16 Best Restaurants For Chinese Takeout In Los Angeles
Nothing hits the spot quite like classic Chinese takeout. From fried rice to dumplings, Chinese food is a nostalgic favorite that is known for bringing the ultimate sense of comfort. While Chinese takeout is easy to find in nearly any city, Los Angeles is home to some of the most authentic Chinese food in the country. In addition to the classic favorites, locals and visitors are able to indulge in traditional dim sum, Beijing-style pies, and Chinese barbecue.
While places like Atwater Village are known for having some of the best Chinese cuisine in the city, solid takeout can be found all over Los Angeles. Whether you are looking for something more elevated and upscale for a decadent dinner at home or prefer a mom-and-pop shop that keeps things simple, the options are abundant. That said, we've rounded up where you can find the best restaurants for Chinese takeout in LA all the way from Pasadena to Santa Monica.
Dan Modern Chinese
Dan Modern Chinese is a Westside favorite that is a bit more upscale than your average spot for Chinese takeout. Though most of the locations are on the west side of town, there are actually seven different locations in Santa Monica, Sawtelle, Playa Vista, Manhattan Beach, Topanga, Pasadena, and Long Beach. The xiao long bao is the restaurant's signature dish and can be filled with everything from pork and shrimp to chicken.
Other popular dishes include the handmade dumplings, short rib Dan mein, and shrimp fried rice. This is definitely the kind of place where you'll want to get several different items to share. When it comes to greens, the string beans with garlic are a must-order, but broccoli is another solid choice.
Chang's Garden
This Arcadia staple located in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley offers everything you could want when you're scooping out some Chinese takeout. The menu at Chang's Garden boasts over 100 dishes to choose from, a spacious dining room that allows for easy pickup, and generous portions. The dining room at Chang's Garden is made for casual nights out with big groups of friends, but if you choose to take your food to go, you'll still be in great hands.
The lotus pork spare ribs are a Chang's Garden favorite. The meat is steamed in lotus leaves until tender and practically falls off the bone. The Chinese beef roll is another great order that offers the ideal mix of savory and crisp, with cucumber and cilantro added in for a refreshing crunch. Round out your order with the salty, crave-able seaweed fish fries.
Din Tai Fung
Din Tai Fung is a Michelin-starred restaurant that has also gone viral on TikTok. There are locations in California, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada. However, there are currently three in LA, with another set to open in Santa Monica. One of the coolest things about dining at Din Tai Fung is being able to get a peek at the action as the chefs hand-pull all of the noodles and make the dumplings. However, takeout is well worth it if you're feeling like staying in.
The Taiwanese restaurant specializes in xiao long bao, dumplings, steamed buns, wontons, and more. The green beans are known for being one of the best things on the menu, but when it comes to starters, the viral cucumber salad is a must-order. Also, don't forget to get the one-of-a-kind chocolate and mochi xiao long bao for dessert.
Woon
If you're looking for great Chinese takeout, want it fast, and don't feel like making many decisions, Woon is the place to go. The restaurant is renowned for its efficiency and its relative affordability, and though its food selection only hovers at around 20 dishes on any given night, Woon knocks the whole menu out of the park.
Head to Historic Filipinotown and dig into the crispy, chewy scallion pancakes and snag some fried tofu fishcakes for your starters. Make sure to pick up a bao bun. Woon's scene-stealing pork belly is topped with mustard greens, cilantro, and house-pickled cucumbers and carrots, and served on a steamed bun. Also, you'd be remiss to not order the homestyle beef noodles, which are wok-charred and dished up with marinated flank steak, bok choy, and shiitake mushrooms.
Genghis Cohen
Genghis Cohen is a legendary restaurant in Los Angeles and has been around since 1983. The New York-style Chinese food is exactly like what you'd expect to find in NYC. Though the bright red dining room is beyond fun thanks to the classic Chinese lanterns and decor, Genghis Cohen is incredibly popular for takeout in WeHo. The comforting cuisine definitely has that American twist that most people grew up with and are used to. Of course, the New York-style egg rolls are a necessary appetizer, but the butterfly shrimp is a crispy treat that seafood lovers will adore.
For your entrees, don't miss out on the Cantonese-style chow fun and the classic chicken lo mein. The no-name duck is perfect for sharing with a larger group and is served with soft steamed buns.
Jin Hai Pie House
This Monterey Park restaurant specializes in savory xian bing, which are sizable Beijing-style pies filled with steaming meat and vegetables, and has been serving up great Northern Chinese cuisine since its opening in 2011. The service at Jin Hai Pie House , which replaced the former Beijing Pie House but kept the same menu, is impressively fast, each dish is cooked up with fresh ingredients, and the pies are perfectly portable, making it an ideal spot to grab some great takeout for your next picnic, family get-together, or night on the couch.
The restaurant offers 13 pie flavors ranging from summer squash and lamb to pork and green onion. The menu also offers three vegetarian varieties that include leek and egg, vegetarian, and radish. If you're looking to add some variety to your order, Jin Hai Pie House also serves savory pancakes, noodle soups, dumplings, and more.
Little Fatty
If you're in search of unpretentious Taiwanese soul food, head to Mar Vista's Little Fatty. The restaurant is owned by its chef, David Kuo, a first-generation Angeleno whose family's home cooking inspired him to create the restaurant, and whose childhood nickname ("xiao pang," or "little fatty") gave the spot its name. The menu is stacked with Chinese takeout classics, like kung pao chicken, braised pork belly, and walnut shrimp.
Don't miss its Taiwanese staples like the lu rou fan (also known as Sunday Gravy) and the scallion pancakes, both of which are pillars of the Little Fatty menu. The restaurant is a great takeout operation, but if you want to stay a little longer, grab a seat at Accomplice Bar, which serves up the drinks that accompany the food at Little Fatty.
RiceBox
If you're in search of an inexpensive meal perfectly suited for a lazy summer evening, RiceBox cooks up some of the best Cantonese BBQ in Los Angeles County. The restaurant is a truly modern takeout operation. Its food is on almost every delivery app, and you can even get it delivered across the country via Goldbelly.
You can also give them a call and place your order the old-fashioned way. BYOB (build your own box) with a choice of rice, char siu, beef curry, porchetta, chicken, and mapo. On the other hand, patrons can opt for one of the restaurant's classic rice box combinations like Grandma's curry beef stew and soy sauce chicken. If you're not quite satisfied, pick up an order of the "salt and peppa” garlic wings, served up with Thai chili, jalapeno, garlic, and green onions. No matter what you order, make sure to snag some char siu—RiceBox roasts up some pretty unbeatable bbq pork.
Lunasia Dimsum House
This restaurant is one of the hottest dim sum spots in the city, and it often has a wait time to match. If you're dining with eight or more people, you can avoid the lines by making a reservation, no matter which location you're visiting. Or, if you're in the know, you can pick up an order to-go. Plus, knowing that you're not waiting in Lunasia's massive line when you roll up to grab your curbside pickup order will make your dumplings taste that much more delicious.
Regardless of whether you're dining solo or with 10 of your closest friends, you'll need to order the pork siu-mai. The dumplings are massive, but somehow you'll always be left wanting more. The steamed chicken feet are another great addition to your order. If you're craving another dumpling order, the spinach and shrimp dumplings are light, buttery, and wrapped in an eye-catching vibrant green wrapper.
Sichuan Impression
Sichuan Impression boasts some of the best Chinese food in Southern California. Due to the small size of its original Alhambra location, it has a great takeout game. Plus, now that it has expanded to locations in Tustin and West Los Angeles, Sichuan Impression is never too far from any Angeleno. If you're battling a cold or if spring has your allergies acting up, the ma-po tofu is the perfect sinus cleanser.
The stew is served with tofu, minced beef, green garlic sprouts, and Sichuan peppercorn powder, and is one of the restaurant's most popular dishes. The toothpick mutton is another spicy Sichuan Impression staple. These mini lamb skewers are seasoned with dried chilies, scallions, and cilantro, and are perfectly suited for sharing with a group. If you're looking for another snackable order, the "street corner" potato strips finished with capsicum, dry chili powder, scallions, and cilantro, are a surefire crowd-pleaser. Finally, you're contractually obligated to get an order of the spicy, nutty, tea-smoked pork ribs.
Joy
Joy is a casual, well-priced eatery on Highland Park's York Boulevard. Its menu was shaped by Taiwanese street food culture. Dishes come out fast, hot, and delicious. It also draws inspiration from Northern Chinese cuisine, offering up wheat-based buns, pancakes, dumplings, noodles, and its unmissable scallion sesame bread. When you're grabbing takeout from Joy, it's nearly impossible to go wrong (unless you skip the crisp, golden-brown thousand-layer pancake).
The decadent dan dan noodles, topped with sesame peanut sauce, cucumbers, cilantro, and chicken breast, are another hit. Make sure to add the minced pork on rice with soy braised egg and house pickle to your takeout order. You can also stop by Joy's sister restaurant, Pine & Crane, next door in Silverlake. The menu is pretty similar but just as delicious.
LaoXi Noodle House
This neighborhood spot in Arcadia serves noodles worthy of Michelin recognition. It only has eight tables, but luckily, LaoXi Noodle House has fostered a robust takeout operation to more than make up for it. Local favorites include the Wife's Special Noodle with fried pork (He Lao style), which is a dry noodle topped with beef, cucumber, tomato, and egg.
Another popular dish, the Lao Xi'er Special Beef Noodle Soup, is served in a clear, spiced broth alongside a bevy of greens. And the herby, aromatic Noodle in lamb soup (Mao Er'duo style) is a great choice to round out your order. If you want to extend your time enjoying LaoXi Noodle House's food, the shop offers bulk orders of frozen lamb, pork and cilantro, pork and shrimp, pork and leek, and pork and napa cabbage dumplings as well.
Hui Tou Xiang
Hui Tou Xiang's menu offers everything from soups to noodles to wontons, but the real draw of this local spot is its selection of dumplings. Unsurprisingly, the first item you should order is the Hui Tou dumplings — the crisp, rectangular pan-fried dumplings are a rarity, even in the San Gabriel Valley, and come stuffed with pork or beef.
The sippable xiao long bao, while a more common Los Angeles dumpling find, are another must-order and comes filled with pork or pork and crab. Hui Tou Xiang offers pick-up and delivery at its Hollywood and San Gabriel locations. If you feel like diversifying your takeout portfolio, pick up the spicy pork wontons and the stewed beef noodles. The restaurant has done a great job at prioritizing takeout and even offers up instructions on how to boil, steam, and pan-fry its frozen dumplings.
Lan Noodle
Lan Noodle (also known as Lanzhou Beef Noodle) is located in an unassuming Arcadia strip mall, but the food that it serves up is decidedly celebratory. The restaurant specializes in Chinese hand-pulled noodles, made fresh in-house. Each dish allows diners to choose between various noodle preparations, from angel hair to a wide, flat noodle. Its handmade soups are the perfect takeout meal for a cold, gloomy day.
Each bowl comes complete with hearty broth, fresh noodles, and enough spice to shake you out of any sleepy daze. If you're looking for a rich, savory meal, the braised beef soup is a great go-to order. Kick off the spice by opting for another house special, the spicy beef noodle, finished with garlic and cilantro. Also, don't skip a side of the light, zingy smashed cucumber.
Ji Rong Peking Duck
Ji Rong Peking Duck's dining room is big, always crowded, and filled with big tables, perfect for catching up with family and friends. Luckily, they also have great takeout, making it a great option for days when you're craving Ji Rong's food but don't feel like getting the whole gang together.
If you want to try the restaurant's namesake duck, make sure to put in your request in advance. Each platter is made-to-order and takes at least 75 minutes to prepare. Plus, they've been known to run out on busy days, and you won't want to miss it. If you're still feeling hungry, the crispy walnut shrimp is light, crunchy, and a dependably delicious addition to any order. Ji Rong Peking Duck also offers classic takeout staples, like kung pao chicken, orange chicken, and chow mein.
Boston Lobster
Sometimes it's ok to judge a book (or in this case, a menu) by its cover. When you make the trek up to Rosemead's Boston Lobster, there will be a massive selection of solid dishes to choose from. However, everyone's really there for one thing ... the House Special Lobster.
Each plate of the shellfish dish is piled high with a massive portion of noodles, green onion, garlic, and hunks of fresh lobster. Ordering shellfish as the centerpiece of your Chinese takeout order may be a bit unfamiliar, but Boston Lobster is definitely the place to do it. If you want to create a surf and turf-style takeout order, the salt and pepper pork chop is the way to go. The portion is generous, but not overwhelming, making it a great accompaniment to the show-stopping House Special Lobster.