Review Classic Guilin Rice Noodles - Oakland

The Food I am not sure how noodles differ in different regions of China. But when I walked by Classic Guilin Rice Noodles, it seemed like an interesting place to try. My friend and I ordered their Beef Brisket and Crispy Pork Guilin Rice Noodle (牛腩，脆皮桂林米粉) along with Special Small Bowl Rice Noodle (合味特色一口粉). The Special Small Bowl Rice Noodle came with a sampler of different noodles. These "Bite Rice Noodle" give a chance to try different noodle dishes. I enjoy both the Beef Brisket and Crispy Pork as well as Special Small Bowl noodles. I like these styles of noodles, and the flavors, though similar, are pretty good. They of course have a variety of other dishes besides noodles, so will need to return and try them. The Miscellaneous The restaurant itself is decent sized with a good amount of seating. The interior is clean with interesting decor, giving the typical Chinese restaurant vibe. The service and staff were nice and sincere. They took our order when ready, and the wait time for the food was pretty quick. Their menu has other selections besides noodles such as stew, hot pot and rice plate. The prices are not unreasonable so it is worth a try if you are in the area.

My mom and It's favorite noodle spot of all time ever. My body feels like new when I have one of their classic bowls. Food really is medicine 🙏🙏. Please try it out. Their laiyou stuff is also delicious if you want a little kick

Family run, friendly and quiet. I haven't had these noodles in twenty years. I remembered how I use to eat this once a week. And it was so good then, I ordered a large bowl and couldn't finish it all.

I ordered curry beef brisket with rice and it was absolutely disgusting. I couldn't touch the meat because it was all fat. I only ate the rice and veggies. Definitely never coming back here again.

Would give a 7/10 for authenticity. Price is reasonable. pretty good option when you miss the Guilin rice noodles.

Hmmm...Not sure if i'm more disappointed about the let down of this place that I had chosen or because I made my husband have his first terrible meal for the past 3 months. The answer will haunt me for life!!! First things first, this place didn't have the best rating, BUT, as a good person I thought to myself - what's the point of trying only highly rated places? What about the other guys who are trying to get out there and make their restaurants known? Yea, that theory just died today! Not only this place didn't have the highest ratings but also didn't have a big amount of reviews - yea, I know, I should have known better. I learned my lesson though. The ambience was too modern for my Asian taste. The service was quick and friendly. They served complimentary tea which we both took one sip and didn't touch it (yuck). Surprisingly there were only locals eating here which made me feel - hey this place doesn't look like it will deliver but everything else says it will so let's keep our fingers crossed. That ship sailed and drowned immediately as our food arrived - hubby ordered nr 4 the beef and crunchy pork noodles with the broth on the side and I ordered nr 21 the spicy beef noodle soup. The flavors in nr 4 were pretty good, the noodles weren't bad but the meat quality was the worst we have had in a very long time. My dish was pretty bland and on the contrary to nr 4, nr.21 didn't even have flavor, the noodles were pretty sad and the meat was blah. Sadly, won't return to this place. It was a good budget meal but it just wasn't tasty.

This place was decent. It had good flavor, wasn't too heavy or light. I had a beef noodle bowl and it wasn't anything that would put me in a food coma for the rest of my afternoon. It was reasonably priced for the volume. The next time I come, I'll try a rice dish. The service was a tad slow considering it wasn't too packed. My bowl came out about 5 minutes before my mom's and the lunch rush hadn't started yet.

I found Classic Guilin Rice Noodles on Yelp when searching of places that were open after 9 pm in Oakland. It caught my attention as its cuisine was not from the common Sichuan, Hong Kong or Shanghainese cuisine that dominates the non-Panda Express landscape within the US. A quick google search showed that the Guilin is a city from the Guangxi province in the southern part of China which is famous for its beautiful scenery and its rice noodles which are known throughout China. It is located on 10th & Alice which I wouldn’t call as the heart of Oakland Chinatown but surely within it. At around 9:15 pm the restaurant was completely empty which I did not take as a good sign. I approached the counter and asked for a menu from the server/hostess who was definitely surprised to see me. Anyway, the menu mentions that their signature dish is the noodle sampler bowl which has five small bowls of dry rice noodles with different toppings and a central bowl with a thick white dipping broth. As this dish is not convenient for take out I kept looking at the extensive menu with a gazillion combinations and settled on getting the Beef brisket & marinated beef Guilin Rice Noodles ($10.57) large to-go. I was charged another dollar for the to-go containers (there is a tiny sign on the counter that proclaims this) and even though they do take cards I think I did not hit the minimum and had to pay cash. After ordering it was a small 10-minute wait and I was on my way. I got two containers one for the broth and the other for the noodles which was a good start. The noodles were cooked correctly but the beef toppings were of very poor quality. The broth was clean and not overly salty but is was not like the thick white broth that I saw in the pictures of the sampler noodle dish on the menu. Overall it was average. Price wise it was definitely more expensive when you compare with what you will pay for a bowl of noodles in other Chinese restaurants in Oakland Chinatown but I’ll let that pass as this is specialized cuisine which will have a much smaller draw as compared to more mainstream Chinese restaurants. I think it would be better to dine-in at this restaurant rather than to get something to-go. I guess I’ll stop by when I get a chance and update my review at that point. For now I’m constrained to go with an A-OK grade.