CBS Seafood Restaurant

The service was horrible at the barbecue side of the restaurant, the side where the grill ducks are hanging in the window. No indications telling where to start the line. But I chose to go to the cashier to pay for my grill duck by telling the cashier that I want to pick my own. She took my money and when it’s the moment to pick my duck, all the workers ignored me. I heard them cursing to the customers in Chinese.

OK so here comes some straight talk.
Are they talkative. No. Is service/​ambience a ⁵⁄₅ no. Do they sling endless hot dimsum for $ 2-​$ 3. Yes. Did my entire meal cost $ 8. Yes. Boom, Welcome to CBS!
Honestly this was a great stop. Screw the haters, Tic T I’m looking at you. Ladies in red pushing steam carts full of fun options. Shumai, steamed shrimp, sweet rice, chicken feet. ok skip those, but everything else. Great. A+
We will be back with a big group. Pro Tip: Beat the buses full of regulars by getting there for 10:55am on weekends. By 11:30 this place is packed. Standing room only. Consider yourself warned!

4.5 Stars Easy. Been here more times than I can count. Awesome Dim Sum to Go, Deli foods to Go… Great prices. Especially when such Quality. And a Foodies Delight Restuarant To Enjoy as well. Parking adjacent is Easy Pleasseee when off their very busy hours.
Trust Elite Derek L., Jennifer P. 5 star reviews
Our family been coming here maybe more then 15 years. And theres Chinatown locals saying make this your enjoyable dim sum place.
Hahaha. An Elite Unilocal’R said they have sparce Dim Sum Menu. And gave them one star. Heck ****They Push Dim Sum Carts Around***

Came on a Sunday expecting a wide variety, but seemed pretty limited on the pickings. They have you draw a numbered ticket & took about 30 mins to get seated. It’s pretty big inside with plenty of round tables for large parties. The staff hustles to clean, set tables & tend to customers. A few carts were going around with steamed buns, dumplings, shumai & pastries.
We had shrimp dumplings, pork buns, shumai and ordered the greens, all of which were cooked nicely & seasoned well with the added soy sauce & chili sauce. It hit the spot for our craving, but would’ve liked to had more options on items. I might try a different place next time…

After passing this place numerous times on my way to ABC nearby, I decided to give it a try. And that, on the recommendation of a coworker that swore I’d like the food better then ABC. Well I tried it and didn’t care much for it. To Go is what I came in for, and maybe it was the language barrier but I didn’t care for the seemingly impatient attitude. And the food, though not great at ABC either, was in my opinion inferior. I am willing to try coming in to sit down someday though, maybe that would be a more satisfying experience.

One of the better dim sum places in Chinatown, great for the basics and if you want to order a la carte from the in-​restaurant take-​out. Always love the roasted duck, both seeing them hanging in the window and eating them along with the dishes picked from cart ladies pushing certain specials. Close to the metro and enough parking at most times of day and night.

This review is solely based on their BBQ & dimsum take out area since there is no Unilocal account for that (although I’ve also ate at the restaurant itself many many years ago when I was younger with family and I don’t quite remember much about this place lol might have to make a trip soon for dimsum) I came here yesterday afternoon to purchase some baked BBQ buns the first thing I noticed here how organized the take out orders and pick up area was (most of the time, while in Chinatown I would see and hear at least a few ppl yelling, or misplaced in the line) ordering and paying was a breeze. Now on to the BBQ pork buns (cha siu bao) themselves 75¢ (other more well known bakeries in the area sell them for up to $ 1.15 each) plus judging by their size it was quite a deal that I ended up getting 8 of them for myself and my family after all who doesn’t love these warm soft buns filled with lots of BBQ pork!

Everything was ok. Prices are great. The service was good too. Dim sum only before 3 pm.

2:30pm Order dimsum n and the chinese food got me ha gow n shew mai… n i got the fried rice n chow mein… took it home ate it for dinner at about 7pm… i gor the runs n i had a high fever…
U geust it…
I got stomach flue will never go to this place again.

Dimsum menu is pretty sparse. We came in for a quick dimsum bite and were dismayed at the lack of choices on the dimsum menu. Although I hate to do this, we pretty much asked politely to leave and went to their next door To-​Go counter to grab a couple orders — just to tide us over until we get across town.
I have a vague recollection of having good dimsum years ago here… but maybe my memory is failing me, haha. The service was nothing to write about. Enough said.

I’ve been here throughout my life and I’ve sat at the dining room once for dim sum, but most of the time I go to the take out portion of the restaurant.
The dining room wasn’t too bad, typical dim sum place. The take out portion is what I usually go to. Service is okay, the food they serve is usually the same duck, veggies, noodles, some pastries. In other words, another Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. A big plus about this place is there’s parking!

My bf told me that it’s difficult to find good Chinese food in Chinatown. Seems ironic, but it proved true, at least for this place.
The variety of dishes they had here for dim sum was disappointing, but it did have the standard stuff: siu mai, har gow, the flat noodle sheets with shrimp, chicken feet, bbq pork buns, etc. Everything was very mediocre at best. The har gow were poorly made and the dumpling skin stuck to the little papers and ripped apart. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, all 12 that we had.
I was surprised that they had those fried shrimp balls with the crab claw and these were HUGE —but mostly filled with… fillers? I’m not sure what it was, but didn’t taste must crab or shrimp. Disappointing. Egg tarts were terrible… you can tell just by looking at them they won’t be good, no flaky crust. We got a calamari dish on a whim and it was surprisingly good, nice squid flavor and extra crispy.
They have their own private parking lot, which is awesome! They take card, prices are fair, and the service is pretty decent.
However, the food is not so great and it lacks variety. Next time, we’ll drive a bit further for dim sum in the 626.

I don’t hand out 5 star reviews that often. It’s gotta be earned and most places just don’t go that far — CBS was NOT one of those places. I normally travel to Little Saigon for kick ass dim sum but decided to pop in to this little gem after leaving the nail polish shop down the street. The parking lot wasn’t packed at all, which was that much more of a draw. I hate having to wait for dim sum. Yeah, I’m spoiled.
Anyhow, everything was delish. The chicken feet were amazing — fatty, meaty, extremely flavorful. All the dim sum was awesome. The service was better than expected — they were johnny on the spot with everything — sauces, water, etc. Definitely better than Little Saigon.
The prices were very reasonable — we ate at least 7 dishes and the bill was less than $ 35 — here’s to low prices!
I very much enjoyed my experience — highly recommend and we will definitely be back!

Delicious food, usually fresh and very cheap prices. My favorite spot for dim sum in LA since it’s one of the most authentic and worth the price. However, it comes with the horrible service and dirty environment. That does basically go for Chinatown in general, so just expect that when eating and shopping at Chinatown.
Besides that, the food is great and better than most places I’ve had dim sum. I love their shrimp nice noodles and Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. Their porridge is pretty good too and worth the price. For dessert, I love their egg cream bun! Delicious and sweet! They serve you Jasmine tea and if you want water or utensils, you have to ask for it.
For those who have never had dim sum, they all come to you in carts of different types of dishes; fried, dumpling, dessert, etc. You choose what you like, and whatever group of food they’re in, they stamp it on your check. The prices are all in the little menu. They start at $ 2.50 and usually go up to no more than $ 10 for dim sum. You can also order off their menu for bigger dishes. Sometimes when they come by with their cart, they try to show you plates and ask you if you want it, or even pressure you into trying it. Don’t do it because you have to pay for it even if you don’t like it. Don’t be afraid to say no to them! It’s better than being nice and trying everything and then being stuck paying for it all, lol.
Last, but not least, I do want to mention about the parking here as well! Parking is free and they have a pretty decent size lot. The guy who is in charge is a very sweet man. He is helpful and seemed to always be smiling, which I love! We always tip him a couple of bucks when we come. He deserves it! If there aren’t any spaces left, he tries to work with you and make spots. Awesome guy and I’ve been seeing him there for yearssss already!

(Dined 05÷10÷15 SU @ 11:30am): I would change the channel on this dim sum network!
It was our annual Mother’s Day brunch for my mom and sister, and they wanted to try CBS Seafood Restaurant, another place we hadn’t tried and another to add to our collection of dim sum restaurants. With so many still to try in L.A.s Chinatown alone, would this place make on our «must watch» list!?:
The gluttony began with these
:
~Meat & Vegetable Sweet Rice — More of a dessert, I had no idea what kind of meat was used! It was like one of my omelettes — everything AND the kitchen sink was included! Everyone but me thought it tasted weird.
~Bean Curd — Healthy sounded good but no one ate this but me! Although I liked it, the presentation had little to be desired.
~Fried Crab Balls — Heavily breaded, a lot of filler, yet a decent amount of shrimp.
~Peanut Shrimp Har Gow — Finely-​diced peanuts that added an interesting crunch to this always tasty choice.
~Meatballs — «That’s a not so spicy meatball!» These would’ve been more appropriate atop a mountain of spaghetti all covered with cheese.
As time passed, we managed to scarf some (not a complete list) of these morsels until we were about to burst:
~Stuffed Shrimp Bell Peppers — Prepared in front of us, the shrimp was lacking and the bell pepper was over-​powering
.
~Sesame Seed Balls — Decent size with yellow mung beans and a hint of coconut, these were always my favorite as a meal itself.
~Bok Choy — Another healthy selection, all was fresh and not heavily slathered with oyster sauce.
~Fried Salted Pepper Calamari — Cold and chewy, these obviously have made the rounds multiple times with no takers.bleh.
~Steamed Sweet Rice Cakes — Another favorite of everyones, the pieces were thinner than some places and lacked the «holes» my nieces liked, but good nonetheless.
~Steamed Pork Buns — Overly-​steamed (stuck to my fingers) and the pork was really juicy. These had all sorts of issues.
Service — It was a holiday of sorts and the place was buzzing, but unfortunately there were lulls where no carts
nor trays came by our snug corner table right next to the kitchen opening. At times, the same food past us more than we’d liked while certainly we missed other available grub options. They kindly provided forks and exra dipping sauces for everyone (I used chopsticks, thank you very much!), filled our water glasses with regularity to the point that they left the pitcher at the end. Tea replacement was adequate, a tad slow to clear away empty dishes, the obvious language barrier was present, and no cheerful ladies as they hawked their offerings. All was good at best.
Parking (Free) — They had their own lot which was tight and filled-​up quickly (I was lucky)
. Otherwise, There was metered parking on all surrounding streets as well as a bevy of nearby paid lots that ranged from $ 3.00-$ 5.00 all day (at least on Sundays).
Atmosphere, décor, ambience — Your typical dim sum restaurant with a banquet hall feel, this was one of the smallest dim sum places I’ve ever eaten at. There was a small dining area once you entered with a slightly bigger dining room in the back. Displayed were the usual decorations of national pride. Round and square tables were crammed together with nary an aisle for the carts to pass through. Although natural lighting came through the front doors and windows, it was mostly electric lighting that illuminated this place. There were no TVs nor background music… just the loud chatter of conversations and the peddling of food.
Attire — Totally casual, so I would normally be in a t-​shirt, boardshorts, and flip-​flops.
Overall, we were glad to have finally tried CBS Seafood Restaurant, but the concensus was lukewarm at best. To be fair, maybe the «holiday» had something to do with it, but service was passable, the food was only decent, we hardly saw any of our favorites (where was the shumai!?), and the seafood options were minimal. The prices seemed affordable. I found decent value based on the prices, service, and experience noted above (total paid experience was around $ 83.00 before tip). And, they accepted my credit card of choice… AMEX! 2.5 STARS

One of the things I miss when I worked days is having dim sum with the boo. And our go to place is CBS.
We go for the great food or else the cr@ppy attitude of the workers will surely turn us off.
Love their siomai, short ribs in black bean sauce and yang chow fried rice. We’re all set. The complimentary hot tea makes a meal. Sometimes the boo gets a canned soda.
Parking can be tight. Hey this is Chinatown in DTLA. We’re over it.
Don’t go during noontime you’ll pass out from hunger, coz they like to pile on the food on tables of locals who are already stuffing their faces silly.
Restroom can be a hit or a miss. Use at your own risk.

Yesterday, we decided to drive to LA and arrived in LA Chinatown for the 1^st time. Did some Unilocaling and saw CBS Seafood Restaurant has some great reviews so we gave it a try. CBS Seafood did not disappoint us their Dim Sum and service are top-notch.The food is definitely on another level of quality. Everyone that came with the cart have a smile on their face and the server kept our drinks filled and checked on us regularly very friendly and polite.
The price is very reasonable and they also have a private parking lot. Overall this is a great experience.

Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA: Almost didn’t write a review.
Bussing staff more attentive than the wait staff, who rarely came by the table. Used dishes were promptly removed by the visible bussing staff.
THE FOOD
Beef Rice Noodle
Steamed Pork w/​Beancurd Skin Roll
Shrimp Har Gow
Steamed BBQ Pork Buns
Steamed Chicken Buns
BBQ Pork Pie (flakey turnovers)
Jook
The Beef Rice Noodles tasted like reheated, day-​old products. After sitting a few minutes at our table, they became quite firm, like cooked rice stored in the the refrigerator.
Gravy over the Beancurd Skin Roll made it mushy.
Shrimp Har Gow had a thick skin, not delicate.
Both Pork and the Chicken Buns were steamed and actually tasted good.
The best product today was the BBQ Pork Pie. Tender, flaky, rich.
Jook, rice porridge, was okay.
We won’t be back soon.

Good dim sum and good service! We came here after another dim sum place we wanted to go to was closed. They had a wide variety of dim sum and most of them we tried were very good.
— Shumai: big in size and tasted good
— BBQ pork bao buns: very good. Probably my favorite item. Plenty of tender pork inside.
— Shrimp wrapped in what appeared to be rice paper: I’m not sure what the name was but they pour the sauce over it once they put it on the table. It was very good.
— Chicken feet: good
— Crispy almost egg roll: not sure what the name was but it was also good
All of the dim sum was very good. I was a huge fan of the mustard and the tea. Parking can get a little crazy if you go during a lunch rush.

300^th Review!!! I waited and looked for a good restaurant for this review. 65 more to go and I’m done with the 365 Unilocal Challenge. Woohoo!
I came across an article about the best dim sum (dian xin) places in Los Angeles and I got intrigued if I could ever find one that will be a worthy comparison for Jing Fong in New York.
I checked the Unilocal ratings for this place and was disappointed to see 3 stars. Should I even try? I didn’t know what to expect from this place but after reading that they still have carts going around the restaurant for their dim sum dishes, I knew I had to go. Besides, I’ve been practicing how to order in Mandarin. *Ehem* Wo xiang zhe ge, na ga he zhe ge.
Be warned. This is in Chinatown. Traffic is horrible! Parking lots were full! We turned right on Ord St thinking that’s where the free rear parking is located but the spot we found was actually for Philippe the Original — French dipped sandwiches. Errr… We found a spot. We’re taking it. Entrance for CBS rear parking is actually on Spring St but it was packed. The sort where «you’ll have to wait for the other diners to finish eating and drive out the lot so you can back your car» kind of packed.
Right by the entrance is their take out area. Very nice to know they have that option. Everything is cooked and you just go down the line, pointing at the dishes you want to get.
The dining area is thru another door. Get your number quick if you don’t want to wait for too long. I anticipated a wait time of 40+ min because that’s how long we normally wait to get seated at other dim sum places. We were given #23 and they were already calling out #19. Not bad!
I started looking around while waiting to be seated and I noticed it’s mostly Filipinos who were there. I’ve never seen as many Filipinos in one place unless if its in a Filipino restaurant or if I’m in Cerritos Mall. It was nice to hear my dialect being spoken out loud until one of the women looked over at me with a very typical Filipino look. It’s like a stink eye except they look at you from the corner of their eye and minus the nose wrinkling. I call it the Filipino stink eye. I couldn’t help but laugh. Is it because I’m wearing a t shirt, shorts and chanclas? But so was she. Hmpf.
20 minutes later we were lead towards the back of the restaurant where they had more seats. Cool! And more carts! I didn’t even wait for the busboy to finish setting our table. I hailed the first dim sum cart I saw.
Luó bo gāo (3 stars) — Turnip cake in English; flavor was really nice and subtle but it was too mushy compared to the ones I’ve tried at other dim sum places.
Siu mai (5 stars) — AKA pork dumplings, it comes 4 pieces per plate, the flavors were nice and they sure are not stingy on the filling. Looking at it, at first, I thought it looked dry but I found it wasn’t when I bit into it. Not too juicy, not dry either. I think they baked it.
Niàng xiè qián (4 stars) — or Crab claws; again 4 huge pieces per plate. There was more of the fried shrimp batter than crab but it still tasted good especially if you dip it in their spicy sauce.
Jī jio/​Chicken feet (5 stars) — Yum!!! If you don’t mind spitting out tiny bones while eating, this is a must to order.
Steamed Gai Lan (5 stars) — Also knows as Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale, this is served with a drizzle of oyster sauce. Great pairing with all the other dishes if you want to try as many as you can without getting full too fast. Skip the rice.
Pai gwut (5 stars) — Steamed pork ribs. I love it and all its boney goodness
Stuffed tofu (3 stars) — A big chunk of shrimp stuffed in tofu and then steamed. It was okay.
Staff (4 stars) — some were nice, some were so-​so. No one was rude to us.
The staff speaks English so we didn’t have any problems ordering at all. I definitely want to come back here in the future.