Can Somebody Explain Chinese Skewer Restaurant Hours?

So as JThur01 has reported, there’s been an explosion of skewer restaurants in the SGV. And most of them keep similar hours, opening around 5pm and closing about 3am. Since I don’t live in the SGV I’m generally not in the area at night except for weekend sitdown, and I’m missing out on these places. Anybody know the reason for these fairly standard hours? Are they all running on Uyghur unofficial time?

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Drinking food.

Like the Chinese version of a British Pub, with the skewers being the equivalent of the ploughman’s lunch.

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Yep, and there’s even more skewer places on the way. I think a stretch of Garvey in Monterey Park should be called “Skewer Row.” If there aren’t enough on Garvey proper, there are at least a couple more within a couple blocks north or south on Garfield. I don’t live in the SGV either, but somehow I’ve managed to do a couple of late nights in the area. This included one visit to a skewer place, albeit at the relatively early 11PM hour.

And, sssshhhh!, some even let you smoke. Inside.

How are these new skewer places different than Feng Mao? Or was Feng Mao ahead of the curve?

I love Feng Mao! Thanks to our old board and everyone posting about it back then. :slight_smile:

Isn’t Feng Mao more Korean-Chinese? And these are purely Chinese skewer places?

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Which ones have beer on tap?

The Barn in Arcadia for one. Chinese food with a gastropub touch at The Barn in Arcadia – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

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You don’t grill your own skewers.

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Hi @Chowseeker1999 -

L.A. Times -
“Feng Mao’s crossover cuisine isn’t without explanation. Owner Jin Chun-Hua and her husband hail from China’s Jilin province, a northeastern state that borders North Korea. Within Jilin is the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, a section of the province with a Korean community that once accounted for nearly two-thirds of the prefecture’s population. That you can hear Mandarin and Korean spoken at Feng Mao makes perfect sense. That Jin and her husband chose to camp their Korean-Chinese cooking in Koreatown is even more fitting.”

We live close by and love this place. I wanted to get in and do an updated report during Food on a Stick month, but, oh well…

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Thanks @TheCookie. Good to know. :slight_smile: We also love Feng Mao and will have to make it out there again once the heat dies down a bit. :slight_smile:

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Good point. It is rather warm for sitting at a flaming table. :sweat:

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Is Feng Mao suitable for a solo meal or better for a group?

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Group. Of course, I have to say (as I anticipate @robert making a contrarian stand), anything can be done solo.

There’s another place that does this kind of food really well that @EattheWorldLA mentioned and we enjoyed very much

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That’s kinda what I assumed. I’ll be in the area later today so was going to swing by, but will have to find something else.

I don’t think I’ve been to Feng Mao though it’s been on my list to try for years. Does either location have bar seating?

iki Ramen is close by

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Is this all that different from yakitori? I recall lots of that in this show:

Midnight Diner Midnight Diner - Google Search

love me some Feng Mao - you do see people solo/2 tops there.

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Well, yakitori by definition is chicken only. yaki = fried/grilled/fire, tori = chicken

There is kushiyaki, kushi = skewer.

In Mandarin, chuan = skewer. Or Shaokao.