Mr. Rice — Restaurant in South Salt Lake

Edit: Unfortunately, I decided to take off a star after a second visit. I thought the long wait the first time was due to the recent opening. My second visit was weeks later and was just as slow. I was told it would be 20 minutes and waited almost 40. That is not a reasonable wait for a takeout only restaurant which should be able to capture the lunch crowd. The appeal of this place will wear off quickly if the waits remain this long. I brought this up with the server and was simply told “we have a lot of orders”. I understand that this place is trying to execute perfection with their branding, but they simply need to be faster if they want to remain successful.

This newcomer of an Asian restaurant left me absolutely speechless.

Mr. Rice is a takeout-only Asian restaurant in the fabulous SLC Chinatown complex. They have a variety of rice bowls, lunch boxes, and sushi plates (along with a few other items). For the first few weeks (October 2022), they offered daily $5 lunch boxes on the weekdays. Each day of the week had one lunch box selected to be sold for $5. Otherwise, the prices were quite reasonable. Everything was marked down (i.e. rice bowls were $10 instead of $12). I'm unsure if this is a permanent marketing gimmick or only temporary, but the prices were totally fine even at full price. The store itself is a beautiful space. Every part of the interior was executed with precision and branding in mind. The packaging is incredibly high quality and holds in heat well. The staff were very friendly. There was a cooler of sushi packs which appeared to be high quality.

The only downside of my visit was my wait. I was told my food would be ready in 20-25 minutes and it took over 30. There were certainly some people waiting but I would not call it extremely busy. They will need to reduce their wait times to capture more of a lunch crowd.

Thankfully, the food was incredible. I ate the beef rice bowl first. It came with lots of veggies and a delicately-made carrot rose. The rice was kept safe in a separate compartment from the meat. Everything tasted divine, especially the beef. I saved my tuna lunch box (the $5 special) for dinner. It reheated well. The tuna was very juicy and tasty, as were all the sides. Perhaps the coolest part of the dining experience were individually-wrapped utensil packets which contained chopsticks, a wet wipe, and a fancy plastic toothpick.

This place has the takeout experience figured out and produces excellent food. This is a must try and likely a...

Packaging, branding, ambiance, it's unmatched. The founder clearly has a vision here and has executed on that vision quite well. Everything feels premium.

The food, has been pretty good. Each of the small sides that comes in the lunch box has been enjoyable. I especially like the tomato/cucumber kimchi. At least I think it is kimchi? Sorry for my ignorance. Haha. Mine has come with some cold tofu slabs each time which are good, but I am looking forward to try the egg side that is shown in marketing photos as well. A choice is not given.

A month long $5 lunchbox deal for the grand opening has kept me coming back, it truly is a killer deal. I'm not sure how I will feel about pricing once the promotion concludes. The prices seem a little steep for me to do regularly for lunch.

My one curiosity as a customer, is how much could prices be reduced if we had less specialized packaging and whatnot? The branding is a nice touch, but I do wonder how much it contributes to the cost. In an increasingly pricey world, slimming things down seems preferable. Although I understand and appreciate the aesthetic that has been achieved here.

My only small criticism- oftentimes the meat and rice are served lukewarm. You don't feel like these things are hot and fresh when you take the first bite. Maybe by design, but this is something that catches my attention each time.

Tip: arrive earlier than you plan to. There is usually a 10-20 minute wait.

Wow that was long-winded. Overall, I have enjoyed the experience here and would recommend it to...

We got our food in about 10-15 minutes waiting, so it was not bad ( considering there were many people already waited before us). The place is decorated well, good lighting. I also love the display of their food items in front.

We got the crispy pork belly lunchbox, and were very pleased with the packaging. However, I wish they could have put the same amount of effort in their actual food (flavor and texture). Brown rice is not easy to get right, so I didn’t expect much but it was quite mushy. The pork was only slightly crispy, and I think it didn’t have enough flavor (I am not talking about the saltiness, but just flavor). The only thing tasted good to me was their pickled cucumber.

I might give them another chance, but I don’t think it will change my opinion much...