Honestly, Northern China BBQ is such a solid find in SoMa. If you're looking for a spot that actually feels authentic and laid-back, this is it. The selection of skewers and dishes is huge—you can get everything from classic lamb to some more unique items you don't see everywhere else. The flavors are really on point, especially if you love that bold cumin and spice kick. For being in SF, the prices are pretty reasonable, so you can actually fill up without it costing a fortune. Plus, the vibe inside is really cool and cozy, making it a great place to just hang out and eat with a group of friends.
This place serves great Northern Chinese–style food. The skewers are delicious, and the fried rice is really well done. I also loved the wood ear mushroom side dish and the stinky tofu — both were surprisingly tasty. Everything we tried was flavorful and well-seasoned. Definitely worth a visit if you like authentic Chinese flavors.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Joanne Yuen
One of the only Chinese skewer spots I know of in SF, and a pretty good one! Selection is pretty large, but a lil more slim than the places in Fremont. Some of my favs included the beef, a choy, and chicken skin. Overall, every dish was delicious, even though a few things I wanted to try were sold out. I think the prices are a tinge higher here as I usually spend around $40-50 for 2 at my usual spot in San Bruno, but it was around $70 here. Food did come out slower than expected as well, maybe because it was busy, but it does hit the spot nonetheless.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Christopher Chung
Decent Northern China style dishes — extensive selection of various barbecue skewers (meat, seafood, mushroom, veg) reminiscent of Mainland Chinese street food.
Lamb Skewer is slightly gamey, dusted with the classic cumin-paprika seasoning. Enjoy with cold side dishes such as the standard Smashed Cucumber. Sliced Beef in Chili Sauce is fragrant from Sichuan peppercorn and chilis.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Stephen Cobbe
So tasty
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
John wu
The dishes are taking too long. We’ve been waiting for over 20 minutes and they still haven’t been served.
chris varenhorst
Love this place! One of the best restaurants in the neighborhood. The family that runs it is quite nice. Delicious food and large menu. Will be back !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Stephanie Zhang
5/5 SO SO YUMMYYY!!! This hit the spot 😍😩 We actually came here after another meal that we weren’t satisfied with. The best were 1. Chicken skewers and 2. Taiwanese sausage skewers. The seaweed salad was also excellent. Next time we’ll come for a proper meal and get some much more!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Leslie T
Tried some skewers. I didn't feel like the quality or quantity was worth the price. I liked how you can order what you want with your phone and it gets brought out to you.
Hsin-Fang Wu
The food is so good and the thin sliced beef iron pot is a must- to-order!
Delivery service very slow im witing for 30 minut ?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Richard G
Wow. What an amazing bbq dinner. Check this place out if you are looking for authentic honest bbq.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 5
Donduk Dovdon
Best Chinese BBQ in SF. Period.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
International Strategy
Bring an apron or something to cover your cothes. You'll have so much fun, you'll stain your clothes. Don’t wear white shirts :)
The friendly husband is the chief chef and the beautiful slender sweet young wife is managing the place. Tin, a young gentleman, my table server was a bit shy but i got him to smile in the end with my money flower + tip.
Abby, your table servant needs to be trained how to be a table servant. He doesn't have the knowledge of the dishes. He needs basic greetings. Please get a restaurant consultant to upgrade your services. It's usually the services that make people come everyday.
HOURS OF OPERATION 5 🌟 Open till late. Later than most places. Call and check
TOILET - clean and beautiful. Ladies, you will appreciate this toilet.
WHEN TO COME HERE If you worked till late and need to eat something to compliment rice, got hungry after tumbling on the bed, went to a bar or nightclub and got hungry, after a big wedding, took a shower and just want to be fed well just with the 2 of you only, birthdays, after the movies, farewell party, it's a great place to wear casual clothes, flipflops, hair still wet, and eat to your heart content. It is 3 blocks away from COSTCO. They play Chinese pop music. It's chearful and gentle. Colorful lights. Good vibe. People are there to get a little goofy and talk loud. So, it's not a candle light first date location. Look at my photos.
LOCATION 5 🌟 conveniently near all the nightclubs on Folsom (@9th street 3 blocks away from COSTCO)
PRICE & PORTIONS 5 🌟 Affordable, large portions, best BBQ and hot iron pot Chinese dishes in San Francisco. I ordered 8 people worth of food for $185 + $30 tip. That came out $28 per person.
FOOD 3 🌟 Every dish is carefully cooked. BBQ is bit over flavored and over cooked. Their 🌺 Sweet and Spicy Seaweed is to die for.
🌺 EGG FRIED RICE - this chef loves his fried rice. It is cooked to perfection. If you cook, you know. Fried rice tells you everything about the chef. It's a large portion. You can just eat this with beer or soda and call it dinner.
VEGAN & VEGETARIAN 3 🌟 I ordered the 🌺 Sweet and Spicy Seaweed as my rice compliment. Oh my goodness!! It has citantro, garlic, really thinly sliced crunchy kelp. 🌺 Chives BBQ was a nice surprise. 🌺 Enoki wrapped in Tofu Skin was a blast. 🌺 Okra BBQ was addictive. Next time, I am there, I'm going to order a bunch of those.
IRON POT DISHES 4 🌟 - these are huge portions. Each pot will serve 4 ppl. If you ordered 2 pots, that's for really really hungry 8 ppl. I guess you can top it on rice and slammed them down. 🌺 Beef tendon Pot melts in your mouth. Hard working people, this is stamiooooo.
Abby, go apprentice under a few large 5 star restaurants.
Honestly, Northern China BBQ is such a solid find in SoMa. If you're looking for a spot that actually feels authentic and laid-back, this is it. The selection of skewers and dishes is huge—you can get everything from classic lamb to some more unique items you don't see everywhere else.
The flavors are really on point, especially if you love that bold cumin and spice kick. For being in SF, the prices are pretty reasonable, so you can actually fill up without it costing a fortune. Plus, the vibe inside is really cool and cozy, making it a great place to just hang out and eat with a group of friends.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Assorted Grilled Meat Skewers, Smashed Cucumber
This place serves great Northern Chinese–style food.
The skewers are delicious, and the fried rice is really well done.
I also loved the wood ear mushroom side dish and the stinky tofu — both were surprisingly tasty.
Everything we tried was flavorful and well-seasoned.
Definitely worth a visit if you like authentic Chinese flavors.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
One of the only Chinese skewer spots I know of in SF, and a pretty good one! Selection is pretty large, but a lil more slim than the places in Fremont. Some of my favs included the beef, a choy, and chicken skin. Overall, every dish was delicious, even though a few things I wanted to try were sold out. I think the prices are a tinge higher here as I usually spend around $40-50 for 2 at my usual spot in San Bruno, but it was around $70 here. Food did come out slower than expected as well, maybe because it was busy, but it does hit the spot nonetheless.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Decent Northern China style dishes — extensive selection of various barbecue skewers (meat, seafood, mushroom, veg) reminiscent of Mainland Chinese street food.
Lamb Skewer is slightly gamey, dusted with the classic cumin-paprika seasoning. Enjoy with cold side dishes such as the standard Smashed Cucumber. Sliced Beef in Chili Sauce is fragrant from Sichuan peppercorn and chilis.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
So tasty
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The dishes are taking too long. We’ve been waiting for over 20 minutes and they still haven’t been served.
Love this place! One of the best restaurants in the neighborhood. The family that runs it is quite nice. Delicious food and large menu. Will be back !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
5/5 SO SO YUMMYYY!!! This hit the spot 😍😩 We actually came here after another meal that we weren’t satisfied with. The best were 1. Chicken skewers and 2. Taiwanese sausage skewers. The seaweed salad was also excellent. Next time we’ll come for a proper meal and get some much more!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Tried some skewers. I didn't feel like the quality or quantity was worth the price. I liked how you can order what you want with your phone and it gets brought out to you.
The food is so good and the thin sliced beef iron pot is a must- to-order!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
Delivery service very slow im witing for 30 minut ?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Wow. What an amazing bbq dinner. Check this place out if you are looking for authentic honest bbq.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best Chinese BBQ in SF. Period.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Bring an apron or something to cover your cothes. You'll have so much fun, you'll stain your clothes. Don’t wear white shirts :)
The friendly husband is the chief chef and the beautiful slender sweet young wife is managing the place. Tin, a young gentleman, my table server was a bit shy but i got him to smile in the end with my money flower + tip.
Abby, your table servant needs to be trained how to be a table servant. He doesn't have the knowledge of the dishes. He needs basic greetings. Please get a restaurant consultant to upgrade your services. It's usually the services that make people come everyday.
HOURS OF OPERATION 5 🌟 Open till late. Later than most places. Call and check
TOILET - clean and beautiful. Ladies, you will appreciate this toilet.
WHEN TO COME HERE If you worked till late and need to eat something to compliment rice, got hungry after tumbling on the bed, went to a bar or nightclub and got hungry, after a big wedding, took a shower and just want to be fed well just with the 2 of you only, birthdays, after the movies, farewell party, it's a great place to wear casual clothes, flipflops, hair still wet, and eat to your heart content. It is 3 blocks away from COSTCO. They play Chinese pop music. It's chearful and gentle. Colorful lights. Good vibe. People are there to get a little goofy and talk loud. So, it's not a candle light first date location. Look at my photos.
LOCATION 5 🌟 conveniently near all the nightclubs on Folsom (@9th street 3 blocks away from COSTCO)
PRICE & PORTIONS 5 🌟 Affordable, large portions, best BBQ and hot iron pot Chinese dishes in San Francisco. I ordered 8 people worth of food for $185 + $30 tip. That came out $28 per person.
FOOD 3 🌟 Every dish is carefully cooked. BBQ is bit over flavored and over cooked. Their 🌺 Sweet and Spicy Seaweed is to die for.
🌺 EGG FRIED RICE - this chef loves his fried rice. It is cooked to perfection. If you cook, you know. Fried rice tells you everything about the chef. It's a large portion. You can just eat this with beer or soda and call it dinner.
VEGAN & VEGETARIAN 3 🌟 I ordered the
🌺 Sweet and Spicy Seaweed as my rice compliment. Oh my goodness!! It has citantro, garlic, really thinly sliced crunchy kelp.
🌺 Chives BBQ was a nice surprise.
🌺 Enoki wrapped in Tofu Skin was a blast.
🌺 Okra BBQ was addictive. Next time, I am there, I'm going to order a bunch of those.
IRON POT DISHES 4 🌟 - these are huge portions. Each pot will serve 4 ppl. If you ordered 2 pots, that's for really really hungry 8 ppl. I guess you can top it on rice and slammed them down.
🌺 Beef tendon Pot melts in your mouth. Hard working people, this is stamiooooo.
Abby, go apprentice under a few large 5 star restaurants.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
Too oily, too greasy, too salty. And expensive.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
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