I used to go there once a week, but last time the noodle they brought to me all are short, looks like not fresh at all.
Brenda L.
I became obsessed with snail rice noodles during the pandemic, and had takeout from this place a few times. Saw patrons dining inside today so was excited to finally try dining in and enjoy the noodle soup as they were intended. So first of all, they are really not open for dining in. They just allow you to eat your takeout food on their tables. This means: 1) no water service (which could be painful depending on how spicy your food is), 2) you are still mixing your own food out of takeout containers (really detracts from the experience because the first food to go in the soup will be extremely flavorful and the last portion will be bland), and 3) you need to bus your own tables (no big deal but there is also no trash can so you'll need to take the trash with you and find a trash can outside). The food is still tasty, most of the beef brisket is tender but I did have one piece of very chewy tendon. Broth is flavorful, but as mentioned above is inconsistent from beginning to end of the meal. I will probably wait a little longer until full dining in can be a supported to experience it again.
Gina C.
Been to this place for many years on and off. I had good and bad experience and give this place many chance. Since it's I grew up in Guilin, GRN is my childhood dish, so I'm not giving up on this place. I usually order the GRN, sometimes I order other dishes. Since I moved down to SoCal, every time I'm up here I visit this place for GRN. Last time their WiFi was out, so they wasn't taking orders. Which was a bumped. This time I came, they are still doing take out only and you can eat the take out inside but no service. I noticed improvements and some disappointment. Improved: 1. The noodle is not dry now!! (without requesting extra sauce and adding chili and broth.) I'm happy to finally see this improvement after many years of coming here. 2. They put less noodles now for the regular size which I liked. It used to be a lot of noodle in my liking, soaking up all the sauce and become extra dry. Always feel it was too much noodle. Now it's perfect portion! 3. They don't have $20+ credit card policy anymore. Yay since I don't carry cash around. What I didn't liked: 1. First they were out of napkins, which is not a huge deal but the boss need to do his delivery more on time. I understand he's in Oakland. If things are out in the restaurant, there's always cash out for employees to grab things the restaurant is out of. 2. They don't offer pickled long string beans and substituted with pickled mustard cabbage. The pickled string beans adds an important flavor to GNL. I was bummed out. The pickled cabbage added too much sweetness to the dish. 3. They don't offer the chili paste anymore which makes the flavor difference! I understand covid add difficulty to the restaurant business. To save money by getting cheaper Togo spoons or chopsticks or bags I understand. However cutting corners to save money when it comes to the flavor of the food is a turnoff. 4. Since it's been takeout only, the soup has always been cold. (I always eat the take out right away, because GNL doesn't take good if it sits too long) idk if they prepare them ahead of time or what. Like I said I'm not giving up on this place. But next time I'll call in and ask if they start serving the chili paste & pickled string beans. The server was really nice and friendly :)!
Tuo T.
This place don't take cash, and I asked cashier why?? This is the first restaurant that actually refuse to take cash and what u cannot believe is the cashier said reluctantly "I am too lazy to take cash"?? Excuse me ?? I hope he is not the owner.
Annie Y.
I love this kind of rice noodle, so I've found myself here a few times! I always go for the beef brisket Guilin rice noodle, and it's definitely a good comfort food. The regular size is enough for me, and it's very affordable, especially if use the yelp check in discount! The broth is a bit bland and could use some more toppings. Still, this place hits the spot if I'm in the mood for noodles! Hoping to try the crispy pork one in the future!
V P.
Bad experience. Me and my wife visited and we ordered classic noodle and 螺蛳粉。 Neither of them taste authentic and some items were cold. At the end when I asked for the bill and was told cash only for under $30 bill. It's quite a bad experience.
bunny tail
Serious Hygiene Issue.The spoons are filthy. You can see and feel the grease on the bottom. We asked them to get a different spoon, and the new one was still dirty with brownish stains are the rim.At the end a dead maggot floated up from the soups.I’ll fine a complaint on BBB.
J. T.
Sigh.. should have known something was wrong when there was only two tables with customers on a Sunday evening. Food is edible. That's the best praise I can give them. Hope you guys can improve on your good quality and service.
T. B.
One of most authentic guilin rice noodle in bay area
Konstantin Ramenskii
Change my review from 5 to 3. The quality of the noodles declined past year. So sad, it was my favorite place.
I was hungry and stopped by not knowing a thing about what I was getting into - seated immediately and given an electronic menu which thankfully had pictures and English descriptions. I ended up asking the diner next to me what he recommended and got that - and was super happy. Crispy pork with tomato sauce. Subtle but rich with layers of flavors and very satisfying! I will definitely be back to explore more of their big menu. Might have to ask more diners about their favorites as it's all very novel cuisine for me.
Sivilay T.
Review #327 - 2019 After the little ones finished up with their princess meet & greet, we were all starving so we decided to look for a hot pot place nearby. We ended up driving over to Tasty Pot next door, but there was a waiting line. Even though I'd already put my name on the wait list, it was too far down the list that we decided that it was too long of a wait. We decided to try our luck at Classic GRN. Our group of five was seated immediately. There were quite a few tables dining in so I expected it to be good enough, but I wasn't expecting much since the ratings were just ok. I wanted to try their special small bowls rice noodle, which ended up being pretty disappointing since the broth was so bland & each noodle bowl was just as plain as can be. I got an order of the beef brisket & crispy pork GRN dry noodle for my daughter to share with my niece, but neither of them touched it. It was very bland; although, the crispy pork wasn't too bad. My sister got the bawang spicy pork rice noodle, which she said was too salty for her liking so she added some hot tea to help dilute some of the salt. Her boyfriend got an order of the pork knuckle spicy snails rice noodle, which he seemed to enjoy. I guess one out of four is not a very good odd. Price is very reasonable, portions are very generous. However, when the food doesn't taste very good, nothing else really matters.
Jane D.
Not the best experience. We came in with a party of 7 and after waiting for a while, we asked the waiter if it was possible for us to split into two smaller parties. He gave us an annoyed look before directing us to the two tables. Lmao not the most welcoming ambiance. Their menu is primarily rice noodles. You order on a tablet and have the option to either get the soup or dry version of a dish. We opted for the crispy pork soup noodle, beef brisket and tripe dry noodle, and a noodle assortment of 5 mini noodle soups. The food looks much better than it tastes. The soup was bland, meat was bland (how is that even possible with crispy pork??), and one of our dishes came out COLD. How?? The only saving grace of this restaurant is that it's decorated well and our server was polite. Other than that, I do not see any reason to return here. There are better noodle places in SJ/cupertino. This one isn't really worth the trip.
Doug C.
Fresh rice noodles!!!! Cash unless over 30$. The reviews aren't accurate for this restaurant. There is a misconception of what makes Guilin Rice Noodles so famous in China. There are many youtube videos on Guilin Rice noodles. Southern style China uses rice, hence rice noodles. Northern style uses wheat flour and is more common in this country because it isn't as delicate and lasts longer and can be frozen. Very authentic; there are some menu items in chinese only with no english translation. The fried egg with sauce, best description is a slightly sweet tomato based sauce brownish red in color, very different from an American tomato based sauce which is typically sweeter and bright red. The fried egg is crispy-ish on the outside with an egg yolk that isn't dry or runny. The stir fried or pan steamed napa cabbage is savory, I think w sa-cha sauce. Rice noodles come in a home made broth not salty or with MSG. The rice noodles are made on site and fresh. They should melt in mouth and have the taste of the broth. There are no flavor enhancers so people may consider it bland if they are used to restaurant food in the US. Typical flavor profiles in China are more delicate and can be healthier without the additives; depending on what you order and who makes it. Can't finish the large. Fantastic menu options, highly varied. They don't serve chicken with bones to cater to Americanized audience. Suck on bones to extract calcium and eat tendons and cartilage; since there is no milk or fortified calcium in the traditional diet.
M Z
Genuine Guilin style noodles. The menu is mostly about noodles. A little pricey but tastes good. Service is good too.
I used to go there once a week, but last time the noodle they brought to me all are short, looks like not fresh at all.
I became obsessed with snail rice noodles during the pandemic, and had takeout from this place a few times. Saw patrons dining inside today so was excited to finally try dining in and enjoy the noodle soup as they were intended. So first of all, they are really not open for dining in. They just allow you to eat your takeout food on their tables. This means: 1) no water service (which could be painful depending on how spicy your food is), 2) you are still mixing your own food out of takeout containers (really detracts from the experience because the first food to go in the soup will be extremely flavorful and the last portion will be bland), and 3) you need to bus your own tables (no big deal but there is also no trash can so you'll need to take the trash with you and find a trash can outside). The food is still tasty, most of the beef brisket is tender but I did have one piece of very chewy tendon. Broth is flavorful, but as mentioned above is inconsistent from beginning to end of the meal. I will probably wait a little longer until full dining in can be a supported to experience it again.
Been to this place for many years on and off. I had good and bad experience and give this place many chance. Since it's I grew up in Guilin, GRN is my childhood dish, so I'm not giving up on this place. I usually order the GRN, sometimes I order other dishes. Since I moved down to SoCal, every time I'm up here I visit this place for GRN. Last time their WiFi was out, so they wasn't taking orders. Which was a bumped. This time I came, they are still doing take out only and you can eat the take out inside but no service. I noticed improvements and some disappointment. Improved: 1. The noodle is not dry now!! (without requesting extra sauce and adding chili and broth.) I'm happy to finally see this improvement after many years of coming here. 2. They put less noodles now for the regular size which I liked. It used to be a lot of noodle in my liking, soaking up all the sauce and become extra dry. Always feel it was too much noodle. Now it's perfect portion! 3. They don't have $20+ credit card policy anymore. Yay since I don't carry cash around. What I didn't liked: 1. First they were out of napkins, which is not a huge deal but the boss need to do his delivery more on time. I understand he's in Oakland. If things are out in the restaurant, there's always cash out for employees to grab things the restaurant is out of. 2. They don't offer pickled long string beans and substituted with pickled mustard cabbage. The pickled string beans adds an important flavor to GNL. I was bummed out. The pickled cabbage added too much sweetness to the dish. 3. They don't offer the chili paste anymore which makes the flavor difference! I understand covid add difficulty to the restaurant business. To save money by getting cheaper Togo spoons or chopsticks or bags I understand. However cutting corners to save money when it comes to the flavor of the food is a turnoff. 4. Since it's been takeout only, the soup has always been cold. (I always eat the take out right away, because GNL doesn't take good if it sits too long) idk if they prepare them ahead of time or what. Like I said I'm not giving up on this place. But next time I'll call in and ask if they start serving the chili paste & pickled string beans. The server was really nice and friendly :)!
This place don't take cash, and I asked cashier why?? This is the first restaurant that actually refuse to take cash and what u cannot believe is the cashier said reluctantly "I am too lazy to take cash"?? Excuse me ?? I hope he is not the owner.
I love this kind of rice noodle, so I've found myself here a few times! I always go for the beef brisket Guilin rice noodle, and it's definitely a good comfort food. The regular size is enough for me, and it's very affordable, especially if use the yelp check in discount! The broth is a bit bland and could use some more toppings. Still, this place hits the spot if I'm in the mood for noodles! Hoping to try the crispy pork one in the future!
Bad experience. Me and my wife visited and we ordered classic noodle and 螺蛳粉。 Neither of them taste authentic and some items were cold. At the end when I asked for the bill and was told cash only for under $30 bill. It's quite a bad experience.
Serious Hygiene Issue.The spoons are filthy. You can see and feel the grease on the bottom. We asked them to get a different spoon, and the new one was still dirty with brownish stains are the rim.At the end a dead maggot floated up from the soups.I’ll fine a complaint on BBB.
Sigh.. should have known something was wrong when there was only two tables with customers on a Sunday evening. Food is edible. That's the best praise I can give them. Hope you guys can improve on your good quality and service.
One of most authentic guilin rice noodle in bay area
Change my review from 5 to 3. The quality of the noodles declined past year. So sad, it was my favorite place.
Restaurantji Recommends
I was hungry and stopped by not knowing a thing about what I was getting into - seated immediately and given an electronic menu which thankfully had pictures and English descriptions. I ended up asking the diner next to me what he recommended and got that - and was super happy. Crispy pork with tomato sauce. Subtle but rich with layers of flavors and very satisfying! I will definitely be back to explore more of their big menu. Might have to ask more diners about their favorites as it's all very novel cuisine for me.
Review #327 - 2019 After the little ones finished up with their princess meet & greet, we were all starving so we decided to look for a hot pot place nearby. We ended up driving over to Tasty Pot next door, but there was a waiting line. Even though I'd already put my name on the wait list, it was too far down the list that we decided that it was too long of a wait. We decided to try our luck at Classic GRN. Our group of five was seated immediately. There were quite a few tables dining in so I expected it to be good enough, but I wasn't expecting much since the ratings were just ok. I wanted to try their special small bowls rice noodle, which ended up being pretty disappointing since the broth was so bland & each noodle bowl was just as plain as can be. I got an order of the beef brisket & crispy pork GRN dry noodle for my daughter to share with my niece, but neither of them touched it. It was very bland; although, the crispy pork wasn't too bad. My sister got the bawang spicy pork rice noodle, which she said was too salty for her liking so she added some hot tea to help dilute some of the salt. Her boyfriend got an order of the pork knuckle spicy snails rice noodle, which he seemed to enjoy. I guess one out of four is not a very good odd. Price is very reasonable, portions are very generous. However, when the food doesn't taste very good, nothing else really matters.
Not the best experience. We came in with a party of 7 and after waiting for a while, we asked the waiter if it was possible for us to split into two smaller parties. He gave us an annoyed look before directing us to the two tables. Lmao not the most welcoming ambiance. Their menu is primarily rice noodles. You order on a tablet and have the option to either get the soup or dry version of a dish. We opted for the crispy pork soup noodle, beef brisket and tripe dry noodle, and a noodle assortment of 5 mini noodle soups. The food looks much better than it tastes. The soup was bland, meat was bland (how is that even possible with crispy pork??), and one of our dishes came out COLD. How?? The only saving grace of this restaurant is that it's decorated well and our server was polite. Other than that, I do not see any reason to return here. There are better noodle places in SJ/cupertino. This one isn't really worth the trip.
Fresh rice noodles!!!! Cash unless over 30$. The reviews aren't accurate for this restaurant. There is a misconception of what makes Guilin Rice Noodles so famous in China. There are many youtube videos on Guilin Rice noodles. Southern style China uses rice, hence rice noodles. Northern style uses wheat flour and is more common in this country because it isn't as delicate and lasts longer and can be frozen. Very authentic; there are some menu items in chinese only with no english translation. The fried egg with sauce, best description is a slightly sweet tomato based sauce brownish red in color, very different from an American tomato based sauce which is typically sweeter and bright red. The fried egg is crispy-ish on the outside with an egg yolk that isn't dry or runny. The stir fried or pan steamed napa cabbage is savory, I think w sa-cha sauce. Rice noodles come in a home made broth not salty or with MSG. The rice noodles are made on site and fresh. They should melt in mouth and have the taste of the broth. There are no flavor enhancers so people may consider it bland if they are used to restaurant food in the US. Typical flavor profiles in China are more delicate and can be healthier without the additives; depending on what you order and who makes it. Can't finish the large. Fantastic menu options, highly varied. They don't serve chicken with bones to cater to Americanized audience. Suck on bones to extract calcium and eat tendons and cartilage; since there is no milk or fortified calcium in the traditional diet.
Genuine Guilin style noodles. The menu is mostly about noodles. A little pricey but tastes good. Service is good too.