Mission Chinese Food in San Francisco

goated, idk

Excellent Chinese with great vegetarian options.

On a mission for Chinese food

Probably the best restaurant in sf

Amazing, gritty, and delicious! Can t wait to come back

Been coming here for years. Love it

Its a hole in the wall but the food was great. Its all served family style so be prepared to share.

a must.

Atmosphere & service was amaaaazing. The decor is so cozy & well done!!! The food was pretty good but my chicken was overcooked & cold (maybe it was supposed to be served cold? Idk). I will definitely be going back <3 Dietary restrictions: Accommodated gluten free !

Definitely try the bacon and rice cake dish!

Terrific food. Thats all.

The good was amazing. The spices and flavors were wonderful after eating so much mediocre Chinese food. You have to check them out if you want a treat for your taste buds.

Delicious Chinese food

Awesome creative food options!! Everything was good

I think this place is overhyped!!! Ordered the Tiki Pork Ribs, chowmein, and triple cooked bacon & rice cakes. Everything except for the pork ribs was extremely salty. The pineapple in the ribs dish tasted off and the pork was too crispy. Couldn t eat anything, Food

Mission Chinese has some pretty solid Szechuan spice. The food can get pretty spicy and numbing, which is solid. The prices are very reasonable and the portions are large. We went in as a group of five and orders many dishes across the menu to share. Overall this was a solid destination for non-Americanized Chinese food at a good price.

Not at all what I expected from a Chinese restaurant. Good food but it felt completely different from any other Chinese restaurant I d been to. The vibe was so unique.

How can I describe the food at Mission Chinese? High end ingredients used to make non traditional but delicious comfort Chinese food. Although the waiters are Mission-esque hipsters, the cooks are Chinese, with a kitchen similar to one youd find in a traditional Chinatown restaurant. Rockstar chef-owner Danny Bowien has trained his staff extremely well, and all the dishes perfectly executed, day or night. Although Bowien is no longer involved with Mission Chinese, the restaurant continues to wow. The highlight for me was the thrice cooked bacon and rice cakes, perhaps the perfect hangover cure. Other must tries are the Kung Pao pastrami, spicy Chongqing chicken wings and the Westlake lamb dumplings (fried dumplings, tzatziki, ma la vinaigrette, peanut).

Absolutely incredible food in modest location/ space. A little meat heavy. Vegetarian options: All food here is excellent. The vegetarian options are also equally good, just limited. Food : 5/5 |

Had a really good meal here, would recommend. Service was slow (we came mid-afternoon at a slow time) but the server quickly helped us out when we finally asked her after waiting a while, so that s fine. Solid place!

Kung Pao pastrami and the pork belly are two favorites. Great that they still offer free delivery.

Immaculately cool vibes. The ribs and bacon rice cakes were earth shatteringly good. Honestly reevaluated my entire life after eating here.

Amazing dishes with the most fanciful and brightly-colored Chinese ceiling dragon youve ever dined with! Menu hint: Get the smoked Kung Pao Pastrami before they run out it for the night.

fun place, feels like a neighborhood joint. chicken wings, baby back ribs and smashed cucumbers are stellar. mapo tofu not my favorite

Not nearly as popular for lunch as it was 5 years ago; just two customers dining in at 1:00 p.m. on a Tuesday. It used to be full. Same tasty food!

I love the eclectic look of the place and the delicious food. Ever changing and surprising.

This place is the worst. Food is so overly salted. Especially the thrice cooked bacon each plate of this dish has like 10 cups of salt. Would rather eat Panda Express over Mission Chinese any day of the week.

The bacon is my favorite thing on the menu & if you only get a few things, make sure this is it.

Fantastic late night place for a pub crawl.

Real Chinese atmosphere with great food from a renowned chef

No! Dont try kung pao pastrami. Its super over-hyped. The meat was tough, salty and flavorless. I knew the restaurant isnt authentic but that dish was ruined by pastrami. Itll be a great dish if they just throw any other kinds of meat. To be fair, the veggies that came with pastrami were delicious. The appetizer - Beijing peanuts blew my mind. I think with this level of creativity, every other dish would be also good. The service is good. The waitress was friendly and super helpful. I had to wait less than 5 minutes to have the food. 100% would visit again

Amazing place. Best is their Chonquin Chicken, Mongolian beans, thrice cooked rice cake and bacon. Very cosy ambience and very popular.

New Years Eve take out was not special like it was before.

Definitely one of the most hidden restaurants this is still a classic and the food quality is top quality. While the neighborhood is not necessarily the safest place to be walking the food quality is impressive

Hole in the wall Chinese place but delicious. Could not get enough of the broccoli from the beef & broccoli. And the chicken fat rice was addictive. Service was quick.

Exceptional Chinese food

Small cozy restaurant with lots of good food choices and not too expensive. Not a traditional Chinese restaurant but I enjoyed it regardless

This restaurant offers a unique experience with the shichuan pepper seasoning. The chicken wings were a full flavor and sensory experience and we loved every bite. My husband got the tingly mapo tofu and it was too spice and oily for him to enjoy. We appreciated the waitress taking the food back and taking it off our bill. My husband got the beef brisket dish instead and was very happy with it. The chow mein was good. I especially loved the garnish on it. The food came out fast. We would have appreciated the wait staff checking on us after our food came out. We waited a good 15 minutes to be checked on and observed the wait staff just chit chatting as I tried to get their attention. The service improved after we sent the tingly tofu dish back. We would go back for the chicken wings alone.

The salted cod fried rice was incredible

Rainy day, restaurant was empty, it was cold, the food came quick (we had noodles), was not tasty nor terrible, not good for that price though

one of the best restaurants in San Francisco, the peanut noodles, green beans, and noodles are to die for. real ones know to come here - the diners are always the coolest seeming people around. staff is super knowledgeable and kind, the food comes super quickly, and everything is perfect.

Was excited to finally try this place but it was just alright. It had potential but the food was shockingly salty and oily with no let up in any dish (chow mein, eggplant, cumin lamb) which is not great considering the price. I think it s overhyped, like many places in the Mission that have enough character. A fusion-y take on American Chinese food is fine but it wasn t executed well in terms of being actually high quality. My mouth was stinging from salt by the end (and we hadn t ordered anything spicy). The oolong tea with ginger and mint was nice though, as was the lamb ribs (least salty of the three), and the decor was cute.

Great food. Got the dumplings, salted cod, and as others said, the broccoli of the beef brisket and broccoli was divine.

This isn t chinese food, this is Chinese food

Best Chinese food Ive ever had. Really cool menu and execution.

mediocre mapo tofu. just tasted like salt and Sichuan peppercorn. Google Mapo tofu China and compare the pictures. Does this look anything like the pictures that come up?

salted cod had no cod. fried chicken just salty n oily.

Ya, I know what youre thinking but dont judge this book by its cover.

Wow! This is some of the best Chinese food we ve ever had. Everything is stellar. If you re up for a challenge the wings are unlike anything you ll try - if you can tolerate the heat. Garlic fried rice, noodles, beef, everything was A++.

Literally the best food and such a cool atmosphere! Just fire the waitress who thinks there are two kinds of wine - red and not red, and then is rude because obviously her ignorance is your fault/ she s high as a kite.

The bald guy with glasses could have been nicer to customers and his colleagues. Now the signature mapo tofu is just leftovers from the day before? Maybe the owner will shut down the SF one and keep the NY location. Food

Just the best their take on chow mein, with DUCK CONFIT! is an amazing addition to the MCF classics. That said, the long beans aren t what they used to be

Location is ok but I ended up just getting delivery. Food is not bad either. The mapo tofu was more peppery than spicy. I was kind of hoping it would ve been hotter with more flavor. I did really like the salted cod fried rice with Chinese sausage. That was very delicious!

Came with a group of 4 adults. The inside space isnt huge, but plenty of space for a small group. Ordered several dishes, but our favorites with cumin lamb rib, beef brisket broccoli, and Mongolian long beans (special level was perfect). We shared everything family style!

This restaurant is as SF as it gets! Quirky interior, incredible food, friendly staff. Mongolian long beans are our absolute favorite!

Mission Chinese is an abomination. When I went with my friend we were wholly and seemingly intentionally ignored by our waitress, who sat a table away talking to one of her friends for our entire meal. The food was subpar, EXTREMELY salty, and consisted of very meager portions and very high prices. When we left we did something Ive actually never done before- didnt leave a tip. The waitress sprinted out after us with a look of rage on her face and said, I think you accidentally forgot to leave a tip! I replied, Actually, we intentionally didnt leave a tip. You didnt do ANYTHING, even getting us water when we asked, and you sat down talking to your friend from outside of work, giving them exemplary service. This is the first time weve never tipped, and its because you earned no tip. Her face turned beet-red. Servers DEPEND on tips to make a living!!! We shrugged, suggested she do better, and walked away.

Vegetarian options: tasty Food

addicted to the rice cakes

I saw a cockroach that crawled on top of the table and scurried away. Told the server but she didnt bother looking for it and just moved me to a different table. Food was sub par and doesnt do Sichuan food justice.

I hated the dish I ordered: Sichuan Carbonara. There was an overpowering aroma in the dish that I hated but other than that it was somehow bland without much flavor. Its also bad value, its $22 and you dont get much food or good ingredients with it.

This was the worst Chinese food Ive ever tasted. We had one of the lunch menus (tofu and mushrooms) and it was almost inedible. Too spicy, too oily and too weird of a blend of spices.

Fav spot

Still one of my favorite places to buy food in SF. Do yourself a favor and order the Broccoli beef brisket. Thank me later

Lots of fun and incredibly fast.

Got salted fish fried rice and smashed cucumber salad. Surprisingly $31 with 15% tip. Although the value is questionable, the food is great tho. Be sure to look up at the ceiling decorations!

Especially loved the eggplant.

* vegan MApo tofu - excellent, very tingly * thai cold noodles - great Would be great to see even more vegan options here in the future!

Self proclaimed weird Chinese food and it lives up to the claim! Great food. Fun environment. Unique twist on Chinese. Would eat again.

This was Amazing AMAZING food. Im not sure I could expand on the rave reviews already posted believe them all. Order everything! Food

The food was yummy, but overpriced for what it is.

Mission Chinese was delicious! Very inventive flavors; I liked the mapo tofu and the green beans were the most flavorful Ive ever had. Would go again. Quick seating and service.

Great food, great ambiance - Im into the low key vibes of restaurants and really liked this spot. Its a great go-to. They have cool red lighting and two huge dragons hanging from the ceiling. A plus is that every time Ive gone here they play really good 90s hip-hop and RnB. Food is a bit pricey but I feel like its worth it for family style dishes and the quality of the food - everything tasted great. More than half the time Ive gone, my food came out really quick too.

Google map direction was showing restaurant at divisadero yesterday

We bought Sturgeon for me a 1st for my husband hes pacific islander and hand many times.looking forward also, to making beef shank soup.

Good and tasty food; but too pricey to get the 5th star.

We d been hearing a lot about mission Chinese so we finally ordered delivery. We got the tiki pork belly, the map tofu and the Westlake lamb dumplings The tiki pork belly was fine. The mapo tofu and lamb dumplings were just bad. There s a weird flavor (fennel?) and it overpowers the whole dish. The lamb dumplings were tiny, greasy and the flavor combo did not work for us.

That how a Chinese restaurant should be in Mission! Good Chinese food with creative thoughts inside, leaves people imagination. Not traditional, but based on traditional. The essence of the traditional chinses food are kept as element, with a mission twist. The restaurant vibe is match the food.

My friend ordered so I don t really know what we had. The salad wrapped in noodle was ridiculous and the sichuan wings were apsychedelic experience. Kitchen is clean, vibes are great.

A really cool take on chinese food. Its eclectic and gives flavor combinations you probably havent experienced before. The non spicy options are so flavorful and definitely worth a try

The best Chinese food I have had in years!!! Love this place highly recommended !!!!!

Tasty and overpriced. Ordered 2 dishes, pretty good, a little oily, each dish was like $20+. Portions generous.

Well worth going out of your way to get there. Busy, great food, ambience and staff! Shout out to the server for the night, see you mate !

Was lucky enough to get taken here by a local who knew exactly what to order. Im not vegan but one of our group was and everything except the fried chicken was vegan friendly and insanely good. Like I would eat vegan every night if it tasted like this. The food was phenomenal, the szechuan chilli tofu was delicious and a sensation in your mouth. Everything from the interior decor to the pumping music selection made for a great experience. Insider tip would be to ask for the bathroom and get a quick tour of the kitchen on your way. This place set a new bar for me when eating szechuan Chinese food. Highly recommend!

Excellent spot for Sichuan food with a twist! Many of the options can also be made vegetarian, which was a bonus for us! We ordered the taiwanese eggplant, ma po tofu, thrice cooked rice cakes (vegan), and the garlic shiso fried rice with preserved lemon. While everything was perfectly tingly and flavorful, the dish I would recommend the most is definitely that garlic fried rice with shiso and lemon - it is honestly out of this world!

We came on a Sunday around 6pm with some friends. We were seated immediately and the food also arrived super quickly after we ordered. Quality was great and really hit the spot for me. Definitely coming back again. Would recommend: - Taiwanese Eggplant - Sizzling cumin lamb - Salted Cod Fried Rice

This is supposed to be a PORK TOFU dish. Do you see any pork here? 20 dollars to literally get just a bucket of tofu.

Been ordering from here for almost 10 years. Sometimes it s a 4. Sometimes it s a 5. Tonight it was a 5. Don t ever change!

Takes Americanized Chinese and elevates it. So good. Terrible decor. Amazing food.

Very interesting and delicious Chinese food. A modern take on classic dishes coming from the Mission district. The hamachi kama was crisp and came with a sweet sauce which was nice. The wings were good, nothing crazy tho. Now, the Mediterranean lamp dumplings, I thought was clever and they were good too. The noodles were way to salty for my liking and I m salt guy. Oh well. All in all, A bit pricey but I m intrigued in what comes next.

An unassuming storefront on Mission St with great flavors and service inside!

If you want Chinese American but not too American, this is the place. I loved the kimchi dish and the rice cake. The dishes are high quality just like the people I got to cherish them with -- rich with unique flavah, hella saucy, and too good not to be shared. A good option if youre in the area, dont let the external demeanor of the place fool ya.

So good! Everything we ordered tasted superb. Especially recommend the chicken wings. They are not crazy hot, but they pack a little punch! Service was very nice! Quick but not too quick!

Looks like I got scammed, I ordered garlic fried chicken for pick up and noodles, total price was over 50$, when I got home and opened it I was shocked, they just put rice and 4 chicken drumsticks on top like in Safeway and charged 30$.

One of our favorites and good to see they survived Covid. Great food as always

Significantly shrunk (50%) portions and removed ingredients on the takeout orders.

Had been to the Brooklyn sprouting of this spot and had a real fun time so wanted to check out the SF spot. Absolutely delish, and fresh feeling! Fully stuffed myself but still felt even and light despite the heavy flavors. Started with the vinegar peanuts and smashed cucumbers, the vinegary sauce in the peanuts was definitely a highlight, ended up dipping the cucumbers in the peanut s sauce, great combo. Cucumber base was a bit more oily than I would want but still tastes great! Mongolian Beans were spicy but pleasant, had a fun crunch to it and packed with flavor. Tiki Pork Belly might have been the best combo of crunch on the outside mixed with fatty goodness on the inside, my partner and I both agreed it was the best pork belly we had ever had. Was skeptical about all the sweetness surrounding it esp with the cherries but it was subtle and added a lot. Lamb Dumplings might have been our fav, felt like the most complex flavor and was a fun fusiony Mediterranean-East Asian crossover, almost reminded me of Nepalese momo s ?? The fennel laden tzatziki-like sauce mixed with a soy based sauce ?? Heaven! The chilled Thai peanut noodles were so fresh and the sauce proportions evened everything out beautifully. Fresh fresh fresh. We actually sent back the Sichuan Carbonara and switched it out with the chilled noodles. Highly recommend steering clear of the Sichuan Carbonara, tasted watery and bland overall and also had elements of soap?? (Don t think the soap flavor was the sichuan peppercorn because I love that stuff) keeping it at 5 stars because the switch out to the chilled noodles was incredible. 100% will be returning.

Horrible selection and tiny portions

My tongue is still numb. With joy.

Some stand-outs, but massively over hyped and located in a cramped spot in an already cramped and seedy area. The creativity and passion behind the dishes is wonderful, just wish we could see it located in nicer digs. It s not charming. Feels like a fast fast restaurant in every way except the quality of the food which is why this is such a weird review to have to write. Some food will present as far too oily, but spice and flavor are well controlled and the chef/back of house would easily be able to run in a much fancier spot if they ever want to. Understandable hype in general, not always worth it. 3.5/5. In a nicer area with nicer presentation and atmosphere this would be a 4.5/5 easily.

Great!

Pricey but the food is amazing. Dont let the yellow awning fool you, this is no hole in the wall, its a nationally known restaurant with a second location in New York. Its worth eating here just to try the Kung Pow Pastrami.

Great take on modern American Chinese. This place feels like an evolution of classic American Chinese takeout. Some interesting mixes and fusion dishes from outside the traditional fair. Great place to order a few dishes and share with the table.

absolute gas, love this place. longbeans are OP

Still just as basic digs and delicious food as always but now hardly any line even on a Saturday evening

Insanely good. Loved everything we ordered, esp the chongqing chicken wings with crispy tripe and cod fried rice. Wish they would open in LA!

Mission Chinese doesn t disappoint. There aren t tons of tables but they always seem to accommodate my groups quickly. The peanuts are simple but the best. It s fun to go with group so you can try a lot of dishes.

Amazing food but less variety

Soooo gooooood. Great for vegans

Fun inventive dishes in non descript setting. Sometimes a miss on rich flavour but still pretty good and filling.

Extremely over priced vs quantity

This place is a travesty to be even called Chinese food.. everything I ordered was way over salted and just not good. On top of it all, its pretty expensive.. youre better off going to Richmond/Sunset/Clement area to get real & delicious Chinese food at half the price..

What can I say? Its like LSD and Panda Express had a baby.

A good number of vegan options here that are A MA ZING. Easily one of the best meals Ive had in recent seasons. Eager to go back. And check out its NYC sibling if its still around. Get there right when it opens to guarantee a table!

Amazing hidden spot! Please order the BBQ Ribs! You wont regret it.

Delicious food, fast and kind service. The Lamb Dumpling is my new love. You have to come here!

Very special service and very friendly waiters.

I dont recommend this place that much for their chicken but the rest of their stuff is very good there and good service I got a lot of delivery orders for this through well I cant talk about the name of the company workforce for its fugitive delivery but thats up to few imagination

This place is amazing! If you like spicy, try Mapo Tofu and Garlic Rice. But everything on the menu is pretty amazing!

Services are not satisfied, no utensils and napkins for my takeout order. Their popular dish Mapo Tofu is very bitter, smashed cucumbers are not fresh, very soggy. Extremely disappointed.

Tiger salad was light, fresh and very tasty. Lamb dumplings, awesome. Other vegetables dishes were very fresh. This is not a place for great service, just great food.

Thrice Cooked Bacon (minus bacon) is my favorite vegetarian dish ever.

Rice. Lots of rice and not much else in their dishes. Salt cod... Very little. Chicken...barely any If you like to pay a lot for rice then this is your place.

Did not live up to the hype. Szechuan chicken wings were not very flavorful, the kimchi was boring, and the Szechuan carbonara tasted rotten & smelled like trash. I won t ever go back here. Try Mama Ji s instead.

I had the thrice cooked bacon and rice and that was delicious. Its a good time to visit now that the hypes died down a bit - more accessible + less expectations to disappoint. Had a fantastic meal.

Unbelievably good. What are these flavors??!! I wish I was in SF longer just so I could eat everything on the menu.

I read the reviews and thought this place is good, so I gave it a try. I regretted coming to this place I specifically told them to make the dishes less salty (multiple times), they turned out to be way too salty. I told the lady about it and she said the chef didn t put any salt but the chef put extra soy sauce and oyster sauce which doesn t make any sense since I want it to be less salty. The lady didn t even intent to make the dishes all over again for us and she was annoyed about us telling her that they didn t even care about our request. But, the fried rice is quite good. Overall, it is just a place that need to have better service.

A bit pricey, but worth the splurge. Kung Pao Pastrami and Salt Cod Fried Rice are must haves.

Pretty good fare but flavor was not quite what I expected. But the ingredients were of better quality than expected.

Innovative cooking, intimate dining room, transported by decor: old Chinese propaganda art, dragon puppets, and four eyed fire breathing tigers. (5/5) Thrice cooked bacon & rice cakes: bold savory black bean chili unlocks the true potential of yuba (tofu skin). Textually interesting and blow-your-head-off spicy, but really tasty! (5/5) Cabbage cooked in creamy broth (3/5) Chicken rice: plain (3/5) Lettuce wraps: forgettable.

A creative interpretation of Chinese cuisine. You can also see a fusion menu with food from other countries. The food is a bit salty for me, but wont bore your taste buds

Still a fun atmosphere. Find the food has lost a certain nuance from a few years ago. Brisket was dry . Brussel sprouts overly salty. Still wn experience. Salt cod rice was best dish of night.

Very good food and very nice service.

Ive been hearing about this place for years and finally got around to eating there. Totally disappointing. Sadly flavorless food. The Ma pa tofu was completely good of schechuan, sauce and meat. My guest who dined with me had been there in the past and didnt even recognize our food as the same. Also, way expensive

The mound of chicken fat rice was enormous. But, two of us ate it and ordered another. Fair warning.

Pork belly was very burnt and hard to eat

Everything s amazing. Great wine!

Disgusting and terrible service. I ordered a bunch of food because I had heard good things about the place. Everything was way over salted and frankly gross tasting. Server was on her phone most of the time I was there and could care less. She didnt even notice that I hadnt touched six plates of food and didnt want any to go. Huge disappointment and waste of food and money!

The quality unfortunately has declined :(

Top-notch Chinese food with a large variety. I appreciated the heathier options.

Restaurant charged my credit card twice, when I returned to correct they denied to do so

The Kung Pao Pastrami was just creative enough to catch my eye and I m glad it did because I ll be returning for it again.

Love this place -- and we are not hipsters! Fun ideas for dishes, some work better than others, but when they do work, theyre addictively great. Thrice Cooked Pork with Rice Cakes is a must. Can be super spicy. Every dish has an interesting, fusiony concept behind it. We go early to get in on the first seating and skip the wait. Signage is for a previous restaurant, dont be fooled -- adds to the popup feel. Danny Bowien is great and should be encouraged!

Literally everything Ive had here is both unique and delicious

Always love the food here. Specifically the mapo tofu and fat rice

Best mapo tofu I ve had outside of China