I just love this place. Great for groups or just alone the food is great. Service is always good. One of my favorite restaurants in the city. read more

Contrary to someone saying to blame the delivery company. If you order through Yelp/Grubhub then Big Lantern does their own deliveries...so the order can't be tracked like a normal Grubhub delivery. Driver was cool. Not sure if they still do their own deliveries if you use a different food delivery service. In this case it's taken a while for this delivery to arrive. Over an hour and still waiting. As for the food. They have so many choices and I noticed from the pictures lots of people like to order the vegan dishes. Probably one of the largest menus I've ever ordered from. Ordered the crispy garlic chicken. Not too much flour which I appreciate. It's breast meat so it was a little dry but the sauce was incredibly delicious. Also ordered the ginger fish with spinach. Great flavor also, though my mother thought it was a little salty, but she said the spinach was very tasty. read more

Not bad but not memorable, especially in a city like San Francisco with an overabundance of excellent Chinese food. We ordered a few dishes - none were bad, but it was overall quite "Americanized" (i.e. flavors are rather simple and food was oily). Don't think I'll be back myself, but seems like people appreciate their extensive vegetarian options if that's something you're looking for! read more

Food is alright. Did a take out, veggie congee used non-traditional broccoli instead of leafy vegetables. It's pricy for the quality. read more

Food was delicious so was the service. The only thing we're upset about is that we only just recently discovered this little gem.

Their lunch specials are good too and price !! I've only done pick up but there is always a good amount of people inside too.

Best Mu Shu Pork I've ever had! Good mix of crunchy, colorful veggies and lots of flavorful pork. Came with flour tortillas which put me off initially, until I saw that taste is about same but they perform far better and don't fall apart like the typical rice wrappers always do. Delivery was FAST-Hot & it was Free! (If ordered on their website.) My only complaint is they totally ignored my special request for more of the Hoisin Sauce (& I really wanted which was a bummer!) And also to make the other dish ordered spicy. But overall, I was very impressed with the quality, flavor and portion size of their food and the Hot, Fast, free delivery service! I definitely will be ordering from Big Lantern again! read more

It seems that nearly every staff member of where I work goes here for lunch. Which always kind of perplexed me. I mean, why would you go get Chinese food when you work in the Mission? Especially if it's about 4 blocks away? I finally gave in to the temptation, or maybe it was pressure and had lunch here yesterday despite the fact that I had brought my own lunch to work. I trudged the four blocks in the lousy rain (hey, I'm from LA ... walking ANY distance AND in the rain is NEVER fun for me). I ordered the sesame chicken lunch special for two reasons: 1) It had a little chili pepper next to it indicating it was spicy and 2) It came highly recommended. I ordered it with white rice (you have the choice of brown also), and extra spicy, in fact, "as spicy as you can make it" is what I said. For a bit under 7 bucks I got a load of chicken, white rice, small salad, egg drop soup, and a fortune cookie... and boy, was I full! The chicken was delicious. Not like the sesame chicken I'm used to, but almost like a cross between sesame chicken and orange chicken. I didn't think it was spicy, although mine was "extra spicy" but my coworkers could barely handle their own meals (so I guess it might be spicy to some). I'll definitely be going back. It was really good for an awesome price! read more

Big Lantern - Sesame Chicken (Extra Spicy) Lunch Special - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

Love the food here, especially the vegetarian options. I've dined in but mostly get delivery. I love that they have vegetarian wonton soup, which is hard to find anywhere else, and a variety of vegetarian appetizers and meatless chicken entrees. This is not fancy Chinese food but perfect for Chinese take out. Sesame balls are also great! read more

I used to live eat at this place when I lived in the neighborhood. Nothing special but always dependable and good. Today is Christmas Eve and a lot of places aren't open. Scrolling through restaurants, I thought of Big Lantern and how much the chow fun used to hit the spot. Much like my drinking days, those days are over! I just spent 85 bucks to have ridiculously tasteless food delivered to me. The soup looked delicious, chock-full of wontons and yummy veggies but the broth appears to be hot water. Unflavored hot water. I ordered some noodles and a couple of other dishes, hoping the food would last me through Christmas as well. I feel bad because I know we're in a pandemic and restaurants are suffering but I can't imagine any kitchen sending out food with this little flavor. The portions are great, but that just makes me feel worse about throwing it out. read more

Comforting and delicious classic Chinese food. Always fresh, fast delivery and never misses! My go to place for hot and sour soup, vegetable wonton soup, vegetable fried rice, and the BEST fried honey walnut tofu! My parter loves the crab cheese wonton puffs too. Also they are so sweet for remembering us when we call in orders. Thank you Big Lantern fam! read more

Okay. Ready? Here we go.... Picture it. Easter Sunday out with friends after a long day in the sun at Dolores Park for Hunky Jesus. One out of the 3 friends speaks English fluently. Two pay him with an app I don't have so he can pay for them. Since I don't have said app, I figured out how much I'd owe plus *much* more for my part. I owed $16.45 without tip, but asked the waitress to put $27.00 on my card & the rest on his. She charged me $27.00 & when she saw me put a slash through the "tip" line, she freaked out and told me she hadn't charged the amount yet, so I could still add my tip. She remembered the meal & a Diet Coke & added it up. I essentially had paid her $10 for tax AND tip. She proceeds to tell my friend how much the rest of the bill is (& she knows he doesn't speak English at this point) & actually TELLS him the amount of tip to add on the tip line. (WTF?!?) I stop him, because he just signed the check & left it blank - trusting her to do the honest thing. Wrong business for that choice!! She starts to argue with me & tells me that the amount she gave him was 20% of the total bill. I asked my friend to have a seat. First off, lady.....you don't tell me WHAT percentage to leave. That's MY decision. And the fact you're arguing with me makes that drop a percentage point for every minute you want to argue. I had to explain that my amount was for tax & tip. His amount was for the remainder. We are NOT going to pay you double the tip - you cheating POS! She tells me, "Fine! Fine! I'll remember you!" Well, IDGAF cuz I'll never be back to your dark, & dirty restaurant, with dirty tablecloths. Maybe I should've taken another percentage point off for the fact that our table was the only one without soy sauce, & I ended having to go take it from an empty table. (Which btw, was an easy task - seeing that there were only like 10 other people in the restaurant.). The meals were staggered, but the fried rice came first. (Huh?!) So we all began eating fried rice, & then our meals separately because our food would've become cold had we waited for the entire table to be served. As mentioned, the tablecloths, although covered with glass, were still stained on the sides. My Salt & Pepper Prawns were 60% breading & were doughy. Secret given from my last review - the dish was the same. And it was still greasy & bland. Their food score from SF Health is a whopping 71 in 2019 & they've had TWO "conditional passes" since then. Yes...I mentioned that to my friends, but they still insisted. But the real reason I couldn't WAIT to go home and spend my Easter night writing a review on Yelp was this woman's ineptitude. Her trying to scam someone who she knew couldn't understand her. Trying to bully me by telling me she'll remember me. Repeatedly telling her customers to put 20% on a receipt that has "Gratitude Guidelines" with amounts 15%, 18% & 20% so people don't have to think or pull out their phones. *Telling* people to put an amount that's not on the receipt is not only stealing & greed, it says nothing about you having gratitude. Heed my warning & pay close attention. This is *not* the place to spend your money! Go somewhere where immigrants who don't speak English very well aren't taken advantage of. Go somewhere where the service truly DESERVES 20% instead of being TOLD you have to give it. To the woman who wanted to argue with me in front of your other customers: PLEASE remember me!! God forbid I ever step foot into your restaurant again by mistake - remind me how you treated my friend and me. And to your business partner who told me, "Next time you ask for separate bills & don't do this." Don't you worry yourself about that. There will never BE a next time! And I *hope* that the people behind me waiting to pay, remember it too. You *need* business to stay in business - & you just lost ours. read more

One of my go to's for late night Chinese munchies. I hold a very special place in my heart for this spot because of the insanely versatile menu, which accommodates vegetarian Chinese cravings as well as Dim Sum. I actually prefer the vegetarian versions of most dishes here even though I eat meat. The alternative they use is moist and flavorful, and in my opinion keeps the best for leftovers. Delivery (which I get directly from the restaurant when I call) is always within a reasonable time, the food is consistent and delicious also. I've never had a dish here I did not like, and have always received quick and friendly service. Love you Big Lantern! read more

General Tao is amazing. Don't get the pork buns or crab Rangoon-- no filling! Other dishes are great.

Just cause if you guys I'm thinking on go vegetarian. It's very important to know how to make good food like that although I can make the same thing at home.. It took a little longer than I expected to receive my pick up order but the food was good. So thank you wish you all the best in this crazy time. read more

Delicious food with TONS of vegetarian options to choose from. There's literally a whole page on just meatless items plus more on rice, noodles, soups, salads and of course desserts. I tried the meatless fish mandarin style with brown rice. It was delicious, just needed to acquire a taste to the fake fish taste. There was eggplant and basil in the dish so it reminded me a little of Thai food without the MSG. I'm allergic to that stuff so I don't do thai no mo' read more

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Wow. I had no idea that food could have absolutely zero flavor. How does this even happen? It has the same color as normal Chinese food, but tastes like paste. The raw ingredients taste better than this. If you mixed flour and water together it would have more flavors than these 3 dishes. All of them taste the same. Is there an ingredient that makes food taste like nothing? I'd so this chef uses nothing but that. I wish I was exaggerating but now I know what it tastes like to eat solidified air. *Edit- I just took a sip of White Claw and it has more flavor than this food. That's sad. read more

Food tends to be too salty. Had a terrible delivery experience recently. I think I'm done with Big Lantern EXCEPT for the chili wontons. Those are consistently VERy good. read more

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Amazing food, was hard to choose, because has many vegan options. Everybody is so nice, super friendly. Thank you read more

My wife and I lived in St. Louis for almost 11 years and had a pretty hard time finding acceptable dim sum Chinese restaurants there. We are so happy to be back in San Francisco where there are lots of them. We love the ones most with the carts, but that is a bit hard to find just now. We are so lucky to be living near Big Lantern which has phenomenal dim sum right close to home. Their menu is reasonably large and incredibly well executed. I particularly love their baked pork buns, turnip cakes, and beef balls. They are available all day every day they are open. My wife loves the steamed pork buns, Har Gou shrimp dumplings and the custard tarts in particular. Their soups are a very generous portion and include hot and sour, Westlake Beef, and egg drop. There maya be a few others as wlel. Don't want dim sum? No worries. They have an extensive menu of standard dishes. I love the chow fun in particular. Interestinglly, they have a wide variety of "vegetarian chicken" dishes. I've not tried them but will do so one of these days soon. The staff here are excellent. They're slightly brusk but still friendly and do a great job. I come here often and can recommend Big Lantern without reservation. read more

Big Lantern is our Chinese take-out place of choice! It's somewhat pricey, but they don't skimp on the meat and veggies. So, it's Chinese comfort food but not cheap Chinese. We usually get: * Chicken corn soup -- it's like egg drop soup, but with chicken and corn, which makes it so much better! It's our comfort food. mmmm.... * Potstickers -- another comfort food item. The dough is not thin, but not too thick and it's got a nice meat filling * Siu Mai -- tasty. Not elevated like Yank Sing, but it hits the spot * Chicken Moo Shoo -- it's got protein, cabbage, and eggs all stir fried into a yummy goodness * Chicken Chow Mein -- the hubs has a weakness for chow mein, and I will also admit that this is one of the better chow meins we've had. Delivery is usually within an hour, though if you're ordering on a Friday or Saturday night, it's best to order ahead because there were a few times when it took longer than an hour. read more

I love this place. Will be back again. Why are people complaining about their food when they didn't even pick it up and just have it delivered? Alot of things can happen to your food especially if you are expecting it to be delivered ASAP as soon as you order it. Heck even you picked up your food and you brought it home yourself, stuff could happen to it as well. The restaurants goal is to get the food prepared and they have no control how it is delivered, whether it is cold or whatever your issue is. Some people are ridiculous. read more

I want to love this place because of all the meatless options they have. However, after ordering delivery from here several times, I can only say that it is hit or miss. The quality of the food has not always been great, and the delivery sometimes takes over an hour. I always order directly through the restaurant instead of an online delivery service. I have even had to wait 30 minutes just to pick up takeout from here. They seem to get very confused about their orders somehow. Yesterday I ordered food from Big Lantern directly through their website for delivery at lunch time. I then waited an hour for delivery, but when I called the restaurant they said "sorry, we never got your order." Since I couldn't wait another 45 minutes, the whole thing was a huge bummer and waste of time. read more

I ordered and was charged 70 bucks for three entries and am app and paid through the website which they use in menu. Charged and received my receipt, droid was delivered an hour an 20 later, which was fine, it's a holiday. After dropping off my food, I get a phone call saying i didn't pay. I told them I hav and could show the receipt for it. 20 minutes after I received my food, I was getting a phone call and the driver back at my door demanding cash. They told me I had to either give them money or they would continue to contact me, including the driver at the door to stay until they got payment. I showed the driver the paid receipt and he was on the phone with the owner telling him it was his job to get payment. The drive confirmed my payment and the owner told him to tell me to take it up with the company they use. Really jacked up experience and will never order from them or eat there again read more

Yuuum. If you're looking for some vegan/vegetarian Chinese food, and have been feeling a little burnt out on Golden Era or Loving Hut, Big Lantern is a great alternative. Conveniently located on 16th between Valencia and Guerrero, Big Lantern's prices and food portions are actually quite generous considering. Both times I've been I got the five spicy mock chicken. On a huge plate is a pile of the chicken and delicious broccoli. For a spicy dish, it could be a little bit spicier but that's how I always feel. Last time I was there, I also tried the sesame mock chicken, which is basically the same thing in a different sauce. I'll probably be ordering that next time. There's a ton of dim sum options here too, but I haven't tried any yet. With all the food on the regular vegetarian menu, it might take me a while to venture to the dim sum. Definitely wanna check this place out again soon. read more

Well with all that's going in the wield today it's great to know that some things can still bring me joy! I ordered for myself and my Sunday team meatless chicken dumplings, vegetarian pot stickers and prawn chow fun. Everything was perfect!!!! read more

My family and I ordered take out last night to celebrate Chinese New Year and received our food earlier than expected...yay! The delivery guy was super nice even though he had to walk up a whole bunch of stairs to get to me. When we opened our order everything looked so fresh and tasted even better, which has not always been the case, we loved the food. The only problem was with my order, I ordered the mango prawn salad and there were no prawns I called the restaurant in the morning because at the time I was just hungry and figured they'd be super busy on a Friday night. I talked to Evan this morning and he said I can have a free order the next time I come in. Even if I don't take him up on that offer, I still appreciate his genuine thoughtfulness. Well done Big Lantern! read more

The salt and pepper pork chops were delicious! I ordered take out and they came crispy and really well seasoned. Wish there was slightly more meat included but it was very tasty! read more

Big Lantern - Salt and Pepper Pork Chop - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

I did dine-in on a rainy day and had the orange chicken ... Warm food and undeniably tasty! I was recommended to this place by a friend but after visiting would highly recommend as well. read more

My favorite pan fried chow mien in the world. The plethora of vegetables are fresh and crunchy. The noodles a perfect ratio of crispy and soft. And huge portions. Try the persimmon tea. It's delicious. read more

What can I say...it was late. Not many options to choose from. I was feeling like Chinese food and by process of elimination...there I was... Ordered sweet & sour pork and chicken lo mein Aldo ordered a Thai iced tea. When I picked up order, no drink in bag. When I returned for drink, lady had to check my bag and then check the order and finally gave me a canned drink...fine. I ate the sweet & sour pork and had horrible indigestion all night and into the next day. I ordered the lo mein because it's one of my favorite Chinese dishes. I don't see it on menus in SF, so when I saw it I got all excited. In my car - thought it smelled a little funny. I wasn't in the mood for disappointment and had enough to eat, so didn't even look at it. My friend called to say he was stopping by but needed to get something to eat - I offered him my untouched lo mein, so he could come right over! When he opened the container, both of us stood there just looking at it. He asked me, "What is this?", "Why did you order this?", "Have you ever ordered from this restaurant before?" "Why does it smell like that?" "Is it supposed to taste like this?" "Do you want some?" "You ordered something else and didn't save some for me?" "Are you trying to kill?"...and so on... I don't recommend. Sorry for the long winded story! read more

Over priced with small portions. There are other restaurants that can provide decent portions for the same price in the area

I ordered salt pepper fish, chicken chow main, steam rice and a fried flounder during the pandemic. I waited 25 minutes for the order, the expeditor gave me the order and said is allready, when I checked the order I was missing the flounder. The expeditor acted surprised and said ohhhh, and went back to the kitchen. The lady food expeditor finally came back and said it was going to take 10 minutes. After 10 minutes I asked the cashier (young lady that was texting all through out the length of this terrible experience without a care of what's going on around her) for a credit on the fish because the fish wasn't ready on time. It was more important for her not to "take a loss" then to have the driver bring what I ordered. not happy- if you make the mistake you own it and do what's right for the consumer even if you have to take a loss. read more

Do not order from this place. They did not call to let us know that 30% of the items we ordered would not be sent to us, and we'd have to figure out what was missing and then argue just to have the bill corrected. Additionally, we ordered mu shu pork and they literally gave us some tortillas. I should have read the other reviews here, with poor quality food and bugs in the dishes, this is one of the worst restaurants in the city. They will likely go out of business soon. Do not risk your health or money by ordering from them. read more

Big Lantern - Tortillas instead of mu shu pancakes!? - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

Don't order delivery from Big Lantern. 6:06pm order placed 7:10pm confirmed delivery time 7:20pm restaurant says the order has left and is out for delivery 7:50pm restaurant claims my order has been delivered 2 hours later I am starving and still have no food. FAIL read more

Oh em gee!!! Ok so... every Chinese restaurant has orange chicken right? But just imagine it without all that unnecessary batter coated all around it. I am so glad i ordered it. It's so damn good. It doesn't make you feel bad for indulging. Their orange chicken will stand out at a blind taste test. Customer service was super great also. Knowing mission street... I had to double park so when doing take out... plan wisely. Other than that... 5 stars. read more

Great choice if you're on a budget. Absolutely huge portions for the lunch specials. I got the Beef Broccoli ($12) and the Mapo Tofu ($11). Both were enormous but honestly not that tasty. Seems like it's more of a quantity play than a quality one. read more

I ordered from here via Grubhub. They missed an entree. They never delivered it. And when I called them to inquire, they never apologized. Chinese lady kept screaming at me. And told me to get a refund from Grubhub. She insisted that the packer had included the dish. Obvy not included. Horrible customer service. I wish this place closes down soon. We don't need people like this. If you have a choice, choose another. read more

Certain food items are wonderful all times. Sometimes they are not good. They need to work on special requests.

Excellent food reasonably priced. We have gone there 4 or 5 times in the last year and never disappointed