Vua Kho Bo

These women know how to hustle you and milk the living juice out of you.
But the product is good!

Watch out for what the lady packs for you. You need to stand right next to them to ensure that you are getting exactly the weight of the item you requested or otherwise your bill is going to surprise you a big time.

Last Thursday, I had visited the San Gabriel store with some of my friends. Worst place ever to go to because lack of Vietnamese speaking, aggressive, and freaking rude salesperson. My friend had asked to buy 1lb of beef jerky and they ended up giving almost 2 lbs. my friend the rude and aggressive salesperson that my friend wanted 1 lb and she kept on stuffing the bag. She also kept on telling my friend to buy other items and my friend said no. Of course my friend couldn’t understand each other due to language barrier. Also, the rude sales person was stuffing bags with other items telling my friend that it’s really good. My friend said no, but the sales person there doesn’t understand the word «NO». My friend had to wait for 1 Vietnamese speaking sales person and explain the situation. She waited for 15 –20 minutes because it was busy. This place needs more Vietnamese speaking and nicer sales personnel who understands customer needs.

Dishonest business and rude sales. If they are not honest with the weight, how can you be sure they are honest with their products? Like many have said, CHECK THE WEIGHT BEFORE YOU PAY, especially if you pay with credit card. I asked for ¼ lbs, they stuffed me with 1 lbs almost. I found out right there when I was signing the receipt. They told me they could only refund me if I pay cash. As you can tell, I will never ever return. You all, please do not just enjoy the products and encourage this kind of dishonest business by giving them 4 or 5 stars. They have got to change!!!

Like taking baby from a candy… wait…what?
How’d you like to get swindled by a few 67 year old ladies? Did you ever watch David Copperfield when you were young? Those amazing shows he put on with multiple hot girls distracting you from the real illusion happening behind the scene?
The trick is over simulation the moment you walk into the store and shower you with kindness and treats. Like an episode of How To Catch A Predator. Old ladies attacking from multiple directions to throw your game off.
Free stuff everywhere.
You don’t have to tell me twice, I love free stuff. I’m trying to keep every penny in my pocket and these ladies are trying to take every penny of it. Quite the dilemma. I’m not going to lie, I spend about 500% more than what I plan to spend everytime because:
1) They sell you on their «amazing» product and tell you that if you buy 5 lbs you get ½ lb for free
2) They over pack your bags and force you to buy it once it’s in the bag already
Look at it this way, $ 25 per pound of jerky is like getting filet mignon at mastros… which would you rather spend your hard earned money on?

They’re pushy, aggressive and witches. I say that because we stopped there first today. I’ve never liked them in the past, but today took the cake. My mother and I spoke to them in Cantonese to say that we were waiting for people. My relatives from out of town always come by to get jerky or dried foods. The woman working there thought we didn’t understand Vietnamese and started talking about us to her co-​worker. Also when we talked to her about mislabeled food, she treated us like we has no idea what we were taking about. My mother speaks 4.5 languages, reads 3 different languages. Her proficiency in words is competent to say the least.
I have never liked dealing with them and now I don’t have to. King Kho Bo has opened up across the parking lot. They have a wide variety at less the abrasiveness. If I could put up a redirection sign, I would. Check out my review of King Kho Bo. It’s a total 180.

This is for Monterey park location. Worst customer service ever. Bought 5 bags of plums and jerky and left the city. Later on I noticed one of the bag the sales did not pack it in for me. Called back and ask for the bag that they cryopacked for us, the manager claimed they NEVER make mistake misplace customers product, she was rude and unreasonable, eventually she admit if there is a loss bag from the customer, they would open it and put the product Back to the Container. Kept saying it’s our fault and we should drive back (we live in Vegas) and get the products weighted because she does not believe us.

While the jerky is amazing, make sure you know how to deal with the persistent sales people. They will purposely give you more than you ask for so make sure you check the weight before buying. I specifically told them to give me 1 lb only and repeated myself a couple times but ended up with ½ a lb more. They also like to follow you around and try to make you buy their other items. So if you decide to come, make sure you tell them to give you the exact weight you are asking for or else… Lol.

This placehad very pricey but very good products. I ordered some salty plum and only wanted a ½ pounds but ended up with ¼ more. This is their MO besides also being pushy.

Make sure you check the weight before you pay. I asked for 3 pounds of vegetarian jerky and she packed 4 pounds. I get that they estimate the weight when putting it in bags but to give me 1 pound over is ridiculous. Everything was lacked and sealed so I couldn’t even return it or anything. RIP OFF. And rude because when I asked if it was 3 pounds, she’s like oh just a little over 3 pounds. No lady, it was a little over 4 pounds. $ 17 a pound, 3 pounds = $ 51. My total was $ 70. If I wasn’t helping my moms friend get something, I wouldn’t come again.

Vua Kho Bo is _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​.
A) Jerky
B) Fruity
C) Nutty
D) Seedy
E) All of the Above
Answer: All of the above.
The Vua Kho Bo chain specializes in selling snack classics by the pound from China, Taiwan, and Vietnam including jerky, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, tea, and candies. It’s a menagerie of Asian flavors and smells in dozens of huge bins with free flowing samples by an über-​friendly and persistent snack army.
My wife and I drive out of our way for this location to load up on a few .lbs until our next SGV excursion. She loves the flavored preserved Fruit (like Plums, Mango, or Olives) while I can’t resist the Jerky (Beef, Pork, Squid, Fish, and more). To mix it up we’ll sample the Nuts & Seeds, but rarely get those. Chupa Chups lollipops are always fun, too.
Don’t be shy about asking for free samples to try one or all the flavors. Also, be prepared to get some samples of teas and drinks. They won’t let you resist. Just roll with it.
This location of Vua Kho Bo is in the San Gabriel Superstore at the corner of Valley and San Gabriel so parking is free.
Overall, the prices aren’t cheap by any means, but finding the snacks we want with super service always brings us back. Guess that makes us fans of Vua Kho Bo.

Like most people here stated, very pushy staff. The spicy squid was very good though. This place is a bit pricer than most. Across the street in the Atlantaic Square has one of these types of stores. Here it was $ 29.99 a pound for the spicy squid, across the street it was $ 19.99 (but they ran out). Overall, I think the quality is better here. But the staff makes it a horrible experience in being pushy and the staff talking behind your back. They also took my debit card in this tiny room, which scares me. I watched them like a hawk though.

What I absolutely detest about this place is the pushiness/​marketing tactics. Borderline harassment!
The employees/​sales person was pushing me to sample their products, even though I was just browsing, and I told them I was just browsing (but she had to because her manager was hovering above her a.) After reluctantly trying 3 small pieces and was not impressed the manager quickly ran over and said in Taiwanese «Don’t let her sample anymore, she doesn’t seem like the type to buy. She just want to try them all. Blah blah blah.» WTF (little does she know, I actually speak Taiwanese).
The beef and pork jerky are decent. ~$ 21/​lb. A tad too sweet for me though. The spicy is definitely way too spicy.
I ended up buying some just I felt bad for the really nice sales person. Or maybe that’s just their marketing tactics. And it is not just this location, they are like that in all of the locations I have visited.
CONS:
1. VERY pushy sales and terrible managers
2. Pricey $ 21/​lb
3. A tad too sweet = lots of sugar = more weight/​heavier product = more profit = $$$$$
4. Pushy sales force you to sample, but will only give you a tiny piece so that it will get suck in between your teeth!
PROS:
1. They’re soft
2. Not overly salty like American jerky.

Lots of snack stuff that can’t be find (or I don’t even know they exists). A friend of mine asked me to buy the condensed tea. Their staff were very friendly. I don’t feel that they were pushy. But they did let me try many things. That pork jerky was so delicious. My other favorite is the dry winter mushroom. They make driving long distance very pleasurable: P

My main objection here is the staff. As Annie C. said in her review, they always try to sell you more.
For example, i asked for ½ a pound of candy and the lady gives me ¾. It’s only $ 1 more she says. My friend asks for 1 pound of beef jerky. They give him 1pound and ¼.
I assume the staff feels that most people don’t want to be rude and make them take out food after walking them up to the counter. While this is true,
this isn’t a way to run your business.
Cash only.

Their snacks are good here but the service is SOOO bad. I HATE their business tactic. I visited this store in San Gabriel and Alhambra. Their sales tactic is extremely aggressive! After walking out of the store both times, I felt like a push over. They will fill the bag for you and put 2 – 3 times more than what you ask for.
On 1÷8÷2011, I went there to buy tea. The sales lady asked me if I want to try some plum and I took a sample and then I went off to check out other snacks. As I’ was filling my bag with 3 – 4 pieces candy that is individually wrapped (not like the snack was in the open and the staff was afraid I’ll contaminate their food), the sales lady grabs my bag and filled it all the way up. I told her I only want 4 pieces. She kept insisting I should get more, a few of each. I had to tell her SIX times that I don’t want that much. She would not let go of the bag. WTF??? We were speaking Cantonese, it’s not like she can’t understand my English!
At this point, I’m pissed off and annoyed. As I go pay for the snack and tea, the sales lady grabbed a bag filled with at least 2 bags of the plum I tried earlier! I was shocked!!! I told her I did not say I was going to buy preserved sour plum and if I did, I only wanted 5 – 6 ounces, like the size they sale in the supermarkets. She goes back and pour some perserved plums out and the bag was still filled three fourth of the way. Again, I told her I don’t want that much. She goes back and pour out a few and walks back with the bag filled two third of the way. This goes on for four times! By the fourth time, I was so pissed off and getting ready to walk out. On the fourth time, the bag was still filled 9 ounces of the preserved plum. I still end up buying two times more than I want.
Both the Alhambra and San Gabriel store use the same tactics. They will have one sales person fill your bag and then hand over the bag to another sales person who tries to seal the bag immediately so you can’t change your mind. For a high end snanck store that sales beef jerky for $ 27/​lb, this type of behavior is so bad.
I like their snacks but the mental agony of going there is just not worth it.

Dried everything here! the dried pork is really good but they also have beef, fishes, sweets, fruits, veggies, etc… peanut candies, and etc. The staff was okay and pretty nice but the issue was they kept on trying to force us to buy 1.5lbs of the dried pork at $ 18 a lb instead of the 0.6 we wanted… argh.

Great snacks, lots of variety, but VERY PUSHY STAFFS!!!
If it wasn’t for the staffs, I might have rated this place 5 stars. Beware of ending up buying more than you want.
For some reason, they don’t understand «no», or «that’s too much», or «this is all I want», or «I don’t want anything».
As you stroll though trying to figure out what you want, you will find yourself cornered by at least 3 staffs at one time pushing you to get «EVERYTHING». ACK!!! Help me!!! Get me OUTTA HERE!!! ~~~mommy~~~!!! *sniff sniff*…X_X“
I had only wanted to spend $ 10.00 on one of their pork jerky and ended up spending $ 16.00 because they scaled it so quickly and told me they went over «just a little bit».
«Just a little bit» cost an extra $ 6.00. I see how it is now.

Was here with my BFF. She and her bf had picked up a bunch of dried mangoes for me and I really liked it. This time when we were there together, she got me to try some other stuff. Her bf loves to come here so the people know them really well, so being with her allowed me a good sampling of the stuff in the bins.
In the beginning I wasn’t really planning to buy anything because I still had a bunch from the last time she bought me some, but after trying these ‘wet’ mangoes with chili I was hooked. I got a bagful and then came home and proceeded to eat eat and eat some more. The stuff is really addictive!
Lucky for me, there is a Vua Kho Bo in Westminster so hopefully they’ll have the same variety — although I doubt it because I’ve seen the one in Westminster and it is like one third the size of this one.

I wish I had taken my camera along…
Bins & bins & bins of jerky!
Pork, beef, squid, octopus, fish. Jerky heaven…*happy sigh*
Sweet, spicy, some soft textured-​easy to chew, others the typical harder-​dried jerky. Some moist fruit-​flavored, some with a dry spice coating.
Not to mention bins of pickled seeds & fruits. Bins of candy too!
I actually went in to the Superstore for some dimsum at Yum Cha (my cousin has been raving about Yum Cha so I had to check it out at least once), but had to pass through the jerky section in order to get there. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the Superstore because… well…I don’t like going in there.
Really, I stopped in my tracks at the sight of all those bins! I have to bring something to my Thursday Night Giggles, Gossip & Crafts Group tonight & the jerky would be a perfect snack!
I was familiar with most of the jerkys, but since the ladies were really eager to have me sample various jerkys, I wasn’t about to turn them down! I sampled the Sweet Pork Soft Jerky, Squid Roll (ika), Spicy Fish, Baby Squid, Smoked Octopus. Hey now, I’m not a shameless sample hog! The lady kept putting the samples in my hands!
I ended up buying ½ pounds of the Sweet Pork, Squid Roll & Smoked Octopus. The prices ran from $ 19 – 22 per pound for those three. Expensive, yes… but so worth it! The friends I’m meeting up with tonight are worth it too!
Oh yeah, Yum Cha dimsum was… okay. Two, maybe three star worthy.
I’m too lazy today to write a full review for so-​so dimsum.