Cancel

Open app

Search

Papa's Kitchen

4.0 (126 reviews)
Closed 11:00 am - 9:00 pm

Order Papa's Kitchen Takeout or Delivery

Papa's Kitchen Photos

Business Info

PAPA'S KITCHEN ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Dogs allowed

You might also consider

Recommended Reviews - Papa's Kitchen

Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
Yelp app icon
Browse more easily on the app
Review Feed Illustration

Reviews With Photos - Papa's Kitchen

Chow Mein
Sarah B.

We stopped in here on a whim and I'm so glad we did! 1 pm on a Friday and they were steady but no problem getting a table. It was sort of a blustery and the big bowl of matzah ball soup really hit the spot. The woman serving us was no nonsense and efficient- I could see what others found off putting about her- knowing that going in helped!

Pineapple Prawm Fried Rice
Manda J.

Ordered a lunch-time pickup of Pineapple and Shrimp Fried Rice; was ready in 10 minutes! Overall it was good but strangely the pineapple had no flavor or sweetness whatsoever; hopefully just a bad batch of pineapples. There were other veggies as well (peas, baby corn, green onion, etc) and it was a well-balanced fried rice. 4/5 for now because of the lackluster pineapple,. the service I received was kind and I'll be back!

Tai Pho
Maddy B.

My friend and I were craving pho so we came here and it hit the spot! The music and service were good. Very nice especially because it was raining outside.

Vegetarian spring rolls.
Ben M.

After we started eating we found a harmless bug on our plate. The restaurant looked very clean overall. Earwigs exist in a lot of different places. My issue is simply this, once you discover one bug, there are usually more violations hanging out. Having worked in a kitchen, I know what it takes to keep it clean. One little bug on a plate of spring rolls, we're not shook! However, the food was nothing amazing. This place is super average. Having traveled the world, dining in major cities all over this planet, I know what happens behind that kitchen door isn't always something you want to see. I've seen mice running through deli counters, dead fruit flies in soy sauce, dogs standing on butcher tables in night markets chewing on carcasses. Flies surrounding piles of ground beef.

Soft Mapo Tofu $13.50
Jennifer O.

Rainy day Saturday and looking for a spot close by. We scanned Papa's Kitchen's menu in the window and they had lunch specials until 4pm. The server was sweet and brought menus and water immediately. We settled on Mapo Tofu, Sweet & Sour Pork and fresh Vietnamese Grilled Pork Rolls. Portions were generous though the Mapo Tofu lacked heat as promised by the chili pepper next to its listing. If you order it, ask if they can add Szechuan peppercorns. The other dishes were solid, we split family style and I called dibs on the second to last cold pork roll that had fresh pea sprouts poking out of the roll, delicious. The restaurant was clean with a large dining room including a counter if you want to slurp your pho and look out at Haight Street. I would definitely return or do take out from this spot.

Seafood Combo Pan Fried Noodles
Julian C.

Pretty standard fare Chinese place with reasonable prices and big portions. Seafood combo pan fried noodles were actually pretty good. I don't get this dish often but the sauce was pretty flavorful and it came with lots of seafood (fish, scallops, shrimp, squid) and veg (bok choy, snow peas, carrots, mushrooms) Sweet and sour pork was disappointing. The sauce was pretty good but the pork itself was really overfried and to the point of being dry / stringy. I'd still go back to try different items and it isn't a place that breaks the bank.

We had a great meal yesterday. I had the Mongolian beef chow mein and my friend had the Hunan fish and we had the cream cheese Rangoon appetizers. Everything was outstanding and the portions were excellent. I highly recommend this place and can't wait to try everything on the menu.

Beef chow fun
Vince L.

Beef chow fun was well made and delicious. Service was great considering there is one woman doing the waiting, serving, cashiering and busing of tables! Not sure if they have AC but it is very hot in here!

Yih R.

It's a family owned restaurant, and I had high expectations. We ordered a lot of things, and I have mixed feelings. My favorite is absolutely the fried rice. There is a scent to it that cannot be replicated at home. The big wok in a restaurant can only achieve it. The fried chicken wings are good as well. The second tier is orange chicken and the spring rolls. My least favorite is the lemongrass garlic noddles and the hunan fish filet. There is no garlic nor Hunan flavors. They all kinda taste the same at the end. Would I come back? Probably not. There are plenty of places in the haughty.

Soft Mapo Tofu
YooJin Y.

A little cute mom and pop serving Vietnamese and Chinese food. I got the Mapo tofu and it was all right. It has a spicy sign right next to it on the menu however it was not spicy at all, like at all. Should not really be called mapo tofu if it's not spicy. The inside is clean and spacious, and the service is friendly and very nice. However, I will not be back.

Lady with poufy bob put in the wrong order. We ordered Vietnamese Style Fried Egg Rolls but she brought out Vegetable Egg Rolls.

See all

5 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

9 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

2 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 1

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 2
Oh no 0

15 days ago

Great food and service from mama. Got to do some people watching as well - turtles all the way down

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of Jie H.
1
64
100

1 month ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

7 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Ben M.
1591
1073
1985

2 years ago

Helpful 8
Thanks 2
Love this 1
Oh no 3
Photo of Denise C.
1623
3308
9436

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Helpful 12
Thanks 7
Love this 14
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Neil A.
4
118
95

8 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Yih R.
190
544
1646

2 years ago

Helpful 4
Thanks 1
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1
Photo of Thien H.
993
1097
6170

3 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 3
Love this 2
Oh no 0

5 months ago

Cook was in a rush to take out the food, it didn't settle well. Wouldn't recommend this place it was a bummer !

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

9 months ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 0
Oh no 0

11 months ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

5 months ago

Was super good some of the best pho I've ever had! Tasted really fresh. The service was quick and efficient and overall a great experience.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 0
Love this 5
Oh no 1

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

4 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 2
Oh no 1
Photo of A B.
1
2
0

8 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Shuang W.
157
47
17

3 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Sade M.
0
18
15

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

11 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 1

4 years ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

Page 1 of 4

Papa's Kitchen Reviews in Other Languages

Ask the Community - Papa's Kitchen

Are they willing to make vegetarian items vegan?

I think if you ask they'll be willing to make those changes very friendly employees

Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

You might also consider

Verify this business for free

People searched for Chinese 147,015 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

Verify this business

Four Kings 四大天王

Four Kings 四大天王

4.2
(457 reviews)
3.0 mi
$$$

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

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

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

See all

Fish fragrant eggplant
Harborview Restaurant & Bar

Harborview Restaurant & Bar

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

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

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

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

See all

Baked Coffee Lava Buns with Crunchy Sugar Crust

Papa's Kitchen - chinese - Updated July 2026

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...