--
More Iconic Neighborhood Restaurants
Iconic Neighborhood Restaurants: Northridge, North Hills, and Mission Hills
Iconic Neighborhood Restaurants: Beverly Hills
Iconic Neighborhood Restaurants: Bel Air
1 of 22
next
Tucked in San Gabriel Valley, east of East L.A. are the twin cities of South El Monte and El Monte. Lined along main streets like Garvey Avenue and Peck Road are a number of Mexican, Salvadorian, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Chinese, and more recently Cajun restaurants. This wasn't always the case. To find a good bowl of ph years ago, my Vietnamese family had to drive to other cities in the San Gabriel Valley or we would make the trek down to Little Saigon in Orange County. Today, you can easily find a good bowl of ph or menudo in South El Monte and El Monte. This diversity of food appeared after three decades of Asian and Latino working class folks co-creating a community together. As kids, my sister and I would often hang out at the garment factory after school where my mom worked. We took snack breaks when the paleta man or fruit vendor would stop by. One of my favorite snacks was deliciously ripe mango with a generous dosing of Lucas, a spicy seasoning in a small brightly yellow labeled cylindrical container. We were just two Vietnamese girls, eating mango con chile - which we often do today. I guess some things never change.
Garcia's Fruits
There's a powerful combination of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy. The place that achieves this level of deliciousness is Garcia's Fruits! Its almost a Pavlovian response to salivate when I see/think/hear of chili and salt on fruit. Really the words con l mon (with lime) are a trigger for me. A local favorite is this spot! Elotes (corn on the cob, mayo, cheese, lime, and chili) are a favorite. Want an easier way to eat it? Order the esquite, the cup version! Another favorite is the beloved chamango: a chamoy lined cup with chopped mango, your choice of ice cream/sorbet, more chamoy, chili, lime, and a tamarind covered stick. My favorite combo is the chamango with sand a (watermelon) sorbet.
Garcia's Fruits: 9661 Garvey Ave Suite 103, South El Monte, CA 91733 (626) 453-0125
Mexican snacks never stop evolving. Heres chopped mango on watermelon sorbet, all bathed in tangy chamoy sauce and sprinkled with chili powder. | Photo: Christine Tran
Ph Filet
Orange County may be the home to Little Saigon, but Garvey Avenue is L.A. County's hot spot for ph . Just in case you don't know - ph is a Vietnamese noodle soup typically served with rice noodles and rare beef that gets cook in the hot broth. You can garnish it with bean sprouts, basil and culantro. There are numerous combinations of what you can get with your bowl of ph . Here are the common meat options: t i (sliced rare round steak), ch n (sliced well-done round steak), n m (flank), v d n (well-done flank), g u (fatty brisket), g n (beef tendon), s ch (beef tripe), and b vi n (beef meatball). You can also try the H N i (Hanoi) style ph called Ph B c. It's served with fresh ginger and rare filet mignon.
Ph Filet: 9463 E. Garvey Ave, South El Monte, CA 91733, (626) 453-8911
With spots like Ph Filet in South El Monte you dont have to go to Little Saigon in the OC. | Photo: Christine Tran
--
--
La Palma
Forget giant burritos, small burritos are the way to go. The burritos at La Palma have the perfect filling-to-tortilla ratio. A bite will transport your taste buds to Jerez, Zacatecas in M xico - where these burritos are a local favorite. Tortillas are made in-house, so grab a bite to eat and take home some tortillas. They were voted best traditional taco of the year at L.A. Weekly's 2015 Tacolandia festival. A simple menu with their house special star: burrito de birria (spiced shredded beef). You can also opt for the con todo (with everything) and get the dynamic combination of birria, frijoles y queso (spiced shredded beef, refried beans, and cheese). You're going to want to wash it down with some fizzy Mexican Coca-Cola or Fanta! Jonathan Gold enjoys South El Monte and El Monte eats because he digs the burrito here too!
La Palma: 5120 Peck Rd, El Monte, CA 91732, (626) 350-8286
Good things come in small packages. Hailing from Jerez, Zacatecas, this small burrito de birria is all about quality and pairs well with Fanta. | Photo: Christine Tran
Havana Club
Cuban food in El Monte? Yes, please! Havana Club is a quaint spot with wooden panel decor. Once seated, the server will present you a lovely basket of grilled buttery bread (grill marks included!). Try their arroz con pollo (Chicken with Rice) or rabo encendido (beef ox tail). Most of their main dishes come with deliciously caramelized pl tanos (plantains). Portions are nice and big to share and/or take home.
Havana Club: 3831 Peck Rd, El Monte, CA 91732, (626) 452-1858
Who knew El Monte had Cubans? Enjoy rabo encendido (oxtail) with a side of platanos and arroz. Havana Club is covered in wood panel, so you know its authentic. | Photo: Christine Tran
Mana Tea House
Boba and board games? Sounds like a wildly fun time to me! Take a break from life and sip on some milk tea, smoothie, sparkling soda, or slushy. You can mix things up by adding boba (tapioca balls), pudding, red beans, and/or jelly. A good sign that you're at a good boba spot is when your icy beverage is served with warm boba, which means it'll be nice and chewy! Also, in the spirit of being in the diverse community of El Monte, you can also order a Cha-Mana-Go, their approach to the chamango! You can check out board games with an ID card.
Mana Tea House: 3944 Peck Rd, El Monte, CA 91732, (626) 416-5383
Get your boba on! Sip on the classic milk tea, or get cross-cultural with chamango-inspired boba drinks. Welcome to the SGV! | Photo: Christine Tran
Comment
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
-- 
