Where We Actually Eat in the SGV.
Five San Gabriel Valley restaurants worth the drive, in Alhambra, San Gabriel, and Temple City — with the exact dishes to order at each one.
Food & Drink — Restaurant guides and everything worth eating.
Everyone who lives out here has a list. Not the list you would find on a ranking site — the actual one, the places you drive to on a Tuesday because you know exactly what you are going to order before you park.
This is ours. Five places across Alhambra, San Gabriel, Temple City and South Pasadena, with the specific dishes we would tell a friend to get. We eat at all of them regularly.
Fair warning: we like it spicy. Adjust accordingly.
Noodle World — Alhambra
An enormous menu spanning Thai, Chinese, and Japanese noodles, which normally makes us suspicious.
Here it works.
Portions are generous, prices are gentle, and the room has an unpretentious diner energy that suits the food.
What to order: the garlic pork, the chicken curry, and the seafood chow mein. That trio covers three cuisines and somehow makes sense as one meal.
700 W Valley Blvd, Alhambra
(626) 293-8800 · Open daily, 10am–10pm
Super Albert Mexican Food — Alhambra
Open from 7am until 1am, every single day, which tells you most of what you need to know about who this place is for.
Early shift, late shift, after the bar — it is there.
What to order: the carne asada fries, which are the reason to come. The chimichanga and the chile verde plate both hold up. Ask for extra salsa at the counter.
2600 W Main St, Alhambra
(626) 457-5743 · Open daily, 7am–1am
Golden Deli — San Gabriel
A San Gabriel institution, and the one place on this list where you might wait.
Worth it.
What to order: start with the egg rolls — they are the thing people drive across the county for. Then the pork chop rice plate or the pho. You cannot go wrong.
They are closed Wednesdays. Everyone who loves this place has shown up on a Wednesday at least once. Do not be that person.
815 W Las Tunas Dr, San Gabriel
(626) 308-0803 · Thursday–Tuesday, 10am–8pm · Closed Wednesdays
Banana Bay — Temple City
Spacious enough for a big family table, which is rarer than it should be.
Consistent in a way that matters more than novelty — it is the same good meal every time.
What to order: the spicy beef panang. Then the pad thai, and the Thai-style grilled steak. The panang is where the kitchen shows off.
5747 Rosemead Blvd, Temple City
(626) 593-5155 · Open daily, 11am–9:30pm
HiLife Burgers — South Pasadena
The oldest thing on this list, and the least complicated.
It has been on Fair Oaks since 1978, which in a stretch of Southern California that turns over constantly is most of the point. Nothing about it is trying to be new.
What to order: the pastrami, the patty melt, and the chili cheese fries. That is the whole argument.
1326 Fair Oaks Ave, South Pasadena
(626) 799-5401
Why we are writing this.
The San Gabriel Valley is one of the best places to eat in the country, and most of the coverage it gets is either ranking lists assembled by people who do not live here, or the same three famous places over and over.
The real map of a neighborhood lives in the heads of the people who eat there every week.
That is what Support LoCal is trying to collect — not rankings, not scores, just neighbors telling other neighbors where to go.
We will keep adding to this as we eat our way further out. Monterey Park, Rosemead, Arcadia, and Pasadena are all on the list.
Quick answers.
What are the best restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley?
This is the list the team actually eats at: Noodle World and Super Albert Mexican Food in Alhambra, Golden Deli in San Gabriel, Banana Bay in Temple City, and HiLife Burgers in South Pasadena.
What should you order at Golden Deli?
Start with the egg rolls — they are the thing people drive across the county for — then the pork chop rice plate or the pho.
Which of these are closed on certain days?
Golden Deli is closed Wednesdays. Everyone who loves Golden Deli has shown up on a Wednesday at least once.
Which one is open late?
Super Albert Mexican Food in Alhambra runs 7am to 1am every day, which is what makes it the early-shift, late-shift and after-the-bar option. Noodle World closes at 10pm and Banana Bay at 9:30pm.
What should you order at HiLife Burgers?
The pastrami, the patty melt and the chili cheese fries. It has been on Fair Oaks in South Pasadena since 1978.
Have a place we should try? Recommend it here — a person on our team reads every submission. And if you run a local business in Southern California, tell us about it.
Read next.
- The Best Banh Mi Deal in Rosemead. — Three sandwiches for $15.91 at Banh Mi Saigon 168 on Garvey. Buy two get one free on the round bread — and get it toasted.