Joann V.

5 stars I don't think I've given a 5-star rating in a while. So, when I say this place gets the full 5 stars, I mean it. This was my experience: Service: the one server that was working today was incredibly kind and thoughtful. Another table had ordered food, but after she brought out his food, he still hadn't come out of the restroom, so she got a food cover until he came back. She also treated me and my mom kindly. 5/5 stars Ambiance: It's a clean/neat restaurant with a fast-food aesthetic, but dishes we ordered is anything, but fast. It's quality food at a great price! Hainan Chicken Rice ($10.99): crazy good price point for the quality we got. The chicken was oily, moist, tender, and perfectly cooked. The rice was wonderfully seasoned and the way it should be. Their ginger sauce can do with some acidity, but overall, 10/5 stars! Chicken Congee ($5.59): I thought it was the perfect size for an individual. What makes the congee is the broth it's cooked in. They say it's a mushroom and abalone broth base and I'm going to agree that quality is in the taste. It was smooth, tasty, and comforting. 5/5 stars Salt & Pepper Shrimp ($10.99): Another wonderful dish at a good price point. No complaints! 5/5 stars Lemon Tea ($2.59): I just wanted to support a local business. This tea was just ok...the food is where it's at. 3/5 stars Hot coffee ($2.99): Again, just bought more to support a local business. It smelled ok, but my mom thought it was bitter and too sweet. 3/5 stars. There is free parking in the back or street parking. The quality and value of the food is fantastic. I definitely will be back!

Michael T.

I ordered takeout for a late night meal, and was surprised to see this place open till 2am! Popcorn Tofu - The tofu is super crispy, but it needed salt & more seasoning. The sweet chili sauce gave it flavor though. This was definitely a hefty portion for an appetizer! I recommend this being shared between 2-3 people. Braised Pork Trotter with Abalone Sauce - The abalone sauce was savory and umami. For the pork trotters, they were soft and easy to bite off the bone, but I felt that they could have been braised a bit longer to let the pork trotters be softer (though this might be a personal taste). There is definitely a lot of rice for the dish, way more than I needed. The pricing for both dishes are pretty cheap, I have to say; the total for both dishes was $21. For the food portion & price, definitely can't complain about it!

Shawn N.

Cheap and good hole in the wall spot. Thanks to Peter and Lisa for introducing us. Pros: -great prices for decent food -great AC on a hot day Cons -my beer noodle soup had only a few pieces of beef. My wife's hainan chicken was decent though it came with way too much rice and not enough chicken. Considering the price I can't complain too much, the portion ratios were just off. Good thing we got popcorn chicken which was a very good portion of chicken. Overall 4/5 It was good, though not worth the drive for us which was 30 plus mins through typical SoCal traffic

Timothy Spencer T.

TLDR: It's arguably the cheapest meal per plate that I know of. $11 is an amazing deal for a rice meal, and it really helps that they're open til late for those looking for a quality late meal. Hainan Chicken with Rice: It's $11. You get a $14 tasting plate but with a lesser chicken portion to make up for the fact that it's $11. The chicken is about 80-85% quality you get from restaurants that claim that they specialize in Hainan Chicken. The rice is more than enough for most, and it's also Hainan Rice, which is a bonus. Special Beef Noodles: This is another $11-12 item which a decent serving. The soup tasted something similar to what you expect from a packaged soup from an Asian store, the beef is fine at best, and the noodles are not the best. It's more than enough to command the price point, and I think you'll be fine as long as you don't eat it everyday. Soy Milk: It's unsweetened soy milk that they added a bit of syrup in. They tell you this and you can request for more syrup if you want the store bought soy milk that's sweet. It could be sweeter, but it was sweet enough for me to not ask for more syrup. Ambiance: It's a bright restaurant in a generally quiet place in town. It's only the one person manning all the tables, so I can imagine that service may be on the slower end during a full house. Service: It was fine. We didn't really need anything outside of the food, so we weren't able to test the quality of service if we did need more water or something else.

Johnny Q.

Chinese joint open late with great value and authentic dishes and flavors. Very spacious interior and comfortable seating. Hainan Chicken Rice (9/10) Some of the best i've had in the 626. I wish there was a bit more chicken but it was perfectly cooked and tender with great flavors from the garlic ginger scallion sauce. Red sauce is just a generic sweet chili sauce that gave sweet relief from straight umami flavor which I liked. Rice is seasoned perfectly and very fragrant. Could enjoy it by itself. The noodle soup (8/10) has the same chicken as the rice a paired with medium wide rice noodles. Broth is clean and rich in chicken flavor. Larger portion than the rice and pretty filling.

Samantha T.

After a day out with the family, we were looking for a place to grab dinner and stumbled upon Joy's Express Restaurant. This small corner restaurant turned out to be a hidden gem! The food looked delicious, the prices were reasonable, and the portions were impressive for what you pay. The service was friendly and welcoming, making the experience even better from the start. We ordered two Hainan Chicken Rice plates and upgraded each meal for just $1 more to include a drink--one Iced Lemon Tea and one Soy Milk. We also got the Chicken Fried Rice, Popcorn Tofu, Chicken Congee with Abalone Gravy, and the Lotus Root Chicken Soup. When we brought everything home, we were pleasantly surprised by how much food they packed into each order. The portions were generous and perfect for sharing with the family. Even better, every dish was flavorful and satisfying. The Hainan chicken was tender, the fried rice was packed with flavor, the popcorn tofu was a tasty snack, and both the congee and lotus root soup were comforting and delicious. Overall, this little corner spot exceeded our expectations. Great value, generous portions, friendly service, and delicious food make it well worth a visit. We'll definitely be back again!

David W.

Wow. I love this place. I passed by this restaurant a couple of times and didn't try it until my friend recommended it. The menu is simple, and the food I ordered is delicious. I ordered the Hainan Chicken rice, and it was delicious. The meat is tender and full of flavor. The tipping part is what gives me a "Wow". The max is 10%, and you will never see this in SGV. The service is polite and attentive.

Felix G.

This place is a nice hidden find in SGV. It's a standalone restaurant on a corner right off San Gabriel. Parking is limited to about 5-6 spaces behind the restaurant, but there's plenty of street parking. Restaurant is very clean, good amount of seating and nicely spaced out. From what I saw they seem to get a lot of take-out orders. Staff is very friendly and attentive. Prices are very fair and affordable. Don't expect anything fancy, but more of a home-cooked meal vibe. Portions are good too for what you are paying. Now to the actual flavor of the food, it pretty delicious. We got the chicken wings for a side and they were really good, friend, juicy and well-seasoned. They did come out after our main dishes though, but not a big deal. For our entrees, we got the beef brisket curry. Good rich curry flavor, spicier than we expected, but enjoyable. I do with they served a bit more sauce or added some to the top of the rice to add more flavor. Good amount of brisket, though there's a lot more tendon pieces than we'd like for being advertised as beef brisket The other item we got was the spiced beef brisket plate. Sauce was delicious, mixed in with the rice. It was a great comfort meal. Again, a lot more tendon than what I expected. I'm not the biggest fan of tendon so I was really expecting to have meatier pieces than tendon. I also wanted more veggies to go with it. I think we should've ordered one of their veggie dishes since that's what felt missing from our meal. We'll be back when we're craving a nice quick meal with quality food. I'll try other items next time that has less tendon like their spare ribs. Also looking forward to trying their popcorn chicken and Hainan chicken since those looked good too.

Kayla D.

~ Great Crispy Tofu ~ A cheap place to eat that opens late! Definitely get their crispy tofu, it is super crunchy with a lot of flavor. They just opened so it might be a long wait. There are 6 parking spots in the back and street parking.

Sally M.

Great friendly service. Nice, clean, cozy but spacious interior. The Hainam Chicken dish, Pork Trotters wirh rice dish, chicken wings are all good! Private parking and street parking available.

Oscar B.

An extremely affordable spot for Chinese/Hong Kong-style food and it's open late. -Beef Chow Fun: Decent. Slices of beef tasted a little salty. -Hainan Chicken: Pretty good. Chicken tasted fresh. -Beef Noodle Soup: Soup definitely had a spicy kick to it. Noodles were a bit mushy. -Popcorn Chicken: Tasted like the old-school Taiwanese popcorn chicken you used to be able to get all the time at the OG boba shops in SGV.

Will M.

New spot that just opened up in San Gabriel. I've been here twice already since I live nearby and it was one of those late night "don't know what to eat" decisions. The interior looks recently updated, bright and clean. I've only done takeout so far, but the staff has been super nice. They even gave me fresh soybean milk while I was waiting which was really good and not overly sweet. I tried the signature abalone sauce with rice. It comes with one abalone which was honestly the best part. The sauce was tasty but I do wish they gave more since the rice portion is pretty big. Also got the braised pork knuckle with rice. It was decent, but I think it could be cooked a bit longer since it was a little tough and not as fall off the bone as I like. My favorite item so far is the "Signboard Chencun vermicelli." It's like thin, silky rice rolls with your choice of toppings like beef tripe, spare ribs, or beef brisket. I've tried all three and they're all solid. I'd definitely order this again. I also really liked the abalone lotus root chicken soup. It's simple but it reminded me of something my mom used to make, so it hit that comfort food spot for me. Didn't really see the abalone, but I'm guessing it's there for the flavor. You can tell they do a lot of takeout orders and the prices are pretty reasonable. I'd come back for the rice rolls and soup for sure, and I still want to try their noodles next time. For now, giving them 5 stars for both service and food.

Megan C.

This spot leans heavily into Cantonese comfort dishes. My friend and I ordered the following: - Curry Beef Brisket Rice -Special Beef Noodles - Braised Mustard Choy Sum While everything we ordered overall as good, I would lean towards the Curry Beef Brisket Rice. Loved the kick at the back of my throat, for all my spice lovers. For the Special Beef Noodles, they didn't have the normal noodles and substituted it with udon noddles. Not the best choice. It really gave the dish a blandness to it. The Braised Mustard Choy Sum was good with its dipping sauce that it came it. The spot itself it clean although I was given a dirty plate. The server was nice, welcoming, and attentive. Tip: Just a heads up, there's a raised step at the entrance. Handicap entrance in rear.