JR Bistro

I am so sorry that this restaurant is closed. It was fantastic. The food was amazing and they were always open. Now I have to schlep out to the San Gabriel Valley for truly fantastic chinese food. The prices were fantastic too. This is a true loss for downtown LA.

Good prices and the food was good

Went by the other day and the place was closed — all fixtures taken out. There were no «closed for renovation» signs, so it looks like they’re out of business.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Chinatown in LA and the area has changed alot recently.
Still the one thing that hasn’t changed since childhood are the wonderful smells of stir fry something; but occasionally you do get a whiff of those awful smells that I won’t make mention of but you probably know.
My girlfriend and I happened to find ourselves seeking Phở 79 that use to be located in the Far East Plaza, but I guess the place had closed down. We came across some other restaurants in that building that I wanted to try but she wasn’t in the mood for; she wanted chow fun.
So we came across JR Bistro after I read a sign about the daily special which was the spicy salt pork chop. It caught my eye because pork anything is always going to grab my stomach’s attention.
We ordered the chow fun with black bean sauce and the crispy tofu with spicy salt.
Service was fast and so was the food, the chow fun came out probably within 7 minutes followed by the tofu.
Now their chow fun was meh (could’ve had more flavor), but the crispy tofu… MMMMMM! MMMMMMMM! Man that was good even though it burned my mouth. Super crispy, but soft tofu, CAUTION! ITS HOT! If you can wait for it to cool down you’re cool, but I like to eat it right away.
Imagine a slight salt taste, with fried minced garlic, add a touch of jalapeño just for a slight kick and that’s what you taste in your mouth with the tofu.
The restaurant looked presentable, like you’re not going to have food poisoning or question whether or not you should eat there based on cleanliness, the staff was on point, food was delicious so far so I wouldn’t mind going back there again, which I might just for that tofu.

Love this place! Food taste really authentic and the place is clean. Has amazing specials!

Best Chinese food I have had in ages!
The orange chicken was a little different — the meat was thiner and crispier but the sauce was remarkable. Also had the combo lo mein which was also a delight. Got complimentary tea, which was soothing. Service was amazing — went around 5 on a Friday and wasn’t busy at all. Definitely a hidden gem

One of the Best Chinese food options in the downtown LA Chinatown area. So if you live in LA proper but don’t want to travel to MP, Roland, or SGV this is one of the places to go. Food was on point every time I’ve eaten there. Everything on the «Chef’s special» menu is what to order.
Service is OK by Chinese restaurant standards. But you don’t go to Chinese for the service — everyone knows that. It’s all about the food and price point. I just fed a crew of 6 people with lots of great food they all loved for under $ 80!
And when you’re eating it, be sure to ask for their Chili Oil. Last I checked they still make it in house and it’s AMAZING on everything.

Happy hour red wine tastes like a delicious, ripened plum. Delicious! We ordered orange peel beef and pan fried crispy noodles with chicken and they were both great. The service was better than average and the food came out quickly. The tea was a nice complement to the meal. Apparently, they think that duck sauce is the same thing as Heinz 57 Ketchup, but otherwise, our experience was top notch. They’re also dog friendly if you sit outside.

The first time I came here, I had an okay experience. However, when we asked what they recommended, they said their lobster. When we ordered it, they came back and said there isn’t any lobster. What!
This is one of the worst restaurants I have been to as of now. Just in one evening, this evening, they messed up a woman’s order, lost a table’s order and bill, and the workers are not very attentive. The workers didn’t even know who’s order they took. The service is also very slow.
The table was missing a pair of chopsticks and we asked for a pair and they forgot about it.
The workers are also very rude. We tried asking them something and they straight out ignored us. I would never recommend this restaurant to anyone. It’s been 40 minutes of pure waiting.
The food on the other hand is not too bad. I have tasted better food from different restaurants, but the food here is good. However, I would never take anyone here because of the horrible service.

Probably will never come here again. There were 2 waiters and one of them was rude. Food was too salty and just sucked. I’d prefer to go down the street and go to ABC. Oh, and they don’t have water.

There is no service we have been here an hour. They are totally disorganized & under staff. They brought us other table order which we sent back. The service at this place has gone down the tube. after an hour there is still no water & empty tea pot begging to be filled & no sign of the soup I ordered an hour ago. I will never come here any more. Good-​by JR Bistro.

Sour start, flat middle, with a funny after tastes.
Had a nice #Krampusmas dinner with the jovial, Mexican version of Statler and Wolford (my father and uncle from el DF). Packed to the brim, and us into a corner, we began to look at the menue. I found plenty of veggie options.
They took our orders efficiently, but then forgot whet we ordered. They brought half the order, and I gags to remind them off the other half.
The grub was nothing special. Yes, it’s the evening of the birth of baby Jesus, so these guys had a full load. Still, I had to direct our service like a floor manager to get things right. If the food was good, I would come back to see if the service is better on a non-​Constantin holidays. But no.
@Gyptech rating:

JR Bistro ended its run after Memorial day 2015. That’s all folks. It’s over.
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Hole in the wall, I’ll call that hidden gem. Very authentic Cantonese dish, highly recommend the shrimp with spicy salt, the «say-​woo beef Kang» which is a super yum marinated beef soup mixed with cilantro, their seafood fried rice and many more. Service was quick especially during lunch, plenty of parking

CROOKS! They advertise lobster special $ 9.99, asked if it is good, the man with the shaved head said it is their specialty and we ordered it along with Peking Duck (not cheap) and some lunch specials.
When we ordered another lobster, he said it would cost $ 15.99, «one dollar more». When we asked one dollar more should be $ 10.99, he said the SAUCE that he ordered for us raised the price to $ 14.99!!! I replied then get me the $ 9.99 lobster and we are all good. He said no. CROOK!!!
The Peking Duck comes with mere shavings of the meat on the side. They steal parts of the duck.
My grandpa owned two restaurants and I know when meat is missing.
I always tip 25% when I go to restaurants and this is the first time I will be tipping 15% LESS the extra 4 bucks this crook (Tony) charged.
I always get top service at the restaurants who know me, this guy and/​or the owner here has A LOT to learn.
Since this is the first time I am leaving a restaurant hungry, I will be going across the way to have boba and snacks at Sweet Town Café… their owner sincerely helps everyone and is extra nice when he sees that you are a returning customer, treats everyone like family.

Upon entering, you know you’re in a very Chinese restaurant with the layout, the workers pealing, cleaning, and prepping vegetables at a table, and the ambiance… however don’t let that fool you or scare you… the price and quality of food is worth coming here especially for their lunch specials. Prices are anywhere between $ 4.00 — $ 10+ but all their lunch specials are around $ 4 — $ 7 and you get huge portions. It’s not like fast food Chinese restaurants where they give you everything in containers but instead it’s an entrée sized meal, with a bowl of soup to start, and rice.
Granted service may be lacking, but you really can’t complain when you’re getting a $ 6 /​avg meal. Anytime I have a day off or holiday, I don’t mind coming here for lunch. It’s also nice if you want to get some milk tea afterwords at Quickly for around $ 2.50 /​cup.
***note that parking is $ 2 with validation so either find street parking or park your car in the lot and remember to get a validation stamp***

Came here for lunch with coworkers and we preordered our food prior to arriving. I’ve never been to this restaurant in Chinatown so I wasn’t sure what to expect food wise, service etc.
When we arrived here the place wasn’t packed which was nice, but the preordered meal WAS NOT ready! Mind you we were on our lunch breaks so we were constantly looking at our watches.
We waited about 20 minutes for the first plate to arrive on our table and S… L…O.W.L.Y the plates came along. While we waited we requested water and sauces and such and the service was horrendous. You had to ask several times before they came with the water because they were busy doing this and that. Again, the place wasn’t busy so go figure.
The accidentally have us 2 lobster plates and told us after we ate it. We assumed it was one lobster put into two plates. So we were charged for 2 plates because we ate it. Whatever. Lunch is winding down and we’re paying the bill and they’re bringing out another plate!?! Wth!?!
The lousy service is overshadowed by the good food they had. Prices were decent for the group we had. Another Asian place with sucky ass service. It’s so rare to find good service and good food.

* Price: $ 9.99 for lobster! 5 star
* Ambiance: somewhat upscale for the area but still casual. 4 star
* Location: China town. Paid parking or street parking. 3+ star.
* Meals: excellent, authentic, strong flavor. 4 star.
* Service: friendly, pleasant. 4+ star.
We saw this place when went to Sweet Town and decided to try it. As their name «bistro», the place is clean, quaint and upscale with linen on table, silverware, and elegant leather dining chairs.
We had their $ 9.99 lobster with garlic sauce, $ 6.99 salted pepper clams, beef sate with ginger and green onion, stir fried on choy, and fried rice.
The lobster is stir fried with green onion and garlic sauce… so tasty! It is already chopped to pieces which is easy to eat (no worry try to break the shell!)
I used to get clams with black bean sauce but really like their salted pepper clams as well. The clams are big and tender with no sand (they got extra star for this, yea!)
Beef is tender and tasty!
On choy and fried rice is typical… everything was served in big portion. We were stuffed and still brought home enough food for the next day!
The service was excellent! There was only one person working as hostess and servers… she was pleasant and attentive, changing clean plates, checking up on us, boxing our foods, etc.
Overall, we enjoyed our experience and food… probably will be more adventurous next time (perhaps frog legs, duck, etc.)

Solid Chinese food. Atmosphere was kind of dark and not pleasing, we had the XO string beans, ginger scallion lobster, and black bean clams. The black bean clams were pretty good, but the string beans and lobster were just okay. With the really good stuff I’d eat everything in sight, but I didn’t have that feeling here. Prices were very low for what we ordered, whole meal was around 30 dollars.

I had high expectation for this place because my friend raved about the food, but I thought it was just average. Their $ 9.99 Lobster with green onion were under average and the gravy they call sauce wasn’t tasty at all despite the loads of green onions and garlic they put in. Although I admitted that their Peking duck was nicely done. Most places don’t really do anything with the duck meat, but Jr Bistro cooked theirs in a sauce with a hint of Hoisin that was quite delicious. Calamari with spicy sauce was crispy and salted perfectly also.
Will I go back? Perhaps, but not for the Lobster, that’s for sure.

Una de las muchas cosas que disfruto hacer en los Ángeles, es caminar. Me encanta conocer lugares, diferente arquitectura, nuevas culturas. Siempre encuentro algo nuevo, por eso me declaro oficialmente enamorada de esta ciudad!
Uno de esos muchos lugares, es China Town. Exótica arquitectura, múltiples negocios de toda clase — supermercados, mini mercados, artesanías, etc. etc. Por un momento, llegas a creer que has abandonado el país. Algo admirable de esta cultura, es el poder de mantener sus tradiciones alrededor del mundo, en la mayoría de las ciudades que he visitado, he podido encontrar un barrio Chino.
El barrio ha servido de locación para famosas películas como Rush Hour, con Jackie Chan o la ganadora del Oscar: Chinatown, con Jack Nicholson.
Caminando por este maravilloso lugar, y después mucha indecisión entre múltiples opciones de restaurantes, resolví entrar a J.R. Bistro, lugar que me llamó la atención por la cantidad de personas dentro del lugar y su menú que recalcaba «Langosta por $ 9.00». y así fue, ordenamos langosta por nueve dólares, fried rice y pollo a la naranja. El servicio bastantes rápido y organizado, nos trajo nuestra comida. La langosta no era lo que estaba esperando –pero no significa que no me gustara– acompañada de una rica salsa, por lo que a veces hacía perder el sabor de la misma. El fried rice, impecable y suculento y el pollo, mejor que el de Panda Express.
En conclusión, barriga llena y corazón contento! Generosas porciones y apetitosa comida con buenos precios. Lista para continuar con la caminata por este estupendo barrio chino.