This is anecdotally the best bbq place around. My family has come here for decades for their bbq pork, roast duck, and roast pig. We ordered a classic, wonton mein. The wontons are filled with shrimp that have that crisp bounciness indicating its freshness. The noodles also have a nice toothsome texture. We ordered the small size which had a good amount of noodles and two wonton and some bokchoy veggies. The mein and a half plate of bbq pork and open face duck was the ticket. read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

Cash only but they have an atm machine. I always get their duck from here and it's not dry. Very juicy and flavorful and fairly priced.

Classic grimy hole in the wall place with authentic food that's amazing. My family's from Canton, we know Cantonese food. This is where you get it. They're known for their cha siu (Chinese bbq pork), so it's a must order. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of it, too busy eating haha. The wok hei (breath of the wok, that gives a great flavor to food) on the beef chow fun was phenomenal. We always judge a Cantonese place based on this flavor because it's essential to this style of cooking. Loved the breading on the orange peel chicken, it's the same as on salty spicy porkchops. The fish we got was delicious and very delicate. The tomato and beef chow mein is solid, just not my personal favorite; I like the way my uncle made it more. His was sweeter and had a slightly different flavor. Beef udon was good too, not Cantonese, but my dad enjoys it. The older male waiter that speaks fluent English is really nice. Next time we visit, we'll try the duck too, because it's likely good. This is a no frills, greasy spoon, but you'll definitely get delicious Cantonese food here. Focus on that, not fancy ambiance or attentive service, and you'll enjoy yourself. read more

See all

When you walk into an eatery and you're greeted by roasted ducks, hanging in a display window, you've GOT to think to yourself, "OK, this is gonna be legit". Sam Woo, is about as legit as Cantonese cuisine can get. It's greasy. It's salty. It's.....delicious! My all time favorite dish here is the Beef Chow Mein with Crispy Noodles. Oh my! Those noodles stay crispy, despite being smothered in beef, sauce and tender greens. This is an addictingly good dish. My second favorite is the Kung Pao Chicken/Shrimp. You can't go wrong with either, but I'm partial to the chicken, which is always well cooked and just the right amount of spicy. They have something called BIG SHRIMP fried rice, and, let me tell you, the shrimp is definitely BIG, and plentiful. I was not disappointed on the rice to shrimp ratio. Just because those ducks greeted me, so kindly, when I walked in, we got some duck as well. Man, is it good. MY kids loved it more than they love fried chicken! read more

See all

I've been coming to this little hole in the wall since I was a kid! They definitely have the best roast duck around. Small little restaurant, authentic service [if you're asian you know what I mean ;) ], amazing Chinese bbq and decent food! I go back maybe because of nostalgia but their bbq is to die for. Everything else is good but not amazing. Parking and seating is limited. They have a fast to go side separate from their seating area, awesome for when you need to pop in to pick up a quick and easy dinner. All in all. This place is a classic Chinese bbq joint. Can't go wrong with any of their Chinese bbq and some white rice! read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Roast pork - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

See all

Cash only. Casual eatery with fast service. The food comes out quickly. The beef chow fun was really good. Good flavor and tender beef 5/5! The honey walnut shrimp was good but I would have preferred it to be a little more crispy. Generous portion of shrimp though! The duck (half) is a generous serving and the meat is really juicy. The skin is not crispy - must be Hong Kong style. I was disappointed with the crispy pork. The skin was TOO crispy (I was scared I was going to chip a tooth) and the cut was way too fatty. read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Beef chow fun - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

See all

Big portion. It's delicious. Served with steam rice, veggies and choice of 3 kind of meat. I picked roast duck, roast pork and bbq pork. My son picked roast pork, roast duck and bbq sausage. It was about $16.99 each plate. Can soda with a cup of ice for only $1. Great price for good quality food. read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Three Delicacy on Rice - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

See all

Same Sam Woo different quality. Sam Woo changed service people and owner. Old lobster chao mien had a small live lobster and taste very good. Today lobster chao mien were from different dead lobster pieces. The taste was totally different and not good at all. I am not going back. read more

The original and still the best! I've tried the other chains and the taste was just not quite as good as here. I ordered my personal trifecta of salty chicken, bbq pork and pig's stomach. The chicken was well seasoned and the chewy texture of free range chicken can't be beat. The special sweet honey glazed sauce drizzling over the tender BBQ pork pushed this dish to the next level. The pig's stomach here was not stir-fried like other places. I much prefer the clean and simple taste of how they're made here. If you're craving chinese BBQ, look no further than Sam Woo! read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Salted chicken, BBQ pork, Pig's stomach - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

We bought some bbq pork from this place about 40 minutes ago. While we were paying the bill, we gave this female cashier a bit more cash than the actual bill. However, she absent mindedly did not count the actual coins we gave her. She kept asking for more. We kept telling her, it's there. After a few times, she finally realized it. She was very rude. This lady cashier has been there forever. When she gave change back she threw it along with the receipt at us. How rude can you be? The food is good but the attitude and service of this cashier is awful!! read more

I ordered to-go via ubereats. They tried to package it tightly, but some sauces still spilled sadly. Seafood crispy noodles: My noodles were somewhat burnt and a bit bitter. I only used about 1/3 of the sauce and just took out all the seafood and veggies because it was too salty. However, my fish fillets and veggies still soaked up a lot if the sauce, so they were super salty as well. I likely wouldn't reorder this dish here again, 2/5. 1/2 duck: The duck was juicy and not too fatty, so I think I was pretty lucky this time. Not the best I've had, but it's decent, 4/5. Bbq pork: Flavorful and not too sweet. I didn't get too many overly fatty pieces today luckily, 4/5. read more

See all

Have not been here in ages but my dad wanted wonton noodles. They still make the best wonton noodles around with wonderfully crispy yellow noodle. I also ordered the soy sauce chicken leg on rice. Great flavor and cook on the leg n generous portion for only $5.50!!! read more

First things first - CASH ONLY! I don't usually give 5 stars but this is the best one I've tried and I went to every places in LA. Sam Woo is still the best. Wonton soup was great - the wontons were meaty and tasted fresh. The soup was flavorful. Roasted Duck and BBQ Pork Over Rice was very good too. I really enjoyed the Cha Siu pork was juicy and tender. read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Wonton Soup - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

See all

COVID-19: Social distancing is enforced at this establishment. All of the staff wears a mask. All customers are expected to wear a mask too. The staff also wears gloves. There are some hand sanitizers available for customers to use. This place is available for take outs and has no outdoor seating available with limited capacity. They are not sanitizing in between customers. While I was grabbing my food from this establishment today, I asked if they had any special offers and they weren't offering any at the moment. They currently don't have happy hour. They also do not allow pets in their establishment. Parking: They have a super small parking lot right next to and behind the establishment. It's full often, so many people park on the street or in the lot next to it. The parking spots are small and tight, so beware. Food: I ordered a yeung chow fried rice and a dry style soy sauce beef noodles. I love how much food they are willing to give to their customers. They definitely don't skimp. Very good quantity and quality food for a great price. The fried rice and noodles can feed 3 people for two meals. The fried rice wasn't dry or soggy. The rice was nice and soft. It also had bits and pieces of BBQ pork, carrots, and a lot of shrimp. So delicious. The dry style soy sauce beef noodles were really bomb too. They gave us a lot of beef with the noodles. They for sure never skimp. They treat their customers well, so they always come back. Staff: I ordered in English over the phone. They told me that my food would be ready in 15 minutes, and it was waiting for me right when I got there in 15 minutes. They only take cash. No credit cards. If you don't have cash on you, don't worry. There is an atm in the establishment. read more

See all

Good food okay service small place smell a little this place has been here forever either making tons of $$$$ or the owe the landlord lease must be long time love you long time read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Special price all day. - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

There are a ton of Sam Woo's, but this was the closest to where I was at the time. I came here on 12/23/20 evening around 5:30 pm. PSA to those not familiar with the area and trying to find their way around - Google maps will end up taking you to a shutdown bakery/cafe right next to it. I'm not sure how I would tell people where to park...but be wary that parking is super limited here, and you may just be better off-street parking and then quickly walking over. Pro tip: cash only! Not all Sam Woo's are like this, so this caught me off guard a bit. There is an ATM machine here though. They only limit a few people to wait inside, and the rest would be waiting outside. They also closed down the indoor dining area, so you can only order to go here. I ordered a few things from the BBQ section: 1. 1 entire roasted duck ($23.50): you pick your own, and then they chop it up for you! The one I picked was pretty good this time - quite meaty, and still juicy. 2. Roast pork shoulder ($15.50/lb): not as good as the other Sam Woo location since I got the remaining piece. You tell them how many lbs you want, and then they chop it up. Service was not too bad - I did wish they wore gloves when chopping up my food though.... read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

See all

Delicious and well made food. Fast and easy service. They also give a lot of food for to go orders.

They hang up on you when you try to order in English!!!! Super rude! I tried calling every time they won't speak in English then hang up or ignore the call.. read more

Yummy food. Soy sauce noodles were perfect. Meat combo were tasty. They are cash only . read more

See all

Food service good nice-ambiance excellent food and service Will come back soon Cash only so bring cash money read more

The crispy fried noodle was fine but the roasted duck has been terrible in recent months. It was not as good as before.

Negatives: unfriendly staff, cash only (I only knew this because I went with a friend who buys food from them often). Positives: yummy food! good portions. read more

See all

Absolutely disgusting service during the COVID pandemic. This is one of the newest Sam Woo in the area, most modern and most recently built. However that doesn't mean new is better. You come to Sam Woo to get BBQ to go like duck, chicken, bbq pork, etc. Generally my experience here is good and solid or passable. Nothing great or extraordinary. However, during my most recent interaction I am never coming here again and here's why. First I wasn't really greeted when I walked in. This older gentlemen was wearing a mask and gloves. I ordered BBQ Pork and the Sausage. I asked for one pound of BBQ Pork and he literally grabbed the smallest pieces and the fattiest pieces to get to one pound. Instead of giving me a big slab, he basically gave me left overs. Disgusting texture, flavor and completely dried out. After he boxed it, he didn't ask me if I wanted anything else. Instead he starts working on the person behind me. I was like "Excuse me, I want this too". Had a very reluctant behavior to help me. Here's the disgusting part, I ordered the sausage and he grabbed it and put it into the box to weigh it. He then he gets a phone call, he uses his gloved hand to take the phone out of his pocket and declines the phone. He then immediately begins to proceed to cut the sausage with his disgusting hand that is un-washed and touched his disgusting phone from his pocket that was most likely unsanitized. He didn't wash his hands or change his gloves. Since this man doesn't really speak to me and just literally walks away from me, it was disgusting. Since I couldn't really talk to them or complain about it, I reluctantly bought the sausage because I didn't want to start a huge scene and just threw it away. During this COVID pandemic, they need to be extra mindful of what they touch and how they interact. Also! Very important that they did not change gloves or wash their glove before interacting with the next customer. Absolutely disgusting and a great way to get germs and bacteria in your food. Don't walk, but run away from this place. You won't even know if the person serving you had touched their phone or contaminated their glove. They should replace their glove after each person they served. read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Roasted Sausage/ Cut with disgusting contaminated glove - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

This was the worst experience I had with hai Sam Woo. Sam Woo usually had good quality, but not this time. I ordered the half duck, and the butcher cheated me out of most of the meat. He gave me the neck and none of the meat. I hope this review got the owner's attention and stopped cheating the customer. read more

Sam Woo BBQ - All the neck and one of the meat. - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

Loved their pork fried rice lunch special. Good portions for two people. Parking in their lot. Service is good.

Been dining here for so many years, but I've recently discovered that this restaurant over charged my bill three consecutive times. Starting with the first time, they charged me an extra $10 to my bill and I asked them to fix it, which they did. But then they blamed it on the fact that they were using their heads to calculate it, which they said that was why it was wrong. I asked them why not calculate less but more, and they laughed. Okay, I said, human mistakes happen, so nothing to be alarmed of. I did take pictures of my bill and the correct bill too in order to compare. Couple months later we stopped by again and the same thing happened, another $10 extra was added to my bill. I asked them once again to correct it, also showing them the pictures of the bill last time. They'd laugh and say sorry...that's it. So I took a picture of the bill. Today, because one of my wife's family members visited from another country and decided to eat Chinese food, I took them here. Before we ate, I told my wife, "If this time they do it again, it definitely isn't a mistake, but instead, something fishy they must've planned." And...here comes the bill, and it was a $5 extra in the bill... ????? What has happened to this restaurant??? We told them this is the third time and I showed them the last two pictures of the over-charged bills. I asked for management phones numbers but all of them refused to give it to me. My wife did leave her phone number for the cashier in the To-go area and asked them to have their manager call us back to address the issue. I hope they will do it, otherwise I will definitely call the department of consumer and business affairs soon. For my opinion, I don't really know how many times I have been paying extra, because I've never before looked at my bill like many others and have just been paying the total said. I hope no one has been through this like me. In the end, I will NEVER come back to this location and will solve it through DCBA if I am not heard from the owner of this restaurant. Attached below you will see my pictures of the three times they've charged me extra at this restaurant. The name of this restaurant is Sam Woo Barbeque. read more

See all

Order some bbq Togo, just asking for a BBQ sauce and I said I'm ok to pay the extra for the sauce, but the cashier lady was impatient and she was sooo rude. read more

Love Sam Woo BBQ Duck. It is a small building with parking lot and. The food looks delicious and fresh. They are always busy. read more

See all

Well as always the food is delicious! But they forgot my green beans and I had ordered $70 worth of food for a small bday celebration for my father. They were aware of the situation and asked if I wanted to come back or another day. Picked another day but never went back. Things happen and that is okay. Love their food and service ! read more

We called an order for pick up at this particular Sam Woo. Yang Chow fried rice ($11.99): the lady asked for cash only and refused to provide the receipt, so I am just guessing the price. The fried rice wasn't as good as before. Sam Woo used to be my go-to place for fried rice. 3 stars!! Sam Woo quality is going down :( Sam Woo is almost yummylicious!! read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Yang Chow fried rice ($11.99?) - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

#10 for 2020 I wasn't feeling very well. I was thinking of getting a soup. Hot sour soup came to mind. It's been awhile since I had it. I remembered this location from previous visits. Limited parking and limited seating. Everything was smelling good as I walked in. But, it was soup I wanted today. I placed my order without looking at the menu. Paid in cash. Sat down and waited. Not too long. It was ready to go. In a bag with 2 spoons. It's very hot. Couldn't eat it right away. Let it sit with the lid off to cool it. Stirring ever so often to release more of the heat. When I could bear it, I took a taste. Thick, a little spicy from the pepper, and so good going down my throat. Their menu is the same as the other locations. You can order the bbq items like ribs, duck and pork at the register for quick grabs and gos. Other asian restaurants will sell large scoop of rice for $2 but you can can get a large take out container for $4. Good to know if you're traveling. English is not spoken well here but communication is good enough to understand each other. I think it would be best to do only take out at this location. On another visit I had to circle around several times to find a spot. Plan correctly and avoid these pit falls. read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

Tasted good, but still cash only. Aren't their owner arrested because of not paying taxes?

I've only tried the fried rice, it's really good wish they had siracha to add to it but other than that the food is great. The service is ok can be kinda rude at times. read more

BBQ pork is tasty, but roast pork was bland and skin was not crispy. Confused on how to order when I first walked in. Turns out you tell the butcher what you want, and then they chop everything up and bring it up to the register for you to cash out. The butcher was nice to me, but the lady manning the register was not particularly friendly. Parked on the street and not the adjacent lot, where you are explicitly warned you will get towed if you are there for Sam Woo. read more

In the heart of Alhambra, this cantonese restaurant never disappoints. We ordered wonton noodle soup and salt and pepper pork chops. Service was great and fast. read more

Sam Woo BBQ - 253. Wonton Soup - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

See all

I can't get over the fact that I've ordered online via Uber Eats or whatever and the staff keeps writing my name wrong. I'm honestly not mad over that This is an old school restaurant. They thrive via older style of food handling and cooking. You don't come here for white collar treatment haha. Major language barrier if you don't speak the language. Tho the one time they forgot to check their Uber Eats notification. All of this, I still come back so ‍ read more

Very good, very packed, food was on point. Would we go again, wholeheartedly yes. Salt n pepper shrimp, fried rice, wanton, fish, duck..

This Alhambra restaurant need no introduction. Many love it, many scoff it. Me? Been dining at this no frills/no glamour institution since 1993. Yesterday was our first dine-in here post pandemic. Ordered the two Cantonese classic noodle dishes: Beef chow fun w/soy sauce and Noodles with shrimp wonton and bbq pork. Verdict: Absolutely wonderful as it should be. Pandemic made me return to more simple and basic flavours. Know something? Food dined here tastes better than taking them to go. read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Beef chow fun. More flavour than those at eclectic restaurants. - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

See all

Serious old school won ton noodle soup with delicious shrimp and pork dumplings!!! With a side of the best cha siu is for real signature meal in the 626 and probably all of LA. Damn Sam! read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California

Barbecue pork with tofu and rice, and the eggplant dish are my go to favorites all the time read more

Sam Woo BBQ - Eggplant with pork and barbecue pork with tofu on rice - Barbeque Near Me - Alhambra, California