Sam Woo B.B.Q. Restaurant
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
8 reviews
Neighborhood: Glendale
"it's hard to find good Chinese without going into Chinatown...this place is good. Good, not great, not horrible (which, somehow, it's really…" read more »
18 Reviews for Sam Woo B.B.Q. Restaurant
Oh hellz fruckin yeah. This place is hands down the best Chinese food dining experience eVAR. Beware, their county health inspector rating is I think a C or most of the time a B, but that just means it's authentic right? And their bathroom floors are sticky...and they have wine boxes in that hallway leading up to it...but if you just forget about all those things...it'd still be 5 stars...cause it'd be 10 stars if it wasn't for some of those "issues."
I haven't gotten sick, and their food is served quick and hot...and amazing.
For first timers...go with what you know...beef brocolli, shrimp fried rice..bbq pork...and a hot cup of tea.
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This isn't as good as it used to be when I used to go here a lot YEARS ago. For some reason the food didn't look as appetizing as it used to. We ate here when my in-laws were in town and my husband's aunt and uncle chose this place to have lunch. We asked for small teaspoons for the kids and they gave us huge serving spoons instead and claimed they don't have the small spoons--when in fact I had a couple of the teaspoons sitting in front of me as serving spoons. Anyway, my husband ended up throwing up later that night with a case of the runs.
But hey, you get what you pay for, right?
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5 stars based on char siu only!
I've had some of the best char siu in my life here. Had char siu at No.9 in Vancouver, Double Happiness in Hong Kong, Mon Kee in HK, various places in SGV, but hands down, this place consistently raosts the best pork available. Always red and lightly burnt on the outside while juicy and smoky on the inside.. You can have it with lo mein, chow mein, rice mein, on rice on soup or all by itself..
Sam Woo char siu is the one to beat.
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This hole-in-the-wall is a favorite place of mine and I've been going here for 10+ years. I have yet to find a place with such a selection at such reasonable prices. Plenty of rice dishes for $5 including some of my favorites, beef w/ black bean sauce on rice and tomato beef on rice. Large portions on all of the rice dishes. The Chinese BBQ and noodle soup selection is good too.
The greatest quality of this place is how they DON'T rush you during your meal. My old college buddies and I have been known to stay a couple of hours or so on a meal, without any hint to leave.
And they open late.
The friendly service could use an upgrade, but then again it adds to the unique charm of the place. I wouldn't change it.
Limited parking in back. To bypass the heavy Chinatown traffic, go at night. There is some parking on the street. There is also a huge open air parking lot caddy corner to the place that is free at night. Not too sure about weeknights.
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Duck = Greasey and Good.
Pan Fried Noodles = Greasey and Good.
Wonton Noodle Soup = Good
Prices = Cheap
I've been living in Downtown LA for about a year now and I can't tell you how many times the wife and I come to this place.
We went here last night and found that they got brand new furniture for the dining room and it looked like a new carpet too. Even the menues were new (just the paper, not the actual items.)
The place serves standard Hong Kong fare (I think I'm supposed to call it Cantonese). But it's good and reliably so.
Yeah, there's a B grade in the window, but the health department lets it stay open, so it can't be that bad. Just enjoy the food and try not to think what the kitchen must look like.
Oh, this place would probably get five stars if it was cleaner and there was more parking.
HEALTH DEPT VIOLATION NIGHTMARE!
But, this hole in the wall is sooo good. it's 10:30 pm, no parking, overcrowded, dirty, stinky, no functioning toilets--still not going to stop me from getting my beef chow fun with soy sauce dry style (so filling, fatting and so good) or roast duck wonton noodle soup (sodium overload, but worth IT) Yum, I'm hungry yelping about it.
Beware, its cash only and don't expect any nice helpful Chinese servers. You'll be lucky if you can understand what they're saying to you!
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Sam Woo. One of the great late night staples this side of Downtown Los Angeles.
I have a thing against stinky parking lots, and this is definately up there in terms of stinkiness, but the walk is short and the food definately makes up for it.
The service is as you would expect from any chinese restaurant. No "How're you doing?" No warm, full-toothed smiles or busty girls in pigtails showing just enough cleavage. No, none of that. Just take your seat, place your order, and 2 minutes and 13 seconds later, all your 5 dishes will have arrived. Well, at least the main ones will. The appetizers sometimes come while you are half way through your congee already. But who can complain? It all comes by the time you've poured you and your eating companions second cup o' tea.
The food tastes better than other chinese spots, which are notorious for being bland. Anything barbecued here is good, and I'm always a fan of the congee.
Did I mention I like congee?
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It's not the best Chinese barbeque place, but it's open late! And there's nothing like standing out in the cold for hours on end, and then coming in to a hot pot of teabagged tea and a plate of roasted duck over rice. Plus, no wait when it's late!
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I popped in only to get a refreshing drink, thus that's all I can base it off. Watermelon smoothie is what I had, which hit the spot. I don't like boba, so I had it just plain.
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don't go here if you're looking for some nice ambiance. try the food! there's nothing better than a late-night taste of pan-fried noodles, squid with spicy salt, and conjee (sorry, i don't know how to spell it). parking is tough if you go during the day, but go at night and you'll have no problems. i've been going here for years so i have my usual items on the menu. if you don't know what you want yet, you might need to prepare to point to the item you want on the menu just in case you get a waiter who doesn't speak english very well. and they won't take offense to it; they're ok at compensating when there's a communication gap. for health watchers like myself, you'd be glad to know that their food is not as greasy as many other chinese restaurants are. by the way, don't get discouraged by the hanging ducks on the windows...sam woo's food is really good, and you don't have to order duck...
This is my closest Sam Woo to where I live (around the corner and down the street, literally). Parking is tougher, but I'm always lucky to get a spot behind the restaurant, and the wait is pretty decent. Not the cleanest of the Sam Woo by far, but it has the best deep fried fish fillet with spicy salt (this one has less batter, thinner cuts of fish, and is overall more healthy in a sense...if you can get past the MSG overload). It's also the place where me and "my boys" accidentally discovered the dish.
It's also one of the few Sam Woos that has the "Chinese Doughnut" (or chakoy, as I grew up calling it). It helps being in Chinatown around a lot of Chinese Bakeries. It's simply a very light dough that's kinda shaped like a dog bone and deep fried (if anyone knows what I'm talking about, help me out with the name...) and it's the perfect partner to Congee (soft boiled rice), no matter what time of day (congee is typically a breakfast food).
My dad doesn't really like this one, he likes the greasier Alhambra one more. But this place is better for smaller parties (since the dining area is smaller by a bit) and how the servers knows my family at the other one. But for me and my roommate, it's still Sam Woo and no one's complaining here.
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J and I decided to take a walk around Chinatown. He suggested going to Sam Woo's, but after he told me it was a chain restaurant, I was skeptical and wanted to look around more. After walking around for 15 minutes, we settled on eating at Sam Woo's. To my surprise, the food was great! They prepared my beef chow fun exactly the way I like it with tons of gravy! We also ordered charsiu fried rice (J's choice) and egg drop soup. Next time I would pass on the charsiu fried rice, it was pretty bland, but other than that I loved the other two dishes. The portions are huge, enough leftovers for me to eat lunch and a snack the next day. I will definitely be back for more beef chow fun!!!
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Sam Woo is all over the place. In fact, there is two more Sam Woo in the Far East Plaza just down the street.
The name is popular and probably don't need introductions to many out there. For those who are not familiar with Sam Woo, they have alot of BBQ items especially BBQ pork. Probably their specialty.
Try to also order their roast duck or roast chicken. Their soup noodles are awesome also. Probably my best guess is that everyone might tried their fried rice.
The place is not bad, but definitely need to remodel a bit as the interiors looks old. A fresh coat of paint would help the place. You can also come in through the back door from the parking lot. I always get curious on whether or not anyone would skip the bill by going through the back.
For ambiance sake, it's OK as in like authentic enough to be truly Chinese. It will get crowded during weekend lunch and very sparse during weekday evenings.
You can also ordered take outs and people seemed to love to stared at the roasted pig on display. The chickens and ducks are the most likely poultry for butcher to chop in pieces for you to take home.
Worth the dining in and a good take out place. Much better selection than a normal Panda Express. If my only complain was that the tea should be serve hotter, than it's not much of a complaint.
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This aint your average rib spot, its not that kind of bbq. Im talkin whole pigs, upsaide ducks on metal strings, bbq pork, soy sauce duck.... and if you want you can order seafood and other cantonese dishes.....!!!!
Im sorry for all the duck lovers and owners but Quacky is going down....... Quacky's goin down to chinatown, and make sure he's extra crispy with plum sauce.
hahahahahahahahaha
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Awesome selection of $4.75 rice dishes!
The Chinatown Sam Woo is probably the closest, cheapest and best Chinese food place I can think of if you live just west from Downtown LA.
It's actually an easy commute out after 8'o clock. Service is fast, portions are huge, and the quality is consistent. I eat there almost 3 times a week now.
Side note: Like most of the better tasting Chinese restaurants, It's B rated!
Edit (12/22/07): Due to the rise in minimum wage, rice dishes now start at $4.95, and the option of fried rice instead of regular rice will cost $2 as opposed to $1.
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This visit to Sam Woo in Chinatown is just like any other Sam Woo visits, which is usually crowded. It's justifiably crowded, especially with the BBQ pig and duck hanging right in front of the window. The food is average to above-average chinese food. The strangest thing about this place: the service is actually pretty good! For a chinese restraurant, that's rare.
Sam Woo is a chain of chinese restaurants. I don't know who Sam Woo is but he knows how to make peking duck.
amazing late night soups. thats all im gonna say. try your fave when you are desperate at night.
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