BUSINESSCLOSED! I just tried to go there last night. Was craving some Singapore Chicken. So bummed. I’m not surprised though. Phở Express closed down(another decent place) at the same location. The problem is the location. That strip mall it’s in is GHETTO and infested with the poor, vagrant, and the homeless. I rarely went there cuz I always got harassed or almost run over in the parking lot.
Paula N.
Tu valoración: 4 Sunnyvale, CA
Yum. Yum, yum, yum. Though, I think Singapore chicken is acquired taste. You need to like and use the sauce… which I think consists of ground ginger, garlic, fish sauce and sugar. I like the non-spicy version. So comforting and addictive. I definitely crave it. If this isn’t your style, their crispy chicken is okay. Crispy garlic wings wins everyone over, though! Service is always friendly, though slow. Order ahead of time and pick it up. Everything tastes fresh. They toss salads right in front of you. Highly recommend.
Sherry R.
Tu valoración: 4 West Hills, CA
A tragedy has occurred. ASOFJANUARY20TH2011HOTCHICKSRICEHASCLOSED!!! I went there last night because I was craving their fried rice and there was an eviction notice on the door and a for lease sign across their sign. Everything in the restaurant is gone and everything is cleared out. Such a side time.
Kristofer D.
Tu valoración: 4 San Gabriel, CA
This place is straight-up biggity biggity bomb bomb diggy doo doo. Just make sure you don’t go during ANY sort of busy time. They tend to LLAAAAAAGGGG. I’ve had some big wait times in an almost empty restaurant. Food is always A+ yum yum, gimme some. That chicken rice is just… Ooo. I like the cubed steak dish and the standard crispy chicken rice. So how you like them apples?
Rick R.
Tu valoración: 3 Riverside, CA
When I’m out doing laundry in this strip mall. I have a few food options– Little Caesar’s, Rice Box, Big Saver supermarket deli, Rico’s Tacos and a former torta place run by an extremely hot owner that I will miss… but i digress. Find food to eat while I’m in between rinse cycles. A new spot opens up– Hot Chicks Rice. Hot Chicks Rice took over the space that Phở Express previously had and now I’m down another phở spot nearby! But anyway. They gutted the place and made it bright and colorful with a white and orange modern minimalist color scheme and approximately 10 tables. A nice Unilocal sticker at the counter is a nice touch too. I go with the Hainan chicken and Singapore rice. Beautifully boiled chicken, broth infused rice, and a trio of sauces– ginger, chili and scallion(or green onions here on the west coast) The chicken was great, flavorful and juicy. The rice, lightly flavored was a nice compliment to the chicken and accompanying sauces. I can’t wait to explore the rest of the menu. A lite soup with tofu and a few veggies is also included to round out the meal. I will definitely be back. A great«not quite-fast food» Asian place to check out and I’m looking forward to trying the other dishes.
Kathy V.
Tu valoración: 4 Riverside, CA
I enjoyed this place! After a long day at school, I took a few friends there to eat. One got the crispy chicken, one just got the banana dessert and I got the Tom Yum soup. My friend’s crispy chicken was so good! He stated there wasn’t enough rice though… we asians love our rice! My soup was sweet, sour, and spicy all in one pot! DELICIOUS! There was ample amounts of fish, shrimp and vegetables. I loved how after I ate I didn’t feel weighed down. My friend also got me a the chocolate cake. I don’t think they bake in house. I would opt for desserts they do make there. Otherwise, all the other dishes were good!
Jon K.
Tu valoración: 3 Upland, CA
I can’t say much because I only got the thai-iced tea. BUTDANGSON. that’s some good orange drink right dur! honestly the best thai-iced tea i’ve ever had. sweet but rich in flavor. hmmm… squeaky clean interior. lots of giant macro photos of food i’m guessing they serve. stayed there two hours playing monopoly deal with a friend who i owned multiple times before finally allowing her to win. grand total of 2 other people came during the time we were there. granted, it was kind of an awkward time(3pm-5pm), but still. not much business. either way… GETTHETHAI-ICEDTEA! Maybe it helped that this was the hottest week in Socal history… but man. that tea was delicious.
Brian L.
Tu valoración: 5 Covina, CA
Hot Chicks is a popular hangout with members of my club(we often have official and unofficial socials here) and for good reason. The food here is of a higher caliber than your Boba Café/Ten Ren’s/Life Café, and is more like the Asian food served in the 626. I’ve had a good variety of their food(fried noodles, lemon chicken, dim sum platter, and roast duck). So far I’ve been impressed with most of their dishes, with one notable exception: the Singapore chicken rice. The chicken tasted too wet and gross to me. With that notable exception, everything else I’ve had has been great. The dim sum platter, while a little pricey for a «appetizer» is definitely a favorite of mine. The banana-filled spring roll with vanilla ice cream: Amazing! And the milk tea: Best I’ve ever had. No other place I’ve been to in Riverside or anywhere else has come close. The milk tea here has a much stronger milkiness to it which gives it a more distinctive and better taste than other milk tea I’ve had. Other nice things: The service is friendly and there is free wifi as well. Although I wouldn’t exactly call Hot Chicks walking distance from campus(especially campus housing) it is well worth the little extra time and effort required to get here without your own wheels. Highly recommended.
Vicki T.
Tu valoración: 3 Los Angeles, CA
For a while, I kept seeing Hot Chicks Rice pop up as ‘Recently Reviewed’ by other Unilocalers. My curiosity was piqued and made note to give this place. To my surprise, Hot Chicks Rice had taken over what used to be Phở Express. Upon entrance, I realized that the entire place has transformed into a brighter, colorful, more 626-ish type of Chinese restaurant. The fella ordered the signature Singapore Chicken with a Pomegranate tea while I opted for the Crispy Chicken with the Tropical Fresh Fruit tea. Both of our orders came with a side of tofu soup & stir fried vegetables. For all of that, the bill came up to be only a little over $ 20! Love it! The crispy chicken came out quite crispy on the outside(FYI, it’s similar to a crispier rotisserie type of chicken, not battered and fried) yet still tender on the inside. I liked the tasty Singapore style rice with it’s flavorful chicken broth and hints of ginger, definitely a rewarding switch from your ordinary white/brown rice. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too fond of the Tropical Fresh Fruit tea; it was a bit too sweet and syrup-y for my palette. Luckily, the fella liked my drink more so we did a quick switcheroo! The Pomegranate Tea was definitely refreshing with its subtle tanginess, similar to the quench of drinking an ice cold lemonade on a summer’s day.
Pamela S.
Tu valoración: 2 Redondo Beach, CA
Honestly, I was surprised to find out that so many people like this place. I just don’t see it. I’ve been here twice and both times weren’t exactly bad, so… more like mediocre. I’ve tried the white curry chicken(I think that’s what it’s called?), the dim sum, and the boba. The boba is good! I really like the curry, it’s really good over the chicken broth rice. But for some reason the chicken just didn’t taste right. Maybe it was just me. The dim sum is HORRIBLE. It had a very odd, almost sickeningly sweet taste when it’s not supposed to be sweet. The little buns tasted so artificial. I am seriously cringing right now, just thinking about it. I am surprised that their dim sum would be THIS bad. If I were to open a restaurant here that serves dim sum, I would make sure it is excellent compared to those in other restaurants in the area. I thought that by now, it is kind of a common knowledge that there’s authentic dim sum, and there’s really fake illegitimate dim sum. They need to lean toward the former. Service is good, they are very friendly. My first time there, two solicitors came in and went up to the counter to ask if they wanted to buy some sort of lawn… thing. They passed on that and then the two guys went to my table. They presented the lawn thing offer again and my boyfriend told him that we live in an apartment and therefore don’t own a lawn. One of the guys then whipped out a tupperware set and asked if we wanted to buy that? Random. I am kinda surprised that they didn’t tell the solicitors to not bother their customers. I do feel bad posting a negative review about this place since they are still sorta relatively new, but I have to report the truth. Go in and see for yourself if you’ll like it :)
Jimmy C.
Tu valoración: 3 Los Angeles, CA
This place looks like a yogurt shop with all it’s décor. But obviously it was just designed by a girl. The owner is very nice and was very excited about everything. Customer service is pretty good. I tried their popular chicken dishes and everything tasted pretty good and I wouldn’t mind coming back to try this place again. I would of gave this place a 4 stars except I felt this place was too expensive for the portion size. It wasn’t satisfying enough, I felt hungry after eating here still lols. If I wanted walnut shrimp, I would of went university café or life café. Compared to local Chinese places, some dishes are just ridiculously priced.
Anthony B.
Tu valoración: 4 Riverside, CA
I’m sorry to hear about Mike’s experience and thankful I didn’t suffer similar. Yesterday was my first time to this place. Overall my experience was a good one. Granted, I had a few hang ups throughout the dining experience but it was not enough to detour me from the rating given. Decore wise, the place is well lit and has blown up pictures of some of their foods on the south wall(north wall is oddly void of decore). For food I decided to order the beef cubes. My wife went with some noodle dish. For drinks we had a thai tea w/boba and a strawberry drink. For appetizer, they served us with a kind of soup. It seemed like egg drop but wasn’t. Hard to really describe, but it was tasty. The first hiccup I experienced is that they misunderstood my wifes order and sent out a chicken fried rice dish. She checked the receipt to realize they put in the wrong order for her. Not wanting to waste the food she asked if they could put some hot spice into it and they went back to the cooking area. When they returned, she had the dish she originally asked for and gave apologies. The second hiccup came in that they told me they ran out of green beans that I had ordered with my beef cubes dish. I wasn’t really familiar with the alternatives but my wife suggested the bok choy. I went with that. After bit my food came out and voila, green beans. Happy was I! :P As I was eating my dish I semi mistook my rice as «Uncle Ben» style rice(fluffy, not sticky type). I was corrected by the significant other that it was Singaporian Rice and not regular steamed/white rice. It was indeed a bit different as it had a bit of flavored spice in it. Overall the experience here was an interesting one. If I had to leave special feedback to the owners/managers it would be this: PLEASE let us have our drinks before the meal. We were thirsty and waited the some 15 minutes to get them…(plus my wife had a headache prior to coming in and was wanting her water to down the meds with) ;_; PS — When are you going to sell shirts? Those one’s the staff was wearing were so cute. Plus it’d be like additional advertisement for ya!
Lisa W.
Tu valoración: 3 Alhambra, CA
WHYARETHEYNEVEROPENONSUNDAYS??? for the past 3 sundays ive been/passed by Hot Chicks, theyre closed…
Kristina M.
Tu valoración: 3 Los Angeles, CA
Based on what I’ve heard from my friends, this place seems really inconsistent with their service and quality of their food. Dragged into this place with people who were insistent that the food was just delicious, unfortunately, felt a little disappointed when they tasted their food. For what the price was, our portions were tiny! Honestly, I haven’t been served such tiny portions ever since I dined in Cambodia! I regretted not going to some other Asian restaurants where you pay the same, if not less, and get larger portions that you can take home and save for later. However, I wouldn’t say that the food is terrible. I had the tingler tea, which the waiter described as «just having a fruity taste» and he was right! It was delicious. I only wished that I could get refills on it. I also got the crispy chicken, which lived up to its name. You get dip it in this green, ginger-y sauce or a red garlic sauce(that tastes a little like fish sauce but is not). The red one is a little spicy but I absolutely love it, which is amazing for somebody who’s not really into spicy food. My friends were not as satisfied with their food. But overall, the food was okay but the price wasn’t worth it. The service was accommodating with us moving tables around and were really nice. Nonetheless, I’d rather go to Life Café or some other Asian eatery to get more bang for my buck.
Stephanie L.
Tu valoración: 4 Alhambra, CA
Delicious Asian food is hard to come by when you’re in Riverside; of course, that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist! My friend, that is where us Unilocalers come in! First of all, so far this restaurant has THEE best milk/Thai tea in Riverside! I asked one of the employees if they brew their tea or if they used a powder mix. He pulled out a bag of tea leaves to show me, and replied«There’s another way to make this stuff?» The iced milk tea and the iced Thai milk tea from this restaurant got me zoning! The boba’s(tapioca pearl) chewy consistency is delicious, but be warned that the boba gets harder to chew when its closer to closing time. I’ve tried Boba Café, Tapioca Express, Life Café, and University Café’s boba. This place has the best taste and the best price for milk tea. __________________________________________________ Aside from the milk teas, the food here was pretty delicious. The first time I visited, I ordered the walnut shrimp. It wasn’t bad, but the batter used could’ve been a bit crunchier and less starchy. Of course, a standard entrée here comes with a bowl of chicken broth flavored rice, a choice of fruit/salad, and a bowl of soup of the day. Mmm. Crispy chicken skin. The tom yum soup and noodles were impeccable. By the time they serve you your bowl, the flavor has already soaked into the noodles. They give you a 10% discount if you’re a student. Huzzah! We saved on tax and a little bit more! __________________________________________________ Pros: Good service with friendly staff, clean, delicious milk teas(starting at $ 1.95), good food, free wifi with purchase, student discount Cons: They don’t open on Sundays! :( Rumor has it that the boss is a beautiful woman! I’m definitely sold, and going to be a returning customer!
Hanna H.
Tu valoración: 2 Rosemead, CA
Woooooow talk about total 180 experience. I went two days ago and thought this place was so awesome that per our suggestion our foodie group went to this place but it was a mistake. It was unbelievably crowded and so loud that it was like dim sum on a Sunday morning in Monterey Park. Our orders took more than 30 minutes to arrive, the food I ordered today was subpar(granted I ordered the duck and that probably wasn’t the best idea at a fast food café place). There was 9 of us there and 6 of us didn’t get soup because they ran out, which was understandable, but no one even bothered to tell us anything — maybe they expected us to not notice or something. I ordered lettuce wraps as an appetizer and they came 15 minutes after my entrée. The service tonight was not good. It was too crowded, the servers kept forgetting to bring things, forgot to take my friend’s order for ice cream, and at the end this guy took our cards in little paper cups but didn’t bring them back until at least 30 minutes later. Someone from our party started walking up to the cashier and I think one of the servers must have noticed and started ringing them up at that moment. Then we got the receipts back with no pens. I would say more than half of the time during dinner we spent waiting around and the bad service completely ruined our meals. Granted, I’m sure it would have been a lot better if there was less people but still, it’s a restaurant and they should know how to keep things running smoothly if they expect to keep the place popular.
Vanessa L.
Tu valoración: 5 Anaheim, CA
I must have driven by this place about 30 times before I had the guts to stop in and try the food. The logo of a(somewhat poorly drawn) cartoon chicken sweatin’ in a bowl of rice definitely put me off. I thought, sigh, just another low budge Asian fast food place. BOYWAS I WRONG. After reading the Unilocal reviews, I finally stopped in. The restaurant might not look like much from the outside but the interior is definitely cutely decorated and most importantly it is CLEAN. Service has always been incredibly friendly. I’ve been here twice and ordered the salt and pepper wings and then the garlic wings. Both were ABSOLUTELY amazing. My friends have gotten the Singapore chicken and the crispy chicken. The servings are generous and I definitely recommend getting the green beans as a side. I always get the tropical fresh fruit tea(iced tea with pieces of fresh strawberry and lychee) and I always end up craving Hot Chicks Rice within hours after finishing my meal. I brought home day old leftovers from Hot Chicks that had been sitting in my fridge at work and my boyfriend devoured it and raved about it. That’s the power of Hot Chicks Rice.
Ben W.
Tu valoración: 3 Huntington Beach, CA
The Good: What can be said that hasn’t about this place. Yes it looks like a yogurt shop, yes it’s clean with fast and friendly service, yes the prices are a bit higher than my cheap arse would like to pay, but it is a solid place to get Chinese food in the IE. The roasted duck was plentiful and crisp. The lunch special gets you soup, your protein(duck), rice and a side(fried green beans were the bomb). The Bad: Try eating soup with a normal spoon and a funky shaped bowl while sitting in a plastic orange seat. The Ben: Meh, not bad. I’d go back but there were no Hot Chicks. The should re-name it to No Hot Chicks, just rice :(
Tiffany P.
Tu valoración: 5 Los Angeles, CA
WAEO$IHT@$OT*@$T!$!!$) Probably the best kung pao chicken I’ve ever had. The Singaporean rice that comes on the side of most dishes is the shit. Green beans have great texture and flavor. I must once again rave about the amazingness of the soup. Unfortunately, this time my boyfriend did not let me eat his portion. The people who work there are so nice :)
Ray N.
Tu valoración: 5 Rosemead, CA
Came here the other day with some friends and I must admit, the food is pretty legit here. It was so good that I came here three times last week. Here’s some of the stuff I tried last week: The WALNUTPAWNS aka«Walnut Shrimp» is way better than Life Cafes. In fact, I think this place gives you a bigger portion, better flavored rice, and definitely legit PRAWNS compared to Life Café. The BBQ Pork was definitely delicious! The BBQ sauce was glazed fairly well, and the pork wasn’t dry– which had a great turn out! The Singapore Chicken was alright– definitely a dish that’s different in Riverside. But coming from the heart of Asian town in the 626, this dish was mediocre. But since it’s in Riverside, I’d give it props for having such a decent dish. Overall, this place is pretty cool. The environment reminds me of a Yogurt shop– which is pretty interesting considering the fact that they serve decent Asian food. On top of that, first time customers get a delicious dessert while dinning in! I’m definitely coming here again just because of the big portions and delicious dishes they offer here. Oh, and did I mention they have a small Dim Sum menu?! Yeah, this place is definitely trying to step up it’s «Asian» game and show those cafes how Asian café food should taste like– which is a great ++++ in my book!