RiceBox

"Rice Box is the first hip and modern Cantonese restaurant in Los Angeles that really hits the mark. Diners can create custom rice boxes, choosing from the signature char siu (barbecued pork), black soy-poached chicken, crispy seven spice pork belly, or a vegan special. Chef and co-owner Leo Lee uses only organic produce, as well as ethically-sourced, sustainable, and hormone-free meat. The signature char siu barbecued pork uses Duroc pork and is marinated in a family recipe that’s been passed down for more than three decades. The triple-roasted porchetta is marinated overnight, cured, and roasted for three hours in the oven and then smoked. Chef Lee’s rendition of the traditional Chinese celebratory dish beggar’s chicken is only available a few times a year and sells out quickly. Beaneath the proofed almond milk bao dough, beautifully decorated with Chinese characters for rice and box, is a deboned and brined whole chicken stuffed and steamed with abalone and shitake mushrooms, steamed rice, ginkgo nuts, and marinated egg stuffing wrapped in lotus leaves." - Kristie Hang

"Husband-and-wife-owned RiceBox specializes in Cantonese barbecue using organic and hormone-free ingredients, updating wife Lydia Lee’s family recipes with the techniques that her husband Leo learned in culinary school. Their signature porchetta crackling combines traditional siu yuk (roast pork) and porchetta, rolling the pork belly with seven spices, letting it absorb the flavors for 24 hours, and then slowly roasting it until the skin is perfectly crispy. The porchetta crackling, along with Canto classics like char siu and soy sauce chicken, are available as rice bowls, while homemade baos filled with cheese and char siu, egg rolls, and chicken wings are each great ways to round things out on your next trip here." - Fiona Chandra, Kat Hong

"While most of the collective's 16 members run Chinatown-based businesses, some of the members operate restaurants outside of the neighborhood, including Rice Box and Petite Peso in Downtown, and Woon Kitchen in Historic Filipinotown; everyone in the collective is of AAPI heritage." - Cathy Chaplin

"If you’re looking for quick, inexpensive Cantonese food, Ricebox should be your move. In addition to appetizers such as salt-and-pepper chili wings and wild mushroom bao (both less than $10), for just $15, you can build your own box with a choice of rice plus Chinese faves like roasted and honey-glazed char siu, porchetta belly, or mapo eggplant. Plus, with all that money you’re saving, you can finally focus on paying for things that actually matter, like your electricity bill, or this hyper-realistic portrait of Mr. Peanut. Available for takeout and delivery, call (213) 988-7395 to order or find them on most major delivery apps." - Kat Hong

"If you’re looking for quick, inexpensive Cantonese food, Ricebox should be your move. In addition to appetizers such as salt-and-pepper chili wings and wild mushroom bao (both less than $10), for just $15, you can build your own box with a choice of rice plus Chinese faves like roasted and honey-glazed char siu, porchetta belly, or mapo eggplant. Plus, with all that money you’re saving, you can finally focus on paying for things that actually matter, like your electricity bill, or this hyper-realistic portrait of Mr. Peanut. Available for takeout and delivery, call (213) 988-7395 to order or find them on most major delivery apps." - Kat Hong