A new-school San Gabriel Valley dining destination serving the farm-to-table Chinese-inspired dinner of our dreams (plus an excellent brunch). Why we love it: Highly inventive yet tinged with nostalgia, Yang’s Kitchen is the new-school Chinese restaurant we’ve been searching high and low for.The more recently added dinner service is what won me over, but Yang’s deceptively simple brunch offerings are also available starting at 9am—which makes for a delightful Asian American spin on breakfast. Thoughtfully sourced ingredients, living wages and an ethos of sustainability thread themselves into every delicious dish, including their must-order sesame noodles made with Persian cucumbers and house chili crisp.

At first glance, Yang’s Kitchen looks like a trendy coffee shop where you’d take your friends for matcha and chit-chat. That’s why the contrast between the casual, blonde wood space and superb Taiwanese-ish dinner menu is so exciting—even more so when you notice the small plates are all under $20, and most of the big dishes are under $40. Prioritize the flaky hainan fish over chicken fat rice, the braised duck with a French twist, and dan dan noodles made with al dente campanelle that clings to the sauce.

Though Christian Yang and Maggie Ho’s Alhambra restaurant has been directing creatively charged ideas toward its dinner service, the place is arguably most cherished for its universalist daytime menu, when breakfast platters of soft-scrambled eggs, hash browns and bacon criss-cross with Japanese-inspired set morning meals and lunchier plates like lemony fried chicken wings and pickled cucumber salad laced with gochugaru. Bringing all the different directions together is an irresistible hubcap-size pancake textured with cornmeal and mochi; it’s thin and lacy around the edges, with a center like an unusually plush crepe. I want it no matter what else I’ve ordered.

Alhambra is rife with amazing and authentic restaurants serving food you simply can't get elsewhere in this gigantic city. While there are easily a dozen restaurants in that neighborhood alone that could merit a spot on this list, Yang's Kitchen stands out to us for its unique and varied menu that spans all three meals of the day (the restaurant is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. five days a week). Main courses let you choose your own adventure by selecting from a list of mains such as dry-aged steelhead trout with yuzu miso, or braised Meiji tofu.

A Taiwanese fusion restaurant with an emphasis on freshly sourced ingredients, Yang’s Kitchen in Alhambra offers a plate of chicken wings that stand out for their simplicity and excellence. The chicken wings at Yang’s don’t have any special sauce or glaze smothered over them; they are fried to a nice bronze color and served with a small dish of salt-and-pepper and lemon. And yet, despite not having any of the “fancier” flavor profiles some of the other wings mentioned above have, they are still delicious and memorable.

As a self-described "hip Chinese kitchen", Yang sources sustainable and local ingredients that help to create an authentic and organic meal for its visitors. Its most popular items are Chinese Beef Noodle Soup, Smoked Salmon Hash, and Whole-Grain Scallion Pancakes. While they still do not take reservations for brunch, as they seat guests on a first come first serve basis, you can join their Yelp!

A popular spot, Yang's Kitchen generated buzz in 2019 when it opened as a daytime counter-only eatery with a Taiwanese flavor. It has grown in scale and ambition since. It's become a full-service restaurant with a curated list of natural wines that pays attention to its ingredients.

112 W Main St, Alhambra, CA 91801Phone: 626-281-1035 Visit Website. View this post on Instagram. A post shared by Tuxton China (@tuxtonchina)