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A 1 Restaurant
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
15 reviews for A 1 Restaurant
15 reviews in English
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Review from Jim B.
San Jose, CA
3/26/2012
On a business trip to the area for a week. Where do I eat??
I don't care to eat in the food factories, or even a jsut so so kind of place, not high overprices "dinner houses"
I want good, memorable food, the stuff that makes my toes curl. So checking on nearby places to my hotel, this place caught my eye.
Drove up, nobody there except for the people that cook and serve. Went in as was greeted by some very nice ladies and sat down. Asked what was good, not just good but great, that was not spicy.
She recommended the Sizzling Fish platter. It came a few moments later along with a big bowl of rice. No way I thought was I going to be able to eat all that.
Wrong, I was almost licking the plate when done. I was the best, fresh veggies, the fish melted in my mouth, and the sauce.
Loved it loved it loved it.
Give it a try, you will not be disappointed. -
Review from Angie W.
4/10/2012 1 Check-in Here
We came by for lunch because Kuan's (next door) was closed and we decided to try this place out.
Maybe I ordered the wrong thing? I got the Shanghai Noodles and it was greasy & dull. It tasted more like chow mein.
The service was ok for a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant looked a little run down, but clean.
I may come back, maybe... :(Listed in: Lunchtime Foodventures, Pandamonium, Local | Montebello
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Review from danny g.
Pasadena, CA
11/10/2011
Pro.
Came here once. flavor was on point. I had a chicken chow fun and it had that smoky wok flavor. That the first sign of a master chef and a good kitchen. also it came with a traditional style cabbage soup, extra plus. lastly to top it off, it's rediculously cheap!
Con.
Space is a little run down, and looks dirty, but it has an A grade when i went.
conclusion: I would go back there over and over for lunch. so goOood -
Review from Courtney J.
Walnut, CA
Very good Hong Kong type of Chinese cooking...
Cheap and good, can never complain.
I was surprised by chatting with the lady server, that the chef/owner used to work for the famous Sam Woo BBQ. -
Review from Janie T.
Montebello, CA
10/10/2011
decided to have dinner here tonight..this place was pretty empty for a dinner rush. Only one other table other than us. Idk why, the food was delicious
* deep fried whole fish- yuuum!! very crispy and the dipping sauce made it perfect!
*lobster with ginger and onion- originally we wanted the clams with black bean sauce but they were out of clams. Thank goodness they were out! The server suggested the lobster. I didn't want it but hunnie decided he wanted lobster tonight. And boy am I glad he did! it was perfectly cooked. I thought the lobster was going to be frozen but it was fluffy and the gravy sauce was delish!
* roasted duck over white rice- Not my fav dish of the night but it was still tasty.
* service- only one server which was an older lady, and one cook. Typical chinese restaurant on a slow day. They were super friendly! We will be eating here more often. Can't wait to try all the other things on their menu. -
Review from George A.
Montebello, CA
8/16/2011 1 Check-in Here
Decent chinese food! Not great but worth another visit! Parking is plentiful, service is quick & friendly.
Sometimes us non asain customers can feel a little out of place at these hole in the walls chinese joints, but this place made me feel comfortable & welcomed.
So, If your looking for a reasonable, quick & decent chinese food, try this place. Not the best, but worth checking out. -
Review from P K.
Cheviot Hills, CA
11/1/2011
Delicious Sam Woo-style Chinese hole in the wall. There aren't many of these establishments left in the Monterey Park area but A1 is one of the best ones around. Sadly, it seems like the Northern Chinese beef roll and Xiao Long Bao places are starting to take over everything in SGV. But anyway please try this place out. It's really very good!
The food: pretty much every item I've tried here has been good. Things I've tried:
*seafood and tofu soup (very delicious with big chunks of fish - add white pepper for a kick)
*fried crispy noodle chowmein (beef or chicken or shrimp, they're all good and crispy!)
*spicy salted squid (sometimes a bit greasy, but still very flavorful and delish)
*fish fillet with asparagus (for lighter fare, with lots of flavor),
*eggplant with garlic chili sauce (not too spicy, but full of garlicky flavor)
*braised string beans (cantonese classic fried string beans with garlicky spicy saltiness)
*sauteed gailan with garlic (always crisp and fresh),
*roasted duck (very meaty and flavorful, although the skin is not as crispy as some other places, I'd rather have this one because it's meatier),
*soy sauce chicken (pretty much your standard chinese bbq variety, but much meatier than some other places),
*fried whole fish (delicious and sinfully crispy)
*yang chow fried rice (one of my favorite staples!),
*beef chow fun (greasy, but delicious with beefy flavor - order the dry style so the noodles are properly marinated in sauce).
I can't remember ever eating something here that wasn't tasty, and I've been here MANY times.
The Value: Their food is cheap at dinner (my family recently ate here for dinner and ordered 8 dishes for a total of $67 w/o tip), but their lunch specials are the best deal! Around $5 for an entree, rice and soup! What a value! I think the food at A1 rivals Tin Tin or other Monterey Park area Chinese restaurants, but the parking is MUCH easier and you don't have to wait for an hour like at Tin Tin.
Service: Excellent for a Chinese restaurant. On the rare occasion when they're busy, you can have trouble getting their attention, but they're not usually that busy, so my water gets refilled without asking! Whoa! That's a rare occasion at a Chinese restaurant. The decor is dingy and definitely could use a remodel, but I think that's part of the charm of the place. In my past experience, these hole-in-the-wall dingy Chinese restaurants serve up some of the best food in the San Gabriel Valley. It's probably due to the seasoned wok that has accumulated layers of flavor over the years and years of use.
I don't usually give Chinese restaurants 5 stars, especially when they are a bit greasy looking, but I fear this place will go out of business because the parking lot is always empty, and even during the dinner rush, there is never a wait. It's just a bad location, I guess since it's right off the freeway, so people just whizz on by without stopping. Plus, it's next to a run down Ford dealership and the whole strip mall looks kind of abandoned because there is such a huge empty parking lot. Try it out for lunch when they have the $5 specials. You will not be disappointed. -
Review from Vito m.
Torrance, CA
12/31/2011
This is by far my favorite Chinese food place ,been coming here since 1985 when i worked in Commerce and it was Sam Woo's . Now we have to drive from Torrance.
IMO the Spicy salt Squid is the bomb ,will always get 2 orders , the duck when available is great as is the house special fried rice and the Char Siu ,the egg rolls arent Tin Sing yummy but good .
Just writing this makes me crave my Spicy Salt Squid , looks like we will make a road trip today . -
Review from Seung Hyun Y.
Everett, WA
9/5/2010
I've never seen so much parking in LA in my life, and almost no traffic too. The smog here gets to me, though I have no idea what people tell me its foggy today. Fog is refreshing, cool and moist. Smog just hangs there..ugh..
A1 was near my work place this weekend, so I went with my partner in crime Kyung-Wook to scope out this place. One of the security staff members referred us here since he says its cheap Chinese food. Ignorant people don't know nothing about Chinese..it drives me up the wall.
Chinese aren't CHEAP, we're frugal and hard working. We built the rail road and dynamited half the Sierra mountain because everyone else was too afraid to shit rocks in the morning. Ah well..ignorant people.
I was looking at the menu for awhile and let my friend order his favorites. I went with a simple everything-on-it-no questions asked hom yee gai chow faan (salted fish and chicken fried rice). Lady looked at me like I was nuts because I spoke Cantonese with no problemo. I read the sign on the wall which had the daily specials. I went with that and not what everyone else ordered.
You can't go wrong with a salted fish rice dish because if you do, there's a problem with your restaurant. Almost all Cantonese locals know its a food staple.
For under $10 for lunch, I can't complain. I was satisfied, happy about my food, service was good and Kyung-Wook had no shame sitting there eating a 4 course Chinese dinner for lunch. Fatty. =P
Come here at your own convenience when you are in the area. =] -
Review from Karen Y.
12/19/2010
Good cheap Chinese food! They have like $5 lunch specials where you get a pretty good portion for the price. And it's tasty. I usually come here with my dad for lunch specials. He gets the hot pot and I get vegetable chow mein. Yummy all the time. You get a house soup too but I don't usually drink house soups. Weird stuff in it.
Lots of parking in the lot. They just opened a new Mexican market called Payless Foods next door so hopefully it'll revive this dead mall it's in. You can shop after eating too which I love doing. -
Review from Mel L.
Arcadia, CA
6/24/2011
Good, cheap Cantonese take out place. Food reminds me of the old Sam Woo's around LA before their quality went down. Place is greasy, definitely needs a new coat of paint. But food is cheap and good.
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Review from Ben N.
Glendale, CA
8/19/2009 1 Check-in Here
The Good:
Lunch Special Best Bets: Deep Fried Whole Sole, Orange Peel Beef, Peppered Beef, Deep Fried Porkchop, and Sauteed Green Beans.
Tucked away in an almost abandoned strip mall, this place offers decent, no frills chinese food. You can't beat the value specially during lunchtime. Service is fast. This place is popular among the local office workers, golfers from the adjacent Montebello country club, and those waiting for the Vegas-bound buses. Plenty of parking.
The Bad (and not-so-good):
One of their complimentary soups during lunchtime which I jokingly refer to as "ketchup soup". If by chance you get this soup, you'll know what I mean.
The Ugly:
This is your typical hole-the-wall Chinese eatery, so don't expect much. You go there for some decent Chinese food, nothing else.
The place really does need a makeover as it shows signs of age and neglect. Being a in a run-down strip mall doesn't help either. Their bathroom definitely needs to be improved in terms of appearance and cleanliness.
Bottom line:
If you're in Montebello and you don't want to drive all the way to Monterey Park, this is the place to go for some yummy & cheap Chinese food.
FYI: Like over 90% of small Chinese eateries, this is a "Cash Only" establishment, folks. Believe it or not, some people still can't fathom the fact that some restaurants don't accept credit cards. -
Review from cheryl s.
Montebello, CA
3/4/2009 ROTD 4/22/2009
I can't believe there aren't any reviews for this place! I mean, I can't believe that no one's come on here to rave about it yet! This place is amazing. Formerly, Sam Woo, now A 1, the flavors/menu are pretty much the same. For Monterey-Park style Chinese food, this is defintely the place to go. Easy access from the freeway. Tons of parking. And EASY call-in, to-go service. The food is yumm-o! fast. and cheap. and the selections are amazing. I usually get the Szechuan eggplant, shrimp pan-fried noodle, pork chops with spicy salt, and BBQ pork. Easily can feed a whole family. And if you go before 3:30, you can take advantage of they're lunchtime prices which makes everything SUPER CHEAP! I love it. I crave it. Should defintely try it :)
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Review from Richard L.
Orange County, CA
1/13/2010
A1 Restaurant , is super excellent to dine inn or take out. Price is so cheap and taste great. Compare to other big chinese restaurant give less amount of food in the dish and over charge. But think again this place really rock cause they really give plenty of food on your dish. Great chinese foods in town bring your families and friends for a try. But remember they always closed on Tuesday.
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Review from Jeriel G.
Montebello, CA
5/8/2009 1 Check-in Here
This place is very good. me and my family come here often as for quick lunch or dinner. The food is always great. My favorite is the deep fried pork chop, and also their shrimp chow mien, but there are also many other dishes that taste wonderful. For a quick bite to eat, i usually phone order the beef saute over fried rice. quick,easy, and cheap.
