Brandy Ho’s – Hunan Food

Upon entering I was rather surprised that it looked like a comfortable place to dine. I was expecting a much better meal than what I was served. The servings were quite small for what you paid. I know they say no MSG so I was expecting much better quality. I absolutely hate when a restaurant serves you more onions than food! I ordered the dish with the Chicken, beef, and scallop and had to search high and low for the meat! Especially the Scallops! They were chopped! Such a disappointment. I would definitely not be coming back here whenever I am in San Francisco, and I really will not be recommending it to anyone. For such a high bill (for 4 adults) we were all disappointed and left feeling very unsatisfied.

Heard they were closing after today… Too bad.

Place was dirty. Tables uncleaned with food all over them. Odd set up with large TV continually looping pictures of a few dishes and their Columbus Ave. location. Just the ambiance you want if you’re trying to replicate sitting on the couch at home watching infomercials. Food mediocre and not cheap. Avoid.

It may not be what it used to be but I recently tried Ken’s Kitchen because the ratings were higher and it was absolute garbage compared to Brandy Ho’s. While the food at Brandy Ho’s is not consistent, I can tell you that it is consistently way better than the over-​cooked yet somehow undercooked junk that I just received from Ken’s. It definitely made me appreciate Brandy Ho’s a lot more. I will definitely be ordering my beef and broccoli on my next lazy day.

We ordered take out. They delivered our food promptly. We had the sweet and sour chicken which was very average. The Sauteed Deluxe Vegetables were good fresh and tasty. we also had the strings beans with meat sauce and it was very average. Maybe it’s because we had takeout was the reason it was such a average experience. I’d like to dine in and see if our experience would improve.

Brandy No!
It has been years since I have eaten here because it was terrible back then. Unfortunately, I succumbed to peer pressure and went there with a bunch of friends the other night. After being reacquainted with the awful décor and the dreary lighting, we sat down at one of the community tables and ordered. Shortly after eating my very greasy and tasteless chicken and broccoli dish served by the apathetic wait staff, I got food poisoning. My advice is just say «No» to Brandy Ho!

Well, I used to work in there around 2010 to 2012, at that time everyone who worked inside are always nice and friendly just like family, one of the manager organize all types of thing to make delivery and dine in more easier and comfort, but I can see this recent is all piece of junk, the waiter has no mood to work with customer and the recent manager is suck, she just blame everyone and not care their business, she mess the whole thing and watch the restaurant into death, well obviously the food is not tasty anymore, they deserve one star but I give it two just because I used to be the same boat but now is totally broken

This must be the worst Chinese food experience I’ve had!
I don’t want to sound mean or anything, but I think when it comes to taste. It won’t even pass for an.ok. The best way to describe their food perhaps is, «edible».
I know, it might sound mean, but their food is really not good!
I could have listen to my insticts and for the obvious reason that there were no people in the restaurant during lunch hour.
I ordered their Lunch Box #2 combo — chili beef with dim sum and soup.
Chili Beef — their version of mongolian beef with carrots. Beet seemed to have been boiled in water, without seasoning mixed with garlic, green onions carrots and onion… imagine them just being stirred and put some chili sauce w/​o any other seasoing
Soup — Hot and Sor soup tasted like water
Dimsum — looked like a flat empanada, deep fried and stiffed with some weird stuff. (this is coming from someone that eats chicken feet, intestines etc)
Just awful… :(

I’m surprised by how this restaurant garners such extreme reviews … people either love it or hate it. For me, it’s right around average.
Surprised that it was pretty empty for a Friday night. Was immediately seated (well, after a few minutes until we caught someone’s attention).
The hot and sour soup was ok … nothing too special. Of the two entrees, the gong pao shrimp with water chestnuts and bamboo shoots was better than the chicken with string beans (although the string beans were quite good).
Fine spot if you’re craving some Chinese but probably not a place I’d go out of your way to come to.

Gross. Seriously, this place is nasty. Nothing was even decent to eat. If McDonalds decided to serve Chinese food, they would do a way better job than this place. I went when they first opened and it was bad but, I gave it a pass since they were just starting out. Now, years later, it’s actually worse. Don’t bother going even if it’s the only place open and you are drunk and need food. No one needs food that bad and you can’t be drunk enough to mask how horrible it is.

I absolutely love this place. It is my favorite Chinese food in the city. They will make the food extra spicy for you if you ask. My favorite dish is the curry beef (extra spicy for me!). Their smoked ham rangoon is also to die for! YUMMERS! And now they have this ‘All you can eat” thing on Monday and Wednesday nights that lets you sample all the items from this «special» menu for one low price. It isn’t buffet… it is better. All cooked fresh as you order, 3 dishes at a time, as much as you like! You can’t beat that for $ 20!!! And the food is always out quickly with great service. Fiona is my favorite server! So friendly and on top of it! I will be back again and again and again!

This review is for Brandy Ho’s delivery service. I honestly cannot fathom how this restaurant has such bad reviews. My partner and I order delivery from them several times per month, and the food is consistently delicious. We usually get the Sizzling Rice Shrimp and General’s Shrimp. Both are soo yummy and have the most perfectly balanced spice I’ve had in Chinese food. Also, the food is not even a little greasy, as can sometimes be a problem with Chinese food. They always quote 45 minutes for delivery time when we order, but arrive within 20 minutes or so.
Now, if this review were for the dining in experience, I’d have to take off one star. The food is still great, but the atmosphere… not so much. Although they’ve got a pretty set up, they also have giant TVs playing a looped video of chef’s preparing the food. I hate TVs in any restaurant, but this one is particularly bad since the content it plays is so repetitive and dull. When I go out to dinner with my partner or friends, I want to be paying attention to them. It’s hard to do that with a distracting TV in the background.
But the food is amazing! Order from them!

If you like spicy, then come here. I ordered medium spicy and it was the hottest thing I have ever put in my mouth. (Insert jokes here) It was so spicy I couldn’t taste the flavors of the food. That is never good. The service was okay but they hover over you like a News Chopper flying covering the OJ pursuit. Enough already, I’ll flag you over when I need you… lol Having said that, you won’t be able to complain about the service here. The servers/​bus boys are everywhere… lol
I don’t come to this neighborhood too often but if I did I would stop in if I had a burning desire for spicy Chinese food. (See what I did there with the burning word? hehe)

It’s a tradition for me to visit the Castro location for lunch every time I fly in.
I’ve never had a bad experience and never had bad food.
It may be a really small place, but that’s what I like about it.
Some of the wait staff may be a little on the quiet side, but I’ve always had a good experience.
It’s not as bad as some are saying.
I’m sure there are better Chinese places, but it’s still a nice place to have lunch.

I never write reviews, but this is the worst restaurant in SF. Trust me!
They came two hours before the scheduled, at 5, and I said the man to come back at 7 pm.
Then he came with cold food 20 minutes before the scheduled, but never at the scheduled time.
In addition, the food was cold, super spicy even when I asked them «NOT SPICY PLEASE».
The worst service ever. I have been deceived by all the descriptions they have on Eat24 and I thought it was a wonderful restaurant. If I could give 0 stars, I would.
To conclude, the food is extremely OVERPRICED. I paid 26 dollars to get onions and veggies with 4 shrimps (and not viceversa), and beef. The classical Chinese restaurant, but overpriced. Eat24 is full of them, so find another one cheaper and with a best staff.
I hate them.

I recently began eating the Spicy Ham Rangoon and it’s a good time! Think quesadilla with ham and peppers. It’s got a little kick to it, but it’s not over-​powering. They serve it with a mayo-​like sauce. The sauce to me doesn’t add a whole lot of value to the dish. I guess it’s there for texture. I still stand by my tried and true favorites of steamed dumplings and sliced beef w/​curry garlic & hot sauce. My friends really love the fried dumplings, but I like the texture of the steamed ones. I always have a great time when I get food to-​go or eat at the restaurant. They do a good job for group events (birthdays, anniversary, etc) provided you schedule the event in advance.

I’m always sad to write a 1 star review because I start out with high hopes. But in this case, Brandy Ho’s forces me to write such a review. I’ve eaten here and had quite decent food and service. You can imagine my surprise upon ordering take out and delivery from them. If you go online, their menu is more limited which is fine. Many items offer you a choice of how spicy you want the dish, from no spice to very spicy. Just above no spice is «mild».
We order five dishes. Someone calls back and asks about how spicy we want it, saying «None or Spicy?» My friend says «Mild» and keeps repeating «Mild», just like the website says. OK? We’re told delivery in 45 minutes. The driver calls and my friend gets the food. By this time, we’re quite hungry.
Imagine our surprise when every dish except one is covered in red peppers!!! One bite and my mouth is one fire! That’s not mild. It’s a big «SCREW YOU!» by the order taker in the restaurant. Perhaps they thought we’d just eat the food after tipping the driver $ 5 on a $ 41 take out order?
Nope! We called them back, was told we didn’t understand that Chinese food is spicy and no apology. So now it’s a verbal «SCREW YOU!» We pack up the food, walk to Brandy Ho’s and ask for a refund and the tip back. Oh yes, when we were at the restaurant, we ask for the manager or supervisor on duty. The woman at the front desk hands us a business card. We can email the owner. Again, no apology, but they did credit the charge card and retrieved the tip.
There aren’t many choices for Chinese food in the Castro, but you’ll do yourself a favor by not ordering take out from Brandy Ho’s. At least if you order in, you can correct the problem immediately, and perhaps they will be more polite about it.

WHAT A RIP OFF. TERRIBLE FOOD. STAY AWAY.
I ordered delivery for three of my friends and myself — Generals chicken, fried prawns with sweet and sour sauce, beef and broccoli, and hunan gon-​pou chicken thinking that it would be more than enough food.
Delivery was fairly prompt, but as soon as I opened the bag I was EXTREMELY disappointed. Generals chicken for $ 10.50 consisted of SEVEN pieces of soggy breaded chicken. Are you kidding me? On top of that it tasted horrible. There was NO meat in the hunan gon-​pou chicken, and the beef tasted like rubber. The fried chicken was soggy.
I was so upset with the amount of food, I called the restaurant to complain. The man who answered the phone went to check with the chef and came back with,
«uh. yeah seven or eight pieces.»
«Really for almost $ 11 you’re going to give me seven pieces of chicken?»
«Yes, uh, maybe I can give you discount for next time.»
«No, there won’t be a next time». THEN HE HUNG UP ON ME.
For that (and 3 rices) I spend $ 50. I don’t mind spending money on Chinese food, but for shit like that… never again.

Great.

Ho-​kay.