Chef Jia’s Restaurant

Chef Jia has been around for decades. tried them in my post teenage years. even then i didn’t find the food memorable so i didn’t return.
no doubt i didn’t find the gems that kept Chef Jia around (for decades).
cool thing about Chef Jia was there was always seating when i passed by.

So most places have lunch specials, but here they actually have 5.99 dinner rice plates that are pretty huge. Very basic w/​a lot of steamed rice and a little salty, but does the trick in an area where decent cheap grub isn’t falling off the trees, espc. at dinnertime.
The honey chili stuff does indeed taste good, but if you have any, uh, gastrointestinal sensitivity to red pepper flakes, don’t eat it. In fact, don’t eat ANYTHING marked as «spicy» here, or you will be paying the Terrible Butt Toll about 8 to 12 hours later.
Also pretty good — fried eggplant and the combo chow mein.

Honey chili chicken all day, every day.
Dinner portions are generous. Décor is pretty bland, but that’s just fine since it keeps the tourists out — they’re drawn to the techicolor signage outside House of Nanking and that’s just fine.

Don’t let popular tourist destinations nearby (next door) lure you in. This small, nondescript Hunan Chinese restaurant packs quite a surprise.
One drawback compared to other Chinese eateries I like to go to: somewhat slim pickings for the vegetarians. Not impossible, and given the size of the dishes you’ll get more than enough food to fill you up, but I did notice a lack of variation for tofu dishes. I don’t always expect meat substitutes, but at least a good variety of tofu mixed in would round out the menu. That being said, it’s quite possible that you could just ask to have tofu instead of chicken/​beef/​whatever in some of the meat dishes. I didn’t ask, since I wound up requesting Moo Shu Vegetables at the suggestion of my friend. He ordered the Beef and String Beans for himself, with a side of brown rice.
To say that we had too much food would be an understatement. There was at least two meals worth of food between us, provided you have a normal sized appetite. This was my first time trying Moo Shu and between that, the sauce in it, and the absolutely amazing plum sauce, I was hooked. I ate as much as I could but still had leftovers to bring home afterward!
On top of all this, the price is cheap as hell and unlike next door, no huge lineup or stuffed dining room area!
I’d happily return here again to have a repeat performance of my vegetable pancake dish or try something else.

I have been to this place probably (at least) 25 times this year as it has become my go-​to Chinese food place. I actually have tried lots of the other Chinese restaurants in the area (although no where near all of them) and this is my go-​to place because (1) price (2) quantity of food for price (3) taste (4) speed. In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that I am the kind of person that has no issue with American-​ized Chinese food.
I have tried lots of different things at Chef Jia’s, my favorite being either Honey Chilli Chicken or the fried eggplant. Depending on what you get, the lunch special can range from 6.50ish to 7.50ish. You don’t get the free soup if you don’t eat there which is fine by me because I get plenty of food. I like to think that I have a hearty appetite and I can usually split one lunch special into two meals.
If you are in the area, definitely worth a try. There are usually seats open in the restaurant during lunch time and the price is way more reasonable than the place next door.
To address the other Unilocalers who say the customer service sucks, I would have to agree insofar as I do think that when I first started going there the owners were a little bit cold. Over time and multiple lunches purchased, they have started to open up. I wouldn’t characterize it as rudeness so much as I would just say they not as bubbly as a teenager or college student working at a fastfood or coffee place.
They get four stars and will keep me coming back. Should also note though that, like every single place I’ve seen in the area, the health standards are not as rigidly followed as other places. In fact, I once saw the cashier go from sneezing in his hands to handling money to putting rice in a to-​go container. Yet, despite this, I keep coming back ’cause I love their food :)

Found Chef Jia’s while waiting for House of Nanking. We didn’t feel like waiting in their long line, and thought this hole in the wall place could give us more authentic chinese options. All in all it was not bad, but nothing special either.
Eggplant — ⁴⁄₅ (good choice)
Garlic beef — 2.5÷5 overly salted, not that much beef either
Salt and pepper squid — ⁴⁄₅
Mapo tofu — 2.5÷5 this one was cooked weird, there was a lot of cornstarch and I could barely find any chili in the dish. Missing some balance when salting.

We have been coming here for the last 3 summers and love the food and service here. I’m impressed the waitress remembers us. :-) She is friendly and very efficient.
pork fried rice — excellent flavors from the egg, onions, carrots, cabbage, and pork, best fried rice I ever had in a Chinese restaurant
shrimp fried rice — just like the pork fried rice only with shrimp
hot tea — excellent flavor and brewed from loose leaves
In addition to the excellent tasting food the fried rice is a great value being under $ 10 with tax and the portion size is huge. I barely finished mine. It is perplexing why there are huge crowds next door at the House of Nanking when the food is so awesome here.

Thanks to a friend’s suggestion to avoid the lines at the «touristy» places in Chinatown and head to Chef Jia’s instead — we enjoyed a delicious authentic Chinese meal.
Three of us ate dinner and each had a drink for about $ 50. We loved the Sesame Chicken and the Rolling Lettuce (Lettuce wraps).
Yes, it is a «hole» in the wall, but the service is quick, and food is very good.

Bad service. I ordered for pick up. And i ask for hotsauce. She told me to get the it from one of the tables. Its for To Go ! Chow fun no taste.
1^st time here. Never goin back

Really excellent Chinese food. Generous portions, and very good value. CASH ONLY. Get the egg rolls. They are made from scratch.
Skip House of Nanking and come here. It’s a small place, but clean. The chef/​owner is passionate about his cooking and it shows.

I have to say that this is BY FAR the best Chinese food I have ever had, anywhere! Everytime I visit San Francisco, I have to make a trip to Chef Jia’s.
My best friend lives in the city and has been coming to eat at Chef Jia’s since he was an intern visiting in college.
I’ve had a little bit of everything, and all of the food is super fresh and amazingly delicious. The egg rolls are definitely a fave, the coating is so nice and crispy, but not too greasy. The egg drop soup is also pretty phenomenal. For main dishes, I am not very daring, so I usually stick to the usual beef with broccoli and sweet and sour chicken. Both are always very hot and fresh and you know they were made to order.
I’ve actually seen a delivery man bringing in fresh food from the Chinatown farmer’s market, which was great!
The restaurant itself is nothing fancy and pretty basic. The service is always friendly and fast. This is definitely a good stop if you are visiting the city!

I really like Chef Jia! If you’re looking for great service, this probably isn’t the place to come, but I always think their food tastes good, the quality is pretty good, and the price is definitely right. It’s a very utilitarian relationship with the service, but it’s never outright terrible or rude. I do appreciate that my water glass is always full when I’m there. The fried dishes are lightly breaded and super crunchy, how a friend dish should be. I’ve never felt overly heavy after eating here and it’s a WAY better option than waiting at House of Nanking because it really isn’t worth the wait. At Chef Jia I usually order the:
Honey Chili Prawn — always delicious and addictive. Perfect balance of sweet and spicy
Peanut Butter Chicken w/​extra Broccoli– a good savory dish with a yummy vinegary bite
Sweet and Sour Pork — a pretty standard American-​Chinese dish that they do well
Also, they have great lunch specials that come with rice for ridiculously inexpensive, like $ 6 – 8. Also, remember they are cash only!

I was motivated to go here due to Unilocal reviews claiming that this place had good vegetarian options. And yes, they do.
The first time I came here, I tried the honey chili eggplant. It is definitely a unique dish to me and I absolutely think it’s delicious! The eggplants are chopped, fried with some breading almost like tempura (giving it a nice slight crunch), and smothered in their honey chili sauce. It tastes so good and is so fried and drenched in sauce, it feels like a bad thing to eat for your health, but it is oh so yummy! The portion was huge as well and I was able to divide it into two meals.
The second dish I have tried is their Kung Pao Bean Cake. I really liked it. It was unique to me in that what I thought were carrots were actually sweet potatoes. The sauce was very yummy and the vegetables were cooked well. This, too, was enough to last me two meals.
The customer service is not impressive but they get the job done. You sit down, get your order taken, and they bring you the food. Pretty straight forward.
What I personally don’t like about the place is the cleanliness of their condiment containers and the fact that they serve water in a plastic tumbler. I noticed that the top of the pepper was kind of dirty and had some green color… not sure what it was but it was a sign of age and uncleanliness to say the least. Colored plastic tumblers are usually for kids — I don’t think it would hurt to upgrade to legit glasses.
Other than that, Chef Jia’s has really interesting slight twists to their food making their dishes uniquely tasty.
Please note that it’s cash only — if you so happen to need cash, there’s an ATM at the little store next to Quickly down the block.
Chef Jia’s Restaurant is worth a try and if you like it, it’s a good affordable go-​to spot.

Good press and apparently good food was 20 years ago.
Been twice, my visit first was ok and thought perhaps I ordered the wrong dishes. Second visit, I ordered different dishes, and will not be going again.
No going back again. Ever.
Food poisoning from shrimp is not fun today.

This place is not getting the love it deserves! Chef Jia’s is one of the best restaurants in Chinatown. Granted, the place is a bit rundown. Oh, and the owners remind me a bit of the Soup Nazi (well, if the Soup Nazi was Chinese). But man, do they know good food.
The Honey Chili Chicken consists of chicken fried in a light and crispy batter and covered with a delicious sauce that is perfectly sweet and spicy. The generous portion of chicken is served with an even more generous portion of white rice (brown rice is an additional $ 1). And in the name of health food, they throw a couple of obligatory pieces of steamed broccoli in. It is the best $ 7.50 you will spend (especially because you will have leftovers for dinner).
Not in the mood for Honey Chili Chicken? Try the Kung Pao Chicken, covered in a dark spicy sauce with plenty of peanuts and red chilies. Or the Chicken with Asparagus that includes a hearty serving of perfectly cooked tender crisp asparagus.
Honestly, every item I’ve tried from the faded lunch poster on their wall has been fantastic. The portions are generous and the food is fresh. And I will take that over a fancy restaurant or smiling staff any day.

To quote Han Solo, «she might not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts!» By the way, you should always quote Han Solo.
You walk into Chef Jia’s, and there are clippings from old newspapers on the wall, and signs proclaiming that they won the award for Best Chinese Food in San Francisco in ¹⁹⁸⁴⁄₈₅. The décor is a little dated (or classic, if you prefer), so you start to think «hmm…this place clearly had its day, and I wonder if we’re no longer in it.»
YOU ARE. Chef Jia’s, after so many years, is still good. The dishes are prepared with a subtle excellence that is exactly what you’d want from a great neighborhood restaurant. For some reason the House of Nanking next door seems to get more publicity and bigger crowds; I suspect because it’s a little nicer looking and more modern; but if you don’t mind a little 80’s décor, Chef Jia’s has the better food.
And I wonder — what if Chef Jia’s best days really were in the past? I mean, if they’re this good now, how completely ASTONISHING must it have been to eat there in 1985? Best reason to invent a time machine yet.

Okay, how many of you read any of the Oz books, not just saw the movie? Right, well here’s an AP question: remember the Hoppers and the Horners? They were in, I think, The Emerald City of Oz. The Hoppers have houses which are stunning on the outside but barren and ugly inside. The Horners have houses which ugly on the outside but cozy and comfortable inside. Their reasoning: well, you live on the inside, not the outside, right?
You probably see where I’m going: Chef Jia’s is a classic hole-​in-​the-​wall. There is no décor of any kind except for press clippings of great reviews the food has received. But that’s the whole point. It’s ugly outside (and inside for that matter) but the INSIDE inside, the food, ahhhhhh, the food is fabulous. That’s what you go to a restaurant for, right?
The Honey Chili Chicken: chunks of chicken so crispy they rattled against the spoon, coated with a golden spicy sauce. Orange Peel Spice Beef: also crunchy, bits of real orange peel in a yummy glaze. My wife loves the eggplant specialty. The Hunan String Beans (not «Human String Beans,» thank you auto-​correct) are tender and tasty. They’ll bring you brown rice if you ask for it. The service is friendly and incredibly fast. Often Mr. Jia himself will bring your plate of food to your table. (If not, you’ll probably be served by his wife or one of their kids.)
Vinyl chairs, blue and red plastic water glasses, noise from the street outside, echoing interior — what do they matter? I can still taste that Honey Chili Chicken.

This is some good shim. Good, cheap food and huge portions. Remember, however, that it is cash only.
Honey Chili Chicken — If you like fried food and the combination of sweet and spicy, you’ll love this. I’m sure there’s tons of MSG and corn syrup but it’s damn good.
Mu Shu Chicken — Lots of chopped veggies without too much sauce. The chicken was pretty bland, so you might as well just go with mu shu veggies.
Fried Rice — There are little bits of veggies (no large pieces), lots of egg, and tons of flavor without it being greasy. Good stuff. The chicken or pork fried rice isn’t an upgrade over the veggie fried rice.

Dieser Laden war die einzige Touristenfalle in die wir in den USA geraten sind. Das House of Nanking Nebenanschluss war wie Immer brechend voll und dieser Laden hier bei sehr guten Wertungen total leer. Also gingen wir zu Jia und die Enttäuschung begann.
Der Service war sehr unfreundlich, Coke gab es aus der Dose, die Gerichte waren sehr fad.
Das einzige Highlight war die Rechnung, denn hier wurde uns für die Leistung eines Chinaimbisses in Deutschland 45 Dollar abgeknöpft. Reis und Co wurden extra berechnet, auch fügte man selbstständig 20 Prozent Trinkgeld zur Rechnung hinzu.
Einfach wegbleiben und einen anderen Laden aufsuchen!

I came here the other night and while I really enjoyed my yam dinner dish — my spicy eggplant dish, lacked the spice, and was literally perched on a sea of oil.
I still really enjoy this place for their friendly service, affordable prices and their unique veggie dishes, but I would definitely recommend staying away from the spicy eggplant plate, and browsing through the other reviews — for a better understanding of their more stand-​out options.
Trust.

BEST SMALL MOM & POP IN CHINATOWN
We stopped in here for lunch and had Salted Pepper Ribs, Five Spice Chicken, & Pan Fried Noodles. We thought everything was absolutely delicious & fresh and nicely prepared with a delicate flavor. If we had a complaint it would be that nothing was the slightest bit spicy even though we ordered it that way.
Nevertheless, this place is a much better deal and alternative to the House of Nanking right next door.