The crackle of fried French toast and the heat of spicy wontons will greet customers in Westwood.
Situated on Gayley Avenue, Liu’s Cafe opened Feb. 13 and blends the rush of a Taiwanese night market and the hominess of a Chinese mom-and-pop shop. The second outpost of the viral Koreatown restaurant offers the same menu of Chinese comforts as the original, featuring dishes such as braised pork belly rice and beef noodle soup. Hoping for a quieter debut, the restaurant announced its arrival only the night before opening, said Patrick Liu, one of the owners of the establishment. Despite this intentionally modest marketing, he added, the restaurant welcomed a line around the block that Friday.
“One thing we always wanted to do was be close to a college campus,” Liu said. “We noticed that we were getting quite a few customers who were traveling all the way to K-town. … Those conversations led us to Westwood.”
Liu said he and his business partner, Alex Park, drew on their experience running their Koreatown location when expanding to Westwood. They opted to lean into that Asian cafe diner feel, he added: A tighter space, closer seating and an open flow. Liu said the goal was to cultivate a space that felt bright and visually inviting.
He and Park have opened multiple restaurants together, including Tokki and the original Liu’s Cafe location, Liu said. He added that, for the menu, they sought to serve authentic food that was recognizably Taiwanese or Hong Kong with an innovative twist.
“For the French toast, instead of just doing the traditional bread, we played around with the outside, using a new batter and frying it,” Liu said. “We wanted to make it rich and tasty without making it too thick or too overwhelming.”
With Liu’s Cafe, the duo aimed to represent some of their childhood favorites and reference their international travel, Liu said. Stories are what make food and experiences exciting, he said, adding that they also introduce people to new ideas and cultures. The restaurant’s location near UCLA provided the opportunity to pass down culture to the next generation, he said.
For Autumn Zhou, a second-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student, Liu’s Cafe felt comfortably familiar. Zhou, who is Chinese, said the restaurant’s menu is reminiscent of her grandparents’ cooking. She added that she grew up with dishes like Liu’s chicken rice.
“I feel like being here is a way for me to feel like I’m at home again,” Zhou said. “I often turn to Westwood when I’m feeling really homesick for my food.”
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Finding food that’s part of her culture felt especially meaningful as a student at a four-year university whose away from home for months at a time, Zhou said. She added that, at Liu’s Cafe, each recipe showcases a dedication to crafting recipes that taste authentic.
Crystalin Huynh, a fourth-year psychology student, said she was first impressed by the customer service and quick seating. Because of the restaurant’s close proximity to her apartment, Huynh was drawn to Liu’s because of its convenience and the praise it garnered from friends who had visited the Koreatown location, she added. With the fair price point, Huynh said she recommends the restaurants to students – especially if they want to try Taiwanese or Chinese food for the first time.
The sesame cold noodles with chili oil and the iced Hong Kong milk tea were standouts, Huynh added. She said restaurants such as Liu’s Cafe bring a much-needed diversity to Westwood by offering an opportunity to appreciate other cultures.
“Alex and I always talk about perception of Chinese food, or at least Chinese cuisine in America – there’s still a learning curve,” Liu said. “One thing that we wanted to do with this cafe was to make it as welcoming as possible to people of all backgrounds. We just wanted to represent slices of Taiwanese culture.”
The restaurant is also a testament to Liu’s third culture background, he said, growing up between Chinese and American cultures and blending elements of each into a distinct personal identity. Liu added that his perspective has been shaped by his Chicago upbringing, helping his mother, a Chinese immigrant, cook dishes for the family. He said he thinks about passing down his parents’ and his grandparents’ culture and his own experiences derived from Chinese and American traditions.
The restaurant aims to offer customers the opportunity to enjoy a rice bowl that is filling yet still affordable, Liu said. He added that the business prioritizes accessibility while maintaining quality and consistency.
“I would say the biggest thing is to continue to make sure that this cafe is something that can serve and last for a lifetime,” Liu said. “We want to be serving rice bowls for years to come. … We want it (Liu’s Cafe) to be a community spot that somebody can come back to every single day.”
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