Five Loaves & 2 Fishes

This place is an upgraded version of the former tenants, «Rice & Tea».
It is newer, cleaner, brighter and offers all the former Rice & Tea offered, but the selection is upgraded and expanded with more items, especially the dim sum department which has good inventory even into the afternoon hours.
In the olden days, when Chinese living in the outer boroughs had to go to Chinatown on a family outing every Sunday to buy various foods not available locally, one must make many stops to buy what is offered at 5 Loaves & 2 Fishes: the bakery, the coffee shoppe, the dim-​sum house, the Chinese grocery provisioner that offers cooked foods/​BBQ meats, and the restaurant for home cooked food.
Whenever I’m in Queens/​Elmhurst (I live in Stamford, CT), I always drop by 5 Loaves & 2 Fishes for a «lunchbox»: that Styrofoam treasure chest of home cooked style food, my favorite is the tripe/​daicon stew. I also get dim-​sum items: har gow, shui mai, stuffed foo jook pei. How about some congee with thousand year preserved egg?
And, or course, some char-​sue, roast pig, and braised pork stomach to take home!
What about a whole roast duck for dinner? The char-​sue, roast pig, and roast duck easily rank in the top 5 for me in terms of freshness, flavor, and authenticity.
Are you forgetting the jung? (glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves).
I am impatiently anticipating my next visit to 5 Loaves & 2 Fishes!
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This review is just for their dim sum. They probably have a huge selection in the morning, but I only managed to get there around 1:30pm. There was still a pretty good amount of dim sum available around that time. I only eat dim sum maybe once a year, has a bit too much msg in general so I only eat it on rare occasions. There really aren’t that many restaurants in Elmhurst that serve dim sum, but I heard this opened up recently so I had to try some. They didn’t have any prices posted, but we just went and ordered the usual favorites.
The shui mai, har kow, sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf, and the chicken mixed with various items in the massive bao were huge hits. The chicken feet was cold, lacked a bit of flavor for me, a lil heat/​spice would’ve been nice. The crispy taro thing was somewhat bland, the meat part was salty. The turnip cake was okay, would’ve been better if it were fried a lil more. I didn’t see any shrimp rice rolls, but that’s pretty popular so they were probably out of them by the afternoon.
Prices are reasonable, actually a lot cheaper than going all the way to Flushing. I bought enough to feed a family of 5 for less than $ 30, that’s the same as dining at Asian Jewels for 2 people and it all tastes almost the same…
If they keep up with the cleanliness and quality, I wouldn’t mind coming back here for the dim sum my parents enjoyed. The place was full; everyone seemed to be eating food from the lunch buffet. I didn’t see any sushi being made or sold, which I wouldn’t order, but at the same time I’d be curious…

Got take out on numerous occasions from this restaurant.
Lunch and Dinner for $ 5.25 pick three items and rice or $ 5.95 pick four items with rice for $ 5.95. So much fun to look at the options. From Bok Choy to Clams to fish and mixed vegetable. Something for everyone. Price is reasonable and really a great deal. Did not super size it this time and went for the three items with rice. Staff will give you a ticket then you go to the cash register to pay them and bring back paid ticket where your meal is all bagged up for you.
There are tables and chairs for you to sit an enjoy your meal.
Also there is a counter area where there is Dim Sum. Like their selection. Go early for many popular items are sold out. Like the sticky rice (yummy filling– like a meal itself) wrapped with leaves. Yeah! Got the last one.
Fun part about Dim Sum is trying many of the dishes and experiencing the flavors and textures. As well as figuring out what the hidden treasures are when it come to the filling.
Other counter by the door on the left hand side as you walk in is the hanging chicken, duck and pork. They go by ½ a pound and up.
Have not been to other stations or counters toward the right side. Think I saw sushi and juicing. Will be back for those the next time around.

This new restaurant is currently quite crowded. As a Chinese fast food place it is decent enough. There are many choices, from dim sum to noodles and sweets. The flavor is average, not bad, and of course for their affordable price you won’t expect very high.

I’m not going to say is the best but if you want a variety of choices it’s not a bad place to be. I personally wouldn’t try the sushi but that’s my opinion… the 3 or 4 dishes and soup with rice is something for on the go and have a few more choices then your regular take out. The barbecue section is decent but if it wasn’t for convenience I’ll go elsewhere for the bbq. The price is average.

Five Loaves & Two Fishes is the name? Yes!
Don’t bother trying to figure that name out.
They do have a bakery on Canal Street in Chinatown.
Five Loaves replaced the Rice & Tea steam-​table takeout place that was here.
There are still the steam-​tables for the takeout and a new section for dim-​sum.
The food is average and less MSG than food from the previous business.
Right now it is very crowded because it is new. Hope this can maintain their quality.
Common parking lot in this strip mall.

Went back for dim sum – got the shui mai, har kow, fish balls,
beef balls, spare ribs, bamboo wrap and chicken feet.
also pick up 2 rices with 4 items at $ 5.95 each.