Qin Restaurant Unleashes Shaanxi Cuisine to the Chinese Food Desert of West LA

Qin West Chinese Restaurant has operated in the Old San-Woo Chinatown space for over two years now. In September, it opened its second branch, the first Shaanxi/Guilin-style restaurant west of the 110 freeway.

The Kou family, from Shaanxi, operated a take-out Chinese restaurant with "secret" Shaanxi Chinese menu in USC for years, until the University Village food court was demolished. They then moved into San-Woo in Chinatown, but did not dare to change the English signage until this year due to fear of losing old San-Woo clientele. Those in the know looked for the giant banner featuring a mish-mash of Shaanxi and Guilin dishes.

After steadily garnering praise from ex-pat ‘SC students, Kou Jr, an UCLA student, set about serving Western Chinese food to UCLA Chinese ex-pats via daily deliveries. During the last Summer Session, Qin delivered lunch into Westwood, and finally in late September, Qin opened the second branch at the old "Wok N Roll" space which is next to Ramanyani. It also finally mounted the "Qin" sign at its Chinatown location.

The short menu here is a bit of a hodgepodge, reflecting where the family has lived (Xi An and Gui Lin). Look for house spicy cold noodle salad, the numbing diced chicken, the Guilin spicy rice noodle soup with beef shank, and finish off the meal with Beijing style drinking yogurt.

Qin West Chinese Restaurant
1765 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024