Top Chinese Restaurant in San Francisco
Hong Kong Clay Pot Restaurant
960 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94108, United States
Going to Chinatown in San Francisco seemed daunting so I looked up good restaurants online and this one came up. I feel like there was probably something better than this out there but it was still a decent meal. It wasn’t much of a step up from my small town chinese restaurant though which was a bummer. However, it was our most reasonably priced meal in San Francisco! The shrimp pan fried noodle dish was dry and lacking in flavor. The broccoli and chicken needed some kind of starch. The steamed pot stickers were so thick and gummy but the filling and sauce was good. My husband really like the duck clay pot dish and finished off all our other plates. If I were to go back to Chinatown I would try to look a little harder for another restaurant, but this was okay. The service was friendly.
Great Eastern Restaurant
649 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA 94133, United States
Restaurant was full but we were seated quickly. Waiter had to be flagged down to order food. Never took a drink order. There was tea on the table that wasnt very good. A girl came by with a tray of what looked like different types of bread. She didnt speak enough English to tell us what it was so we just picked one. Was not worth eating. They do add those to your bill by the way. The plate with mussels had a bunch of empty shells. The veggie fried rice was the equivalent of Panda Express (bland with barely any veggies). My husband did enjoy the rib plate. He says its the average downtown San Francisco Chinese Restaurant. I would not return. PLENTY of other places to choose from.There are a lot of Chinese people here so maybe the food is authentic but I think the staff can use a lesson in friendliness and courtesy.
Grant Place Restaurant
737 Washington St, San Francisco, CA 94108, United States
I went here 3 months ago for a late dinner with my guy friend when we were visiting San Francisco for a day. When we were walking around we were harassed by the older asian woman outside who was shoving paper fliers for this restaurant at people trying to lure them into her restaurant. There was another Chinese asian woman outside who was in competition with the first Chinese old lady we saw and we were bombarded by the 2 of Chinese ladies bombarding us with fliers to eat at their restaurant. Usually in the past as a kid when visiting China town, my parents would be annoyed of this and would tell me to ignore the peddlers. I was ignoring the two Chinese ladies but my guy friend ended to taking the flier and then with force and persistence, the old Chinese lady at this restaurant led out outside to the front of the restaurant to show my guy friend and I the menu. She stated the food was great and that they got good reviews on yelp. My guy friend and I decided to keep walking to check out the other restaurants before we came up to a decision and told her we would come back if we decide to eat there. We ended up walking around and didnt find anything else that looked great so we ended up just going back to Grant restaurant to have dinner. We hoped the food would be great, we walked back to the restaurant and the same Chinese old lady standing outside her restaurant was there waiting for us. I told her we decided to come back and she mumbled something rude in Chinese I didnt hear but I ignored it but it sounded like I told you so that you should of eaten here. My guy friend and I should of walked away then and there and gone anywhere else but this older but wehungry. So the old Chinese led us immediately inside the restaurant and sat us down with menus. The old Chinese asian man was working that night and also a young Chinese guy as well. Let me tell you guys the service was horrible. The clientele in this restaurant are mostly old Chinese men watching their favorite Chinese television shows. That was kinda cool to watch and unique lol. Anyways onto the food, I ordered 3 items: pork bao appetizers, wonton egg noodle soup, and chicken congee rice soup. My guy friend ordered beef chow mein and was going to try and order something else but the old Chinese waiter was rude and legit told him he had enough food since I had ordered a lot and that we didnt need anything else. That shocked me and was rude and my guy friend was offended. So besides the terrible service guys, now onto the food guys, it was TERRIBLE as well! Not good! The pork bao appetizer was dry and so tiny for the price, the taste was alright. The chicken egg porridge with the really old preserved egg was weird AF! The preserved egg tasted like an avocado and looked green and just looked and tasted weird! lol I just wanted regular chicken congee but they sadly didnt have that here. Their old preserved egg congee was weird and the favor was mediocre. My last dish was the wonton egg noodle soup with char sui pork. This was the worst of my dishes! The broth was disgusting and legit tasted like nothing guys, it was the blandest broth Ive ever had and Ive had a lot of wonton egg noodle soups in my day. The char sui pork wasnt flavorful at all and the idiots working there forgot to add this main ingredient into my soup so I had to wait 7 minutes to get my soup back with the char sui pork. The wait wasnt even worth it and the char sui pork didnt even help with the flavor of the already bland soup. If a restaurant cant get its broth right, it just kills the soup. The old Chinese man waiter and the younger Chinese waiter guy never came to give us waters so we had to ask the old Chinese guy waiter who ended up bringing out water in little plastic cups. My guy friend told me his beef chow mein was mediocre too and wasnt anything special. So after a $44 bill and the old rude Chinese waiter man telling us we had to tip, we used the nasty grimey ghetto bathroom and left. Dont go here if you want to waste your money! Avoid this place! Avoid!!!
Z & Y Restaurant
655 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA 94133, United States
I have a general feeling that many Chinese restaurants are consistently underrated.Typical reviews of rude service, language barrier, or poor safety and clean scores dont scare a true foodie. Perhaps, living in India for 4.5 years makes you look at life from a different perspective ;)Let me start by saying I always wanted to try this place out. Not because Obama has eaten here or because it has long lines (something I actually detest), but because the food always looked so delicious through the pictures and I am always up for good food.We ended up with no dinner plans on Pride Sunday and everyone felt like having Chinese so Z and Y immediately popped in our minds. It did take about 1 hour waiting (7:30pm-8:20pm). I feel the lines were considerably less as we sat down so perhaps try to come super early or super late?Between the four of us (including one vegetarian person) we ordered:- Kung Pao Tofu- Veg Chow Mein- Veg Fried Rice no Egg- Veg Spring Onion Pancake- Kung Pao Shrimp- Explosive Chilly ChickenService was pretty fast except the fried rice which came pretty late because we ordered it with no egg so they either forgot or made a mistake and had to re-do it. We had no problems with any of the waiters. Eric in particular was a darling to us!Food was phenomenal. Shrimp was lovely and fresh. Onion pancake was delicious addition which went well with their sauce. Chow mein was great without being too greasy. Explosive chicken was nice tho not so spicy as I thought it would be. That tofu tho....so soft and tasty!Prices are a bit steep but again, this is SF so didnt expect nothing less. It definitely would have been higher if we ordered fish dishes.Surprisingly, the place is very clean and neat. Even the bathrooms are very spacious and very clean which is unusual for Chinatown restaurants. Not sure how they got their poor score on hygiene but everything was great and we had an amazing experience.Cant wait to be back to try more from their menu. Highly recommend!
Sam Wo Restaurant
713 Clay St, San Francisco, CA 94108, United States
Sam Wo Restaurant was a great late-night dining option in Chinatown. We wanted to eat in Chinatown at least once during our visit to San Francisco, and I was not disappointed with our choice to visit Sam Wo. The atmosphere was authentic, the food was delicious, the portions were large and a good value, the service was good.We started off with the Chinese Donuts. They were really similar to fry bread – not really sweet, but a little savory. They were great for dipping, whether in sauce or I would imagine soup. We also ordered the Fried Spring Roll appetizer, which was delicious. Stuffed to the bursting with cabbage and a very nice tangy dipping sauce. The order was a good size for 2-3 people.For our main dishes, I chose the Sweet & Sour Chicken, while my significant other ordered the Duck Chow Mein. While both dishes were delicious, the Sweet & Sour Chicken really stole the show. The Duck Chow Mein was nice, and the noodles were cooked well. The Sweet & Sour Chicken was perfectly done, not soggy at all with the breading, and the vegetables cooked just as much as you'd want them, but no more. The sauce was fantastic and addicting. Writing this makes me wish I was able to have some more now!I would recommend visiting Sam Wo, and I would definitely visit again. Between the delicious food and the affordability, it was a good spot for dinner. I'll be dreaming about that Sweet & Sour Chicken for a while.
New Jumbo Seafood Restaurant
1532 Noriega St, San Francisco, CA 94122, United States
First: Service: Bad attitude, ugly, and awkward, they seem to want to fight with you, bad review.Second: Dishes: Although the taste of soy sauce is better than that of many San Francisco restaurants, please note that their chefs are very shady and their dishes are almost all made with super dirty oil, which may have been used up all the time. Dirty oil is more terrible than gutter oil and very carcinogenic. According to American law, the restaurant where I used to work must constantly change cooking oil in the kitchen to ensure food safety and quality, but they dont seem to do this, even if the health bureau makes a surprise inspection (usually Have a fixed date ), they can easily get by by pretending to change temporarily! Their oil probably comes from: oil stoves (specialized for frying large foods, such as chickens, pigeons, etc.) that have fried food thousands of times and never replaced it, or a certain chefs special oil pocket (regular and usually 2, one purely for stir-frying and the other for frying) oil, they may only have 1 or a mix, so! That is the oil that has been used to fry food thousands of times and has never been replaced. It is super dirty and tastes like BBQ coke. Please note that it is not pot gas, nor is it the aroma and taste of the food itself. It is dirty oil. The taste is covered by the color of soy sauce! You can't imagine how much food debris your food contains that you can't see! These dirty oils are mixed with many harmful impurities and are extremely carcinogenic.Summary evaluation: Give this restaurant an absolute negative review: It is not recommended to eat in this restaurant for a long time, otherwise your health will be very poor. I have worked in large and well-known Cantonese restaurants for many years, as a waiter and in the kitchen. I have worked in these positions for about After 5 years, it would not be wrong to give this evaluation.First: Service: bad attitude, ugly, drags, theyre like fighting with you, bad reviews.Second: The dishes: Although the taste of soy sauce is better than many San Francisco restaurants, please note that their chefs are very black, and the dishes are almost all made with super dirty oil, and may be kept used all the time, these dirty oil is more terrible than illegal cooking oil, very carcinogenic, these oils are estimated to come from: The oil from the oil stove that has fried the food thousands of times, or the oil from a certain cooks special oil pocket, is the oil that has fried the food thousands of times and has never been replaced, which is super dirty, mixed with a lot of harmful impurities, and extremely carcinogenic.Summary evaluation: Give this restaurant absolutely bad review: it is not recommended to eat in this restaurant for a long time, otherwise your health will be very poor, I have worked in large Cantonese restaurants for many years, waiter work and kitchen work, I have worked in these positions for about 5 years.
H. L. Peninsula Restaurant
608 Dubuque Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080, United States
Here for the first time, entering the restaurant was a profound experience. It reminds me of when Koi Palace first opened, and diners quickly realized what the art of the possible was for the interior design of a Chinese restaurant.Initially, we opted for outdoor seating. But an employee was smoking on the front pavement near the parked cars. The ruinous odor forced us to relocate inside.The menu is appended with a list of high-priced items in the $50-70+ range. We primarily came here for dim sum.The 3001 Shrimp Dumpling was a faithful rendition of a traditional favorite. Light and enjoyable.The 3003 Pork and Crab Row Siu Mai, another Cantonese classic, was easily the best I've had in a very long time. Not only was the pork flavor robust, the pork itself had a fluffy and soft texture.The 3006 Pork Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce was delicious and not chewy as they can sometimes get. Served with taro cubes, which I am not accustomed to seeing. Perhaps this gives the dish an extra aspect of flavor. However, because it resembles pork in color, it could look like there was more pork butt service filler material. I will give benefit of doubt, as adding “with taro“ would have been a more accurate description but would have lengthened the name of the dish.Things somewhat went downhill from there.The 3013 Shanghai Xiao Long Baos were excellent in texture and lightness but the flavor was lacking. The interior ingredients were fresh but that quintessential flavor was absent. I would have loved these to have wowed me as much as the Siu Mai did. Lost potential here, but easily gained with some attention to flavor.The magenta colored 3023 Sea Bass & Shrimp Dumpling looked very attractive but failed to please. The shrimp came across like a block of minced shrimp as opposed to what you see in the 3001 Shrimp Dumplings. The sea bass it was crowned with looked like a scallop. But the flavors didn't blend and, altogether, was sadly lackluster despite its appearance. Perhaps they would consider rethinking this item and have the flavors complementary and more robust.We also had a BBQ pork rectangular pastry (not the bun) but it had little pork on the inside. and the barbecue pork flavor wasn't as robust as it could have been.The service was spectacular, the staff was extremely friendly and personable. Very nice to see one of the captains speak with us as if we were long timers. That is classic treatment.I'm always very excited to see a very modern Hong Kong style restaurant. From the restrooms to the restaurant interior, the execution is very well thought out. Glamour aside, we're here for the food. Of the few dim sum we had, two classics were really good, while the rest has potential for improvement.I have great confidence that this restaurant will act on feedback and continually improve and serve the community for years to come.
Bamboo Restaurant
1441 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109, United States
Good atmosphere. Attention about the average, for a Chinese restaurant. The soup was good. It takes away points for not having a 100 on the San Francisco C&C inspection.
The Garden Restaurant
716 Kearny St, San Francisco, CA 94108, United States
The Garden Restaurant has become one of my favorite restaurants. It has been newly remodeled after serving authentic Chinese food in in San Francisco Chinatown for decades. The food is great, and price very reasonable. It has a semi-private room that easily sits 50 people and 2-3 smaller private rooms downstairs that is perfect for private parties. Highly recommend!
Punjab Restaurant
2838 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110, United States
Its over the top Asian American food thats serve here. The menu items are americanized with a heavier sweet sauce. Its a big restaurant and they even have a second floor to open if needed. The kitchen is much bigger than most of the restaurants in San Francisco. It is also shiny and looks clean. The seats and tables look old style in dark green color. They are placed to exceed the 6-feet covid-19 requirement. They can server big groups. The place could get busy. So they have a 90-minute seating limit.This is a restaurant thats in business for many many years. The sign outside is at least 20 years old as I could remember. But if you are looking for some very authentic Chinese food, you night be a little bit disappointed because they dont even have a Chinese menu. The servers can speak Chinese though.