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    LOC Chinese Kitchen

    4.0 (38 reviews)
    ModerateChinese
    Open 11:00 am - 9:30 pm
    Updated 2 months ago

    Order LOC Chinese Kitchen Takeout or Delivery

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    What's the vibe?
    Hipster
    Casual
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    Good for groups

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    Green Beans
    Jeremy S.

    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!

    Pork dumplings
    Elizabeth T.

    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.

    Fried rice, pork dumplings, pork ribs, pork buns.
    Mathew P.

    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.

    Grace J.

    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.

    House Special spicy beef noddle soup
    Rigoberto Q.

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

    Iris D.

    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.

    Chow mein mix

    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!!

    Chilli pan fried dumplings, chicken fried rice, edamame
    Evelyn R.

    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...

    Salty egg yolk bun
    Scot M.

    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

    Soft Opening (Feb 3, 2026): menu page 1
    Lisa C.

    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!

    Red chili oil beef stew
    Fred J.

    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.

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

    Wok-fried Beef with Scallions

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    18 days ago

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

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    5 days ago

    Idk what people are tripping on this place is fire, great prices, great food, great service

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    2 months ago

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    1 month ago

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

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    9 days ago

    The good food and friendly service good place to visit we will be back next time we are in town again

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    2 months ago

    Great spot! Food was fresh and flavorful, and the portions were decent. Service was friendly and quick. would definitely come back.

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    2 months ago

    Very nice food and friendly staff, I'll say the best Chinese Food in the entire riverside. I really appreciate that they are here!

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    LOC Chinese Kitchen Reviews in Other Languages

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    Big Sky Bistro

    Big Sky Bistro

    4.1(635 reviews)
    0.3 mi
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    Apparently they are the same owners as Big Sky Bistro down the street. They have plans to expand…read morenext door where the pizza parlor used to be to seat bigger parties. Ordered dine in menus over at Hong Kong Express. Tastes exactly the same. Good food for my soul.

    I want to be clear -- I **loved** this place. Their dim sum? Incredible. Their entrees? Always on…read morepoint. Big Sky was my **go-to Chinese food spot in Riverside** for years. **Then tonight happened.** I placed a DoorDash pickup order at their new location -- sweet and sour pork, beef chow fun, beef porridge, pork and shrimp siu mai, and white rice. They even threw in extra rice, and I was genuinely excited to dig in. That excitement ended the moment I looked down at my bowl and found a **MAGGOT sitting on top of my rice.** I called the restaurant immediately and calmly explained what happened. They told me to contact DoorDash since that's how I ordered. Fine. I reported it through DoorDash's platform and waited. Then I got a call back from DoorDash -- not to help me, but to relay a message: **Big Sky had contacted them specifically to refuse my refund.** Let that sink in. A customer found a maggot in their food, couldn't eat a single bite of a $54.19 order, and the restaurant's response was to **actively call DoorDash to make sure I didn't get my money back.** I understand that occasionally bugs happen in food service. It's gross, but I was fully prepared to move on had they simply taken responsibility. Instead, they chose to fight a $54 refund over a maggot. That tells you everything you need to know about how this restaurant values its customers. **Eat here at your own risk -- and if something's wrong, you're on your own.**

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    Jade China - Wor Wonton Soup and Mapo Tofu

    Jade China

    4.3(906 reviews)
    4.1 mi
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    I was really craving Chinese food since I'm away from home, so my friend and I decided to try…read moresomewhere new and came across Jade China. I'm honestly really glad we did. The restaurant itself is super spacious, and since we came at kind of an odd time after the lunch rush, it was really calm and relaxing inside. We ordered the Salt and Pepper Calamari, and it was really good. The calamari was crispy, lightly seasoned, and still tender inside, which made it super satisfying to eat. I do wish it came with a dipping sauce, but we already had sweet and sour sauce on the table and ended up using that instead, which actually paired really well with it. We also got the Chicken Pad Thai, which honestly impressed me a lot. The portion size was huge for the price, I think it was around $12-13, which felt really worth it for how much food we got. The noodles were flavorful, well cooked, and had a good balance of savory and slightly sweet flavors without feeling too heavy. The people working there were really welcoming and kind, and it felt like a family-run restaurant, which made the experience feel even more comforting and homey.

    March 2026 Came in…read moreon a Sunday craving mapo tofu. I checked the menu and there it was. Service: typical Chinese restaurant. Don't expect refills or conversations about the day or the meaning of life. Bathroom: clean. Toilet and a urinal. Food: Before my main course arrived, I was served a small cup of egg drop soup and some crispy noodles with some type of sweet dipping sauce. Considering these were complimentary, I'm not going to complain. Soup was my okay. my mapo tofu came with a side of white rice. Upgrading to brown or fried rice will cost you an additional $1. This is the most bizarre mapo tofu I've ever had. Rather than the traditional ground pork and wood ear mushrooms, this came with long strips of fried pork and no mushrooms. I'm also used to thicker sauce, but this one was very watery. A tad spicy, but not over bearing. Maybe a recipe from a different Provence of china? Not what I was looking for. $15.00 later and a fortune cookie...and I was done. Not sure if I'd come here for the mapo tofu again. Others in the restaurant offered the 2-3 item combos. Typical orange chicken or Kung Pao chicken w rice or chow mein. Not my thing.

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    HK BBQ House - Beef chow fun.  My go to and favorite

    HK BBQ House

    4.4(269 reviews)
    0.1 mi
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    Ive been coming here for 3+ years. The food is always amazing and the service is perfect. It can…read moreget pretty busy during peak hours like dinner, but it's worth it. The food here never made me sick and it never tasted funny. Everything comes out pristine and beautiful. The portions are so big that a small eater like me can save this for another meal. The waiters are also attentive and willing to help out -- they hired the right people! I really like the atmosphere this place has. It's perfect for talking and it's a great place to go to after final exams. The waiters help out a lot, but they generally leave you alone unless you raise your hand. It's a great atmosphere

    Some of the food we got was good, some was okay. I think Mongolian beef is worth it and personally,…read moreI liked the house special fried rice. It was not too loud in there and the place was relatively empty so that was nice. Biggest disappointment was service, because our table ordered chow mein and the waiter brought us chow fun (flat noodles with gravy). When we told him that we ordered chow mein, he told us that what we ordered was chow fun, so I showed him what we ordered on the menu and he said "you wanted lo mein". While I get that, he spent a minute trying to figure out where the item was and couldn't find it. I reviewed pics on here and it seems like other people got the thick yellow noodles for chow mein. Anyway, they replaced it for us but I overheard the waiter tell his manager that we ordered chow fun by accident. The manager then told us something about "our mistake" upon paying, placing blame on us . The manager was nice about it, but we repeatedly told the waiter chow mein and he kept correcting us to chow fun. Also, there is a section of the menu labeled chow mein and a separate page labeled chow fun. I think I know what we ordered. Disappointing.

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    LOC Chinese Kitchen - chinese - Updated May 2026

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