Came here to try their food after finding out this is the sister cafe to TeaWood Cafe. Their menus are very similar with some different items like their don noodles, sizzles plates, and more variety of desserts. Their food service is quick after ordering. The cafe is significantly smaller than TeaWood so there will definitely be a wait time before being seated if you arrive during peak lunch/dinner time. Otherwise the food is really good! read more

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When I found out Noriega Cafe revamped its menu and made it very extensive, I knew I had to try it out. My party of three arrived on a Sunday just after 6pm and the wait was just over an hour. Parking wasn't too bad and I was able to get a spot a block away after circling a couple times. There was a huge crowd of people waiting for their tables, but keep in mind that the restaurant is very small and I only counted approximately 25 diners total throughout my whole visit. Since it took a while to get a table, fortunately we looked at the menu ahead of time and had an idea of what we wanted. There was a kiosk by the counter for those who preferred to order for takeout. Once seated, it took around twenty minutes just to place our orders since apparently the waiters were taking orders in the order customers were seated. For appetizer we ordered the Thai spicy minced pork with crispy balls. We saw it come out of the kitchen and it was brought to the table behind me, then the waiter quickly went to my table and said it was sold out. We then ordered the Thai appetizer platter as a replacement, a bit frustrated. The Taiwanese braised pork dry noodle came out first for another diner in my party and it was a good five minutes until my deep-fried chicken cutlet with braised pork dry noodles and someone else's shoyu duck breast ramen arrived. The waiter actually brought the first item to the table and said it was the chicken cutlet and had to go to the kitchen to verify which dish it was; perhaps the staff is still not used to the new menu but clearly there was no chicken cutlet on that dish. The only difference between the two dry noodles ordered was that one had chicken cutlet and the other had an egg. My chicken cutlet dry noodles tasted as expected and wasn't too salty; the fried chicken cutlet seasoning reminded me of Taiwanese popcorn chicken which I enjoyed. The diner with the shoyu duck breast ramen didn't really enjoy it and said it was very oily, I guess that was somewhat expected since it was a Chinese-made ramen rather than an authentic Japanese ramen. I tried a slice of duck breast and I thought it was prepared well and wasn't overcooked. The Thai appetizer platter finally arrived when we were almost done eating our entrees and by that point we weren't too hungry for it and weren't impressed with the quality of this appetizer. While it looked nice, the fish cake patties were spicy and tasted like they were store bought and the meats were on the dryer side. To drink, I had the strawberry yogurt with purple rice and it was prepared as expected and wasn't too sweet; the purple rice was okay and wasn't clumpy or hard. This drink was small but came in a reusable plastic cup with a metal lid. I also tried the silky Thai milk tea and thought it tasted like a standard milk tea. The new menu at Noriega Cafe was very appealing, but unfortunately the overall experience fell short. Aside from the long wait times and food coming out of order, the waiters didn't seem to have a full grasp of the menu and didn't really seem to have a structured workflow of taking orders and bringing out food as they were ready instead of in the order parties were seated. Upon paying for the meal, I was provided with scratchers based on the amount spent with prizes to be redeemed at the next visit; all of my scratchers were for spring rolls. I would like to come back to give Noriega Cafe another chance but will hopefully come during a time when the restaurant isn't so busy to get a better experience. read more

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Service: 1 star, has coupons they don't honor properly Food: so-so, decent Price: decent Parking: difficult except late night Wait: long, even at late night I came the first time at 11:20 am. I walked in and the two servers standing by the front just looked at me but didn't greet me or anything. I was figuring out what to do when someone else came in speaking Cantonese and the servers pulled out a waitlist and put their name on it first. I was pretty peeved because they ended up being seated 20 minutes earlier when I was there first, but I guess I don't speak Cantonese. For the seating to turnover took 1 hour 20 minutes, and they also seated larger parties first in larger tables. I received scratch cards and tried to redeem right away and the employee said it was not allowed to be redeemed same visit. I came back today to use the two scratch cards both for a free drink. I try to order to go with the scratch cards but was told it was dine in only. I ask where does it say that on the voucher, and I'm told it's just store policy. I sit down and order two entrees and two drinks, and ask for the two vouchers to be applied. I'm told I can only use one. I say the voucher just says limit two vouchers per visit. They say it's one of each type of voucher, so you can use a $5 off and a free drink. I ask for the manager, and apparently that's who I was talking to. Manager said that these vouchers are to encourage customers to come back. It's sad that something that should be fun and exciting has become a secret list of unwritten rules and frustrating and upsetting. In any case, the food is good but not great. The wait is not worth it. To go orders still took about 30 minutes tonight despite just one other dine in customer. Parking is challenging during the day but easy at late evening. read more

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First time trying this spot after hearing about the revamp in menu and style. Menu had a ton of options and helpful photos. Seated quickly right around opening time, but got busy fast. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Ambiance: Modern, clean, cozy with limited seating (better for group sizes of 4-5 and under).[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]They have a high chairs for kids, and a short hallway to the bathroom to fit 1 stroller.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]They have 1 gender neutral bathroom that was clean.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Staff/Service: Friendly, food rolled out fast and slow. Ordered 4 food items and 2 drinks at 11:26am. Entrees came out 10 minutes later. Chicken wings took 20 min, and the Thai App Platter took 30 minutes. We were pretty full by then. Ordering: Either by phone with a QR code scan on your table (the website was all in Chinese so I couldn't read it), or you can also order with staff. Plenty of physical menus available too. ** FYI ** The one menu I was given had OUTDATED pricing. The Thai App Platter was listed as $16.95 but when the bill came out, I was charged $20.95... $4 more than what was advertised! Staff apologized after double checking the menus - apparently only my menu was outdated. They didn't honor the price, and I hope they fix the menus soon. Food: Per staff, hot tea is only available if the whole table orders it. It was just me and my husband so we went with water. The water tasted like metal in their stainless steel cups. Milk tea or tea in general wasn't ready when we got there because it was still steeping. Food was overall flavorful, below is a breakdown of what we ordered: 1. A19. Thai App Sampler @ $20.95: Fish cakes, Skewers, Shrimp Chips, grilled pork neck (the only thing we really liked on this tray), and a sliver of pineapple with a sugary crust on the bottom of the slices. Probably better to just order the grilled pork separately - it was tender and juicy. Overall 3/5 2. A11.Rose Honey Fried Chicken Wings @ $9.95: Sweet, juicy and well cooked. 4/5 3. N01. Taiwanese Braised Beef Noodle Soup @ $14.95: Came with 2 small pieces of braised beef and slices of beef, the noodle was good and bouncy. 3/5 4. Seafood Tom Yum Cream Pasta @ $14.95: Not creamy, felt like the sauce was dried out and because of that, it was quite salty. Shrimp was good but the squid pieces were overcooked/chewy and had an odd taste to it. Muscles were ok. Overall, I think if it had more liquid to dilute it out, I would have liked it better. 2/5 5. M09 Silky Thai Milk Tea @ $5.25: Good portion for price, strong, and flavorful 4/5 6. SE06 Mango Pomelo Sago @ $6.95: Very sweet (if you like it very sweet), they were generous with the mango and toppings 3/5 Overall, I love visiting Sunset for all of the small biz restaurants there. I hope they have continued good business because what they offer is unique to the neighborhood. read more

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We were fans of the original Noreiga Cafe and really liked their food and was sad to see it go. The owners have since remodeled, changed their menu and concept to a Hong Kong style café (Cha Chaan Teng). For the past few weeks, we have tried getting a table without waiting, but not until this week, were we able to grab a table without delay. The 4 of us sat down at 11:45 am. We placed our order at around 11:55. Here is where the timing went wrong. I got my Taiwanese beef brisket noodle soup at 12:05 pm. One other in my party got his deep fried pork chop 6 mins after mine, but 2 others were still waiting for their baked entrees and did not get it until 12:25 and 12:30! My friend and I were finished with our meal, while the rest just got their dishes! I think the menu or waitstaff should let customers know that the baked dishes require significantly more time to prepare so expectations are set from the start. Thankfully, we weren't in a hurry, but I believe the lengthy wait times for those baked items are creating a backlog! *** OUR PICKS *** TAIWANESE BEEF BRISKET NOODLE SOUP ~ I asked for mild spice, but it was spicier than I anticipated. This soup can be spicier if you want it to be. I found only 3 chunky pieces of brisket while the rest of the meat were thin slices of beef, a few pieces of bok choy, and a handful of noodles. Honestly, if you're hungry, this one dish may not be sufficient. I didn't really care for the flavor of the broth as it was pretty salty and spicy. The chunks of brisket were hard and tough, though the sliced beef was tender. Flat rice noodles were okay, but I felt the whole dish was underwhelming. 2/5 BAKED PORK CHOP IN TOMATO SAUCE WITH SPAGHETTI ~ the spaghetti was a substitute for the rice. This was probably the only decent dish among the 4 we had. The spaghetti sauce was sweet, but not overly sweet. The cheese was melted well and had a very good cheese pull! The pork chop was crispy in some parts. Only drawback was the wait time. It took about 25-30 minutes. 4/5 BAKED FISH FILLET WITH CORN CREAM SAUCE OVER RICE ~ I tried a bit of this and the fish was kind of salty. The cream corn was okay. The person who ate this rated it a 3/5 TAIWANESE DEEP FRIED PORK CHOP WITH BRAISED PORK OVER RICE ~ I tried the flat pork chop and it tasted like popcorn chicken and the meat was very dry and overcooked. Our friend didn't care for this dish and left most of it. Unfortunately, he rated this a 2/5. The only item worth getting is the baked pork chop in tomato sauce with spaghetti. But with such a long wait for this dish, I can't recommend it unless you're not starving and you're willing to wait an extra 1/2 hr. Truthfully, we miss the old Noreiga Cafe! read more

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Our group of 4 dined here a couple of Sundays. Hand wrote my name at 6pm and our group got seated around 7:10pm. Overall, not the best dine-in experience, but willing to give some grace as my understanding that it's newly re-opened, and possibly under new management. There were 2 young gentlemen running around doing everything, but only 1 tablet to put in orders and to pay. A suggestion is to invest in another couple of tablets so that some guests can pay, while other guests can order. Otherwise, everyone is just waiting around. My entree (pork dry noodles with veggies) was a bit too salty and the seasoning tasted similar to packaged seasonings from the store. I did enjoy the egg and veggies. The others in my group ordered baked rice dishes and enjoyed them. I also ordered a milk tea and that was ok. Another suggestion for the restaurant is that the 2 gentlemen can "tag-team" meaning cross train and communicate for better efficiency. The older lady at the cash register (probably owner or manager) was just "standing around". Perhaps, she can take care of all the payments to allevieate the workload since there's a physical POS at the counter. Behind the older lady was a young lady, she seems to be in charge of making all drink requests. If I had more time to observe, totally can create a game plan to help with the workflow. Final comment is that our group spent around $90+ but we didn't receive any promotional scracher cards. It took so long to pay that we just wanted to leave. We had already left the restaurant and decided not to go back in to ask about the scratchers. Willing to give this place another chance, but probably not any time soon. #29/2026 read more

Noriega Cafe - Inside - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Sigh...newly renovated but this place was not nearly as good as before. Noriega Cafe revamped as a HK style cafe restaurant. While their menu is expansive, most of the food was bland. Prices are quite expensive and for this price point, you're much better off at Cafe Bakery a few blocks over. We got the chicken wings, teppanyaki, and baked rice and a beef noodle soup. The chicken wings were probably the best out of our dishes. It had a strong rose flavor and was a good cross between salty and sweet. The black pepper beef teppan unfortunately just tasted like straight butter, almost like they just melted a stick of butter in there without adding salt or the pepper sauce/flavoring. It was also our most expensive dish. I definitely would not get it again. The baked rice was okay. We felt it needed more of the tomato sauce and flavor in general. It was over a bed of egg fried rice that didn't really taste like anything. The beef noodle soup was alright as well. It also seemed like it was missing some saltiness and some sort of spices; was quite bland as well. Service was where I was quite sorely disappointed. Upon entry to the restaurant they have a hand written sign stating wait for food dine-in is at least 40 minutes. After seating, the 4 of us waited a long time until anyone came over to take our order. Everyone kept walking inside the kitchen but nobody ever came out with anything. The staff seemed to not know the menu at all. We were ordering the sauce for our teppan (as listed on the menu) and she not only didn't know how to input it in their system, she seemed to be under the impression that it wasn't an option when it's literally stated on their own menu. She had to go ask multiple staff, then came back and seemingly forgot what we had just ordered. I will say they did notice when our water wasn't filled and a guy came by a few times to fill up our water. Overall I think the service could use a lot more improvement as well as the food. I do understand they are newly opened so there's definitely room for things to be better. Unfortunately I don't think I will be back in the meantime. read more

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​As a fan of Teawood in the Richmond District, I was excited to check out their new sister restaurant, Noriega Cafe, in the Sunset. ​[[HIGHLIGHT]]Given its fresh energy, innovative dishes, and reasonable prices, it's no surprise the place was packed for an early weeknight dinner![[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] A line was already forming when I arrived just before 6:00 PM, but I lucked out with my party of two and was seated immediately. ​The Vibe & Service The space is noticeably smaller than Teawood's Richmond location, though the menu shares a lot of the same popular dishes. Just like Teawood, the service is warm and friendly. They've also carried over the fun scratch-card giveaway at the end of the meal--a clever touch that definitely adds incentive to return. ​The Food Since they recently opened under new management, they are clearly still ironing out some operational kinks. Because the kitchen was overwhelmed by how busy it was, several dishes we wanted to order weren't available to be made, which was a bummer. Here is what we were able to try: ​Grilled Thai Pork Neck: Smoky, tender, and full of flavor--hands down our favorite dish of the night! - ​Thai Spicy Minced Pork with Crispy Balls: Unique and tasty, though not quite a standout for me. - ​Southern Thai Duck Breast Omurice: I was hoping for a soft, creamy omelette, but it came topped with a simple fried egg instead. Not quite what I expected or preferred. - ​Traditional Wooden Bucket Tofu: Nostalgic, but unfortunately, the tofu tasted sour. We couldn't tell if it had turned or if it was just a sharp syrup, but we erred on the side of caution and stopped eating it. Because it's still early days and Teawood has such a solid track record, I'm fully willing to give Noriega Cafe another try once things settle down. My main recommendation to management would be to trim down the menu--a smaller selection would help the kitchen keep up during heavy rushes and make deciding easier for diners anyway. I'm rooting for you guys! read more

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I was directed to the self order kiosk when I dropped by today. It was a simple and quick ordering process. I got a pistachio matcha latte which was nutty and creamy and not too sweet. [[HIGHLIGHT]]There were chairs available to sit while I waited and the dining area was cute and comfortable, busy with people getting lunch.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The drink was delicious, and the service was quick! read more

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[[HIGHLIGHT]]Cute and colorful little Chinese restaurant with snacks, noodles and clay pots.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I ordered at the kiosk for a take out of sesame beef slices and beef roll. The thoughtful server came over to tell me that take out orders may take longer than eating in. I sat by the door on the row of chairs and in about ten minutes, my order was ready. The sesame beef slices were okay but the beef rolls with fresh cucumber was really good! I especially enjoyed the salty taste of the roll wrap and the sauce inside. read more

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Finally came to try their new updated menu. Unfortunately my experience was not great. While the food tasted pretty good, the wait time for food was too long. Either their menu is too big for them to handle, or their kitchen is not able to handle multiple orders. We were a table of 2, got seated at 11:25AM and finally ordered at 11:35AM on a weekend day. We ordered 3 dishes because we heard that it takes awhile to get the food so we didn't order too much. Unfortunately, we were not expecting the wait to be this long. Thai grilled pork neck came out at 12:13PM, about 40 minutes wait. The pork neck was good, crispy and juicy, great sauces that were a bit savory and acidic. Really recommend ordering. Shrimp pasta with tomato soup, came out at 12:20PM close to 50 minutes wait time. Big pieces of shrimp, the soup itself was nice and tart, had a seafood taste to it. Not bad, but not worth 50 minutes of wait time. Baked seafood cream pasta came out at 12:40PM, more than an hour after ordering. Taste was not bad, good selection of seafood, kind of small for the portion though, cream was good and decent amount of cheese. Not worth waiting for an hour. I understand some dishes being made to order and taking 20-40 minutes, but waiting upwards to an hour plus is ridiculous. The staff were overwhelmed and couldn't handle majority of the orders (only two front of staff). There's also only 7-8 available tables inside the restaurant. The two servers were friendly but again, they were not set up for success. Im not saying the food is bad, but the service and wait time is ridiculous. I won't be coming back to noriega cafe or their other location of Teawood Cafe. read more

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New concept after months of remodeling. The prior chef retired and is now babysitting a granddaughter, the main waitress has moved on to a location down the street and [[HIGHLIGHT]]the vibe is toward a younger crowd with desserts, drinks, teppan, udon, fusion appetizers, served by a younger inexperienced staff[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The remodelled place has booths and accommodates around 30 diners.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] We ordered: - Thai Appetizer Plate consisting of Fish Cakes, Beef Skewers (overcooked), Sliced BBQ Pork Neck (very good), Caramelized Pineapple, Shrimp Chips, and two dipping sauces - Rose Honey Chicken Wings which were addictive and different - Teppanyaki Beef Rice which could use a little more of the seasoned butter flavoring but overall good - Mango Pomelo Sago Drink, ordered at 50% sweetness and still was too sweet. Needs more crushed ice at that sweetness level. Overall, service was spotty. There's a QR Code for ordering however they have hard copy menus which is easier to look at and order from. The waiters will take your order if you don't like QR Code ordering. Water and Tea service is inconsistent as we had to ask once but they came around to check more often after the first request. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The restaurant also has cramped seating at the tables near the front window.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Overall, life goes on, we miss the traditional well-made Cantonese homestyle food previously served, the nice waitress named Christina, while understanding that the restaurant business is very competitive in SF. We liked most of the items ordered and will likely be back to try other things. The service is still in a learning phase and we assume it will get better. As a follow-up, we dine at Christina's new gig down the street to get homestyle Cantonese food and to see her smile. read more

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[[HIGHLIGHT]]Noriega Cafe, a HK-style cafe, at 1245 Noriega is very much open, crowded with people and hopping![[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Just had lunch here! BAKED PORK CHOPS in a tomato sauce over rice, a crowd pleaser, was tasty. Would wish for more sauce. SPICY WON TONS - Chicken won tons garnished with chile sauce, plenty of Dow see, was spicy but good as well. NORIEGA CAFE has a robust drink menu full of boba, Matcha and fruit drinks. Had their house tea with lunch and it was nice and fragrant. Nice when something like a house tea pops. Their dessert menu will draw me back for sure. MANGO AND TOFU PUDDINGS AND SOUPS. See you there! read more

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[[HIGHLIGHT]]Noriega Cafe remodeled. There are booths now.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The menu has changed. It is now more like their sister restaurant, Teawood Cafe on Geary with same owner. That's not a bad thing. Teawood Cafe is good. My meal tonight was a sizzling teppan beef rice $15 and a dry beef brisket & wonton noodles $14. While it looked OK, the teppan beef rice needed more flavor. The brisket for the dry wonton noodles were good whereas the noodles and wontons were meh. The chefs are rookies and I can taste it. Portions are small. Constructive criticism, service was provided by a clueless young man. I'm a fan of hiring young people but management need to provide training like, writing down people's orders and providing tea or water refills without asking. It is not complicated, check on people. They should send the staff to eat at Smile House Cafe on Taraval to see how it done. That loudmouth waiter guy is excellent at customer service even though the food is meh. Talking to him makes the experience better. After my meal, they gave me a scratch-off game. I won a $5 off my next purchase. So with that, I ordered a baked pork chop rice $15 to-go. I asked the owner Jennifer what she was drinking and it was some green drink. That tasted OK. It was a pistachio matcha $7. Random fact, I remember back in 2019, this used to be a Thai restaurant called Lanna. read more

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3.5 stars Newly remodeled Noriega Cafe focusing on Asian fusion cuisine. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Interior is small with 3 booths and tables that can accommodate single parties or bigger parties.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The table turnover rate needs improvement resulting in longer wait times. Food and dessert are available are on the menu. waitlist is in front where the cashier is, 4 seats to wait inside otherwise queuing outside. There was a special event going on where 1 scratch card is given for each $20.00 spent, prizes available are $5.00 off, 1 free drink, sesame soup, spring roll or Thai spiced pork. Order: Baked pork chop rice, lacking the tomato flavor without enough sauce, pork chop was crispy similar to popcorn chicken Taiwanese Braised Beef Soup: beef is tender and lots of noodles, the broth will make your thirsty and have your drinks ready. Pepper beef rice: comes out sizzling, thoroughly cook the meat with the crispy rice. top dish for the day Deep fried chicken cutlet with braised pork dry noodle: there is some type of seafood in this dish, maybe shrimp paste. Noodles were not dry and more wet with the sauce, lots of beef. Chicken cutlet was crispy and breaded perfectly. Dessert: traditional tofu pudding, silky smooth served hot with brown sugar syrup and brown sugar on the side, must order. read more

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Disclaimer: The original Noriega Cafe closed for a while and reopened as an Asian fusion concept. This review is for the newly reimagined Noriega Cafe. The rose honey chicken wings had good flavor, the duck breast in the duck breast teppan tasty OK but was a little dry which is surprising for duck meat that is usually fatty. The garlic pork don lacked any garlic flavor and was essentially tonkotsu pork slices, furikake, onions, scallons, egg and teriyaki sauce. Basically the food was OK, mediocre, and pretty ordinary. What really dragged the review down is the disorganization. Despite the place being small, the staff seemed to be unable to handle an dining room with a handful of tables. My dinner came out last after everyone iny party nearly finished their dinner so execution and timing is bad. We expressed interest in ordering desert and they gave us a menu, then told us it was too late to order because store closed at 930 and we just missed it by less than 5 minutes. I really did want to like the place and try their new concept but the mediocre food, poor service, general disorganization and long wait time for a table, long wait time for food just made the experience not worthwhile for the trouble. Fortunately, there are a lot of good places to eat on Noriega St and while we were unable to try their desert offerings, Golden Island (a tried and true local favorite) was across the street and able to deliver and fulfilled our after dinner Asian dessert fix. Will I try Noriega Cafe again? Maybe after the initial hype dies down. But I recommend you pick some of the other restaurants on Noriega St if there is any wait for a table. To me, it just wasn't worth it for the quality of food and the service. read more

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The menu is different from what you see on their yelp. Not sure if it's the same name but different owners. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The restaurant is quite small has a total of 9 tables. The tables are lined up like the letter "L" there are 4 tables then two tables are along the window.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] There are a couple of chairs by the door while you wait. They were really busy and not enough staff. You wait to order, wait to get seated, and the food come at all different time. My dad wanted wonton noodle but they just took of the braised beef and then gave wonton. But they didn't have enough wonton. So then gave what they had and said wait for more wonton. And by the time the wonton was done my dad was done with his meal. I ordered the baked tomatoes pork chop. It was ok. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The problem that I noticed with and what other tables customers had mentioned is that not enough surface space. So they offer serving spoons as you meal spoon. So when you put the spoon in the plate it spills the rice. There is not enough space for you to dig for a bite of rice and protein.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I felt there was not enough sauce and the fried rice was lacking flavor. The next table had the same complaints about the plate. Being so small that when you put your spoon in for a bite, the food spills out. My brother black pepper beef was good. It had flavor. Wished they offered more sauce. read more

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I came across this restaurant after their remodel. They serve drinks, food, and desserts. They are having a promotion on if you spend $20 there is a scratcher card they give at end of the meal with the check. I was curious about the baked pork chop rice. So we ordered it and the tofu pudding. Tomato Baked Pork Chop Rice ($14.99) had sliced pork chop with tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes, and cheese on top. The base was fried rice. The taste was good and was piping hot when it came out in a ceramic dish. The tofu pudding ($4.95) was not good. It was a little sour. They remade it but the outcome was still not good. At least, there was no sour taste on second try. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The place was pretty clean with booth seats.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] They also have a kiosk you can order to go items. The service was pretty good. The waiter was nice when we ordered and was accommodating when we told him about the tofu pudding. read more

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The thai plate appetizer platter and it was great with the combination of pineapple and sliced pork belly. We also got red dragon fruit sparkling drink and the kumquat lemon sparkling. Both drinks were good. I definitely recommend getting their thai spicy minced pork w/ crispy ball. They do get busy even during a week day so plan accordingly. Not many seatings read more

Noriega Cafe - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

date & time: thiursday July 30, 2026 @ 1:30 pm & feiday july 31, 2026 @ 2pm vibe: friend groups in white tank tops , hailey extra baggy jeans, kitten heels or off the shoulder aquamarine tops w/ white skirts [[HIGHLIGHT]]decor: vibey 7 table restaurant[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] service: highly disorganized. we cancelled half our order due to the 1.5 hour wait for our entrees plus they gave us the wrong desserts devour: scallion noodles, chicken don & coconut mango dessert total: $26.98 note: they didn't honor my scratcher for a free drink on my visit today read more

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The food was bland. Everything I ordered was not available. I wish they update the menu. The portions are ok. The guy serving me was awesome. He was amazing to be able to handle the sudden surge of hungry people that came all of a sudden. . He was great and helpful. Very Polite. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The place is small but very clean.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I'll give them another try time. read more

Noriega Cafe - Menu - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Actually I was surprised if you like typical Hong Kong style cafe food this place offers a variety of dishes that will satisfy your cravings. Prices n food are reasonable n the spot is new n cozy read more

Noriega Cafe - Teppan pepper steak over rice - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Very niche cafe but well worth a try. They've got a variety that covers pan Asian so that was really cool to see. [[HIGHLIGHT]]I will note the establishment itself is fairly small but overall there are a few dine-in tables available.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Food had a lot of flavor and I was pleasantly surprised my spicy dish was indeed spicy. read more

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Party of 2 We came in around 11:10 a.m. on a Saturday and didn't leave until almost 1:00 p.m. We only ordered one appetizer and two entrées so waiting nearly two hours for our food was unacceptable. Unfortunately, the service made the experience even worse. Our waitress seemed easily distracted and had trouble keeping up with basic requests. We had to ask multiple times for water and eventually for the check. She kept forgetting. No one checked on our table or refilled our water during the meal. The menu is huge, but it seems like the kitchen can't keep up with the volume of orders. It was frustrating watching tables that were seated after us receive their food much sooner than we did. :((( The long wait and lack of attentive service completely ruined what was supposed to be a relaxing Saturday lunch. read more

Noriega Cafe - Baked dish - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Service was a bit slow and unorganized. Food came out slow as well, but that's expected considering they're so new. Even though the service was slow, the workers were still nice. Just a bit odd that one of the servers didn't speak any Chinese. They also ran out of quite a few dishes when we dined around 5:30pm. Been wanting to try their sister restaurant on Geary, but the trek is just too far lol. Overall, the food wasn't the best but it was decent. And for the amount you're paying, the portions are relatively big. Love the fact they offer a scratch card to win prizes (blindbox, $$$ off, free appetizer) for every $20 spent when checking out. Would definitely come back after a few months. Hopefully they'll work out all the kinks. read more

Noriega Cafe - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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TLDR: Don't get the beef rolls get the tomato cream pasta. Be prepared to wait. Maybe they'll improve with more time? I would wait to go but if you see it empty give it a try. The food here is decent but the wait time for it sucks. The staff doesn't know what's out of stock and what isn't. They had a new worker who didn't seem to know what he was doing and ordering food was kind of hard with him. We asked what other tables ordered and he didn't know asked us to look through the menu and didn't ask any other worker for help. We ordered and they would tell us its out then we would have to find something else. Happened twice. Their wait time for food is long so having the staggered ordering made it even longer. Even though we ordered after the next table they got their food first. Didn't take a picture of everything because everything just took so long I wanted to leave. We tried to order their special and someone said they would check the back and they never came back... We asked another waiter ten minute later and he said someone else ordered it already and that was the last one. [[HIGHLIGHT]]It's such a small space with so much confusion and so many people running around lost.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] They have little scratchers for when you order $20 pre tax (20 = 1 ticket, 40 = 2 tickets, 60 = 3 tickets, etc) Prizes vary, free dessert, free appetizer, blind box... Ordered the beef rolls. The menu picture showed three beef rolls we got one beef roll cut into three $12.95. 0/5 Would not get again it was not worth getting at all. Maybe they ran out and didn't want to say anything. Super disappointing. Thai spicy minced meat with the fried balls? 2/5 (free cus of scratcher) You break open the tops of the ball and put the meat inside and eat it. I think it needs a sauce or something? It was okay but i wouldn't order it again. Rose honey Fried Chicken Wings ($9.95) 3/5 I expected them to be fried and then covered in sauce like the picture. It did not look like the picture at all. Came out looking like soy sauce wings but with the rose honey sauce. It tasted good but I was just disappointed it wasn't fried. Baked spaghetti with pork chop ($14.95?) 3/5 was good similar to other places with baked pork chop rice/spaghetti but for the portion size for the price it seemed really small. wasn't enough sauce for the spaghetti. Tonkatsu Pork Cutlet Tomato Cream Sauce Pasta (13.95) 4/5 this one was yummy but again portions kind of small for the price. The sauce on this pasta was good. Tasted like tomato bisque with some cream. Cheese Hambagu Don (14.95) 3/5 - ordered this one first and it came out last. other tables got theirs before we got outs even though we ordered first. It tasted like a hamburger patty with cheese with rice. It tasted how you would imagine. There was semi cooked onions maybe caramelized with the sauce would be good? Not enough sauce for the amount of rice read more

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Noriega Cafe is one of those neighborhood gems that reminds you why San Francisco's food scene is so special. From the moment we walked in, we were greeted with warm, friendly service that made us feel like regulars. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The restaurant has that classic old-school Cantonese café vibe--comfortable, unpretentious, and focused on serving delicious food at reasonable prices.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

The service is so terrible! We live in the neighborhood, and there are always lots of people waiting every time we walk by. We thought it was because the restaurant must be really good. But in fact it is because of the slow service. We checked in around 12:30 p.m. and placed our order right after we got our table around 1:10 p.m. I got my tofu pudding almost 30 minutes later, and that was the first thing served. I assumed it was because another table had canceled their tofu pudding after a long wait, even though the server had told them it would only take another six minutes. After almost an hour, the tofu pudding was still the only thing we had received. My parents were upset and tried to cancel the rest of our order and leave. They finally served the fried tofu. Can you imagine an appetizer taking an hour to arrive? The servers never checked on us. Every time we asked, they said it would be another two or five minutes before the next dish was served. We finally got all of our food around 2:30 p.m. I took photos of everything except the two noodle dishes my parents ordered because they were starving and started eating right away. We were not the only table waiting so long for our food. The whole restaurant only had four parties of three or four people, three parties of two, and one party of five. I saw other customers getting upset as well. The food just okay nothing special and it doesn't worth to wait that long. If you would like to visit, make sure you have at least two hour for that. The scratch that we got can only redeem for next visit, my parents told me throw away because we won't visit again. read more

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So good ramen with yummy broth! I was surprised about its good! I ordered the togo matcha latte with so good boba! Recommended!! read more

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I will say that the variety of food is amazing and the prices are really good too. However, the experience both times I went (one to go, one dine in) have been bad and awful. Their phone system didnt work the day we wanted to go, so we had to use to in store kiosk and proceed to wait 45 minutes for 2 dishes. They did give us free pork chops which was nice. The dine in experience was so bad. It was chaos to get seated. We got there at 11:45am missing the opening seating. Sat down at 12:30pm had to literally go up to a waiter to get menus and tea. Then when we ordered, the waiter wrote it down on a receipt (not a huge deal but they need an IPad typically). We wait 30 more minutes and go up to them only for them to say they forgot to input the order. Very disappointing. Waited over 1.5 hours and left empty handed. Nothing my a "doy mm gee" - Canto for "my bad". read more

I really like this place and the food before the restaurant closed and reopened with a different menu. We would even do to-go on a weekly basis. It's not the food but the service. Pointed the food on the menu and said beef and pork don to the guy. He says give him the code instead. Gave him the code and the brought out the wrong food for everyone. What came out were casseroles instead. He then ask if we still wanted the original item (the correct ones) that we ordered as the others (incorrect ones) are already prepared. read more

Of all the local San Francisco Chinese restaurant staples, Noriega has my heart for their lovely service, cozy small interior and delicious food! Noriega does something that others don't do with their Chow Fun upon recommendation (Based off my initial experience as I'll write another one upcoming for my most recent endeavors here) We were immediately seated by a sweet lady that was very accommodating. From soups to rice noodles to chefs specials, everything was satisfying to the tea. On to the review....... House special chow fun (with gravy if you ask for it) THE AMOUNT OF TLC THAT WENT INTO THE WOK. This noodle dish was made with a labor of love. I usually will always order chow fun but Noriega sets the bar for the best with its saucy, wet stir fried goodness. Ask for a bowl of rice to savor in the remaining sauce after cleaning up this dish Corn & chicken soup WOW!!! Very akin to Chang's kitchen with a more hearty eggy flavor (imagine flavor profile of an egg drop soup) paired with the sweetness from the corn. I recommend adding a bunch of white pepper to really enhance this soup this soup Chefs special: sea food egg tofu sizzling WOWWWW the soft tender jiggly egg tofu with a delicate fried texture paired with fresh pieces of calamari, a sweet glaze sauce..... a flavor bomb everywhere. Easily shareable with a party of 2-3 read more

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[[HIGHLIGHT]]Eccentric atmosphere, small neighborhood gem. Smells wonderful as soon as you walked in.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Food is good. Not huge portions but just enough which I have no problem. Unfortunately they don't have milk pudding with black sesame nor the one with pistachio. Taste is good. Decent solid. Not real traditional Hong Kong taste. It's more of a mix of Hong Kong and Taiwan and Thai. Service is good. read more

Food is good, but not good enough to justify the wait. The wait is due to the slow kitchen. I arrived when the restaurant first opened, so we were one of the first eight tables to order/be seated. 35 minutes to get one hot milk tea. 50 minutes to get one entree. 1 hour to get the other entree and the appetizer. Some other tables, who also arrived at opening, didn't even get their food yet when I finally headed out. Servers are nice, food is tasty, but not different from any other HK cafe. Unless you've got TONS of time on your hands, I wouldn't recommend this place. read more

A traditional old school cantonese style neighborhood Chinese restaurant, these used to be the staple of Chinese restaurant in the bay area back in the days. It always amazes me the variety number of dishes the kitchen can deliver! Sadly, these type of restaurant are a dying breed, especially in the south bay. We were lucky enough to stumble onto this place after the place across the street couldn't handle the customers, and man it was a great meal. We got the yin yang fried rice, fried vermicelli, a lamb stew, steam chicken, and etc. All the food was authentic and tasty, huge portion, good price! The waitress is super nice and friendly! Definitely will go back when we are in the area again! read more

Noriega Cafe - outside - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

This was a swing and a miss for me. I'm not a Sunset resident, so I'm not in the market for an all-purpose Chinese restaurant close to my home to satisfy periodic hankerings for familiar dishes like beef chow fun and mapo tofu. I came here specifically to try just one of their signature dishes, the $16.95 Steamed Half Chicken with Ginger, because I'm always on the hunt for the most delicious version. It's a small place, and I was just one of three customers when I arrived after the lunch hour. Their menu was quite extensive, and frankly, if I was part of a big group, I would've welcomed trying their traditional slate of Cantonese dishes. As a solitary diner, I knew it would be challenging to order a dish for one, and I was right. The platter of chicken was huge and laid out in spatchcock fashion (Photo 6). It was laminated in what I believe was sesame oil, but the texture just wasn't right. Although the dark meat was fine, the white meat was just a little too chewy to satisfy. For variety, I definitely needed the $2 bowl of white rice (Photo 8) and the complimentary house soup (Photo 7). I'm not sure I'd come back for the steamed chicken, but there are plenty of other choices to consider if I was so inclined. FOOD - 3 stars...steamed chicken not quite executed properly AMBIANCE - 3 stars...a bit closed-in where I was seating SERVICE - 3.5 stars...efficient, not ignored TOTAL - 3 stars...need to try something else if I'm in the area RELATED - Exploring the Sunset? Here's a collection of places l've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/02wYmHE0BT read more

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Food is good but the kitchen is very slow. Maybe , wait for couple more months to try them. I will not go back till next year. They need to organize the food orders. I didn't get my food until my next table who order later than me got the food first. Very disappointed. Not recommend going now. Like I said, wait for couple more months. read more

Noriega Cafe - Tofu jelly with mango syrup - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Very authentic Cantonese style restaurant with super friendly "auntie" staff. You feel right at home once you walk in. Every dish we ordered is delicious and with so much "wok hey", you don't see this often anymore. They have a special now for ordering over $80 and get a free half of chicken dish, which makes this place even more homey! read more

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My family and I used to come here all the time! We love the food here! The last two times that I came, I felt like the food was quite flavorless. Four stars because the waitress is super super sweet! One of the nicest waitresses that you could ever encounter! read more

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It took them 45 mins to prepare my takeout food when the restaurant wasn't super busy when I ordered. There was 0 system in place and everyone was super disorganized. We were told the wait was going to be 30 mins for dine in so we decided to do take out. Then after we ordered takeout another group came in and the waiter sat them down. They were the same group size as us as well. The lack of efficiency at this place is a definite no for me and will not be coming back. read more