Yellow River

J Y

my go-to place for homemade style Chinese comfort foods since 1990s! 😋Healthy clean foods at affordable prices👍🥦🥬🍗🥢🥘🍜🍚🍲🫑🍆🥒

Alex Macnab

Fresh and delicious. This is one of my favorite places for a quick bite. It's Taiwanese style comfort food. You'll know this place is good when it comes with two sides of veggies and the meat sides have veggies as well. Plus, it is really cheap.

Buffet style , pleasant local Chinese atmosphere with great choices and great prices. Free tea dispenser. Favorite.

One of the best places in Houston Chinatown town for a quick meal. The variety is great, food tastes good, I've been eating here occasionally for almost 20 years. Great pricing, 8 dollars for 2 meat and 2 vegetables tray. They also offer other dishes to order to go. And drinks. Faily reliable and clean.

I'm Vietnamese and I love Taiwanese food. This place has delicious food with reasonable price. I love everything here, the food is tasty without too much salt. The service is great too. Even though the lady doesn't speak English, she's always smiling and helpful. A bento box comes with 2 meats, 2 veggies for $8 with generous portions. You can't beat that. You can also get a milk tea for $3. I highly recommend this place for lunch.

Yellow River Restaurant (何處觅小食) is a hidden gem for anyone craving authentic, home-style Chinese food. The flavors are rich, comforting, and remind you of a cozy eatery back in China. The best part? It’s incredibly affordable—four entrees for under $10, and every dish is genuinely tasty. No flashy presentation, just honest, hearty food made with care. It’s the kind of spot that keeps you coming back when you want something real and satisfying without spending a lot. A must-visit for Chinese comfort food lovers!

We’re visiting Houston from NC, the food was absolutely amazing, not to mention, authentic! I’d highly recommend coming here, we’d definitely return! Also, the he staff is very kind. 11/10

If you are looking for affordable healthy cooking(REAL FOOD), this is the place to go. I can taste the fresh real food taste but no too much salt and no MSG. Good for my whole family, LOVE this place

Steven Jacobs

Buffet style , pleasant local Chinese atmosphere with great choices and great prices. Free tea dispenser. Favorite.

Myles Mabry

We’re visiting Houston from NC, the food was absolutely amazing, not to mention, authentic! I’d highly recommend coming here, we’d definitely return! Also, the he staff is very kind. 11/10

Valerie Reynolds

If you are looking for affordable healthy cooking(REAL FOOD), this is the place to go. I can taste the fresh real food taste but no too much salt and no MSG. Good for my whole family, LOVE this place

zhe liu

One of the best places in Houston Chinatown town for a quick meal. The variety is great, food tastes good, I've been eating here occasionally for almost 20 years. Great pricing, 8 dollars for 2 meat and 2 vegetables tray. They also offer other dishes to order to go. And drinks. Faily reliable and clean.

guoliang du

It’s such a warm and welcoming spot to visit! You’ll love the cozy vibe—and the food is a real treat. Get ready to dive into delicious Asian flavors like juicy traditional Meatballs, Palm Sugar Braised Pork Belly, Fiery Spicy Tofu, and festive delights like Dumplings (粽 zòng 子 zi). It’s like a mini food adventure in every bite!

Bao Wang

Yellow River Restaurant (何處觅小食) is a hidden gem for anyone craving authentic, home-style Chinese food. The flavors are rich, comforting, and remind you of a cozy eatery back in China. The best part? It’s incredibly affordable—four entrees for under $10, and every dish is genuinely tasty. No flashy presentation, just honest, hearty food made with care. It’s the kind of spot that keeps you coming back when you want something real and satisfying without spending a lot. A must-visit for Chinese comfort food lovers!

Simon Nguyen

I'm Vietnamese and I love Taiwanese food. This place has delicious food with reasonable price. I love everything here, the food is tasty without too much salt. The service is great too. Even though the lady doesn't speak English, she's always smiling and helpful. A bento box comes with 2 meats, 2 veggies for $8 with generous portions. You can't beat that. You can also get a milk tea for $3. I highly recommend this place for lunch.

This restaurant is one of the oldest established in Houston's Chinatown. Although many customers claim the flavor has changed throughout the years due to ownership changes, $8 for a four-item self-pick bento box is not bad. The Danzai noodles are also $8. The food and environment are fresh, and there are many choices if you come in early enough. The only problem is that the flavor is a little bland, in my opinion. I recommend this restaurant for people who want some Taiwanese style lunch.

Clean, comfortable, simple place located at the far north end of the very boring Dynasty Mall. I had the $8.00 combo for lunch, which is rice plus your choice of two veggies and two meats. Friendly fast service. The food is okay, but if you're coming to China Town for a culinary experience, this is not the place. Atmosphere is classic shopping mall. There are better options in much more interesting malls just a few hundred feet further down Bellaire Blvd.

David Chang

This restaurant is one of the oldest established in Houston's Chinatown. Although many customers claim the flavor has changed throughout the years due to ownership changes, $8 for a four-item self-pick bento box is not bad. The Danzai noodles are also $8. The food and environment are fresh, and there are many choices if you come in early enough. The only problem is that the flavor is a little bland, in my opinion. I recommend this restaurant for people who want some Taiwanese style lunch.

Tom Mannis

Clean, comfortable, simple place located at the far north end of the very boring Dynasty Mall. I had the $8.00 combo for lunch, which is rice plus your choice of two veggies and two meats. Friendly fast service. The food is okay, but if you're coming to China Town for a culinary experience, this is not the place. Atmosphere is classic shopping mall. There are better options in much more interesting malls just a few hundred feet further down Bellaire Blvd.

Love to the food here, although looks like the portion getting a little smaller with their current styrofoam tray. One thing I'll never get here is their stick rice, or zonghi. Barely any meat in it, mostly peanuts and sticky rice of course smh. Also, if you pick beef as one of the selections, be prepare for a shocker.... they'll give you mostly daikon and carrot lol smh. UPDATE: price just gone up to $9!! Yikes.

charles Lou

Love to the food here, although looks like the portion getting a little smaller with their current styrofoam tray. One thing I'll never get here is their stick rice, or zonghi. Barely any meat in it, mostly peanuts and sticky rice of course smh. Also, if you pick beef as one of the selections, be prepare for a shocker.... they'll give you mostly daikon and carrot lol smh. UPDATE: price just gone up to $9!! Yikes.

Red Flag 🚩 - Any places that wets your rice while serving you is a huge disappointment. The serving size is horrendous. Lots of rice but skimping out on each scoop of meat instead giving you extra meat juice. The vegetables they will put a lot of though. Food has no taste. Lack of options. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

The first time I had been this place was 15 years ago and I become a regular. Recently I am so disappointed since the owner changed. It was okay until yesterday, I found they changed to cheap rice. All Asian know the rice is soul of food. The cheap rice makes okay food terribly. Even my 15 year old son can’t swallow it.

The man at the counter seemed to treat me differently. He said I could only get one meat because I asked if I could get noodles instead of rice. I’m not sure if this is standard or racial profiling. He also tried to stop me from getting what I wanted and claimed he could only “give me two pieces of beef” because it’s expensive. But I noticed another lady that was his same ethnicity got a regular spoonful of the beef without question. Also he was pressing me to get my order to go. I ended up getting two different types of chicken because I had things to do and wasn’t trying to argue with this man and he ended up upcharging $2 me so I could get two meats, two veggies and noodles. It gave “making this up as I go along” type of vibe. You definitely get what you pay for with this place but the plate did what it needed to do. Definitely have some extra sauce on hand. I would have never eaten here if I wasn’t on a budget. So black people beware.

Nicole (Nicole)

The first time I had been this place was 15 years ago and I become a regular. Recently I am so disappointed since the owner changed. It was okay until yesterday, I found they changed to cheap rice. All Asian know the rice is soul of food. The cheap rice makes okay food terribly. Even my 15 year old son can’t swallow it.

Arissha King

The man at the counter seemed to treat me differently. He said I could only get one meat because I asked if I could get noodles instead of rice. I’m not sure if this is standard or racial profiling. He also tried to stop me from getting what I wanted and claimed he could only “give me two pieces of beef” because it’s expensive. But I noticed another lady that was his same ethnicity got a regular spoonful of the beef without question. Also he was pressing me to get my order to go. I ended up getting two different types of chicken because I had things to do and wasn’t trying to argue with this man and he ended up upcharging $2 me so I could get two meats, two veggies and noodles. It gave “making this up as I go along” type of vibe. You definitely get what you pay for with this place but the plate did what it needed to do. Definitely have some extra sauce on hand. I would have never eaten here if I wasn’t on a budget. So black people beware.

Like others mentioned, with new owner, portion/quantity got smaller with quality of food decline, saltier food, and increase in price. 2-3 pieces of small fried fish.. used to double with previous owner, it’s room temp so not as crispy and wonder if fresh. I pay $2 for extra and got 3 more pieces. It’s cheaper going to Panda Express with bigger portions.

For a “beef” choice — they gave me two sad slices of beef drowning in daikon. When I asked, the owner said, “Beef is expensive.” Then don’t sell beef if you can’t afford to serve it. This isn’t a plate lunch, it’s a joke. Other restaurants lunch specials have way better value and varieties. Try Tainan Bistro nearby. They have better selections for lunch and dinner plates at $8. It's reduced to $7 if you purchase a 20-meal card.

A Merlin

Like others mentioned, with new owner, portion/quantity got smaller with quality of food decline, saltier food, and increase in price. 2-3 pieces of small fried fish.. used to double with previous owner, it’s room temp so not as crispy and wonder if fresh. I pay $2 for extra and got 3 more pieces. It’s cheaper going to Panda Express with bigger portions.

R Z

For a “beef” choice — they gave me two sad slices of beef drowning in daikon. When I asked, the owner said, “Beef is expensive.” Then don’t sell beef if you can’t afford to serve it. This isn’t a plate lunch, it’s a joke. Other restaurants lunch specials have way better value and varieties. Try Tainan Bistro nearby. They have better selections for lunch and dinner plates at $8. It's reduced to $7 if you purchase a 20-meal card.