King Bistro (Chinese Kitchen)

When we entered there wasn’t anyone, and tbh the restaurant’s design looked a little bare… it almost looked like it wasn’t doing well. When the food came, my entire family (with three kids) loved it. We were here for lunch and ordered noodles, and I could just say it’s comfort in my belly. Tho they took our order wrongly and served us an extra bowl of noodle (and we paid for it), we took it bcos we wanted to try something else from the menu. A senior lady (I suppose she’s the one who cooked the dishes) came out and asked if everything was alright, and even gave us a free bottle of drink. Oh, there was also a small crowd also flowed in during our meal as well. Would recommend!

Haven't been here since the place seems to be a younger and hippieer place, however, the food attracted me to bring the family here. It's called a "bistro", it's a little bit like a bar with real food. When we arrived at about 8pm on a Friday night, the place was almost full, with a couple of bigger parties. They serve Kirin on tab, you can order in like a table side keg with pour, it looks like at least a couple gallons. They serve Chinese style skewers/kabob, with spicy or mild tastes. These are made to order, freshly charcoal grilled, great for drinking. They also serve Chinese hot pot, that's what I will try next time. They also have a few other dishes, like fried rice, some noodle dishes, and Mantis shrimp，pepper and salt style, best you can get in San Diego. The services maybe something they can tighten up a bit. They were friendly and attentive enough, however, since it was busy, they did forget one of our hot soy milk drink. Overall, a great place to relax and enjoy the evening.

The food was so good nothing else really matters. 😋 I ordered the lamb, which was well seasoned, perfectly cooked, and very tender. The restaurant was empty, other than my daughter and I, however, there was a table filled with to-go and delivery orders. After taking my first bite, I understood why. Even sitting at the table, dining in, one has to order from the app/website. We were hungry and tired, so we just went with it. I wasn't going to post a review because of the lack of service and the emptiness of the place. What's more, after I took my first bite of food, I completely forgot about it. I ate until my plate was empty.

Very very authentic Chinese "street food". I got the Salt and Pepper Mantis shrimp. This place is open late, serves drinks, and has a younger crowd. There aren't many Chinese food places open till midnight.

Damn this place is do good, super great value! Everything here is humongous size! I want to this restaurant almost 3 days a week and it's so good. Great value and friendly services! Really really recommended!

Unbelievable Chinese food. Got the Mongolian beef and Chicken Lo Mein and both were fantastic. Will definitely be coming back regularly

Went here once. The owners seemed angry, and the server was not so happy either. The food was less than appetizing. I'll never go back. I even get the willys when I drive by on the way to the nearby DollarTree,Starbucks, or Tonys Pizza... good wings and lasagna at Tony's BTW

Seriously UNDERRATED spot. Open late? Check. Delicious? Check. Family run? Check. I walk in and am greeted warmly by hardworking staff who remember me! The children in the shop are respectful, and it's real to see them doing homework or playing games while their adults are making delicious food. Portion sizes are not "big" by American standard, because this is seasoned well, one doesn't eat it quickly. I can split salt and pepper wings with another girl and we're good! Order the baked garlic kebabs, the lamb, the quail, the squid, it's great variety! I'm not much of a noodle person, but a good portion of the menu is soup!

July 30, 2025 1st time here Will say food was great, very tasty. Service is friendly. Ambience is simple but food makes up for it. Great place. Just be very specific when ordering spicy food. I got low-mid , but so good If you looking for less commercial, and different taste in Chinese food, this is a great place. Portions are good.

I've passed this place many times over the years, and finally decided to try it when I saw their banner advertising their AYCE Chinese bbq special. It's only available from 5 - 11 PM (during lunch hours they are actually open as "Shanghai Alley" instead) and it costs $34. Its different from your usual asian bbq spot in that they serve already grilled skewers, but also include some other apps & entries from their regular menu as well. The meat skewers were cooked & seasoned well and they provided a warming tray to store them on throughout the meal which I thought was a nice touch. We got a few rounds of lamb, fatty beef, chicken, and chicken wings. They also have seafood like scallops (served on the shell w/ glass noodles) and shrimp & squid). You can also get veggies like mushrooms (enoku & king trumpet), corn, potato, and chives. Of the apps, our favorites were the cucumber salad (the leftover dressing makes for a great sauce to dip the meat into) and orleans chicken bones (think roast duck style but with dry rub). We also got the tomato egg noodle which was a good starch to compliment the meal. The service was fantastic! The woman helping us got us seated quickly, immediately brought out each component as it was ready, and checked on us often. The only reason I took a star off is that I feel like everything was seasoned heavily with an almost overpowering amount of cumin, but otherwise I enjoyed everything I ate. I would definitely come back!

I should have realized that I shouldn't eat here when I walked in around 8pm on a Wednesday and there were no other tables dining in. I ordered a bunch of food, skewers, cucumber salad, plum juice, etc and while the food didn't taste off, I had immediate regrets after dinner as I became violently sick! I vomited in the parking lot (I didn't even have any alcohol!). I continued to be sick all night- my husband guessed it was the plum juice as he stated that it tasted like barbecue to him. I won't be back.

The ingredients are fresh and the food is amazing. My favorite was the kung Pao chicken.

King Bistro is one of the best Chinese restaurants in Claremont. I visited whilst they were serving their dinner menu, and it was absolutely exquisite! I tried the fried rice and traditional skewers, and they were unlike anything I've eaten before, the rice was cooked with the right amount of crunch and had plenty of meats and vegetables mixed in with it. Out of all the skewers my group ordered, the chicken glizzard was definitely my favorite. The meat was slightly overcooked but it was still delicious. Aside from the food, service here is great! Although my waitress didn't speak perfect English, she was very friendly and welcoming to my group. Although the restaurant is very clean, the background music was a little loud for my taste. Overall, 9.5/10, definitely recommend you check this hidden gem of Claremont!

The menu is different at night and they are the best . I finally went to try them and they are so nice and I recommend the chicken skewers, barbecue baby corn and white rice! So good!

Food was pretty good, though a little overpriced for the quality and amount in my opinion. We went for dinner late at night so we were too late for the all you can eat. The only thing I'd say is, I wish they gave at least a small bowl of rice with main dishes like the spicy fish rather than charge for it no matter what.

Food was really good, only time I've had shredded potato like that was at home or back in China. The waitress was really nice as well, and the atmosphere reminded me of restaurants in China. One of my favorite places to go

They are so friendly here! We had a kid with us, so had to order accordingly (not exactly adventurous). We ordered Sweet and Sour Chicken, Ma La Beef, Kung Pao Chicken, Crispy Wontons. There weren't many others dining in, but seemed to be a lot of take out business. We enjoyed our meal, everything tasted fresh. I especially appreciated the perfectly steamed broccoli for my kid. All of the flavors were delicious and the servings were generous. The cook came out to chat and we enjoyed our conversation with him about chef school and how he makes the dishes. We'll definitely come back (or order take out like everyone else!).

Chinese skewer bbq is a whole different concept compared to yakitori or American bbq. Chinese skewers are spicy and flavored with a particular seasoning. After trying it in China, this store provides a very similar authentic taste! I have to admit its not for everyone but its a must try. I highly recommend the egg plant and beef skewers. And the best part of this place is that they close at midnight every day but they are closed on Tuesday. Pro Tip: ask for seasoning on the side to give yourself an extra spicy kick for all the flaming hot foodies.

Ordered their Shrimp Fried Rice via Uber Eats. Packaged nicely, came with utensils. The fried rice was as expected, texture of the rice and flavoring was perfect. Both kids loved it and they are particular about their rice.

Great customer service , tasty food, speedy service! I would definitely come back! We were greeted from the outside walked to a table , explained the whole menu to us

Great selection for AYCE! Super easygoing vibe and just feels like a nice place to kick back and throw down like 40 skewers and a few cheap cans of beer. Plenty of options for skewers, and AYCE includes your standard appetizers like soups and dumplings, along with great drinking bites like fried chicken gizzard and quail. Mantou with condensed milk was a surprise hit too, very nice to have something sweet and chewy mid meal and at the end. Our server was very kind and attentive, and very patient with us since it was our first time at Chinese skewer bbq. Looking forward to coming back again!

There was no wait for our party of 5 at 10:30pm on a Friday night. The ambiance was very chill and music wasn't loud so we were able to still talk at a normal volume. Food was good!! Some notable dishes: spicy hot pot, toasted mantou, fatty beef skewers, fried chicken gizzards. Service was quick and helpful. They were very informative of everything on the menu. They were there everytime we finished a round without having to flag them down. Would love to come back with more friends and do some drinks next time.

great service and good. All you can eat skewer and appetizers are great! My kids (both under 6) ate for free. Had a good selection. Will come back

We love coming to this place for Chinese bbq and now the menu has recently changed to AYCE.

Service was timely, food was delicious and authentic. The drink was fresh and yummy. The workers were kind and gave me a stuffie. There were cool 3D graphics on the wall and it was raining outside so they offered to let me stay even though I was done with my food. Prices are good and reasonable and portions are well-sized and filling. There were cool music videos on the TV and I left feeling nice and satisfied.

Food: 3.5 stars Service: 5 stars I ordered via doordash and this was one of the few restaurants that were open at the time. Doordash had some issues charging me for extra rice but the lady on the phone was nice enough to sort it out for me. The cumin lamb didn't come with rice which I found was odd, especially a dish that is super salty. The lamb skewers are delicious but they are super small comparing to other restaurants on convoy drive. The cumin lamb dish was good but super salty. The black bean noodles were also good but it was also super salty. Make sure you have plenty of water or you'll for sure be thirsty after finish eating.

Food here is absolutely delicious, we have only ordered via delivery before and this is also the first ever Chinese skewer place I've ever introduced my white boyfriend it too. He loved it too, most of the food here is very spicy yet flavorful, so better get ready for your mouth!! We love the skewer here, all cooked so perfectly. It is also under new management, the service here is absolutely wonderful. We came on a Monday night and it wasn't busy at all, our waitress was absolutely sweet and helpful. This has got to be the cleanest Chinese restaurant I've ever been to as well. They also offer hotpot. Gotta try next time. They have an outside dinning available as well.

Quite possibly the worst Chinese BBQ I have ever been to and this includes overseas in China. Recently they changed format to all you can eat, probably did this as I don't see how they could possibly last. Restaurant decor that looks like it has never been updated , and restrooms that needs cleaning. The worst part of this experience is the food that they call "bbq" as can be seen from the pics there is nothing bbq about this, it appears they boil the meats and than just toss on the grill, as no way they can possibly cook long enough on a bbq for an all you can eat place , corn was cold rest of the dishes had a very bland taste. The one star is so can provide warning before you t think about going here. Avoid this place !!

Good place for friends and family. We visited here in Thanksgiving and many tables were occupied.

Found this Gem through Yelp. Place is very welcoming and the service was exceptional. A little slow on a Friday night, not sure if it's because of the location that's why not a lot of people know about it. But if this restaurant was in the center of convoy, I bet it will be pack everyday. Has a lot of unique drinking food. Looks like they also have a band but no one was playing when we were there.

Short and sweet here as it wasn't worth my time, effort or money. Walked in to pick up take out last night. Youngish kid with a peach fuzz mustache and glasses at the counter on the phone. Waited patiently while he was chatting. There seemed to be a dead spot in the conversation for close to a minute... Me in a very soft voice: "Excuse me, do..." Guy behind the counter, ruffled his forehead, pursed his lips and shook his head vigorously as if I was annoying him. Really? I confirmed by whispering, "was that..." He again ruffled his forehead, pursed his lips and shook his head, confirming it was intended for me. All while he had said nothing for over a minute. Hate to bother you my friend, but your customer service needs some serious work. With that, I left. Keep on Yelp'n!

The food is yummy and price is not high. Service is great, Next time I want to try seat outside. They have small bonfire. Really hope they can provide some marshmallow to do s'more. That must be so much fun.

Came here to visit SD for a week and I was starting to miss chinese food so I decided to give king bistro a try! I must say the service was amazing and the server was always coming by to ask us for more water or if the food was good. I felt very very comfortable and relaxed at this restaurant so that was a major plus for me! The food was also very good, I loved the beef skewers and mapo tofu I never felt rushed to eat or felt unwelcomed at King Bistro. If you want to wind down and eat late night food with your friends and family, this is the place to go!

It's a Chinese BBQ, unlike those Korean ones where you need to cook the food yourself. The food is just ok, nothing special. I wouldn't say delicious. You can eat lots of food though as it's all you can eat. The biggest problem is its serve speed, which is way too slow even when there are not many guests. If you are hungry and don't care about the taste that much, maybe this can be a try.

I was originally intrigued from the menu, they had options on skewers which I am a big fan of. I ordered 2 which is 4 sticks of beef skewers and 2 cucumber salads. Upon arrival I saw a meager serving of beef which was okay with me for the price. But I soon became disgusted. Upon biting into the skewers I realized the meat to be too tender, as if it was all or most fat. It was clear they used the non desirable parts of whatever cut they were using of meat for the skewers. I was utterly disgusted at the texture and found it hard to eat and pretty disappointed as I find it is hard to screw up skewers. As for the cucumber salad I noticed it was generously portioned. I tried it and found the cucumber to be bitter on many pieces. I then realized upon trying to get a smaller piece that the pieces were very sloppily cut..Like most pieces were chopped uneven and still hanging off of each other...It kinda made me scared of the food sanitarily. I also thought the sesame flavor was overpowering and definitely would have not used that flavour in the first place. After eating the food I noticed a weird sensation on my tongue and became frightened of what I just ate. I do not recommend this place. They seriously need work if they are actually aiming to please customers and not just sell food...

A late night go to spot if you're into chinese skewers. This place used to have a darker ambiance but after their face-lift and lighting has made the place much more presentable. Food is decent for how late this place closes. Gets the job done and is one of the better places to eat after hours.

AYCE HOT POT?!?!? The answer for my bf will always be YES PLEASE! I was really excited to try this place and it did not disappoint. We got the non spicy and spicy broth. The meat was good quality and the portions were so generous. They do have all the traditional hot pot sauces such as sesame paste and sa-cha but you just have to ask for it. Service was awesome, everyone was so nice and friendly but not annoying. There was upbeat music playing pretty loud which was kinda fun (sounded like k-pop?) $26.00 for ayce it says $23 if you share online but I didn't get the discount UPDATE: AYCE IS BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER!!!

This restaurant is great, the skewers are very juicy and tender, well seasoned, and very affordably priced. There's plenty of parking and it has a very casual atmosphere so it's a great place for comfort food and to chill and catch up with friends as well.

Authentic Chinese; it's China urban-village chic. Food is comfort, for sure. This is the place in your repertoire that people wish they knew about sooner --- The place never closes before midnight, and stays open 'till at least 1 am when it matters!

My friends and I were in SD for a conference and were looking for something to eat relatively late at night. I'm not sure why the reviews say their service is bad because that wasn't our experience at all! First the lady who was managing the front of the restaurant herself was very kind and approachable. The food came out at a good time and it was all delicious! My friend couldn't stop talking about how homely and warm the place/food felt. Our trip required us to get separate itemized receipts for reimbursement reasons. It was hard throughout the trip to secure these and there were some restaurants who refused to do it, which was a bit fustrating, but understandable because some cash register systems won't allow you to readjust that way when splitting the bill. This restaurant had the same system, but the kind lady working the register actually manually rein-putted all of our orders just so we could get the receipts!! I can't explain enough how relieving that was for us late at night after a tiring conference day, which is why I have to give it all 5 stars!! I would just like to share because a lot of reviews seem to disapprove of the service, but I truly cannot say I had the same experience.

I used to come here a lot but my latest experience really soured my opinion of this place. This is supposed to be a late night place. We came during Covid times and it was dead. We arrived around 11 pm and it said on yelp they closed at 12. They sat us outside, took our order. When the waiter (there was probably only 1 guy there since there were no other customers) brought our food he said in Chinese "enjoy slowly". So we thought everything was fine we were enjoying our meal. Then less than 10 minutes later he suddenly returned to tell us they were closed and we needed to pay and go. There was no warning before that and yelp said they were open for another half hour. They just wanted us to order to get our money but not even let us finish our food. I usually dont like to complain about customer service but this was just rude.

Worst altitude ever..... They open at 11:00 am and I ordered a pick up order around that time. When I arrived the restaurant at 11:30 and asked if I can pick up my food. They replied: " Don't you see the time that you can pick up?" I was like........The App shows I can pick up at 11:35....I just want to know if my order is ready.... Although the dishes taste fine, the custom service is terrible.... won't order again....

Totally not worth visiting. You can find better restaurant than this. Ordered dry squid and beef skewer for 10+ dollars and the size is less than regular sized in and out hamburger.

I have stop by this restaurant few days ago.The environment is pretty bad. Kids(from owner) running around in the restaurant. Food is wrost part,will never come by again.Not recommend

Given the poor track record for this location, I'm hoping that King Bistro is in it for the long haul. Although the menu isn't extensive, King Bistro clearly wants you to order the BBQ and picnic style side dishes. My date and I ordered beef and lamb skewers, pork belly, dumplings, dan dan noodles, and garlic cucumbers. The skewers were tasty and a tad on the spicy side. The meat itself tasted the same. I'm not sure if that was a good or bad thing. I'm thinking good, because I'm not the biggest fan of lamb. The pork belly was a bit underwhelming. The seasoning mix was similar to the skewers, but just not as flavorful. Given that pork belly is supposed to have a lot of flavor, I was disappointed that this dish fell flat. The dumplings were my favorite part of the meal. They came out last (when we were almost done with everything), but that's okay. They tasted homemade and were packed with flavor! The dandan noodles were just mediocre. I felt like they were lacking something, but that's just me. My date seemed to enjoy them, while I finished up the dumplings. Finally, the garlic cucumbers were an absolute delight. I was impressed with the large portion and I'm guessing they were good, because we saw another table order them. (I highly recommend an Altoid after eating this.) All in all, I'm excited about the menu here. I am taking a star off because service wasn't very good. (Despite being one of two parties in the restaurant, I felt like we were forgotten.) Also, I was slightly annoyed that the server dude kept on trying to speak to me in Mandarin. Just because I'm Asian, don't assume that I know Mandarin!

King Bistro is one of the restaurants that open after midnight, and their food does remind me of the Chinese night market in China.

Great unique food that fills a niche for authentic Chinese food. Best enjoyed live, great atmosphere.

King bistro is the only place open after 10 pm in San Diego that serves hot pot. Their menu has many options to choose from. I always come here for a late night dinner. Highly recommended.

I came here 3 years ago and im not sure but it seems as though they changed quite a bit. Before, they had a grungy vibe that I kinda liked and reminded me of China. Now, the place feels cleaners and the spice level dropped. LAMB + BEEF SKEWERS: Still as good as it was 3 years ago. Perfectly charred with great flavor in each bite - we ordered 7 portions! (each portion comes with 4 skewers but trust me it's not alot ) SPICY HOT POT and SPICY MIX: these are essentially the same thing with that mala/szechuan spice that numbs half of your face. The fish balls in these are so good and I love the little knotted seaweeds ODEN: one of the few items that we ordered that wasnt spicy. It was okay. PORK INTESTINE: this was so, so good but for $17 (yikes) dont think it was that good. There was a lot of onion, bell peppers, and bean sprouts that cushioned the dish to make it seem like there's a lot of stuff in the pot SPICY COLD NOODLE: reminded me of dan dan noodles but I think the noodles were undercooked FRIED DUMPLINGS: this was one of the few dishes that took the longest to come out so I'm guessing (hoping) that they made these fresh - dough and all. But they were quite flavorless and I still don't know what meat was inside.

"At first, it was a little hard to communicate because of my Mandarin is not that good, but then they give us a menu for us to write what we want to eat, which totally solve the problem. I personally like their garlic oyster, buns, gristle, and wings~!!! I would like to try some bullet balls next time. "

A short summary before the whole story, ended up leaving the restaurant without beibg served after 30 minutes wait. Our party of three entered the restaurant and got seated. there were only a few parties sitting. The atmosphere was a bit off and we foubd out later they were having some sort of eating competition going on. A girl said she'll be back and she left, never come back. We asked for water but no water arrived. We were trying to catch thier attention but the whole crew were straight uo ignoring us?? Finally someone came by and we asked for menu, she left and again, never came back. At this time we were already so pissed we left the restaurant. Honestly, the menu was so promising with all the dished i wanted to eat but this first time experience is ridiculous and unacceptable. If you are too busy with an event, at least let us know you're not opened or it will take longer thsn normal, not letting custoner sat their unattended and confused. Such a big waste of time.

Every dish is very tasted! Definitely will visit again. It's also a good option for large gatherings.

One of the best skewers place here. Authentic food, great vibes and music. The food are reasonably priced as well as the beers. The food has big portions as well. Would definitely recommend this place and will be back again!

AYCE is back. Hot pot is my favorite and they have one of the best spicy broths in SD, ingredients are fresh and portions sizes are phenomenal.

very very nice！amazing experiences hanging out with my friends. Watching NBA all star and have great bbq with exactly Chinese style.

Came here on a random Saturday night and pleasantly surprised by the hot pot and skewers. The service was AMAZING. The food was Super authentic - we got to eat a lot of food that we havnt had since China. Highly recommend!! Favorite food - lamb and beef skewers; hot pot and ordering all our favorite ingredients.

The meat skewers are on point! So delicious. Try the chicken cartilage, chicken wings, chicken meat--all the chicken skewers are good. The lamb is good too. The BBQ veggies are just so-so, you can skip those. But the meat! Get lots of the meat skewers! Can't wait to try their cooked foods next time, like their lamb pot and hot pot!