Lu’s Garden

Wanted to eat and came in to inspect the food and its presentation. Was very disappointed as it just did not look very appetizing, the crew that was standing around with no guests in the restaurant was giving the impression that they were out to draw in desperately the one fish that they had on the hook (us). It did not really feel welcoming, comfortable or friendly and the food was not presented attractively. It was more a huge pile and looked more like in a chow hall of a garrison. Disappointing.

This place is officially CLOSED. Came here the other day thinking it was still Lu’s Garden. It’s under new ownership and the restaurant is now Chong King Restaurant.
I walked in thinking it was Lu’s Garden. Since I can’t read Chinese and I don’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese, I was clueless. I tried to order from the Lu’s Garden website menu and was told by the staff they don’t have it. It was about 30 minutes before they realized I was looking for Lu’s Garden. The staff and new management was nice and polite. But unfortunately Lu’s Garden is no longer here at this location.

Just plain awful! There is absolutely nothing I like to eat in this entire restaurant. Besides not liking the food, I also dislike the service because I felt very intimidated, judged, and uncomfortable while I was eating. I’m definitely never coming back to this restaurant!

Asked the lady served us, she doesn’t admit this is Lu’s garden same as the one on valley, she told us with another name which I forgot, although the sign says so, very weird.

The food is too oily! Doesn’t taste good, not going to come back. We ordered the Dan Dan mien and some other foods, after all, the rice is the only thing taste better than other. Worst lunch ever.

The best time to come is for weekday lunch. You can pick 3 items and get rice porridge for less than $ 8 per person. They don’t offer this lunch deal on the weekends. Luckily, we were able to use our Unilocal check-​in offer to get the cheapest item taken off the bill.
This location is newer, nicer, and cleaner than the one in San Gabriel that I had been going to since high school days over 10 years ago. They have the same dishes and the taste is consistent with the other one.
Their best dishes are the spicy dried radish and their eggplants. Everything else is very good. I’ve tried the bamboo, chicken, green beans, and several other dishes over the year and I’ve never been disappointed.
Make sure you get the rice porridge and not the regular rice as that’s what they’re known for. It’s great at warming you up on a cold day. They put these big chunks of yam in it and the porridge is very glutenous so it’s very delicious.
The place used to be cash only but now they accept credit cards if your bill is over $ 20.

I grew up eating this place at the SG location so when we found out there was one close to home, we decided to try it out. Like other reviews, the food (especially the chicken) tends to be on the greasier side. The dishes are meant to be eaten with porridge so they don’t really bother to keep the food warm which is a downside when you’re eating rice. Cold food and warm rice … Not exactly the best. I always get the squid (can sometimes be high blood pressure salty), chicken (free lipgloss from the oil), chilled cucumbers, and bamboo. I have an obvious love/​hate relationship with this place.

Came here last Friday. This place had a face lift since the fire and you can tell they really took care of the look/​feel of the place. Parking is super easy either on the street or in the lot.
We ordered a variety of dishes and I had the yam porridge rice. It was delicious. I think the key to this place is to come with a group of people so you can get a ton of dishes and sample a variety. The lunch special is great too so definitely come during that time. My recommendations is the squid, the combination chicken, and the minced meat. Ordering is pretty easy, all you really have to do is point and say yes/​no.
This is the kind of place I wished they had and opened in Hollywood. Then I can eat there everyday during lunch.

Love their sweet potato porridge and all the yummy dishes!

Surprisingly this is less crowded than the San Gabriel location, and for this type of restaurant, it’s actually better to have more customers because all of the dishes are pre-​cooked so if there’s no customers, the dishes sit around longer, and so when we arrived for dinner, it was slightly disappointing that the restaurant was only 20% full, only three other tables were occupied.
Nontheless, considering that the food seemed old, I was a bit surprised that it all still tasted fine. I actually enjoyed it. I’m used to the lunch special so dinner seemed a little expensive for what you get. But I still love the sweet potato congee, no matter what. There’s still a good variety for dishes and I felt very satisfied afterward.

In a nutshell this place offers comfort food @ inexpensive prices. It’s Panda Express for Chinese in that you will not find that Orange Chicken and Chop Suey crap here. The restaurant is clean, well lit & the workers are friendly. The selections are posted on the wall in English & Chinese with prices listed. The portion sizes are adequate to satisfy your hunger without putting you into a food induced coma.

If you want a causal and inexpensive Taiwanese lunch or dinner in Arcadia, this place is worth a visit. People are very friendly, and the food is pretty good.

I love the variety of side choices. Not a big fan of rice porridge but was fairly good. Pick up for dinner would do, two orders were more than enough for three– had leftover for lunch next day. XP

My cousin recommended Lu’s Garden to us and told us about the lunch special. We decided to stop by here on our way to to Indio resorts since we were passing by and boy was I disappointed!!! The lady serving us did not help us at all when we asked her how the lunch special worked she just kept asking us constantly if we were ready, I don’t know half of the food choices there. In the end my niece and I decided to share a lunch special together, we chose Chinese sausage, pork intestines, and what looked like steam chicken. All our dishes were cold and very salty, and served with porridge. When I asked for steam rice for my niece the waitress just glanced and walked away!!! We weren’t given anything to drink until I went up to pay, the waitress finally brought rice and water. In the end we left hungrier and end up walking to the nearby bakery to buy drinks and snacks to fill us up.

Horrible. Lady serving us was apparently the manager. She didn’t tell us the add ons were going to cost extra. And the Unilocal check in appetizer didn’t work if you already ordered appetizer. I already ordered 3 plates and wanted to use 1 plate as a free appetizer since they weren’t served yet. She wouldn’t allow it, basically she wanted me to pay more, I couldn’t finish the free appetizer even if I get it. Never going back.

Four stars for the $ 7.95 lunch special, which is basically the only thing I ever get here! I didn’t know there was another chain in SGV, I might go check that out! Thanks, Unilocal!
The lunch special comes with SO MUCH FOOD, it really is a deal! They basically let you choose three different side dishes, and it comes with rice and peanuts, or $ 1 extra for porridge. The options for the side dishes are extensive and DELICIOUS.
The atmosphere is like every other asian restaurant, very simple and bare, but clean enough so that you feel comfortable. The service tends to be fast paced and rushed, but on good days when it isn’t too packed, they are actually very nice and generous with their portions. I am even forgiving them for that time when they were so rushed they forgot to put in our last side dish, and it was my favorite one!
They have all the standard options of Taiwanese small dishes, such as beancurd, bamboo shoots, spicy eggplant, seaweed, jellyfish, green beans, cucumbers, cabbage, pig ears, fish … all of it tastes amazing, and it’s not as greasy and heavy as the way other places make it! I always devour the food whenever I get it here, it fulfills the Taiwanese craving: D and the quality is always consistent! It’s quick and easy and yummy!
Taiwanese food isn’t too hard to find in Arcadia, so you gotta be picky about your regular spot :) There’s a free parking lot in the back behind the restaurant!

My family has frequented the San Gabriel location since I was young.
But what makes them think they can overcharge here in Arcadia?
My family looked forward to this location and once it opened, we found it to be overpriced and extremely salty.
Never again!

This is not the first time I’ve been here, but this is the first time I’ve been here without a Chinese friend.
Maybe this is the reason they brought cooked rice to the table instead of porridge?
Maybe this is the reason our portions were small? We got the squid (the baby 3″ ones) and the portion size was 4 squids (come on now)!!
Man, and for 12 noon, they didn’t have eggplant, or lotus root.
As we sat eating, many to-​go orders were bring prepared-​and I saw many double sized (compared to ours) being put into the styrofoam containers.
Ok, maybe it’s just that one worker… but then I saw the same lady ladle bigger portions to the Chinese clientele.
I never thought this location was comparable to the Valley location, and this a one more reason not to visit this location. Too bad it’s so much closer.

First time… and last time… and the one on Valley Blvd… much better!
I was craving some sweet potato porridge that my mom had introduced to me at the one on Valley Blvd., and was stoked to find out that there was one closer in my area, and decided to try that one out.
For $ 30.00, it wasn’t worth it, and we were still hungry! We ended up getting only three dishes: Cold Jellyfish $ 5, Flat Bean Curd $ 7 and Squid $ 8. Unlike the other place, they don’t serve the combo dishes on the weekends, and so each dish was seperate prices, and the best part *sarcasm*, the porridge costs $ 1.00 each, and no REFILLS! At the other place, you can eat as much porridge as you want! The porridge here wasn’t even good, and it started breaking and turning watery, whereas when you eat it in a small bowl and you pour it yourself, it stays thick and plump.
The service was decent. The lady behind the counter was sweet and patience watching my mom explain the prices to me in vietnamese, but the waiter was a prick. His face was ice cold when he served us.
Overall, the place was decent, but for $ 30, I’ll go to the dumpling house across the street.

I love Lu’s! I know it’s overpriced Chinese greasy food (almost close to fast food), and cheap yam porridge that you can probably make at home, but I still love to come here especially since I’ve been sick in bed lately and this place is the only thing I’m craving!
The service was great, especially if it’s not crowded, the waiters just stand around to assist you. I feel almost borderline uncomfortable since it was only two tables dining and we were one of them. Some might prefer this location because it is so nicely decorated compared to the other two locations (San Gabriel and Rowland Heights). However, after tasting the same dishes I would normally get, I actually prefer the food from the other two locations (especially the SIG aka original location better). I think the recipe and menu are identical, but the food just taste a tad different. My BF also noticed the same thing. Some dishes are more saltier than usual, and some aren’t saltier enough, vice verse.
I believe it is unlimited yam porridge, and in the past I have mistaken it to be limited since they now provide you an actual bowl per person, versus giving you a pot of porridge and they refill it as requested. I am so happy they opened up this joint and will be visiting often :)
CASH ONLY. There’s a wamu and BOA on baldwin so hit the ATM! Also, there’s street parking in the front and a small parking lot in the back.