Graveyard of 247 Regional Chinese Restaurants in the SFBA

This bizarro version of the SFBA Regional Chinese list documents restaurants no longer of this world. Some places shuttered, others changed formats, others seem to have changed names for no obvious reason. All were open at some point between 2005 and 2019. Enjoy a nostalgic stroll, and be happy that these 247 (ed. 252!) restaurants compare to 400+ open restaurants listed on the SFBA Regional Chinese list and tons more on the SFBA Cantonese primer.

Tough location awards go to:

  • 1708 North Milpitas Blvd, Milpitas, CA 95035 home of Village Garden, Shanghai Kitchen, Gaos, Melin House, South Legend Fusion. Currently open Flaming Village Sichuan Cuisine, I wish you luck! Mr. Gao is now at Tasty Place (Millbrae).
  • 42 Dixon Rd, Milpitas, CA 95035 home of Top Noodle House, Chi, Village House, Taiwan Top Food. Currently open Spicy Way, I wish you luck.

Northwest 西北

Shaanxi 陕西 / Xi’an 西安 (most have wide hand-ripped noodles and liang pi. See also the hand-pulled noodle primer)

  • Famous Bao (2018-2019) 2116 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704
  • Northwest Noodle House (2017-2018) 4996 Stevens Creek Blvd, San Jose, CA 95129
  • QQ Noodle (2007-2018) 3625 Thornton Ave, Fremont, CA 94536
  • Xi An Gourmet (2013-2015) 3741 Geary Blvd At 2nd Ave, San Francisco, CA 94118
  • Xi’an Taste (2017-2019) 39119 Cedar Blvd, Newark, CA 94560

Gansu 甘肅 / 甘肃 and capita Lanzhou 蘭州 / 兰州

See also the hand-pulled noodle primer for five restaurants listing Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles and about ten other places with hand-pulled noodles (Lamian 拉麵 aka Shou lamian 手拉麵)

Uighur ئۇيغۇر تائاملىرى 维吾尔族 / Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 新疆维吾尔自治区


Tibet Autonomous Region 西藏自治区


Shanxi 山西

See the thread devoted to knife-shaved and scissor-cut noodles


Northeast / Dongbei / 东北 / 東北


Shandong 山东 / 山東

Shandong owner and/or food, with no direct nod to Korea. Most Shandong dishes are noodle, bun, or dumpling related.

Shandong &/or Chinese Korean

Shandong dishes with Hangul on the menu. All have black zha jiang mian


Northern 北方

Geographical usage here, but note that the terms “Mandarin Chinese” and “Northern Chinese” are sometimes used as all-inclusive terms to describe that which is not Cantonese or Cantonese-American.

Beijing 北京

Islamic Chinese 清真 / Hui 回族

Tianjin 天津

  • Bao (2017-2019) 46260 Warm Springs Blvd Unit 545, Fremont, CA 94539
  • Golden Garlic (2015-2017) 1530 South De Anza Blvd, San Jose, CA 95129
  • Gou Bu Li Chinese Restaurant (pre-2007-2019) 3340 San Pablo Dam Rd, El Sobrante, CA 94803

Other Northern and Jiaozi /dumplings or bing (might actually be Shandong or Dongbei or even Shanghai)


Shanghai 上海 / Jiangsu 江蘇 / Huaiyang 淮揚菜 / Zhejiang 浙江 / Jiangnan 江南

See Fuchsia Dunlop’s book Land of Fish and Rice, xiao long bao discussion, and sheng jian bao discussion.

Mix of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang

Wenzhou 温州市*


Wuhan 武汉 / Hubei 湖北

  • Hot Duck (2015-2018) 1900 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94121
  • Qiwei Kitchen (2016-2018) 6259 Jarvis Ave, Newark, CA 94560

Guangxi / Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region 广西壮族自治区

Guilin 桂林


Hunan 湖南

See also Fuchsia Dunlop’s Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.


Sichuan 四川 and Chongqing 重慶

Sichuan dishes are popular on non-Cantonese menus, but these restaurants are more focussed. Many of these have dry pot options too. See also Fuchsia Dunlop’s Land of Plenty and the Hungry Onion Sichuan/Chongqing noodles thread. There are a few local chains in the mix, as well as a contingent of East Bay chefs who once worked at China Village.

Sichuan

Chongqing & Sichuan
These restaurants promote that their owners or chefs are trained in Chongqing, or refer to a large number of dishes as being Chongqing or 山城 (“mountain city”) style.


Teochew 潮洲 / Chiuchow / Chaozhou / Teo Chow / Chinjiew

See also The Cleaver Quarterly’s article on Teoswa cuisine, Diana Zheng’s Jia! The Food of Swatow and the Teochew Diaspora, and the Netflix documentary Flavorful Origins.

Teochew etc. / Vietnamese / Trieu Chau
My understanding is that these reflect the cuisine of Teochew speaking people who immigrated to the US from Southeast Asia.


Taiwanese 臺灣 / 台灣

See also bubble tea, shaved ice, Taiwanese fried chicken and various Taiwanese bakeries and desserts. See also Steven Crook & Katy Hui-wen Hung’s A Culinary History of Taipei: Beyond Pork and Ponlai.


Cantonese 粵 / Guangdong 廣東 / 广东 subsets and offshoots

See KK’s Regional Cantonese primer. Some scattered Shunde and Zhongshan Cantonese dishes in Millbrae at Gourmet Village, the Kitchen, and Champagne restaurant (San Mateo).

See also dim sum, Cantonese seafood, Chinese bakeries, Chinese BBQ or roast meats, wo choy, clay pot, banquet, congee / jook / porridge, Taishan / Toishan, Cha Chaan Teng, HK Cantonese, Hong Kong cafe, Hong Kong western cuisine, and restaurants Yum’s Bistro and Cooking Papa.

Macanese 澳門 / 澳门

  • Macau Cafe (pre-2007-2012) 3288 Pierce St, Richmond, CA 94804

Shenzhen 深圳市 or Hong Kong style chicken pot

  • Gallus Pot (2016-2018) 1640 Decoto Rd, Union City, CA 94587

Shunde 順德

  • Jade Garden (2009-2019) 3608 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94121

Zhongshan 中山市


Other

See also hot pot, dry pot, and Chinese hybrid cuisines such as Peranakan / Nonya (Singapore / Malaysian Chinese), and of course Chinese American, American Chinese, the elusive “NY Cantonese”, Kosher Chinese, Chinese fusion.

Chinese Vegetarian

Indian / Desi Chinese

Chifa / Peruvian Chinese

  • Peruchi (2014-2016) 755 Stanyan St, San Francisco, CA 94117

Shao Kao 烧烤 / Chinese Skewers 串
See Chowhound and SF Chronicle coverage. Many of these have Dongbei side dishes and soups.

  • Alike Bbq (2015-2015) 1773 Decoto Rd, Union City, CA 94587
  • B.B.Q king (2012-null) 189 El Camino Real, San Bruno, CA 94066
  • BBQ Alley (2016-2016) 6259 Jarvis Ave, Newark, CA 94560
  • G G Skewers (2014-2018) 3625 Thornton Ave, Fremont, CA 94536
  • Smoky Man (2017-2019) 1310 Noriega St, San Francisco, CA 94122
  • Street Food (2012-2014) 150 South B St, San Mateo, CA 94401
  • TLT BBQ (2015-2019) 4137 Bay St, Fremont, CA 94538
  • TLT BBQ (2015-2016) 35 East 3rd Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401

Malatang

  • CDnight-Hot pot (2018-2018) 5131 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94124
  • Foodie Hall (2015-2018) 662 Barber Ln, Milpitas, CA 95035
  • Mala Formula (2016-2016) 6180 Jarvis Ave, Newark, CA 94560
  • SF-MLT (2015-2018) 1820 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94121

Hot pot (unknown or non-specific region)
Please open a new thread if you have info on these places!

  • Chili Boy (2016-2019) 505 East Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95112
  • Guo (2017-2018) 228 Barber Ct, Milpitas, CA 95035
  • Hotpot Factory (2017-2018) 366 8th St, Oakland, CA 94607
  • Power Pot (2017-2018) 10495 South De Anza Blvd Ste C, Cupertino, CA 95014
  • Shaolin Pot (2017-2019) 121 El Camino Real, Millbrae, CA 94030
  • Tie Ge Restaurant (2018-2018) 6154 Bollinger Rd, San Jose, CA 95129

Unclear
Please open a new thread if you have info on these places!

4 Likes

Another great list!

Good Fortune Chinese sort of had a lot of things. I’m pretty sure one of the owner or chef have experience in New China Tofu or Won Stew House - both Taiwanese/Chinese fast-food casual takeout places.

However, the husband and wife owners seems to be from Chengdu, Sichuan. So I’d either categorize them as Sichuan, or whichever category the other two restaurant falls under.

1 Like

Thanks! When I noticed the number of closures in my database hit 250 (about two times the size of the original 2014 list of open restaurants derived from Chowhound threads!), I figured I might as well share this data :slight_smile:

Great! Sichuan does seem like a better fit than Taiwanese so I’ll go with that.

I’ll also add to the list four other Won Stew House locations that I’m learning about from an old Chowhound thread, including one in the current Qin-Tang Charm spot (Eating there last week, without knowing the location’s history, we commented that it seemed out of place across from City Hall, and that we’re surprised a quick meal place wasn’t there!).

Now I will know where to find the best noodles! :smiley: