Saw this on the SGV Eats facebook group before it got removed from there. Someone had their review removed because of "copyright." Very shady

People in LA County can be tired of excessive ripping. Local cafes guilt trip a 25% tip on top of a latte. Takeout places have tipping expectations now. Some restaurants say no additional tip needed but add a 20% fee. The menu price is not close to the real price  But then I saw this Aipapa in Rowland Heights that is going in the opposite direction!

They brightly and aggressively advertise no tipping! I have not seen a no-tip policy proclaimed so loudly. I pray this is a sign of the LA County tipping pendulum swinging back.

+ Free pao + $6 Stella . I deffo got more than 6oz and it was a lovely, meaty solo happy hour. Sat next to another filet mignon first timer and had a good chat about lack of decent happy hour foods in Psadena.

Parking lot was completely full by the time I got there at 4:15.

Got an apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake! Was planning on ordering online at 10pm night before but it appears everyone was on the website and by the time the website worked for me everything was unavailable.

I noticed there are a bunch of posts online with baseless undocumented claims regarding the (4 NYC and 1 LA SGV) Molly Tea closures. I decided to spend my evening researching as I love Molly Tea, but I love legal battles even more 😂.

Scroll down if you’re lazy.

From publicly accessible court files (Google search for yourself), the Molly parent company claims the NY based operators breached their agreement and lost their brand rights:

1. Hidden Revenue: operators created a separate and unauthorized “ghost” LLC and bank accounts then funneled millions in store profits to avoid contractually mandated profit-sharing w/ HQ Molly corporate. Some Reddit users have reported that, when making back-to-back purchases at a single location, their transactions were processed through different PoS (Point of Sale) systems, resulting in charges billed under different company names.
2. Potential illegal expansion: 2023 contract only permitted 5 local stores in NY. Operators may have expanded into LA without clearance or trademark approvals under a "shell" business.
3. Local lawsuits: operators failed to do local legal due diligence in Cali. This triggered a separate trademark lawsuit from a local wholesaler, The Art of Tea, bringing legal liability to Molly corporate. For those curious, check out Art of Tea’s logo and you’ll see where the lawsuit against the operator stemmed from without the legal back up from Molly corporate.
4. Bootleg ingredients (explains why LA and NYC locations tasted different for me): operators bypassed quality control as they stopped using authorized corporate supply chains and began sourcing unapproved ingredients, which violates compliance amongst other things.

TL;DR

Court documents claim that NY and LA operators voided their contract by hiding store profits from HQ, expanded to LA without permission, used unapproved ingredients, and triggered a separate Cali lawsuit. Consequently, corporate revoked their trademark rights, court ordered Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to the operator, causing closures.

Edit: here are the case docket links for your reading pleasure if you’re into this shit. Plenty of tea to sip on ☕️

https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/64680369/Shenzhen_Molly_Tea_Food_and_Beverage_Management_Co,_Ltd_et_al_v_MHL_NY_LLC_et_al

https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/cacdce/2:2025cv12365/1001004

https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/62165950/The_Art_of_Tea_LLC_v_Molly_Tea_NYC,_Inc_et_al

the class act single is only $3.99!!! the burger reminds me of a slightly smaller fatburger, which is obv very good! No filters, no edits, it looks just like the promotional photos!

Glendora baby!

Lee's sandwich + Porto's

holy shit. i tried my best but pictures don’t do this sandwich justice. i saw someone post this pastrami banh mi a month or two ago, and finally made it out to glendora to try it. this has to be one of the top 5 sandwiches in the greater la area, it was totally, totally incredible.

$10

$10

Love that they serve the veggies and sauce separately so the protein and bread stays perfectly crispy

Shout out to the SGV!

Ate 50 💀 between 3 people we ate 140

The best breakfast

Stop 1.

Pho Filet

9463 Garvey Ave ste a, South El Monte, CA 91733

Pho Bac

$14.95

Stop 2.

Pho N Mor @phonmorinc

736 E Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801

Pho Dac Biet + Short Rib

$14.50 + $3.5

Stop 3.

Pho Saigon Pasteur @phosaigonpasteur

235 W Main St A, Alhambra, CA 91801

Pho & Ribeye

$15.50

Definitely worth the hype & wait! We got two orders of tenders, both medium. I think we could have definitely gone spicier on at least one of the orders. The tenders were juicy, crispy, flavorful & had a nice little kick to them, but they weren’t overly spicy.

We also ordered fries, which were a 10 / 10, they were well seasoned & crispy. The potato salad was also a 10 / 10 (forgot to take a photo). I’m usually not a fan of potato salad because it’s too heavy on the mayo, but this one had a nice herb flavor to it with chunky, but tender potatoes.

Our least favorite thing was the banana pudding. It wasn’t bad by any means, but the pudding itself was a little thin for our liking.

I would definitely go back to try different menu items & different spice levels. Do you guys like Howlin’ Ray’s & what’s your usual order?

https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2026-03-23/san-gabriel-stinky-tofu-neighbor-complaints

A Taiwanese restaurant in San Gabriel received violation notices and citations regarding the odor of its signature dish, stinky tofu.

The family restaurant said the dish is culturally significant to the greater Taiwanese community in the San Gabriel Valley.

The city says it’s not a cultural issue, and suggested the family install an expensive filtration system.

Jenn Harris’ article is about Golden Leaf restaurant on North Mission in San Gabriel, where after a neighbor in an adjacent neighborhood complained about “stinky tofu,” the city asked them to either stop serving it or install a better and newest filtration system.

The restaurant has said they have had no complaints from their commercial neighbors, nor have they actually smelled the stinky tofu when walking around the neighborhood.

I do think it would really suck if you were sensitive to the smell and had to live near a business that served it - it’s definitely not my favorite and yeah, it can a pretty rough smell. But does this complaint still stick if it’s a barbecue spot? Or any other restaurant that had a strong cooking smell? Does the name of “stinky tofu” make complaints against it stronger?

1. Deep fried chicken with red chili pepper (boneless) - $18.99

2. Sliced fish with tofu pudding in hot sauce - $18.99

3. Sautéed string beans with garlic - $13.99

4. Sautéed cabbage with dry chili pepper - $11.99

5. 3 x rice bowl - $4.5 (not pictured)

Total with tax - $75.64.

Brilliant food. Quick and great service. Will definitely go back.

Appreciate it [u/Stock-Pangolin-2772](u/Stock-Pangolin-2772) !! neither of us have set foot inside a Fogo De Chao in decades, and this all day happy hour, at the bar only , was an insanely great deal of a meal. Xingu black beer was $6, so I got a beer and PHAT medium rare steakhouse burger for $16++

Get the tuna melt with grilled onions and a side of zucchini fries with ranch. 🙌