J R Cafe

They’ve been closed for one month with a note of «remodeling» on the front door. I wonder if they will ever re-​open again under the same owner. Food is cheap and tastes good but service is as bad as most Chinese cafes in the area.

some Unilocalers have absolutely no chill.
we wandered in here past 11pm and got 2 steaks, drinks and the sides that come with them and our total with tip was less than 40 bucks.
no, the steaks weren’t done consistently– both were ordered medium rare and one came out so rare it practically moo’d and the other was more like medium well, so i wouldn’t recommend this place for a steak snob. or someone who’s gonna send their steak back. but if you want a giant piece of red meat that’s freaking delicious and cheaper than you could buy it yourself, this is your place.
after we’d ordered, they mentioned their credit card machine was down. definitely can’t give five stars for that alone, in this day and age of being able to swipe a credit card on just about anything, even a smart phone. fortunately we had enough cash to cover it, but imagine if we didn’t. awkward. (also when things like that happen, i’m always sort of suspicious. if you’re a cash only business that’s fine, but don’t say things are broken if they aren’t! idk, if i were a business owner and my means of accepting payment was actually broken, i would fix it.)
we got good, fast service. other food we saw coming out looked good. the place was pretty clean.
it’s the big restaurant with absolutely no signage on it other than an open sign.

Probably the worst service I’ve had in a while. We had to flag down a waitress 4 times before they finally took our order. When they finally took our order they messed up multiple times. We ordered 4 steak and eggs, that came with either hash browns or drinks. When our food came out the eggs were cooked wrong on one order, the steaks were all well-​done, and she forgot hash browns on the side of one and took an extra 5 – 10 minutes to get them.
The food tasted good, the service was horrible. The disappointing thing is they weren’t even that busy, I just think service isn’t a priority here. Don’t recommend trying this place.

It is a damn miracle to me that someone can mess up your order this badly AND provide such horrible service. The thing that annoys me the most about my experience here yesterday is that it was not even busy and they still managed to mess up so badly!
I came here yesterday with my brother, mother, and boyfriend. I had to flag someone down four times before someone came to take our order and when someone finally came over, they tried to hand us the lunch menu when we already had the breakfast menu and all we needed to do was order. We all ordered the same thing but different specifications.
We all got steak and eggs, medium rare. Three of us wanted over easy eggs while my brother wanted sunny side up. Two of us wanted hash browns, one toast and one with French fries. We ordered two hot coffees, one hot milk tea and one iced milk tea. First they messed up our drink order and brought over an iced lemon tea instead of the iced milk tea. At this point I’m already fuming so of course I’m pissed about the drink. Then they being out our food and all the steaks are well done.
If I ask for medium rare, I expect medium rare! Our eggs were at best over medium and not over easy. My brother, who ordered hash browns and sunny side up eggs, ended up with an over «easy» egg and no side. They told us the fries were coming out later. I told them that he didn’t order fries. He wanted a hash brown. She stared at me like I was crazy and had no idea what the hell I was talking about. When she finally understood, she STILL came out with fries.
Turns out she gave our order to the wrong table and the other table gave her an earful for messing up. I was honestly freaking blown away that anyone could be this bad.
The food is good. Don’t get me wrong. The taste of it is not bad but the service is freaking horrible.

I would give 0 stars to this place if I could. I waited 15 minutes to get someone to take our order. Then another 30 minutes to flag down a waitress to ask about my food. She said «Ok» and never did anything about it. Then we asked another waitress about cancelling it and she said the system doesn’t allow cancels. Eventually we told her we have to go, and she canceled my meal, but still charged for the milk tea that I drank. They are short staffed and not organized at all. Barely any apologies or recognition when we left. Don’t eat here until they change management some how. HORRIBLE SERVICE!!! Pretty much wasted 45 minutes and left without getting a meal.

I think this place is great for a lot of reasons:
The variety on the menu, including rib eye and lobster
The prices are amazing for the quality and portions
service is decent, it’s very few little times where they get busy and the waiter/​waitress can’t get to you
It’s open LATE!!!
I’m from the Westside and I’m willing to make the drive out here rather than ordering Chinese locally, for pick-​up or dine-​in. But really, this place rocks because you can get some tasty dishes and the bill won’t be a slap in the face.

How have I not written a review for this place!!!
This place sucks!!! I’m a regular here but I only come because my grandpa insists on coming here only!!! They get one star for food because it is at least edible. The food quality is questionable though. Several times I have come here and awoken to a stomachache. I have never seen this place busy since they have opened. This is expected though because there nothing good about this place.
They’re currently remodeling parts of the restaurants. I do notice a difference but it’s still the same old décor and same old waiters, managers, and waitresses.
Although they changed the floors and paint, the employees here still have that same shitty attitude that will irritate you every time you come. They will yell at you and they will treat you like trash. They don’t know how to be sincere and kind at all.

So I came back here after a long absence and was met with the most abysmal service I’ve ever experienced in my life, and this is someone who is used to subpar Asian service.
I came in for breakfast with my family one morning on the weekend. It was about an hour before their breakfast ends. We were seated and then ordered. Things were okay until this point.
So we waited patiently for our meals to come out. During this time, we had several refills of our milk tea/​coffee. After about twenty minutes of waiting and still no sign of our food and watching neighboring customers who came in after us receive their meals, we flagged an older woman waitress down to ask about our meals. She rudely replied that we just have to wait since she already entered in our orders on the computer. We asked her if maybe she forgot to enter our orders since everyone else who was coming in after us had already gotten their food before us. She dismisses us.
So another 30 minute passes by with several more drink refills and we still don’t have our food. We flag the same rude woman who took our order down in the first place and she again rudely responds with a dismissing air. So we asked another waitress (the younger skinnier one) about our order. She goes into check and says there doesn’t seem to be anything for us. We also ask the male waiter and he comes up with nothing as well.
After 20 more minutes, the rude older waitress finally comes by our table and says «I forgot to put your order down on the computer. I’ll put it down now.»
We were furious with her unapologetic attitude. We waited for more than hour for our food and she had the gall to tell us that she hadn’t even put in an order for our food? Are you serious? After we asked her earlier if she had forgotten to put an order for our food and she rudely replied that she had?
So after waiting more than an hour and a half we walked out of the place, completely disgusted with this woman’s service. The worst service ever. They’ve lost a customer forever. I refuse to come to place until they get rid of this horrible waitress. I can’t even think of this place anymore without wanting to give this woman the finger. Seriously.

One of my favorite cafes. I normally get the beef chow fun, but their sizzling fillet mignon isn’t too bad either. Customer service isnt the most fantastic but the food will suffice. Compared to baccali, which is down the street on valley, this café is much, much better.

My friend recommended me to try this place out for their sizzling steak. Now I comment on the other foods but their steaks are HUGE and delicious (medium rare) with black pepper sauce. On top of that, it only cost $ 1 to add fries on the side! how awesome is that?
Interior: The table was actually pretty sticky. They could do a better job with that because the customers don’t want to put their arm on sticky table, it’ll leave a bad impression and worsen the experience.
Their Hong Kong Milk tea was decent, it has a weird taste for me, I probably wouldn’t try that again.
Overall, I’m pretty biased here but 4 stars for their sizzling steak. I won’t comment on all other foods, I probably won’t order them anyways. If you want to be safe, get their steak, it’s a steal!

The food here is decent. Most of the inside has been renovated and now they are currently renovating the outside. We got 2 dishes, the Filet Mignon Cubes and the Fook Chow Fried Rice. Both of these dishes tasted great. The filet mignon was juicy and tender.
Also, like most Hong Kong cafes they give you their complimentary soup of the day which was Russian Borscht. Usually it tastes great, but I guess it was just an off day because it was way too sour. Other than that, the food is pretty good, especially for how inexpensive it is.

Popped in for lunch with Mom and she got the Hainan Chicken rice dish and it was really good! The rice was cooked in chicken broth with the right amount of salt seasoning. The chicken pieces itself was tender and moist and the pickled carrots, jicama and cabbages were yummy.
Best of all, huge portion for $ 8. If you’re craving Hainan chicken rice dish, and don’t wanna wait in line at Savoy — come here! Portions are big and you’ll have enough for lunch and dinner (unless you’re super hungry and can gobble it all up, lol!)
Of course, I still dig my three Mixed Grilled dish too :)

Good price great food. We enjoyed the food and the service was very good and it was clean.

This café has been around forever it seems. I have driven by numerous times, but only have been inside a handful of times. I don’t know, but probably because the café looks run down and unappealing. I’ve only been there with my mother. Yes, she’s the who picks that place because her female elder friends whom my mom exercises with every morning raves about that place for bigger proportions and least expensive. Hmmm… I don’t know if I can agree.
No disrespect, but I don’t believe JR serves big proportions, nor is it tasty. Yes, the lemon iced tea is good, but it doesn’t take much skill mixing it. The prices are decent though compared to other cafes.
I have tried their chow mein, chow fun, roasted chicken leg, egg plant, fried rice with preserved fish, porridge, and probably a few others, it’s average tasting at most. I remember the stir fried egg plant was greasy and bland, and their chow meins (pan fried noodles) was also the same… greasy as heck and bland. Their fried rice with preserved fish was not bad. It was really salty with a strong fishy smell. But I think that’s what ordering that dish is all about. Other selections such as their salted pork porridge with preserved 1000 years old egg is good and the roasted chicken is not bad too. Both of these orders are the better ones. But I have not tried their whole menu so the when you try it, the ball is on your court to Unilocal it to us.
I honestly think this place looks depressing. The outside area looks run down, the inside seems like a blind guy put everything together because there is no color coordination at all. I can’t figure out if they’re trying to look modern or traditional.
They should invest in a complete overhaul of the restaurant to make it look more attractive. I believe the way a restaurant looks reflects on their cleanliness and even on the quality of the food.
But again, we’re there to eat. And the food is okay. The service wasn’t bad either since the waiters were close by and kept checking up.
It’s hard for me to give them three stars. But I will. It’s 2−½ stars. Plenty of room to improve JR.

They have fast, inexpensive $ 5 – 7, average food.
I usually order steak&eggs, filet mignon or chicken steak with black pepper sauce. Red rice or pasta of your choice. French fries good too. Veggies and soup come with the meal depending on what time during the day.

Dinner for a group of 10 with food to take home too. We had filet mignon, mixed grill platter, lamb chops, lamb shank & sole, chicken chow mein, house fried rice, spicey salty appetizer platter of squid & chicken wings. Some of the platter came with rice & veggies. Bill came to $ 80 with tax & tip. $ 100 covered the whole amount.
Food was good but for that price and service was a little on the slow side.
All worth it and will be back.

I dropped in here because the brothers and belly has decreased .
Because I rib eye steak, my brother had already finished the meal, cola float .
And come out of as early, hungry I satiety .
Very speedy .
I recommend to everyone .
Here you can very quickly order

Oi it’s been about 2 years since I’ve been to this café… and I probably wouldn’t have came back if it wasn’t because my dad wanted to have breakfast here. So on Friday morning around 10:30am my brother, his infant son, my parents and I had breakfast here — they served breakfast until 11 so we just barely made it for breakfast.
The service is still pretty bleh — not busy but took very long time to get our orders in and brother waited forever to get the bill so he ended up just going up to the cashier to pay.
The food was just as bad — at least for what I had — I ordered the sausage with egg and hash brown plate with a bowl of oatmeal. The oatmeal was good — just the way I like how HK café makes it. However the sausage, scrambled egg and hash brown plate was just dripping with grease — actually no it was more like sitting in a puddle of oil… soaking in it. I really had a hard time eating it and pretty only ate about a quarter. Well at least the Iced coffee improved a bit.
The mushroom omelette that mom order was too over fried. The only thing that was okay was the porridge my dad and brother ordered — each came with a choice of side dish — my brother had the beef chow fun and my dad had the chow mein and needless to say those were pretty greasy as well.
This place still desperately needs a remodel as well.
Overall this place hasn’t improved much or at all over the two years since the last time I’ve been here and most likely I wouldn’t be back by choice anytime soon either.

My boyfriend’s grandparents like eating at JR Café. It’s an averagely clean Hong Kong style café with a really terribly narrow parking lot…
We’ve come a handful of times and all of the dishes I’ve tried are pretty average. My go to dish is the French style filet mignon cubes grilled with onions.
The drinks aren’t bad here either, iced lemon tea or even hot milk tea are both good. My boyfriend likes the yin yung (half coffee half tea mix).
There’s a small and narrow patio for dining, but it looks ghetto and I have yet to see anyone actually sit outside. It looks more like a storage space for unused furniture.
They are pretty good about phone orders for pick up too, we usually do this option when doing errands for his grandparents and don’t want to dine in.
Overall JR Café is a decent choice for a Hong Kong style café in the area. It’s never overly busy where there’s a long wait, but parking can get tricky sometimes.
Unilocal 100 Challenge — 98 of 100

JR café is an old staple in San Gabriel. It has been here forever and I’ve had plenty of lunches with my parents at this store and dinners with my friends years ago. I haven’t been here in a long time.
Recently came here with a friend for breakfast and that I have never done before ever. So they have all these special items that you can order and I decided to get the porridge with pork and that century egg (black egg). This is my favorite thing and probably not really healthy. But I love it.
The porridge is quick and fast but this place doesn’t make it as salty as other café’s, it actually kind of tasted like home cooked porridge in a way. You can add salt from the salt containers on your table.
They have onions in it and this crispy won ton chopped up bits that you can soak and eat it all up with.
Parking is easy and service was quick. Food was just alright I would say but the prices are pretty cheap still so that is a bonus!