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Bow Hon Restaurant

3.1 (258 reviews)
ModerateChinese
Open 11:00 am - 3:00 pm, 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM

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BOW HON RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Classy
Moderate noise
Outdoor seating
Good for kids

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Recommended Reviews - Bow Hon Restaurant

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Special Order - Fish Salad - This is usually a delicacy only for Chinese New Year. Call them several days in advance to order it.
Aaa T.

This restaurant has been a Chinatown gem for decades. Simple food in a cozy, clean environment with very friendly and attentive service. Please support this wonderful San Francisco Chinatown local restaurant. After your meal, you can walk up approx 1.5 blocks away to Ross Alley to buy Golden Gate Fortune Cookies where you can see them make the fresh cookies if you're lucky! :0) As a child, our family often ordered the very special gourmet Fish Salad for Chinese New Year lunch among many additional orders. Despite it not even being close to Lunar New Year, it was a nostalgic delight to order this special dish several days in advance and eat it for dinner the other night. We also ordered Lotus Root Siu-Chow in advance as I don't think this is normally on the menu either. From the menu, we added on eggplant with mushrooms, seafood tofu soup and seafood clay pot. From the items we ordered, their dishes seemed to be on the very low salt and spice levels, you can add spices as you see fit. Thank you for the wonderful dinner and very friendly, attentive service. We look forward to trying more of your Clay pot items next visit.

This spot was really surprising. It was clean, cozy, and the food was killer. I thought the service was good. I was the only customer in there and I was confused why, because the food was affordable (Dinner for 1 was $20ish for soup, spring roll, and two entrees), and the ingredients were really fresh. I will be going back for sure.

Genera Cho's chicken
Irene Y.

Excellent service from Tanya. General Cho's chicken freshly cooked, crispy, drenched in the tastiest sauce! Wonton soup only $8.95 mild yet delicious broth! Restaurant is very clean and bright!

Beef noodle soup
Jolens V.

This is a really good restaurant, I use to come here all the time when I was working in the financial district. The lunch specials were great. My favorite is the oysters and pork claypot. It is always busy here and sometimes we eat in the upstairs dining area. It reminds me of the restaurants in Hong Kong and Manila.

veronicaa _.

This place is awesome! Food feels authentic and scrumptious! The place is nice and clean, and the people are sweet. Wish my hometown had this food, but that just means I will be coming back! 10/10

Sunil R.

We went here since the restaurant I wanted to take my friends to next door was closed. Big mistake. It is grungy, the service was brusque and the food was bleh. Won't make that mistake again.

Closed as of 10/17/23.  Unknown whether temporary or permanent.
Mike C.

It's been a really long time since I've dined here in person, guessing thirty plus years. Before a number of neighborhood spots in the avenues opened that specializing in clay pot rice, this was my family's go-to for that. We used to come here weekends or weeknights after school in my grade school years. It was mainly traditional Cantonese cuisine with their signature menu dishes being ones made in a brown ceramic clay pot. Over the years, their reputationcontinues for those and especially their clay pot rice. Shorty before March 2020, I noticed that a familiar waitress who worked at another restaurant around the corner from workplace. Having walked by a few times in November, the building had scaffolding and the businesses were closed during that time. On the Tuesday after Christmas on a misty late morning, I walked in. I was the only customer and chose a table on the right. After a quick study of the menu, I ordered the rice noodle with beef soy sauce (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=6oVl5-voVHF4Pzn2hbUWHw&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q); on other menus it would be listed as beef chow fun, dry style or, in Cantonese phonetically, gon chow ngow ho (sorry, not familiar with using the Chinese character settings). The ingredients are basic with the beef, the wide flat noodles, bean sprouts, and onions. They did this very well as the smoky wok flavor (wok hei) made this dish shine. I tend to enjoy my foods on the spicy side so I added a large dollop of red chili sauce to pair with each bite. As I alternated between bites of this plain and with chili sauce, I learned that the plain was my favorite, better to enjoy that smoky flavor. About halfway through the meal, it started raining and a young couple with a dog wanted to dine here. The waitress kindly asked whether I minded the additional fur guest and I said no. As I packed up to leave, I glanced at the dishes on their table and noticed they ordered the same noodle dish that I did. The waitress was kind and helpful in telling me to let the teabag seep before drinking and offering refills. Sadly, I learned the familiar waitress happened to be off that day. In studying the other parts of the menu, I noticed the clay pot rice is still available. I asked her and confirmed that there are still two sizes for this though the menu only lists one price. Being a workday, I knew time wouldn't allow me to have this. Will hopefully return with friends on non-work hours or order to take home next time.

Denise C.

Farewell to Yelp..There was a group meeting to have dinner at Bow Hon in Chinatown..there was a night market event..we ate a full meal and it was for old time's sake..thank u..if you could eat this meal every day...why not? fried rice veggies walnut shrimp...old traditions don't fade out

Clay pot

Very nice people, the service was amazing. Not sure who the chef was but he greeted our table and asked how the food was. Amazing authentic food. Would recommend to anyone visiting SF!

Banquet room upstairs
Jonathan L.

I've never noticed this restaurant but my cousin had her wedding rehearsal banquet dinner here and I liked it a lot! There's a hidden banquet room upstairs which has about 5 tables upstairs. We had an 8 course meal which included: 1. Roasted chicken: Felt like this was a bit dry and needed garlic sauce or something. I didn't really like it but it also wasn't terrible. 2. Sweet and sour pork: Sauce was delicious and perfectly fried but there were a lot of piece that were straight up fat and had no actual meal. 3. Honey Glazed shrimp: Perfectly cooked and awesome sauce. Maybe I haven't had Chinese banquet style food in a while but the portion size seems a bit small for banquet style. 4. Roast Duck: The sauce was the best part of the dish. I actually poured the sauce over white rice and it was SOOOO good. The duck itself was also pretty good! I wish it had the buns and hoisin sauce though! It would have been perfect. 5. Mixed Chow Mein: Pretty good! Perfectly cooked noodles and very filling. 6. Gai Lan: Perfectly cooked and not to salty or soggy. 7. String beans: Loved the crunchy beans. Again perfectly cooked and seasoned. Beed was also good and tender! 8. Fruit desert: Such a creative way to present fruits! The grapes were also insanely sweet! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall, service was great and efficient! They brought out each dish very quickly all within 10-15 mins of each other. Did a great job combining plates and making room.

Orange Chicken
Jim D.

I dined here for dinner during the Chinese new year festivities. The place has nice decor. I ordered orange chicken. It came hot and crispy. Flavors were delicious. Thank you, Maggie for the warm hospitality.

General Tso, Ong Choy, clay pot toppings

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1 month ago

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1 year ago

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1 month ago

Great food and excellent customer service! We really enjoyed our meal here and will definitely be coming back when we are in the city.

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5 months ago

The service was perfect. The Chinese food was super fresh and delicious. The kitchen is very clean.

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3 years ago

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3 years ago

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5 years ago

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1 year ago

Really good food! Quick service! Exactly what I needed. Stop by and try it. Thank you

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2 years ago

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1 year ago

Great Fish Salad and Clay pot dishes !! Service is great and Resturant is clean. We will come back

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7 years ago

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2 years ago

Food was really good, authentic chinese restaurant in middle of San Francisco's China town.

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Four Kings 四大天王

Four Kings 四大天王

4.2
(457 reviews)
0.1 mi
$$$

I saw online that this place is one of the most sought after reservations on Open Table. I tried my…read moreluck at getting a reservation and was pleasantly surprised when I was able to get a reservation! Reservations open 3 weeks in advanced at noon. Walk ins are also welcome. One note is that parking can be a bit challenging so get there a bit early. The inside is lively and filled me with so much nostalgia with the decor. The staff is really attentive and friendly. I also appreciate the free peanuts and cucumber salad that you get when you're seated. My boyfriend and I ordered a lot of food because we wanted to try so many things! The lamb skewer was super moist and had a nice flavor. The XO escargot with milkbread had a nice buttery, garlic taste. The milk bread was fluffy and when dipped in the sauce it tasted very rich. We also got the clay pot rice and it reminded me of when I had it in China. The rice was crispy at the bottom and well seasoned. My favorite dish of the night was the squab. It was cooked excellently and the skin was really crispy. The five spice powder on the side really brought out the flavor of the meat. The eggplant was cooked well and portion was good but it didn't stand out as much as the other dishes. Overall, I would visit this place again. It definitely lives up to the hype. The squab and and clay pot rice were the stand outs to me but all the other food was really tasty as well.

I saw a random 9:15pm reservation for 2 available, so I snagged it, excited for this very hyped…read morerestaurant. Was it worth it? Honestly, I think I have to readjust my expectations for the SF food scene. If there were no wait/reservation, I would think of this as a very solid restaurant (hence the 4 stars). The beef chow fun is on par with ones I'd get in NYC Chinatown, and was actually not very overpriced. Our server was very sweet but only recommended things that my friend did not love (seafood/spicy food). I was excited for the spicy cabbage, hoping it'd be comparable to the addictive spicy cabbage at Uluh (NYC). I was disappointed. The popcorn chicken was a bit dry; I would not get it again. The mapo spaghetti had heat, but not much flavor, and it was okay for me - worth getting because it sounded intriguing, but fell short of my expectations, especially since I've made mapo udon, mapo ramen, and mapo pie at home that were better. The escargots with milk bread was definitely my favorite; sourcing escargot alone is a plus and it was very well-executed. The milk bread was fantastic, pillowy and soft. Our server was very nice and offered to move us to the cute window seats after we were already seated at the counter, which I really appreciated. However, would I spend energy trying to get a reservation here or waiting in line? Absolutely not. It makes me sad to think that this is the pinnacle of Cantonese food in this city full of Cantonese people, but I guess it makes me extra appreciate food in NYC.

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View of kitchen
View of kitchen
Sichuan cabbage
Sichuan cabbage
Fish fragrant eggplant

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Fish fragrant eggplant
Harborview Restaurant & Bar

Harborview Restaurant & Bar

4.1
(1.9k reviews)
0.6 mi
$$
Outdoor seating
Happy hour specials

Harborview serves premium food and their dim sum are seemed to order; always fresh and super tasty…read more I've been here numerous times for yum cha (dim sum bunch) before, and trying their HH (Happy Hour) for the first time today.. and it was just simply excellent!!! The quality dim sum that we've come to expect.. plus two delightful bonuses: Excellent Margarita and their OMG - so Tasty and Addicting Tofu Fries!! YUM yim yummmmy!! Service is excellent and their wait staff checked on us every now and then, and everyone is always friendly and helpful. Nicely located in EC4; the restaurants is always super clean and comfy for hanging out. Their balcony seating also very nice, weather permitting. Bonus: they also validate parking, at (I think ) $6 off your parking rate at the Embarcadero's. Great good + Great service! Recommended!!!

I'm posting this review a little later, but this experience happened during a visit about a month…read moreago and it has stayed with me. One thing that stood out was the restaurant's mandatory 18% gratuity, which is automatically added to every bill. While I understand and respect service charges, I also believe they should come with a reasonable standard of service. During our meal, we politely asked our waitress, Lily, if she could please bring us some soy sauce whenever she had a moment. In response, she audibly sighed, turned her head, and rolled her eyes, which felt unnecessarily rude and unprofessional. Throughout the rest of the meal, whenever we thanked her for bringing our dim sum, she didn't acknowledge us, and simple requests like refilling our water were ignored while she happily chatted with other coworkers and the table immediately next to us (which appeared to be people she knew outside of work). The rest of the staff seemed normal-friendly, which made this interaction stand out even more. Had the gratuity been optional, I would have tipped based on the service we received. Because it was mandatory, paying an 18% service charge for an experience that lacked basic courtesy and attentiveness felt particularly unfair and disappointing. This was my second visit here, but it seems bad service is not uncommon based on other yelp reviews.

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Black Sesame Mochi with Grated Peanut
Black Sesame Mochi with Grated Peanut
Enjoy dining or Happy Hour on our spacious patio!
Enjoy dining or Happy Hour on our spacious patio!
Baked Coffee Lava Buns with Crunchy Sugar Crust

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Baked Coffee Lava Buns with Crunchy Sugar Crust

Bow Hon Restaurant - chinese - Updated July 2026

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