This restaurant is very old school, on a weekday all the customer were over 70 years old crowd. Our service was a little slow. The food was average at best and a little expensive for the location and quality.
For out of town tourists, if you want to eat at an old school restaurant for the true locals, this is it. Only if you wanted to experience the real deal 😂
Dan Lam
Upon arrival in San Francisco, we sought lunch in Chinatown and selected the Imperial Palace Restaurant. Our order comprised eight dim sum plates and one hot tea, totaling approximately $85, with a $12 gratuity. The dim sum quality was adequate, neither exceptional nor substandard. We also ordered a large portion of garlic lettuce for approximately $15. In summary, the dim sum was satisfactory. Restaurant patronage was moderate. While the pricing seemed somewhat elevated, we appreciated the food's consistently hot temperature.
Oliver Pe
May 2025 Cantonese resto serving traditional style Chinese cuisine.
The imperial monicker falls short of the decorated entrance and the spacious two level dining areas.
The food is very old style with large sized servings. Portion sizes though come out the same. But the food is well serve and come relatively quick.
Sanitation can be a bit spotty so the old custom of requesting for a bowl of hot water for rinsing you table set is still acceptable and recommended.
The service is served in typical Cantonese style - brisk, prompt, and no frills.
As mentioned the interiors are very much old and a bit worn. The toilet goes down a flight of stairs and is not senior friendly.
L Arceo
I am not a tourist in Chinatown -- having grown up in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, we decided to take a friend out for dim sum on a Monday jaunt. My favorite place is closed. Hence, we sauntered unto Imperial Palace as we were summoned with gusto by one of the servers. It started to go downhill soon as we sat. It was 2 pm, how could dim sum take over 30 minutes to serve? Did she had to cross 3 blocks to get them? Our orders were good, good for a hungry group, not too impressive for one who knows dim sum and SFO Chinatown. I can go on with more details. But let's just cut to the Chase. Food took forever. Service was negligent. (Its 1:30 pm!). The worst.... dishing out cash because there's an additional 3% charge for credit card and have the server run after you for being $1.50 short of the expected 15% tip. Our bill was $95 and change. I rounded off the pay that provided tip of $13+. The point is that hardly anything was good with the service and you're harassed to pay the minimum 15% tip. Uuuuugh!
rian ellis
STAY AWAY!!
lg
somehow managed to charge us $53 for 2 things that were supposed to be about $30 total
also gave us tea but weren't told it was charged per person
Viliam Zajicek
There are flies in the indoors and the waiter barely speaks english and they wanted extra tips like hell nahhhh
Jennifer
I visited as a tourist and even though they were close to closing our server welcomed us in. He was very kind and suggested items from the menu. Our food came out hot and had lots of flavor. They did not rush us and let us enjoy our dinner. I had a positive experience here and was probably one of the most welcoming restaurants we visited during our trip to San Fransico.
Peng He
Had alumni reunion party here. Food not bad!
Haha Xiao
If you ever come here, watch out! They try to cheat you whenever they can, so be careful of everything, specially the price you see on the menu and what you pay. Also pay attention of what you ordered and what they serve at the end. Some of the foods are just frozen food that are badly heated up. They also force you to pay cash because otherwise there is an extra fee.
My visit to this restaurant was very disappointing to say the least. The atmosphere was chaotic, with the waitress’s child running all over the restaurant. The waitress was constantly interrupting and rushing us to finish our meal and pack up, making the experience feel anything but welcoming.
The food was equally disappointing. It arrived cold, had a strange texture that’s hard to describe, and left a lingering bad aftertaste.
Overall, between the poor service, bad food, and off-putting environment, I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. There are far better options in Chinatown.
HANNAH HOANG
Honestly, I don't know how to start...Everything is bad...from the basic dim sum food, to the services...even the tea cost $12 to start with...which normally is free...and the food...I can't even want to swallow the second pieces...it makes me appreciate my Chinese restaurant in my town more...Do not come here...or prepare to spend over $100 for something not worth it.
Lila Zhang
RUN!!!! Don’t try to come here for any food. Literally the worst food I’ve ever tasted in my life, had one bite of everything and felt like throwing up. Can’t believe this restaurant could survive in Chinatown cause there was nothing good we ordered. How could you even mess up Char Siu Bao?? Has the weirdest taste I can’t even describe. If they just heat up those frozen ones would be way better. Was super furious also because the waitress was pushing for sales of more food and kept nudging us to order more. When we got the bill, we were told the price on the receipt is if we pay with cash, and it would be 3% more if we pay by card. Since when does this become a standard for printed receipt to be in cash price??? The waitress kept asking for cash payment and for tips. We felt bad and still tipped in cash for 15% and she was still unhappy and said it should’ve been 18%. This is more than unacceptable to guilt tripping and even force customers to order more and pay more tips. Any other restaurants in Chinatown would have better food than this place. Just don’t come here please if you don’t want to ruin your day.
Lilian Arauz
I’m shocked at how this place is still running, how the servers treat their paying customers, just outright disrespectful, and not to mention a health hazard with servers fingers in your food when they serve you, rodents and bugs everywhere even on the walls. THEY WILL SCAM YOU! TAKE A PICTURE OF YOUR FOOD ALTOGETHER AND CHECK YOUR RECEIPT BEFORE YOU PAY IF YOU DECIDE TO COME HERE!
Mika Hale
Never thought I would ever post a bad review on my page but I really have to warn people not to come to this place.
Extremely rude and disrespectful servers and food was not even great. Yes, there are lots of hidden prices as other people have mentioned thru reviews and the place was just overall atrocious. Did not have a great experience here at all. Please try other places in Chinatown instead.
Will definitely going to be avoiding this place. Hope they go through major improvements because this is just bad for their business.
This restaurant is very old school, on a weekday all the customer were over 70 years old crowd. Our service was a little slow. The food was average at best and a little expensive for the location and quality.
For out of town tourists, if you want to eat at an old school restaurant for the true locals, this is it. Only if you wanted to experience the real deal 😂
Upon arrival in San Francisco, we sought lunch in Chinatown and selected the Imperial Palace Restaurant. Our order comprised eight dim sum plates and one hot tea, totaling approximately $85, with a $12 gratuity. The dim sum quality was adequate, neither exceptional nor substandard. We also ordered a large portion of garlic lettuce for approximately $15. In summary, the dim sum was satisfactory. Restaurant patronage was moderate. While the pricing seemed somewhat elevated, we appreciated the food's consistently hot temperature.
May 2025 Cantonese resto serving traditional style Chinese cuisine.
The imperial monicker falls short of the decorated entrance and the spacious two level dining areas.
The food is very old style with large sized servings. Portion sizes though come out the same. But the food is well serve and come relatively quick.
Sanitation can be a bit spotty so the old custom of requesting for a bowl of hot water for rinsing you table set is still acceptable and recommended.
The service is served in typical Cantonese style - brisk, prompt, and no frills.
As mentioned the interiors are very much old and a bit worn. The toilet goes down a flight of stairs and is not senior friendly.
I am not a tourist in Chinatown -- having grown up in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, we decided to take a friend out for dim sum on a Monday jaunt. My favorite place is closed. Hence, we sauntered unto Imperial Palace as we were summoned with gusto by one of the servers.
It started to go downhill soon as we sat. It was 2 pm, how could dim sum take over 30 minutes to serve? Did she had to cross 3 blocks to get them? Our orders were good, good for a hungry group, not too impressive for one who knows dim sum and SFO Chinatown.
I can go on with more details. But let's just cut to the Chase. Food took forever. Service was negligent. (Its 1:30 pm!). The worst.... dishing out cash because there's an additional 3% charge for credit card and have the server run after you for being $1.50 short of the expected 15% tip. Our bill was $95 and change. I rounded off the pay that provided tip of $13+. The point is that hardly anything was good with the service and you're harassed to pay the minimum 15% tip. Uuuuugh!
STAY AWAY!!
somehow managed to charge us $53 for 2 things that were supposed to be about $30 total
also gave us tea but weren't told it was charged per person
There are flies in the indoors and the waiter barely
speaks english and they wanted extra tips like hell nahhhh
I visited as a tourist and even though they were close to closing our server welcomed us in. He was very kind and suggested items from the menu. Our food came out hot and had lots of flavor. They did not rush us and let us enjoy our dinner. I had a positive experience here and was probably one of the most welcoming restaurants we visited during our trip to San Fransico.
Had alumni reunion party here. Food not bad!
If you ever come here, watch out! They try to cheat you whenever they can, so be careful of everything, specially the price you see on the menu and what you pay. Also pay attention of what you ordered and what they serve at the end. Some of the foods are just frozen food that are badly heated up. They also force you to pay cash because otherwise there is an extra fee.
Restaurantji Recommends
My visit to this restaurant was very disappointing to say the least. The atmosphere was chaotic, with the waitress’s child running all over the restaurant. The waitress was constantly interrupting and rushing us to finish our meal and pack up, making the experience feel anything but welcoming.
The food was equally disappointing. It arrived cold, had a strange texture that’s hard to describe, and left a lingering bad aftertaste.
Overall, between the poor service, bad food, and off-putting environment, I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. There are far better options in Chinatown.
Honestly, I don't know how to start...Everything is bad...from the basic dim sum food, to the services...even the tea cost $12 to start with...which normally is free...and the food...I can't even want to swallow the second pieces...it makes me appreciate my Chinese restaurant in my town more...Do not come here...or prepare to spend over $100 for something not worth it.
RUN!!!! Don’t try to come here for any food.
Literally the worst food I’ve ever tasted in my life, had one bite of everything and felt like throwing up. Can’t believe this restaurant could survive in Chinatown cause there was nothing good we ordered. How could you even mess up Char Siu Bao?? Has the weirdest taste I can’t even describe. If they just heat up those frozen ones would be way better. Was super furious also because the waitress was pushing for sales of more food and kept nudging us to order more. When we got the bill, we were told the price on the receipt is if we pay with cash, and it would be 3% more if we pay by card. Since when does this become a standard for printed receipt to be in cash price??? The waitress kept asking for cash payment and for tips. We felt bad and still tipped in cash for 15% and she was still unhappy and said it should’ve been 18%. This is more than unacceptable to guilt tripping and even force customers to order more and pay more tips. Any other restaurants in Chinatown would have better food than this place. Just don’t come here please if you don’t want to ruin your day.
I’m shocked at how this place is still running, how the servers treat their paying customers, just outright disrespectful, and not to mention a health hazard with servers fingers in your food when they serve you, rodents and bugs everywhere even on the walls. THEY WILL SCAM YOU! TAKE A PICTURE OF YOUR FOOD ALTOGETHER AND CHECK YOUR RECEIPT BEFORE YOU PAY IF YOU DECIDE TO COME HERE!
Never thought I would ever post a bad review on my page but I really have to warn people not to come to this place.
Extremely rude and disrespectful servers and food was not even great. Yes, there are lots of hidden prices as other people have mentioned thru reviews and the place was just overall atrocious. Did not have a great experience here at all. Please try other places in Chinatown instead.
Will definitely going to be avoiding this place. Hope they go through major improvements because this is just bad for their business.
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