Los Angeles

Chinese Banquet Restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley

Where to book a wedding, red egg party, or company dinner

A Chinese banquet is a specific format, and not every good restaurant can host one. You need round tables of ten, a room that can be closed or separated, a kitchen that can fire a set menu for two hundred people at once, and staff who know the sequence: cold plate, soup, whole steamed fish, lobster or crab noodles, roast squab or chicken, a noodle or rice course, and dessert soup to close. The San Gabriel Valley has more of these rooms per square mile than anywhere else in the country, which is why families drive in from across Southern California for weddings, full-month and red egg parties, birthday banquets, and Lunar New Year company dinners. What to ask when you call: the per-table price and how many courses that covers, minimum and maximum table count, whether corkage applies, whether the room can be held privately, and how far ahead they book. Saturday evenings in the spring and fall go first. A wedding date usually needs six months or more. Set menus are priced per table of ten, and most kitchens will substitute courses if you ask early.