Sam Woo Restaurant & BBQ Express

The service here sucks ass! Can I give half a star?! First cash only so better go to the ATM before you even show up here, really?!? Second very busy and no one to greet you when you walk in or to ask how many in your party. I was the first one here before a mass of people came, told them lady how many in my party, other families came in after me and she sat them down first! Then a man comes later and finally tells me I need a number and other people people passed me up. He didn’t care if I was first, only cared if I had a number and I told him the lady never gave me a number. VERY RUDE and definitely NOT ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE!

The main reasons I go here: pan-​fried noodles and dim sum. They have a good, cheap dim sum that is served everyday until 3pm, I believe. What I like most about this place is their service. Many dim sum places can actually be scary and the servers make you feel awkward when you aren’t ordering in Chinese. I know this, because I don’t speak Chinese, and my boyfriend is white, so we have felt how they treat «those kind» of customers at dim sum restaurants. We thoroughly enjoy this place though because they make us feel comfortable and their food is really good. Their peking duck is also really good if you’re looking to spend a little more.

Like I said before, great food but not so great service. I recommend coming here any day of the week. They are specially known for the roasted duck and it is the best duck anywhere.

My husband is nostalgic over this place… yes, maybe it was amazing 20 years ago, and I love to eat at the restaurant next door from time to time, but they do use MSG, so if you’re sensitive to that, watch out! We ordered a bunch of dishes, a couple I could not identify the fried meat. The chow mein looked ok and the beef broccoli as well as the string beans (delicious!), but the rest was mediocre. Definitely better tasting than most chinese places in Fountain Valley, but still a bit of a mixed bag and overall, disappointing. Maybe depends what you get.

Said it would take 20 min. Took 1 hr instead. All the Chinese ppl got called ahead of my group. But u guys get a couple stars for the orange chicken and walnut shrimp.

Sam woo is Sam woo! Being a big Chinese food lover, this is one of the closest authentic Chinese food you can find in Irvine! Wether you dine in or carry out in sure you can find the fish you’re craving for!
** if you’re a UCI student show your ID card if you dine in. They give you a discount!

Came here around 2 to pick up some food for dinner tonight.
I ordered a whole duck, BBQ ribs and a squid.
When I was paying the cashier was giving her fellow worker a very hard time for not knowing the English name on a dish. 2 other workers came over and continued to give the same poor lady a hard time.
As a customer, it is very uncomfortable to see such poor work environment.
I won’t be back to support this type of business.
Also, the roast duck looked like it was from yesterday and they just re-​heat it today. The meat was this dark color and kind of mushy.

Really 3.5 but I rounded up
This review is for the Sam Woo take out only. I’ve been coming to Sam Woo for years and really have enjoyed every meal. Tonight the BF was feeling sick and because I’m so nice, I ran out to pick up dinner.
The restaurant is located in the same center as the 99 Ranch on Culver. The to go side is cash only. So make sure you swing by the ATM before you head over.
I ordered from the menu:
Wor wonton soup. The wontons were packaged separately from the soup. Once we opened up the packages at home and combined them… Delicious
House special fried rice, good nothing too special
Chicken wings, just ok
From the hot bar:
Green beans, I think these are deep fried. Really good my fav actually
Fried pork chops least favorite of the night. Flavorless
BBQ pork, the kind that’s hanging in the window, pork belly the best ever!!!
Dim sum is ok. They don’t have carts you order off a menu

It gets real at Sam Woo BBQ (takeout). Hanging poultry and pork sides mmm.
Hands down a bargain compared to Panda Express and the like. They are programmed to fill the box with food till overflowing.
BBQ Char Siu is the best. Salt Spicy Pork Chop is the best.
My low key fave is the Beef /​Black Bean Bitter melon. So good I learned to cook it.
Portions have stayed the same for a decade. Prices still good.
No more one liners… Just really good stuff.

Sam Woo is the love of my life.
As a lifelong resident of Irvine, I have been coming here for as long as I can remember. While the service may not always be the greatest, I could care less about that when the food is as authentic as it gets to Cantonese cuisine. I’ve traveled to Hong Kong multiple times, and the food at Sam Woo is exactly the same as it is there. I’m kind of confused as to why this place only has 3.5 stars, but I feel like people may be confusing it with S.W. (which is a totally different establishment) down the street.
I used to always joke (lowkey not really kidding) with my mom that my last meal on earth would be their chicken fried rice, and their braised tofu and pork dish. After moving to Berkeley for school, I have come to appreciate the presence of Sam Woo in my life infinitely, and it’s always my first meal back when I come home.
This place is a staple in my life for when I need good comfort food and a reminder of home.

Don’t expect your typical wait staff/​service here. Go in knowing that the service is efficient; meaning they will seat you, bring tea, take your order and serve you. Done. That’s it. All she wrote. Don’t let it bother you or rush you.
Bottom line: The food is really good. That’s why you may wait in line, especially on weekends or at lunch. And keep in mind that it can get noisy. But I’ve never had problems hearing my fellow diners. It is common to see large groups/​families sharing off-​menu dishes. Looks like fun!

I used to love dim sum here, but I dont know why the taste is getting worse. I always have various dim sums and fried squid. Fried squid was good but dim sums were disappointing.
The restaurant is pretty spacious and noisy. The service was not really satisfactory that I could not see who our server was and where he/​she was.

Good dim sum place! It’s affordable and good quality food. Do note that certain items are only available on weekends. I love to get a sesame ball for dessert but I seem to forget that I have to come on a weekend to get it :(
There are many servers who are rude. We were being rushed to get out even though the restaurant was not busy and there were plenty of other seats available. We also had some leftover and were told that we shouldn’t have ordered more than we could eat — even though this is not a all you can eat place and we’ve paid for everything we ordered. We took our left over home so it’s not like anything was wasted. Oh well, I just take it as something you have to tolerate coming to places like this. Unfortunately, this kind of bad service is quite normal.

3.5 Stars
Sam Woo is a staple of Cantonese Style Food in Southern California and while it’s been awhile since I’ve been to this Irvine location I’m glad to see that it has remained clean and still serving Hong Kong style food for those of us who do feel nostalgic for it from time to time. I’m no stranger to going to a hole in the wall to get authentic Chinese food but whats great about this place is that you don’t have to go to some dingy cramped hot steam room with everyone’s yelling within earshot to get decent Cantonese food. It’s a pleasant experience and enjoyable. With decent food. Good fallback place if you’re looking for something safe and familiar.

There aren’t that many restaurants that serve dim sum around UC Irvine. Before I discovered Sam Woo, my friends and I went to Capital Seafood. Though the quality of the dim sum is better at Capital, Sam Woo isn’t far behind. It’s affordable and good quality food.
You would probably see more families and older people dining at the restaurant. I am giving it 4 stars, however, because I think the staff could be a little more organized to maximize efficiency. The wait can get pretty long if you go during lunch on a weekend. I try to going at noon altogether, but you may have to wait even if you go in at 1 pm.
Still worth the wait though. I would say it is the best dim sum place within a 10 mile radius of UC Irvine.

Now if you live in Irvine, Sam woo is more than an acquaintance to you… Whether you’ve dined in or had take out.
The express side moves quickly and you get your bang for your buck. Food is standard Chinese food… So if you’re craving Chinese then swing by.
The dine in side is your typical Chinese restaurant atmosphere. Server brings you tea, takes the order, and delivers your food. Don’t bother waiting for any customary or typical «how is everything going?» questions.
Honey walnut shrimp and salt and pepper filets are my defaults here.
This place is always packed with families, coupled, and solo diners… So be prepared to wait especially on weekends. You can’t miss this place, just look for the swarm of black hair peopled and the occasional light browns and blondes in the crowd.
Cash only.

this was my second visit here. i was impressed my first visit with the walnut shrimp so I decided to give it another shot with a co-​worker. He was a vegetarian.
My co-​worker was sick all night and the next day. This is common when a vegetarian eats meat.
And I will say that food this 2^nd time was not as good. In my opinion, there are better places to get Chinese in the area.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!
I came two times in less than 2 weeks and it just keeps getting better: D
So the first visit, I had no intention on coming here. I wanted a quick run to Bevmo with Bluecollar but he was nagging about how he wanted soup o_​O, like what kind of soup mofo and if you’re feeling sick why come all this way to hang with me sickboy LOL. First we went to Tasty noodle house but it looked packed and we didn’t want to wait. So we went to Sam woo. I didn’t know there was a casual eating section, I wish I would had known because we were severely under dressed for the white linen side LOL. I’m talkin bum clothes on a lazy Sunday type of clothes LOL. I had no intention on eating that early either. Thought we would go home and get dressed then go back out to eat GRRRRR.
Anywho, it didn’t matter because we had great service anyway LOL. So with this visit we ordered, Westlake soup, Steamed dumplings, Roast pork and bbq pork combo, white rice and beef chow mein. Soup came out first. Which one makes sense and two that’s the main reason why we came LOL. He was surprised because it wasn’t what he expected LOL he should have stuck to a brothy wonton soup. He enjoyed it anyway so that’s all that matters. Everything was sooooo good EXECEPT the roast pork. I’ve been craving roast pork since I had the crack roast pork from Baos Hog. So when I saw this on the menu, I had to have it. Unfortunately like someone said in their review of Sam woo, their inconsistent when it comes to their pork dishes. The bbq was awesome but the roast pork was dry, cold and the skin was limp. Nothing like what I had at Baos. Oh well, the rest of the meal was beyond solid.
Second visit I came with my mom and the food was better than the first time. I made sure I stayed away from that roast pork LOL. This visit we ordered the pupu platter basically comes with egg rolls, wontons, bbq pork ribs and some fried stuffed shrimp. This is the best value all that food for 11 bucks. Every thing is two per person and and about 6 cut ribs. Still had leftovers of that! Everything was super hot, moist and fresh! We also ordered Juicy dumplings, salt spicy pork chops, that crack beef chow mein and shrimp fried rice. The portions are pretty big for 2 and I like this because I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE leftovers: D My mom enjoyed her food so much. For Americanized Chinese food, this rivaled Panda Inn for her and that says ALOT because the best Chinese food we’ve ever had is the retired Ting Sing from Gardena. Speaking of, can someone tell me where I can get the infamous Tomato Beef like they had :(That dish was the best dish next to shrimp fried rice LOL. We left more than satisfied and we had the best seat of the house because this place was packed on a Saturday evening and by the time we were done, all the big tables were broken down and we were able to squeeze our full selves by LOL.
This meal stayed on my Moms mind since we left LOL. I’m sad I didn’t get to take her there for her last trip before she moved out of state. But I’m happy I get to take her back when she comes to visit me: D

I came here around 11:45 and the wait was 30 minutes for 2 people. We waited around 20 minutes and got seated. Our server came to our table and took our order. No, they don’t have the paper for you take off. You just tell them verbally what you want or wait for the dim sum cart ladies to come by… I didn’t see any dim sum cart for a good 5 minutes so I decided to order from the server.
I ordered my favorite: Siu Mai. I like it so much I ordered 2 of them. When it come to my table, I was like what? That’s the Siu Mai? Looks nothing like I expected but a blob of dark colored meat… Lol not really looking like the regular kind of Siu Mai I usually have. Well I thought it might look ugly but it might taste good? So I took a bite of it. Hard, dry, and refrigerated meat smell… No, just no. I came really hungry but I’m not hungry after I took a bite of the Siu Mai.
Over all, this place is ok and very convenient since there’s a grocery store next door to it (99 Ranch Market) the prices are very good and inexpensive but it does reflects the quality here. If you just want cheap and hot Chinese food, come here for lunch.

This review is for the BBQ Express side.
+ Large portions
+ Tasty food
+ Good variety
— Cash only
— Have to get here early on certain days or there might not be much left
I’m honestly not sure why I don’t here more often. Their prices are great and the portions are large. It is great for someone like me who has little time due to work. I can come here on the weekend and stock up on lunch at the office or dinner at home.
It is a cash only place (the BBQ Express side) so be prepared for that. The line moves fast, so make sure you know what you want before you order or you might irritate the line of folks behind you.