Really yummy clay pot rice! Sat right down, good seating and tables. Small but clean and comfortable. Owner was nice, took our order right away. Nothing fancy but good food. Cash only, so be prepared. read more

I was in Chinatown to partake in new year festivities- watching the line for red envelopes, getting candy thrown at me, going deaf from the hundreds of pounds of firecrackers assaulting the city- and came across this restaurant, open amid many shutters taking off for the holiday. As a heads up, the food was great but ambience interesting. I enjoyed the dark lighting, kitsch decorations, and blown out speakers blaring hard and classic rock from the ceiling, but know not everyone would. The store owner is running a one man crew and is attentive over his customers, as long as you are willing to fish for eye contact or call him over. Also note that the establishment is cash only. I ordered the beef chow fun, imperial spare ribs, and shu mai, as well as a glass of Hong Kong milk tea with boba. The chow fun was amazing: just the right amount of flavouring, clearly greasy and using a lot of salts but not tasting greasy or salty at all. Comfort Chinese food at its finest. I absolutely enjoyed this dish and will come for it again. 6/10. Imperial spare ribs were good, not too tough, having just enough bounce to satisfy the carnivorous urge to chew. It is lathered in a BBQ-type sticky sweet sauce that I liked but which can get a bit overwhelming in sweetness if you have too much in a short span of time. 4.5/10. The shu mai came as an order of four: huge, juicy, steaming, and tasty. A little expensive but good, and hits the craving for some archetypical shao mai. 5.3/10. The Hong Kong milk tea was exactly as I wanted, a nice cold, sweet drink in traditional style with hot tapioca pearls, likely freshly made, which I greatly appreciated. All portions were good, and sharing a few plates between a group is definitely the way to go. I split my order between a friend and myself and we had a small plate's worth of food left to go. It's a solid spot successfully serving traditional flavours that I'm glad I discovered and certainly will remember when hungry again. read more

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The MVP: Mr. Leong. He's the owner, host, chef, server, runner, busser, and cashier at J&M A-1 Café & Restaurant. He should be enjoying retirement but he's grinding 12-14+ hours a day, everyday since their opening in 2011. Open late night (while most CT restos are closed), this seems to be a tourist hot spot. As we were finishing up, the dark, divey 20 person dining room was packed and there was a wait outside on a weeknight. And, Mr. Leong was doing it ALL alone with a large menu of Cantonese, Chinese-American, and Dim Sum fare. Beast status. Unfortunately, that means most items are cooked ahead of time for efficiency. Ingredients weren't the freshest and the execution wasn't there. The dishes we tried were 1-2 stars. IMHO, if he wasn't such a friendly guy and if most customers weren't tourists, I don't think the ratings would be as high as they are. I had J&M A-1 bookmarked for their bo zai fan (claypot rice) which was a complete miss. Instead of making it from scratch, cooked rice is pulled from the rice cooker, topped with previously cooked meat, and heated in a claypot. Since it's not the proper way to make it, the meat juices didn't infuse into the rice resulting in a very bland dish. The rice crust was extremely burnt and acrid. The siu mai and chicken feet tasted like it was pulled from the freezer and re-steamed. If you're a local, I recommend sticking with simple stir-fry dishes (made-to-order) like the Beef Chow Fun. Thinner than usual rice noodles but with some wok hei with crisp green onions and bean sprouts. The beef was over-velveted so the texture and taste was off...BUT it does the job at 9 pm when most Chinatown restos are closed. Only off brand sriracha available, no chili oil or chili sauce. Some menu items have no prices so our bill was higher than anticipated. We asked for a glass of water but were given bottled water and charged ~$2.50. CASH ONLY (the sign isn't very visible). While the food is not my jam, props to Mr. Leong for holding it down 24/7! Hope he's able to enjoy retirement sooner than later. P.S. - Technically, there's no restroom for customers but if you ask nicely, he may let you use the one in the kitchen. There was no TP. read more

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My first experience today. Arrived shortly after 6pm and enjoyed dinner in a party of 4. Tonight was Night Out in Chinatown. So we wanted to beat the rush. Everything we ordered was super tasty and full of flavor. Quite the chef while managing to be the waiter and cashier as well. Pretty extraordinary to watch the boss work and make his rounds. Reminded me of a hole in the wall in China. We ordered and thoroughly enjoyed the savory delights of salty fish fried rice, chow fun with gylon and tons of gravy, and clay pot with chicken and mushroom. Next time I'd prefer to order the clay pot with dried scallops because I am told the chicken does not have bones like the mushroom did today. Loved our dinner besides the bones in the clay pot. But it was a beautifully done clay pot with the perfect amount of burnt edges to go around the table. Many Chinese and Koreans enjoy the taste of burnt rice. And this is the spot to go to and enjoy a clay pot. The salty fish fried rice hit the spot and the gylon was cooked to perfection. read more

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Was quite nice, I didn't like the food but I'm pretty sure that was my palate more than any actual quality issue. Service was nice and pretty quick. The door was open and it was pretty chilly and it could maybe be a LITTLE cleaner but overall it was a good atmosphere. read more

J&M A-1 Cafe is truly a one-man show, with the chef handling everything on his own. He's a kind and hardworking guy, and I appreciated his effort. I stopped by late at night after the gym since it was nearby and open. The space is casual with table seating, and it's a cash-only spot. I ordered the Clay Pot Rice (Preserved Pork & Chinese Sausage) since there were signs everywhere for it, and the Salt & Pepper Fried Chicken Wings because the picture on the wall made them look great. The clay pot was underwhelming--very basic and lacking flavor. I really wish there had been more sauce to pour over the rice because it felt like I was just eating plain white rice with steamed Chinese sausages on top. The chicken wings, however, were well-seasoned, and I loved the jalapeno peppers the chef used. The spice infused into the wings gave them a nice surprising kick. Everything seemed to be made fresh to order, so be prepared for a bit of a wait. The old-school Hong Kong diner vibes and SF radio playing in the background added to the atmosphere. One thing to note: drinks, including water, are not complimentary--I was surprised with a $2.45 charge when the bill came. A hardworking chef running a whole restaurant solo is impressive, and the experience had its highlights. While some dishes stood out more than others, it's a convenient late-night option for a fresh-cooked meal. read more

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Went into this restaurant and it was almost empty. Clue number one. Ordered a chicken and mushroom rice, clay pot. Got a hot clay pot with 95% rice, dry day old refrigerated chicken that was probably just put into a microwave, and a couple of pieces of bok choy and a couple of tiny pieces of black mushroom. Nothing was made fresh. Tip: if you ask for water, they will bring you a bottled water and charge you three dollars. Will not be going back and do not recommend. read more

As authentic as you can get while in Chinatown. The chef is your server and cook. He is such a friendly person. Don't expect a big establishment but boy oh boy it's huge in flavor. Great rock n roll music playing with a nice ambience read more

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Quaint hole in the wall dim sum restaurant in Chinatown. The old man with the glasses serving is so sweet and fast with service. Though the place seems small and lowkey, it fills up quickly. The food is so delicious, fried rice is smoky and flavorful, the sweet and sour soup hits the spot, and the chicken is tangy. I highly recommend stopping by if you're in the area or you're feeling late night cravings! :) read more

J&M A-1 Cafe Restaurant - B Special - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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We stumbled upon this restaurant as we searched for dimsum in SF Chinatown & were invited in by a smiling eldely Asian man who promised us "food good"! He was right! A frame of the wall confirmed this, too. We had a craving for duck, dumpling & noodle. The half roast duck was meaty, tender & had a dark & sweet sauce. It was like no other we've had. He recommended the House Combination Chowmein, "This very good!" It was perfectly seasoned & the crunch from the bean sprouts was a nice touch. The sui mai was flavorful & didn't need soy sauce. We had to take the Taiwainese dumpling home because we were very satisfied already. (We had it for dinner & it was still chewy, not hard, as it was at lunch. It too was seasoned perfectly that it was yummy in its own soup.) The restaurant is small & unassuming, no frills but clean and comfortable. He was the server, host and to our pleasant surprise, the chef!!! When we realized who he was and asked him, he flashed a big smile. It was great meeting you, Chef Leong! Thank you for a really delicious lunch read more

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Small and quaint little hole in the wall restaurant. Cash only! Service was very quick and efficient. The owner is also the chef/waiter. We were one out of two parties there and we got our three dishes in about 10 minutes. We got egg rolls, beef chow mein and the chicken/salted fish fried rice. I wasn't expecting the food to blow my mind and it met my expectations as a small, owner-operated Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. I did really like the fried rice though, tastes like my dad's! read more

J&M A-1 Cafe Restaurant - Beef Chow Mein, Egg Rolls, Salted Fish/Chicken Fried Rice - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

My husband and I were in SF for an event and hadn't eaten. We took to Yelp to find some good dumplings and this spot popped up close by. First off- make sure you have cash. (Luckily we did) What won us over immediately was when we walked in and the person greeting us motioned to a table and then tossed the menus casually on the table. This is no frills service and as soon as it happened my husband and I gave each other a look and immediately smiled. It's a tiny shop, but it has enough room for a few families or small groups. We ended up ordering a bunch of dim sum and asked the server what they suggested and ordered that too. We ended up getting chicken potstickers, minced pork and peanut dumplings, siu mai, pork and shrimp dumplings and per their recommendation the steamed Shanghainese dumplings. I think there was only one person working, but the food came out hot and everything was delicious. We would definitely stop by again. read more

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Authentic and delicious!!!! Our party of 6 ordered quite a bit, but the Shanghainese steamed dumplings and the Hong Kong style wonton soup was my absolute favorite. The restaurant is not upscale, but it's on par with what you find in Chinatown. Prices are reasonable and the portions are a nice size. The gentleman that services us was also the same person that cooked the food. I suspect he is also the owner. Good service all around read more

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I came into support this local business as it is run by singlehandedly by an elderly man. To keep it objective, the place is casual with close-spaced tables. Service is fast and simple - point to what you want and it comes out. The food is alright, my claypot rice came burnt and with limited vegetables and sauce, it was 90% rice. I was perturbed that when it came to paying, there was a discrepancy between what I owed and what I was being charged. The bill was written in Chinese and the owner had no interest in talking. I paid the bill without dispute but I won't be coming here again. read more

The service here was phenomenal - we came and I believe they were closing up early due to lack of customers. The owner saw us and opened up just for us. We felt bad but he insisted we come in and he serve us. Unfortunately, most of the food we had tasted frozen and just reheated. The owner also let us use the restroom, which required us to walk through the kitchen, and it wasn't super clean looking. The prices were reasonable, and they are advertised to be open later than other dim sum places which was nice, but I wouldn't return. read more

J&M A-1 Cafe Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Old School Chinese restaurant CASH ONLY!!! The guy is the cook, dishwasher, owner and cashier. Does everything himself!

There are 2 Yelp accounts for this same restaurant. Like other reviewers mentioned, it's a one-man shop. The food comes with a strong chemical taste/odor. Avoid it if you care about health. read more

A very homey HK style cafe owned and run by a single very nice man who is also the chef. Make an effort to come here if you're in the area. read more

J&M A-1 Cafe Restaurant - Preserved Pork and Chinese Sausage Clay Pot, destruction in progress. - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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The owner was really nice and friendly and the overall vibe I got from the restaurant was family owned and not flashy which is what I prefer. I ordered the Mongolian beef and I got an overly sweetened beef dish. I really wanted a savory dish and it was more like sweet and sour sauce. I was disappointed going for one food flavor and to get a different flavor profile overall. read more

Feb2024 1.5 I'd say. Missed a number of marks. Food takes a while, water and tea refills quite infrequent. We didn't want to battle crowds again so we landed here as a result. There was one other group aside from us since it is a small place, so not too busy by any means. We had ordered the shu mai, har gow, beef chow mein, a veggie rice clay pot, shanghai dumplings, spare ribs, and the salt n pepper eggplant. I'd say the most successful thing was the salt and pepper eggplant since it was nice and crispy, though it needed a sauce to go with it to really gel things. Or the chili green onion crumble you'd normally see with salt and pepper dishes. The seasonings and flavors felt all over the place for a lot of things. The spare ribs had no blackbean and missed the savoriness you'd usually get from the dish. The shu mai needed seasoning for the beef which was ok but could've been much better. The har gow had sat for a bit so a tad dry but workable. The chow mein was inconsistent in the cooking and some of the dish had decent flavor while you missed it in other bites. The shanghai dumplings much too thin on the skin and probably frozen. All of them broke apart trying to handle. The clay pot was the worst though. The sauce was mildly in the veggies but not enough overall. Most of the rice had just been burned to the bottom and really just filler. Bland overall unfortunately, and largely inedible due to the way it was prepared. Soy sauce helped a number of things, but can only do so much. Much better options in the area, and would rather have waited in retrospect. read more

Unique one man show. Made to order and delicious. Mongolian beef was excellent and right out of the pan. Prices not listed on many items so if you're concerned ask before ordering. The check may be a bit of a surprise. read more

Food was great and the owner/cook was fast. Great portions too. Authentic Chinese Food. read more

J&M A-1 Cafe Restaurant - Beef Chow Fun - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Amazing food!! Everything tasted wonderful. Try the egg rolls, pork dumplings, and fried rice! Authentic taste with fresh food. Be sure to bring cash. Convenient location in Chinatown. read more

Chef is one person running the restaurant. For the one hour we were there, He cooked for about 20 ppl, take orders , clean tables , take payments . The guy deserves all the respect . Please tip generously if you can . read more

We found this random place to get noodle takeout for our kids. Food was ready in under 10 minutes, and we got a giant box of pork friend noodle for under $15. Noodle was a little on the hard side and pork a little dry (3.5 stars), but it was still tasty a few hours later! read more

J&M A-1 Cafe Restaurant - Pork fried noodle takeout, 3.5 stars. Noodle a little hard, pork a little dry, but good value for $15. Sun afternoon takeout 2023-05-21 - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

This is a one person shop, but food is quick, service is great! I recommend clay pot. Be cash ready.

Hidden gen in San Francisco. Best Chinese wok master. All dishes are fresh make with wok as Dai pai dong 大排檔 The chef runs as a waiter , cashier and cook.All by himself. Then me and my bf ask how your food is so delicious and no stress is done by himself. He has been working in the food industry for 38yrs. Definitely go again to try more different dish !! read more

J&M A-1 Cafe Restaurant - Wonton noodle - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Frozen food, bad service. There was a fly in some sauce. Not a great experience but I put 2 stars instead of one because he didn't complain that we sat for two hours yapping in his empty restaurant instead of asking us to leave. read more

J&M A-1 Cafe Restaurant - Soup dumplings and veggie potstickers (I believe) - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Food: Nothing is impressive. One spoon of fried rice was extremely salty ... one spoon of it is not salty at all. I would not consider this place is authentic Chinese cuisine. Service: the owner/ chef/ waiter is too busy to provide decent service. Charge: Cash only. Nothing is cheaper than a restaurant with acceptable service, accepting credit card, and better flavors of dishes. I regret to say that I would not recommend this place to whomever would like to experience an authentic Chinese restaurant. read more

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It was ok, but i expected more. tired inside and the food was so so. Had soup dumplings and broccoli in oyster sauce. On the positive side, staff was friendly, service was quick read more

Maybe 3+. I had the won ton noodles. It was ok, not bad. The noodles were better than the won tons. The noodles were snappy, nice and al dente. The soup flavor was ok. It didn't taste like Hong Kong style with the flounder flavor. It was darker and murkier. The won tons had very small and few shrimp and the pork flavor was just ok. Overall, not bad. But, I've been going to Beyond Cafe and that won ton noodle is the best I've had in the city. Very close to Hong Kong. read more

If quick and "good" service is what you're going to a restaurant for, then don't go here. In fact, don't even get takeout. BUT if you enjoy great food and supporting small businesses, and you have more than 15 minutes on your hands, then this is where you wanna be! My friend and I stumbled on this spot during the CNY Festival this year, and we're so glad we did! It was literally a one-man show - he was the host, waiter, and chef! We ordered at the counter and grabbed a table as soon as some impatient people left. We ordered some dimsum (including XLB, pork bun, siu mai, and pot stickers) and Chicken Fried Rice. Everything was served HOT and sooooo good. The XLB was surprisingly juicy. Wishing all the best to the owner! read more

TheHot and Sour soup was fantastic! Service was fun and personal, and the ambiance was pleasant.

Open when others aren't. I like a unique experience and this place is definitely that. A true hole in the wall and the owner/waiter/cook/host is a character deserving of social media fame. The food is good. Plenty of stuff I would still like to try. Not blown away, but the prices were fine for what it was. The loud distorted radio music was probably better than the music without the distortion. Some generic pop stuff. The whole vibe is like something out of an 80s movie. Almost a caricature of a SF Chinese restaurant. Fully expect that there is a mogwai in a cage under a tarp in the back. So I totally recommend it if you aren't scared of a dirty fork or leftover fake fingernails from previous customers on the table. read more

One service man it seemed like today (our first visit) we found this place walking down china town and just chose it since we saw they serve duck and dumplings. Be warned this seems like more than a quick in and out sit down restaurants. You will feel the negative personality of the owner/waiter. We walked in and we're quickly sat. This man threw our menus on the table. There were some things that made me uncomfortable besides the multiple flies inside. We asked for water and he brought bottled water we then said oh no tap water please. He started yelling in Chinese and a table across who were American Chinese were making a face like he said something bad. When they left they told me he was mad but it's because he's stressed. Other table asked for soy sauce and he was mumbling something in Chinese. I was saying I'm scared to ask for anything because of this attitude. We ordered wonton soup, fried rice, chicken chow mein and roast duck. The food was decent except the duck was ok with a lot of thick fat. I really lost my appetite after all the yelling and attitude this guy owner cook server whoever he is we dealt with. I can tell the couple across could tell because also when they left they looked at me and said it's ok don't worry about him the knew in my face I was uncomfortable. read more

One-man shop hustling to cook and serve nearly 10 tables for Saturday lunch. Small but delectable dim sum selection and its famous salt & pepper fried chicken wings satisfied. He didn't get us the requested water and we didn't have the heart to ask him again (although if you order drinks, he brings those promptly). Nice man, great place and yet another living example of the hard-working immigrant experience. read more

Excellent hole in the wall Chinese place. Much respect to the owner, who was doing it all himself! Bussing tables, making food, taking orders, giving receipts... everything. The food was great quality and not too expensive. Seafood clay pot, pork/shrimp dumplings, and pork shumai came out to ~$40 with tip. CASH ONLY!!!! Great low key place for lunch. read more

J&M A-1 Cafe Restaurant - Seafood combination clay pot (top) with a side or rice. - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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The guy works his butt off taking orders, bussing tables and cooking. Full credit. Modest everything. Good flavors. Extensive menu. A good place to disappear and have a quiet meal and a beer alone. read more

My husband and I really liked this place. In SF for a medical appointment at UCSF the next day and had an evening to wonder around Union Square and Chinatown. We were attracted to this little place on Clay Street, off the beaten path. A one-man operation--he's the host, the waiter and the chef. Had Shrimp dumplings, a vegetable clay pot and a chicken & mushroom clay pot. Fresh, full of flavor, filling. Reasonably priced. Really glad we went in. read more

So delicious everything!Thank so much for Chef Leong's amazing cooking skill! One Superman restaurant in Chinatown San Francisco! read more

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