WaBa Grill

The worst waba I have been to no air conditioning! In this hot heat! And all the utensils and condiments are hidden away! And you have to practically beg for more napkins! I think by far this is the worst waba ever!!! even the waba in East Los Angeles is better then this one ! Unilocal take this one off your recommendations list!!!

Waba grill is usually my go to lunch spot and for good reason. Chicken bowl with chicken breast, brown rice and avocado is always my pick.

Fast & delicious. Simple as that :)
Came here on my lunch break & the customer in front of me was making 10 separate orders. I was getting bothered & the young cook asked me on the side what i was going to order so he could start getting it ready. Not a lot of people do that to be honest lol i thought he was awesome & my food was delicious. I had an amazing lunch

I ordered a chicken veggie bowl. They give you ¼ chicken, ¼ rice, ½ vegetables, that’s good for me since most waba grills put more rice than any thing. I asked for extra meat and got it, though i got some unwanted chicken fat. Only thing is that the veggies are a little undercooked, the broccoli was a little tough. You have to ask for extra sauces since they don’t have a station to serve them yourself. Overall i like it.

Healthy, fast, and delicious. I always get my chicken/​salmon veggie bowl with brown rice and add avocado. Sometimes I get my bowl without rice all together when I’m feeling super healthy. The salmon tastes fresh, not frozen. Portions aren’t too shabby either. Other waba grills skimp on the salmon. This is my go-​to location for dinner after work.

Compared to flame broiler, it isn’t very good. Chewy chicken, fishy salmon, etc. But, on its own, I would MAYBE eat at one of these again if a flame broiler is not around.

The guy down here is absolutely right. Funny lady… Great food, quick service, and best of all it’s healthy. I eat here often

Perfect spot for when your on the grind. Quick and simple. The little Asian lady is funny when you call in a order she goes «wabbaaaaaa Grriillll»

Great food, quick service, clean and good value

Delicious healthy food. My fav spot when I don’t have time to cook and want to eat healthy.

Waba Grill you fooled me. I thought you were just another Chinese food slash teriyaki spot but boy was I wrong. The food here has a unique flavor that doesn’t compare to the other commercial places. Maybe it is the lack of MSG that gives it such a clean taste but damn that was a tasty teriyaki bowl. Oh yeah it was chicken so go out and try it cause it’s not too shabby.

The lack of healthy eating establishments in the Montebello area is quite maddening! Your choices in South Montebello become even more meager. Let’s see… Subway, Fruitland, Waba Grill? Considering Waba Grill a healthy alternative is a bit of a stretch, but with the option of brown rice in lieu of white rice, your meal has some potential.
I have tried Waba’s Salmon Plate in the past which was somewhat of a surprise. They did not overcook the salmon as to dry it out and the cut was healthy. This time, I wanted to their standard Chicken & Steak Plate.
Chicken & Steak Plate: 2.5÷5
This could have easily been a 2 star, but the option of brown rice bumps the score up a half. My order was take out, so after opening the take out container, you’ll see a huge serving of food… looks can be deceiving though. That massive mound sitting before you is 90% rice. Waba uses dark (thigh) meat for their chicken, but you also have the option to upgrade to white (breast) meat. Some pieces were a little dry, but most were moist. Waba’s steak is certainly a step up from Yoshinoya. There are some fatty pieces, but the steak is somewhat dry. Your plate also includes salad and orange slice.
There was a sweet middle aged Korean lady (whom I would assume is the owner) who operated the register. This place also appears to be friendly for law enforcement as well… a good thing since this business is located in a semi abandoned strip mall across the street from over a dozen of apartment complexes which can be categorized as «projects» (yes, many, many, many cholos live in these apartments).
I wish this business well in the wake of many of the surrounding businesses closing shop.

This place is supposed to be a «healthy» joint, oil, fat free and all that. I was surprised. The food isn’t bad at all. It tastes like home food. The salmon was fresh and it tasted just like my mom had cooked some salmon with rice. Melon was a little overripe though.
I do think though that they are being truthful when they call it a healthy restaurant. I mean it tastes like my mom’s food. She’s a health freak and there’s like nothing in her fridge. The only thing I questioned though is how they cooked the salmon. It seemed like my mom’s, meaning it was sauteed in olive oil. I was thinking, however, they might have been able to sautee it without it with a non-​stick pan as salmon is a pretty fatty fish and has a lot of oil itself. So dunno about that.
I didn’t have that much of a problem with the soda though as that seems to be standard drink at all restaurants. Soda is a «cheapy» drink and you can still get it at über fancy restaurants. Lol I got soda at Tommy Toy’s which is something like $ 100/​person (prix fixe).
But, like all healthy food, you are very limited in your choices. Basically all the dishes are _​_​_​_​_​with rice, salad and melon… in the form of either a plate or bowl. Fill in the blank with ribs, beef or salmon. Don’t remember if they had chicken or not though.

I made the mistake of leaving for Disneyland from UCLA on a Friday, at 2pm. I had gotten somewhat tipsy the night before, and because of this I had forgone breakfast and lunch. My stomach was growling. We opted to eat on the way.
We never moved more than 40 mph on the 10, so it took about an hour just to get in the vicinity. My friend Edward, who used to work in the area, claimed that this place was excellent. I was very suspicious, since this was a «Japanese» place located in what looked like little Mexico.
Him: «Let’s stop here. It’s only a bit farther»
Me: *Holds in nausea from being in a jerky manual transmission car for over an hour*
— — -minutes pass, nausea increases — — — —
Me: Are we there yet?
Him: Almost
We finally get there, after driving and backtracking and getting more nauseous. I jump the hell out of the car when we park, and run inside in case my stomach acids decide to leave me in hopes of finally getting sustenance. I ended up spending $ 9 for a soda, rice, beef, and chicken (grilled), a tiny tiny salad (think those takeout boxes) and a sliver of cantaloupe. The fork hit my mouth, and it was actually good! The meat melted on my tongue.
Keep in mind that i was desperate for food. The place is a glorified Panda Express, with a small menu and no authenticity. It is toted as HEALTH FOOD, which I don’t understand because they sell sugary soda to make up for their «oilless» cooking. Ignoring the obvious questionable marketing ploys, I would recommend trying this place once if you are in the area.

The only reason why we even went to this place is because they put flyers up on our cars for FREE CHICKEN BOWLS with order of 1 entrée. The taste is not bad for the location, the price and the service. The people aren’t very friendly or talkative, the place is kinda dirty, but we don’t eat there anyway. 1 chicken bowl fills me up. They have this hot sauce there that I cannot figure out. It’s probably like 1 part chili sauce, 3 parts vinegar and 10 parts water — BUT IT IS SO DELICIOUS. I am strange. I know.