Lao Wang

I come here almost every day. I like the hot and spicy pot so much. It reminds me of my hometown far away. It’s a nice place to chill out with friends. It’s also the first restaurant I had visited when I was a freshman here at UCSB. There are so many memories🥰🥰🥰

Favorite Chinese/Asian food near campus — lots of customizations and easy to understand menu. Love toppings like beef tendon, enoki mushroom, fish roe ball that are hard to find in IV and Goleta, and highly recommend the garlic tofu! Great place to get a bun for a quick bite or a super filling noodle bowl (you’ll always have leftovers).

Riz Nur Saidy

Tried Lao Wang Asian Street Food and really liked it. We got the beef sukiyaki bowl and the dry malatang mix. The sukiyaki bowl was simple but packed with flavor — thinly sliced beef, onions, and rice with that perfect balance of savory and slightly sweet. The sauce soaked into the rice nicely, and the portion size was solid. The spring roll on the side added a nice bit of crunch. The dry malatang was loaded with variety — tofu, mushrooms, noodles, broccoli, peanuts, and a good kick of spice. The chili oil gave everything that classic mala heat without being too overpowering, and the textures kept it interesting all the way through. Everything came out fresh, hot, and well-seasoned. The portions are generous and the flavors are bold. Definitely a great spot if you like strong, spicy, street-food-style dishes.

Taylor Tran

Went here after class and enjoyed a hot bowl of noodles and some of the buns. The portion sizes are filling and the buns were very enjoyable too!

Gina De Amicis

Hands down AMAZING FOOD!! Authentic, big portions, affordable price. You’ll be back!! Owner is local and all his original recipes!! You’ll often even see him working during the week. :) I’ve ordered plenty on the menu but this is what I got today, the special with tofu and I’m obsessed. Thank you Lao Wang!!!!🙌🏼

Kelsey Yip

Lao Wang YUMMMmm, this is by far the safest and my go-to option in IV (imo). The food here is always consistent! I got the sweet and sour chicken rice bowl with an add on of garlic tofu and let me tellll you, it's delicious! The chicken is crisp and tender with a coat of their homemade sweet and sour sauce, added on was fried tofu in their yummy garlic sauce, and the bowl comes with egg roll, corn, and Mac salad! I also tried their spam, Chinese sausage and popcorn chicken buns. This was a flavorful appetizer. I highly recommend trying them with spicy mayo and jalapeños that they provide in the dining room. And lastly, for this meal, I ordered the curry chicken fingers. As you bite into this, you can see the coat of curry sitting in between the chicken and batter. It is flavorful in itself, but dipped in ranch is even better! To quench your thirst, they have a variety of beverages like tea in the fridge (my fav is the herbal tea). Josh, the manager, definitely does a great job in recommending which items are good for you, and esp if it's your first visit, he'll eagerly want to present the menu to you. I highly recommend you try this place out and ask Josh for recs. Also it's right outside Pardall tunnel, very close to campus!

Sarah Guisinger

My favorite restaurant in IV! Quick and friendly service. Vibey decorations with custom murals inside. Flavorful dishes, and soft, sweet, moist bao buns. Chicken is crispy without being dry. They even have fries! I like getting the noodle soup on chilly days. Spicy and non-spicy options. There are a little quail eggs in the soup that are cute and tasty! I highly recommend the chicken curry rice bowl. Phone didn’t eat first (not pictured: popcorn and pork belly bao buns).

Akshay Agrawal

Excellent restaurant to try some great Asian food. I tried their Vegan lunch (Rice noodles with toppings) Vegan Soybean Chicken and Tofu buns. High quality and tasty ingredients are used throughout their menu. Most dishes do contain peanuts so please be sure to ask if you are alergic. They have a mini section for free sauces where you can get sides of spicy mayo, chilli oil, soy sauce and peanut sauce.

Michael Katz

Lao wang is some of the best food in IV. I love how accessible it is. Their food is delicious and the service is always great! The craft your own mala tang noodles are yummy; its truly healing food if you’re sick. The buns are also some of my favorites :D cant wait to go back!

Toni Shindler-Ruberg

The soup goes crazy on cold nights. Stopped by with a few friends for soup and buns! A little salty but super flavorful. The cashiers were helpful, grabbing cups and to-go containers for me. Yum!!

Shaolian Wu

Come here 3 times a week. High quality asian food, awesome service, the manager is very nice. They also serve awesome alcohol here! My favorite food is hot and spicy dry pot!

Nami Dagyal

By far a staple for a broke college kid. The fried tofu buns are my favorite and are super filling! Josh at the counter has always been super helpful and friendly. Would 10/10 recommend trying Lao wang!

Mokuyu Koo

I come here almost every day. I like the hot and spicy pot so much. It reminds me of my hometown far away. It’s a nice place to chill out with friends. It’s also the first restaurant I had visited when I was a freshman here at UCSB. There are so many memories🥰🥰🥰

Kristin Cheung

Favorite Chinese/Asian food near campus — lots of customizations and easy to understand menu. Love toppings like beef tendon, enoki mushroom, fish roe ball that are hard to find in IV and Goleta, and highly recommend the garlic tofu! Great place to get a bun for a quick bite or a super filling noodle bowl (you’ll always have leftovers).

I got the mala tang noodles from here and it was delicious. I loved how i could choose from so many toppings and the food came out within 10 minutes. There was also so many condiments to add to it yourself! The service was friendly and upbeat. I would definitely come back, i recommend.

Me and my friends love lao wang! Laos is the best place to go before going out we always get a pitcher of golden state cider. My fav is the garlic chicken rice bowl and the sweet potato fries. Fun music and great service!

I had been at SB four years and Lao Wang is definitely one of my favorite lunch place. It's so close to the campus and I was always able to get my food fast. I really like their rice noddles and fish roe balls.

Ryan was extremely nice and helpful, and recommended me the perfect menu items to order! The music was great and the overall vibe inside is unmatched!

This place is great! The food comes out and quick and is delicious. It’s a great place to come eat and catch up with friends.

Cindy Song

Good soup base and good selection variety to customize what you like in your noodle soup

Linuf Hansen

I had been at SB four years and Lao Wang is definitely one of my favorite lunch place. It's so close to the campus and I was always able to get my food fast. I really like their rice noddles and fish roe balls.

Ryan Park

This place is great! The food comes out and quick and is delicious. It’s a great place to come eat and catch up with friends.

Stella Symonds

Me and my friends love lao wang! Laos is the best place to go before going out we always get a pitcher of golden state cider. My fav is the garlic chicken rice bowl and the sweet potato fries. Fun music and great service!

Anna Warren

LOVED the food here, one of my favorites in IV. The garlic chicken rice bowl was incredible, especially with some chili oil from the condiments bar. I liked that I was able to customize it a bit! Great service and delicious food (the egg rolls are also delicious). Definitely recommend!

Visiting the beach with our dog and passing through the college town. Love the dog-friendly patio seating. We did noodles our own way, and both noodles we ordered are ok taste but not my favorite sauce. The pork belly buns were good though!

Shelly Shi

Visiting the beach with our dog and passing through the college town. Love the dog-friendly patio seating. We did noodles our own way, and both noodles we ordered are ok taste but not my favorite sauce. The pork belly buns were good though!

Mediocre, I wouldn’t say it’s bad but it’s definitely not something I would miss. Kind of slow for serving noodles.

Tianling Wan

Mediocre, I wouldn’t say it’s bad but it’s definitely not something I would miss. Kind of slow for serving noodles.

The food was pretty poor quality, and then I learned from some friends who used to work there that the food is far from fresh :/

benskji

The food was pretty poor quality, and then I learned from some friends who used to work there that the food is far from fresh :/