Sam's Chinese Restaurant in San Francisco, CA: A Review

Walking the length of Polk Street in San Francisco is an interesting look at two very different sides of the city. Start at the Civic Center end, and walk north, and you'll first pass through the Tenderloin. You'll see a KFC/Taco Bell, a giant homeless shelter, a bunch of run-down residential hotels, strip clubs, and if you pass through late enough maybe even some light pimping and crack dealing. Get up to about where Polk intersects with Pine, however, and you notice the scenery begin to shift. Much nicer and cleaner apartment buildings, more "upscale" looking restaurants. Go far enough north, up to Russian Hill, and you're officially in Rich People Territory - expensive restaurants, luxury cars being rude in traffic, the whole nine.

That middle area, where the settings start to transition from Tenderloin squalor to Russian Hill snobbery, is an interesting culinary mix. There's all sorts of different food - some incredible budget deals, some severely overpriced establishments designed to take advantage of freespending visitors and club kids, and some things just somewhere in between. With the sheer amount of bars and clubs in the area, however, it seems like the "overpriced" cadre are becoming more and more numerous, even as the illusionary American economy continues to slowly and gradually evaporate.

So, in these troubled times, I'm glad Sam's Chinese Restaurant is holding fast in the neighborhood. Tucked away in a tiny little storefront in the middle of the block, flanked by larger restaurants with flashier signs, Sam's serves up good fresh food prepared quickly and reliably, and at a highly reasonable price.

You might have some trouble getting the lady who works the front counter away from her Chinese soap operas to take your order, but once she does it's generally no more than a ten minute wait to get your meal. This is no heat lamp and steam tray operation, though - everything is cooked up fresh to order from the back, and I've always found the meat and veggie quality to be very good, and the preparation to be leagues better than most Chinese food in this price range. Which, incidentally, is only about $5 to $8 per hearty entree.

People recommend the beef and BBQ pork wonton soup as the best items on the menu. I thought these were good, but I usually go with a rice plate that's a good mix of meat and veggies - a simple chicken with zucchini, big pieces of black mushroom or curry sauce and greens is only about $5.50 after tax for a rice plate, or $7 for a la carte. Usually I try to avoid fried stuff at Chinese places in San Francisco because they tend to go way too hard to the fried breading and overly sugary sauce without a lot of meat, but the sweet and sour chicken and pork here is pleasantly restrained in the sweetness, heavy on veggies and fresh pineapple, and also uses big plump pieces of roasted pork and chicken breast meat.

Just be prepared - they take cash only, and there's no delivery. Eat-in is slightly cramped, as the place is really small, but it never seems to be very crowded save lunchtime on weekdays, so it's usually a fairly pleasant dining experience. This place has become one of my favorite inexpensive eateries in the city, right up there with Yan's Kitchen over in North Beach in my estimation. Check it out!