These are the 20 best things to do in San Francisco’s Chinatown

What is it? Designed by Chinese-American architect Clayton Lee, this postcard-famous gate marks the southern entrance to Chinatown at Bush Street and Grant Avenue.

Why go? It’s a natural jumping-off point for exploring the neighborhood and a dramatic sight with stone pillars and green-tiled pagodas and dragon sculptures. Two lion statues guard the pedestrian entryways (the middle is for automobiles to drive under): the male lion guards the west portal with his paw on a pearl, while the female lion guards the east with her paw on a lion cub. The gate was dedicated in 1970 and is the first permanent ceremonial gate installed in the U.S.

Time Out tip: Be careful when taking photos; car traffic continues near and through the gate.

Price: Free.

What is it? A delicious restaurant by renowned chef George Chen.

Why go? Peer into the open kitchens to watch the magic underway as seasonal farm-to-fork dishes are built. At eight specialized stations, cooks prepare traditional Chinese cuisine using modern techniques. The chairs and tables are all handcrafted in China from reclaimed Chinese elm, making for a satisfying place to sit and dine.

Time Out tip: Go to the second floor to find the Cold Drinks Bar, a speakeasy hidden behind a door decorated with bats. The bar is inspired by one in Shanghai’s historic French Concession, the “Paris of the East.”

Price: Dishes range from $15 to $38.

What is it? A shop in the heart of Chinatown showcasing more than 100 single-origin teas as well as offering beautiful teaware to prepare it in.

Why go? Tea lovers, you have found paradise. Red Blossom Tea is served in many of the city’s finer restaurants, including all three with three Michelin stars. Although there are no tastings at this limited-hours showroom, it’s worth a visit to make a selection to enjoy later.

Time Out tip: Buy a single-serving sample of any Red Blossom Tea to try out at home before returning to buy a larger amount.

Price: Prices of course vary by package size and tea quality, but to provide a sense of range: 2 ounces of a Cloud and Mist green tea can be purchased for $16, while 2 ounces of Our Finest Dragonwell “from a remote tea garden in Zhejiang Province's Pan'an County” go for $208.

What is it? A boutique selling handcrafted botanical print kimonos.

Why go? Sisters Renee and Tiffany Tam are celebrating 20 years of pursuing a shared passion, making beautiful silk and charmeuse kimonos, originally for purchase online. The vivid robes are adorned with birds and blooming botanical prints, each sketched and painted by hand. Though the robes are created using age-old techniques, they’ve become popular contemporary layering pieces. The sisters used to spent weeks visiting silk villages with their parents to learn the antique craft. Today, you can browse their light-filled boutique, which opened in 2018, to find the right piece for you or for a gift.

Time Out tip: The store offers furoshiki gift wrap service, the traditional Japanese fabric wrapping practice, so the kimono is wrapped in a floral kerchief to create an indelible impression for your lucky recipient.

Price: Kimonos range from $140 to $450.

What is it? A stunning homage to Cantonese food, opened by Bar Agricole alum Brandon Jew in 2016.

Why go? The restaurant earned a Michelin star in the first year and has easily held onto it. Located in the former Four Seas and Hang Far Low restaurants space, the sunny, airy dining room presents a mashup of old and new, from the minimalist, mid-century wood furniture to the ornate gold floral chandeliers overhead, salvaged from Four Seas. You’ll be offered traditional banquet-style dining but with a contemporary flair and an emphasis on communal eating. You can order from the tasting menu, communal entrées or à la carte. Waverly Place is lantern lit at night, a beautiful moody place to dine.

Time Out tip: Upstairs is Moongate Lounge, a 21+ cocktail bar and lunar inspired listening space.

Price: The tasting menu is $175 per person, and the gratuity is included.

What is it? A shop serving more than 20 types of handcrafted bubble tea.

Why go? People rave about this tea and for good reason. Owner Henry Tang and his wife Yan loved milk tea, but found that San Francisco’s version of it tasted artificial—and when Yan became pregnant, he worried it wasn’t healthy. He launched into making his own brew for her, and then opened doors to his own shop in 2014. There are now three Bay Area locations, but we of course love the original spot in Chinatown.

Time Out tip: The tea is served in reusable glass jars that you can keep. When you return, reusing that glass gives you a 10 percent discount.

Price: Most drinks are $7.

What is it? A modern Cantonese restaurant by executive chef Ho Chee Boon

Why go? Michelin-starred Chef Ho has helmed many celebrated restaurants worldwide (including Hakkasan in three locations), and Empress by Boon is a heady epicurean treasure he opened in June 2021. The restaurant is inside the former Empress of China, an iconic Cantonese banquet hall in the heart of Chinatown that operated for roughly 50 years; Empress has beautifully modernized the space while keeping some original woodwork. The menu showcases Cantonese fare prepared with local ingredients, many from the restaurant’s own organic farm in Gilroy, California.

Time Out tip: Don’t miss the circular tea lounge, a gorgeous and Instagrammable space.

Price: The tasting menu is $128.

What is it? An enormously colorful two-block street with beautiful, dangling red lanterns hung overhead and stretching across the street.

Why go? This stretch, located between Washington and Sacramento streets, boasts brightly painted balconies, many family-run businesses and a general sense of celebration. Snap your photos, then head to Michelin-starred Mister Jiu’s, which calls this street home.

Time Out tip: Pay a visit to the Tin How Temple, the oldest Taoist temple in the city. It’s considered the oldest Chinese temple in the U.S. and the interior is a quiet, spiritual space with incense and hundreds of glass lanterns (there’s no photography inside, and you should ask for permission before entering).

Price: Free.

What is it? A tiny bakery with amazing food.

Why go? On any given day in Chinatown’s Portsmouth Square, you’ll see locals perched on benches, shoveling dumplings into their mouths from steaming containers. They likely got them at Good Mong Kok nearby. There’s no indoor seating here, so follow the system: Wait at the entrance until you’re beckoned inside by the fast-moving servers at the counter. You’ll find well-executed delicacies like melt-in-your-mouth shrimp har gow, flavorful pork shumai and sizable baked and steamed barbecue pork buns.

Time Out tip: For dessert, opt for the custard-filled pineapple bun.

Price: Pricing varies, but most items are around $2.

What is it? A factory where fortune cookies are handcrafted

Why go? This incredible but tiny factory has been in existence since 1962, with a handful of workers folding messages into fresh, hot cookies by hand. They make around 10,000 cookies a day, supplying perfectly crackly after-dinner treats to hundreds of local restaurants. Watch the golden fortune cookie wafers coming off the machine, pancake-like, before being bent into their traditional shape. The front area of the sparse space is lined with various varieties of fortune cookies available for purchase: green tea, strawberry, chocolate-coated, sprinkle-covered and R-rated.

Time Out tip: You can personalize your own fortune to be tucked into a fresh cookie.

Price: A bag of fortune cookies runs around $6.

What is it? A family-run institution serving Shanghainese food since 1988.

Why go? This popular restaurant on the edge of North Beach can have lines out the door (upturning tradition, the restaurant now accepts reservations for parties of six or more) for the traditional Chinese fare. Order the made-at-table fried rice for a divine, steaming dish. Owners Peter and Lily Fang moved from Shanghai to San Francisco in 1980 with little money and transitioned from working in other people’s restaurants to opening their own. Sister restaurant Fang was opened by Peter and daughter Kathy in SoMa.

Time Out tip: Try the Chef’s Choice menu and let the chef and owner surprise you. That’s actually in keeping with the restaurant’s history of the chef Peter making decisions for diners and not letting people order!

Price: Appetizers start at $9, entrées start at $19.

What is it? A dive bar with incredible ambiance and stiff drinks.

Why go? Chinatown has no shortage of storied dive bars (RIP, Mr. Bing’s), but Buddha Lounge has the right kitschy-cool vibe, with its red lanterns, icicle lights and trippy Buddha mural. You’re as likely to find regulars at the narrow, cash-only bar as tourists, a rarity for this heavily trafficked strip of Grant Avenue. Established in 1951 and a third generation family owned business, it’s beloved for its well-stocked jukebox and generous bartenders.

Time Out tip: There are two specialties: Buddha beer, served in a green glass bottle shaped like a Buddha, and the Chinese Mai Tai. The secret ingredient? A splash of Three Penis Whiskey, imported from China. Three penises can only help, right?

Price: The lounge is known for its $7 beers.

What is it? It’s a shop selling woks and a million other kitchenware items.

Why go? The Wok Shop has been in existence for more than 50 years, stocking all manner of Chinese cookware for professionals and home cooks alike. The inside is a fantastic mishmosh of everything you might need in the kitchen, including (of course) woks, bamboo steamers, impressive knives and cleavers, beautiful porcelain, hotpots and a few souvenir items. It’s fun to walk around and admire the busy plethora of items—and chatting with the owner is a true pleasure. Proprietor Tane Chan started out stocking a selection of woks in 1972, bolstered by Nixon’s trip to China that year. Sign up for Wok Wednesdays, a weekly cooking class for those looking to hone their stir-fry skills.

Time Out tip: Don’t miss the small display of the certificate of special congressional recognition that the shop received in 2020, along with photos of everyone beaming around Nancy Pelosi holding a shining wok.

Price: Free to enter.

What is it? A lounge dripping with mid-century elegance.

Why go? The team behind the Michelin-starred Mister Jiu’s opened this upstairs lounge where you can snuggle into a red velvet booth under lotus-shaped brass lamps. The extensive cocktail list includes seasonal offerings and signature drinks based on the Chinese lunar calendar and spiked with black garlic, plum, oolong and other Eastern ingredients. Poets will love the drink names here: Awakening of Insects, Grain in Ear, Rain Water, Start of Winter and Frost Descent.

Time Out tip: While drinks are the main purpose, people rave about the black sesame soft serve with persimmons offered here.

Price: House cocktails are $20 each.

What is it? Open air produce, flower and souvenir booths

Why go? It’s fun to wander down Stockton Street for a taste of local Chinatown life. Join shoppers at local markets getting their daily groceries, especially along the three blocks between Washington Street and Broadway.

Time Out tip: Go early when produce and meat are the freshest and when parking is easier. You’ll also avoid crowds that heat up later in the day.

Price: Free.

What is it? A center devoted to sharing the culture of Chinatown through public art, established in 1965.

Why go? The CCC manages several art galleries, including 41 Ross. Visit the Him Mark Lai Learning Center on the third floor of the Hilton FiDi hotel—a gorgeous example of Brutalist architecture—where rotating exhibits feature well-known and emerging contemporary artists. The center also organizes the XianRui Artist Series, the Hungry Ghost Festival and Chinatown Pride, as well as street art installations.

Time Out tip: Book one of the center’s Chinatown History and Art (C.H.A.T.) tours. Routes vary, but you may visit significant sites throughout Chinatown and conclude with lunch at a local dim sum restaurant.

Price: Free.

What is it? A shop selling books, gifts and souvenirs, often with a modern twist on Chinese culture.

Why go? One of the newest shops in Chinatown, On Waverly is part boutique and part event space, focused on celebrating local Asian American Pacific Islander Native Hawaiian artisans. Opened in December 2023 by sisters Cynthia and Jennifer Huie, the store is stocked with unique items such as stationery, books by AAPI authors, apparel, jewelry, home goods, posters and hongbao.

Time Out tip: The store often hosts community-focused book talks, DJ livestreams and pop-up merchants; check the website’s events calendar.

Price: Free

What is it? A Gothic revival Catholic church built in 1854.

Why go? It’s the oldest cathedral in the state, and all its bricks were imported from China (can you imagine how low that boat must have sat in the water?). It survived the 1906 earthquake but the associated fire gutted it, leaving just the brick walls and the bell tower (the bells melted in the heat). It was renovated in 1909 and again in 2011. The church is perhaps best known for the distinctive clock on its tower, where these words are printed in gold: “Son, observe the time and fly from evil.” Lore says that this advice was specifically aimed at men heading towards area brothels in the 1850s.

Time Out tip: Just across the street, you’ll find St. Mary’s Square, which underwent a renovation and expansion in 2017. The public park now includes a 6,000-square-foot rooftop park (it’s street level, but also a rooftop: thank the underground garage for that anomaly) with landscaped seating and an open plaza.

Price: Free.

What is it? A Sichuan-style restaurant with an emphasis on noodles.

Why go? In this hole in the wall traditional restaurant, you’ll engulf your taste buds in richly flavorful, tingly sauces over springy noodles topped with various meats. The Tan Tan noodles here are a great option, and the house cold noodles with Sichuan peppercorn rarely miss the mark. There is also an array of beloved side dishes like sliced pork belly with spicy garlic sauce and couple’s delight, a combination of tripe and beef. Service is quick here, portions are large and prices are very affordable.

Time Out tip: For those who aren’t spice lovers, the Tan Tan noodles can be made non-spicy, or opt for the pork bone broth noodle soup.

Price: Appetizers start at $6, entrées start at $10.

What is it? A Cantonese restaurant from Franky Ho and Michael Long.

Why go? This newish restaurant opened March 2024, tucked in an alleyway under a Kumon tutoring center (“just to remind everyone that the Kumon to business ownership pipeline is alive and well,” the restaurant’s website states). Ho and Long worked together at Mister Jiu’s and had impressive resumes before that. At Four Kings, they’re putting out Hong Kong-inspired fare, from chili crisp pig head to HK black pepper steak and XO escargot with milkbread. Playfulness rules the day: the website is a joy to read.

Time out tip: Don’t miss the selection of highballs—and a curated sake and shochu list.

Price: Small bites start at $6, entrées start at $9 and go up to $58 for HK black pepper steak.