Grand Palace Restaurant

TL;DR Reviews!
This is mainly a review for Dim Sum (Breakfast/​Lunch)
Pros:
+Decent overall dim sum; shiu mai and shrimp dumplings
+Decent variety of dim sum, including porridge (congee)
+The fried sesame balls and sesame based desserts are delicious (sesame bias)
Cons:
–A little above average for the price for what you get
–Questionable service
–If busy, hostess was very bad at seating organization
–Orders from the check list might take a while
Tips:
Order from the dim sum check list if they don’t have what’s on the carts

Over the years, I’ve often run into underwhelming food experiences when eating in or near San Francisco with family. Unfortunately, today’s lunch was no different.
Grand Palace Restaurant is a Chinese restaurant in South San Francisco, and it specializes in dim sum and seafood. Street parking is metered and limited to one hour during the daytime on every day except Sunday, so you’re likely best off using the parking garage just off Grand Ave.
We had a huge group gathering here, with half of the first floor sectioned off for us. Judging from their website, it looks like we went for the $ 18-​per-​person buffet option. I doubt that we actually met the stated minimum of 100 people, but clearly they agreed to do it anyway). They actually presented the giant food trays atop steam pans on a long table for us to take buffet-​style, which was fine because I doubt that the quality was affected much.
Spring rolls: I’ve never been a fan of this vegetarian style, preferring instead the Vietnamese/​Filipino versions with meat. That said, these rolls were hot and crispy, if a little dough-​intensive. Still, a far cry from the worst that I’ve had.
Shiu-​mai: pretty large mouthfuls of this classic dim sum dumpling. They were pretty good, but didn’t stand out.
Spicy-​salted calamari & prawns w/​shell: lumping them together because they were presented in the same tray, cooked in a similar way, listed together on the menu, and my opinion is consistent between the two (sorry, English teachers). They were both cooked properly, but both suffered from having too much salt. Also, the calamari isn’t «spicy.»
Broccoli beef: velveted beef and properly cooked broccoli. I can’t say that I’ve ever had a particularly great version of this dish, so I guess it’s about par for the course.
Peking spareribs: tender, sweet pork. Probably not the most flavorful version of the dish that I’ve had.
Supreme soy sauce chicken wings: I’m actually not sure where the soy sauce comes in. The wings were moist and not undersalted, but they were not particularly flavorful in any sense. I would take Wingstop or even Buffalo Wild Wings over this any day.
Supreme soy sauce chow mein: solid rendition, maybe a touch underseasoned (I couldn’t tell you that it was flavored like the wings, even though they’re named the same way), but it does provide a necessary starch element to complement the proteins above.
Barbeque pork fried rice: this actually almost lacks salt. It goes well when combined with the seafood options or when you add soy sauce, but they should just balance the seasoning instead of forcing you to combine two separate dishes to make an acceptable bite. If I wanted unsalted rice, then I’d ask for plain white rice.
Coconut cake and red bean cake: Cake? What are you getting at? They’re pretty much Jello, and I mean gelatin-​based. I was so relieved that this wasn’t the agar-​based dessert that I shun when my family orders cakes from Vietnamese bakeries that are made from that material.
I preferred the coconut flavor to the red bean because the red bean flavor was very subtle until you reached the bottom of the piece where the actual red beans had settled. I’m sure they’re trying to show that there is red bean in the dessert, but they should just purée it and distribute the flavor evenly instead of creating a flavor gradient with an unnecessary textural contrast.
They were pretty accommodating service-​wise. However, I’m puzzled they they apparently charge extra for scallion soy sauce beyond the first few bowls. This isn’t something that any restaurant should do, especially not a dim sum restaurant.
I won’t miss Grand Palace at all. Their $ 18 buffet was a meal with too many duds and no real star.

Food is O.K. fair, Chinese is Chinese food, Bad service, Waited, Waited, Had to ask for food to go
sitting at pick-​up area, Ordered to go before closing, Came back to pick up food, China man said
we closed, bad attitude, May not be back.

If in South San Francisco, this is the place to celebrate!
Last Saturday we celebrated our mom 81^st Birthday in Grand Palace So. San Francisco. we know this restaurant for years, but just having a big one in this place is the first for us. I should say it was a great restaurant, we are satisfied with the foods, the venue, the projector, and the management — all work out for us.
When we look up the set banquet menu (Lunch) we thought we’d like to add another dish, but the honest and friendly manager of the restaurant, name Tony, said you should be enough without adding any. He was right, the portion is generous enough and everyone enjoyed the dishes. the party went well.
The only minus of this place is that there is no elevator to go to the second floor where our party was, a challenge for older people.
En of So. SF

Grand Palace Restaurant offers classic Chinese food in a clean, spacious setting.
The interior is nicer than the typical Chinese restaurant you may find around the city. The restaurants has high ceilings, chandeliers, and a second floor. It seems like a good location to rent out if you are looking to host a large party.
My family and I ordered several dishes and for the most part they tasted pretty good. The Peking duck was a highlight — crispy skin, soft buns, and a good accompanying sauce. I also enjoyed their lamb stone pot as well as their choy and mushroom dish. The cod was fresh and cooked well. My complaint would be that the noodles along with a few other dishes were too salty and and the red bean dessert was a little too sweet.

My go-​to for a Peking duck with all the sides and condiments. Especially on a Friday night when they have it as their special. I wish I could be here on any Friday just munching away…
Because the serving is so big (for two people hehe), we rarely order more than one other dish. First time, some Chinese veggies. Second time, a braised beef soup. Fatty on the soup broth but still delicious!
$ 16 — Peking duck and steamed buns
$ 14 — standard Chinese veggies
$ 15 — beef soup in clear broth
Parking is easy after hours and on the lots. Nice to just walk around after dinners and such. Large setting and loud families haha if you’re okay with large Chinese gatherings, then you’re all set!

Favorite place to grab a bite close to SFO. Love their walnut prawn, mushrooms, clam meat with mixed veggies, duck with taro. Service could have been a bit more cheerful.

I ate here daily this week… Wasn’t my choice but happened to be that way.
Lunch — dim sum style. I had dim sum here more than several times and I am always pleased with the food. Some don’t speak English but some of us in the group understand enough we communicated with them in Chinese. I just know the name of the food when they say it, I just use body gestures to say yes or no. Rice and noodle dish, order from the menu. Staff in the black coat speaks fluent English and they are efficient. My favorite noodle dish here is house pan fried noodle.
Dinner — family style. We ordered several different dishes and they put in the middle. Eat only what you want. Some of my favorite dish here is chashu (not sure the English name), pork belly, Xiaolongbao to name a few. Never had any bad food here. Always eat too much whenever I come to this restaurant.
They have a large banquet area upstairs from what I see from the main dining area. They looked nice to host traditional Chinese wedding reception.

The food here is A-​OKAY, authentic Chinese food and they have Chinese Banquet styled tables at your option to fit tables of 10+ for parties over 50 to 100 +, so it’s a good option to hold an event.
Parking is easy, as there’s a lot in the surrounding area that I think is fairly cheap, as well as meters (‘tho some are 1 hr and others are 2 hr limits) and if you’re willing to walk 3 blocks, there’s neighborhood residential parking on the adjacent streets (watch for street cleaning signs, otherwise they’re great without any time limits).
So, locals who fear Chinatown, Sunset and Richmond Districts for parking need not fret nor stress knowing of this convenient suburban option in South San Francisco closer to Colma/​Daly City and the SFO Airport area.

The food was excellent! My friends and I walked into this place on a Saturday around 11am (prime time in Dim Sum world) and there was only a moderate crowd but we were lead to our table right away.
The food was tasty and had some stuff that a lot of other dim sum places don’t usually carry (shrimp cake on eggplant and mushrooms and lao sa bao), the staff was nice and spoke both English and Cantonese, and the restroom was pretty clean (Chinese restaurant goers know what I mean).
Definitely a nice place for dim sum if you can find parking!

I don’t know why this place gets bad reviews, maybe it’s because I’ve been going here with my family for years and never had problems.
Service is fast, food is great, and they always end it with a dessert! It’s a good place to eat with your whole family, and the venue is very spacious with high ceilings.

IF I COULD GIVE THIS PLACE –5 STARS, I would.
I usually don’t like bad reviews but this place definitely deserves it.
Let’s start with the food. It’s mediocre at best. You can drive 0.05 mi down and find a decent Chinese restaurant.
But let’s get on with why I am writing this review. WORST customer service ever.
We are a hungry group of 8. The lady serving our food stacked our plates due to lack of space. That’s right, she stacked our plate LOL. I asked her a question and she waved her hand aka DONT ASK ME BECAUSE I DONT CARE AND IM JUST HERE TO HAND YOUR SHHH AND GO TO THE NEXT EMPTY TABLES.
Our main waiter did not check on us unless we flag him down and even with that… he was not very accommodating.
They’ve forgotten a few things and when reminded, they just walk away and straight to the kitchen they go.
When everything was all eaten and done… THEY NOW ASK HOW EVERYTHING WAS.
Well let me tell you… not so great. Thanks to you and your lack of service.
First and last time here.

This review is for VENUE SPACE only.
I bartended for my friend who was the wedding planner for a wedding reception held here. The venue seemed semi old, but spacious. The wedding was supposed to have 400 people attending, but I think it may have been less because although the venu was decently sized, I just could not visualize 400 people inside. The upstairs is slightly smaller too; the original plan was to have 150 upstairs and 250 downstairs. It felt more like 300 – 350 attendees. I had to be squeezed into this little side room with the photo booth guys who took up like ¾ of the room! But no worries, we made it the party room!
Why give such a low rating you ask? Customer service here is horrible! It’s obvious they were just in it for the money. You would think that we rent out your entire restaurant yet, the staff is no help at all with helping us set up or providing small things we may have forgotten…
–We asked for a cutting board and knife so that we could start cutting limes for garnish. They hand us 2 dirty serving trays and 1 knife that looks like it should’ve been used to cut loaves of bread instead. When we asked for another knife so that we both could cut limes (2 of us bartended), the guy was rude and said no!
–We asked if they had 2 extra vases or jars we could use for tips, the guy rolled his eyes and let out a huge sigh. He came back with 2 small glass flower vases and tells us, «here! we want this back with some tips in it too!» Wth? We just laughed it off.
–We were given large cans of pineapple juice but no can opener. One of the assistants asked if she could borrow one and the staff member made her leave either her License or Car Keys with her until she got the can opener returned. Are you serious?! It was a rusted one too!
–I found an empty water dish and poured orange juice into it so that it looks better when I served since we were given HUGE jugs of OJ. One of the waiters tried to come over and take the water dish away saying we can’t use it because they need it to serve water. Eventually they let me keep it because they had nothing else to put the OJ into. Tell me why they needed it so bad for water when I had almost every other guest try to order water and when I told them I had none, they would have to ask the waiters. Their feedback: The waiters are not refilling water cups! Wow…
–We only had 1 tiny bucket of ice to use for serving drinks. When that ran out, one of the assistants tried to help refill them by going back to the kitchen. Apparently, they cut her off after the first few buckets saying WE HAD TO GO BUY OUR OWN ICE! What in Buddha’s name are you freakin serious!!! I even spoke to the assistant manager trying to ask him to help us out and he automatically assumed I spoke Chinese. When I told him I don’t understand what he’s saying, he tells me in perfect English, that they are in a drought and need to save the ice for the kitchen for cooking. I then asked him, why does the kitchen need it, aren’t you guys closed to the public? Then he tells me yes they are closed but they still are open for TO GO orders. Eventually our assistant had to run down the street to find a liquor store to buy bags and bags of ice for us! Poor girl looked so fragile too.
I was NOT happy with how this staff presented themselves and the restaurant for an event like this. I wasn’t even the one getting married either! I do NOT recommend hosting your event here especially if this is how the venue staff is going to treat people who RENTS OUT THEIR ENTIRE RESTAURANT for like 5 hours! I know it was not cheap too, because the menu had Sea Bass, WHOLE Lobster, and Birds Nest Soup to name a few not-​cheap dishes. I just hope all the guests and the bridal party were as drunk as they seemed to be, at least that would help turn this disappointing venue into a fun night.

Ah, Grand Palace… the place where I got my first-​ever dim-​sum-​induced coma. I just can’t forget a place where I ate so much I couldn’t think. It’s not necessarily that I was full (I was)…my brain just stopped working.
I don’t know much about dim sum, so I always think it’s important to go with someone who knows how to order properly. I am very picky, so I can say that the few dishes I ate were pretty tasty. There was a fried green tea ball filled with black sesame sesame that was alarmingly bitter at first, but since I’m a fan of both green tea and black sesame, it started tasting pretty good. But if you’re not a fan… you may be in for a rude, bitter awakening.
The food was all right, but the biggest issue I had was how alarmingly expensive it was. Being in San Francisco, it’s easy to get spoiled by dim sum places that are cheap and delicious. I wouldn’t pay this much for dim sum of average quality. Aside from that, service was okay; they kept the tea pot filled, carts were relatively easy to get to, and we were seated right away.
Pro tip: Yes… there is actually a parking garage just one street over. If you can’t find any street parking, look for that garage (which I still can’t believe exists). Go a little earlier, around 1030-​11, to beat the rush.

My Cantonese buddy gave Grand Palace for DIM SUM, a 2 thumbs up! And, check this out… he even gave his seal of Toisan approval, worthy of a visit! Why would you ask?
–Plenty of parking (across the restaurant, there is a lot parking — or — even off street too and free on Sundays’).
–Half (½), yes half (½) the cost compared to all other dim sum places within 25 miles radius. Woot-​woot!!!
–Lots of selections, and even more if you speak «Chineseseeeeee» for that special request!
–Huge dining area with even a 2^nd floor to boot!
–Old fashioned dim sum with carts being pushed around so you can point at what you like! (unlike those new age dim sum where you see a photo, fill it in, and then get something else, maybe?)
–Taste, not bad at all. I would give it a 3.75 star out of 5! But who’s complaining, it’s ½ the cost remember?
–Service — well… this could be a deal breaker. You be the judge! My experience here however, was not too shabby, and overall good!
—And for the finale… I leave the best for last… let’s just say, how often have you been in position where you waited more than 45 minutes or longer for a table just to have DIM SUM? Yes, I feel for you. That’s why Grand Palace gives you the option to call ahead and make an RSVP… so you don’t have to… isn’t that cool? And the general DIM SUM rule of thumb, try to have a party that can fit a whole table (usually around 10 people) because y’all get seated faster!
Until then, Cheers! :p

Honestly, the only reason why I even gave them 2 stars was because there was one waiter who was catering to us the best he could, and we really appreciated his efforts. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much the only positive thing I could say about this place.
The hostess at the podium talked at a whisper level. We were standing 10 feet away from her podium and did not hear our number called. When we found out she skipped us because we didn’t come up when our number was called, we stood next to the podium to ensure we didn’t miss the next table. Even when I was standing next to her, I could barely hear her talking to other customers. Quite a few people came up to ask where they were in line only to find that she had skipped their number. Oh and they don’t come outside to call your number unless you tell them that you’re standing outside (something they don’t tell you to do but apparently you should already have known to do). There were a few people who were waiting outside but their numbers were skipped.
The tea they served came in a really dirty pot on a really dirty plate. Not just one-​day-​old dirty. It was like… they hadn’t cleaned it in a week. The heavy stains were unappetizing.
We waited for a cart. There were 2 – 3 carts going around the ENTIRE floor and 1 was strictly congee. By the time the non-​congee carts got to us, there wasn’t much selection and the food was overcooked and soggy. There was a beef rice noodle roll that was possibly the worst dimsum dish I’ve ever had. The beef was so mushy (it was the texture of raw meat even though I knew it wasn’t raw) and the cart lady drowned it in soy sauce (we drained it out immediately). We each ate a bite and gave up on it.
Then we waited. Nothing. No carts. After 10 minutes, we decided to ask a waiter for an order form. We wish we did this earlier, since we were able to check off everything we wanted. But when we gave it to one of the hostesses who walked by, she said they weren’t doing order forms today. What? Unless we wanted a big dish ordered from the kitchen, it looks like dimsum wasn’t happening for us that day. The waiter happened to hear her tell us that no order forms were accepted that day, so he snatched it from her hand and quickly went hunting for the food we wanted. He was able to return with half our order and gave us a ticket for the other dishes we ordered. I felt so bad that he was racing around trying to help us. In the end, we decided to opt out on the two other dishes that were taking forever in the kitchen and paid and left.
Also, wifi password is their phone number. It’s not posted anywhere in the waiting area. I had to come to the trusty Unilocal tip section to find this out. If you’re going to provide free wifi, it’d be nice to have the password up somewhere.
As harsh as it sounds, I would never come back again.

Wish I can give zero star for waiter service. This guy babe called Wei was so rude. I asked for hot sauce n he replied I know u need it. I’m so busy n will take more minutes. Why can’t he just say I will be right back .
Good r good but service r bad.

This restaurant is located on a busy street and you wouldn’t know it’s a huge restaurant unless you go inside. It was a modern grand looking restaurant. Pretty nice. So many tables so good for groups. We came here for a wedding and the reception was upstairs and it fits about a hundred but not comfortably. It was very tight fitting and crowded. There was a small dance floor. The AC only works in the middle of the dance floor so expect to be warm up there with a lot of people. The restaurant owners should never hold more than 80 comfortably but of course, they want to maximize the place for more profit.
The price they paid per person was pretty decent for what they served but I am not really a fan of Chinese food. They all tastes greasy and sautéed all with oyster sauce… lol. I did like their fried chicken though as it was moist and tasty. Their walnut prawns were good, too. The rest was ok.
The worst part was the service!!! We sat by the end where they put the dirty dishes. The waiters or service people kept going in between my friend and I bumping into us to serve the food or take away the dirty plates. They almost spilled on us many times! I mean you could at least, say ‘excuse me ‘or ‘you’re welcome’ as we said ‘thank you’! Maybe, if I sat somewhere else but I saw them do it to others. They don’t even give us a smile!
I know they got their money and tips for the wedding but please serve us well as we are still your customers! You do want us back right?!

Quite unusual for a Chinese seafood and dim sum restaurant to have good customer service AND it’s authentic. You have a higher than normal share of non-​Chinese customers and you can see why it’s a very non intimidating Chinese restaurant to go to.
Their live crab is a must order, even at $ 30. You get a perfectly cooked and seasoned 1.5 LB crab. Be patient as it’s takes them about 45 to prepare it. Another must order is their shrimp toast.
The dim sum is reasonably priced and done well. One example of their quality is their tea, which they don’t skimp the tea leaves.
Parking is available and abundant, the restaurant offers good rates with validation at the parking lot across the street, $ 1.50 all day for the weekend.
Highly recommended.

I had the pleasure of attending a wedding reception here on June 28^th, 2914. From the time we walked in early, the hard working staff was attentive to all of our needs. The bridal party had their own changing room upstairs on the second floor so that the bride could go through all three of her dress changes throughout the night.
As part of the package deal, the bride also had her own personal makeup artist/​hairdresser for the entire duration of the reception so that she could help her in and out of her dresses. She was also there to change her makeup look from daytime to evening, adding the darker lipstick and extra lashes with more dramatic eye makeup to match her formal night gown.
We were served family style and while I won’t go through every dish this time around, I will mention the white filet fish was super moist and unforgettable.
The emcee of the night was also a great host as well speaking in both Mandarin and English so that he could address all of the guests at this traditional Chinese wedding. Nice touch.