A & W BBQ Seafood Restaurant — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I would NOT call this place authentic. And the experience is subpar. I don't like leaving bad reviews because I understand that many Mum & Pops may be constrained by the economy.

Then again, I was spending money, and I had expectations of an authentic Chinese restaurant. To that end, this place was a huge disappointment.

As of May 2024, one crab plate here costs about $70. When a dish costs this much, I expect above-average experience in (1) food, (2) atmosphere, and/or (3) experience.

I did not order crab on this occasion because this was my first visit. Instead, I ordered BBQ pork and roasted duck at $40. Look at my picture. This is what $40 gets you here, minus tip.

Food was below average. While Char Siu BBQ pork was authentic in that it was not colored with artificial red coloring, it was basking in runny sugar sauce . . . A big No Go. Anyone who had authentic BBQ pork would know that this is not authentic Char Siu in the conventional sense. This was more like To-Go Chinese food tailored to average American consumers. The duck was so so and I could not smell the distinctive duck aroma. All in all, the food might impress folks who aren't used to authentic Chinese food. Based on these cheaper dishes, I am not going back to eat the $70 dish when the special occasion arrives.

Speaking of the $70 dish, I cannot help but compare this place to other places that have similar prices (i.e. Newport Seafood in San Gabriel). Unlike other authentic Chinese restaurants, this place had dirty carpets not been cleaned for ages, and the furniture looked at least 20 years old. The window had dust piled on the surface. They clearly don't wash windows. I can pay $12 for a to-go box at this place. But $70 for a dish.... here? Absolutely not.

Another thing that shocked me: they charge for water. There is no option to get a cup of water because they only offer Kirkland water bottles for $1.50. Good luck if you're thirsty and need a refill. Now, this might be ok to unknowing patrons, but I have never been to an authentic Chinese restaurant that charges for water. On the other hand, I have been to Panda Express and like the kinds that charge for water bottles. My point is that this place operates more like a To-Go Chinese than an authentic Chinese restaurant.

I won't be coming back here. If a cheap dish sucks, an expensive dish will most likely suck too. And I don't want to dine at a place that refuses to provide basic services (i.e. cup of water), especially when I am shelling out $100+ for a meal.

One more thing: I DID NOT SEE LIVE CRABS OR LOBSTERS ON DISPLAY. This place most likely sells frozen shells. There is only one type of customers who would pay top dollars for frozen crabs/lobsters: Suckers.

Again, not worth the money. Just go somewhere else if you're looking for an authentic Chinese...

EXPERIENCE 1 (Positive) 07/31/25

I've been coming to this restaurant for over a decade. So I've dined here in the best of times, and the worst of times. They used to have a server that sang opera. One time there was a party going on, and she sang a bit, it was amazing. Another time my Aunt went to the restroom at closing, and she got locked in the restaurant. The staff came running back to let her out. They were very apologetic. I haven't dined here in a while, so I thought I'd see what they have been up to lately.

This restaurant is like a lot of old school Chinese restaurants, a large banquet hall type room with lots of table seating. With the ability to arrange their seating in different configurations, they are able to accommodate just about any size party.There was no waiting, our party was seated immediately.

We were served a complementary starter of Wonton chips with dipping sauce. The chips were crispy, and tasty especially with the dipping sauce. We ordered Crispy Fried Cod Fish Fillet with Spicy Salt, Sweet and Sour Pork, Eggplant with Hot and Spicy Garlic Sauce, and Orange Beef. The Eggplant was the first dish to arrive. It was extremely hot, but perfectly cooked. It was slightly firm, but soft, as it cooled down it became even softer. The hot and spicy garlic sauce gave it a lot of flavor. The Sweet and Sour Pork looked great on arrival. It had nicely battered and crisp pork pieces that were tossed in a classic sweet and sour sauce, the flavor is what you would expect, delicious. The fish pieces were crispy, moist, and flaky, flavored with spicy salt, and garnished with green onions and jalapenos. As for the Orange Beef, this version features battered pieces of beef fried crisp, tossed in an extremely flavorful, and citrusy orange sauce. This is a dish we get here every time we come. We ended our meal with some Egg Yolk Buns. The bun is similar to a bread roll, but stuffed with a deliciously creamy egg custard, and topped with a sweet crumbly crust. The combination of textures is fantastic. It's a not too sweet, thing to eat. The only issue is the fact that there is only bottled water. It's not a deal breaker, but it is an issue.

Service here was very friendly, and all the dishes came out in a timely manner. We found out the woman who sang opera was still working there. She was serving us. Overall, it was a very...

This is a review solely based on the dim sum experience.

I really wanted dim sum, so I decided to visit this place and I immediately love it so much more. If you live in the valley and can't go all the way to Alhambra then you know how hard it is to find good dim sum. The only other great place is the other A&W. So I'm not comparing to places outside of the valley because that would be a whole different comparison. I like this one for their dim sum than the other A&W on Reseda because of the time, location, options and taste.

Dim sum is available until around 3:00pm, so definitely show up before then. This is awesome because I have more time on the weekends to show up. The restaurant is also very big, so it can have more people than the other restaurants. This is located in Granada Hills, and it is close to the 118, so you can stop by here and just head on to the freeway (depending if you need to go on there).

When I first walked in, it smelled like various Chinese food dishes, but it didn't smell strong or bad. It actually felt clean and it brought back memories of some good food experiences. So I was definitely more excited to eat here. When the dim sum carts came around they had more options (even though I showed up late in the afternoon), including more shrimp dumplings, pork ribs, siu mai, pork buns, shrimp and beef noodle rolls, and the little footballs (I never remember the actual name). Usually because I show up late, they start running out of some of the dishes, but they had everything I wanted so I was very happy. The taste of the dim sum dishes were a little different too, it didn't feel as oily and you can taste the various ingredients. When I had finished, I didn't feel as bloated as most other times. I definitely enjoyed the food.

The waiters and waitresses were a different story. Not as kind and responsive as the other locations. If anything, they looked annoyed most of the time and I felt like they were avoiding our table sometimes. Maybe they had a long day, but the service wasn't very enjoyable.

Overall, luckily the food was great and definitely coming back for dim sum. I have yet to try the food on the menu, but they look great though. I really want to try...