When Linxin Wen came to the United States from China to study in Chicago, he became frustrated by the lack of authentic Asian foods and high delivery fees on traditional delivery apps, while cramming for finals. With necessity being the hungry mother of invention, Wen created a platform that people could trust to order and recommend the best dishes on a restaurant’s menu.

The Chowbus delivery platform, connecting food lovers with high-quality, authentic Asian restaurants and grocery stores across the U.S., launched in Los Angeles at the beginning of the pandemic in April and has grown from 34 to 200 Asian vendors. In L.A., Chowbus also offers menus in Mandarin and Cantonese.  

“It’s more difficult for local family-owned restaurants to stand out on most food delivery platforms, but these underserved restaurants make some of the most delicious authentic Asian food out there,” co-founder Wen tells L.A. Weekly.

“The best way we can introduce people to the authentic flavors of Asian food and help underserved restaurants is by representing them on our platform and offering up the dishes they are the proudest to serve.  When we onboard new restaurants to the platform we also provide marketing tools and professional photography at no extra cost.”

Chowbus Eto Photo

Courtesy Chowbus

Since launching in April…

Most popular restaurants ordered from: 

  1. Sichuan Impression (Alhambra)
  2. Simmer Huang La (Temple City)
  3. Hibiscus Tree (San Gabriel)
  4. HaiDiLao Hotpot (Arcadia)
  5. Lady M Cakes (West Hollywood)

Most popular dishes ordered:

  1. Sichuan cuisine (boiled fish with rattan pepper and cooked hot pots are the two most popular dishes)
  2. Milk tea
  3. BBQ (esp. mutton string)
  4. Dessert

Most popular late night food ordered

  1. BBQ mutton string

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.