In San Francisco, there are, ostensibly, two Chinatowns in one. In this neighborhood, travelers flock to trinket shops and chop suey properties, snapping shots of erhu gamers executing on road corners. In the meantime, generations of inhabitants have tirelessly labored to transform it into a correct cultural and industrial hub for the Chinese community. Set up in the 1850s, the community has survived systemic discrimination, fires, earthquakes and disaster after disaster. More than time, several waves of immigration have shifted the demographics of the community, layering it with cultural influences from diverse locations of mainland China, as very well as Hong Kong. Unsurprisingly, one particular can style all of those shifts in the dining establishments listed here: chow mein and chop suey from the oldest of the old faculty institutions, tingly and sizzling noodles from Sichuan, and ambitious and youthful approaches to Chinese delicacies from a new generation of restaurateurs. In a scene this complex, it can be hard to suss out the real diamonds, but right here are 15 of my favorites in our historic Chinatown. Eating places with an asterisks are also on the Top rated Dining places checklist.
For extra inspiration on stellar Chinese foodstuff, see my picks for the best Chinese eating places across the Bay Spot.