The best Chinese restaurants San Francisco

On the east side of Chinatown, you could almost walk past it without seeing it. Yet R&G Lounge is a must; it's even one of the favorite addresses of former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle! While the service isn't necessarily the most extraordinary, the cuisine is top-notch. The secret of their success: the freshest seafood. Specialties include salt and pepper crab and shark fin soup, but the restaurant is also renowned for its mastery of vegetable cooking.

Don't be put off by the bright green frontage, unsightly neon lights and mediocre appearance of this little Chinese boui-boui, where you'll find great seafood and fish at all hours. There are plenty of Middle Kingdom specialties to choose from, starting with the excellent Peking half-duck, as well as Wonton Noodle Soup and dishes spiced with Sichuan pepper, for example. Portions are gargantuan. Late eaters will be delighted to learn that this restaurant stays open until 11pm every day, a rarity in San Francisco.

This somewhat isolated restaurant in Richmond's district is worth a visit, and if you explore the Golden Gate Park, you can easily go there. On the menu, dumplings made with talent and tradition including the few insiders who know the address! Vegetarians, pork or seafood are all recommended. Stuffed brioches are also delicious and perfectly accompanied by a steam ravioli base. Perfect to regain strength before returning to the park museums. 

In the heart of the Chinatown district, this typical restaurant is very popular with the locals. Located in the basement of the building, the room is filled with large round tables where San Franciscans come to dine with their families. On the menu, more than 240 dishes (!); so much to say that the choice is large and that one finds there all the great classics of the Chinese cooking. The soups are particularly good, as well as the Mongolian beef, a delight! Authentic and surprisingly economical, certainly one of the cheapest restaurants in town.

This Chinatown restaurant offers specialties from southwest China, Sichuan. A region with delicious hot pepper. The house is a classic in the neighborhood, it doesn't look like much, but you can go in with your eyes closed. This simple room, with its print-covered walls and strange, elongated lights hanging from the ceiling, is an unrestrained delight! We loved the pork ravioli served with an ultra-fine spicy sauce, as well as the aged duck eggs, fish fillets and fried green beans.

This restaurant dedicated to contemporary Chinese cuisine has a modern design with a concrete ceiling and large wooden tables, all organized around the kitchen. Go for the Sichuan pork dumpling with hyperfine sauce, the small duck sandwich and the green beans with mushrooms. All washed down with a 2017 Mayacamas chardonnais, it'll go down easy... The house also has a cozier VIP restaurant, a whiskey lounge bar, a tea room and a boutique area to leave with tea, cookies and condiments.

This little takeaway-only counter is easy to spot from the street, it's always full, and all the customers are Chinese! Ideal for a picnic break in a park (either Washington Square or Porthmouth Square). The food is authentic, inexpensive and delicious. We loved the pork buns, steamed shrimp and coriander dumpling, fried corn cakes, egg rolls, sesame balls... It's easy to choose: all the dishes have photos on the wall and in front of the counter with corresponding numbers.