Garlic & Chives #2 — Restaurant in Artesia

Scratch another bookmark off!

Occupying the former home of Neptune's Raw Oyster & Seafood Bar & Azon's Restaurant, respectively, Garlic & Chives #2 is the second location of the restaurant that first established itself in Garden Grove. I'm a big fan of Vietnamese cuisine, so I was eager to see what Garlic & Chives has to offer.

Because it was either New Year's Eve or the night prior, the usual Happy Hour specials were unavailable. After a few minutes glancing at the menu, we decided upon the pork & shrimp spring rolls and the stir-fried glass noodles with crab & shrimp.

Pork & shrimp spring rolls- A nice starter, the spring rolls were fresh & crisp, with a sauce that was thick & earthy.

Stir-fried glass noodles with crab & shrimp- Reminding me of the Filipino dishes pancit bihon & lumpiang hubad, the stir-fried glass noodles was a delightful plate. Not too heavy, not sauced like crazy - it was well balanced, and with the accompanying nuoc cham liberally doused upon it, very delicious.

Service was fine. The attendant was friendly & courteous, pointing out Garlic & Chives' most popular dishes to try. The wait for our food seemed to take a little longer than necessary, but nothing obscenely so. Ample seating via tables, booths & at the bar. There is even a private area for large parties & private banquets.

Parking is via private lot at the Fresh Catch plaza, and can be hard to come by during peak hours. Additional parking can be found at the neighboring Aldi due west. Garlic & Chives #2 is located between Fresh Catch & Canaan.

Garlic & Chives #2 is a great food option in the Cerritos/Artesia area. The dishes are expertly crafted & priced reasonably. I'm looking forward to ordering their lunch specials and/or more of their seafood selections. You definitely should give this place a shot.

Highly...

Kristin and her team are so amazing! We needed a venue to host for my brother in law dinner celebration for after his funeral. She was so wonderful to work with. She and her staff took good care of us. We had a wonderful buffet set up upon request and the food was all amazing! The rolls were my favorite! My toddler loved the fried rice. The setting was very intimate and my entire family raved about how the food was good and amazing and how attentive the staff was. We are so glad we were able to secure them last minute within the week we needed to plan my brother in law funeral. Kristin is such a gem and so compassionate. She’s a Jack of all trades! Business owner and chef behind the scenes. Her presence will make you feel like you want to be friends with this woman forever! I appreciate her so much and will cherish the memories we had there. He would have loved it! Thanks Kristin and to your amazing staff! We plan on going back the next time...

We went on a Tuesday for dinner, there weren’t that many people in the restaurant which told me what I needed to know.

Really wanted to support the small business, have seen amazing things online. Was really looking forward to this meal to celebrate my mom’s milstone in her cancer treatment. We saved our stomachs all day looking forward to this meal. However, was really disappointed.

We ordered about five dishes, two of which weren’t able to be ordered because the kitchen ran out of key ingredients (Mustard green rolls, seabass hot pot). What we were able to get sent to our table were razor clams & it really lacked the pungent Vietnamese flavors I grew up loving. Most notably, the size of the razor clams were super small and overcooked. Perhaps we went on a bad day, but there seems to be too many misses for me to warrant a second attempt. Our server was really nice & understanding and let us return the razor clams so I tipped him...