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✔️Breakfast ✔️Brunch ✔️Lunch ✔️Dinner ✔️Dine in ✔️Take out
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Old celeb photos decorate this watering hole built in 1939 & serving Asian eats alongside nostalgia.
Hours
| Saturday | 12 PM–12 AM |
| Sunday | 12–11 PM |
| Monday | 12–11 PM |
| Tuesday | 12–11 PM |
| Wednesday | 12–11 PM |
| Thursday | 12 PM–12 AM |
| Friday | 12 PM–12 AM |
Address and Contact Information
Address: 7156 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046
Phone: (323) 794-1106
Website: https://theformosacafe.com/
Menu Photos
Photo Gallery
Related Web Results
The Formosa Cafe – Best Chinese Restaurant in West Hollywood …
The Formosa first opened its doors IN LOS ANGELES in 1939: making its new debut in its 80th year. Located across from the then-Samuel Goldwyn studio.
Restaurant Menu – Happy Hours for Drinks & Food | The Formosa Cafe
Enjoy Happy Hour with The Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood, LA. Enjoy late … CA 90046. [email protected] (323) 794-1106. Created by SB Agency. 1933 …
The Formosa Cafe (@theformosa) • Instagram photos and videos
… West Hollywood, CA ⏰ Sun-Wed: 12pm-11pm • Thurs-Sat: 12pm-12am Food until 10pm every night! #theformosa #formosacafe #losangelesfood #westhollywood.
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Reviews
Mia Delamar
Been wanting to try this Resturant for a while and finally got the time to yesterday. We had a lunch reservation and were seated right away. The host gave us the option of sitting in the train car or the booths. Both were super cute areas, but we ultimately chose the booth space. Our server, Cameron was so sweet and made sure we had everything we needed throughout our dining experience. For appetizers we had the Veggie spring rolls which were cooked to perfection and very fresh. For drinks, I had the Piña Colada Mocktail and my other guest had the Secret Garden. The drinks were amazing. Kudos
to the bartender who helped me best find the most optimal mocktail that would pick up all the flavors and not just be juice water. He was great! For entrees, we got the Orange Chicken and crispy beef. The food was good, but my beef was a bit too crispy for my liking and the Orange chicken was not quite crispy enough for my guest. This wasn’t a big deal just personal preference, but I would likely order something different the next time I dine here. Formosa has a beautiful menu and a beautiful atmosphere with incredible customer service. You should certainly give this city favorite a try!
… moreto the bartender who helped me best find the most optimal mocktail that would pick up all the flavors and not just be juice water. He was great! For entrees, we got the Orange Chicken and crispy beef. The food was good, but my beef was a bit too crispy for my liking and the Orange chicken was not quite crispy enough for my guest. This wasn’t a big deal just personal preference, but I would likely order something different the next time I dine here. Formosa has a beautiful menu and a beautiful atmosphere with incredible customer service. You should certainly give this city favorite a try!
Antonia Donato
Pretty outstanding happy hour. Came around 4pm on a Tuesday and it was full but not overwhelming. Waited in the front of the restaurant when I walked in for a table, which took a few minutes, but then a waiter hurried over and apologized for the wait/seated me right away. The waitress was so lovely; their service is memorable. Food was good! There wasn’t much
I could eat on the happy hour menu because I’m vegan, but the brussel sprouts are def something to write home about. Cocktails are just ok. I ordered the Colonel drink and didn’t feel a thing, which makes me believe it was pretty watered down. I’ll probably come back to try other HH drinks. Would def bring a friend or date here; the atmosphere is beautiful.
… moreI could eat on the happy hour menu because I’m vegan, but the brussel sprouts are def something to write home about. Cocktails are just ok. I ordered the Colonel drink and didn’t feel a thing, which makes me believe it was pretty watered down. I’ll probably come back to try other HH drinks. Would def bring a friend or date here; the atmosphere is beautiful.
AdamLTW
Delicious Chinese food with unique menu items all delivered in a fantastic old school Hollywood atmosphere. From the pictures on the wall of the great stars of the past and the booths where Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Burt Reynolds hung out, you can feel the history and reminisce about the past. The boa, lettuce wraps, scallion pancakes, fried tofu, and chicken salad all were excellent choices. They also had great drink choices. The only downside was that parking was in a paid parking lot and the restaurant prices were very high.
… moreWilliam Wong
Utterly disappointed with this one, saw on a blog it was voted best restaurant in West Hollywood at one point, not sure how accurate that was. Fried rice and chow mien were bad, not sure how they can name the chicken wings Sichuan chicken wings, tasted like bad buffalo wings, wonton soup was good. Environment very dark. Should have gone Panda Express.
… morecha cha
1 star FRONT BARTENDER REVIEW: snottiness was absolutely unneeded when I asked about what was popular on the menu. I assume as a bartender, I’m sure it’s NORMAL for people to ask what was popular. I was there on New Years Eve, he was the bartender at the end of the bar. He had his friend sitting at the end of the bar while he was working. Normally I would order a whisky on rock, but this isn’t the place for that. ofc I wanted to try a nice cocktail and everything was pretty basic. ATTITUDE WAS UNNECESSARY. UNPROFESSIONAL.
As someone who has opened many restaurants in LA and works with LA Times, SBE, etc. highly disappointed at the professionalism. I would have had them off on the spot.
Food was okay. If you’ve never had authentic Chinese food or Michelin Chinese food, this would be good. The cod sauce was WAY too salty and the rice under seasoned. All the other stuff was normal. Top self whisky and tequila was overpriced, they charged the same as a 4 star hotel bar, no where near that. Love the spot bc it’s historic, but the servers there make it unbearable. Every single bartender had an attitude or made zero eye contact when we needed WATER. One of our friends needed water and they just ignored us. What a hazard. We’re not at the Ritz guys, calm down.
… moreAs someone who has opened many restaurants in LA and works with LA Times, SBE, etc. highly disappointed at the professionalism. I would have had them off on the spot.
Food was okay. If you’ve never had authentic Chinese food or Michelin Chinese food, this would be good. The cod sauce was WAY too salty and the rice under seasoned. All the other stuff was normal. Top self whisky and tequila was overpriced, they charged the same as a 4 star hotel bar, no where near that. Love the spot bc it’s historic, but the servers there make it unbearable. Every single bartender had an attitude or made zero eye contact when we needed WATER. One of our friends needed water and they just ignored us. What a hazard. We’re not at the Ritz guys, calm down.
Susan
The decor was awesome. We loved the speakeasy Asian vibe. The food was fantastic. Walnut Shrimp and Kung Pao chicken for the mains. Amazing and plentiful. Tuna tar-tar for an appetizer. Excellent. Drinks were good. Service was awesome. We were there for New Year’s Eve.
… moreMacaroon
Great Food & Classic Hollywood Vibes!
We had a great time at Formosa! The atmosphere and decor are amazing—old-school Hollywood at its best. Love historic spots like this and hope it keeps thriving!
We ordered fried rice, chow fun, orange chicken, and spicy wontons (recommend all!)—surprisingly, everything was delicious! The flavors are different from your usual Chinese food, but in the best way. Definitely a place that keeps you coming back!
Cons: The service was slow, and we didn’t get fortune cookies after our meal, even though other tables did. Still, the food was great, and we’ll be back!
… moreWe had a great time at Formosa! The atmosphere and decor are amazing—old-school Hollywood at its best. Love historic spots like this and hope it keeps thriving!
We ordered fried rice, chow fun, orange chicken, and spicy wontons (recommend all!)—surprisingly, everything was delicious! The flavors are different from your usual Chinese food, but in the best way. Definitely a place that keeps you coming back!
Cons: The service was slow, and we didn’t get fortune cookies after our meal, even though other tables did. Still, the food was great, and we’ll be back!
Jack Loub
I was very excited to visit The Formosa after hearing so many great things about it and knowing it’s a true Los Angeles staple. Our group arrived on time for our reservation and were told it would only be a few minutes, so we waited at the bar. The bartender was wonderful, and we really enjoyed our drinks, but we ended up waiting about 20 minutes before checking back in with the hostess, at which point we were finally seated — after reminding them we were still waiting.
Once seated, another 15 minutes passed before we had to flag someone down to have our server greet us. We placed our drink and food orders all at once, and shortly after requested another carafe of water, which never arrived. Our appetizers came out in a reasonable amount of time, but our plates were never cleared before the main courses were served.
We were a group of five, each ordering an individual entrée. One entrée came out alone, and then we waited a full 15 minutes before another dish arrived. At that point, we were frustrated — we didn’t want to eat until everyone’s food had arrived, and our friend’s meal was getting cold, so we had to ask that everything be brought out at once.
While the food itself was good and the portion sizes were generous, the service was absolutely terrible. No one checked on us after the food was delivered, and we eventually had to flag someone down just to get our check. Aside from taking our initial order, I don’t recall our server checking on our table more than once throughout the entire evening, despite seeing him attentive to other tables. It honestly felt like our table was overlooked, possibly because he knew we were subject to an automatic gratuity. We would’ve requested to have it taken off, but didn’t want to wait another 20 minutes to be assisted.
Overall, I was very disappointed by this experience and truly hope my next visit will be much better.
… moreOnce seated, another 15 minutes passed before we had to flag someone down to have our server greet us. We placed our drink and food orders all at once, and shortly after requested another carafe of water, which never arrived. Our appetizers came out in a reasonable amount of time, but our plates were never cleared before the main courses were served.
We were a group of five, each ordering an individual entrée. One entrée came out alone, and then we waited a full 15 minutes before another dish arrived. At that point, we were frustrated — we didn’t want to eat until everyone’s food had arrived, and our friend’s meal was getting cold, so we had to ask that everything be brought out at once.
While the food itself was good and the portion sizes were generous, the service was absolutely terrible. No one checked on us after the food was delivered, and we eventually had to flag someone down just to get our check. Aside from taking our initial order, I don’t recall our server checking on our table more than once throughout the entire evening, despite seeing him attentive to other tables. It honestly felt like our table was overlooked, possibly because he knew we were subject to an automatic gratuity. We would’ve requested to have it taken off, but didn’t want to wait another 20 minutes to be assisted.
Overall, I was very disappointed by this experience and truly hope my next visit will be much better.
Brandon Brown
Came here for my birthday dinner and was pleasantly surprised! I mentioned that I wanted to come here because of the history and the vintage train vibes, but for all the history and kitsch, the food was equally as delicious. We started out by ordering appetizers, cocktails, then our mains, but our mains ended up coming before the appetizers and cocktails, which was slightly jarring since by then my face was actively being stuffed with fried rice. My whole crew enjoyed their drinks despite them being slightly tardy to the party. That was probably the only “negative” note of the evening. All of the food was delicious! The orange chicken was delicious, not as “orangey” as one would expect, but it had a complex flavor profile and other things going for it that made it interesting. The star of the show was the Walnut Shrimp. On the flip side, however, the appetizer vegetable dumpling wasn’t this group’s favorite. Finishing off, we also shared an order of the chocolate dumplings for dessert that was very, very reminiscent of an offering at a very well known Chinese dumpling house and were yummy as well. Throughout our meal, our waitress, Tamara was very attentive, warm, and funny. She really was the cherry on top of an already great evening. Overall, it was a great experience and my friends and I were all excited at the prospect of dining here again.
… moreDylan Yang
Come for the history, not the food.
There was a time period in Hollywood when Asia was fetishized. The architecture, Asian women in tight dresses, and the color red. This restaurant (and the Chinese theater) are relics of that history.
Ordered their lunch box as takeout on a weekday. To be fair, I think the appeal of this place is the atmosphere and interior aesthetic. You get the chance to sit in the theoretical exact same spot as some of Hollywood’s most beloved stars. I didn’t experience any of that, so I’ll just review the food.
Their food is targeted toward an older American generation who wanted to say they’ve had a taste of Asia without the actual commitment to eat anything authentic. But in a time when younger generations seek out the latest authentic niche food spot to post on their socials, The Formosa is far-and-away out of date.
The fried rice is under-seasoned, if seasoned at all. The orange chicken is edible but not orange and a tiny bit bitter. The walnut shrimp had a nice bite to it with your standard coconut flavoring. Generally speaking, their food is edible. And to top it off, it’s all rather overpriced.
I’m not the target demographic for The Formosa and I’m sure that many people go and have a great time. But, respectfully, if you’re not a tourist and you’re just looking for food, I would try looking elsewhere first.
… moreThere was a time period in Hollywood when Asia was fetishized. The architecture, Asian women in tight dresses, and the color red. This restaurant (and the Chinese theater) are relics of that history.
Ordered their lunch box as takeout on a weekday. To be fair, I think the appeal of this place is the atmosphere and interior aesthetic. You get the chance to sit in the theoretical exact same spot as some of Hollywood’s most beloved stars. I didn’t experience any of that, so I’ll just review the food.
Their food is targeted toward an older American generation who wanted to say they’ve had a taste of Asia without the actual commitment to eat anything authentic. But in a time when younger generations seek out the latest authentic niche food spot to post on their socials, The Formosa is far-and-away out of date.
The fried rice is under-seasoned, if seasoned at all. The orange chicken is edible but not orange and a tiny bit bitter. The walnut shrimp had a nice bite to it with your standard coconut flavoring. Generally speaking, their food is edible. And to top it off, it’s all rather overpriced.
I’m not the target demographic for The Formosa and I’m sure that many people go and have a great time. But, respectfully, if you’re not a tourist and you’re just looking for food, I would try looking elsewhere first.