Mama Lu’s Dumpling House in Alhambra is always a solid choice when I’m craving Shanghainese comfort food. The xiao long bao were juicy and flavorful with delicate wrappers, and the steamed fish with scallions was perfectly tender and light. We also ordered the beef roll, salt & pepper style meat with mushrooms, sautéed snow peas, and the salted egg yolk shrimp — everything came out generous in portion and great for sharing. The flavors were balanced, not overly greasy, and the service was fast even though it was busy. Definitely a go-to spot in SGV for dumplings and classic Chinese dishes.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
ryan lu
Great value spot for a casual meal. The prices are unbeatable.
Came here with friends and ordered a bunch of dishes. Most items are in the $10-$20 range, which is rare to find these days.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alna -SoCal’s content creator
IG: socalhkfoodies
Lunar New Year is coming! 🧧 Struggling to find a family spot that all generations and even your extended family will approve of? Mama Lu’s has you covered.
Walking in and seeing the giant xiao long bao mural, we immediately had to order it and it was so fulfilling 🥟. Of course, I didn’t forget my favorite French-style beef 法式牛柳粒, very juicy and done the Cantonese way. Need a carb that’s more special than noodles or rice? The Shanghai rice cakes 上海炒年糕 are the answer 🍜. To complete the meal, the older generation always requests the string beans 乾煸四季豆 because no veggies means the meal isn’t complete 🥬😂.
They have private room seating too
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Marcella Birtele
Food was great. Very big size for the price.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Mike Chan
Nice restaurant The food is tasty and the portions are big. Also service are friendly than the other branch
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Jess
Delicious food! My favorite is the Deep Fried Prawns because it’s similar to Honey Walnut Shrimp, minus the Walnuts.
The staff was super friendly and checked up on us if we needed anything.
I went at night for dinner and it was pretty chill and calm. Not a lot of people
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Daniel Rivera
Good food, fast and excellent services.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Betty Bet
Very good Chinese food. This place has Walnut Shrimp, Beef roll, which is like sliced beef in a large toasted tortilla with green onions. It comes rolled like a burrito with both ends open, then sliced in 4 pieces.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ping Chu
Lunch special small portion n was told certain dishes not available from lunch menu disappointed Taste is okay Lunch noon time few tables Not plan to come back
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
S R
Unfortunately this place is under new ownership (and it shows) -such a shame as it was my favorite Chinese restaurant in in LA
Not the Michelin rated restaurant anymore, it’s my first time back since new ownership a couple years ago and I have to say our experience fell short of expectations.
The string beans were still delicious, the walnut shrimp has “fallen off” and we ordered the chicken lettuce wraps but got the wrong item served to us. Apparently they took chicken lettuce wraps off the menu and replaced it with shrimp lettuce wraps with zero flavor… they didn’t bother to mention that protein swap had been made.
One of my guests commented on the poor service, but I thought it was on par with the average Chinese venues in the Alhambra area.
Sadly, this was a favorite spot but now it’s just basic. Photo of the wraps and receipt for reference on cost per item below.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Kayla Valencia
Came with a group of friends on a Saturday night and got a table despite being pretty full. Pretty casual environment and quick service. We had some delicious and some so so dishes. The chicken and rice noodles were delicious with lots of flavor and great textures. Didn’t love the soup dumplings or pancake. The dumpling’s soup to wrap ratio was off with too much dough. Green beans were decent. Overall it was an okay experience. I wouldn’t necessarily go back as a first choice, but wouldn’t totally knock a retry of a few dishes.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Danny H
Good food and good service. Parking is a little limited.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
freda hu
The environment is very good. I thought it was authentic Shanghainese food, but the boss actually invited Mexicans to cook the food for the house. It was so unpalatable! The sweet and sour short ribs themselves had been cut into 1cm cubes, but they were over-fried and could not be chewed. It felt like deep-fried food. Salted duck does not have the taste of salted duck at all, it just feels very salty. Not as good as the pre-cooked dishes, I won’t go there again and don’t recommend it!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Roaming
The staff had smelly noodles, loud noises, and the room temperature was cold, and it was during the Chinese New Year. Moreover, the Shanghai thick fried noodles were half-cooked, and I guess other fried noodles, most of which used inferior oil. The so-called Michelin noodles were outdated and sloppy. They were just a sister version of Panda Express, but other restaurants were more professional and tolerant.
Mama Lu’s Dumpling House in Alhambra is always a solid choice when I’m craving Shanghainese comfort food. The xiao long bao were juicy and flavorful with delicate wrappers, and the steamed fish with scallions was perfectly tender and light. We also ordered the beef roll, salt & pepper style meat with mushrooms, sautéed snow peas, and the salted egg yolk shrimp — everything came out generous in portion and great for sharing. The flavors were balanced, not overly greasy, and the service was fast even though it was busy. Definitely a go-to spot in SGV for dumplings and classic Chinese dishes.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great value spot for a casual meal. The prices are unbeatable.
Came here with friends and ordered a bunch of dishes. Most items are in the $10-$20 range, which is rare to find these days.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
IG: socalhkfoodies
Lunar New Year is coming! 🧧 Struggling to find a family spot that all generations and even your extended family will approve of? Mama Lu’s has you covered.
Walking in and seeing the giant xiao long bao mural, we immediately had to order it and it was so fulfilling 🥟. Of course, I didn’t forget my favorite French-style beef 法式牛柳粒, very juicy and done the Cantonese way. Need a carb that’s more special than noodles or rice? The Shanghai rice cakes 上海炒年糕 are the answer 🍜. To complete the meal, the older generation always requests the string beans 乾煸四季豆 because no veggies means the meal isn’t complete 🥬😂.
They have private room seating too
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was great. Very big size for the price.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Nice restaurant The food is tasty and the portions are big. Also service are friendly than the other branch
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Delicious food! My favorite is the Deep Fried Prawns because it’s similar to Honey Walnut Shrimp, minus the Walnuts.
The staff was super friendly and checked up on us if we needed anything.
I went at night for dinner and it was pretty chill and calm. Not a lot of people
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good food, fast and excellent services.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Very good Chinese food. This place has Walnut Shrimp, Beef roll, which is like sliced beef in a large toasted tortilla with green onions. It comes rolled like a burrito with both ends open, then sliced in 4 pieces.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lunch special small portion
n was told certain dishes not available from lunch menu disappointed
Taste is okay
Lunch noon time few tables
Not plan to come back
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Unfortunately this place is under new ownership (and it shows) -such a shame as it was my favorite Chinese restaurant in in LA
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Restaurantji Recommends
Not the Michelin rated restaurant anymore, it’s my first time back since new ownership a couple years ago and I have to say our experience fell short of expectations.
The string beans were still delicious, the walnut shrimp has “fallen off” and we ordered the chicken lettuce wraps but got the wrong item served to us. Apparently they took chicken lettuce wraps off the menu and replaced it with shrimp lettuce wraps with zero flavor… they didn’t bother to mention that protein swap had been made.
One of my guests commented on the poor service, but I thought it was on par with the average Chinese venues in the Alhambra area.
Sadly, this was a favorite spot but now it’s just basic. Photo of the wraps and receipt for reference on cost per item below.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Came with a group of friends on a Saturday night and got a table despite being pretty full. Pretty casual environment and quick service. We had some delicious and some so so dishes. The chicken and rice noodles were delicious with lots of flavor and great textures. Didn’t love the soup dumplings or pancake. The dumpling’s soup to wrap ratio was off with too much dough. Green beans were decent. Overall it was an okay experience. I wouldn’t necessarily go back as a first choice, but wouldn’t totally knock a retry of a few dishes.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Good food and good service. Parking is a little limited.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
The environment is very good. I thought it was authentic Shanghainese food, but the boss actually invited Mexicans to cook the food for the house. It was so unpalatable! The sweet and sour short ribs themselves had been cut into 1cm cubes, but they were over-fried and could not be chewed. It felt like deep-fried food. Salted duck does not have the taste of salted duck at all, it just feels very salty. Not as good as the pre-cooked dishes, I won’t go there again and don’t recommend it!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
The staff had smelly noodles, loud noises, and the room temperature was cold, and it was during the Chinese New Year. Moreover, the Shanghai thick fried noodles were half-cooked, and I guess other fried noodles, most of which used inferior oil. The so-called Michelin noodles were outdated and sloppy. They were just a sister version of Panda Express, but other restaurants were more professional and tolerant.
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