I'm always one to shy away from choosing Chinese food when we're eating out. Past visions of cold, dry, greasy, overly breaded chunks with the tiniest pieces of brown meat found inside are enough to make me shiver. Sweet and sour sauce a shade of the brightest neon pink poured from a 10 gallon bucket in the back and overly sweet and salty sauces with no flavor distinctions whatsoever between each dish has given me a bad association with 'Chinese food'. This, however, has not been the case with Rice Bowl, I've been several times now and each time I'm surprised at how each dish has its' own unique, layered flavor profile. The crab rangoons were seasoned very well and paired perfectly with the dipping sauce. Hot and Sour Soup was just that, hot, sour and piping hot. Howard's Special Fried Rice was pretty solid, flavor-wise but had some clumps of white rice randomly throughout, that could've been avoided with proper preparation. Black Pepper Steak was delicious, so much flavor going on. Honey Walnut Shrimp was a smaller portion than expected but again, lots of flavor and served hot and tasting fresh. The slightly odd building itself and some disorganization inside was noticeable to me but didn't affect my experience whatsoever. To me, the food held all of my attention. The ladies bathroom could have definitely used some TLC. Maybe some fresh paint, clean up the decor; those dusty, fake flowers over the mirror were a little horrifying. read more

I'm sorry, but I wasn't very impressed with the food here. The reasons for a three star instead of a two, are simply that the restaurant and restroom were nice and clean and the service was outstanding. I called in an order of Asparagus Beef and Peking Beef and when I arrived early to pick up my food, a waitress directed me to a waiting area and asked whether I would like anything to drink, I said "Yes" and requested a tea. She not only brought me an excellent Oolong tea, but an entire pot with a cup. The food was not as good as I was hoping, though. The Peking Beef was over sauced and too sweet. The beef was too chewy, as well. My Asparagus Beef had a good flavor and the asparagus was good, but the beef was slightly freezer burned tasting. I did not taste any preservatives with either dish. read more

The food was phenomenal very fast and friendly staff highly recommended, portions are very large so order accordingly

I ordered pick up from the yelp app and it was a great experience. The food was on time and fresh. I ordered a sushi roll which was great quality. I also ordered the vegetable chow mein and for the price the portion was amazing. Both items were tasty! I will definitely eat here again. read more

Ordered out for tempura veggies, sushi rolls and bbq pork. Instead of just getting the veggie tempura, we got shrimp, which we didn't order. The sushi rolls were great. My wife liked the bbq pork. Just wish we would have gotten more veggies. read more

This was an amazing choice to choose from. This was the salmon teriyaki salad with miso dressing instead. It was very delicious. Highly recommend! read more

Rice Bowl - This is the salmon teriyaki salad without teriyaki sauce. Added miso dressing. Was very delicious! Highly recommend rice bowl! - Chinese Near Me - Chico, California

Food is always good and service really depends on who's helping you. The atmosphere is nice and I like how they have different seating options, the space is large so even when they are busy people are not stumbling on each other. The reason for my 1 star is a horrible experience on my last visit, no one checked on my table, had to search for a server to help even get refills, waitresses switched and the one that started helping us has no idea what customer service is. Very disappointing. read more

I think this restaurant's name is a misnomer -- "Rice Bowl" implies something simple, with a limited menu. Wow! After trying virtually all the other Chinese restaurants in Chico and leaving with disappointment at the mediocre fare, I am blown away by this beautiful restaurant. Usually I try to stay away from the opulent Chinese food restaurants -- where they seem to focus more on the decor than on what's happening in the kitchen. At Rice Bowl, you enter a temple dedicated to beauty. It is over-the-top "Forbidden City" style architecture, and inside doesn't disappoint. The menu is a combination of sushi and traditional Chinese dishes, and we ordered only from the Chinese side -- the sesame chicken was delish, as were the sauteed green beans, bean curds, kung pao beef, and noodles. Prices were very reasonable, especially because the portions are huge! We ended up taking more than half the food home. Hot & sour soup is pretty good too. Service was friendly and swift. They also have private dining rooms, as well as Tatami rooms (old-style Japanese, where you sit at low tables). Bar is beautiful too. read more

Rice Bowl - Sushi chef Peter Kwong serves it up at the Rice Bowl. PHOTO BY MEREDITH J. COOPER - Chinese Near Me - Chico, California

Had my birthday dinner last night. The service and atmosphere was wonderful. Austin was our waiter and he did a great job taking care of us. We had our own big table in our own room where we ate delicious food and laughed a bunch. It was my first time at Rice Bowl since college many years ago. Truly a fun experience and lots of tasty leftovers too! read more

I had my first meal in the NEW sushi bar. Same food as the old one, but the new one is much bigger and more beautiful. The Rice Bowl has been around since at LEAST the 70's.. Over the years it has changed. It used to be known for fair cantonese cuisine and some REALLY strong drinks. It had some aviaries and fish tanks that had become dated and has been updated along the way. It has changed hands a couple of times but is in the hands of the original owners. The Grandfather of the family is extremely nice and friendly, and some of the staff are as well. Language barriers can be an issue, but it is worth taking any extra effort to communicate. The sushi? Excellent over all. With one exception (over many many visits) the fish has been fresh, the rolls generous in portion and flavor, the prices quite moderate, If you want excellent sushi at really moderate prices.. This IS the place. Yes Virginia, there is good sushi in a chinese restraunt. read more

Rice Bowl - Good sushi! - Chinese Near Me - Chico, California

Came here to finally try the sushi. The man helping us was the most courteous waiter we have ever had. He was attentive without being any bit overbearing. The sushi was amazing. By far the best sushi I've ever had. They were big, which normally is a little unpleasant for me seeing as I've got a small mouth, but these are so good I can't complain. I've got nothing negative to say about this place. We are happy to start to be regulars. read more

Rice Bowl - Ivan roll - Chinese Near Me - Chico, California

OWNER NOT WEARING MASK WHILE PACKING FOOD. God only knows what it looks like in the back. When a customer pointed that out shrugged it off like it's nothing. You MUST assume that your food is going to someone's Grandma! This is NOT okay. read more

So I have been back to RB for Chinese food and to the newly updated Sushi Bar. The Chinese food is good. If you get anything spicy, expect it to be REALLY SPICY. I love spicy, and I thought it was WAY too spicy. Be advised - tone your spice level down when you order. The Sushi Bar was *very good*. This may be my fave sushi bar overall in Chico (so far). I have tried many and in terms of an overall rating, I like RB. They have good menu selection, tasty sushi, friendly service, and a cool new sushi bar. I posted a couple pics where you can see the blue lighted surface of the bar - very cool... read more

Rice Bowl - Tamago, Tiger Roll, California Roll on cool, blue, lighted sushi bar. - Chinese Near Me - Chico, California

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Food isn't too bad, even though the sushi was kind of plain to me. Their fried rice dishes are my moms favorite though!

This is the go - to for sushi in my opinion. Kayla Roll is so ono! Oh and the Miami one. I forget what its called.

I definitely come here plenty of time since I am also a food delivery driver. The service here is always amazing the servers are always super nice and the food here is definitely priced well! I know I always m have enough to take home leftovers. The place is definitely not too quiet but definitely not on the wild side so it's nice to have intimate conversations. This is a great place to come with your friends, family or even to get takeout! They also deliver. They have a very good variety since they have the Japanese menu, Chinese menu and of course the sushi rolls. Overall this is a great place to eat in Chico. read more

Rice Bowl - Chinese Near Me - Chico, California

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good food and service. the overall vibe is really nice and the decoration hits. you get what you pay for in a good way. 10/10 will come again read more

One of the best Chinese food places I've been to in Chico. Delicious, savory, authentic Chinese food, great customer service, and a real asian-style theme within the building. Beautiful interior as well! Now let's get to the food: the chef's personal chow mein? To die for! Sweet and sour chicken? Another plate please. Even the fried rice with chunks of egg and ham in it was great! The water was great! Speedy customer service, you don't have to wait long for your food, and they check on you at just the right times. I will definitely be returning. read more

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We have been eating here again. Everything from dine-in to delivery, has impressed us. The amount of food that you get is crazy for the price you pay. The rolls are made to order and the service makes it all even that much better. I love it when the server recommends something. The food looks like works of art (presentation is key)! I ALWAYS order way too much food. Great for large parties and the staff is just very accommodating. We even had the delivery person remove his shoes at the door when he first began delivering to us (his doing not ours). atmosphere inside is very nice. Dining in the sushi lounge is what we normally do. However, you do NOT have to order shushi to do this. I like the design and the art/décor. read more

Rice bowl is definitely my favorite sushi AND Chinese food in Chico, and it's really convenient that they do both. The restaurant is huge, and their food is always good. I would give 5 stars just for the food, but I have to bring it down to 4 for the weird employees I've encountered. Nothing crazy, just a little uncomfortable and questionable as people. BUT it does not stop me from coming back, and I've done both dine in and take out multiple times. read more

This place is very expensive for such terrible food. We've ordered takeout and delivery here several times and every time what follows is disappointment and annoyance. Disappointment for the terrible food. Annoyance for why we keep wasting money here. I order a mix of traditional Chinese dishes such as fish Mae soup, stir fried green beans and sometimes the occasional wild card like stir fried noddle or Kung pao chicken. All are poorly cooked and often missi g some essential ingredient. What most peeves me is they don't list the ingredients in their dishes which typically isn't a problem if only they didn't ad toxic fillers to make up for it. I ordered asparagus stir fried with chicken. This is a fusion Asian American dish. Since asparagus is expensive they added in bamboo shoots as fillers. I HATE CANNED BAMBOO SHOOTS. I have no idea who eats it. First, it's both scientifically and widely known that bamboo shoots contain cancer causing carcinogens. Not to mention it reeks of cat urine. Why would anyone add it to a dish is beyond me. Please save yourself money and medical fees and NEVER order sushi here. I have not, but I've seen friends order sushi and argue that cooked rolls are safe. I didn't have the heart to tell them it's all cut with the same knife. read more

Luckily this place is so great because we walked in 30 minutes to closing and they still let us dine in with no problem! We got our food and service quickly and the customer service was still great! We ordered the egg rolls, sweet and sour chicken and vegetable chow mein. All of these were great! The egg rolls were perfectly crispy on the outside and had great veggies inside. The sweet and sour chicken was loaded! We had so many leftovers. Also the chow mein was super flavorful and we added waterchestnuts which I think made it even better! Oh did I mention their is a coy pond in the middle of the restaurant?! read more

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First off. This was my first visit to this place. I would not recommend going to the rice UNLESS you dont mind waiting forever for your food. This place was not full of customers only maybe 10 or so tables had people. It took over 40 minutes to get our order. It wasnt like it was complicated. Lettuce wrapped chicken, vegi egg foo yung, and Mongolian chicken. I had a small bowel off hot and sour soup. Not very good. Our waiter forgot our drinks. Other tables had issues with food being very late. Now if you dont mind your food being very late then by all means go for the food. It was excellent! That's the only reason I gave two stars. I have spent two years in Asia and have had alot of good asian food. I rate this an 8 for food. I have had better but that was in the SF Bay area where asian food is great. One other thing. First time I have been to a asian restaurant with an all caucasian wait staff. LOL read more

"You just can't get good sushi in Chico". What was I thinking? Other Yelpers have given this place good reviews, so I thought I'd give it a try. My Chico relatives told me not to go, as it is over-priced. It was over-priced for what we got. The decor, as you enter is quite pretty, a combination of reds and golds and etched glass. They had an indoor Koi pond with healthy looking fish. The combination of Chinese and Japanese was a bit confusing to me but I guess that works for Chico. I'm a PollyAnna, always hopeful We tried their sushi only. I ordered tuna, salmon and yellowtail belly. The yellowtail was bad, or on the edge. I did not eat my second piece. At first I thought, How silly of me to order sushi on a Monday...This tastes like Friday's fish. Then I realized it was Tuesday and the fish still tasted like Friday's fish. The Sushi Chef (I'll give him points for this) was making the rounds of the tables. I would say he's a non-native speaker of English, or did a great job pretending to be. When he asked me how my sushi was I pointed to the yellowtail belly and told him, "it's fishy" his response, "yes it's fish" finally after some back and forth on this I finally said, "No, fishy - Bad.". I did not eat the second piece. I hate being sick. The chef sent over a small cup of tuna poke, which was tasty, but I think I won't try sushi here again. read more

Food was great, delivery was faster than expected. Super friendly on the phone and when the food arrived.

My kids are awful when they go out to eat. They have about an hour and a half before they start going crazy, so I love being able to sit in those rooms where we sit on the floor. It is not the most comfortable on my back but with my kids they can run around the table and not be in anyone's way. The food is good, I like getting the wings, with whatever the sauce is on the side, they are always so hot and crispy and the sauce is perfect. We usual get the same things when we go there, wings, beef chow fun, Mongolian beef, some sashimi, and the price on the sushi is on the higher side but still good. One thing I do not like is that a few times we have gone and the waitress, who is not Asian, puts on an Asian accent when repeating what we say. I think that is bit rude and offensive. Other than that we go at least once a month. read more

Rice Bowl - The salad was delish. But I think that was bad tuna. - Chinese Near Me - Chico, California

I didn't know what to expect but I really liked this place! I got the bento box with teriyaki chicken a spicy tuna roll. The teriyaki chicken was good, the spicy tuna was good. It came with rice, miso soup and 2 salads. The regular salad came with a peanut dressing that was delicious! (Cons) My portions were small for the price. They make it seem big with 2 salads which is silly. 2 salads? My fiancé got the lion king roll. It had great flavor! We used to get a lion king roll in the bay area that was great and this one knocked that out of the park. BUT it was ridiculously tiny for 12$! It wasn't even the size of a sandwich. I've posted pics of what we got. -Good/great flavor -small portions -over priced for the portions I'm torn on wether to go back. read more

Rice Bowl - This was my bento box for 15$ and some change. It looks big but there's just a lot of salad. The dressing was great though. - Chinese Near Me - Chico, California

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This place used to be good. I used to eat here all the time about two years ago but I just got back to Chico recently and I ate here for the first time in a while tonight. Service was bad, save for one waitress. The Ma Po Tofu was just braised tofu is a vaguely "Chinese" sauce. The lemon chicken was two thin cutlets cut into strips. Everything tastes different and worse. Maybe there was an ownership change. Not planning on going back. And there was a random crustacean leg I couldn't identify, maybe a shrimp, in my ma po tofu. It had sharp thorny parts on it. Inedible. Could be dangerous for those with seafood allergies. read more

Has been a lifesaver delivering to Durham for two special "events"! My Birthday and our Anniversary! Best hot n sour soup in town!

I understand that on a Friday night restaurants are busy. I called in an order and was told that it would be ready in 45 minutes and that the reason it was taking so long was because the kitchen was really backed up. When I showed up 45 minutes later they hadn't even started my order. I was told it would be another 30 minutes or longer until they finished my order. I ultimately canceled my order because this is flat out unacceptable. read more

Ive been going to rice bowl for over twenty years. They have always been great. I got some sushi last night and it was great. But that dam wasabi was the hottest wasabi I've even had hands down it mildly choked me and made me cough it was awesome it made me fear to big a bite. Normally I eat all my wasabi no problem not this time. The wasabi quality alone is worth four stars. Lol five stars great place great people and the fortune cookies always got gems inside. read more

Ordered take out and was not disappointed. Food was amazing. 4 different sushi roles chow mein fried rice Mongolian beef and sweet n sour chicken. Only draw back no soy sauce!? But will definitely be ordering from here again. read more

The Rice Bowl has always been a favorite of mine so I thought I'd give a throughout review on them! I have been going to the RB for about 6 years. Some of my favorite items to get are; Miami Lady, the shrimp crunch roll and the Rolls Royce (I don't think this is on the menu... it's a breaded deep fried tuna roll I believe with avocado, and cream cheese inside) on top is some sort of creamy imitation crab or lobster salad on top, SOOOO good. Other items I've had that were good are; the spice tuna cream cheese stuffed jalapenos and cucumber salad. If I can be honest I'm not a huge fan of anything that I've got off the Chinese menu, I'm all about the Japanese menu. read more

This place has always done me right, the food is amazing and very reasonably priced. They have variety and perform well across the board. As for the customer service, I've never been treated with anything but respect and enthusiasm; they once made a mistake with the kind of soup I had in a takeout order and the man drove to my house to make it right. Fantastic place. read more

First time eating a late sushi lunch here, the experience was memorable, the service was excellent, very friendly and welcoming atmosphere. This is a Chinese cuisine plus sushi bar. The sushi was good, I wouldn't say the sushi was anything extraordinary but it was good, I will definitely be back for other items on the menu. If you want a place to host a large lunch party, they have the space to do so. read more

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If I could rate lower I would. Gingers is better than this. Well I'm finally done with Rice Bowl after 11 years of patronage. Quality of food has been dropping off but I made a to-go order tonight to try and help keep their doors open. I'm DONE now. Ordered my old standby, the "A" dinner with Pan Fried noodles, asked the call taker to make sure they could do the Pan Fried noodles and she checked with the cook and said "no problem". Went to pick up my order and it was their regular soft noodle, not Pan Fried. Howard, the manager tonight, gave me a ration of XXXX for ordering Pan Fried so I didn't take the order. Howard mouthed they were short staff and I responded "The same person who Woks the Chow Mein, does the noodles. What short staff? And besides I checked before I ordered and was told "no Problem tonight". There was NO ONE in the place, not a single person or delivery person and there was only my order and one additional. I called after I got home to discuss it with Howard but he hung up on me. Good. I scratched this place off my restaurant list. If you don't know authentic Asian food, don't bother with real orders, just get the McRice Bowl ordinary crud. read more

In the past I haven't had many problems with ordering take-out, but unfortunately this evening we encountered not receiving our take-out order timely. We had ordered our food at 4:56pm and received email confirmation that we could pick-up our order at 5:41pm roughly. I know that the place is busy so we decided to give it until 5:45pm before heading there. When we arrived, they had asked us for the name in our order, but could not find it until they checked the system. It was apparently confirmed, but not sure what happened. One of the ladies apologized and gave us some fortune cookies. She offered to deliver the food directly to us, but it's difficult knowing that someone confirmed our order, but never fully processed it to the kitchen. I hope that the lobby will be more careful next time confirming orders to the kitchen. The time delay added onto an empty stomach who is currently isolated due to COVID-19. read more

Didn't have time to take a picture, just dug right in. I've been eating here for over ten years and have never been disappointed. I love that I can get the kids the chowmein they want and get myself some good sushi all at the same place. Staff is always polite and friendly! read more

one star only because you can't put zero. the food was incredible, we got the chicken chow mein, veggie spring rolls, and tofu with veggies and all of it was great. Our server christian was an icon! we stan! about ten minutes into our main dish we hear a scurry. above us. after a short pause, we noticed the ceiling panels move was a RAT SUCCRIED ABOVE OUR FOOD AND US. RATS ARE IN THIS PLACE. BEWARE! unsafe. when we told the waitstaff they were not surprised. I REPEAT RATS! read more

Food was amazing! Customer service was incredible. We didn't know we had forgotten our appetizers and they ran out to our car to tell us and even brought it out. read more