Haidilao Hot Pot · Westfield Santa Anita · Arcadia
Is Haidilao Worth It? Our Honest Review, Price Per Person, and How the US Compares to China
Haidilao is one of the biggest hot pot chains in the world, with more than 1,400 restaurants, and its first US location sits at Westfield Santa Anita in Arcadia. We went for a full dinner, ordered off the iPad, raided the sauce bar, and got the dancing noodle twice. The short answer: yes, it's worth it as a splurge. Our bill for four came to $290.78 with tax, or about $73 each before tip. It's the fanciest hot pot we've had in the US, but it's a polished restaurant with a show here, not the all-out experience Haidilao is famous for in China.
How is Haidilao in the US different from China?
While you wait
In Arcadia: You look over the menu, and there's a play area for kids. No manicures that we saw.
In China: Free snacks, fruit, and drinks, board games, and at some branches a mini nail salon with free manicures.
At the table
In Arcadia: Aprons, hair ties, and candy, and staff cleared every empty plate almost right away.
In China: Add phone bags, warm towels, and birthday songs with longevity noodles.
The shows
In Arcadia: The dancing noodle, $4.99, made at your table.
In China: The same noodle, plus Sichuan opera face-changing at some outlets.
The price
In Arcadia: About $60 to $75 a person with premium meat. Ours was $73 before tip.
In China: One Shanghai diner reported about 90 RMB for a solo meal, roughly $12 to $13.
Our verdict
As fancy as Arcadia is, it's nothing compared to China. Here it's a really nice hot pot dinner with a noodle show. Go for the meat, the sauce bar, and the noodle, not the free manicure.
What to order at Haidilao (and what we'd get again).
Haidilao Dancing Noodle
$4.99 eachHand-pulled noodle, with a show
Our take in one line: Get one per person, and have them drop it into the milder broth.
A server walks up to your table with a lump of dough, then stretches and spins it into one long ribbon, dancing it through the aisle. Our dining area had almost no room, and it still never touched the floor (it did scare us a little). The noodle itself is soft and chewy and soaks up the soup. We put ours in the pork stomach broth, and we're glad we did: in the spicy pot it would have been a lot less fun to eat. Two noodles for $9.98 was the best value on our bill.
Pork stomach and chicken soup base
$7.99 small potSoup base
Our take in one line: Order this as your mild pot. It ended up as the winner of the night.
Every diner gets their own small pot, so you each pick a broth. This one is flavorful and bone-brothy, and you can drink it straight. Our other pot was the ultra-spicy Chongqing beef tallow base ($9.99), pictured above. It's a real first world problem: it got so hot it splashed out of the pot, so lower the burner early. Anything green that goes into it comes out nuclear.
USDA Prime Rib Eye
$28.99Beef
Our take in one line: Worth it if you're splurging. Cook it about 10 seconds.
The most expensive thing we ordered, and the meat quality here is excellent. It's sliced so thin it cooks in about 10 seconds. If you want to go bigger, the iPad also lists A5 Miyazaki wagyu ribeye cap at $48.99 and A5 wagyu ribeye at $82.99. The signature Angus cut ($21.99) is the cheaper way into good beef.
Australian lamb shoulder
$18.99Lamb
Our take in one line: Get it, even if you think you don't like lamb.
Also cooked in under 10 seconds. It isn't gamey at all, so it's hard to tell apart from the beef once it's out of the pot. A good pick if you want variety without paying wagyu prices.
Assorted seafood platter
$36.99Seafood
Our take in one line: Order it for the table. Bring patience for the shrimp.
This was the most impressive-looking plate we had: mussels, scallops, fish fillet, squid, shrimp, surf clams, and a fish ball with roe inside, all on ice. The shrimp come headless but still in the shell, so you'll be peeling. They say you love somebody if you peel shrimp for them. Lisa did not peel shrimp for Peter.
Shrimp paste shiitake mushroom
$9.99Stuffed mushroom
Our take in one line: Cook it until it floats. One of our favorite bites.
Shiitake caps stuffed with shrimp paste. When they float, they're done. Even after a long time in the pot, the mushroom kept its shape instead of falling apart, and the filling was springy and bouncy.
Sichuan crispy pork
$13.99Fried pork, eat as is
Our take in one line: A good starter while the pots heat up.
This one arrives already cooked, with a chili dipping powder and ketchup on the side. You don't put it in the pot. It's crispy and simple, and we loved it.
Egg dumplings
Low-carb pickDumpling
Our take in one line: Order these if you're skipping noodles.
The wrapper is made of egg, with meat inside, so they're friendly to keto and low-carb diets. A nice change from the usual flour dumplings.
Sauce bar desserts
At the sauce barDessert
Our take in one line: Tofu pudding with red beans and brown sugar syrup.
The sauce bar isn't only sauces. There's fresh fruit, canned fruit, popping boba, tofu pudding, and a brown sugar jelly, plus a brown sugar syrup to pour on top. The tofu pudding was surprisingly good. We were too full for the canned peaches.
How much is Haidilao per person? Our bill.
From our receipt and the table iPad at Haidilao Arcadia, June 2024. Prices have likely gone up since, so treat these as a guide. A few lines on our receipt were too blurry to read, so the items below don't add up to the full subtotal.
| Item | Price | Our take |
|---|---|---|
| Small pot, pork stomach and chicken soup base | $7.99 | Our favorite broth |
| Small pot, Chongqing beef tallow soup base | $9.99 | Ultra spicy. Lower the heat |
| USDA Prime Rib Eye | $28.99 | Our priciest plate. Excellent |
| Signature Angus Beef Cut (menu) | $21.99 | Cheaper premium beef |
| Angus Boneless (menu) | $25.99 | Didn't order |
| A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Ribeye Cap (menu) | $48.99 | Didn't order |
| A5 Miyazaki Japanese Wagyu Ribeye (menu) | $82.99 | Didn't order |
| Australian lamb shoulder | $18.99 | Not gamey at all |
| Assorted seafood platter | $36.99 | Most impressive plate |
| Caviar-filled fish balls | $10.99 | Fish balls with roe inside |
| Shrimp paste shiitake mushroom | $9.99 | One of our favorite bites |
| Sichuan crispy pork | $13.99 | Comes cooked. Great starter |
| Crispy sausage | $7.99 | Also on our bill |
| Mixed vegetable platter | $12.99 | Keep it out of the spicy pot |
| Haidilao dancing noodle | $4.99 | Best value on the bill |
| Haidilao Classic Barley Lager | $8.99 | There's a full bar too |
| Subtotal for 4 | $263.75 | Before tax |
| Total with 10.25% tax | $290.78 | About $73 each, before tip |
Good to know before you go
- Haidilao Arcadia is at Westfield Santa Anita, 400 S Baldwin Ave, Suite 2015, Arcadia, CA 91007. Other Southern California locations include Puente Hills Mall in City of Industry, Westfield Century City, and Diamond Jamboree in Irvine. Check the Haidilao app or Google Maps for current hours.
- You order everything on a table iPad, in English or Chinese. Pick a soup base first, then proteins, vegetables, and noodles.
- Each person gets their own small pot, so you don't have to agree on a spice level.
- Thin-sliced meat cooks in about 10 seconds. The chopsticks are extra long, which makes it easier to fish things out of your pot.
- Turn the spicy pot down early. Ours boiled hard enough to splash across the table.
- Budget about $60 to $75 a person before tip for a full dinner with premium meat. Our receipt suggested tips from 18% to 30%.
- There's a full bar, and the sauce bar includes fruit and desserts, so save room.
More hot pot, and our sources.
- The best hot pot in the San Gabriel Valley, on Eat in SGV →
- Haidilao's history and service perks, on Wikipedia →
- Eating at Haidilao in Shanghai, from LTL Mandarin School →
We checked the China details against these sources in October 2026. Perks vary by branch.