Richard’s Fresh Box

It was nothing special. It tried to be Sichuan style but not spicy or Sichuan flavor.

Quality Chinese Food. Not your typical place but good food

Amazing people amazing food! I work across the parking lot and tried it one day and now I’m addicted! Lol had an issue with my card and they were very patient and amazingly kind! Thank you so much for the amazing service! My go to place for sure!

I ate here before the new management takeover, and it was pretty decent. However, I was here this week and the quality of the food seemed to decrease. There was nobody in the restaurant when we walked in, and the employees were gone too. It took us a while for them to realize we were inside. We got our food in a timely manner which was nice. We had a beef dish which was extremely salty, and the rice portion to share was small. The mapo tofu dish was the only dish we ordered that we liked. When we finished our food and were ready to pay, the employees were nowhere to be seen again and it took them almost 15 – 20 minutes to come out and hand us the check. Overall, we think the food was overpriced for the mediocre quality and small portions. We will not come again.

Okay, okay– so the name of the place is a little iffy– I was really questioning all the raving Unilocal reviews when I finally got to the place. My first impression of the restaurant had me further questioning the reviews, but I went on through that door regardless, as my craving for Chinese food forced me to.
The overall décor/​ambiance of the place is a little bland, and the owners just blankly stared at us as we walked in LOL; which was alright, sometimes I don’t feel like greeting each and every person at the door, too. So we got seated, were handed a menu (also not really wow-​ing. we ended up ordering off of the previous Unilocal user photos of the food versus actually looking at the really plain/​non-​descriptive menu), and waited for the food. Didn’t have to wait too long for four dishes!
All I can say is. WOW! Glad I walked through the door and didn’t scurry back to my car in order to find a different Chinese food place, as I was originally inclined. The food arrived in expected time; everything looked so impressive and delicious! The portions were great and the flavors (ohh the FLAVORS) were ah-​may-​zing! Their dishes are so delicious I can’t imagine ever trying to find another Chinese place in Riverside.
Overall, a great experience and really looking forward to the next time I make a trip there.

I know what you’re thinking. I questioned whoever named the restaurant too. Word on the street is that it was some dude named Richard, but I’m not docking stars for lack of creativity.
The hottest hits play on the singular speaker behind the cash register. Occasional 99.1 KGGI commercials make me feel like I’m back in the 90s. The money they save by not subscribing to Spotify Premium is redirected towards… I. I really don’t know. The waitress doesn’t wear a uniform and the décor is deeply subpar, but all is forgiven when that Mapo Tofu numbs your mouth.
Their menu descriptions are as bad as my ability to order them, but the one thing this restaurant has taught me to do is trust. «Sichuan Sauce Eggplant» paints a very simple picture in my mind– identical to a certain emoji, but it’s flavor has so many dimensions. Just show up, sit down, point to an item on the menu, and feel the rush of adrenaline flood your body as you prepare for the best Chinese food Riverside has to offer. Or Richard. I should probably be giving more of the credit to him, huh?

I was disappointed. Based upon Unilocal reviews I was looking forward to it. There is a sign that leads me to believe they are under new management so maybe the reason for my experience vs previous reviews. I have eaten Chinese, both American and authentic, for many decades so assume I know what I like.
First time I showed up at 7pm on a weeknight and they said they were closing down for the day, «family emergency». OK fair excuse.
2^nd time I showed up this week at 6PM, it was empty. (Both times UCR was out so maybe why empty) There was some guy up front and he definitely saw me come in (we were about 10 feet apart). He turned around and went in the back. I waited and waited, almost ready to leave but thought I would pass in front of the kitchen door window and coughed. A lady came out. She seemed friendly enough but her English skills were limited. She had to call the guy I saw (boss?) out to explain some things.
Menu is a bit without much variety and probably due to regional style, some things, like chowmein, were missing. We use this as a filler, so it was missed.
Long and short of it is that the food is bland at best. I ordered the fried garlic squid, told it was «Like salt and pepper squid». It was soggy and gummy and greasy and almost no flavor.(I live less than 5 minutes away, so no excuse for soggy). The tofu hot pot was almost totally without flavor. The other two dishes were at best American Chinese takeout flavor.
At home I asked my son what he thought. Pretty much a ditto. No flavor, and little meat.
And 3 dishes and hot pot (soup really) was about $ 45. A bit steep I think.
I hope that late in the day is a slow time for them so what I got was probably warmed over lunch stuff, but that’s no excuse.
One plus is, you get plenty of rice and it is decent, although more like Japanese (sticky) rice, rather than Chinese long grain (Not sticky).
Sadly I probably won’t return. There are enough other Chinese takeouts in the area to try. One I tried after my first failed attempt here was the usual fast food Chinese, and it was OK as far as American style Chinese goes.

Cute little spot. I went with the tofu dish. Was nice and spicy. Was also super greasy/​oily. It also came with a little side of white rice.

This is a really authentic Chinese food restaurant considering its in Riverside. It is probably the best Chinese place you can go in Riverside but the price is expensive compare to the quality.

I’ve had Chinese food from many different places. I have a pretty low standard when it comes to take out Chinese. This place is by far the worst. Kung pao chicken was just breaded chicken and peanuts. Very salty, greasy, and sweet, not much flavor.

Open and 100% Chinese. Not me, I mean the cuisine. I finally got the opportunity to eat here. Closed for most of the summer they are back in action.
It’s a small place but I like that it is located next to another favorite stop: Boba Fiend. A handful of booths line both walls and a few tables are in between. Not a big place but that’s its charm I think. The laminated menu is English on one side and Chinese on the other. I selected the garlic fried pork ribs since most of the items were new to me (like I said above, 100% Chinese). The pleasant waitress took my order and about twelve minutes later she brought me a sizable portion of food (see the photo).
Piping hot I still managed to burn the roof of my mouth despite her warning. Nevertheless, I found the garlic flavor to be present, but not dominant. The pork was tender and perfectly crunchy on the outside. Buried under what seemed like panko was sautéed onions, green peppers and black beans. The side of rice was the finishing touch. Unlike Americanized Chinese food, I felt comfortably full without the bloating or heaviness.
At the counter where I paid I conversed with the owner, Richard, who was really nice and seemed happy that I enjoyed my meal. I shall definitely return to try something new very soon. Prices range from $ 10 – 12 on average which is fantastic for the quality and authentic cuisine of mid-​northern mainland China.

I don’t know the owner and I’m not a friend of any employee so this review is totally unbiased.
Service was slow. We were seated but it took a while to get our order in. It also took a while for our food to come out.
The dining experience was lacking. Badly. The younger customers (apparently friends?) were yelling across the restaurant at each other, carrying on extremely loud conversations around and over us, and several were smoking right outside the front door, letting the smoke come into the restaurant.
The food tastes good. The Szechuan pork was tasty. Eggplant noodles tasted good. The shrimp took forever to eat (per my friend) because the head and shell are all on and you have to take the legs, head, & shell off before you can eat… and the portion was small. (Per pound, that would be the equivalent of a $ 40 shrimp dish.)
The prices are not competitive with other lunch places. The portions are decent but there should be a separate lunch menu/​size.
Also, their credit card machine wasn’t up and running, but instead of putting it on the door up front, we were told when we ordered.
Overall, although the food tasted good, everything else about the dining experience was sorely lacking.

This place is pretty good! Not bad for this area the prices are pretty decent and they give you a great amount of food. Me and my husband shared the Kung Pao chicken it was like 9 bucks! Very tasty a little greasy but pretty good. People are really nice although the lady I spoke with didn’t speak much English! At least she was super nice. Definitely will be back.

Who are we kidding? Riverside County is not known for good Chinese food. With only a few exceptions that arrived fairly recently on the scene, it has been a virtual nightmare of greasy, heavily battered, oversweetened, sweet and sour offerings made by wannabee chefs who most likely are NOT Chinese. I admit I eat that stuff, but not real frequently, and not really enthusiastically. Los Angeles and Orange Counties both have better, and more authentic offerings. We usually head west looking for the good stuff.
So reading about this odd little place with an even odder name caught me by surprise. It certainly did not sound Chinese.
Looking back, I think its saving grace is its proximity to UCR, where a huge percentage of the University’s students are either foreign born or have close ties to their Asian heritage. Good for them for attracting and supporting a mom and pop café that knows how to create REAL Chinese food. In fact, our brave little server knew very little English. And happily, each of the items we ordered from the one page menu were assuredly uncommon.
We ordered three things. A sweet and sour pork, a garlic pork rib dish, and sautéed green beans. As the dishes came out, we were shocked at the size of the servings. As in, huge.
The sweet and sour arrived first. Long thin strips of boneless meat, lightly breaded not battered. The vinegary sweet sauce was on the bottom of the dish, and was more clear and light brown, not orange. It was delicious and blended well with the meat that had been tossed with some shredded carrot and cilantro. Excellent.
The pork ribs were bite-​sized and meaty. They had been marinated then lightly breaded, most likely with cornstarch, then quick fried, reminding me of a salt and pepper pork chop. The interesting touch was the garlic flavored panko bread crumbs that covered the dish. While there were large bones, the meat was flavorful and tender. This was accented with onion, carrot, bell pepper, whole red chile, and fermented black bean. Addictive is an understatement. We ordered another to bring home.
Lastly came the green beans. A huge platter, cooked, but not too much, flash wok’d in a salty soy concoction. The dish was tossed together with minced meat (and maybe garlic and ginger ??) tidbits that packed a wallop and added so much flavor. If anything, this is the one dish I would describe as slightly greasy, but IMHO in a good way. There were a lot of red chiles, but they remained whole and did not spice up the dish at all. I did a happy dance, so don’t hold that against me.
My only warning is, I am pretty sure they use MSG. I started noticing side effects shortly after leaving. Since that is easily resolved with a request to not use it, I refuse to hold that against them.
Honestly, my oftentimes Doubting Thomas husband, Mr. B, was bowled over by this meal. Well, me too.
Yay! Friendly, clean, great service, great prices, a fabulous find. I hope this place succeeds, I can’t wait to return.

Sorry guys. You were really accommodating on the phone when I ordered take-​out. My english and your language didn’t mix well, but we did get the right order!
We ended up eating only the white rice though. Nothing else tasted like more than grease. We ordered 3 dishes and a side of chix fried rice and everything tasted like bad blah. Also, the pork was horrifying! I thought they were fried chicken feet or something. They were gnarly overcooked stringly things and only by sad power of elimination did we determine that the dish had to be the sweet & sour pork. It didn’t taste very sweet and sour. We knew the beef and broccoli because of the broccoli. We knew the salt and pepper chicken because the chicken chunks were the same prefabricated chunks as in the fried rice. So the stringly things had to be the… yeah it was bad.
Definitely never going there again.

This place seemed really good for a nice take-​out meal. I WAS WRONG. My friend suffered a major reaction to the MSG that was in their KUNG PAO CHICKEN.
Please be aware that MSG is definitely an additive in their food.
Definitely not recommending this place to anyone.

Stopped in for lunch after reading all the fantastic reviews and I am happy to say… everyone is right! This place is fan-​friggin-​tastic!
We tried two dishes on our first visit, salt & pepper chicken and the fried green beans. The chicken was lightly coated, seasoned perfectly, and tasted like heaven. The green beans were wonderful and tasty.. not a vegetarian dish, mind you.
The lady who took our order was very nice and even pulled pictures from Unilocal to show us each dish offered.
Menu is limited, which I appreciated! Too many places get over complicated with their menus. This place is doing it just right. Can’t wait to go back.

I just order the fresh lobster and fresh fish flavor pork liver. Super delicious and traditional chinese taste.
One of the best chinese restraurant in Riverside. You must try！！

Finally, a truly authentic Chinese place in Riverside! When I saw the name, I was a bit perplexed (and I keep forgetting to ask the owner why), but Unilocal photos seemed to suggest this isn’t your average fast-​food Chinese restaurant.
My first trip there was on a Tuesday evening. The decoration is rather barren and the menus were printed on a single sheet of laminated paper, English on one side and Chinese on the other. The Chinese side has a few additional veggie options but they’re otherwise identical, with about 30 options total. Although I have no problem with the smaller selection, I think they would benefit from improving the menu’s visual appeal, perhaps add some photos, etc. The one and only waitress speaks Chinese and a little English (based on what we overheard at other tables). I can imagine the service being slow when the restaurant is full. In fact, when she goes back to put in an order or pick up food, there is nobody in the front area…
Food was surprisingly great. We got stewed/​braised beef with potatoes, garlic fried pork, and chives with egg (these aren’t the exact English names – we ordered off the Chinese menu). Everything tastes as expected the same quality/​style as you would get at a small restaurant in China. Unlike a lot of a authentic Chinese food though, they didn’t make things too greasy, which I definitely appreciate.
In subsequent trips, I’ve had the Spicy Shrimp, Pork in Spicy SiChuan Broth, Garlic Eggplant, Garlic Pork, and Black Pepper Beef. All good. Would order everything again except for the Sauteed Green Beans.
All in all, I’m really happy I don’t have to drive at least 30 minutes for authentic Chinese food anymore. However, the place is tiny, and once students come back in the fall and discover it, I’m afraid the growing population of Chinese international students is going to mean long waits and worse service. Lunchtime is already pretty full but, dinnertime has been reasonable, for now…
BTW, this plaza has weird parking. Most of the spots have a 30 minute limit, which is not enough for a full meal, but there are some 1-​hour spots closer to the street. I’m not sure if the times are enforced.

The SO and I decided to give this place a shot this past weekend. It was Sunday and the place was empty (not surprising because this place just opened!). We were greeted and handed menus. The menu is small and concise, I can totally appreciate that. I believe that places should present dishes that they will perfect — not have 50+ items and have some that are «so-​so».
Any how getting to the food… we ordered the:
1. Morning glory satay’d with garlic. So good! I’m very partial to morning glory though! Love the crunch, slight bitterness with the garlic flavor in every bite. Definitely will order this again.
2. Stir-​fried pork or (Yu Xiang Rou Si, I google’d that) — this is thinly cut pork lion pieces that is stir-​fried with bamboo, mushroom ears, green bell peppers, and garlic. This is so good!
3. Fish cooked in oil. — This was our least favorite of the batch. It was good but nothing spectacular. The fish was a little too soft and couldn’t absorb the oil and spices well. This dish is very common in sichuan places.
Make sure you ask for rice — they give rice in a small bowl — pretty common in Asian cultures. If you want more, I’m sure you can ask for more.
Definitely check this place out if you are in the area! I’ll include some pictures, please check those out.