Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop

"The longtime Gardena Bowl coffee shop has been a neighborhood destination for breakfast foods and Hawaiian-inflected dishes like wonton saimin and a Royal fried rice plate topped with roast pork. Located next to one of the South Bay’s most beloved bowling alleys, the place fills up every day of the week with bowling regulars, grizzled locals, and first-time fans who saw it pop up on their TikTok feeds. Think of Gardena Bowl coffee shop as a bustling Hawaiian diner plucked out of the islands and dropped right into an LA suburb." - Matthew Kang

"Gardena Bowl is a decades-old coffee shop and South Bay landmark where you can bowl a full game before or after your meal (if the name didn’t tip you off, it’s attached to a bowling alley). The menu here is a mix of Japanese, Hawaiian, and American breakfast dishes, with items like loco moco, banana pecan pancakes, kimchi bacon fried rice, and meat-filled freeform scrambles called "royales" living in perfect harmony. The food is comforting and generous, but it’s little details here we savor the most: the handwritten specials above the counter, the blue faux-leather swivel chairs, and the $5 bags of boiled peanuts they sometimes sell by the cash register." - brant cox, sylvio martins, garrett snyder

"We don't always recommend eating breakfast at a bowling alley, but when we do, it's at Gardena Bowl. This lovably retro diner is a neighborhood staple serving Japanese and Hawaiian dishes that reflect the diverse history of LA's South Bay: loco moco, banana pecan pancakes, kimchi bacon fried rice, and meat-filled freeform scrambles called "royales." The food is comforting and generous, and you can rent some shoes and hit the lanes after, but what makes this place a treat are the tiny details: handwritten specials above the counter, blue vinyl swivel chairs, and $5 bags of boiled peanuts they sometimes sell at the register. Banana pecan pancakes, loco moco, Hawaiian Royal" - brant cox, cathy park, garrett snyder, sylvio martins

"Dish: Saimin Whenever our space heater starts to fail us (does anyone else’s make the lights flicker?), we head to Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop. Located within an actual alley, this Hawaiian-style cafe serves an excellent saimin. It’s a ramen-like dish, a remnant from the state’s old sugar plantation days, made with a clear, dashi-based broth, and packed with wonton dumplings, sweet chashu, fish cake, and green onions. It’s the ultimate comfort dish, and if you’re like us, you’ll probably want to eat it by the gallon." - brant cox, kat hong, nikko duren, sylvio martins

"If you know the laws of eating food inside of bowling alleys, you know to generally steer clear altogether. Break that rule at Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop. This tiny diner inside a neighborhood bowling alley has a very good menu of every American breakfast staple in the book, but you’re here for their Hawaiian/Asian fusion dishes. The kimchi bacon fried rice is excellent and we wish we were eating the Hawaiian Royal—a massive plate of eggs, rice, chashu, and Portuguese sausage—right now." - brant cox, nikko duren, kat hong, garrett snyder, sylvio martins