The food was delicious. It came out fast & fresh! My only downside was the male waiter wasn't as helpful as the female. When i asked for recommendations he was pointing me to basic menu items without really knowledge of what flavors or ingredients were in the dish. He might have been in the mood, but as a first timer who came based off IG videos and a comparison to a highly successful restaurant, i guess i wanted more engagement. Also the restaurant was not very well maintained. Overall its worth trying read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Garlic Pork Ribs. I asked to make it spicy - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

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I came by with a coworker for a quick lunch and I had to walk around the building to find it based on the maps app. Upon entering the place was clean and it had an ambiance that I had experienced at other Asian restaurants. Not bad nor good, just different. The ordering and payment was done through an app, which seems to be happening more often now that most people have smartphones. They did have a register so I think traditional ordering is an option. I ordered a dish of Mongolian beef and another dish of stir fried bok choy with garlic. The food was fresh made and tasty. But the service was on the low side. We didn't order drinks, so we were given room temperature water in paper cups. My coworker finished his food, but wasn't impressed. The water situation didn't seem to help with his impression. I may come back with my wife to give it a second chance. read more

This spot was just okay. I saw a ton of hype on Instagram saying this was a DTF dupe but it doesn't live up. They were out of all XLB so we ordered pork and chicken pan fried dumplings instead. You can tell the food is made with quality ingredients but lacking flavor. Garlic pork ribs were dry and had no flavor. Chow mein and cucumber salad was good. Green beans were GREAT. Best thing we ordered! Custard buns were cute and perfect amount of sweet. Service was decent and food came out extremely quick. For the amount of food "influencers" that posted about this place I also expected it to be cleaner with a nicer ambiance. Cleanliness was lacking a bit, ESPECIALLY in the bathroom. Overall, didn't love but didn't hate. We ate at 7pm on a Saturday so closing time wasn't an excuse for the experience. I may give them another shot in the future. read more

I took a couple of friends to this restaurant because it was promoted as an alternative to Din Tai Fung. However, it was nothing like Din Tai Fung. The dumpling skins were coarse and thick, and the fillings were indistinguishable. A few of the other dishes were just okay. I also ordered a mixed soup dish that contained just about everything, including some ingredients I didn't really recognize. The servers seemed friendly and helpful. No need to rush back, but I might give it another try. read more

This restaurant has been featured by several influencers, so we decided to see what the hype was about. Conveniently located on University Avenue, it stands out among the many dining options in the area. We were seated immediately upon arrival, which made for a pleasant start to our visit. One thing that could use some improvement is the menu presentation. The menu was printed on plain white paper and appeared somewhat worn with visible stains. Offering a QR-code menu could provide a more modern and cleaner alternative. For my meal, I ordered the Chongqing Fried Chicken, which came with mixed a small portion of French fries as shown in the photo. The flavors were wonderfully authentic, and it's definitely a dish I would recommend. I also tried the Peanut Noodles. It's a solid vegetarian option with a rich, nutty flavor. However, after finishing about half the bowl, I found the peanut sauce to be a bit overwhelming and heavy. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience, and I'll definitely be back to try their dumplings, which seem to be one of the house specialties. read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Chongqing Spicy Crispy Chicken - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

The facility looked bright and clean. We were greeted right away and service was great! Super welcoming and friendly. We tried several items so we can try different tastes. Everything came out quick and they were very fresh. The fried rice and the pork fried ribs were good. I would say our favorite was the sesame balls. The only complaint I have is there was a small hair in one of the condiments. It was something that could've been overlooked and no big deal but I chose not to use it because of that purpose. They also have a "spin the wheel" activity we were able to do which my daughter enjoyed! All in all I would give it an 8/10! read more

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It LOOKS SO GOOD!! This is such an adorable and charming place, but like the other reviews said, it's not really the best when it comes to service. Im compelled to write a review because of the several funky mishaps that occurred Maybe we were just unlucky, but within the first few minutes of sitting down, we encountered some strange things -- 1) They were out of popcorn chicken. And 2) They were unable to do steaming work in the kitchen today. Sucks to suck for us We ordered a specific vegetable dish but what came out were green beans instead. Im not sure how that happened. What was good, however, was I think the dish came out free to compensate for us The food was very nice and tasty regardless. I liked the taste of the green beans, especially. I liked the pineapple chicken fried rice too but could find it more nice if it was seasoned/flavorful. It wasnt completely bland at least Good food, just be prepared for hiccups read more

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Really nice addition to the University Village plaza! Came here with some friends for a family style lunch on a Sunday. The restaurant was a bit busy but our party was seated and served right away. We tried a variety of dishes and the highlights were definitely the green beans, beef noodle soup, sauerkraut fish and the garlic pork ribs. The dumplings were just okay and the only option they had this particular day was boiled. Everything tasted great otherwise and the noodles in particular were good and chewy. The custard buns are a good dessert option as well although it took awhile to come out. Service was good throughout and checked on us often. They also have a cool prize wheel you can spin gift every $45 you spend! Overall we had a great experience here and will definitely come back again! read more

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Overall this place is pretty good. It's nice to see more Chinese restaurants opening up around the riverside area. From social media, this place was referenced as the dub tai fung dupe but personally, this is not it. It's more of an authentic style Chinese restaurant. The menu was a paper menu, it looks like this place is still a soft opening so the menu could change? We ordered the pork and cabbage dumplings which were just ok, they were kind of small as well. We then ordered the beef noodles and dan dan noodles - highly recommend, the noodles tasted pretty fresh. The menu also had the sauerkraut fish, written in only chinese, on the menu so we tried that as well. I have to say this dish was pretty delicious and authentic. It's rare to see this type of dish around here. The other items we ordered were the green beans and pork ribs - highly recommend! Service from what I heard can be a miss but all the food was brought out in a timely manner except the custard buns, but the taste made up for it. Its definitely a great spot for chinese food! read more

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The service is slow, if you see the tables are packed expect a long wait time for your food. From the time we signed in to the time we got our food was approximately 65mins and there was only 1 person in front of us. They do not serve alcohol. Sitting in the restaurant felt like sitting at yoshinoya same colors and seating style. We ordered the sweet bbq pork bun, the pork dumplings, sweet n sour pork ribs, house special spicy beef noodle soup, and the Yangzhou fried rice. Out of everything we ordered only the fried rice was good. Fried rice had layers of flavor! The house noodles was very bland, the pork ribs were good, the pork buns were ok, and the dumplings were not good. Not worth the $$ They said they were better than dim tai fun. Absolutely not. read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Fried rice, pork dumplings, pork ribs, pork buns. - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

LOC is a new spot in the University Plaza near UCR that is authentic Chinese food The space is clean and bright, with orange upholstery on the booths and large floor to ceiling windows facing University Ave. Expect to wait a minute to he seated as the Server is also the Host, so they might be waiting on a table. The food is top notch Chinese and on par with spots in the OC. They have everything from scallion pancakes and hotpot to pig ear stir fry and bao. I took my wife and daughter. We had boiled pork & cabbage dumplings with chili oil, pan fried beef dumplings, beef roll, scallion pancakes, cold beef appetizer, wok fried green beans, pork buns, dan dan noodles, spicy beef noodle soup, and golden beef hotpot. Everything was really good So fresh and hot. Things came flying straight from the kitchen to our table. The appetizers were on point. The dumplings and bao were hot, chewy, full of meat and flavor. The hotpot is served in a pot over a flame, bubbling hot and delicious. The spicy beef noodle soup was just as amazing It comes in a large bowl full of beef broth, buckwheat noodles, bok choy, and the star of the show is the huge beef rib with all that tender meat attached to it. We ate like it was our last meal and loved every bite. We'll definitely be back......in a few days read more

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I would give this place 4.5 stars if I could. We came here by accident but were not disappointed. We ordered their pork dumplings in chili oil and their shrimp dumplings along with the combination fried rice. The rice was delicious and the dumplings were also tasty. The restaurant was clean with plenty of seating, the ambiance is bright and welcoming and the staff were nice and attentive. We will come back. read more

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Don't expect Ding Tai Fung. Not a bad place but I believe tik tok overhyped this location. Food was good (but nothing to grab about) and it's a chill spot. They have lots of staff which makes it worth mentioning that they take some time to get your orders in. Not bad to try it once. read more

Newer casual diner spot for dumplings and noodles near UCR! They have a cool wheel to spin for rewards, and the staff was very kind. read more

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Went to try on 5/27 for my wife and I's anniversary. We had high hopes due to the hype on TikTok about this place. I will start with the good, I definitely loved the kung -Pao chicken with vegetable noodles they have. The cucumber salad was great. The bbq pork buns were good. Service was good over all, we got a table right away. There was a spinning wheel, which you got to spin after you pay if you paid a certain amount. I think it is geared for children perhaps, but was fun to spin. Now the bad. The dim-sum that day did not taste good, it tasted off, not sure if it was seasoning but did not taste like any dumplings I've had in the past. I tried the colorful dumplings, which I knew were an assortment of flavors but would have been great to have a little chart to know what flavors each were. Most of the flavors though, did not taste good. I tried to like them but couldn't. My wife ordered a wonton noodle soup and the broth was not good. I don't think I will be back to eat here any time soon. But try for yourself! This is just my opinion! read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Wonton noodle soup - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

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Came here on a Sunday for a late lunch/dinner. The restaurant didn't seem too busy. My immediate first thoughts made me a little nervous and honestly set my expectation low. The menu is a basic paper menu, I can picture the restaurant adding pictures in the future because the eyes usually eat first. The restaurant is very white with minimal decor and pretty quiet. It would have been nice to have some music playing in the background just to create a nicer ambiance. The food did take a little bit of time to come out after ordering. I considered this a little bit of a good thing because it feels like the food is made to order, just as it should be. My party ordered Har Gow shrimp and shrimp Shumai, as well as chow mein, kung pao chicken, orange chicken, scallion beef and garlic eggplant (originally wanted the green beans but they were out of them). I initially came here because a social media post described this place as a Din Tai Fung dupe. I've gone to DTF once and I'm not an expert on Chinese cuisine, but the food was very flavorful and delicious, not one dish was overly sweet or salty. I was genuinely surprised! I noticed the doors were left open the entire time so I did have to shoo away a couple of flies once the food arrived. I also noticed that the soy sauce, vinegar and sriracha bottles were dirty and crusty which is quite common in a lot of restaurants but it would be nice to know and see everything at the table be clean. After packing up food to-go and paying, we were able to spin a large wheel twice for a couple of prizes which was fun. Just before leaving, someone in my party went to the restroom. When they got out, they informed the staff as well as the rest of the party that there was not any soap in the restroom. A staff member said that the soap dispenser was not working (I sure do hope the soap dispensers in the kitchen were working)! I know this is the "soft opening" time period so there are some improvements to make. The experience was a really good one until I learned about the lack of soap in the bathroom at the very end. I am willing to come back at a later time because the food was really good but I'd probably check out the restroom first. TL;DR - the food was really good and flavorful, but the cleanliness of the bottles at the table that everyone touches was questionable and the lack of hand soap in the restroom made me question overall cleanliness. read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Wok-fried beef with scallions, kung pao chicken, eggplant with garlic sauce, orange chicken and chow mein - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

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Food was delicious! I also had the pineapple fried rice, house made noodles with peanut sauce, and the noodles in beef broth. Everything tasted really good! The only thing that was mid were the regular pork XLBs, but I did like the red and yellow ones!! Service was friendly and the location was clean! I'm definitely coming back and will be bringing some friends! read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Orange Chicken - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

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Walked in, the host was asleep at a corner table at 3pm. Stood there for a couple minutes till I was acknowledged by a server cleaning a table, told me to seat myself. Sat down at an open table and 5 minutes later the server came over and told us someone else was going to sit at the table we were sitting at, and then he pointed at the table next to me and said those people were going to sit where I was sitting. Then I asked him, then where should I sit since you told me to sit myself and the server walked away mid sentence. So I just got up and left. Really confused cause multiple people told me this place was amazing, had great food and amazing service. Won't be coming back. read more

This spot is low-key my new go-to. Ordered the twice-cooked pork (huiguorou) and the peppercorn beef--both hit different. The huiguorou has that legit street food vibes, super smoky and savory. Straight up a rice destroyer. The peppercorn beef? Huge portion, loaded with veggies. Easily gave me like three meals' worth. Perfect spot for anyone on a student budget. Definitely my little campus canteen now. read more

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For a soft opening, I think the restaurant is pretty great overall and deserving a 4.5 where some aspects of the experience makes up for some small things that can be improved. ======================== The restaurant is quite white and renovated with pretty tables and lightly decoration here and there. It is also very spacious and open. They are still trying to figure stuff out of course with it being the first day opening, but once they work out the kinks (I.e. old ventilation systems and damage from the previous owner's time, training, getting all the menu ready to go), I think they will be a great gem to come to UV. The good: I think the menu is pretty solid for a soft opening with a variety of different foods without being a copy of the 2 other Chinese places that already exist in UV - therefore deserving a spot to stay here. They have some things similar, but things that are unique to here are the appetizers, cold dishes, and would say the beef rolls. They also have dessert dim sum, although I would say this isn't unique with Big Sky a couple blocks away, but it's great for proximity. For UCR students with no car, this is so much easier to reach. Overall, if you just want to hit general Chinese food (and not a specific region of China like Changan, for example), this is not a bad place. Another great thing, though it is a soft opening, is how much they want your opinion to improve the place and their food. Since it's not really a chain (only 1 other location), they don't have as strong a foundation as Changan to easily open new businesses, so it's expected for them to have more hiccups than Changan. That said, they were all very nice and welcoming. The technique in cooking I would say is pretty amazing. The beef roll was flaky and crisp with all the ingredients standing out in their own way where you can taste the freshness. The ingredients are also very balanced in both the beef roll and fried beef w/ garlic in black pepper sauce. I also appreciate the sheer amount of garlic added, but it does taste like the pre-peeled one so a little on the weaker side - this is still not bad though given quantity of garlic bumped the garlic flavor. I would have liked more black pepper flavor, but it was all very delicious. ======================== The potential improvement: I would say that aside from the hiccups and maintenance improvement (plus lack of a drink menu), I would say portions to price could be a little better. For a UV location, it's a little above average when looking at price to portion (but not too bad when you are looking at just the price only). So, if you eat a lot, something like the fried beef probably won't fill you at $25 - you are better off choosing 2 dishes that are half the price. For this dish, I probably would have liked it to be 5-10% more or just make the rice free. However, given the ingredients, I am not expecting the price to be lowered by much. The beef rolls, however, were quite fair in price at $7 vs the edamame at $8. So I think prices could be a bit adjusted to make a bit more sense/balanced even if it meant decreasing or increasing portions and also in considerations of portions in competing restaurants. Overall solid place - would come again to try out the mini pots to see how they are compared to the Shabu House nearby and my favorite places like Boiling Point in San Gabriel Valley. The cold dishes is also a nostalgic wish as well to see if they do them well here. It may be pricier than I would like, but that just means I should eat out less :). I think though if they are not too crazy busy, it wouldn't be too bad of a study place - it's very spacious but it does lack chargers. I do like how it's not overly loud and seems to have good snacks, so it has potential! Just need a good drink menu, and it would be good to go! read more

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Great Chinese food! For a non-Chinese like me, I like simple, real Chinese food. Our Chinese friend invited us to LOC Chinese Kitchen. We really liked ... well, it was all good, but my wife liked the eggplant, we both liked the tomato fish. My mouth is watering now as I think about the beef roll. Oh, and they have buns filled with CHOCOLATE! The service was great. The people were friendly. We liked the simple restaurant layout. Each of the "booth" tables have high "dividers" so it's private and quieter... and ... if you have a large party, you can slide the divider down to have two long tables together! #riverside #riverside美食 #ucr #ucr美食 #原味缘 read more

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We ordered the pork and shrimp shumai, the sweet bbq pork buns, and the cumin lamb for pickup. When we got there, we asked if their bbq pork buns where made with honey. They looked at us like we were crazy and annoyed that we were even asking. The only response was "I have no idea." Now I'm convinced that their stuff comes from a frozen package because, how do you not know what ingredients your food is made with?? What if someone has an allergy? Is it that inconvenient to ask the person who is cooking? For comparison, we went to a BBQ place recently and asked what dishes had honey. They were able to list every single dish that did and did not contain honey. The food was also just ok, I probably wouldn't go back. There's better dim sum out there. read more

Tried for the first time last week. Absolutely would recommend. Good food, fast service, large portions. Loved!

Food was ok service could be a lot better if you are jonesing for dumplings Will will get you by but it lacked flavors and they do not give you a small bowl for your chile oil or soy sauce. The seating is nice but they don't give you but only one napkin so there will be a mess afterwords. read more

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Great Food everything we ordered tasted delicious! Service was great and very friendly. Everything came out fresh and all the recommendations given by our waitress Amy and Theo were great. 1st time here and we will definitely be back! read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

The dumplings were raw and undercooked. The bathroom had no hand soap or hand towels, messy bathroom as well. The services were very poor and slow as well, had to wait to have someone available which took over 15mins. Over all very not good, wouldn't recommend this place. read more

First time trying it and enjoyed it. The meat was tender and a good portions of noddles. Would recommend read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - House Special spicy beef noddle soup - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

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Tried the red chili oil beef stew at this newly opened restaurant near UC Riverside and it was fantastic. The stew came out bubbling hot with a bright red chili oil broth that looked intimidating but was actually really flavorful. The beef was tender and soaked up the spicy, savory broth perfectly. Portion size was generous and great for sharing with friends. read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Red chili oil beef stew - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

Let me start off by saying this is a hidden gem. From the moment we walked in an hour before closing the staff was very friendly and were more than accommodating. The wait to eat was not long at all. Service was quick. The food was next level AMAZING!!! We ordered so many dishes and spent less than $100 before tip. Definitely coming back!! read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Chow mein mix - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

Came here to celebrate an early mother's lunch as I saw it on tik tok, to be honest the food is delicious everything was nice and hot when coming out. Edamame is nice and salty and the cucumber salad was delicious however the service oh boy it was crappy as hell !! When arriving there wasn't a crazy wait line but we did go as a family of five. Upon arrival they served us quick with water and menus then the waiting game begun they probably gave us about 20-30mins to take our order by then the kids were done with the waters !! So we are able to order everything but then they didn't even bother to explain the menu, the servers are a bunch of college kids that look so lost. I had asked for the dumplings to have the sauce on the side but they brought them out last and smothered in chili oil, all they was offer a discount which I didn't mind but we didn't even get napkins there was flies everywhere because they keep the door open. They announce a big spinning wheel which you can win a discount or a free plate when spending more than $45 we spent $92.00 and asked about it but the cashier rudely told us "it's busy so you can't spin" why promote it in the first place ?!! Overall I will not dine in ever again maybe order take out just because of how the food tastes but that's a far stretch... read more

LOC Chinese Kitchen - Chilli pan fried dumplings, chicken fried rice, edamame - Chinese Near Me - Riverside, California

I wanted to try this new Chinese restaurant in Riverside and it did not disappoint. It's located across from Denny's so there is plenty of parking and right in front of a RTA bus stop too. I got an individual hot pot on a raining day and it hit the spot. The food was fresh and delicious. I also got the lamb dish and it was made very well. I would definitely come back to try more items on the menu! read more

Food was a 10/10, service was overall pretty good to and the place was very clean would definitely go back read more

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Good food, the staff were also very nice. Going there was fun too. Pretty new restaurant and worth visiting

Great food, location is a bit hidden in the UCR plaza - is beyond where the Kimchichanga used to be. I lived here for 4 years and didn't know the space was present. The waiters were helpful and informative. I ordered the golden beef pot and the beef roll. The golden beef pot had great portions for the prices an good presentation, it comes w/ a solid bowl of rice + soda. The beef roll was tasty and nicely crispy/flaky and I was surprised by the generous portion of beef that came in the beef roll; I would recommend the beef roll. Will definitely come back sometime in the future to try more of their dishes. The variety of their food definitely fills a niche the UCR plaza doesn't have. read more

Disappointed. Food was very bland and every soup dumpling arrived popped already so they were quite dry. Orange chicken wasn't great and didn't seem fresh. Cucumber salad didn't come with anything on it so it was just a bowl of cucumber that we seasoned ourselves. Service was few and far between. Super bright light that wasn't very welcoming. Wouldn't recommend. read more

I like this restaurant! The food is very good, and the servers is sooo kind! I will come back! Very good!! read more

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Food was all really good. Great variety on the menu to choose from. The sautéed green beans were my favorite

We ordered Mongolian beef, beef roll and dumpling in chili oil. The food was just ok, beef roll sauce was too sweet and the roll itself was too oily. The beef on the Mongolian beef seems like fake meat. Lastly, they forgot about our dumpling order so we ended up cancelling it. read more

Super great dim sum! Pork buns are tasty, beef noodle was great, siu mai is delicious, staff are friendly, and you get to spin a big wheel and win prizes. Def recommend since it's hard to find authentic chinese food in Riverside. read more

After coming here my poor babies got their dumplings and now they are having really bad diarrhea! Never coming back!!!