Yang Chow 2.0 — Restaurant in Long Beach

What. A. Letdown. I had such high hopes for this place. We decided to splurge for NYE. This place was pricey, but we wanted to treat ourselves.

Placed our order for 1 veggie fried rice, 1 slippery chicken, 1 szechwan beef, 2 spring rolls. We were told 25 minutes.

When I arrived 25 minutes later, she looks at my bag, and I was told 10 more minutes. Okay, no problem. NYE...they look busy. So I pay for the order ($50.72) and go wait in the car for a bit. 10 minutes later, I return and she checks the ticket on my bag, and clearly they are still waiting on something. She tells me 5 more minutes. I stand back and wait...and watch...and wait...as dish after dish comes out of that kitchen. As order after order walks out the door. No further acknowledgement of my presence until I finally spoke up around the 1hr mark. I asked (exasperated) what we were waiting on. She said it was "almost ready" and I explained I was told 5 minutes 15 minutes prior, and 10 minutes 30 minutes ago. I express my concern that most of my order has been sitting on a counter in a bag for 30-40 minutes at this point.

At this point the staff up front scattered, one of them running to the back, and telling the cook, "we need szechwan beef now! Angry customer"...which is exactly what I want a food service professional to be thinking about when he prepares my food.

I'm seriously entertaining the idea of requesting a refund at this point, but know that my order is moments away from completion, and felt bad waving them off so close to the finish.

Once the food finally found its way into my hands, I took it back to the car to see what might be salvaged. My fears were affirmed, however when I found lukewarm, soggy chicken (I suppose living up to the Slippery Chicken moniker in a literal sense), but also chewy, dry chicken. My wife could not have been more disappointed. The spring rolls were cool and greasy. My beef was freshly fried, and the coating crispy, but seemingly (and surprisingly) overcooked and quite chewy as well. Like fried jerky, almost.

The "fried rice" smacked of "rice tossed with veggies" and was uninspired. Not a $9 dish. The szechwan beef was supposed to be a 28oz serving, but the tray was half packed with steamed broccoli, and the portion seemed like the one you'd expect on top of one of the smaller, cheaper rice bowls.

On the whole, a very expensive, disappointing mistake. I wanted to love it so much, but I cannot recommend this...

YAY!! We now have a second GREAT Chinese place in Long Beach! Granted it’s a small-ish menu (because they’re in a small space and wouldn’t have the ability to store additional ingredients), but what they have is TASTY!!

I have enjoyed the original Yang Chow in LA’s Chinatown for over 15 years and now we have a petite version here in Long Beach. Their Slippery Shrimp is the first reason to go. I have always found it difficult to explain to people but as the manager Benny said, it’s sweet, sour, a wee bit spicy, garlicky, crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. And I would add slightly sticky from the amazingly delicious sauce. They’re famous for it. But eat it hot! Don’t drive all the way home with it, allowing it to cool down. And don’t get the Slippery Chicken; get the Shrimp. You’ll be happy you did. And be sure to get the larger portion. You’ll want the leftovers. A few cold pieces as a midnight snack really hit the spot.

We also tried the Szechuan Chicken Bowl, which was so very good: crunchy, great sauce, fresh broccoli, and rice. Benny suggested getting the Szechuan Beef “done crispy” next time. He says it’s amazing. And I had the Milk Tea (Black tea). Yum.

Benny has terrific customer service skills. It’s a small space with a small parking lot, so it’s easier to go during off-times. Once they open for lunch, they’re open all day. You can also get takeout and bring it next door to Steady Brewing’s Tap Room and enjoy their IPAs, Porters, and more. And be sure to pick up dessert from Creative Cakery, a couple doors down, in this nicely rehabbed small strip mall on Clark, near Spring. Their mini Bundt cakes, Lemon bars, Cherry bars, and PB & Chocolate bars (really, ALL of their bars) are...

We are HUGE Yang Chow fans and were super excited that they opened a Long Beach location so close to our house. Now we don’t have to drive to Chinatown anymore. You can’t go wrong ordering anything from here, it’s all delicious! But, our regular order is Slippery Shrimp, green beans, Yang Chow fried rice, and beef & broccoli. The Slippery Shrimp is really the star of the show. I’m sure the name is lost in translation because it doesn’t sound at all like its name. It is crunchy, sweet, sour, & spicy. This is the dish that the fast food place with the Panda’s walnut shrimp wants to be when it grows up. There is a reason why Yang Chow is so many people’s favorite Chinese Food restaurant, it truly is the best. And the Long Beach location allows you to order their most popular dishes and 10 minutes later be eating. This location isn’t big, so the dining area is small and not really great. But, this is the place to get the best food to-go and fast!You...