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    Pepper Lunch

    3.6 (444 reviews)
    ModerateSeafood, Teppanyaki
    Open 11:00 am - 9:30 pm
    Updated 2 months ago

    Order Pepper Lunch Takeout or Delivery

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    PEPPER LUNCH ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Trendy
    Moderate noise
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - Pepper Lunch

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    Large, so more meat
    Thuy H.

    We need a light lunch and want to visit cafe 86 so we give this place a try as it is in the same plaza. It is semi self service. We order at the kiosk and find a spot to sit. They bring out utensils and food when it is ready. The place is pretty small so it feel tight. For the price, it was little meat. Better off to order the large as they give you more meat instead. The flavor in my opinion is lack of salt. The sauce to pour on is more sweet than salt. We also order the kid chicken tender bowl. The chicken was so cold, we end up trying to cook it on hot place. The fries was good but definitely not the chicken. I wouldn't order that again.

    Two Meat Sizzling Curry
    David N.

    Every-time I go to this shopping center there's always parking. There's so many good spots to pick from but Pepper lunch never misses. Parking 5/5 My go to dish is Two meat sizzling curry with Beef and Hamburg. Brings me back to Japan! Omg it was good. Also really filling 5/5 The customer service was great and there was plenty of seats as well. Very friendly staff and very helpful. Great lighting and there was also extra sauces at the table. The restaurant is really clean as well! 5/5

    Nikki Y.

    Pepper Lunch!!! The beef pepper lunch is my go to! I ordered it on the app and it was ready within 15-20 minutes. Parking was pretty easy but can be challenging during rush hour eating times. The quality of food is always good! It not too greasy but perfectly seasoned. Thank you for a perfect and delicious meal (:

    Nhi T.

    Ordering is easy, as you place your order through the kiosk and sit wherever you like. The server was quick to provide us with our water cups once we sat down. I got the regular beef. The food came out fast. Food was fine. It was simple. It just had rice, corn, beef, and pepper. I added some garlic sauce for additional flavor. We went on a Sunday night and it wasn't busy. The restaurant was clean.

    Sizzle it your way
    Ashley V.

    So simple yet so quick and convenient! I was craving for some beef pepper rice from Pepper Lunch, and my cravings were indeed satisfied. Also got the sweet potato fries and the jumbo beef pepper rice, which were all tasty! Service is friendly and wonderful-- servers offered to answer any questions and provided utensils/brought out our dishes in a timely manner. The only downside, for me, is that it is pretty pricey for the amount of meat you're given. The jumbo beef pepper rice is supposed to have more meat, yet I can barely tell the difference from the regular vs. the jumbo. Price point as of April 2026 for the jumbo beef pepper rice is around $19-$20.

    Dylan A.

    I go here all the time. The rice and meat options are all so delicious and savory. I usually get their rice with beef and I add a side of their curry. Their curry enhances the flavor and makes it so much more worthwhile. Service was great every time I went. The restaurant's atmosphere was also very pleasing and has a simplistic theme.

    Ciel E.

    Food was so freaking good and Shankar was such an incredibly helpful worker. I'm definetely gonna come back here often.

    "Jumbo" beef
    Cody L.

    I was really disappointed with my visit to Pepper Lunch Artesia. I ordered the Jumbo Beef Pepper Rice and a Salmon Pepper Rice. When the server first brought out the dishes, we received a Beef Rice and a Salmon & Beef Rice. No big deal. We informed them, and they returned with a Beef Rice and a Salmon-only Rice. However, this is where things went downhill. It felt like they just removed the beef from the salmon & beef plate and added it to the other beef plate. The result was a half empty salmon plate and a "jumbo" beef plate that had only a few extra pieces of beef. I've seen the Jumbo Beef at their Irvine location, and what I got here did not resemble that at all. Super underwhelming and far below expectations. When I asked the server about it, their response was nonchalant, confirming it was indeed the "jumbo" without as much as a glance at what was at our table. On top of that, the food itself at the Artesia location seemed lacking in flavour. The dishes were greasy and bland; I had to drench everything in garlic sauce just to get any taste. Overall, this visit left me disappointed, and I hope the Artesia branch works on consistency and flavour to match other locations.

    Vincent S.

    Really good experience here. I enjoyed how easy it was to order on their large iPads, and the food came out relatively quick. The food comes out hot and is seasoned decently well. I'd say the only thing I wish is that the portions were bigger. Also, the layout of the inside is kind of weird, and I also wish they changed it to be a bit more organized, particularly with the tables and their placement. But overall decent place with good food.

    Classic Sizzling Rice w/ Garlic Chips and Green Onions
    Dinah G.

    tldr; a pretty bad review Ok, I love Pepper Lunch, and I frequent this place at LEAST quarterly. BUT, service on Sunday 4/26/26 around 1:45PM was not it. There was a female employee, a little on the shorter side with dyed blonde hair, bold winged eyeliner, and tats who just really came off as rude. My friends and I came in for a post-church lunch and were a party of 10. However, we all came straggling in, so in bits and pieces. This employee gave us attitude and rolled her eyes when she noticed us saving seats for our friends yet to come. There isn't a policy posted against it, so I don't understand why she reacted that way. After, another employee offered us the large table near the entrance, but they just needed to clean it (a party was there when we had first entered). I and my friends present at the time decided to put our orders in at the kiosk while we waited. So we wait patiently and then headed over. As we were trying to figure out our seating arrangement, the original female employee (who had rolled her eyes) brought out two plates and was holding them. We were trying to figure out who ordered what when she just blurted out "I'm just gonna put these down" in a really sarcastic and annoyed tone and then just walked away. Literally she might as well have told us "your problem, not mine." I understand the hot plates were heavy, and I'm not disagreeing that she should've put them down. BUT, she could have kindly asked to set them down or been more helpful but letting us know which number the plates corresponded to, but she didn't even do that. Literally just set them down and dipped. I definitely felt really angry because she cannot talk to my friends like that. Terrible customer service skills. Will I come back here? Probably because I love the food (portions are getting smaller though). But if I get this girl again, I WILL bring saying something next time to her and management because this is unacceptable. I hope management can address this issue so there isn't a next time for this type of service, whether it's me or someone else.

    LA version of Pepper Lunch: beef and salmon with rice, corn, and scallions on a cast-iron plate.
    Edrick G.

    I lived in Japan for four years, so I'm very familiar with Pepper Lunch. This LA version delivers great flavor and stays mostly true to the concept. The taste is solid, though I felt they went a bit heavy on the butter compared to Japan. Portions are generous and filling when dining in. I also ordered the same beef and salmon dish to go. While the flavor was consistent, the portion was noticeably smaller than the dine-in order. One downside was cleanliness--the place felt a bit dirty during my visit, which seemed likely due to being understaffed rather than neglect. Overall, good food and satisfying, but consistency and cleanliness could use improvement.

    Chicken kaarage
    Jojo M.

    I'm going straight to the food. DELICIOUS! It must be the pepper mixed in the rice or steaks. I ordered the ribeye and salmon hot skillet sizzling plate. I wish the steak and salmon portion was much bigger but it was enough. The peppery and flavored butter on my steak and salmon was pure perfection with my bowl of rice. Still thinking about it and wish they would put one here in santa monica,ca. It would be a great location on sawtelle blvd.. japantown.. hint hint. The service was friendly and patient. Although it was busy we were never rushed. The grade A restaurant was clean. Wish they had more bathrooms though. A little line for the girls 1 restroom. But all in all .. wish I can go back.. like.. now.

    Anthony L.

    I had heard of but never had this place till last week, it's been something I've wanted to try for a while after some friends were raving about it and it did not disappoint. I love these kinds of restaurants and they remind me of LA county's Taiwanese steakhouses or something, but this is a Japanese restaurant! I love the customizability of everything and how we are able to make it as we want. I was a little confused though at some options being available for certain meals but not others but there's a lot of different combinations, so I just made my own via the add ons and the "2 item" plate for curry. In the future I may try something different but it all looked great so that is why I wanted to go for something that was a bit different from my friends who had gotten their usuals (normal beef, and beef pasta aglio olio) which were ALSO delicious. Add ons range from salmon to corn to parm to mozzarella and so on! They offer some great sauces to put on your meal as it cooks on the sizzling platter. Delicious and simple and pretty affordable. Soon we will have the Pepper Lunch day or something and that will have the two for one special so that could be awesome to go back for! When you walk in, you order at the kiosk and then find a seat once you are done and take a little number pad to keep at your table. There's some pretty nice signage around the eatery as well, very cute, saying things like "SIZZLE IT YOUR WAY". When the food is ready, you'll then be served and you mix around the food on the platter and eat. Portions are pretty large as well, I think I actually got a bit too much food so next time I may try something smaller with a side... perhaps of karaage.

    Hamburg and Hamburg & Beef Sizzling Curry Rice

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    25 days ago

    i love pepper lunch. tried the new garlic brisket pepper rice and it was sooo fire. shankar provided some great customer service too :)

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    Page 1 of 12

    Pepper Lunch Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Pepper Lunch

    Are you save Beer and wine?

    Togo orders should come with sauces and utensils right? Love this place and the food but this is the second time I didn't get sauces and utensils. I should've checked myself but I have a short lunch

    If we have a party of 20, could we be seated together?

    Yes

    Can I get it with no corn? I can't really eat corn ://

    Absolutely, it is customizable!

    When is the grand opening?

    I was told by Pepper Lunch it is on Sat Nov 23 at 11:00pm! There will be a raffle and free giveaways!

    Are they open yet for business?

    No they are not.

    When is the opening?

    Their social media said the soft opening is this Thursday 11/14 at 1pm. That's all the info they have provided so far.

    View All 10 Questions

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    I ordered the fillet and jumbo shrimp plate and upgraded with chicken fried rice and garlic…read morenoodles. I wanted to try a lot of things she did not want to waste of space for the veggies although they did look good. I ordered the chili oil and the garlic butter. The garlic butter easily was shared between the fillet and the shrimp adding a nice umami flavor. The garlic oil was smoky and not too hot. The chicken fried rice in my opinion was better than Benihana's or just as good. Although the garlic noodles were a little sweet from my liking, I was evil easily able to alter them to something. I enjoyed with some chili oil and soy sauce. It tone down the sweet. Simple, clean decor. Several ways to see the menu on the wall LCD or by the counter. The service was very good, quick and kind. The quality of the product was very good. The fillet almost melted in your mouth, and the shrimp was cooked well without being rubbery. I spent $52 here to upgrade two chicken fried rice and garlic noodles. They have plenty of parking a huge parking lot, limited seating, maybe eight tables or so, mostly four tops.

    This place is quite small but it can hold a group of 6,7 people if it is not busy…read more The service was ok. Just know it takes about 30-45 minutes to get your food. The food is actually really really flavorful the lobster I had was very tender and juicy and the jumbo shrimp were a good l size. I would have ordered the chowmein though instead of the rice because the chowmein was way better! After discussing with the family we enjoyed it but it is 4 stars since it does take quite a while to have your meal and the customer service could be better. The food itself carries this place but 5 stars if they can improve service!

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    Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

    Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

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    (932 reviews)
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    It's been a while since we ate here, we used to come in regularly when we drove back from South…read moreBay. I'v always liked their menu varieties in addition to meats. Glad we decided to come in for lunch on a Saturday. Place is still the same with cozy and spacious seating. We started off with bottle of code sake and draft beers at only $2.5 each. They have AYCE menu now but we can't eat that much especially I don't eat meats. All day happy hour menu is great deal on a lot of items. We have tried a few appetizers and BBQ meats, veggies and seafood, also beyond meat bibimbap. The dishes were very fresh in healthy portions. I loved the garlic shrimps and spinach. The chili crisp and scallion sauces were very good with BBQ. The service was fast and attentive. A fantastic Japanese BBQ restaurant to visit from time to time!

    So last night my whole party received their food. I ordered a damn salad with shrimp.Everyone got…read moretheir appetizers which all of it was fried, got their meats to cook and even on their second round and I still did NOT get my salad with shrimp. I waited for almost 40 minutes for my salad and hahaha they still made me pay for it. Let me tell you that this has been the worst service I've ever had. There was no apology from any staff at all. One staff just yelled in the kitchen where's the salad and I still has to wait after that. The salad was actually delicious. And the ambience was clean. I'll give them that. But this establishment is not like how it was back when I was a frequent customer. The staff uhhh well we got a thank you from one. He's probably the owner or the manager. Anyways, I know they get a lot of customers and this review is not going to change anything but next time when someone orders a salad, please bring it out. How hard is it to put lettuce, tomato, dressing, avo and shrimp in a bowl???

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    Kabuki Japanese Restaurant

    Kabuki Japanese Restaurant

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    Happy hour specials
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    Food was good, service slow tonight. Not sure why it's not busy…read more Waitress Ericka was good. Food hot and quick. Management needs to be more attentive. Dirty tables since we sat down and still left that way when we got up to leave. Place is dusty right where we sat.

    Service is horrible. Tony, at least that's what I thought I saw on his name tag, our server, came…read moreby once and asked, "What do you want to drink?" We waited for about 15 minutes before he came back. At this time there were about 8 tables occupied, well below half of the restaurant. He came by, out of peripheral vision and loudly said, "Ready?" Not aware he was talking to us, I turned almost behind me, and he was standing by the next booth. I told him I was ready, but my family had just went to the bathroom. Before finishing my sentence, he had already started walking away. Probably another 10 minutes, same thing, except he stood by our table. "Ready?!" He again said loudly and rudely. A family member ordered, he stayed quiet and just stared at us. Someone had a question about an item and he just said, "whatever it says on the menu." Like dude, if you don't want to be here and be helpful to people, go home. We finally get our order in, our water cups are empty. He eventually comes over when one of the orders is ready, says the name of the item, leaves it at the end of the table and leaves. He does this with every order. My family and I need water but this guy clearly doesn't care to be aware of people. Even a son who took his mom out for lunch was fed up at the next table. He started saying, "Excuse me" louder and raised his hand to get the servers attention. Our server didn't return to our table until he dropped off the check. I'll take my family an hour away to Sawtelle instead of dealing with the lack of service here. Food was ok, nothing to write home about. Music was a little loud, wall decor was nice, a lot of the booth seats had rips.

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    Four Seasons Buffet

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    My family and I celebrated a birthday there at dinner time last Thursday. It was a pretty busy…read morenight, but we got seated right away with a reservation. The restaurant is big, very spacious and has casual yet pretty elegant look to it. They've been there before, and it was my first time I liked the ambiance and appreciated the friendly and attentive staff. We aimed for mostly the seafood, fresh poke/sushi, and hot Chinese dishes. They were delicious. I saw the grilled satay, short ribs, and mackerel, but I didn't try because they looked dry sitting on the hot tray for a while maybe those need to be made to order. The large beef rib was tender and delicious and tasted similar to nilaga or lauya (Filipino style beef soup). I was surprised to see character baon there--so cute that I had to take a pic! How much they charge is worth all that. The staff does bring out their tambourines and sing happy birthday when requested. They'll also store cake in the fridge for you. Will most likely go back there for another occasion.

    Yelp me, Yelp you!…read more Four Seasons Buffet in Cerritos is your typical Asian buffet, but it does a good job of giving you plenty of choices. They have mussels, clams, seafood, Chinese dishes, and a large selection of sushi. The food was tasty, the sushi tasted fresh, and there was enough variety for everyone to find something they liked. The restaurant was also clean and well-maintained, which is always important when eating at a buffet. Nothing overly fancy or unusual--just a solid Asian buffet with lots of food, good flavors, and plenty of sushi. Come hungry and leave full!

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    Pepper Lunch - seafood - Updated August 2026

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