Miss Sichuan — Restaurant in Pomona

Naive Pomona people need to stop being tricked. This is concession stand food like what you’d get at the snack bar in a movie theater.

Chinese restaurants know how to fool white/hispanic people who have in their minds that they’re looking for “authentic” Chinese food.

1. Make a big deal about “spicy.” These customers believe they are special for liking spicy food, and they think that the spicier the ethnic food the more “real” it is. Whereas Chinese foods can be spicy or not (it has no bearing on authenticity) and this place’s food isn’t even spicy anyway.

2. Focus on “dumplings” and “noodles.” Rubes are attracted to those along with fried rice. Fry the 饺子, too. Make it all carbs — no vegetables, no variety of meats/proteins. Customers don’t want to “see” Cantonese American dishes (beef broccoli, chow mein) because those “look” old fashioned, but any subpar flour-based foods will look “authentic.” Bruh, you can just boil dry noodles and throw chili oil on them at home.

3. Use the magic word “Sichuan” in the name. This has been a trick since the 1970s. Notice however, that there’s hardly anything representing Sichuan food on the menu. For chrissakes it’s spring rolls and shrimp fried rice. Just a few token Sichuan-associated noodles that are widespread that a place with it can hardly be called Sichuanese. It’s like if you went to said movie theater snack bar and got a slice of pizza… you wouldn’t say that because pizza originated in Italy that the snack bar was an Italian restaurant.

4. Mixup a bunch of trends vaguely familiar to non-Asians. Boba. Xiao Long Bao. Chili Oil. “Authentic!”

You’ve been bamboozled, Pomona. You can hop over to Diamond Bar, Rowland Heights, Rosemead, etc and find 100s of the best Chinese restaurants in the US. But they know Pomona happens to be a “dead zone” where people know tacos/burgers but thought “Tasty Goody” and piles of orange chicken was the only Chinese food around.

The items in the restaurant are known frozen products from restaurant suppliers. If you wanted xiaolongbao frozen, just go next door to Chino Hills and buy a bag at 99 Ranch. Don’t be fooled when this restaurant puts them on a plate, marks them up, and tricks you because you saw a Chinese word written in the wall and felt like you were getting some Authentic Asian Experience like you saw on social media.

Lastly, you’ll notice that the replies from the business are written with AI. The operators can barely speak English (which is fine)—but you think they can write these business replies that sound like someone in the HR Department took all day to write them?

You’ll notice I didn’t put a spiteful 1-star review. Just a neutral 3 stars for this public service announcement.

EDIT: See the response from the business -- Pure ChatGPT...

12/10/25 12:03pm

BEWARE of this business! Stay far far away for your own sanity!

As I'm writing this review, I'm currently also filing a complaint against the Better Business Bureau. I have never had to deal with a business that demanded tip and refused to give me change back for what I am owed.

First off, I was swayed by the positive Yelp reviews, and since this place is nearby my work I figured I would give it a shot. Sadly, as someone who has had xiao long bao in various locations throughout SoCal and Asia, this was by far the worst tasting xiao long baos l've ever had. The frozen ones from Trader Joe's for $5 are even better than what Miss Sichuan serves here. The skin ripped apart, some were also already ripped in the steamer, and the meat inside is chunky and falling apart. Clearly it's been steamed for far too long and not quality food. For $11.99 this is overpriced garbage. There's so many other restaurants like LA Kung Fu Noodle in Claremont and 1st Dumpling in Montclair nearby that serve quality food. I also asked for fresh ginger and a huge red flag was that they didn't have any here. The lady mentioned they just chop up ginger that is already in the sauce.

However, not only was the food horrible so was the service. My bill came out to be $13.22 and the lady would not give me my change back after giving her $15. In fact she demanded tip from me. She had initially also pressured me into ordering more food since I didn't meet the $15 credit card minimum but I mentioned I had cash on me so l didn't have to use my credit card.

None of this was ever disclosed to me prior to ordering food. Anyway this lady insisted there's no change in the restaurant so I wouldn't be getting any change back and since I HAD to tip her anyway I shouldn't get anything back. Since Miss Sichuan is basically counter service and take-out, I don't even understand how they could be demanding tips and generally tips are not mandatory BUT customary. I had such a headache arguing with her that I just left without getting my change back. I also did NOT pay the suggested gratuity of 18% on the receipt and she tried to go after me as I walked out. I would never return back and highly suggest everyone to avoid Miss Sichuan at all costs. This place is breaking so many California laws that I have to that I have to report them now. They cannot operate treating their customers this way.

FYI the menu photos look nothing like the food they actually serve in person. Pretty sure they use stock photos from...

We are really excited about this new place opening up in our neighborhood (and being open a bit later than other places post-2020). We went in around 8:45pm and were one of three parties.

It’s a great place for our neighborhood and a convenient walk, but if you’re driving along the 10 freeway and need takeout, I’d suggest phoning an order in (it took a standard 10-15 mins for one takeout order at the end of the night). There’s a small parking area nearby and street parking on White and nearby streets.

Service for dine-in was fine and quick. It was our server’s first day so we could tell she was getting used to the system, but she was attentive and friendly.

We liked that the menu was pretty small and fresh. All the flavors were on point.

We had the: House Special Beef Noodles, xiao long bao, pork steamed dumplings, black tea (no sweetener), and the taro balls for dessert.

I preferred things with the spicy-tangy sauces, which were a nice level of heat without being too spicy (I could have gone a little spicier, but it was good). The beef was really tender and it’s clear why that’s the house special.

A few suggestions: I wish the xiao long bao retained more soup. If possible, it would be great to see a veggie or vegan option of dumplings in the future to mix it up or for when family/friends visit There was no background music, so dining late at night with two other groups in such a small place felt a little awkward (especially since some people were watching a show on their phone). Putting on a radio station, even quietly in the background, would be great to relax the atmosphere a bit. Hopefully dine-in options will have more cutlery that aren’t plastic. It’s nice to dine somewhere and avoid creating all the garbage that we all got used to in the pandemic.

We’ll definitely be back and look forward to trying more menu items! I can’t wait to dine on the patio when it’s...