Idk what people are tripping on this place is fire, great prices, great food, great service

It taste amazingly well! And its near UCR campus, its probably the closest place to get some traditional Chinese food. read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

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Overall this place is pretty good. It's nice to see more Chinese restaurants opening up around the riverside area. From social media, this place was referenced as the dub tai fung dupe but personally, this is not it. It's more of an authentic style Chinese restaurant. The menu was a paper menu, it looks like this place is still a soft opening so the menu could change? We ordered the pork and cabbage dumplings which were just ok, they were kind of small as well. We then ordered the beef noodles and dan dan noodles - highly recommend, the noodles tasted pretty fresh. The menu also had the sauerkraut fish, written in only chinese, on the menu so we tried that as well. I have to say this dish was pretty delicious and authentic. It's rare to see this type of dish around here. The other items we ordered were the green beans and pork ribs - highly recommend! Service from what I heard can be a miss but all the food was brought out in a timely manner except the custard buns, but the taste made up for it. Its definitely a great spot for chinese food! read more

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We ordered the pork and shrimp shumai, the sweet bbq pork buns, and the cumin lamb for pickup. When we got there, we asked if their bbq pork buns where made with honey. They looked at us like we were crazy and annoyed that we were even asking. The only response was "I have no idea." Now I'm convinced that their stuff comes from a frozen package because, how do you not know what ingredients your food is made with?? What if someone has an allergy? Is it that inconvenient to ask the person who is cooking? For comparison, we went to a BBQ place recently and asked what dishes had honey. They were able to list every single dish that did and did not contain honey. The food was also just ok, I probably wouldn't go back. There's better dim sum out there. read more

Came here on a Sunday for a late lunch/dinner. The restaurant didn't seem too busy. My immediate first thoughts made me a little nervous and honestly set my expectation low. The menu is a basic paper menu, I can picture the restaurant adding pictures in the future because the eyes usually eat first. The restaurant is very white with minimal decor and pretty quiet. It would have been nice to have some music playing in the background just to create a nicer ambiance. The food did take a little bit of time to come out after ordering. I considered this a little bit of a good thing because it feels like the food is made to order, just as it should be. My party ordered Har Gow shrimp and shrimp Shumai, as well as chow mein, kung pao chicken, orange chicken, scallion beef and garlic eggplant (originally wanted the green beans but they were out of them). I initially came here because a social media post described this place as a Din Tai Fung dupe. I've gone to DTF once and I'm not an expert on Chinese cuisine, but the food was very flavorful and delicious, not one dish was overly sweet or salty. I was genuinely surprised! I noticed the doors were left open the entire time so I did have to shoo away a couple of flies once the food arrived. I also noticed that the soy sauce, vinegar and sriracha bottles were dirty and crusty which is quite common in a lot of restaurants but it would be nice to know and see everything at the table be clean. After packing up food to-go and paying, we were able to spin a large wheel twice for a couple of prizes which was fun. Just before leaving, someone in my party went to the restroom. When they got out, they informed the staff as well as the rest of the party that there was not any soap in the restroom. A staff member said that the soap dispenser was not working (I sure do hope the soap dispensers in the kitchen were working)! I know this is the "soft opening" time period so there are some improvements to make. The experience was a really good one until I learned about the lack of soap in the bathroom at the very end. I am willing to come back at a later time because the food was really good but I'd probably check out the restroom first. TL;DR - the food was really good and flavorful, but the cleanliness of the bottles at the table that everyone touches was questionable and the lack of hand soap in the restroom made me question overall cleanliness. read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Wok-fried beef with scallions, kung pao chicken, eggplant with garlic sauce, orange chicken and chow mein - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

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Really nice addition to the University Village plaza! Came here with some friends for a family style lunch on a Sunday. The restaurant was a bit busy but our party was seated and served right away. We tried a variety of dishes and the highlights were definitely the green beans, beef noodle soup, sauerkraut fish and the garlic pork ribs. The dumplings were just okay and the only option they had this particular day was boiled. Everything tasted great otherwise and the noodles in particular were good and chewy. The custard buns are a good dessert option as well although it took awhile to come out. Service was good throughout and checked on us often. They also have a cool prize wheel you can spin gift every $45 you spend! Overall we had a great experience here and will definitely come back again! read more

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The service is slow, if you see the tables are packed expect a long wait time for your food. From the time we signed in to the time we got our food was approximately 65mins and there was only 1 person in front of us. They do not serve alcohol. Sitting in the restaurant felt like sitting at yoshinoya same colors and seating style. We ordered the sweet bbq pork bun, the pork dumplings, sweet n sour pork ribs, house special spicy beef noodle soup, and the Yangzhou fried rice. Out of everything we ordered only the fried rice was good. Fried rice had layers of flavor! The house noodles was very bland, the pork ribs were good, the pork buns were ok, and the dumplings were not good. Not worth the $$ They said they were better than dim tai fun. Absolutely not. read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Fried rice, pork dumplings, pork ribs, pork buns. - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

Food was delicious! I also had the pineapple fried rice, house made noodles with peanut sauce, and the noodles in beef broth. Everything tasted really good! The only thing that was mid were the regular pork XLBs, but I did like the red and yellow ones!! Service was friendly and the location was clean! I'm definitely coming back and will be bringing some friends! read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Orange Chicken - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

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I would give this place 4.5 stars if I could. We came here by accident but were not disappointed. We ordered their pork dumplings in chili oil and their shrimp dumplings along with the combination fried rice. The rice was delicious and the dumplings were also tasty. The restaurant was clean with plenty of seating, the ambiance is bright and welcoming and the staff were nice and attentive. We will come back. read more

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Newer casual diner spot for dumplings and noodles near UCR! They have a cool wheel to spin for rewards, and the staff was very kind. read more

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I wanted to try this new Chinese restaurant in Riverside and it did not disappoint. It's located across from Denny's so there is plenty of parking and right in front of a RTA bus stop too. I got an individual hot pot on a raining day and it hit the spot. The food was fresh and delicious. I also got the lamb dish and it was made very well. I would definitely come back to try more items on the menu! read more

This spot is low-key my new go-to. Ordered the twice-cooked pork (huiguorou) and the peppercorn beef--both hit different. The huiguorou has that legit street food vibes, super smoky and savory. Straight up a rice destroyer. The peppercorn beef? Huge portion, loaded with veggies. Easily gave me like three meals' worth. Perfect spot for anyone on a student budget. Definitely my little campus canteen now. read more

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Food was ok service could be a lot better if you are jonesing for dumplings Will will get you by but it lacked flavors and they do not give you a small bowl for your chile oil or soy sauce. The seating is nice but they don't give you but only one napkin so there will be a mess afterwords. read more

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Great Food everything we ordered tasted delicious! Service was great and very friendly. Everything came out fresh and all the recommendations given by our waitress Amy and Theo were great. 1st time here and we will definitely be back! read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

Great Chinese food! For a non-Chinese like me, I like simple, real Chinese food. Our Chinese friend invited us to LOC Chinese Kitchen. We really liked ... well, it was all good, but my wife liked the eggplant, we both liked the tomato fish. My mouth is watering now as I think about the beef roll. Oh, and they have buns filled with CHOCOLATE! The service was great. The people were friendly. We liked the simple restaurant layout. Each of the "booth" tables have high "dividers" so it's private and quieter... and ... if you have a large party, you can slide the divider down to have two long tables together! #riverside #riverside美食 #ucr #ucr美食 #原味缘 read more

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Food was a 10/10, service was overall pretty good to and the place was very clean would definitely go back read more

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For a soft opening, I think the restaurant is pretty great overall and deserving a 4.5 where some aspects of the experience makes up for some small things that can be improved. ======================== The restaurant is quite white and renovated with pretty tables and lightly decoration here and there. It is also very spacious and open. They are still trying to figure stuff out of course with it being the first day opening, but once they work out the kinks (I.e. old ventilation systems and damage from the previous owner's time, training, getting all the menu ready to go), I think they will be a great gem to come to UV. The good: I think the menu is pretty solid for a soft opening with a variety of different foods without being a copy of the 2 other Chinese places that already exist in UV - therefore deserving a spot to stay here. They have some things similar, but things that are unique to here are the appetizers, cold dishes, and would say the beef rolls. They also have dessert dim sum, although I would say this isn't unique with Big Sky a couple blocks away, but it's great for proximity. For UCR students with no car, this is so much easier to reach. Overall, if you just want to hit general Chinese food (and not a specific region of China like Changan, for example), this is not a bad place. Another great thing, though it is a soft opening, is how much they want your opinion to improve the place and their food. Since it's not really a chain (only 1 other location), they don't have as strong a foundation as Changan to easily open new businesses, so it's expected for them to have more hiccups than Changan. That said, they were all very nice and welcoming. The technique in cooking I would say is pretty amazing. The beef roll was flaky and crisp with all the ingredients standing out in their own way where you can taste the freshness. The ingredients are also very balanced in both the beef roll and fried beef w/ garlic in black pepper sauce. I also appreciate the sheer amount of garlic added, but it does taste like the pre-peeled one so a little on the weaker side - this is still not bad though given quantity of garlic bumped the garlic flavor. I would have liked more black pepper flavor, but it was all very delicious. ======================== The potential improvement: I would say that aside from the hiccups and maintenance improvement (plus lack of a drink menu), I would say portions to price could be a little better. For a UV location, it's a little above average when looking at price to portion (but not too bad when you are looking at just the price only). So, if you eat a lot, something like the fried beef probably won't fill you at $25 - you are better off choosing 2 dishes that are half the price. For this dish, I probably would have liked it to be 5-10% more or just make the rice free. However, given the ingredients, I am not expecting the price to be lowered by much. The beef rolls, however, were quite fair in price at $7 vs the edamame at $8. So I think prices could be a bit adjusted to make a bit more sense/balanced even if it meant decreasing or increasing portions and also in considerations of portions in competing restaurants. Overall solid place - would come again to try out the mini pots to see how they are compared to the Shabu House nearby and my favorite places like Boiling Point in San Gabriel Valley. The cold dishes is also a nostalgic wish as well to see if they do them well here. It may be pricier than I would like, but that just means I should eat out less :). I think though if they are not too crazy busy, it wouldn't be too bad of a study place - it's very spacious but it does lack chargers. I do like how it's not overly loud and seems to have good snacks, so it has potential! Just need a good drink menu, and it would be good to go! read more

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First time trying it and enjoyed it. The meat was tender and a good portions of noddles. Would recommend read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - House Special spicy beef noddle soup - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

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Disappointed. Food was very bland and every soup dumpling arrived popped already so they were quite dry. Orange chicken wasn't great and didn't seem fresh. Cucumber salad didn't come with anything on it so it was just a bowl of cucumber that we seasoned ourselves. Service was few and far between. Super bright light that wasn't very welcoming. Wouldn't recommend. read more

Let me start off by saying this is a hidden gem. From the moment we walked in an hour before closing the staff was very friendly and were more than accommodating. The wait to eat was not long at all. Service was quick. The food was next level AMAZING!!! We ordered so many dishes and spent less than $100 before tip. Definitely coming back!! read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Chow mein mix - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

Came here to celebrate an early mother's lunch as I saw it on tik tok, to be honest the food is delicious everything was nice and hot when coming out. Edamame is nice and salty and the cucumber salad was delicious however the service oh boy it was crappy as hell !! When arriving there wasn't a crazy wait line but we did go as a family of five. Upon arrival they served us quick with water and menus then the waiting game begun they probably gave us about 20-30mins to take our order by then the kids were done with the waters !! So we are able to order everything but then they didn't even bother to explain the menu, the servers are a bunch of college kids that look so lost. I had asked for the dumplings to have the sauce on the side but they brought them out last and smothered in chili oil, all they was offer a discount which I didn't mind but we didn't even get napkins there was flies everywhere because they keep the door open. They announce a big spinning wheel which you can win a discount or a free plate when spending more than $45 we spent $92.00 and asked about it but the cashier rudely told us "it's busy so you can't spin" why promote it in the first place ?!! Overall I will not dine in ever again maybe order take out just because of how the food tastes but that's a far stretch... read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Chilli pan fried dumplings, chicken fried rice, edamame - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

Tried the red chili oil beef stew at this newly opened restaurant near UC Riverside and it was fantastic. The stew came out bubbling hot with a bright red chili oil broth that looked intimidating but was actually really flavorful. The beef was tender and soaked up the spicy, savory broth perfectly. Portion size was generous and great for sharing with friends. read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Red chili oil beef stew - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

Good food, the staff were also very nice. Going there was fun too. Pretty new restaurant and worth visiting

Great food, location is a bit hidden in the UCR plaza - is beyond where the Kimchichanga used to be. I lived here for 4 years and didn't know the space was present. The waiters were helpful and informative. I ordered the golden beef pot and the beef roll. The golden beef pot had great portions for the prices an good presentation, it comes w/ a solid bowl of rice + soda. The beef roll was tasty and nicely crispy/flaky and I was surprised by the generous portion of beef that came in the beef roll; I would recommend the beef roll. Will definitely come back sometime in the future to try more of their dishes. The variety of their food definitely fills a niche the UCR plaza doesn't have. read more

Food was all really good. Great variety on the menu to choose from. The sautéed green beans were my favorite

We ordered Mongolian beef, beef roll and dumpling in chili oil. The food was just ok, beef roll sauce was too sweet and the roll itself was too oily. The beef on the Mongolian beef seems like fake meat. Lastly, they forgot about our dumpling order so we ended up cancelling it. read more

I like this restaurant! The food is very good, and the servers is sooo kind! I will come back! Very good!! read more

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Super great dim sum! Pork buns are tasty, beef noodle was great, siu mai is delicious, staff are friendly, and you get to spin a big wheel and win prizes. Def recommend since it's hard to find authentic chinese food in Riverside. read more

The food was good and the tables had a lot of space. Service was very quick and the staff were attentive to us. If you're not sure what to get, I definitely recommend the wok-fried beef and scallions! read more

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Great to get some Chinese food near UCR. I got the cumin stir fry lamb and beef and onion dumplings and they were delicious. The staff were very friendly and attentive. read more

I was browsing new restaurants in Riverside yesterday and came across LOC Chinese Kitchen. They have only been open one week. The food looked amazing so we decided to try it for lunch. The places clean fresh and New. They just have their soft opening menu. We chose four different items. The beef roll was excellent very flavorful, tender beef with hoisin and a crispy, flaky pastry. We also had the shrimp shumai which we found out was made in house and was very tender and flavorful not rubbery like many shumai. We had the chicken mushroom dumplings in chili oil also excellent. The highlight of our lunch was the mini hot pot. It would be a large portion for one person, but perfect to share with other appetizers. The flavor was outstanding, look on their menu to see what all is included. We were talking to our server about the inspiration for this restaurant. The owners are from two regions of China and are bringing their favorites from each region to Riverside. I am really looking forward to trying everything on their menu if it's half as good as what we had yesterday it's going to be fantastic. Highly recommended. read more

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The good food and friendly service good place to visit we will be back next time we are in town again

Great customer service. However, their foods gave me very bad stomachache. I ordered Shanghai stir-fry rice cakes and Yang-Chow fried rice. Their rice cakes were so hard to chew and digest. Fried rice was hard too. Not only that, they tasted very salty. No comment on the ambiance. Not applicable. If you have a history of stomach problems, don't order rice cakes or fried rice. read more

I tried this restaurant for the first time this past weekend while searching for a good authentic Chinese Food spot in the area. The restaurant is fairly new and it's nice and clean inside. I ordered the Orange Chicken to go, and the flavor was really good. I enjoyed it. My only suggestion would be to include steamed rice with the dish, as it would make the meal feel more complete. Overall, a good experience and I'd go back to try other items. read more

I think the atmosphere at this place is excellent, and the ingredients are very fresh. I particularly loved the stir-fried rice cakes--they really suited my personal taste. I'd definitely recommend stopping by to give them a try after class. I'll certainly be coming back often! read more

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I just up load a review apparently didn't post or got deleted This place sucks ass do not waste your time Waited for food over one hr not even a. "Do you want more water " or a sorry we are a little backed up Staff really green when it comes to restaurant skills plus everyone there is rude as fuck don't have any kind of education when it comes to customer service Like I said before I don't like to use the minority card but it was obvious speaking the same language as the staff make it to get your food faster They prioritize ppl at choice So the mobile orders Please do not waste your time and your money read more

Second visit with there Sczechuan Mala pot( Maocai) !Amazing! So spicy and good! Feeds us group of 3, add three bowl of rice, if you are a spicy lover you will love it! read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Sczechuan Mala pot - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

Great portion sizes and great prices, probably the best Chinese restaurant around UCR read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - mala pot - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

Food is really good! We've had the kung pao chicken, orange chicken, pineapple fried rice, pork chow mein, and the chili oil dumplings are really tasty. The staff are extremely nice and helpful. Great job, everyone! read more

Great spot! Food was fresh and flavorful, and the portions were decent. Service was friendly and quick. would definitely come back.