an ice cream place adding food sounds either inspired… or desperate. but most everything in that dish can be made beforehand except for the fried egg, so prep time is minimal. but you can’t skimp on the BBQ pork.
Indian, The Tavern replaces Uncle Yu’s Indian themed restaurant in San Gabriel. New menu and the creepy looking Uncle Yu is gone. No clue as to server attire as it’s only takeout so far.
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Sam Woo BBQ in Focus Plaza has closed. It was one of the oldest branches of the loose chain being one of the first tenants of that plaza almost 30 years ago. Don’t know if it’s COVID or scandal related. Meanwhile Noodle King has reappeared in its former Alhambra location. The original Noodle King moved there almost 20 years ago from Valley/Garfield but soon was sold and operated as New Noodle King until 2019 when Supreme Dragon briefly came back to life. COVID quickly knocked Supreme Dragon out and Noodle King Kitchen has just opened. I presume this is New Noodle King returning under a less complicated name.
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Damn Sam Woo Focus Plaza and Supreme Dragon.
I prefer the Alhambra/Valley Blvd OG Sam Woo but I have had many meals there at Sam Woo Focus Plaza growing up. (then heading over to 99 Ranch afterwards).
Also had many meals at Supreme Dragon when it was in Rowland Heights. Never got to try them when they moved. I consider it an SGV OG.
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i ate at alhambra sam woo almost weekly during the 90’s. maybe twice at focus plaza ever; IIRC the prices were slightly higher - and i lived in alhambra at the time.
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Supreme Dragon opened up in Prospect Plaza in San Gabriel and expanded a year later to Rowland Heights. So they really are a San Gabriel original. They closed the San Gabriel location in 1993, now occupied by Man Chan.
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Wasnt that the location of Sam Woo that got into trouble with the IRS?
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Thank you for the background history!
according to the office of the CA attorney general, the cheung brothers who run 6 (now 5, i guess) sam woo locations in LA were convicted of tax fraud. apparently they under-reported over $7.6 mil in sales, $3.5 mil in taxable income, and $4.5 mil in wages over an eight year period. each brother was ordered to pay over $2 mil each in restitution in order to serve shorter sentences. one brother ponied up $2.3 mil before his arraignment and was to be sentenced to 16 months this month as part of his plea deal. the other brother has ponied up only a half mil so far (out of almost $3mil) and is looking at over nine years if he doesn’t come up with the rest by august, something like 3 years if he does. maybe the closing frees up some capital?
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Something called 0410 Music Bar BBQ has replaced LYL Seafood in Monterey Park (which closed almost a year ago). Online menu is only in Chinese. I think it might be another skewer place along skewer row on Garvey.
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last month i went by the food court in the mall at san gabriel/garvey (which has been becoming a vietnamese enclave over the past few years) on a saturday afternoon and it was almost completely deserted. only one place was open. even harlam’s kitchen was closed (something like a 6 week hiatus).
while getting a breakfast special to go from sun nong dan this monring, i noticed that they’ve resumed serving outdoors under a canopy. about 8 tables each capable of seating 2-4 people. two of the tables were occupied.
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Mama Lu arrested for tax evasion.
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Thanks for posting that. Glad the task force is still working!
is mama lu or mama’s lu? their signage is inconsistent in this regard. either way, sam woo, mama('s) lu… hoo’s next?
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Each location has a slightly different name, hence one is Mama’s Lu, another is Mama Lu’s etc.
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not sure if it’s part of the chain, but chicken day now exists on valley a couple of blocks away from hawaii supermarket. korean fried chicken, kimbap, soups, etc. their website chickendaysg dot com is not all that informative.
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Apparently only the original Monterey Park location (not the one on W. Garvey), and perhaps by implication the new Colima Road location of Mama Lu’s are implicated.
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Funny you guys were just talking about this.
Eater in reporting the tax evasion case, broke down the ownership of these restaurants.
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Cafe Spot at 500 W. Valley Blvd. is still listed as open on Google Maps but seems to have been replaced by a place called New Haojing. Yelpers report a long Cantonese menu and new ownership.
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Arcadia’s Ikka Sizzling Pot is opening up a branch in San Gabriel’s Prospect Plaza (home to Mian et al). The kicker is that they are replacing a dress store, since there weren’t enough restaurant spaces (7 or 8?) in that center.
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