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    Sands Chinese Restaurant

    4.5 (130 reviews)
    ModerateChinese

    Sands Chinese Restaurant Photos

    SANDS CHINESE RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Quiet
    Casual
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Sands Chinese Restaurant

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    Almond dessert
    Karen K.

    Unique Chinese/HK style cooking. Make sure you make reservations and try out their various dishes. Might need to reserve for seasonal stuff. I have heard of them "forgetting" reserved dishes though from multiple people which is not cool. Otherwise, it's a good adventurous eating. You can tell the chef is sincere in cooking savory, unique dishes

    House special Tofu
    Gale R.

    A family run restaurant. Though I'm familiar with Cantonese food, they had many different dishes available that I had never heard of previously. I had wanted to get the stuffed wings with glutenous rice, but they were out of it for the evening, but I was able to get the tofu special which was delicious . We also enjoyed the hot and sour soup as well as the salt and pepper chicken wings, which we substituted for the stuffed wings. We wish that we had come with more people so we could've tried more of the dishes. The family wait staff is very helpful and friendly.

    Combo A menu.
    Lindsay S.

    Love, Love, Loved this place. Combo A dinner for four was fantastic! Flavors were spot on in every dish, from the egg rolls to the orange chicken, sweet and sour fish, egg plant, green beans and chow mein. I loved they had a steeped tea for the table. Very unique! Portions were perfect for the 4 of us with plenty to take home. I can't wait to come back!

    Sau C.

    Food was delicious, came here for thanks giving dinner with family. Small and clean restaurant. Service was nice and attentive.

    Beef with vermicelli soup
    Jennifer T.

    What a find. A quaint little Chinese restaurant, but with a lot of selections and the food is so delicious. The family runned restaurant has great service and lots of recommendations. We came for lunch, but we will definitely come back for dinner. There are many great dishes you can pre-order from the menu. Can't wait to try. There's parking in the parking lot.

    Salt and Pepper Pork Chop
    Prayoth P.

    Again excellent. My spouse was craving Sands excellent food. Drove over 60 miles to come eat

    lightly fried oysters, this is good, around $4/each
    Alfie L.

    Their attempts to elevate Cantonese cuisine to a different level is obvious. However their choice of fish, shrimp etc. needs a major upgrade to justify their high prices. we ordered a variety of items, but quite disappointed at some, such as the stuffed duck, it was way too greasy and mushy; the deep fried fish was seriously overpriced especially for a cheap choice of Tilapia fish; the fish stuffed tofu was average and the tiny shrimp in the lotus rice were not fresh. the location is remote and hard to find, food quality does not commensurate the high prices. the only two things that stood out was : service and presentation. Service was great! and you can tell much effort was put into the presentation. Unfortunately I would not be returning for the above reasons.

    Egg and Shrimp 滑蛋蝦仁

    Went back today in rainy rainy LA. They had added some specialty drinks to the menu. I also tried a couple of different dishes. The clear daikon reddish and beef soup just warmed my soul and on a day like today drinking that lemon rock sugar tea was like coming in from the cold and reading a boom by the fire. I was very surprised by how well the lunch special, Ma Po Tofu was made. Open M-Sat, closed Sundays.

    Mashed Garlic with Mixed Vegetable
    Sammi S.

    Came here for lunch and it was a decent experience. The mashed garlic mixed vegetables was amazing -- couldn't have asked for a more flavorful dish. The beef did fall short a bit, unfortunately, as it was a little tough to eat. The sauce was also spicy and sweet instead of savory, which was a little confusing. Though, I would say it has one of the nicest presentations I've seen for this item. The lady who ran the store was professional and responsive but not too overly welcoming/friendly. The place was clean, and there was a wall of posters featuring their dishes (many of which require reservation). Overall, not a bad choice.

    Taro dessert
    Keo N.

    An unexpected hidden gem in this far flung forlorned corner of the sgv. It is, in fact, not that far from San Gabriel. All but a few miles. The dishes offered are refreshing and not what you would typically find in a Cantonese restaurant. Of note is the braised stuffed duck. The lotus leaf rice is a little muted compared to the fried halibut or braised duck, so this dish should be served first. There are several dishes that are less heavily seasoned, so those should be served earlier, too. Perhaps this family owned establishment would be kind enough to serve in the ascending order of flavorfulness if you request them to do so. Lol. There are quite a few unique dishes that are worthy of further exploration.

    Cucumber and Black Fungus Salad
    Victor M.

    Family-owned unassuming storefront Sands Chinese Restaurant brings exquisite modern Cantonese cuisine to a new level in the small rock quarry mining town of Irwindale, CA, in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley. The expert culinary skilled Sands owner/chef creates and serves delicious and well presented specialty Cantonese dishes that you will be hard pressed to find elsewhere in Southern California. Sands is a perfect venue for any casual family gathering or special occasion celebration. It is a smaller restaurant so reservations are highly recommended especially for large parties. We opted to pre-order many of their specialty items that needs 2-3 days to prepare and created our own banquet menu for a party of 9. We were not disappointed!! 1. Cucumber and Black Fungus Salad (4/5) - A nice refreshing unique starter with a bit of heat 2. Sweet and Sour Fried Wonton (5/5) - Perfectly fried tasty Wontons served with a seafood sweet and sour sauce 3. Whole Steamed Spicy Chicken (5/5) - Tender cold chicken dish with a pleasantly mild spicy sauce 4. Braised Stuffed Duck (5/5) - A specialty of Sands that is executed well and full of varying "eight treasure" flavors that blend together nicely to excite the palate 5. Braised Pork Belly (5/5) - Extremely tender and flavorful that could be one of the best served by any restaurant 6. Dry Sauteed Green Beans (3/5) - Nothing special but still good 7. Steamed Mushroom with Shrimp (4/5) - Nice blend of shitake mushroom and shrimp in white sauce that represents typical Cantonese cuisine 8. Stuffed Cabbage Roll (2/5) - Vegetarian dish that lacked flavor despite the pumpkin sauce and was the least favorite 9. Fried Tofu Box (4/5) - Unique way to serve tofu that was tasty 10.Lotus Leaf Rice (5/5) - Nicely infused lotus leaf flavor steamed into the rice with seafood and dried shrimp 11.Beef Chow Fun (4/5) - Good chow fun with extremely tender slices of beef Service was very good. Dishes came out at a good and not at too fast of a pace. Dishes were changed out often. Prices are reasonable for a small business serving unique specialty items in good size portions. For exceptional and contemporary Cantonese cuisine, Sands is a dining destination you should definitely not miss out on.

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    6 years ago

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    Dino W.

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    5 years ago

    Great food, excellent prices and really friendly staff. If you like it spicy you have to try the curry chicken, delicious

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    Dino W.

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    5 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    Dino W.

    Thank you for your support Colleen. Look forward to seeing you again.

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    6 years ago

    Really good food! The staff was really nice. The lunch special is a great size. Quick and affordable!

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    Dino W.

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    5 years ago

    excellent food, Comfortable sitting environment

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    5 years ago

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    Page 4 of 4

    Sands Chinese Restaurant Reviews in Other Languages

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    Lin's Club

    Lin's Club

    4.6
    (265 reviews)
    4.9 mi
    $$

    Tea smoked duck! Order it! It's smoky, crispy, juicy and , savory…read more My go to order: numbing spicy chicken nuggets, stinky tofu, and duck. The spicy chicken nuggets has the right amount of numbing spice, paired with the crunch of the chicken, and filled with crispy chili pieces. The stinky tofu is fried and pairs perfectly with pungent garlic dipping sauce. The portions are generous and the price is super affordable. Most dishes range from 12.99 -15.99. The duck is around $28 for the whole duck, which is amazing in this economy. It's a small store so seating is limited. I've never personally dined in and always ordered takeout. And the boss lady that runs the front of the house? She is cool, sassy and a multi-tasking queen. You can tell she puts heart and pride into serving the customers and food. When placing the phone order, she will try to make sure that the food is ready when you arrive. And she will always say in mandarin in an almost scolding tone: "hurry up and go home and eat the food. It won't be as good if you wait to long to eat it! " Honestly...the scolding makes the food taste better.

    4/5 vegan and vegetarian options are plentiful:…read more Lin's Club is a small family owned restaurant located in that cramped plaza at the intersection of Sixth Street and Duarte near the border of Arcadia and Monrovia. They have many classic Chinese dishes at a truly affordable price point. The food: We ordered four different dishes: green beans (v), stir fried egg plants (v), mapo tofu (v), and chicken with rice. For the first three dishes, we clarified with the owner to make this vegetarian (also vegan), which she was able to do very easily and without question. We communicated with her in Chinese, but she also spoke English to us, when we discovered that our Chinese was likely not as fluent as native speakers. Everything was flavorful, without relying on just an overwhelming amount of salt, and we really enjoyed the green beans that seemed to be cooked in fermented bean paste. I found the eggplants particularly tasty too! The service: This small store had so much business, so we did spend some time waiting before we could actually order our meal. The restaurant itself was filled with folks dining in, and there were multiple parties waiting for take out. Even so, once we did order our meal, it didn't take too long for all four dishes to come out. For these reasons, I can't say service was particularly attentive, but they were still polite and I felt like they did try to make it a good experience for us, even if it was so busy. Everything else: They accept credit card with a small surcharge. Parking exists, but during dinner time on a Friday, expect it to be full and very cramped.

    Photos
    Lin's Club
    Pig's ear in chili oil
    Pig's ear in chili oil
    Spicy fried chicken nuggets

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    Spicy fried chicken nuggets
    Meizhou Express

    Meizhou Express

    4.5
    (365 reviews)
    1.5 mi
    $$

    Didn't even know about this place until I search for dumplings on yelp…read more Let me tell you, now that I found it. I will definitely be frequenting this place a lot. I personally love their spicy wonton soup, but I've also tried the regular soup and the broth is amazing either way. I just prefer the spicier version. It's hard to really say what you should order here, I personally like the spicy wonton soup, but every single one of their appetizers that I have tried are amazing, unfortunately, I haven't tried too many of their main dishes as I tend to be a creature of habit, but I'm sure just like with all the appetizers that I've tried everything you order here will come out amazing. Anytime it's cold or starts to rain, this is my go to spot for a nice warm soup

    不要把你的幸福,建立在會失去的東西上,很多時候好運不是求來的,而是你一點一點建立的,我相信當我們到另外一個高度時,自然就會看到不同的風景~…read more 眉州東坡,很多朋友都去過了,但是你們去過這一家眉州東坡的中央廚房嗎?朋友說眉州東坡很多菜都是在這做的,這家看似隱身在住宅區附近, 一點都不起眼的小店,沒有裝潢,價格自然也比富麗堂皇的大酒樓親民多了, 我跟朋友去過眉州東坡滿多次的,說實話,從來沒有驚艷過,來這家中央廚房,我個人覺得東西也是好壞參半, 我記得他家的豬腳湯, 做的就真的好吃,但麵好像鹹了一點, 酒釀湯圓有待加強, 有去過的吃貨朋友們,可以建議他們有啥好吃的嗎?

    Photos
    Menu!
    Menu!
    Menu 2/12/16
    Menu 2/12/16
    Pork belly with bun.

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    Pork belly with bun.
    TK Cafe

    TK Cafe

    4.3
    (401 reviews)
    4.8 mi
    $$

    My cousin loves catering from here for her son's parties. I decided to host Father's Day and…read morecatered from here and my guests loved it. We got the bbq chicken, which is always a hit and I decided to try the mahi mahi, parents loved it. It was hot, crispy, fresh, and the delicious! Noodles were decent, nothing too special, definitely a good filler. We also ordered the crab ragoons, ehhh I could've don't without them. My husband love their Mac salad so I made sure to order two large containers. That was also a hit. Definitely give this family restaurant a try. Service was friendly, easy to order, and the kiddos helped me bring my catering trays to my car.

    I'm craving for popcorn chicken so i went on yelp to check where can i get a popcorn nearby…read moremonrovia. this place showed up and i was excited to try it. i got the popcorn chicken, fried rice, eggrolls and spam masubi. for the drink i got milk tea. i don't recommend the milk it super sweet and the boba tasted weird, it has sour taste. the house special fried was so good and filling the popcorn chicken was spicy and it was okay, i was expecting it will be juicy, but it's not. the eggrolls it's okay too, I kinda didn't like it but my friends said it was okay. the spam masubi was good. i don't like the sauce that they gave me. overall the food was okay. they have a parking lot. we waited 15mins for the food. the customer service if good. the staff were nice. the ambiance was more like hawaiian vibe. clean and they have tables and chairs inside

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    TK Cafe
    Sesame balls
    Sesame balls
    Menu outside (prices are show inside)

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    Menu outside (prices are show inside)
    Luscious Dumplings

    Luscious Dumplings

    4.0
    (951 reviews)
    4.9 mi
    $$

    Luscious Dumplings gave us another amazing dining experience! It had been about a year since the…read morelast time we ate here. We came in recently to redeem our SGV Food Passport for 1 order of the mixed pan fried dumplings. The parking is typically not bad around the evening time. The location is always busy and sometimes 80% full. They have maybe 8-10 tables inside. We came in and were seated quickly the staff was awesome she explained everything about our SGV redemption and we orders some XLB dumplings as well. We both redeemed our deals as ended up with 20 free pan fried dumplings. We got to try 4 types of the pan fried plates. We ate the chicken, shrimp & cabbage, fish and pork. These are some of BEST pan fried dumplings in the SGV. These tasted even better than the first time we came here. I'm happy they still deliver on quality of food and quality of service! Thanks again, Luscious Dumplings!

    Visited 5/21/26 -…read moreAngus Stewed Beef Noodle 15 Hands down the best noodle soup. The beef is soft, tender, flavorful. The broth is delicate but packs a mean punch of flavor, no restaurant has come close to a balance as good as this. If you have been to the OG luscious or one one dumpling, this is the exact same. - Pan Fried Pork Dumpling 13.5 The skin is thick and fried to caramelized heaven. I would say if you want a hefty dumpling this is the place. If you remember the original location, the dumplings taste similar but not fried as well. Still one of the best spots around. - Pork XLB 13.5 One of the dishes you just have to get when eating taiwanese beef noodle soup. No notes, a great XLB with thin skin that doesn't break easily! If you have never been here, you have to come. The chili oil is my sister's favorite that she buys a bottle every time we visit. My brother in law has me order take out every time I visit him in the bay, this place is truly that good. Ambiance isn't great but thats not the reason why this place is amazing, the emphasis is on the food. Bathroom rating is 4 stars, decent enough to use. Not much interaction with staff, you order with QR Code.

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    Upon arrival...clean and tidy...
    Upon arrival...clean and tidy...
    Pan fried pork dumplings
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    Newport Seafood Restaurant

    Newport Seafood Restaurant

    4.1
    (3.7k reviews)
    9.7 mi
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    Food is very good. Service is fast and the ambiance is wonderful…read more I love the house special lobster and the kung pao chicken. Delicious!!!

    Definitely a spot you come to on special occasions as it is pricey. We came with a reservation for…read more9 people, and they had everything ready for us when we arrived. We ended up getting a set for $168 this time, which came with 6 dishes. It's also $35 per lb for lobster, and I asked for the smallest one. Apparently, the smallest one was 4.8 lbs, which was another $168, so I'm not sure if they upsold me. Anyways, the food was fantastic and everyone enjoyed it. This is what I thought about the food we got. House Seafood Soup - Simple and clean soup. Good portion, and it was soothing to eat. Lots of squid. (4/5) Clams with Spicy Sauce - Large clams with tons of meat, and the sauce was fire. Always a good choice. (5/5) Crab with Salt & Pepper - Loved the seasoning, and the flavors were solid. (4.5/5) Thai Style Beef Stew - First time trying this, and it was good. A bit different, but the meat chunks were tasty and the overall flavors were good. (4/5) Sautéed Pea Sprouts - Nicely done vegetable dish. It's simple but refreshing with good flavors. (4/5) Fried Whole Fish - This dish was gone so fast because it was delicious. Nicely fried and not overly seasoned. (5/5) Signature Lobster - I feel like you have to get this here since it's their specialty. It's pricey, but in my opinion, it's the best and freshest lobster in town. Tons of green onions, seasoned well, fresh meat, and lots of lobster roe. (5/5) Service was good, and they didn't automatically add a mandatory tip for a large party. The total came out to around $364, which is pricey, but the food was phenomenal. Parking - Valet only, but they have street parking in front. I parked on the street since there were plenty of spots on a Wednesday, but I assume it gets busy on weekends.

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    Newport Seafood Restaurant
    Newport special crab on egg noodles
    Newport special crab on egg noodles
    Beef loc lac

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    Papa Lu's Kitchen

    Papa Lu's Kitchen

    4.1
    (77 reviews)
    3.1 mi
    $$

    So this is a small Chinese restaurant that's a bit aways from the main hustle and bustle lf the…read more626. However, if you want to try something a little different, there are some "traditional" Kaiping specialties that I haven't seen on menus anywhere else. I've always come with my family and have received great service because my dad knows the staff. They speak my home dialect so I'm sure there's some bias there. Foodwise, I've tried quite a bit and haven't had any dishes that didn't hit the mark for me. Standouts for me are the big claypot yellow eel rice, their specialty roast goose (the 2 dishes just listed may require a preorder but again, my dad usually handles all the ordering), their beansprout with pig intestine, and their egg plant with salted fish. The claypot rice is ordered by the kilo so really is a big party dish but has nice succulent pieces of eel, really well cooked rice, and then of course the crispy rice at the bottom. The goose is very flavorful and not super gamey, it has more of a meaty texture and bite than the younger poultry an American pallette may be used to so word of warning. I really like the beansprout with pig intestine, again not really gamey but very savory with very tender, fatty pieces of intestine (highly recommend even if you're hesitant with intestine). The eggplant with salted fish is also intensely savory with a pungency from the salted fish that may seem like a lot but melds really well with the sauce and overall flavor of the dish. Though I haven't tried every dish on their menu, I've tried quite a bit and can confidently say they'll bring out some tasty Chinese dishes.

    Was here a few weeks ago with my kids for a quick lunch. We got the Beef Chow Fun...it's a thick…read moreflat white noodles sautéed with green onions, bean sprouts, beef and sort of a soy sauce. It's one of our go to orders when we hit a Chinese restaurant. Sometimes it's a hit or miss...but I got to say it was a HIT! The noodles were separated and seasoned perfectly, coating each strand of noodles with their soy sauce mixture...and the beef was perfectly tenderized..NOT TOUGH AT ALL! Usually beef is tough in this type of noodle dish at other places. The flavors were legit..not too sweet or salty just right! It's really hard for me to find good Asian food in Baldwin Park so I was pleasantly surprised when we stumbled upon this place. Highly recommend. Our server was a Chinese lady..probably didn't speak much of English and didn't come across as friendly but to be honest that's how you know the food is going to slap when you have a waitress with the meanest RBF...so don't be alarmed just know food is going to smack! LOL It's located in a very random place but there's plenty of parking. It's pretty laid back but I would say can be good for large groups. It's not too loud or rowdy at all.

    Photos
    Inside
    Inside
    Stuffed Pork intestines
    Stuffed Pork intestines
    Garlic vegetable Green

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    Garlic vegetable Green

    Sands Chinese Restaurant - chinese - Updated August 2026

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