Place is cash only - but this is not the reason for the bad review. I was purchasing food here at the deli, and the person who provided change short changed me a large amount of money. I bought 1 soy sauce chicken for $30.80 handed over a 50 dollar bill and only got 15.xx in change back. I was in a hurry and did not count. This is the 2nd time it has happened since I've ordered from there. Sam woo has had some legal dealings in the past, I'm sad, it wasn't a huge amount not to give back, but it's still about 25% of my change read more

THEIR SHRIMPS ARE SO SWEET!!! The duck is so juicy and plump. All the bbq here is just mhmmmmmmm. 100% recommend!!!!

IYKYK that not all Sam woo locations are the same levels of tastiness. This one is simple but don't let it fool you. The bbq pork and roasted duck IS THE BEST!!! Try it out and you won't be disappointed. Simple interior but fast and friendly services. TASTY FOOD!!! read more

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Sam Woo has been around for many, many years, and it remains one of those places that's truly dear to the heart of the original Chinese community in Los Angeles. Their food is authentic, classic Chinese comfort food that never disappoints. The roast duck from Sam Woo remains one of the best in Los Angeles -- perfectly seasoned, tender, and flavorful every time. The service has always been great, with waiters who've been there for over 20 years -- a sign of how much pride they take in what they do. How can you go wrong with that kind of consistency and tradition? read more

Sam Woo Alhambra - Outside - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

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Sam Woo BBQ- Alhambra is one of the OG "Sam Woo" restaurants. A classic destination restaurant for Cantonese style BBQ and comfort food. This location is one of the first Sam Woo compared to the newer locations - it's an old-school spot. My family (parents) been coming to SW for decades - family parties/holidays always included roasted BBQ meats strictly from here. During the holidays the lines are insane! The actual restaurant/deli is a grimy hole-in-the-wall and handling of food at the butcher station(deli) may seem questionable; don't be scared, lol. The restaurant is up to code and full of patrons... rant over, food is great!! Cash only, Cash only, CASH! (ATM inside restaurant). Parking: Street parking or their tiny lot. read more

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I'm only rating it a four stars, the servers were great but is tiny and I feel congested, they seated us by the restroom/kitchen, is was only 5 people. I never really liked Sam Woo BBQ, many years ago before Covid, my mom and I went to the one on Valley Blvd and Walnut Grove and the food was horrible, everything we ordered was super salty besides the roast duck. That was like maybe 7 years ago. Now that some of my colleagues and boss wants us to join him for dinner, we can't really declined his offer so we came to this original location between 6 th street and Valley Blvd. they have a tiny parking lot on the side too. Better to park on the street unless you're a good driver that can park in tight spaces lol I was surprised that we didn't order much, only 5 dishes and I thought one of my colleagues was treating, that's the only reason I went lol but at the end when the bill came, we all split the bill into 5 equal parts $20 each. It was about $87 plus tips, $100 even. The food was good but it wasn't fulfilling, we ordered the roast pork with the roast duck leg, we didn't get the good part of the roast pork, I tasted the lard, it was gross to me but they loved it, I didn't get the crispy skin either, just the 3 rib bones with the lard and a little meat, but the roast duck was good even without the sweet sauce. The appetizer play was so small. Then I ordered the beef chow fun, it was good and well seasoned, everyone loved it too. My colleague ordered the long life noodles or the hand pulled noodles, the wet version with button mushrooms, he loves it. To me, it tastes like the cup of instant noodles. It wasn't anything special, it doesn't even have meat lol then the watercress was flavorless, it was so bland, maybe they forgot to add salt or fish sauce to it. It wax just garlic and watercress and some was old, I had to pull the old hard stems out my mouth. My boss knows I like honey walnut shrimp and he ordered that too. Is good, the walnut was crispy and the shrimp was cooked to perfection, mixed with a little mayonnaise, not too much, it was just perfect. Sam Woo BBQ is known for the roast bbq other than that, the other food is ok but I won't be back unless I'm buying the roast duck. Then again, I can get roast duck in any city lol read more

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Affordable place to eat, when my parents want a simple Chinese meal that doesn't break the bank this restaurant comes up. Dishes are of good portions and you can get a deal in the morning on certain items. Of course with BBQ in the name you can't go wrong with their Chinese BBQ items like roast duck or pork. My favorite veggie to order here is the bean sprouts, tender and never overcooked. read more

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Cash only 2 item meat ($12.75)- roast duck has excellent flavor. Nice fatty, skin has good texture. Roast Pork- skin was nice and crispy, but the pork belly meat was a little dry and over cooked. Beef chow fun ($12.00)- it's average. Not much wok Hei. Not as good as LongTen. It's similar flavor as Tams Noodle House. read more

Sam Woo Alhambra - 2 dish delicacy with Roast Pork and Roast duck - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

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This is the OG Sam woo. Been here for more than 20 plus years but more recently was craving their 2 item bbq with rice. Pro tip: char siu is bomb but their duck is no bueno. Get the roast pork! All the other dishes are pretty standard. I had their tofu seafood hotpot and soy sauce noodle. They don't skimp on the quantity either read more

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Love the fact that they have lunch menu with affordable prices (mines was around $13). Portion is definitely huge considering the price I paid. I definitely love the food as well. They have a lot more lunch options which I would definitely try but this was already so good that next time I would come back for the same food for lunch menu. Two stars docked off because: 1) The place is a typical small asian restaurant with right side serving their bbq togo orders and left side for dine in. The prices for bbq was reasonable and I would definitely buy it next time, but for dine in (roasted pork togo seem to not hold its crunchiness even for one hour unless you air fry or oven it to heat it up). The char siu was okay, some part that I togo was harder than expected but the flavor is amazing. 2) Service definitely not to american standard. It is a hong kong style service. Not great, to the point, and probably a bit slow or hard to grab their attention. Regardless of the "asian" service, I would come back ONLY BECAUSE of the price of the food, the portion given, and the taste. read more

Sam Woo Alhambra - Roasted 89. Roast Pork with Tofu - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

Lots of choices, Cantonese food, very tasty, so hard to pick what I want when I am there. Good service and food came out pretty fast. read more

Sam Woo Alhambra - BBQ Pork and Lo-mein noodles. - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

Sam Woo has always had great food at this location. As much as we think it has some of the best Kung Pao chicken we have tried, the MoPo Tofu is even more special . Always a good bet for your Cantonese favorites! read more

Only came for a take out order of roasted Peking duck over rice. Forgot to take a photo of my order before it was eaten. Duck was good. Tasted like what I would expect a roasted duck to taste like. They gave a generous amount of rice. Didn't check out their dining section, but seemed small. Probably handful of tables. The place looked run down, a bit dirty, hole in the wall type eatery. Health code rated at a B. I probably wouldn't sit and eat there, but would consider ordering things for take out. They need to get their health code up though. read more

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Greasy spoon type diner, best kind for delicious Cantonese Hong Kong style comfort food. Never disappoints. Favorites include Beef Chow Mein, Beef Chow Fun, Roast Pork & Tofu on rice, Beef Stew on Rice, Spicy Salt Pork Chop, Two Delicacy Roast Duck & Cha Siu on rice. Chinese Broccoli, Wonton & Noodle Soup. Generous Portions and Reasonable Prices. Servers are super nice and accommodating. Beware, Cash Only though read more

Still one of my favorites. Food is always fresh and hot and service is what you would expect from the restaurant like this . Ambience somewhat gross but I have plenty of antibiotics. I would put this restaurant against any of these bougie Chinese places for half the price. read more

Sam Woo Alhambra - The front view. - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

Pay very close attention to the pricing when you order, the waitress kept telling us different pricing on every item we ordered. Almost like she is trying her best to get the total higher for better tip in the end. Not sure if she can manipulate this after paying cause her to get bigger tip but still not right to over price the dishes when it's clearly printed on the menu. read more

I ordered in and this is so gross there was no single piece I could find that had no features on read more

Sam Woo Alhambra - Chicken with allllll features - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

Good BBQ food. Service so so. Good service if u get a tip driven wait help. Bad service if you get a waithelp who lost money at local casino the night before work. And Cash only. No credit or debit card. This is the type of business that do not report all revenues and remit all sales tax we paid here. read more

Came here for a quick dinner. You can either order take out which is setup like a deli and you move down the line picking what you want from food behind a glass counter. Or you can sit down in their restaurant. We opted to sit down and eat in which has a completely different menu. The staff was nice and we were able to get a seat quickly. The place settings were a little dirty and had to be swapped out. The meal itself was ok, tasty but typical fast food/sit down Chinese restaurant that is oily and salty. We ordered the bbq pork, fried rice, chow fun, calamari, fried shrimp, pea shoots, and fried fish. Tip: Make sure you have CASH, there's an ATM in the corner if you need it but they do not take credit cards. read more

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The roasted pig was horrible! The worst I ever had! It was impossible to chew on the skin that supposed to be the best park

I get this through door dash and it never fails to amaze me. The food is delicious and I always order no MSG because my mom is allergic and they always cook without it. The food is good and fresh. It's the same and has been here for several years read more

Food was delicious and the service was quick and friendly. The place is small but cozy.

The food was delicious, service was great. Ambiance was a little run down but very clean. I used to come here with my grandma all the time before see passed from covid in 2021. I still come here by myself or with family and friends. read more

Sam Woo Alhambra - BBQ pork and roast duck over rice and veggies. - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

I grow up with Chinese BBQ. I have to say this is very disappointing, especially with the price. I mean, they have their fame for quite awhile. I guess they are going downhills. The food is rather dry. The price is steep. I asked why. They blamed it on the tariff. If that's true, does it mean their meat sourcing isn't local within US? Are we getting ducks, pigs, chickens flew in by plane from some other countries? Last but not least, they have the driest Char Siu around the near by neighborhoods. read more

Came here on a Friday night to just order their duck and bbq pork in the to go area. Very standard no frills service in general, but today, it was a bit worse than usual. I was the only one in line, and the butcher/chef was just staring into space. Took me like 4-5 times to call him out in Cantonese to help me get half a duck. After he helped butcher the duck, as I was about to make my next order, the guy walked away into the kitchen to do another order. Then I had to wait a couple more minutes until the second butcher came out to help get my bbq pork. So I pay my order (cash only for the bbq to go line by the way) and then I went back home. As I got back home and I open the bag, I notice that they didn't give me duck sauce on the side and the bag was filled with it. Usually they give the sauce on the side and not inside the container with the duck because usually what ends up happening is that the sauce leaks out. I guess the first butcher really was having a rough day. At least the duck was bomb as usual though. Bbq pork was ok (a bit saltier than it should be and some parts dry), but I rarely get that and I only got that because my girlfriend likes bbq pork. 2.5/5 experience today, usually a 3/5 experience. read more

Very tender and flavorful bbq pork! Good price for a pound of it too~ Service was friendly and fast, tho long line during peak dinner hour. read more

Sam Woo Alhambra - Bbq pork - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

The orange peel chicken was inedible. It was super hard and not fresh. Was this reheated 10x or something?! The beef chow fun was pretty good and the soy sauce chicken was great. Their other bbq meats looked good too. Cash only but there is atm. I'm not sure I'd come back. read more

Sam Woo Alhambra - Orange peel chicken was inedible. It was hard as a rock. - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

Ordered pan fried chicken chow mein--my son's favorite--to go. Food here is always good and consistent and hits the spot whenever I am in the mood. I like that they package the chicken separately to keep the noodles crunchy. They take cash only and you have to elbow your way to the front counter so that you can pick up your take out order. read more

Sam Woo Alhambra - Pan fried chicken chow mein to go... - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

Attitude and professionalism need to definitely improve in this place. I asked this meat chopper guy for a small serving of sauce for the barbecue pork and he told me that he cannot give away. I told him I would pay for it since I love this sauce with my bbq pork. He refused and walked away. I've been coming to this place for 30 years and food is really good. The only issue is the people that works there. Specially the rude cashier lady who is also very cheap on giving chili sauce after paying more than $$$. I hate to generalize the workers there but the two waiters are pretty good. Sam woo you need to train them how to be more professional and friendly. I know lots of people that loves the food there but they are discouraged of the employees working for you. read more

Local classic - offers both traditional and some Americanized Chinese food. Our go to are usually roast duck/pork/soy chicken combo and a bucket of hot and sour soup. Tasty but u can taste the sodium overload and msg. read more

Not the nicest looking restaurant but they have the most delicious roast duck I've ever had. My s/o and I order duck to go and eat it at home. The flavor is savory, especially when they give you duck fat sauce on the side. CASH ONLY! read more

I didn't take photos since you all know what Cantonese BBQ looks like, my family has been eating here since the 90s. So many memories of my family here, we still go here for takeout when in the area. The Char Siu here is still one of the best in the area, same goes for the roast pig and duck. Soy sauce chicken can be hit or miss though. I know there are other "Sam Woo" locations but make no mistake, this is the OG location on Valley between 5th and 6th street. The service is what you would expect from traditional Chinese restaurants, which means it is subpar and you even feel like you are treated poorly because you might look different. Make no mistake, come here for the food and forget about customer service. I would recommend all Chinese food lovers to come here. read more

Service was good. The wonton, beef tender,and noodle has gone down hill. The soup base was salty. 1/2 the tenden was to hard to chew. We order seafood chow mein. It squid was not chewable. We have note dine in for 4 years. Not sure if the chef retired or we ate in a Thursday night Does anyone know where the chef on the Delmar went read more

I had gone to the Van Nuys location last year and it was ok but the food wasn't good enough that I felt like I'd drive back again. We tried this Alhambra location and picked up a soy sauce chicken and some char siu. The char siu in particular was absolutely delicious. I'd definitely travel back to this location again. The actual interior is very cramped and looks like your typical unassuming Chinese spot. If you're picking up bbq, just remember, it's cash only. There's an ATM inside but it would be a bummer to forget cash. read more

The place is good for bbq, but service attitude and service has always been subpar. Took it to another level today hen they forgot to include the onion sauce for the chicken and we had to go back to get it. Instead of apology, we got s testy, annoyed look and had the sauce thrown to us. Quite annoying and may be awhile before we go back, especially when we also suspect they treat Cantonese speaking customers with better service and cuts of food. read more

The food here really exceeded my expectations. The chow fun was really well made. Every strand had a lil wok hei and was perfectly coated. The portions are huge too! What really impressed me was the roasted duck and char siu. Unlike other places, both were extremely juicy and well seasoned! I've yet to find a spot in the south Bay Area that's nearly as well executed as Sam Woo. Sounds crazy, but I ordered a plate of chow fun, bbq pork, and roast duck to bring on my plane ride home. 8 hours later when my family tried it, they agreed that it was top notch Chinese food. I'll definitely be back! read more

Sam Woo Alhambra - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

4 Stars for the food and 1 star for the rude service from the female server. This is one of the OG locations of the Sam Woo chain. My Chinese friends and I used to come here often when we were still going to school. We had to make another one day trip out to LA this past Saturday and on the way to LA we decided stop by here for lunch since we were in the mood for some Chinese BBQ and wanted to pick up some take out for my mom. We ordered the won ton soup, the beef with black bean sauce over fried rice and the bbq on rice with 3 items (Roast Pork, Cuttle fish, and the bbq pork). The food is always good here but the service first time it was really bad due to this one lady. It was all because of communication breakdown and I think because she did not under stand English too well. When we ordered the bbq on rice dish she brought us double order or of BBQ on rice, another Ala Carte order of BBQ Pork, Ala carte of roast pork, and an Ala Carte order of Cuttle fish. Too make matters worse she started yelling at us that we made the wrong order. Since we were going to grab some Chinese BBQ for my mom we relented. It worked out. Talk about a communication break down. read more

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Very fast service and tasty food. I've been to the San Diego Sam woo Barbeque and this location is completely different. The food is sooo much better - not the best I've ever had but good. Everything came out fast. Hit the spot. I'd come back. read more

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This restaurant has been around Alhambra for many years. Their dine-in menus are very affordable with generous portions, but it's only cash based. Servers there are very fast and responsive. As soon as you sit, you will have hot tea, menu, and setting on your table. Lunch menu is on the back with the starting of $10.99 for each item. Sometimes, their portions could be very inconsistent, so it depends on who work on the kitchen. Other than that, this is my go-to restaurant for lunch sometime. read more

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Nice little spot. Looks very tiny from outside but inside isn't that small. It's decent size. Food is great and service is great. Food came out quick. I've gone here when it's super packed and the food comes out quick too. Next time I'll order roasted duck. I don't like fuck that much but their is good. read more

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