We began coming to this restaurant in the 60's. On vacation in Lompoc, I was shocked to see it still open. The decor is the same. The food is EXCELLENT. Service was outstanding. I believe the owner waited on us. He said the same family still owns and operates it. I highly recommend The Rice Bowl. Enjoy. read more

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Service is great, establishment is clean and well decorated. I had the combination chow mein with shrimp, pork and chicken. The portion was huge. I didn't care for the shrimp or the pork that was in it. They use their barbecued pork, which is sweet and not as soft as usual. It's different from what I'm used to, others may like it though. read more

My family has been eating here since the 1950s Kelsey And Son Chevrolet had their employee appreciation dinner here every December. Family owned multigene. Good family, great food lots of food . incredible retro original style. favorite Chinese restaurant ever. read more

Let me start off by saying we're not from Lompoc but we happened upon this spot while being there. When we walked in it was packed and they had just opened. Everyone was sitting at tables conversing with each other and we didn't see any staff and sat ourselves. We sat for a good 10 minutes before we realized they were having a holiday lunch with the locals and they welcomed us. The food came out and it was buffet style (not a fan of buffet) but food was great. I would love to try it on a regular day with daily menu. Ambiance felt genuine. read more

Rice Bowl - Egg foo young , lo mein, spring rolls and fried rice - Chinese Near Me - Lompoc, California

The food tasted bland. The egg rolls were more like a bread than the traditional crispy egg rolls. The orange chicken was soggy. The pork and chicken fried rice had very little meat. I'm pretty sure I won't recommend this place to anyone. read more

This was one of the only spots open around us on NYE and we are new to the area so we decided to try it out. I think the owner sat and waited on us and he was very kind and nice. The restaurant was outdated but I thought the decor was cute! Although, my husband did tell me later on that there were dead roaches on top of the old jukebox machine. I ordered the chicken and broccoli which is hands down the worst dish I've ever had at a restaurant. The chicken itself tasted like seafood and I genuinely was scared I would get food poisoning if I ate it. The sauce itself looked like old dirty kitchen water and wasn't anything like chicken and broccoli I've had at other restaurants. I tried really hard to cough it up to it not being americanized chinese food but it was so terrible I would not recommend getting. My husband ordered a burger steak which at our error we didn't know we had to request it to be cooked to a specific temperature so if you order it make sure to keep that in mind. read more

Rice Bowl - Decor - Chinese Near Me - Lompoc, California

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BEST cheeseburger in Lompoc. Now my daughter wants to eat there every day. Also place is clean and friendly. read more

The Rice Bowl is out of this world. You walk in to a historic and fun decor, are immediately greeted by the owner who is incredibly nice, and then are treated to the best Chinese food in the county. A lot of the prices seem high until you realize that all of those prices are for a family sized portion. Also, all of those entrees can be served as a smaller portion for a lower price. As we sat down he brought us tea, which is such a welcoming gesture. I ordered the szechuan beef (extra spicy) and the fried rice and it might be the best of either that I've ever had. I've been here in Lompoc for 2 years and it's only my first time coming here, It looks like I have some lost time to make up. I'll be coming here once a week for the foreseeable future! Thanks again to the owner for giving us such a great experience. read more

The service was very good and the Almond Chicken is the best ever! The restaurant is vintage Chinese/American and it is VERY clean! The prices are reasonable and the food is generous portions. A++ all the way! read more

I saw the signage out front and got curious. I checked the most recent poor Yelp reviews and just HAD to try it! I can imagine this place jumping on a Saturday night, full of Air Force kiddies from Vandenberg. Just stepping inside is a trip back to the 1960s. I gotta say, though, some of those poor Yelp reviews are right on target! If the big sign on the building make you want a RICE BOWL with chicken, beef, shrimp or whatever, GO SOMEPLACE ELSE! Eating for ONE is not in the stars for you here. This isn't that kind of Rice Bowl place. NUMBER ONE PROBLEM (feature, really) I should have guessed when the place was empty. They serve FAMILY STYLE ONLY! Everything is made for a table of two, three or four to share. Meaning NO COMBOS for someone wanting to take a meal home. The waitress told me everything on the menu was at least two pounds of food each! Not for the quick bowl & run. Table tops were gritty and just a little sticky, as if they used a dirty rag to wipe down, then held the door open and let a dust cloud blow in. The table side jukebox remotes don't work, don't even ask. I think I met the scary waitress another yelper wrote about a few months ago. I can see where that Yelper is coming from. She wasn't too creepy, but she HEAVILY tried to deter me away from ordering, due to their two pound food policy, I guess A plate of pot stickers and a POT of tea (NO SINGLES, remember!) I was out $20. I agree with the other yelper who complained about prices. They tasted just like the 3 lb frozen bag I can get at Grocery Outlet. Tasty, just not $20 tasty. A visit to the Men's Room rounded out my visit to this gem of history. That's also where I met Hal Roach (see photo) In it's day, RICE BOWL was probably quite the happening place. This building was opened in the 1960's, but the restaurant goes back to WW-2. It's a shame to see such a historical place on the Hospice bed! I don't see how it can stay in business beyond the end of this year. read more

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I'm a sucker for old school diners of any kind and this place has been in business since 1946. I am always so happy to see the older places survive and not change too much. Here I was greeted with warmth and a smile, the server immediately gave me the feeling that he was one of the owners or a family member. They told me the portion sizes are big and offered to make me a half portion. I ordered Vegetable Egg Chow Fun. DELICIOUS! They also have a large old jukebox and a small tabletop juke box on every booth. I loved this place! Great service. Good fresh food, OLD school style. read more

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This historic restaurant is a gem. The ambience is cool, the food is great, and the service is top notch. We'll be back!

Great place to eat in Lompoc! Great place to eat in Lompoc. Family owned and operated. Reviews from years ago almost stopped from going here until friends told me about it. The food and service were great! The portions are large enough to make two meals and price was reasonable. https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g32645-d370604-r166962538-Rice_Bowl-Lompoc_California.html# read more

Wanted to try this place just because we don't have any good Chinese food in town. Well big mistake food was not good and it was so expensive. Nothing was edible and we had to throw all of it out. So disappointed:( read more

The bbq pork fried rice is delicious and the beef chop suey so fresh and delicious. Prices may catch you off guard but you get a lot of food!!! read more

The food is amazing and the cook and staff are the best! This place was started by their grandfather who returned home after ww2. The quality of ingredients is great and the meat is seasoned perfectly. I'll be brining all my friends here. It's a great family tan business with a huge menu. The building is so pretty and designed really cool on the inside as well. Thank you! read more

Rice Bowl - Chinese Near Me - Lompoc, California

Customer BEWARE. Do not let the nostalgic appearance fool you! Ordered the paper chicken and received about 10 individual things of chicken stew wrapped in aluminum foil?? $25.00 As for the service, the lady was the only one working and stayed on her phone with her daughter the entire time and then went on to complain that business was better when Trump was president and how he was not guilty for the hush money trial... The ambiance was like those dives that could end up being the best food ever but quickly turned into red flags/hats.... Not authentic and never going back. read more

The King Pao Chicken was delicious, and the service was excellent. I really look forward to coming back to try the rest. Amazing location, charming decor. Best Chinese food I've had in as long as I can remember. read more

VERY DISAPPOINTING AND RIDICULOUSLY OVER-PRICED. After deciding on Chinese food last night, we chose Rice Bowl because Chinese options are extremely limited in Lompoc. We looked online for a menu and it was hard to find one. They do not have a website with a menu and prices. We were able to find a picture of a menu online and no prices. We figured we would just call and order anyway...how much could 3 entrées and 4 egg rolls be, right? We ordered a cashew nut chicken, schezuan chicken, egg foo young and an order of 4 egg rolls. When my husband went to pick it up, the size of each entrée was ENORMOUS! He said, "we just wanted normal size meals" she replied, "we have only one size and that's it." The cost was $120!!! My husband was in total shock, but paid nonetheless because it really was our fault for not asking the price of everything beforehand. What we got could have fed an army! Maybe it was $120 worth of food because it could have easily fed 8 people, but we were disappointed that there were NO other options. The presentation was bad as well. Everything was packaged in styrofoam that leaked into the bags and they placed one of the bags in a box labeled "LARD" so we know what they cook with. The LARD box was soaked in grease from the styrofoam leaking so bad. As far as the taste of everything: very mediocre to bland and not very fresh, in our opinion. Everything was VERY greasy. The egg rolls were the size of big burritos and did not seem to be wrapped in egg roll dough...very oddly shaped. The entrées did not have much flavor. My husband took a paper menu from the restaurant and it has all of their dishes, with NO pricing whatsoever. Rice Bowl has been in Lompoc since the dawn of time and we feel they need to revamp their menu, sizes, pricing and dishes, if they want to keep up with the times. read more

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We originally ordered sweet and sour soup but we were served vinegar soup. Tried adding soy sauce to get rid of the taste. There was no menus online the lady who answered the phone was rude. Another bust trying to find good food. We will just stick to Thai Cusine unfortunately that was closed tonight. read more

Rice Bowl - Sweet and sour soup - Chinese Near Me - Lompoc, California

I'm going to contact someone in Lompoc about poor service at the rice bowl in Lompoc California. I went there and got egg drop soup, I real don't care about the amount size or they make it different than what I'm use to, I will say that I found a bug in my soup and I live in LA and couldn't bring the order back to get a refund. The restaurant was closed when I found the bug and called them and told them about it, I got I touch with a gentleman who said he was the old man and couldn't get to the store because he has a heart condition and he told me to call the next day. I called the next day and the gentleman I talked to said he was going to mail me a refund. I have never got the refund so I called them today and talked to the gentleman who addressed himself as the old man, he said I would not get a refund for what ever reason read more

Delicious food and very friendly staff, can't believe there isn't a line out the door. Also very generous potion sized. Highly recommend read more

Rice Bowl - Pork Friend rice - Chinese Near Me - Lompoc, California

Entrees are priced higher but can easily feed 2-4 and served family style. Ambiance was very retro diner. Loved it. Wonton soup was scratch made and amazing. Orange chicken hot and delicious. Fried rice, excellent. Our lunch was a pleasant surprise. Owner was super friendly and everything was made fresh. We left full with plenty to take home. We will definitely come back to try other items. read more

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This place is a hidden gem. The food is clean, all house made sauces and vegetable forward. Family style only, so a single entree feeds 2 - 4 people. Yeah, you need to order rice. Super retro inside and out. Definitely early California Chinese ambiance.. Mysteriously empty. Someone needs to use this interior in a film. This is not typical at all. In the best way. read more

Rena and art are amazing!!!!! They opened for our party of 3 and it was amazing! Great service and the nicest people! read more

Rice Bowl - Orange chicken, almond chicken, pork fried rice, butterfly shrimp. - Chinese Near Me - Lompoc, California

I ordered the General Tso's Chicken and the Large egg rolls, total waste of $50. The pork in the egg roll had an off color/taste about it and was sitting in a good half inch of oil. The breading on the inside was gooey. The Chicken was blackened, tasted burnt, vegetables in it cooked beyond recognition. Each piece was of dark meat chicken and also contained a chunk of fat. The coating on each piece was complete mush. Even the small container of dipping sauce was gross, looked like it had small pieces of chicken in it. read more

Rice Bowl - Large pork egg roll- discolored pork, gooey greasy coating - Chinese Near Me - Lompoc, California

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Big on quantity,low on quality.Oily fried rice,sweet sour pork,soggy coating,tough pork,egg foo yung oily,with weird sauce.First time and last for me.$70 for the 3 dishes. read more

Worst place I asked for a egg soup and they gave me a pea soup and the orange chicken had no flavor, waste of money read more

Rice Bowl - Egg soup - Chinese Near Me - Lompoc, California

Ok, so the place has a weird vibe and most of the time business is slow. But the place has some of the best fried rice I have ever tasted. Not to mention the soups are just delicious. The owner is a grumpy chinese man named Ning. His wife Rose will make some of the yummiest BBQ pork spareribs you'll ever have. Things I ordered here on a regular basis; Beef and Broccoli, pineapple pork, fried rice of any variety (however I favor the rice bowl fried rice) Moo Goo Gai Pan, Moo Shu Chicken, Egg Foo Yung, BBQ Spareribs, Chinese Fried Chicken. So there are alot of things there I like. Thats just a few. Tell him Athena told you to come. I've known that family since I was like 2. Thats right 2! read more

Rice Bowl - Chinese Near Me - Lompoc, California

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Unfortunately, this place was not great. Been waiting to write this because I hate writing bad reviews. Spent about 120$ for 5 items. The eggrolls, even the small ones were like burritos. They were fried in old oil and filled primarily cabbage. Super oily and greasy,stale tasting. The rest of the food was okay tasting, still all cooked in old oil, so it has that stale taste. Was extremely disappointed. Bummer. read more

This review is based on experiences in 2005 so take it accordingly. This place is a family joke -- the worst restaurant we have ever had the displeasure of "eating" at in any city, place, or country including third world and rural Australia. (I don't think either of us swallowed, we just paid our bill and fled.) How it stays in business is a mystery. The food seems to be deliberately designed to repel customers. It cannot be under new management, anyone taking it over would change the name and set fire to it. read more

This place was very clean and neat. The guy that helped us was very patient and informative. The food was great and enough to feed my family of 4 , from one plate. They've been serving Lompoc for Decades. This was the best sweet and sour chicken I've ever had. The beautiful thing about this restaurant is that they don't just serve Chinese food , they serve some southern food as well. read more

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Only Chinese food restaurant in Lompoc so we had to try it, overpriced for what it is paid $70 for four dishes, also charged us five dollars to use the credit card machine pretty ridiculous. Food was not good will not go back ever again! read more

This was the worst Chinese food I've ever had! We had five different items including chow mein, won tons and fried rice. The only thing edible was the won tons, and they weren't very good. Not only was the food terrible, it was terribly overpriced. They even charge extra for to go boxes and to pay by credit card. We'll never eat there again. I recommend you don't either. read more

The Chinese food here is excellent. The decor is 1950's. We have also tried their steak, which is good, but no Hitching Post. Their egg rolls are good and Unique- unlike other egg rolls I have ever had. The service is congenial, but can be slow. The Chinese Food is scrumptious, and deserved 5 stars. At our last visit, we encountered a family having ... burgers and fries. They said that they're the best in town. Grind their meat fresh each morning, and make the fries from potatoes, not out of a bag of frozen. read more

We were walking down the street and the vintage look of the restaurant front caught our eye. Going in we felt like we were entering a portal to the past- it's got juke box, neon reminiscent of old Hong Kong films, ancient Chinese art- this place is a MUST STOP if any type of vintage diner catches your fancy. The owners are the third generation Chinese family members who started the restaurant in 1946. Amazing food, friendly owners and staff, clean, and ambiance you can't buy. This place is amazing. read more

Extremely greasy. Completely soggy orange chicken with all dark meat huge pieces.. Literally over $100 of grease. Tried to eat it but couldn't get past two bites. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE IF YOU WANNA SPEND OVER $100 for trash then come on by the rice bowl. Don't believe me try it for yourself. read more

Still very much in love with their beef chow fun (wide rice noodles) which has a lot of flavors and ingredients. I can tell that they really make it from scratch since they took a while to make it from when I ordered it. The beed tasted fresh and paired it perfectly with red wine. read more

Really underwhelming experience. We ordered two different meals and there was no way to tell the difference between either of them. Probably the worst Chinese food I've had to date. They also charge over $3 to pay via card on top of their already expensive dishes. Overall I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone in the area. read more

After reading the raves and disses of this place, with reviewers loving it or hating it, I had to try it. Wow! I loved it! Wish I'd tried it sooner! The decor is a throw-back to diners and Chinese restaurants from when I was a very young child. It was like walking into a time-warp. For that reason, I could hang out in there all day, feeling like I'd returned home. How great is it that the owners valued what they had and kept everything the same all these decades? It wasn't run down by any means, just the fixtures and decor were right out of the 1950-1960s. We were waited on by a very elderly gentlemen who explained to us why the prices on the menu aren't as high as we might think they are. He "doesn't cook any $1.00 hamburgers!" We got a big kick out of his shuffling over to tell us that before we'd even had a look at the menu. This very elderly gentlemen could barely walk, slowly shuffling back and forth, but he waited on us nevertheless. It was both sweet, inspiring, and a little bit like finding oneself in the middle of a Saturday Night Live skit. Overall, the fellow added to the experience of the place in a positive way by our estimation. The menu had a lot of variety. I was surprised how much variety given we were the only customers in the place. The food was really good! The vegetables were substantial and fresh, and there was plenty of meat in the dishes too. None of it was super salty like the food in most Chinese restaurants. I was really impressed by the quality and the fact that later I wasn't bloated and reeling from too much salt. The entire experience was delightful and I look forward to going back. read more

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