By Danny Carrillo
East Los Angeles College, has a lot of good restaurants in its surrounding area but not at college student’s budget.
Happy Family Restaurant,located in Monterey Park, is a place to head to with some fellow college students and enjoy good Chinese food.
The best time to go there is during its Lunch Specials, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. . Their prices are very reasonable during this part of the day. They are open seven days a week and are closed from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m.
Every plate includes white rice and egg flower soup or sweet and sour soup. Black tea is provide to you as you sit down on a table and get ready to order. The black tea is one of the things that keeps people coming. No sugar is needed since the tea is rich in flavor.
The lunch specials range from $5.45 to $6.75 a plate. One plate per person is more than enough to get customers full. The best strategy is to go with several students and order a plate each and share. Believe there will be leftovers unless they all eat a whole lot. The plates above are string bean’s with ground pork ($7.50), general’s chicken (spicy orange chicken) ($5.45), sliced with beef broccoli ($5.45), diced chicken with peanuts and pepper ($5.45), milk boba tea ($2.15), and a pancake which is an option to replace a rice order.
This serving can serve up to four or five people and get them full. If you go there with one other person you could just order two plates. One order per person should be enough to get filled up and maybe have some take home.
Any Chinese Restaurant is better than a fast food already prepared Chinese food place. The taste is much different and can not be compared to a fresh batch of food. You never know how long the food has been there at these other locations.
The restaurant is family owned and staff is very inviting and courteous.The food is whipped up in a timely manner and is freshly done. Food is full of flavor and for those who like spicy food the option to spice up any plate is just a matter of request.
The only downfall to this location is that it is closed from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. besides that the evening price is a bit because there get extra items included.
There is bible study every Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and is open to the public. A free brunch is offered to attendees of the bible study group.
Happy Family Restaurant has been located at 500 N Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, for the past 15 years.
