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Best Shanghai Steamed Soup Dumplings or Xiao Long Bao in San Francisco

Posted on January 1, 2025

Last Update: June 2025

We love Xiao Long Bao (XLB) aka Shanghai Steamed Soup Dumplings and have eaten all over the world seeking the best. Are you a Xiao Long Bao addict too? Read on.

One tip: If you are looking for good XLB, do not order them from a Cantonese Chinese restaurant. You are almost always guaranteed disappointing results even at the Best Chinese Restaurant in San Francisco: Koi Palace. Order these little balls of wonder from a Shanghainese Chinese restaurant.

Little Shanghai, San Mateo

Posted on January 1, 2025

Best Shanghainese Chinese restaurant in San Francisco? Little Shanghai Restaurant is a family run Shanghainese Chinese Restaurant in San Mateo near the San Mateo Fairgrounds. They have the usual Americanized Chinese dishes along with a fair amount of Traditional Shanghai dishes not served in most restaurants. Our last visit was at end of 2025 for takeout.

San Tung Restaurant, San Francisco

Posted on January 1, 2025

San Tung is a popular Chinese restaurant in the inner Sunset of San Francisco. They serve northern Chinese food that has some Korean influence, as the San Tung region of China is near Korea, hence the free Kim Chee. We have eaten here many, many times, back to when it was located west of here. Last visit was for take out in summer 2025. They used to have San Tung #2 next door and So restaurant.

Great Eastern Dim Sum Restaurant, San Francisco

Posted on January 1, 2025

When we get asked, “where do we get the dim sum in Chinatown?” Our answer is.. Great Eastern Restaurant San Francisco has been serving Cantonese Chinese food in this location for many years.

Waterbar Review, San Francisco

Posted on January 1, 2025

Waterbar is a seafood restaurant located strategically on the San Francisco waterfront. It has extra ordinary views and is next door to the steakhouse restaurant Epic Roasthouse. They are both part of the vast Kuleto Restaurant empire. Waterbar has several meat entrees for those forced to dine here. The use local and sustainable seafood.

Ike’s Place Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Posted on January 1, 2025

Ike’s Place has been serving sandwiches since 2007 with lines out the door almost all the time. The original location was at 3489 16th Street, San Francisco. It is now a U: Dessert Story.

Palette Tea House, San Francisco

Posted on January 1, 2025

Solid Dim Sum in Fisherman’s Wharf of all places!- Why did we dine here? – Palette Tea House is from the team behind top rated Chinese restaurants: Koi Palace and Dragon Beaux. They took over Waxman’s location in Ghirardelli Square. We gave them a month and headed to tourist central to try this new dim sum palace. Our last visit was in Summer 2025.

Back A Yard Caribbean American Grill Restaurant Review, Menlo Park

Posted on September 7, 2024

Back A Yard Caribbean American Grill is a legendary Caribbean American grill restaurant in eastern Menlo Park, right near Highway 101. Locations are also in Campbell, 3x San Jose, It is a hole in the wall located next to a lower class area of Menlo Park. The chef Robert Simpson also runs much more upscale Coconuts Caribbean Restaurant & Bar in Downtown Palo Alto. He learned his trade in Jamaica. Our last visit was for takeout in Spring 2025.

Mamahuhu, San Francisco

Posted on September 1, 2024

Mamahuhu is Mister Jiu’s casual restaurant in the Inner Richmond district of San Francisco. You order at the counter and they bring the food to you.

They’ve opened more locations including one in Mill Valley. Their motto: “We envision a future in which delicious, affordable, sustainably-sourced food is the norm and Chinese-American cuisine plays a central role.”

Horn BBQ, Oakland

Posted on August 2, 2024

Horn BBQ Is a legendary barbecue restaurant in Oakland, California. It has 3.5 stars on yelp and had long lines at the old location whenever it’s open. A fire closed them down and made them re-open in April 2024 at 464 8th St. near Chinatown, Oakland at their former burger joint. You now order using the computer tablet by the entrance, then sit down.

Horn BBQ Definitely serves up barbecue that was not as good as the old location. Top-notch barbecue the San Francisco Bay area. Breakwater BBQ in El Granada is really good. 4505 in San Francisco is also good for ribs.

Chapeau!, San Francisco

Posted on June 1, 2024

One of San Francisco’s charming restaurants.. Chapeau! is a French Bistro located in the San Francisco Richmond district in the middle of the Clement Street shopping district. Chapeau! SF opened in 1996 and it means hat or wow in French.

Routier, San Francisco

Posted on May 1, 2024

Why did we dine here? – Routier is a Hot Frenchish restaurant from the folks at nearby B patisserie. A friend recommended this restaurant, and we’ve been back twice. Highly rated at 4.5 stars on yelp. Belinda Leong and Michel Suas joined forces with JP Carmona, formerly chef de cuisine at Manresa, to lead the kitchen of this elevated neighborhood joint in the former jazz club location. Last visit was in Fall 2024.

Prik Hom, San Francisco

Posted on March 28, 2024

Prik Hom is a small Thai restaurant in San Francisco’s inner Richmond district. It has 4.5 stars on Yelp right now. It was recommended by a friend and was also on the NY Times 25 best restaurants in SF 2023. Reservations are a must unless you want to walk in right when it opens. We’ve eat here twice.

The menu has limited selections in each of its different section, not like the usual Thai spots. No pad thai or pad see ew here! Simple concise menu with several options for vegetarians. Their spring menu saw several new dishes.

A Slice of New York Pizza, San Jose

Posted on March 28, 2024

Why did we dine here? – A Slice of New York is a well-known New York style pizza place in San Jose, not far from Santana Row. The place features some nice New York decor, with subway signs, maps, and the like. Their Sunnyvale location has closed.

Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen, San Mateo

Posted on March 14, 2024

Why did we dine here? – Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen has become our goto place when looking for this type of food. They have expanded to four locations including Palo Alto, San Francisco and Mountain View.

Best Pho in San Francisco

Posted on February 18, 2024

Last Update: November 2019

We are big fans of Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup. Slowly but surely, we have eaten at many of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best Pho restaurants. Here’s our constantly evolving list of the top 10 in search of the Best Pho San Francisco and beyond. Please leave comments with suggestions for other places we should try.

Hit List: More San Jose Pho Places – Do you have favorites we should try?

Good Good Culture Club, San Francisco

Posted on January 10, 2024

Party fun!

Why here? – Good Good Culture Club is a hot restaurant from the folks behind Liholiho Yacht Club. They serve Lao, Filipino fusion cuisine and has a party atmosphere. This restaurant is located in the heart of the Mission District, where Farina once stood.

Prospect Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Posted on January 1, 2024

Prospect is a long-awaited new restaurant from the Boulevard restaurant team – Nancy Oakes, Pam Mazzola, and Kathy King – located in the posh residential Infinity Tower complex of San Francisco’s Financial district / SOMA district. They named it with anticipation, expectation, and looking forward. Prospect is near the Millennium tower.

Spoon, Tahoe City

Posted on January 1, 2024

Spoon is one of those rare finds in the Lake Tahoe region. The food is simply really good. Its easy to pay a lot up here, but not easy to find a spot like this. We’ve dined at all the stalwarts that have existed for decades and none match up. “Spoon is a funky, off-beat and cozy restaurant with an eclectic american dinner menu.” Closed Tu/Wed
Gluten free and vegetarian options. Specials change daily. Last visit end of 2024.

Tamarine Restaurant Review, Palo Alto

Posted on January 1, 2024

Elegant Vietnamese in Palo Alto.

Tamarine is a popular Vietnamese contemporary restaurant in downtown Palo Alto on busy University Avenue. They focus on small plates and serve food family style. Tamarine features light, but flavor-intensive culinary delicacies of Vietnam.

2022 Casual Food Reviews

Posted on January 1, 2024

Reviews for restaurants, bakeries and other spots we deemed not important enough for their own.

Cotogna, San Francisco

Posted on January 1, 2024

Cotogna (meaning ‘quince’ in Italian), offers a seasonally-changing menu featuring spit-roasted or grilled meats and game birds, wood-oven pizzas, house-made pastas, fresh local fish and seafood, salads, salami and cheeses in the warm atmosphere of the restaurant’s refined urban design. This hot spot is the more affordable sister restaurant to Quince, which is located next door.

Flour & Water Pizza, San Francisco

Posted on December 27, 2023

Why did we dine here? – Flour & Water Pizza is the pizza only specialty restaurant from the folks at famous Flour and Water. This location opened in 2023, the previous one is run by a former employee and is now called Yellow Moto Pizza. Tony’s Pizza is right around the corner!

Che Fico, San Francisco

Posted on December 3, 2023

Added review of Che Fico Parco Menlo, Menlo Park

Hot Spot in the City. Why did we dine here? – Che Fico (Kay-Feeco) means what a fig – is a new Jewish Italian restaurant in San Francisco that has garnered a lot of hype. There is a long line queuing up for unreserved tables everyday. It has fallen to 3.5 Yelp stars, but we still wanted to try it out. Prices have appreciated significantly during the pandemic.

Ettan, Palo Alto

Posted on November 2, 2023

Cutting Edge Cal-Indian in Palo Alto.

Why did we dine here? – Ettan, Palo Alto open one month before the Pandemic. Talk about bad timing. Open/close – Open close syndrome. Things were opening up again, so we decided to give them a try. This was one of our first high end sit down meals in quite a while. They are tucked away in a small alley in Downtown Palo Alto. Beautiful restaurant, inside and out. Great spot to eat outside in their large patio. East Asians have discovered the spot, helping to validate the cuisine in our book.

Cheung Hing Seafood & Dimsum (Formerly China Village), Belmont

Posted on November 1, 2023

Cheung Hing replaces China Village Seafood Restaurant in Belmont, California located just off the Highway 101’s Ralston Exit. The former had been around since 1996, serving dim sum during both lunch and dinner, as well as standard Cantonese Chinese cuisine, but changed hands in 2022. It appears that they may have a similar menu and chef from before. The interior and exterior are still the same too, so is the phone number.

Cheung Hing has several locations in San Mateo, Millbrae, and San Francisco. Those concentrate on Chinese barbecue dishes and don’t serve dim sum.

Harris’ Steakhouse Restaurant, San Francisco

Posted on October 20, 2023

Harris’, The San Francisco Steakhouse has been located since 1984. The restaurant has Old school steakhouse traditional decor with tall banquettes, and high quality 21 day dry aged, Mid-western, corn-fed meats. This is one place I think about when folks ask for a Steakhouse in San Francisco.

House of Prime Rib Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Posted on September 5, 2023

Best cornbread in town! House of Prime Rib opened in 1949 and concentrates on one dish, Prime rib. We have been coming here for many decades, whenever we have a desire for beef. They use corn-fed Prime beef Midwestern beef that is aged for 21 days and cooked in coarse rock salt.

City View Restaurant Dim Sum, San Francisco

Posted on June 4, 2023

City View Restaurant is a Chinese dim sum restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown. that only serves lunch.. Our last visit was in the middle of 2023 when they moved in to a new location next to Portsmouth square.

Be sure to read our Introduction to Chinese Dim Sum

Lai Hong Lounge Review, San Francisco

Posted on June 1, 2023

Lai Hong Lounge Restaurant is a Cantonese Chinese restaurant on the outskirts of Chinatown. They have been around since Lichee Garden closed, 2012. They are VERY popular for lunch (Noon had a Wait for a Monday lunch), but it was much more quiet at dinner. We were in the neighborhood so we decided to try it out, being big Chinese food fans. Last visit was in Winter 2024.

Copra, San Francisco

Posted on May 17, 2023

Why did we dine here? – Copra is run by Srijith “Sri” Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar (who also own Ettan in Palo Alto) so we had to give it a try. The chef last had two Michelin stars at Campton Place. It is located across from Japantown in the location that used to be Dosa.

Lily, San Francisco

Posted on May 12, 2023

Why did we dine here? – Lily is a Modern Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco is inner Richmond District. Sort of a neighborhood joint kicked up a notch. The Chef Rob Lam used to run restaurant Butterfly on the waterfront. There are a ton of VERY good restaurant options nearby including Burma superstar, Chapeau!, Wako, and Mamahuhu. Traditional Vietnamese restaurants are a block away. We have been here 3 times for lunch during the Pandemic, last visit Spring 2024.

B Star, San Francisco

Posted on March 27, 2023

B Star Bar serves Pan Asian style comfort foods with flavors from Thailand, China, Burma, India and Japan. It is the sister restaurant of popular Burma Superstar Burmese restaurant (And has several of their dishes) and is located a couple blocks from it. Our last visit was in Spring 2023. No more parklet.

HK Lounge Bistro, San Francisco

Posted on March 11, 2023

HK Lounge Bistro in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood takes the place of burned down Hong Kong Lounge 2 that was in the Inner Richmond district. This spot opened in 2023.

Be sure to read Foodnut’s Guide to Chinese Dim Sum Lunch

Octavia, San Francisco

Posted on February 19, 2023

Why did we dine here? – Octavia is the latest restaurant from Melissa Perello, chef-owner of 1 Michelin Starred and well loved Frances. A small 54 seat neighborhood restaurant that is already drawing crowds from throughout the City. We are in this area a lot, so we were waiting for it to finally open.

Yan Peninsula Dim Sum Review

Posted on February 5, 2023

January 2023 Yan Peninsula replaces Old school dim sum Zen Peninsula is a Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Millbrae. This name almost sounds like a half baked effort to change the name. Long time stalwart Hong Kong Flower Lounge recently closed, making this a great time to sweep up business. Zen had previously been one of the goto places for banquets, weddings and the like. Millbrae is ground zero for some of the most popular Chinese food in the SF Bay area with spots like:

NOPA Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Posted on January 3, 2023

NOPA is a “neighborhood based restaurant designed to attract and comfort those from all over the Bay Area.” They serve “simple, rustic food created with seasonal ingredients sourced from local purveyors.” The restaurant has redefined the north of panhandle (NOPA) area since 2006 and has been packing them in. We did not have reservations, so we can in early and put our name on the list, otherwise you can eat at the bar or communal table.

Wildseed, San Francisco – Palo Alto

Posted on January 1, 2023

Trendy Plant Based Food in the City! Why did we dine here? – Wildseed’s motto is Work out, Veg Out. A trendy new 100% plant based vegan (No eggs!) restaurant in the Union street shopping district from the Back of the House Group (a Mano, Lolinda, Delarosa, Beretta, Super Duper, etc). They also have a location in Palo Alto’s Town and Country Center. We have dined at both locations.

Lobster Shack, Portola Valley

Posted on January 1, 2023

Lobster Shack

Moody’s Bistro & Bar, Truckee

Posted on January 1, 2023

Moody’s Bistro & Bar is a high end Mountain comfort food restaurant in downtown Truckee. Local, organic, seasonal focus or as they tell it – Moody’s food philosophy is “fresh, local, seasonal and simple”. Chef de Cuisine is Guy Frenette. The Restaurant opened in 2006. Moody’s has live music on some nights, so call ahead. Our last visit was during a trip to the mountains in 2023.

Koi Palace Dim Sum Daly City Review

Posted on January 1, 2023

Koi Palace has been on the best Chinese Dim Sum restaurant lists in the San Francisco Bay Area for years. The Peninsula is ground zero for some of the best Chinese food in the San Francisco Bay Area. Around 2018, new upcomers with opulent interiors and modern menu have challenged them.

Pyeong Chang Tofu House, Oakland

Posted on January 1, 2023

Pyeong Chang is a Korean restaurant located in the Temescal district of Oakland, where a cluster Korean restaurants are situated. Burma Superstar is a couple doors down, while Bakesale Betty and Pizzaiolo are a block or two away. We were looking for some higher-quality Korean food than is present in San Francisco. They also have a location in Berkeley on University. Our last visit was in Spring 2023 at their Berkeley location.

Baekjeong, Los Angeles and San Jose

Posted on January 1, 2023

Why did we dine here? – Baekjeong (butcher in Korean) is a extremely popular Korean restaurant run a flamboyant former wrestler, Kang Ho Dong. (There is a huge cardboard cutout picture of him by the front door) They specialize in Korean BBQ using USDA Prime Meats.

Ramen Parlor Restaurant Review, San Mateo

Posted on January 1, 2023

Why did we dine here? – Ramen Parlor is the second location in San Mateo from the legendary original owner of Santa Ramen, Kazunori Kobayashi. It is located one block from the original Santa Ramen, which now houses the very popular spicy ramen oriented Ramen Dojo. Both are owned by Mr. Kobayashi.

Vesta, Redwood City

Posted on January 1, 2023

Why did we dine here? – Top Italian on the Peninsula! Vesta is a California Italian restaurant in downtown Redwood City. They tried to support local and organic suppliers. It has an extremely high 4.5 stars on Yelp and was mentioned in San Francisco magazine as having great pizza. These two facts were enough to pique our interest. We finally got a chance to try them at the end of 2013, been back several times with latest visit in summer 2023.

Osmanthus Dim Sum Lounge, San Francisco

Posted on December 24, 2022

Why did we dine here? – Osmanthus is a Chinese dim sum restaurant in the heart of North Beach, on Broadway, where Enricos used to be. Several family members have been there and they liked it, and we also saw it on the SF Chronicle’s List of top Dim Sum, so we finally ate there.

Be sure to read our Beginner’s Introduction to Chinese Dim Sum Lunch – Top Dim Sum in San Francisco

Greens Restaurant, San Francisco

Posted on September 26, 2022

Greens Restaurant has been serving vegetarian fare since 1979. Their Marin based Green Gulch Farm provides much of the produce. Greens was a pioneer in the early days, nowadays we have many more plant centric restaurants like Wildseed, Baia, Shizen, etc. Today almost every fancy restaurant accommodates vegetarians to some degree. The menu changes all the time.

Sorella, San Francisco

Posted on September 10, 2022

Sorella is an anxiously awaited casual sister restaurant to Michelin starred Acquerello. In fact it means sister in Italian! It is located where 1760 once was. Having this pedigree, we quickly added it to our must visit list. We’ve dined here twice, the last time at the end of 2022.

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