Chubby Noodle

This was my first time at chubby noodle on recommendation from a friend, and it did not disappoint! It’s tapas style which was great for our group of 6, and we pretty much just ordered everything. The food is delicious, you can’t go wrong with whatever you pick but I would definitely recommend the tacos, the bbq ribs, and the garlic noodles. Yum!
The atmosphere is fun, they play hip hop music and everyone on the staff was really friendly. The service was great and the food came out really fast. The staff was very accommodating when we asked to switch our table for more space.
This place is my new obsession!

I have probably never waited 2 hours for a restaurant before, but it was worth the wait. All I have to say is… Korean pork street tacos, spicy garlic noodles and the short ribs. So delicious!

This is my go-​to for so many different occasions — brunch, lunch, late lunch, dinner! Always a good time and good food.
Chubby Noodle serves smaller plates that are perfect to share and encourages you to try multiple items!
What should you order?
— Poke Tuna
— Pork Wontons
— Spicy Garlic Noodles (but beware of the copious amounts of garlic!)
— Chubby Fried Rice w/​Pork
— Szechuan Green Beans
My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
The vibe is upbeat and everyone who comes here is ready to have a good time. Beware of the long lines at popular hours. If you have a group of 6 or more, definitely make a reservation.

I’ve tried both locations and slightly prefer the Marina spot since it boasts big communal tables and a semi-​open kitchen. I’d call it Mission Chinese’s equally hip steb-​sibling but with more multicultural Asian roots. It’s also a shared plate experience with a solid Japanese beer and soju collection.
Top picks in the Marina:
SPICY GARLIC NOODLES — pile on the noodles! What’s not to like about charred garlic and jalapeño? It reminded me of SO’s black bean noodle dish, sans black beans.
SALT & PEPPER SHRIMP — sure, it’s a modest serving but every bite is worth it.
GARLIC GREEN BEANS — these were stupid good. Almost better than the meat dishes which sounds silly. They caramelize it perfectly so it’s smoky, garlicky and sticky delicious.
The BBQ pork fried rice and Kung Pao Wings were decent but not remarkable enough to make much of an impression.
Top picks in North Beach:
CHUBBY FRIED CHICKEN — that buttermilk brine though. It’s a beast to do at home (multi day process = agonizing). I always appreciate those who go an extra mile to create juicy chicken. These are bone-​free so have at it!
My primary gripe is the pounding music they blast at major decibels (at both locations mind you) and then crank up even further as soon as it becomes dinner hour. I mean … I understand the sly party throwing rule of always having your music a notch higher. It encourages guests to get close to talk to one another but this is club-​level loud. That or I’m just getting old and cranky.

Came here for a friend’s birthday brunch and had tons of fun with the AYCE&DRINK option!
Bring on the mimosas and sangrias with rubber duckies swimming in it!
FOOD is decent but can be better! It can be less greasy if possible.
Very FUN environment with a big group.
Other than that would likely come back: D

Delicious late night dining spot with all the old school hiphop hits. It’s fun for a date night, sake & beers. It reminds me of someplace in NYC, quick service even when the place is jammed. Love the garlic noodles & authentic long green beans :) it’s greasy good

Oh, Chubby Noodle… why are you SO good? Id be lying to you if I said I didn’t crave this place at least once a week. While I have to suppress my cravings and save my visits for a cheat day, I honestly think Chubby Noodle is one of the best places to grub in SF.
Favorite things?
Garlic noodles
Korean Pork Tacos (OMG)
Wontons
Green beans
Fried Rice
Poke
The only reason I’ve taken off a star is because seating, when available, is pretty tight. It can get super hot in here with their open kitchen format. Honestly though, you don’t really care once you’re seated. They are also notorious for playing the best music ever (see: «Chubby Noodle Marina» playlist on Spotify)

The good.
Porridge — Awesome! Best porridge I’ve ever had. Who would have thought bacon and egg on porridge could be so delicious. My favorite dish in the entire menu. Add a little bit of hot sauce and it’s the best thing in the world.
Dumplings. — Great! Really flavorful and was surprised that dumplings that weren’t really made from a Chinese restaurant would even be on par. Their Shanghai dumplings weren’t traditional Chinese dumplings but they were still good.
Chilled ramen — Good! Mix everything in the bowl and you got a really good chill ramen. The taste was nice and clean and you could taste every ingredient. Noodles were cooked pretty well so they weren’t too chewy or soft.
Pork and shrimp wonton — Great! full flavored and wasn’t heavy with the salt like normal dim sum places. Could definitely taste the shrimp and pork.
Mimosa — Yum. They were giving out cups of mimosas and they were good. Made perfectly so you tasted just a hint of the alcohol. The duck floating in there was fun.
The Okay.
Wonton soup — Not bad. Very light flavored and the wontons were juicy but not much flavor to them itself. The bok choy had absolutely no flavor. Maybe the soup was too light. I still liked it however.
Salt and Pepper shrimp — Not bad. The shrimp was seasoned nicely and the sauce gave it a nice kick. Would order this again but it seemed too plain.
The not so good
Chubby Chicken Chow Mein — Bad. All I taste is oil and soy sauce. Way too much soy sauce. Totally masked any flavor the dish had and just. soy. sauce. everywhere.
Hot and sour soup — Weak. It wasn’t sour nor hot and it seemed like there was just too much going on in there. Too bland and not enough of the bold sour nor spicy taste.
Pekin Duck steam bun — Now the taste actually wasn’t bad but it’s the set up is weird. Usually, the duck is cut in slices so you can just pick up the meat and put it on the bun. This dish, you had to cut it yourself and it was just a mess trying to get the fat off. Could have been better presented.
Rice cake in XO sauce — This is in between the Okay and bad rankings. I liked it the first time I tried one but after the second and third one, it was just way too sweet. The sweetness overtook the peppers and just left it tasting like soft candy.
Kung pao chicken wings — These looked better than it tasted. Well, there wasn’t much taste to it. It looked spicy and full of flavor but when I bit into it, it was a let down. I love chicken wings so I was pretty disappointed in this dish.
Overall the place has a great atmosphere and awesome for dinner parties. The staff was all really friendly and quick to bring out the dishes. The food here is pretty good. Some better then others as you can see in my review above. I’d come here again for the porridge alone.

You definitely need to come to this place hungry. Leave the ordering up to the waiter, he’ll sort you out. It’s a bit pricey, you definitely won’t be able to eat your share of food but you might be able to make it up in terms of drinks. The staff are super friendly and there’s an endless chain of food options available.

Found this place, here on Unilocal!Wanted some fusion, and a place close by. We got there right when they opened, sat down, had some recommendations made to us. Tapas style, order a few dishes to share.
Bbq pork fried rice with a fried egg, I could eat this all day. AMAZING flavor and BIG pieces of bbq pork. Ummm whole lotta awesomeness.
Spicy garlic noodles with fried chicken. The fried chicken were bite sized pieces fried to crisp perfection and spicy. Noodles were good, not much garlic flavor in them, I felt all the flavor was in the chicken which in turn complimented the noodles quite well.
Korean bbq pork tacos. HOLY COW BATMAN, these are the bomb! I can’t describe the explosion of flavor that happens to your tastebuds other than to get your butt in there and try them.
I refreshed my palette with a pear/​champagne cocktail that was yummy.
My favorite part was the kick ass old school 90’s R&B/hip hop tunes that were bouncing in the background. Nothing like a little Nate Dogg while eating tasty food! we’ll visit here again, for sure!

I really enjoyed my impromptu meal here one evening as I happened to be in the neighborhood. I sat at the bar, and I asked the bartender what the popular dishes are. It was just me, but I wanted to try a variety of dishes and planned to pack up what I couldn’t eat.
I started out with a pork taco (they serve these yummy tacos until they run out) — it was sooo flavorful and filling. I could have eaten maybe 3 for a solo meal, but I wanted to try other dishes while I was there. The bartender gave me a Chubby Sake to go with my meal — thank you, yum! It complimented the food perfectly.
I got the spicy garlic noodles and I had to add the fried chicken to it! This dish made me sweat but it was so worth it, and the fried chicken is a must-​add. Ask your waiter for «firecracker sauce» as the bartender recommended to me on the side to add as you like — this was another layer of kicking flavor! It’s a nice, healthy serving so I definitely had to take 2/​3s of it home (so good as leftovers though!). I also had an order of the Chinese green beans which was a nice healthy, vegetable add to my meal — I took a good portion of it home too.
The bartender gave me another Chubby Sake — thank you! He was so nice and attentive.
Thank you! I will definitely be back!

Yay for having my favorite beer, Hitachino. I was able to snag a spot at their intimate bar to enjoy one while waiting for a table. Wait wasn’t too bad on a Saturday evening.
It’s a loud, bustling restaurant. Be prepared to talk just as loudly. The kitchen is small and open and the woks are hot and constantly in use which means (ladies especially) be prepared for your hair and clothes to smell like fried food from a Chinese restaurant once you leave if you’re by the kitchen.
Skip the Korean bbq tacos.
Maybe skip the fried rice.
Salmon sashimi was good but felt out of place on our table.
Garlic noodles and chicken was delicious! Winner.
Papaya salad was refreshing and necessary amongst the heavy food.
If you like spicy you’ll like Chubby Noodle. It’s expensive for what it is but if you want a variety of Asian inspired foods and not go to a traditional Asian restaurant, this is a great place.

2.5 Rounded up.
This review is for the AYCE dim sum. I think that the concept is cool, but ultimately it falls short from the hype that is created by the cool concept. In general, dim sum is cheap enough to eat to your heart’s content for less than the AYCE price offered by Chubby Noodle ($ 37). While the food was good, it was also not very memorable. The variety of food and cost of food don’t live up to the hype. They also don’t have non-​alcholic beverages other than water.
I do think the quality of the food is good, the service was awesome, and I was satisfied. I think it’s good if you’re not an adventurous eater and want to try dim sum. Unlike the usual dim sum places that kind of expect you to know what to eat and where service is generally not a priority, this place will help you order some high quality basic dim sum staples.

DE-​LI-​CIOUS.
Food: 5 Stars
Service: 5 Stars
Was not really sure what to expect from Chubby Noodle but boy was I impressed! Upon walking in, I was a little annoyed to be told I had to wait for my party to arrive when half the restaurant was wide open, but ok. Once we finally got seated, service was super attentive and friendly. But most importantly, food was AWESOME.
We got the pork fried rice (A+), the pork tacos (oH MY), the chinese green beans (YOU’RE KIDDING ME), and the tuna poke (pretty dang good). It’s rare to love EVERY item you order, especially when it’s your first time and you’re kinda ordering blindly, but boy did Chubby Noodz bring it. I seriously would go back every night this week.
Just be aware, it’s a super small place so you may have a wait! But it’s totally worth it.

Oops! I did it again… I got way too drunk off of cheap champagne, fueled by the drunken desire to keep collecting the cute (but probably dirty) rubber ducks that come in each cocktail.
You won’t have trouble finding this place because they’re the only place blaring hip hop on a Sunday morning in the Marina. That being said, you probably won’t be able to hold a conversation here because the music is so loud. Initially I could have done without it, but then they ‘Drunk in Love’ twice and we were way too happy (and drunk) about it.
The deal is all you can eat and all you can drink for $ 37. There are three cocktails and sapporo to choose from, and you can do sake for $ 5 (?) extra. We got two (or three? four?) rounds of free sake because it was our server’s last day and she just DGAF. Shout out to you, you small, Asian spitfire. I alternated between the mimosa and the sangria – don’t ask how many I had because I couldn’t tell you. The drinks kept coming, even when they weren’t requested, so we kept ordering more food. Overall nothing was too special. The rice cakes with XO sauce were spicy and sweet; a little too sweet for my taste. The best dish was the wontons, which come in a garlicky sauce. We essentially tried everything on the brunch menu and it was the only one that stood out.
Atmosphere is A+ if you’re looking to get Sunday funday ratchet. By default you get chopsticks, so if you’re awful at chopsticks when you’re drunk – or sober – be sure to ask for a fork before your speech starts getting slurred. The food is really nothing to rave about, but you can get past that with a few shots.

Went to Chubby Noodle for a late lunch with 3 of my girlfriends! We had a reservation and were seated immediately. Our drink orders came out quickly and we never had to track anyone down to get our next round.
One of the girls has a mild shell-​fish allergy so our waiter made sure our group got loads of options everyone could eat! We basically had EVERYTHING on the menu, and 2 of some things (1 with chicken, 1 with shrimp).
Everything we had was FANTASTIC! There wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like. I also loved that a mini rubber duck comes in every drink! Super fun and original!
Our waiters were very nice and attentive. I even got one to take our photo with my Polaroid (he was a bit hesitant)
I definitely plan on coming back next time I’m in the city!

I’ve been driving around the City for the past year and some of my riders have gone here and I decided to try it out on a late night when I was starving. Mistake. For some reason I thought this was going to be a place with lots of noodle choices — it ain’t. Pretty short menu, only really two noodle dishes — garlic noodles and, what I ordered, chow mein. Chow mein was just ‘ok’, nothing special, not worth $ 12. I agree with Edna in her review — kinda weird to have fried noodles topping a noodle dish.
I agree that the music is a bit much, and the service is not warm & friendly, just ok, at least when I went late-​night.
This might be perfect for some diners, but not me.

Wow! Delicious!
Stopped in with a friend and was seated right away (around 8:30pm). I ordered a huge Sapporo (it was the largest can I’ve ever seen). We started off with the kim chi, papaya salad, then had the garlic noodles and hot wings. Everything was so yummy. The salad was spicy but that’s normal. Their housemade kim chi was awesome. I can see why this place is so popular. Would love to come back for dinner again!

Did we just luck out on timing or something, because the experience I had was near perfect here.
After hiking all day on Mt. Tam, on our way back into the city due to construction changes, we wanted to grab dinner in the Marina. Saw the good reviews for Chubby Noodle and got a thumbs up from another member of our party.
We got there around 6 on Sunday and it had a crowd but there was no wait. Got seated right by the door, and our server/​manager was fantastic. Friendly, polite, willing to explain the family-​style ordering, and willing to answer any questions. I had some about the on tap sake and the Yona Yona Beer, and while he didn’t know he asked the bartender and provided the answer.
We ended up getting a few items for the table. We were hungry, but not ravenous from the hike, so we got in order of delivery:
Pork and Shrimp Wontons: probably the weakest of the items, but not bad by any means. The spicy soy sauce seeps in and gives it a wonderful kick that we all noticed. 8 pieces per bowl gave us each two, so enough to enjoy.
Papaya Salad: this was really good, really light, and really refreshing. Yummy papaya, bean sprouts, mint, basil in a light vinegar dressing. Everyone got a huge amount.
Kimchee: this was definitely my suggestion, and I did end up killing it as it was great. Some of the Korean spots in San Jose make a pretty tame kimchee. This had a great little kick that wasn’t overpowering.
Spicy Garlic Noodles: not as spicy as I expected, but perfectly tender and did have some good flavor. Unfortunately I didn’t know you could get char siu pork added to it, but it was great on it’s own for the carb.
Tuna Poke: a nice-​sized portion of cubed tuna that comes with those Chinese Shrimp Chips, so you can make your own little tuna poke nachos. Fantastic flavor on these, I think we were all being polite just not stealing the whole plate.
Duck Tacos: generally when you see something like «available until sold out» you know it is going to be good. It exceeded expectations. By far the best item we tried, and we all mumbling suggested getting another order despite being full. Only one tortilla, so not purely authentic, but the duck is delicious and the bit of yogurt really does add to the flavor.
After the meal but before the bill, I talked with our server/​manager and one of the bartenders — as the garlic noodles were delicious, I asked if they ever did dandan noodles. Neither had heard of the dish, but they did start to scramble to find their own dinner for the night. But they did tell me about SO and PPQ doing so.
I loved everything here, but I realize that timing was a big factor (the neighborhood was practically empty) and that not all patrons would experience this. But I definitely recommend it.

Hipster is always a mixture of cool and overpriced. Sometimes they lean more on cool so the priceiness is worth it. Sometimes they are mediocrely cool and way overpriced and you feel like you’re paying solely for Instagram popularity. Chubby Noodle was unfortunately the latter –_–
Despite the name, there is nothing chubby about their noodles; on the contrary, the portions are TINY! We paid ~$ 15 per person and ate burgers at Super Duper afterwards.
The server recommended Korean pork tacos and spicy garlic noodles. The tacos are essentially the only thing unique enough to be worth getting, in my opinion, but taking into account the $$$ I’m not sure I would recommend. Everything else is overpriced mediocre Asian food plated in hipster fashion (e.g. + runny fried egg).
TUNA POKE ($ 13) sesame, soy, sambal, macadamia | Not bad and I liked the kick of spice sauteed into the edamame However the fish was a little too mushy, and the portion size was wayyyy tiny… so tiny I felt like it impaired my ability to accurately assess it.
KOREAN PORK TACO ($ 11 for 2) house made flour tortilla, chili yogurt, cucumber | Fusion masterpiece! The tortilla is very similar to that delicious savory wrap they use for TW beef/​green onion pancake. The Korean BBQ pork was on point with the fatteningly delicious chili sesame oil marinade, and the addition of the cucumber and yogurt made it a bit reminiscent of time-​tested Greek kebab wraps. Perfect in every respect until you realize it’s a $ 5 taco –_​–
BBQ PORK FRIED RICE ($ 10+$ 2) Chinese pork, egg, scallions /​add fried egg | We expected a creative spin but it was really just your typical BBQ fried rice that you could get for half the price at any decent Chinese restaurant. (Plus runny fried egg for the Instagram)
CHICKEN CHOW MEIN ($ 11) house made noodles, vegetables | Nothing special. It’s regular chow mein with a topping of chubby rice noodles for the Chubby Noodle namesake, but I feel like it doesn’t actually go well with the chow mein. Fried rice noodles are not used this way in Chinese cooking… noodles as a topping for noodles hardly makes sense, aiyah!
KUNG PAO WINGS ($ 10) arbol chilies, garlic, ginger | A little zingier than your average kung pao, but nothing mind-​blowing (especially if you’ve had the famous San Tung wings)
SPICY GARLIC NOODLES ($ 10) house made egg noodles, garlic, jalapeño | Definitely not the best garlic noodles I’ve had, but likely the smallest portion I’ve had –_​–
The verdict: I would give Chubby Noodle a try if you are super into Asian fusion, have excessive dispensable income, or go die-​hard on finding the best possible Instagrams. A la carte is expensive, so I would suggest trying the weekend bottomless brunch – ACYE might actually make you chubby :3