[inferiorhuman]

On Chinese food:

Historically the folks who settled in San Francisco came from different areas than those who settled in New York, so the food is different. However, a friend from LA pointed out that there just isn't as much of a restaurant culture in San Francisco as there is in LA. A mediocre Taiwanese restaurant in LA wouldn't survive, but nobody would bat an eye up here because the people that really care are more inclined to cook at home. It's not just Chinese food, take a look at Mexican food here versus LA or Texas (even Bourdain complained about this). As far as the author's list goes, I was pretty underwhelmed with Z&Y. It's got a fair bit of hype but didn't deliver.

In any case, for a touch of pedantry: there are three Koi Palace locations, all on the peninsula. Equator is from Marin, but I wouldn't get so hung up on being local. Philz is fine, and so is Peets.

[tzhenghao]

Agree! I've also noticed that the # of restaurants vs. price distribution for eating out in SF falls off a cliff especially <$25 per person range, whereas there are many more options in NYC and LA. In other words, prepare to pay up, stand in line for hours or be on a reservation waitlist for the most part if you want "good" food in SF.

[metalforever]

This is bs, I didn't go anywhere in SF that was $25+ per plate when I lived in the mission and went out a lot. There's a ton of places in the mission and the tenderloin and I never once made a reservation anywhere.

[photonerd]

That’s because all the restaurants in that price range are in the rest of the bay, Oakland in particular.

[inferiorhuman]

Oakland is still plenty expensive – banh mi are in the $7–10 range which is about double where they were fifteen years ago. Tacos are $3–4. Depending, of course, on how far east you want to venture.

[photonerd]

$7-10 ain’t very expensive for a huge, fresh grilled, sandwich these days, no matter where you are.

[sharts]

LA county is massive. SF is tiny. The rest of the bay offers much more than LA. You just need to look around.

I doubt I can move back again. I tried once and the food was just terrible in contrast.

[tstrimple]

There is plenty of mediocre food in LA. My experience living in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest and also in LA suggests that the population of LA supports more restaurants at both ends of the bell curve. The best meals I’ve ever had in my life have been in LA, but there were also a ton of duds. In the Midwest, everything leans a lot more hard toward the median.

[asielen]

I've found that some of the highest reviewed Chinese food by my Chinese neighbors is barely recognizable and somewhat unapproachable to my western but somewhat adventurous pallet.

It is good, but you have to go in looking for an adventure and expect to not actually know what is in anything you are served. Do not go if you have any food allergies or strong preferences.

[drcode]

I've been at maybe around 8 different Chinese dumpling restaurants in SF

Every one of them had completely different dumplings than the others

All of them were delicious

For whatever reason SF has great Chinese dumplings, but like OP I have struggled to find good options for other Chinese cuisine (though I'm not a Chinese cuisine expert)

[inferiorhuman]

Historically the Chinese diaspora in San Francisco came from the southeast, which is why Cantonese was such a common language. The food largely followed that. If memory serves, NYC Chinese takeout tends to skew more towards Hunan because that's where folks were from.

Off the top of my head, the whole stretch of Taraval has a variety of Chinese restaurants focused on things other than dumplings. There's the Macau cafe, the HK bakery, the pancake place, the noodle place, the ice cream place, the Shandong place that does the pancakes. Old Mandarin (ex-Bib Gourmand) focuses on Islamic food, and their alum spawned a bunch of other restaurants including Beijing. But these are all more homey, neighborhood restaurants than you'd find in the Mission.

Honestly for something easy like mapo tofu I just make it at home. You can get all of the ingredients readily.

If you are willing to go outside the city and go with Chinese adjacent, there are a ton of options. Lion Dance Cafe (Malaysian) and Red Hot Chili Pepper (Indo-Chinese) come to mind.

[boulos]

Try Mama Ji's, Mister Jiu's (upscale) or Mamahuhu (casual). The mapo tofu at Mamahuhu is great, but be prepared for the spice.

Edit: looks like the author included Mister Jiu's :).