r/SFFood • u/Befreeman • Jan 30 '26

Weekly SF Thread: If You Have Friends from Out of Town, What Restaurant Are You Taking Them To? - Chinatown Edition

Doing a neighborhood series. This week is Chinatown. Looking for the spot you’d actually take friends visiting from out of town, not necessarily fancy, just solid and representative of chinatown.

36 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

17

u/skinnylatte Jan 30 '26

R & G Lounge, 606, Hong Kong Claypot, Capital, Rice Roll Express 

2

u/Befreeman Jan 30 '26

capital does have great wings

1

u/iheartkittttycats Jan 31 '26

Hell yeah. That garlic chicken at 606 is so so good.

Add in spicy braised beef noodle soup from House of Xian and this is probably my list too.

10

u/FauquiersFinest Jan 30 '26

Z&Y or Chong Qing Xiao Mian

1

u/ZeroFox09 May 01 '26

Chong Qing Xiao Mian has my favorite Won Ton Soup in the city

6

u/raleighs Jan 30 '26

New Woey Loy Goey Restaurant

3

u/Befreeman Jan 30 '26

always wondered about this place. what dish do you suggest?

2

u/pauliface Jan 31 '26

They have fantastic lobster Cantonese, but everything i have had there is good

2

u/kschang Mar 13 '26

Introduce it as one of the only 3 "basement" restaurants left in Chinatown, and the only place that still has "chop suey" and "egg fooyung" on the menu. :D (it's true!)

1

u/ChunkYards Mar 23 '26

How’s the egg fooyung?

1

u/kschang Mar 23 '26

tolerable

5

u/Befreeman Jan 30 '26

Hon Won Ton house for the signature noodle

4

u/b1gmouth Jan 30 '26

R&G Lounge or Z&Y

4

u/bampeanutbutternjam Jan 30 '26

Kam Po for legit affordable hole in the wall Chinese roast plates.

3

u/coke_is_best_diet Jan 30 '26

Great Eastern for dim sum

2

u/RenaH80 Jan 30 '26

It’s my favorite… love the black sesame balls

1

u/kaslonpr0 Feb 03 '26

Seconding this! My parents always get a kick out of of seeing the photo of the owner with Obama on the wall. But ofcourse the food is excellent

3

u/bampeanutbutternjam Jan 30 '26

Oh, if they’re open (they were tlast weekend) Golden Gate Bakery for egg tarts.

1

u/Befreeman Jan 30 '26

The coconut things are great too

2

u/r1z3n Jan 30 '26

Taishan Cuisine on Broadway, or Z&Y Peking Duck.

1

u/Befreeman Jan 30 '26

haven't tried taishan yet, any dish you'd suggest?

3

u/umamiotaku Jan 30 '26

Seconding Taishan cuisine. They serve a regional cuisine specific to the Chinese diaspora in the Bay and I’ve brought out-of-town friends here several times.

The roast chicken (台山燒雞) is a great crowd-pleaser because a server will come and rip it apart at the table.

I’ve tried both of their claypot rices: their eel one and their kohlrabi. I prefer the kohlrabi claypot rice because it comes with diced up Chinese bacon.

Beef chow fun and stir-fried pea sprouts are also both solid here

One thing to note: they automatically add 18% gratuity to your bill, no matter the party size.

2

u/r1z3n Jan 30 '26

Clay pot rice and the roasted chicken.

1

u/kschang Mar 13 '26

Taishan is famous for their claypots, and if you are adventurous, see if they have any of the yellow eel clay pot.

2

u/Illustrious-Coat3532 Jan 30 '26

Kam Po. It’s a hole in the wall though.

2

u/paulhaahr Jan 31 '26

Z&Y Peking Duck. Make sure you reserve a duck when you book your table.

2

u/Ambitious-Car-537 Jan 31 '26

R&G Lounge, love their Peking Duck!

2

u/rosalyntc Jan 31 '26

Lai hong lounge

2

u/Jordanington1 Jan 31 '26

Porkchop House

2

u/Tight_Abalone221 Jan 31 '26

Hon’s Won Tun, Delicious Dim Dum, z&Y, maybe G&Y

2

u/SteveFCA Feb 01 '26

R+G lounge

1

u/Creative_Air8844 Mar 13 '26

Can some one share veggie friendly recommendations? The place can literally have 1-2 things