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    The Rice Box

    3.8 (1.1k reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
    Updated 3 weeks ago

    Order The Rice Box Takeout or Delivery

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    THE RICE BOX ATMOSPHERE

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    Hipster
    Casual
    Trendy
    Moderate noise

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    Mongolian beef combo
    Leena C.

    Box of rice Haven't been here in almost 8 years. 1st experience was great, second was terrible so I didn't go back. My friend Aurora wanted to meet Donna early dinner and gossip session and she really liked this place. (We tried having a team lunch at the Rice Village location during the cold front last Oct but they had no heat so we opted for a warmer place but she grabbed a to go on the way home) Here we are for a late lunch 3:45 pm on a Friday. Parking was none had to drive around the block and saw some movement and bam, someone was leaving. We ordered at the bar, staff was super nice and opted to sit outside. Did not realize they deliver to the table. Order: Mongolian beef combo with fried rice and egg roll $14.99 The food comes in takeaway style containers. Win. Mongolian beef (2.5/5) - slightly over sauced for me; beef was pretty tender and there were carrots and edamame which is not the standard so maybe that's what makes it fusion? Fried rice (3/5) - standard style fried with small pieces of bean sprouts which I love so that was a nice surprise Egg roll (3/5) - I assume it was chicken because I didn't realize there was a choice) - it was crunchy and soft on the inside which I like, and pairs well with sriracha (did not eat till I got home) They seem to do a whole lot of take away. The staff were nice and hard working. I was excited when they first opened bc they had chow fun on the menu and being HK Cantonese, I love that dish but when I ordered it the 1st and 2nd time eight years ago instead of bean sprouts they had cabbage and that alters rhe flavor tremendously. I see why it's popular among the people but just don't think it is for my taste.

    The counter/bar area
    Derrick R.

    I enjoy Ricebox every time I go. Doesn't matter the location. I get the Honey Walnut Shrimp, Fried Rice, Eggroll.

    Sesame chicken

    Today the portion of orange chicken was far from the regular. Also miss the old general Tso. I'll definitely give it another shot but seems light the heights location needs some attention.

    The bathroom...
    Sarah T.

    The food here is life changing. It's just too bad it was too hot and filthy to enjoy it. I love that there are all the protein options with every dish. This place is very vegetarian friendly. The food is made quick and fresh. The service was also great. They were happy to answer all questions and get some extra things we needed when asked. They were kind and accommodating. I personally got the sweet and sour chicken and it was amazing. I haven't had Chinese food that good in a LONG time. The fried rice I got with it was perfectly seasoned and there was plenty of it to go with my chicken. My son (11 going on 16) got the orange chicken, extra spicy. He really liked it and ate almost all of it but said he wants to go back and try it not spicy because it was REALLY spicy and he thought there would be more flavor with less spicy. My little kids (5 and 3) shared the sesame tofu and pepper stack tofu. They both loved it and said they wanted more. My kids aren't really picky but for them to say they love something, it really is a compliment. My husband got the chow fun with Chinese sausage. He said the Chinese sausage was alright but he would probably get another protein next time. Overall, the food is amazing and we will be going again, to another location. So why 3 stars? 1. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The heat. My goodness, this place was hot. There is no air circulation and very little seating in the hot building. The seating outside was also very hot because it's Houston in May![[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Food tasted better when people are comfortable and we were not. 2. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Lack of cleanliness. We walked in and, next to the wall menu, there was a pile of flies. Dead, alive, just a mass of wings and buzzes.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]When going to see if we could find a table outside, they were almost all caked with bird poop and had clearly not been recently cleaned.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]The bathroom was the worst part. I don't mind the metal toilet or the theming of the place. I LIKE dives and hole-in-the-wall dingy places. This was something else. All around the toilet, a brown textured ring graces the walls. This is beyond gross and I can't possibly believe it was a style choice.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] We won't be back to this location but will go to another in the future for the great food.

    Orange tofu, awesome flavor!
    Mike T.

    Let's play "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly"... THE GOOD Wow, the food here is fantastic. Truly, the sweet & sour chicken is actual chicken thighs with a satisfying crunch and great sauce. The fried rice is probably the best fried rice I've had in a very long time! I got the Chow Fun noodles with Chinese sausage and extra spicy and it was spectacular! Also tried the Salt & Pepper Tofu, which was nice and crunchy and HOLY MOLY IT CAME OUT SO FAST! [[HIGHLIGHT]]The atmosphere is spot on and the staff are friendly and helpful, smiles all around and very inviting.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] From all of this alone I would have easily given this place 5 stars! but THE BAD [[HIGHLIGHT]]The seating at this place was not great, very few spots and there's almost no AC, so it's very warm and very humid, which is not a comfortable experience. The only other option is outside, which in Houston is even worse.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] THE UGLY [[HIGHLIGHT]]Good lord, I've never seen a bathroom in this place is... something else. I didn't think about it while I was in there at first, but with kids I had to make multiple trips. The wall next the toilet is...textured...with a brown substance. I'm not touching it and I'm not investigating. The whole vibe of the place is one thing, but this really feels like the cleanliness of the place fell off a cliff.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]I'm really torn here. I want to come back, but I'll probably try a different location, because you can tell the decor and everything has a lot of love put into it. Like for real, I wouldn't be surprised if a Disneyland Imagineer had a hand in decorating the place.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I'll be back...but a different location.

    Sesame fried tofu
    John W.

    I'll be honest, I had high open for rice box. It was nice, but it definitely didn't live up to my expectations... :( I stopped in the rice box off 20th street. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The actual restaurant was really small and I couldn't find parking nearby. Ended up having to street-park a few blocks away.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]. The restaurant wasn't too busy when I was there. Our orders were taken quickly and food was cooked quickly too. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The ambiance was really great. I liked the vibe and neon colors everywhere.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The food itself was just ok though. I was disappointed with the broccoli beef (the beef was really tough and chewy. I got the honey sesame fried tofu which was pretty good. The flavor lacked complexity & was mostly sweet, although the fried tofu was yummy. The white rice was a bit dry too... I probably won't come back here. The vibe was great but for the price / quality of food I was disappointed

    Menu
    Liz C.

    [[HIGHLIGHT]]Place is pretty small and can get cramped if there's a lot of people[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] but the food is great and customer service good. The portion sizing on the food is actually what makes this place really really good. Tasty Chinese food with plenty for another meal later on in the day. Can't wait to go back and try other meals here.

    Gregston C.

    Fast casual Chinese / Asian fusion. A handful of popular Chinese inspired dishes. Tasty Asian fusion food. Good portions for the price. The sweet chili wings take a little time to make but are very worth it. The Chinese sausage Chow fun is flavorful. I know the "unfold the box to make a plate trick" is kind of their thing since it's part of the name, but an actual plate makes a better plate and getting another box to put your left overs at the end seems counter productive. I just eat from the box so that my food doesn't get cold unnecessarily. It doesn't feel like they want to you eat there. There are only a few seats inside. Outside seating is less than pleasant most of the year. They really want to you pick up your food and leave. Don't worry they won't forget to ask for a tip as you order at the counter. They really want you to order via grubhub or uber eats, because each dish is a few dollars more plus all the fees.

    Mike B.

    The food was alright nothing crazy. Service was very fast. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Ambiance is a feeling you're sitting inside a small restaurant in Tokyo. Feels like you're In a John wick movie scene.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]

    Orange Chicken
    Sophia A.

    Our 1st visit in over a year and I believe that it has gotten better. I've ordered a few items on the menu. I might have found some new favorites. First, I've ordered last year's favorite Garlic Eggplant with minced meat, it was just as good as last year, if not better. The second thing I ordered was a family favorite, Crab Rangoon. It was perfectly crispy and delicious. It came with a sweet chili sauce, it compliments the Rangoon well. The last thing I ordered and what I wanted to try, was the scallion pancakes with a side of curry sauce. The scallion pancake was perfectly thin and made to perfection. The highlight of that dish was the green curry sauce that went with the scallion pancakes. I honestly can say that it was probably the best combination of flavors I had in a long long time. I've put the Garlic Eggplant with one of the scallion pancakes and dipped it in the curry sauce... my mind was officially blown. Seriously, I'll get all three items again but next time, I want a large tub of the green curry sauce. The service is always top notch.We'll be back once again

    Wings

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    27 days ago

    Taste like my childhood egg rolls. It's always fresh. Always hot. And always good. The duck sauce just brings me back to childhood.

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    Page 1 of 27

    The Rice Box Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - The Rice Box

    Do you make your egg rolls made in house or do you buy them from someone else? I am looking for a home made egg roll.

    Yes we make Errol in house.

    How's the music? Good for kids? My daughter loves fried rice and dumplings, and I thought it would be a cool bday outing for 4-6. 😋

    Sir, this is a Wendy's.

    Which are the smaller egg rolls? Veg or chicken?

    Veg

    Could a party of 17 people eat here together?

    It would be hard, the space is pretty small

    Do you guys have brown rice as an alternate?

    Dog friendly patio?

    Yes. I take my dog all the time and sit on the patio

    They're supposed to have gluten free options. Does anyone know if it's celiac safe? Thanks!

    i would love to know this, seconding the question. The establishment shows up in Yelp as GF place...

    View All 10 Questions

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    Hu's Cooking

    Hu's Cooking

    4.5
    (1.1k reviews)
    6.8 mi
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    5 Stars - Authentic Szechuan that absolutely nails the classics…read more During our short trip to Houston, as a custom, we were determined to find real Szechuan food, and luckily we found Hu's Kitchen. The location is a bit unassuming, and parking is definitely tough (the spaces are very shallow), but the second we walked through the doors and smelled the Szechuan peppercorns, I knew we were in exactly the right place. I generally judge a Szechuan restaurant by their 夫妻肺片 (Fuqi Feipian)--which they cleverly name "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" on the menu. They completely nailed it. The beef, tripe, and tendon were incredibly cohesive together, yet you could tell each component was prepared and marinated in a slightly different way to perfectly highlight its specific texture. The chili oil was right on the spot. We went through a massive bowl of rice just eating this dish alone. Honestly, if I weren't feeding a family of four, I could have just ordered that and been perfectly happy. While the Fuqi Feipian proves their skill with dry dishes, the 水煮魚片 (Fish in Szechuan Hot Chili Oil) proves their skill with wet ones. It's another must-order. The execution was flawless--we didn't just finish the tender fish chunks, we ate every last piece of cabbage soaked in that incredible chili broth. For my two daughters who can't handle the heat, we ordered the fried rice, garlic pork ribs with onion, and the 紅燒獅子頭 (Giant Meatball with Cabbage). The giant meatball was spectacular. The kids completely devoured it on their own, but I managed to steal a bite, and it instantly brought back childhood memories of exactly how this dish is supposed to taste. We also had the Dan Dan Noodles, which were great and rounded out the meal perfectly. I loved all of the dishes we tried. Should we ever find ourselves in Houston again, we will absolutely be revisiting this hidden gem.

    My mom wanted steamed fish with ginger, scallions, and that light sweet soy sauce. Hu's Cooking…read moredelivered! When we ordered, they mentioned it'll take about 20 mins but it came out in 10. No complaints here since we were starving from an 8 hour road trip. The Dan Dan Noodles...I had high expectations but sadly this dish fell short. I recommend Hu's Cooking to use a bigger bowl and more sauce because it was difficult to mix the noodles and the sauce wasn't...saucing, unfortunately. I wish there was more flavor in this dish. The Scallion Pancake was super over-fried and oily. See image in my review. The outer parts of the pancake were fried to a crisp and only a small circumference in the center stayed chewy. I know Chinese tends to be oily but this pancake soaked up way too much oil. Half a Peking duck: super great price for so much meat. The difficulty when eating this dish is gnawing the meat off the sharp bones of the duck. Mapo Tofu with white rice: pretty easy staple, no complaints here. Dinner on a Saturday was packed but we got seated quickly and food arrived fast.

    Photos
    Spicy chicken, clear noodles with red pepper sauce, and stir fried green beans
    Spicy chicken, clear noodles with red pepper sauce, and stir fried green beans
    Open til 11:00pm on Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat
    Open til 11:00pm on Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat
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    Bamboo House

    Bamboo House

    4.4
    (738 reviews)
    12.3 mi
    $$

    IYKYK - this is probably the best Peking Duck I've had in Houston in a long time. I've done Peking…read moreCuisine for years and shifted to Arco for my duck cravings, but if you're willing to drive out to Humble (pretty much anytime you're in the IAH area), you gotta check out Bamboo House for the best Peking duck. And their other menu items are fire as well! We went on a Sunday late evening. We had a 9 pm airport pickup at IAH so it was a perfect opportunity to grab a spectacular dinner and make the 30+ minute drive out to IAH totally worth it. Parking lot wasn't too full so that wasn't an issue. While the neighborhood ain't River Oaks luxury, it ain't too scary either. We kept it simple - ordered a whole duck and Bamboo House Special Noodle with Beef. This place ain't cheap but the food is worth every penny. It was very busy that evening so it's not a well-kept secret but also proves that eventually, Houstonians will figure out where the good food is. The duck was near perfect. They serve the duck with the pancakes (as opposed to the buns like at Arco) which is my preference. The soup that comes with it was also extremely flavorful. And the house special noodles with beef - oh my. I swear it's just one really long noodle so you may be frustrated trying to divvy up the family style bowl, but the labor is worth it. So good... Can't wait for my next airport run so I can sneak in a lunch or dinner at this place. So many other menu items I want to try!

    If you are looking for the best Peking duck, look no further! Who would have expected to find the…read morebest Peking duck in Humble? I had previously visited the now closed Bamboo House on Westheimer and I remember being impressed by the food. I had to make an airport run and decided that it would be perfect timing to stop by this location. I highly recommend ordering the duck ahead of time, but we were lucky enough to snag one of the last ducks when we arrived around 7 pm on a Sunday evening. The waitress was super friendly and upbeat and the restaurant is older but well maintained. You can see where the food is being prepared/cooked and you can see ducks being cooked/warmed behind a glass window. The duck was absolutely spectacular with the perfect seasoned and tender meat accompanied by well rendered crispy skin. I love how the pancakes are paper thin and pair well with the scrumptious duck and other toppings. They also provide sugar and plum sauce as additional toppings which I thought was interesting but not my cup of tea. The duck soup was extremely flavorful and full bodied and went well with the duck. The noodles were also amazing with likely hand pulled noodles served with an abundance of tender beef and vegetables with a little Sichuan kick. I was intrigued by a strawberry chicken dish that I saw on the menu and I plan to try it the time. My diagnosis: hands down the best Peking duck in the greater Houston area!

    Photos
    Inside
    Inside
    Twice Cooked Pork Belly
    Twice Cooked Pork Belly
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