rice rolls and sweets, and the San Gabriel Valley has many large dining rooms that serve it. Some still push carts between tables; others use an order sheet you fill in at the table. Weekend late mornings are the busiest time, with a long wait in line for a table, so arrive early. Dim sum is best with a group, so you can try more dishes.

How do you order in a regional Chinese restaurant?

Menus can be long, and the best dishes are not always the most familiar. Look at what other tables are eating, ask the staff for the house specialty, and order family style, with several dishes to share and rice for the table. Some restaurants have a separate menu in Chinese or a board of specials on the wall; it is worth asking about. Many places are casual, and some are cash only or have card minimums, so carry some cash.

How do you get to the San Gabriel Valley?

Driving is the easiest way, since the restaurants are spread out along wide boulevards with large parking lots. Without a car, Metro buses run along Valley Boulevard into Alhambra and San Gabriel, and a ride-share from the nearest rail station is another option. Weekday rush hours make the freeways east of downtown slow, so plan a lunch or an early dinner.

If you drive, expect busy parking lots at the big plazas at peak times, especially on weekend mornings when dim sum crowds arrive. A good approach is to pick one plaza or one stretch of Valley Boulevard and eat your way around it on foot, moving the car only once. Many restaurants post their menus with photos, and some have Chinese-only boards of specials, so take a photo of a dish you see at another table and show it to the staff if you want to order it. Go back several times: one visit only scratches the surface of a region this size.

Tea shops and dessert cafés are part of the scene too, and many are good places to rest between meals. Taiwanese tea shops in particular have long been a fixture of the area, and a cold tea on a hot afternoon is part of a proper day out in the valley.

How do you plan a day of eating in the SGV?

1. Late morning: dim sum in a big Cantonese dining room.
2. Afternoon: tea or a dessert shop, and a walk around one of the shopping plazas.
3. Evening: a Sichuan, Shanghainese or Taiwanese dinner, ordered to share.

Bring friends, because the more people at the table, the more of the menu you can try.

How do you keep track of what to order?

The San Gabriel Valley has so many restaurants that most regulars keep a mental list of which place does which dish best. On Mosey you can rate the places you ate at and the dishes you ordered, with photos, keep lists of the restaurants worth the drive, and follow friends who know the area.

More guides to read next:

• Koreatown Los Angeles food guide: barbecue, soups and late nights
• Santa Monica and Venice food guide: where and how to eat by the beach
• Silver Lake and Echo Park food guide: eating on LA's Eastside

More in the US food guides and the ranked lists of places.