Lotus Cafe

Lotus Café!!! A must visit in the Inland Empire! Wonderful food and service!
I am a believer in Unilocal reviews and the good people who take the time to share their customer experiences both good and bad. Lotus Café is fairly new and a sleeper. The atmosphere is clean and comfortable but lacking any décor to speak of. But what it lacks in décor is made up for with delicious and authentic food at great prices and portions. Compared to other competitors, this restaurant offers you excellent value for your hard earned dollars and you can walk out after eating feeling like you just had a great meal at a good price.
The menu is truly authentic and many of the items are not everyday «restaurant“dishes but rather specials and food chinese families might enjoy at a relative’s house on a Sunday night for dinner. The Kung Pao dishes are delicious as are the affordable lamb dishes. All of the food is spot on in regards to taste and presentation. There are a wide variety of dishes to try in addition to many unusual appetizers like the traditional noodle and dumpling fare.
It is worth mentioning that the service here is fast and wonderfully friendly. You will be treated like a guest and not ignored by unfriendly wait staff that act as if you are problem. I value service as much as food and you will be happy that Lotus Café provides both.
If you are looking for good food, value and service please check out this hidden GEM!

A hole in the wall! — My parents and I come here often, we loveeee their different «老北京» (old-​styled Beijing) dishes! The food is tasty, the portions are generous & they even make their own dumplings from scratch! The last time I went, I tried their leek, pork & egg dumpling FRIED!!! and also the napa & pork boiled! Both were great and I was happy that I can get my dumplings potsticker style (my fav way to eat dumplings)! I also like their spicy dry pot w/​intestine (I know I eat weird stuff lol). They also have side dishes in the front, you can go up and pick out your combo! Definitely recommending this place if you want to eat that authentic Beijing cooking!
Location: in the corner of 99 ranch. If you’re facing 99 ranch, the restaurant is to your left hand side by the glass doors.

Delicious authentic Chinese food. Not fast food. We eat here every week for their delectable handmade dumplings and beef stews. All the dishes has delicate flavor and not too salty. Do not mistake with previous restaurant from 5 months ago. Great snack sized hand held dishes, fun for kids, after school or refrigerated for breakfast on the run. Our favorite is the beef & tomatoe stew; delicious on rice, noodles or homemade bread.

Lotus Café is an absolute gem! The food is delicious, prices affordable, and the service is the best in the area.
First off, the food: Their fish and tofu In hot sauce is as good as red chili house, and less oily. The menu is a bit smaller but that’s no matter, there are still plenty of great dishes. Another favorite of mine is the lamb with cumin. Yum! Lots of meat, fresh veggies: fantastic. Other solid dishes include the tofu and minced pork (a milder ma po tofu style dish) and their special sautéed chicken (crispy, spicy, savory, and sweet)! All of the above dishes are between $ 7.95−8.95, with portions plenty large enough for the price.
What really gives lotus café an edge is the service. The woman who works there really makes it feel like home. Even when I come in for take-​out, she graciously offers me a seat and serves me some water. The whole staff is equally as accommodating.
They are easy to miss in the corner of Ranch 99, but an absolute much try. Many of the local workers at other places get take-​out from there, but it tends to be a bit quiet: I sure hope is starts to draw more customers!!!

I ordered wonton soup — delicious chicken broth with bits of ginger, bok choy, cilantro, green onion and at least 8 or maybe 12 pork dumplings. Very filling but not heavy at all. Comfort food. Fried dumplings had shrimp, egg, leeks & pork. yummm love leeks. definitely worth coming back.

Don’t let the outside deceives you. It is located literally inside 99 Ranch Market building but it is independently operated. We were hesitate to step in this place at the beginning when they first started. The dining atmosphere is nice and quiet. The environment is clean and organized, unlike many other Chinese places we have been are usually like a war zone and noisy. It is catered toward family style dining experience.
The food. Its menu is not extensive but just right for us to pick from. The dishes resemble northern Chinese style such as noddles, dumplings and soup and other commonly heard Chinese dishes. There are some spicy dishes but if you are looking for hardcore Szhechuan dishes, your selections may be not as rich compared to Red Chili House in the same block. The taste of food is authentic and delicious and served in appetizing way. We are pleasantly surprised by the taste of the dishes. We love the pork in sour napa soup. It is served in hot pot style so the soup is always warm. What is better than a steamy hot tasty soup during cold winter? Of course you can have the soup anytime you want. Their marinated beef shank, pork belly on preserved vegetable (Mei Cai Kou Rou) are my favorites. The pork belly’s fat will melt in your mouth, no need to chew here, just plain amazing. We also ordered Cuimin lamb, which had good combination of Cuimin, slice onions and of course mutton. Love it. Recently, we tried the seafood and toufu pot, which was surprisingly good. It is not the usual Cantonese style that we see in most Chinese restaurant. It’s toufu is crispy outside and silky inside. The dish is not soupy but in a more stir fried way. The seafood include shrimp, squid and fish. There are a few more dishes we have tried and they are very good as well. Last but not least, they have Boba milk tea on the menu as well.
The service is great. The waitress is very personable and proactively checking if you need to refill the water or rice. She will also recommend you a few dishes if you are undecided or don’t know what to order. She will help you to take away empty plates so you will have more space to enjoy your meal.
If you are looking for cozy dining and delicious food, you need to try it. If you are in a hurry, try their Chinese burger.

Really good authentic Chinese food. Ordered green, sliced pork with tofu, spicy fried chicken and dumplings. All were very delicious and flavorful. The only negative thing was the dumplings were just ok. A bit too oily and not fried enough. Definitely worth checking out if you’re sick of the other places in the strip mall

This place was such a great find. The food was very delicious and also very affordable. The service was excellent. The lady who works in the front was really sweet. This place is a hidden place to the left of ranch 99 so it’s easily missed, but I hope you give it a try! I’ll definitely be back!

Pretty good food but could be easy on the salt… fish’s tender with great taste. Service’s good too. Sure will come back to try other dishes.

This is a cute little restaurant. I highly recommend this place! The food taste very authentic and the service is amazing! The food is very cheap but the flavor is beyond amazing for Rancho Cucamonga. Try this place out and you won’t regret it!

Great food and great service. I really enjoyed the atmosphere. The owner was very friendly and even suggested a few different dishes. Every dish was full of flavor and the portions were perfect. I highly recommend Lotus Café to all newcomers. It is just left of the Ranch Market if you are walking towards the entrance.

Good traditional Chinese food. A little bit easy to miss in the corner of the 99 Ranch store but worth going to. We had beef wraps, spicy beef, sweet and sour chicken, and a cold Tofu dish. The sweet and sour chicken was a bit Americanized but not bad. The other three were more traditional style and very good. Prices are reasonable.

Forget Red Chili house and other restaurants in this block. Walk to this hidden gem at the corner of 99 Ranch market.
Excellent food. Excellent Service. Of all Wallet friendly.
They have specials at all times. great tasting
Kung Pao chicken 6.95
Shredded Pork with Onions 6.95
Chinese Cold dishes.
Food was just excellent.

I went to go eat here with my father on sunday at noon. This restaurant is literally on the inside of a 99 ranch market (grocery store) on the end corner. As soon as we walked in we were greeted by our waiter and got seated immediately, but to be fair we were the only ones there. The waiter have given us the menus which looked like to-​go menus, and after some consideration I settled for the shrimp balls with chili peppers, and the pan fried dumplings! I also ordered a mango milk tea and my father ordered the fish filet soup. When the food came out it was pretty good and the portions are very big, but this café is missing something. The flavors were pretty spicy. However I do give credits to the servers, although they cannot speak english very well, they made the experience very pleasant by constantly asking how the food is, what can be improved, and filling our waters without us even asking! That alone earns my respect, so I say give it a try!