Shancheng Lameizi Hot Pot — Restaurant in San Gabriel

This place gets BUSY.

I've been twice, but only was able to get a table once. On a Saturday close to dinner there was an almost 2 hour wait. We came back again later at an off-peak time and had no wait. They have a yelp check in system but as far as I know do not take reservations, so check in ahead of time 100%. Also parking is a nightmare, good luck and don't get towed by accidentally parking in the bank lot right next door. They do have their own parking, but when it's busy the lot of ~15-20 spaces is beyond full and very hard to drive through (the place is a stand-alone building with parking around the outside of it).

The restaurant is a little divided, and a bunch of group seating is outside in little rooms. It's still close to the toppings bar though, just make sure to flag down wait staff if you're over here since they don't pop by as often. They have heaters and such so it doesn't get chilly, and the inside seating seems to be for groups of 4 or less, although the do have some bigger tables.

The food and quality of it is all very, very good. They have a seemingly unlimited amount of options on their menu and they offer a free sauce/snack bar with a bunch of different options. The biggest downside is the price of everything. There are a lot of great hot pot places in the area that vary in having AYCE options or not, but Shancheng Lameizi was by far the most expensive I've been to thus far. They do not offer AYCE, and a group of 6 of us ended up paying roughly $43 each for a meal, compared to $30ish at places just down the road. Although the food is very good, I don't think the extra cost is enough to have me wanting to prioritize this over any other hot pot...

This is one of my go to hot pots in the SGV. They specialize in Chongqing style hot pot which uses Szechuan peppers and peppercorns for the spicy and numbing sensation. I've been here a handful of times and the service here is always on point! The staff is quick and attentive and the ingredients are always fresh!

Wait: The wait is typically 30-50 mins during weeknights and can go up to 2 hours on weekends for both lunch and dinner. I highly suggest using their yelp waitlist. There's always a line here! They have a private parking lot and plenty of street parking nearby.

One of the best features here is their extensive sauce and complementary snack bar with over a dozen snacks to choose from. You'll find chips, crackers, nuts, to Chinese dessert soups. My favorite is their fried red bean sesame glutenous balls which are made fresh and constantly refilled. They even have a video showing you how it's made.

Broth: I usually order their split pot which uses half herbal pork bone broth and half spicy broth. Their "mild" spicy broth is equivalent to Medium Hot in most places, since it's mainly chili oil. So if it's your first time and you don't know your heat level, I would suggest asking for extra mild (小小辣). I've had to finish the entire spicy by myself because people didn't take the warning seriously.

Popular ingredients: angus short ribs fatty beef belly spicy beef: thick cut covers in pepper flakes (some people like this, but I find it hard to chew) homemade shrimp paste: very fresh shrimp: large shrimp beef tripe 牛百叶 8 sec potato: thinly spliced for quick dipping hot pot noodle or rice cake: very...

Over the past several years I've had my birthday dinner at Lameizi Hot Pot, either at the Rowland Heights branch or the San Gabriel one. I didn't go there specifically for my birthday; it just happened by coincidence. I tend to crave hot pot about twice a year. Interesting pattern.

Every time I went to the Rowland Heights branch, it was because I needed an oil change at KB Motor. There aren't many dining options in that area. But KB Motor is getting more and more expensive, so I don't think I'll have the chance to visit Lameizi in Rowland Heights again.

The good news is that Lameizi in San Gabriel is even closer to my home. That location has newer and better renovation than the Rowland Heights one, and the food is even slightly better.

Lameizi represents the standard, classic, middle-of-the-road hot pot in the San Gabriel Valley. In China, it would probably be considered below average. But here, it offers fresh and clean meats, good portions, and traditional soup bases. You don't really run the risk of ordering anything bad. It's just average, but in a good way. Nothing stands out, but nothing disappoints.

By the way, they've stopped offering the free Sichuan pepper peanuts at the dipping station, which used to be one of...