4.5 stars rounded up. The simple & humble dish of chicken, rice, & sauce can be found in most cuisines; Hainan chicken happens to be one of the variations I most enjoy. I can't stop thinking about the ginger onion sauce from Gai Chicken Rice; it went beautifully with the skinless poached chicken breast used in the Lean Gai. I absolutely love that this is even an option on the menu, as dark meat is generally the foodie favorite. I wasn't certain I would, but I liked the crispy version, which uses thigh meat, in equal measure. For this dish, I chose sweet chili sauce which traditionally pairs well with fried Asian foods. Gai expertly executes the trifecta of incredibly moist & flavorful chicken, rice luxuriously cooked in chicken stock, & piquant sauces. Pickled cucumber complements the richness with freshness & acidity. The only thing that could make this lunch more perfect is if I were eating it in a Southeast Asian country instead of my own backyard. Sidenote: my bf wasn't too keen on the Thai Sweet Chili Wings so we'll try Five Spice Wings next time. read more

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A solid okay chicken over rice. Tender and nice cooked but lacking in flavor and quite bland; it lacks that characteristic depth of flavor typical with the simple Hainanese chicken. The sauce helps but there's not enough of it. The chicken wings were pretty good albeit a bit too greasy. Not bad, but not exceptional either. read more

The Chicken had small feathers in it still . The Meat Was really tender. The ginger sauce was delicious. The service was ok. The place was simply decorated. There were garbage bins next to my table that was not covered. read more

Gai Chicken Rice - Outside - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

For Hainan chicken this hits the spot. I wish the rice was slightly less clumpy and more fine but the chicken, sauces and broth are delicious. Simple table set up indoors with two tables for four people and then bar seating or only two person seating. Many solo diners here. They give you all your meals in a to go box. Quick and no frills service. I did not have to physically interact with anyone when I went (up to you whether you like that or not). You order at a kiosk and pick up your order at a table. read more

Gai Chicken Rice - The Original Gai - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

I personally wasn't impressed with the price and quality of the food. I understand when ordering via Uber eats it may be more expensive but I don't think that should apply when I order for pick up. Everything was about $2 extra so I ended up paying $21 for a chicken bowl. I ordered the fried chicken with half brown rice half salad with sweet chili sauce . I ended up not feeling well after I ate most of the bowl. I wouldn't come back here considering the price of getting a simple chicken bowl. Service was kind and the place was clean. There's tables and stool chairs for seating and dining in. read more

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Solid chicken and rice: Not the most flavorful I've had but I like that there's an option for this in the Castro, and this storefront is cozier than the one on Market. read more

Gai Chicken Rice - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

3.5 STARS Date: Tuesday, April 1st, 2025 Part of: 2 Meal: Dinner Delivery Time Ordered: around 7:30pm Delivered: around 8:15pm Ordered via: DoorDash Delivered to: Outer Richmond *The Original Gai ($18.50) - Chicken Rice, Sweet Chili Sauce, Extra Hoi An Sauce *The Mixed Gai ($19.50) - Chicken Rice, Hainan Ginger Onion Sauce, Extra Thai Soy Sauce *Thai Basil Gai ($17) - Chicken Rice *Crispy 5 Spice Wings ($14) I adore poached chicken. Growing up, I looked forward to when my mom would occasionally make one for some random meal at home. When the hubs mentioned getting chicken and rice for dinner, I was down. It was between this and another spot. I'd never tried chicken (gai translated) chicken rice, so I thought, why not?! If they have chicken twice in their name, it must be good! I should have read the descriptions since I actually like breast more than thigh. Would have just gotten one reg and one with breast only. The chicken was moist, smooth, and silky. Just the way I like it. The standard sauces (at least to me) were my fav - ginger onion and soy. I grew up eating poached chicken with a ginger and scallion oil, so this was comforting. I don't typically eat the rice, but looking at it, it seemed mushy. Tried a bit and it was rather light in chicken flavor. I found the soup very bland as well. Good chicken and sauce. Maybe the rice was off that day. Would give them another shot if I was craving chicken rice. REVIEW #3750 read more

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Ordered The Original Gai delivered. The chicken itself was actually tasteless to my disappointment, but the sauce makes up for it. The chicken rice is flavorful which I appreciate, but I do wish that the chicken has more flavor to it so I can enjoy it without having to dip each bite into the sauce. I usually love Hainanese Chicken, which is one of my go-to comfort food and I've always love them without the sauce (or at least not having to douse the chicken with sauce to enjoy). Overall I would probably reorder but perhaps not as frequently. read more

Got takeout dinner from here since I was in the area. Ordered the original gai (all dark meat) with the Hainan sauce and chicken rice plus added on poached egg and free habanero hot sauce. Entree came with cucumbers and soup. Man the entree really hit the spot. It tasted a lot better than I remember from a previous visit years ago. Perfect for the rainy day and also felt healthy. I dumped the Hainan sauce on the chicken and the rice and gobbled it right up. Very happy I got the poached egg too. The chicken was tender and quite flavorful with the sauce. I don't normally eat a ton of rice, just what seems appropriate as a base for my dish, but the chicken rice tasted great too even without the chicken and just mixed with the egg. The soup tasted comforting and clean. Also got the Thai mango milk and the mango coconut jelly. I was a little unsure about the Thai mango milk especially when I had trouble mixing the mango puree with the milk and worried it would be too sweet at the bottom but it worked out just fine. I'd get that beverage again. The mango coconut jelly was decent. It was nice to have since I was craving a post-dinner dessert but not a must order. Wish I had remembered to take pics. One thing I also want to mention is right after I ordered online through the website and got the confirmation text, I realized the order page must have refreshed since I went back to it and chose the Market St location instead of the 16th St one. I frantically called the Market St location to explain the mistake and cancel my order and planned to reorder at the correct location and the person I spoke to said instead of canceling, they could just text a pic of my order to 16th St. That was convenient and worked out perfectly. I appreciated it! read more

1/5 stars I've been here multiple times, but this last visit will be my last. I ordered through the kiosk and specifically requested utensils. The receipt stapled to my bag clearly showed "utensils requested." I walked about 15 minutes away to enjoy my lunch in the sun, opened everything up, and no utensils. So I had to make the 30-minute round trip back to the restaurant just to get what should have been in my bag in the first place. When I got there and explained the situation, the employee didn't apologize or even acknowledge the mistake. Instead, they just looked at me and said "OK?" like I was bothering them. No "sorry about that," nothing. It's one thing to forget something. Mistakes happen. But when a customer has to waste their time walking all the way back because of YOUR error, the bare minimum is an apology. The complete lack of accountability or basic customer service is unacceptable. Save yourself the hassle and go somewhere else. read more

Ordered from here recently. I wanted something light and healthy with protein. I ordered the chicken salad. It was excellent. Exactly what I wanted. The chicken was perfectly cooked and the salad was light and tasty, yet fully satisfying. Simple ingredients in the right measure made it perfect for me. I got this delivered and it was all packed separately and easy to assemble. So I've never been inside the location. So I can't speak to the ambience of the restaurant. But I'd happily order from here again. read more

I ate here on Friday afternoon, as I work nearby and was looking for a healthy and affordable lunch. I ordered the Lean Gai, with their Thai soy sauce, and a Vietnamese iced coffee. I was super excited as well as their lunch special made my plate $12! Super good deal! Honestly the flavors this meal had were really really good. Staff was very friendly! The vibes to this place were good too, as they have outdoor and indoor seating. The reason for the two star review is because this place gave me food poisoning. I pin pointed that this was what I ate that caused my upset stomach as it was the only thing I had eaten all day on Friday and by the evening I had begun experiencing symptoms. I don't plan on coming here again for their food, but I will return for that Vietnamese iced coffee. read more

Gai Chicken Rice - The Lean Gai, Vietnamese Ice Coffee - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

I tried Gai chicken without knowing how far away that they are from my house. I had been a fan of Rooster & Rice at Stonestown but decided to try Gai for comparison. I always order "extra" at rooster, so I could split into two meals. Did the same here. Both of their rice and thigh meat are broth and well marinated. Decent for what is worthy but for some reason I felt that they were on the pricy side, even ginger scallion is on a la carte with extra cost. I sometimes got my fixes from Chilli Garden on Weee! for $3.99 for just 1/8 of the chicken but I got my fixes. There is a discount deal going on with but still... I think they really should focus on portion sizes and managing their SF expense to up their competition than trying to bribe into glory. Not bad overall, but it did not really impress me either. I like their Vietnamese & Thai Drinks, those are not available at Rooster which put them at a advantage over Rooster when a patron also craves specialty drinks! read more

Gai Chicken Rice - Extra thigh Gai - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Chuckle. Uber Eats just gave users their year-end video with stats and stuff. Over 2025, I ordered Gai Chicken Rice 76 times :-P. If that's not a testament to their quality and consistency, I don't know what is. It's extremely difficult to be spot-on 100% of the time. read more

Was super excited for this but it was as good as I expected to be honest. Not bad but I've had similar better ones. The chicken tasted good and the rice was good but the soup was pretty salty and the sauces weren't as good as I've had at similar places. read more

Gai Chicken Rice - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

My friend was visiting from out of town. We met up and hung out in the Dolores park area. My friend wanted to come here for lunch. I had something similar the weekend before so I opted for the soup noodles. It was a bit bland although there's a lot of chicken. My friend really enjoyed her Hainan chicken with the ginger sauce. Decor is an open kitchen concept so you can see the workers prepping. You order at the counter and they bring you the food. No frills tables and chairs. A bit of a mess. I had to clean up our table. Their one unisex bathroom is gross and the toilet overflowed. Self serve water station. read more

Gai Chicken Rice - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

First, and most importantly, this is not a clean restaurant, at least in the dining areas and bathroom. Second, the crispy gai was all dark meat, the kind that is multiple small pieces compressed into a larger piece, like a slab of particle board. The fry coating was spackled onto this chicken, possibly as structural support, and deep-fried to the consistency of rocks. You'll get a piece of cucumber the size of your thumb and some rice that's been in the steamer for a good long time. Everything very salty. read more

Fast casual Hainan chicken rice - who knew it could be found tucked in the outskirts of the Mission? I got the mixed breast/thigh chicken rice with Hunan ginger sauce (how could I get anything else). The chicken was tender and juicy (although I wish there was some dark meat to add some extra flavor) and the sauce was quite fragrant. Loved the lil soup cup on the side; the meal was comforting for sure. read more

Gai Chicken Rice - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

for someone who likes to make hainanese chicken at home, and is very particular about it, this place does it just as justice and makes the price paying worth. the quality of the chicken is clean and the rice portion is generous. i also got the chicken noodle soup, and that hit the spot too. i love how the original chicken rice comes with many base options like white rice, brown rice, and/or salad. love the healthy options and eating it felt healthy too! i liked their ginger scallion sauce and also the sweet chili sauce to dip my chicken with. the chicken platter also comes with some cucumbers and shredded cabbage on the side. the food came out very quickly as well. there is some indoor seating and the workers are right at the front assembling to-go orders. the inside is small but it does have a restroom so yay! the water is self-serve and also the food is self-order at the kiosk. read more

Great food. Quick service. Can't go wrong with the Original Gai with the Hainan sauce. read more

Gai Chicken Rice - Updated menu as of 12/2025. - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

We've eaten alot of chicken rice. GAI on 16th St is Excellent! Delicious chicken and ginger rice! The rice noodle soup is DELICIOUS! read more

Gai Chicken Rice - Chicken soup noodles - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Food - ordered the original gai. came on a weekend afternoon and it wasn't too packed. chicken was super tender! cucumbers were slightly pickled, refreshing and delicious. rice was good and the sauce was tasty. Not too salty like other places. While the food was good, the drinks were not! my friend ordered the thai tea and said there was barely any tea flavor. I ordered the thai mango milk and it was disappointing. it tasted like artificial mango syrup and milk. do not recommend the drinks but the food is delish Service - really good. easy order and food came quick. Ambiance - cute little hole in the wall shop. not a ton of seating. read more

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Great place to grab a quick bite. Delicious!!! Service is normal if is busy be patient. Nice indoor seating and very small outdoor/street seating is available. read more

Stopped here for lunch! It's walkable if you work in the Mission Dolores area! Wasn't too busy. I didn't dine in, but it was definitely cozy while I was waiting for my order. Missing a star because I used the kiosk and placed my order, but apparently my order never made it to the kitchen, so I waited a little longer for my order (which sucks if you are taking a lunch). For hainanese chicken and rice, this places so so tasty. I was surprised at how flavorful everything was and it just tasted fresh! read more

Gai Chicken Rice - Pro - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

Came here after the gym to try it out. I got the original gai. It was extremely good I just wish the portions were larger. The service itself was very quick and good. It's a nice little shop right off market. Definitely would check it out if in the area. read more

Gai Chicken Rice - The Original Gai - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

This is a great place for a tasty, healthy, and affordable meal. This spot is definitely a takeout friendly spot, although I most recently dined in. I got the original Gai with brown rice and Hainan sauce. It was delicious! The chicken was perfectly tender and flavorful, the cucumbers were refreshing and pickled with vinegar, and the brown rice was the right texture. My only complaint was that the complimentary broth that came with the meal was a bit too salty to finish. I'll be back to try the salad next time! read more

Gai Chicken Rice - The Original Gai with brown rice and Hainan sauce - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

So I meet Gai today on 16th and the experience was unique. I'm used to Uncle chopping up the chicken and bagging it up. The chicken was above average although I found it to be saltier than most authentic delis. The chicken rice was good and that salad better. Thankfully there is a option to order half rice and half salad which is a definite must try. The salad super simple yet fresh. Peanut allergy so let them know no peanuts. with the sauce provided it def elevated the entire meal. The sauce reminded me of Nước chấm (fish sauce) Americanized. Overall less salt and a 25 reduction would bump this review to 5 The menu and concept of this can be very contagious although the price is what really set me back the whole time from entering . Your prices waaaay to high you need to cut it read more

Gai Chicken Rice - Chicken with half rice half salad - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

We had this delivered for work lunch and the flavors are superb. I love Hainan chicken and theirs is soft and tender. We ordered extra broccoli and extra cucumber, both were well seasoned and flavorful. Large portion entree. read more

Splitted the steamed chicken and their fried chicken with my colleague. It was so good! Both so fast and flavorful. Chicken is moist & good. Love their ginger scallion sauce!! read more

Gai Chicken Rice - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

A quick review. My Gai (original) chicken was very tender, juicy and delicious. Thank you very much!

I've been on hunt for the best Haianese Chicken dish everywhere I go. This place was one of the top choices in the area so I decided to give it a try. I got the original chicken and got all the sauces they have available. The chicken was moist and had some flavor. The Thai and the citrusy sauces were good, but the ginger one was lacking flavor. I was hoping for more flavor from the chicken, the rice, and even the broth. All in all, it was a good dish, but def not the best. read more

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The staff was super friendly. The food was good. I got the crispy chicken plate. We didn't get to eat here but it was clean and quiet. read more

Gai Chicken Rice - The Crispy GAI - Thai Near Me - San Francisco, California

This was my first time here and I was not strongly disappointed nor impressed. I ordered the Original Gai with the Hainan sauce (ginger, green onions, and oil) and it came out almost as soon as we got seated. The chicken wasn't too dry and the rice was nicely flavored, but I thought the chicken to rice ratio was quite off - I finished all the chicken and still had more than half of the rice left. My friend ordered the Tofu Gai which was very underwhelming. It was essentially plain cubed tofu over a large bowl of brown rice ? I would have expected at least some sort of flavoring or seasoning on the tofu. Overall, service is very fast and the interior is clean. Would do the job if I happened to be in the area and needed some food, but I'm not sure if I would crave it and go out of my way to come here. read more

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Friendly local place, nice vibe. Delicious chicken and rice combos. Never feels crowded at the restaurant (at least when I go), but they do a brisk takeout business, too. read more

Chicken. Rice. Different styles. Really good. Mango drink and dessert. I'm just trying to get 85 characters so yelp will post it.

Came here with a party of 7, there is limited seating here, but we were able to pull up chairs to a smaller table which worked out! It's right near Dolores Park, and so its all street parking and can be a little difficult during the day. After ordering, all food came out almost immediately, What we ordered: Original Gai - $12.95 - nearly everybody ordered the original gai! The rice was flavorful and the chicken was moist. It came with only a few cucumbers. The Hainan onion ginger sauce was mostly oil and scallions. The ginger was chunky and honestly was not as ginger packed as I am used to for Hainan chicken. Tofu Gai - $12.95 - I understand that this is not a vegetarian friendly place, but if you are going to offer a vegetarian option that is the SAME PRICE as the chicken version, it should be decent. This was atrocious. My friend paid $13 for PLAIN cubed tofu over PLAIN brown rice? there wasn't even enough sauce to salvage it. Extra sauces are $1.50 each so it wasn't worth to consider getting another sauce. Honestly, its a solid Hainan chicken, but combined with the tofu dish, I wouldn't particularly recommend this place unless you are really craving for Hainan chicken. read more

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Typing this review after finishing my meal that consisted of the mixed gai + complimentary soup (chicken broth soup similar to a miso soup) + Thai iced coffee This place is top tier. Why? Can't go wrong with chicken and rice for a superb, elite, healthy, and flavorful meal! I got the special gai with heinan sauce. The mixed gai has a mix of lean dark and white chicken pieces. You pick a sauce of your choice. Of the three, I chose the heinan - chef's kiss. It' compliments the steamed chicken with a rich and flavorful of no taste but a lot of taste at the same time! Within the plate are pickled cucumbers that are good and give a different crunch factor complimenting the taste of the plate. To me, the hot sauce is the icing on the cake. It's like a sesame vinegar dressing with a kick. I'd drink it if I could. The hot sauce puts everything together! Second time in a week coming here. If there was one closer to me, I'd go. I live in south San Francisco and only go to the 16th street location in the city. Parking is hit or miss, but it's worth it. The food, worth it. The service, worth it (shoutout to johan. The experience, worth it! Recommended! Enjoy! read more

I'd never heard of this business until my friend saw them offering a menu on Neon about a month ago. She ordered something and enjoyed it a lot, suggesting that I give it a try when she reordered with them. I trusted her judgment and doubled up on an order of the Mala Dan Dan noodles (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=du0SaRwi3awOuAftzeag6A&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q); reheated it was a bit drier (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=aw39rZ_UHhYAmV09mF5GPQ&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) but the flavors were there. The small container of chicken broth likely from their namesake dish was a nice accompaniment. The portions of the topping, mainly well-seasoned minced meat, was generous and was enough for me to pair with some instant noodles for another meal. It was not overly salty and the Mala flavor was there. A week later, I ordered and tried The Original Gai (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=PJk31NFE4cWGJq2re8XdXg&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) which came packed very well as seen here. I do not like microwaving my food as I find that the textures and sometimes the flavors change from that method. I chose to steam each each item separately (chicken, rice, and soup) since the cook times for them vary. Here is what I feasted on when done (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=OgrwbW5xPe9ulF-YPxShdw&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q). The Original Gai consists of a mix of breast and dark meat pieces, a drumstick in my case. There are several good points to this plate as I give them kudos for deboning all of the chicken pieces, save one soft bone that I found on the drumstick top. The sauces were also excellent and apportioned well as I mainly used the ginger garlic oil mix for the chicken while pouring the soy sauce vinegar sauce mainly on the rice. The cucumber pieces gave it a nice change. I will probably haw their signature dish when my friend decides to order here again. It's probably best to dine in to appreciate it fresh made. *** Coincidentally, I happened to see a news clip about some one or persons vandalizing this biz. Please be vigilant in supporting local small businesses. read more

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Chicken was good, soup was good, even the pickled cucumber was good. Unfortunately, unbeknown to me, the brown rice was loaded with garlic and I got sick from it. I'm highly sensitive to garlic and go to great lengths to avoid it. I skipped the sauces for this exact reason but the rice caught me out because in other similar places it literally was just totally plain. The solution is very easy, just list the ingredients in each dish and people with sensitivities or allergies can simply avoid them. The description here "Brown Rice" implies just that. read more

The original Gai is my favorite here! Its a split of dark and light meat on top of rice with sauce on the side. The restaurant is small and has limited seating so i would recommend coming with a small group or ordering to-go! The chicken here is delicious and feels like a healthy meal! If you are looking for a satisfying simple meal i would check this place out! The food comes out pretty quickly so you dont have to wait long at all. read more