4. Restaurants

Eliza’s

2877 California St, San Francisco, CA, 94115
  • (415) 621-4819
  • Store is closed

Eliza’s Menu

  • Appetizer
  • Salad
  • Soup
  • Seafood $11.25
  • Beef $9.20
  • Chicken
  • Pork
  • Vegetable
  • Rice & Noodles
  • Specials

Diabetics at Jason's Deli

Diabetics must not get carried away at Jason's Deli as there are several tempting items on their menu to easily spike your blood sugar. You can try the salads at Jason Deli's or start your meal with hot soup to ensure that you don't stuff too much while at Jason's Deli. You can also pick the right kind of sandwiches to complete your meal.

Foods to Avoid at Jason's Deli for Diabetics:

You must skip all kinds of sandwiches, wraps, and paninis at Jason's Deli for their high sodium content. Even among the salads, avoid the regular ones such as Chicken Club Salad, The Big Chef, Mesa Chicken Salad and go for the lighter versions. In addition, it is also recommended to avoid desserts totally while dining at Jason's Deli.

Food Suggestions for Diabetics at Jason's Deli:

Breakfast Sammy

Nutritional Facts: 250 calories, 12g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 3g), 370mg sodium, 23g carbs, 3g sugar, 0g fiber, 12g Protein

Chicken Club Salad (Lighter)

Nutritional Facts: 540 calories, 44g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 8g), 900mg sodium, 11g carbs, 3g sugar, 3g fiber, 24g Protein

Mesa Chicken Salad (Lighter)

Nutritional Facts: 460 calories, 30g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 5g), 850mg sodium, 26g carbs, 4g sugar, 7g fiber, 22g Protein

Spinach Veggie Wrap

Nutritional Facts: 350 calories, 14g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 4g), 830mg sodium, 51g carbs, 5g sugar, 12g fiber, 16g Protein

Fresh-Brewed Black Currant Tea

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Hot Organic Green Tea

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Hot Tea

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Fresh-Brewed Unsweetened Tea

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Healthy Meal suggestions for Eliza’s

  • Appetizer
  • Salad
  • Soup
  • Seafood $11.25
  • Beef $9.20
  • Chicken
  • Pork
  • Vegetable
  • Rice & Noodles
  • Specials

High Blood Pressure at Jason's Deli

Blood pressure patients mustn't indulge in sandwiches offered on Jason Deli's menu. Most sandwiches, whether Muffalettas or Po'boys, are high in sodium and could easily spike your blood pressure. Be careful while you order at Jason's Deli and opt for healthy food options such as salads, soups, or soups to ease your cravings.

Foods to Avoid at Jason's Deli for High Blood Pressure

Sandwiches must be avoided at all costs at Jason's Deli as they are loaded with sodium. You must also skip the paninis and wraps if possible and stick to healthy salads and soups while dining at Jason's Deli. Skip adding any kinds of salad dressing, extra cheese, croutons, etc. in your order to limit your sodium intake for the day.

Food Suggestions for High Blood Pressure at Jason's Deli

Banana Nut Muffin

Nutritional Facts: 220 calories, 10g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 1g), 170mg sodium, 25g carbs, 14g sugar, 1g fiber, 5g Protein

A bowl of Fresh Fruits

Nutritional Facts: 390 calories, 8g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 6g), 45mg sodium, 23g carbs, 62g sugar, 9g fiber, 6g Protein

Pollo Mexicano (Lighter)

Nutritional Facts: 800 calories, 22g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 12g), 550mg sodium, 121g carbs, 14g sugar, 11g fiber, 30g Protein

Gluten Free Snickerdoodle Cookie

Nutritional Facts: 210 calories, 8g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 4g), 150mg sodium, 34g carbs, 17g sugar, 0g fiber, 1g Protein

Wild Berry Hibiscus Tea with Pure Cane Sugar

Nutritional Facts: 100 calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 26g carbs, 26g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Fresh-Brewed Black Currant Tea.

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Hot Organic Green Tea.

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Hot Tea

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Fresh-Brewed Unsweetened Tea.

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Sorry, We are updating this restaurant blood pressure menu details.

High Cholesterol at Jason's Deli

If you are concerned about your cholesterol, then you got to be very cautious at Jason's Deli. Most sandwiches available on Jason's Deli's menu are high in cholesterol and sodium content. You must choose wisely and opt for salads or soups to please your appetite.

Foods to Avoid at Jason's Deli for High Cholesterol

Avoiding foods at Jason's Deli can be trickier if you are a foodie. It is recommended to skip the heavy sandwiches which are both high in cholesterol and sodium at Jason's Deli. You must also avoid paninis and wraps at Jason Deli's or order the lighter version to reduce your calorie intake.

Food Suggestions to Maintain Cholesterol Level at Jason's Deli

Blueberry Muffin

Nutritional Facts: 190 calories, 5g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 1g), 180mg sodium, 34g carbs, 19g sugar, 1g fiber, 3g Protein

Nutty Mixed Up Salad (Lighter)

Nutritional Facts: 430 calories, 21g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 4g), 810mg sodium, 41g carbs, 33g sugar, 3g fiber, 21g Protein

Texas Style Spud (Lighter)

Nutritional Facts: 830 calories, 22g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 11g), 740mg sodium, 139g carbs, 27g sugar, 14g fiber, 29g Protein

Jason's Deli Bottled Ginger Ale

Nutritional Facts: 140 calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 36g carbs, 36g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Fresh-Brewed Black Currant Tea.

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Hot Organic Green Tea.

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Hot Tea

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Fresh-Brewed Unsweetened Tea.

Nutritional Facts: 0calories, 0g (Tans. Fat 0g & Sat. Fat 0g), 0mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g Protein

Sorry, We are updating this restaurant cholesterol menu details.

  • F C.

    We have been ordering the Chinese Chicken salad at Eliza's for awhile, but we have noticed lately their take out Chinese Chicken salad really disappoints. Mind you, at it's best it is spicier and more savory than Comforts of San Anselmo's Chicken Salad, but when it is at its best it is still paltry. Last night was even more so. There were hardly any greens and a disproportionate amount of spices (too much) to the meager amount of lettuce. Unlike Comforts, their chicken is questionable - it has been sauteed/fried and has been prepared in bits. Although, it is tasty, it is a bit of a mystery . Well, mystery solved; last night my husband and I literally had to spit out 8 to 10 pieces of this 'chicken' as it was pure gristle and bone! Thank God we didn't give our 2 year old some. Come on, Eliza's! If you are going to make a smaller salad, keep up the quality! We will save our 'voglia' (craving) for Chinese chicken salad for when we are passing through Marin. Really disappointing!

    (1)

  • Melissa B.

    Eliza's is very popular it's true. It is always busy and there is consistently a line of cars double parked picking up their to go orders. Lunch specials are a pretty decent deal and I like that you can get brown rice as an option. Their chinese chicken salad while tasty is absolutely tiny. It is not a special, so it is full price therefor it should be an entree size salad... It is not. Pot stickers, basil chicken, and mango beef are all quite good. The soups can be watery and underwhelming. If you are craving Chinese it will do the trick but it is not a five star deal. It isnt a great value. The portions are measly. The service is cranky and slow. It isn't that authentic or interesting and the presentation is not thoughtful. It is fresh and a little on the light side. California cuisine meets Chinese.

    (3)

  • Amy A.

    Absolutely delicious. The food is extremely fresh and non greasy. I just wish they delivered.

    (5)

  • Andrew K.

    The rudest service ever. Thursday night - we call ahead - letting them know we are coming. They are so rude. On the phone they tell us if you get here by 8:45, we'll serve you. We get there at 8:45 on the dot. Rushed like heck to get there. No one is up front. They shoo us to the waiting area. We are ignored until 8:50 and they say "too bad" - can't serve you - in a TOTALLY RUDE WAY! We tried to make our point and got the big fat hand. The manager is the rudest person in America. NO WAY!

    (1)

  • Donna R.

    Popped in for a quick lunch! Very good, very quick, very fresh! Would like to try for dinner!

    (4)

  • Ash S.

    I have a friend who swears by Elizas so 99% of the time I'm going with him when he comes to visit me in SF. Eliza's is good but to me there is nothing great about it. The food and service are good. The location is a bit out there from the main areas so its a bit of a hike. The owner is always there so I think Eliza's success is in big part due to his hard work. My favorite thing at Eliza's is the hot and sour soup. As common as it is, most Chinese restaurants don't ever get this right. Eliza's hot and sour is one of the best I've had. I usually order the Mongolian beef or kung pao chicken and both are delicious. If you are fan of Chinese, you definitely should check this place out!

    (4)

  • Thy L.

    It's really a 3.5, but I'll round up. The category for Eliza's really should be Chinese American, not Chinese. They're actually quite different. To start out the night, we ordered some Pork Mu Shu, which was yummy. The waiter wraps it up for you at your table using utensils (don't worry germaphobes). It's basically a mixture of pork, wood ear and other assorted vegetables tossed in some sort of light oil or sauce. Honey Walnut Prawns were delicious. It was sweet, lightly covered in mayo and shell free. I don't usually eat the nuts in the dish, but the walnuts were really crunchy and addictive. The Kung Pao Chicken didn't really make an impression on me. The chicken was cut into small bite-size chunks, coated in flour, deep fried to get a crispy crunch and then covered in a spicy Orange Chicken-like sauce. The Mongolian Beef, a common staple of Chinese American restaurants, also impressed. The beef was tender. The sweet spicy brown sauce made the dish extra savory. I still think Chinese American food is unnecessarily expensive. Chinese food should always be cheap cheap cheap!

    (4)

  • Paul C.

    I can see some of the issues people have with Eliza's. On a Friday night, it's going to be tough for you to get sat no matter what, and you're just going to have to deal with that. And, yes sometmes the service can be abrupt. But man the food is good, and when they're slow(er) the service is attentive as heck. The shrimp with snow peas is heavenly and love their firey tofu. Crab Rangoon fried perfectly and hot and sour soup that has just the right amount of kick.

    (4)

  • Rosanna T.

    5 Stars for the food!! This is one of the favorite Chinese restaurants in SF and I am super picky since my parents own a chinese restaurant.. I love the chow fun and they have Peking Duck on Fridays!! Many people complain about the service but I honestly don't care. The service is not too bad but I wouldn't expect much from a Chinese restaurant.. LOL Definitely my go to chinese take out place :)

    (5)

  • John H.

    Decent food, but the service is atrocious.

    (1)

  • Philip I.

    It's been a while since I have written any Yelp review, but this restaurant's average rating is so far off that I can't resist getting back into the game. We tried out Eliza's last night and it was freeeeeeezzing cold (no heater - 40F with wind chill outside). To add insult to injury, the restaurant owner insisted that the front door remained open. Apparently people tend to walk into the glass door (i.e. something better fixed by putting a sign on the glass instead of leaving the door open). One of the 4 women seated at the table next to us was wearing her gloves :) The service was overall terrible. Example: after waiting 10min to order, the waiter comes and says we have to order NOW before the kitchen closes. As we're about to speak he runs off and disappears. That and other shenanigans became rather entertaining :) In all fairness, the food is actually good. My strong advice, however, would be to only visit this restaurant if (i) you want to do take out (ii) you want to remind yourself how bad service can really be (iii) you are wearing your woollies.

    (1)

  • Lucy E.

    Eliza's has great food. I've been eating Chinese food in SF for 45 years now and I'd say it's some of the best. But their staff is sooo rude it always puts me in a bad mood when I go there. Enough of a bad mood that I usually only go back every 6 month maybe. Their location on Potrero Hill wasn't too different. I don't see how it can be so hard to get staff that can have a minimal level of politeness. Whenever I call in to pick up, they hang up on me as soon as they get my enough to put my oder though, they rush you even when they aren't busy, they just kind of through the food on the table, etc, etc. So for good food, this is a good place. And for being treated like shit by their staff, this is also a good place.

    (1)

  • Uncle Fishbits Aeneas X.

    This was rec'd as one of the best chinese places in the city by a savvy, hip, foodie professional peer of mine. It's a place she has gone to for years, and took us there after a long meeting. So maybe it was the long meeting.... or maybe it was that it came recommended so highly... but It only made me miss my inner sunset haunt, Nan King Road Bistro. This was really good chinese compared to the sloppy, oily "American" chinese food that we get used to.... it was crisp, not overcooked (aka good quality food that doesn't need to be oversauced to hide bad quality, etc), and perfect portions and presentations. The grilled eggplant was yummy, the mongolian beef was good, but lacked any real kick that I might expect, and was cooked a bit hard - a little more burnt smoke taste than I might enjoy. The chicken salad was scrumptious, and frankly... recounting the food reminds me that it's worth 4 stars, not 3. So well done.... you did a great job Eliza's! =) Thank you!

    (4)

  • Christian X.

    Eliza's is a personal favorite. Although probably considered "American-ized," the stand-out trait of Eliza's food is quality. The food is not greasy and the ingredients are noticeably fresh. This is Chinese food that actually tastes good the next day. Eliza's has some unique plates such as mango beef, sunflower chicken, etc. I recommend the sunflower chicken. The won ton soup is also excellent and fresh. Portions could be bigger for the prices. The ambience is good, clean, and well lit however the seating is a little cramped. The service is satisfactory. Parking in the area has never been a problem.

    (4)

  • Renee L.

    omg i'm salivating just writing this review. this is a must-go every time i'm in the Bay. The food is delicious!!! must try dishes: - drums of heaven - chicken salad - eggplan with prawns (O M G - my husband who doesn't even like eggplan is a convert b/c of this dish!!!) - Special beef (not sure the actual name) - Peking duck (they scrape off all the fat!!! so it's just meat & skin, O M G) - honey walnut prawns ok the list can go on forever, you get the idea. They are meticulous with the smallest details like scraping the fat off the duck. They use the freshest ingredients, filet mignon for the special beef!! everything is fresh and tasty. Sure it's fusion and not your traditional Chinatown chinese restaurant but who likes those greasy sub-par restaurants with 2 day old scrap veggies anyway. I can see why people think the servers are rude but they are actually very nice & accomodating. GO TRY IT NOW!!!!

    (5)

  • Carlos A.

    I don't know anything about chinese food, but thought it was decent food. I don't know that I have ever had AMAZING Chinese food, but I definitely enjoyed the decor. I wasn't paying attention to what was ordered or how much it cost but it was a nice gesture by our friends after we helped them move. I would definitely go back, hopefully with more of an appetite (I had lunch about two hours before dinner). The level of english didn't seem to be that high.

    (3)

  • cathleen d.

    The boyfriend and I are frequent guests at Eliza's, sometimes we have eaten a full meal, sometimes with out of town guests. I live in the neighborhood. On Saturday night when we went for a light snack, Eliza's was not busy, there were at least 4 tables for two that were vacant and remained unoccupied throughout our dinner. We ordered a soup and Chicken Fried Rice. The manager immediately came to our table and said that we didn't order enough food, in order to stay we needed to order more food. Rather than cause a problem we ordered food that we didn't want. I am offended and I feel the manager was a bully. I won't be dining at Eliza's again. There are plenty of other Chinese restaurants in the neighborhood.

    (1)

  • Katie S.

    Relatively healthy for chinese. Fresh ingredients and great tasting food. Garlic eggplant and seasame chicken (which is not fried!) were great. Atmosphere is eclectic at best, but very inexpensive

    (4)

  • Stephen F.

    A true San Franciscan would be put off by any pretension to "Chinese" food represented by Eliza's. This is not where you go for authentic Chinese cuisine -- as much as anywhere in San Francisco, Eliza's is gringofied for the Pacific Heights crowd. But why complain? There are a thousand fine hole-in-the-wall potsticker joints and dim sum restaurants in this city. I'm going to judge Eliza's on whether the food tastes good, and in fact it is excellent. This is as good as it gets for Chinese food comfortable on a fork. Most of my trips to the city now incude at least one night of takeout from Eliza's, and I have yet to be disappointed. On a busy night bring a friend to pick up so you don't have to try to park and fight the crowd at the door.

    (5)

  • Skai R.

    I try to stop here whenever I'm in the City. Been coming here for over 14 years! Every dish is delish. Their sauces are great, without the too-oily effect you get from other Chinese restaurants. I especially have enjoyed the recent Filet Mignon special. And I will never say no to the Drums of Heaven, the Green Beans, or the Garlic Chicken with Asparagus (they let you make custom meals). Whenever I bring my mom she insists on having Eliza's Spicy Eggplant. The decor is a little over-the-top -- it seems like a new tchotchke has appeared on the walls every time I visit. Yes, the waiters are not all that into smiling (except the gray-haired guy, who's always super nice), but they're quick and good at their job. I go for the food, not a smile, and the food is fab!

    (4)

  • Jenny K.

    This place sucks! If you want crap ass service and mediocre food then go! Bright lighting, 15 minute wait for any acknowledgement, drinks and food come one at a time and nothing was better than mediocre. Servers slam shit down in front of you and try to take your plates before you are done. I have never signed a place off after one visit. But I will now. Oh and it was my son's birthday and they don't offer a single dessert. Definitely a no go.

    (1)

  • Linda S. M.

    Actually, the whole experience was anything but great. From the rudeness of the help, to lukewarm food, to having to ask for more tea and water. It's OK that a place is cheap, but that does mean that rudeness and indifference is acceptable. Everyone can rave about this place. Not me!! I will not return.

    (2)

  • JJ L.

    This restaurant has the worse service ever! My friend invited me to have dinner at this restaurant. The food is so so. From soup to entree, i was waiting for about 15 minutes. Then the server rushed us to leave because there were people waiting for table. Alright, I asked for the bill and ready to go, that was another 10 minutes wait. Sorry! I will highly recommend my friends and family do NOT go.

    (1)

  • Priya R.

    One of my all-time favorite restaurants in San Francisco. I couldn't have asked for a better tasting Kung Pao Tofu! Although I don't live in the city anymore, I make it a point to visit Eliza's when I am in the area.

    (4)

  • Z A.

    I have been coming here for years. It used to be that when you went to Elizas, you got mediocre to bad service, pretty good food, good portion sizes and a decent price (though always a little high. They have taken the portion sizes to pathetic, the prices are higher and the quality has dropped. The service is as bad as ever. If you ask where your waiter is, you get lectured. Don't expect to have your water filled more than once. They served fried rice tonight in a dish the size of a small soup bowl and the shrimp dish for 12 dollars had 7 shrimp, and it tasted bland and boring. I know the location makes for a guaranteed clientele but this restaurant needs a serious wake-up call. There are lots of good Chinese places that appreciate your business, try one of them.

    (1)

  • Veronica N.

    Eliza's a great place to stop by for lunch. Lunch specials are under $6 and you get to choose your entree, a side of rice and soup of the day. My usual is the mango chicken with brown rice. This is definitely not authentic Chinese food, but rather "americanized fancy" Chinese food. The restaurant is clean and service is fast and efficient but like most Chinese restaurants, the wait staff aren't the friendliest. They just want to get you in and out which works great when you're just grabbing a quick bite. 3.5stars

    (3)

  • Mike L.

    I've eaten a lot of Chinese food in my day and Eliza's ranks in the top 3, right next to Tommy's Wok in Carmel CA. Everything is delicious. The food is fresh, clean, crisp and healthy. Not a lot of deep frying like other Chinese restaurants. Lunch special can not be beat for $6 and with soup is the perfect amount of food. I recommend the garlic prawns, chow mein, cashew and broccoli beef, and the hot and sour soup

    (5)

  • Chelsea D.

    Very rude service from both waiters. They seemed really unhappy and miserable to be there, and we felt like an inconvenience to them as soon as we walked in and asked for a table for 3. My mother in law needed to get her food order to go since it took a while for them to take our orders and she was on her lunch break. After that, she felt like she was being slighted. The waiter brought out the soup but only two bowls, and only two waters. We assumed this was because her food would be out shortly. It wasn't until 30 minutes later and we were done eating that we inquired about her food. The waiter barked 'its coming' and brought it out soon after. Unfortunately the food did not make up for the rude service. It was very bland and flavorless all around. The only redeeming quality of this place is the quirky glass sea critter themed decor, though its a little cluttered and random.

    (1)

  • Kenny C.

    I'm torn from either 3-Stars or 4-Stars...so I'm going to give them 3.5-Stars. Our appetizer was okay...however the crab meat rangoon was hecka good!! It was filled w/ cream cheese...droool. Cashew Chicken & Broccoli w/ Brown Rice was okay. I give them an extra half a star, because their lunch menu prices are cheap. $5.50 includes a rice plate, tea, soup & a fortune cookie at the end. The workers here are in white shirts & jeans...I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant where the workers are on jeans. Their decor is great, it has glass art w/ a fish theme...even in the restrooms. Combination Plate For Two - Egg Roll, Crab Meat Rangoon, Pot Stickers & Drums of Heaven static2.px.yelp.com/bpho… Cashew Chicken & Broccoli w/ Brown Rice static4.px.yelp.com/bpho… (Thursday, August 6, 2009)

    (3)

  • Cath M.

    After shopping at REI, my sis was craving Chinese food. She suggested this place. We ordered the following: * combination fried rice ~ sis liked it but I didn't - it was a weird texture and tasted funny. * lemon chicken ~ yup I was craving the notorious stuff so I got this and it was ok - portion was kinda small. * sweet and sour pork ~ uhm, it was ok. * beef with broccoli ~ eh, didn't bother having some At the end of the night, our order was for pickup and service was fast. Though for our dishes it was $53+ kinda pricey. Will probably order more stuff here b/c it's along the way to my sis's place.

    (3)

  • Kiesha R.

    I hadn't been to Eliza's in at least a couple of years - and randomly, rediscovered it upon a hankering for non-greasy Chinese food. I was pleased. They definitely offer some unique dishes (alongside traditional favorites), and the food doesn't feel too salty or oily like so many Chinese restaurants. It tastes more...fresh. I actually kind of dig the '80s glam decor, and find the staff to be very friendly. Our waiter had excellent recommendations (sesame chicken, yum!), and was very patient with our 20 questions about chicken dishes. It's also worth noting this is a great family spot, if you're looking for a place where your kids can be a little loud. Glad to have remembered you, Eliza's.

    (4)

  • Christine K.

    THIS IS THE PLACE TO GO FOR CHINESE FOOD IN PAC HEIGHTS! I was skeptical when I was first brought here. Probably because I was being brought to Pacific Heights to get Chinese food (Why am I coming here for Chinese food???), but when I lived in the area this did become the place to go for good, fresh, and tasty Chinese food. Very Tasty Tasty: Pot Stickers Hot and Sour Soup Hunan Lamb Eliza's Spicy Eggplant Sea Bass Honestly, I have never had anything bad here. Easy seating, so-so on the parking, and very reasonable prices.

    (4)

  • H K.

    I used to enjoy going to Eliza's 18th Street Potrero Hill location because it was a fairly short drive from work and I was disappointed when it closed. I generally dislike Americanized Chinese food restaurants but somehow had gotten to like this place (along with its spinoff, Eric's on Church Street in Noe Valley). However, I knew this location was still open and I had a chance to visit it earlier this week because it was on the way to a job site. As usual, I went for my favorite: the House Special duck (for some reason it became my favorite over the years along with a portabello mushroom dish, don't know why). The service here was okay that day, but my past experience with the other location was that it could be unfriendly at times. Therefore, I can understand those who, for that reason, gave this place a low rating. The inside decor is nice. They use tables with glass tops. The legs are metal shaped to resemble a tree (at least that was my assessment).

    (3)

  • Enrique B.

    Honey walnut shrimp. Eat it and your life will be complete. That is all.

    (5)

  • Kimberley L.

    Great flavor without the grease! Celery salad was fresh & surprisingly delicious. Mongolian beef was tender, lean & savory. The fried rice was done just right, nothing worse than dried out rice; no worries of that here. The reviews giving props to the walnut shrimp was right on target! Nicely done Eliza's!!

    (5)

  • Jo L.

    I've fallen in love with their Spicy Eggplant w/ Prawns and brown rice. So good!!!

    (4)

  • Pilar P.

    Eliza's has delicious Chinese-American cuisine. Kids LOVE the chow mein which is tasty and full of vegetables. There is a good amount of sauce in ratio to the noodles. While I am not a fan of the potstickers I love the Chicken with Cashews. The broccoli in it is tasty, fresh, and has a nice bite. It hasn't been sitting around for a while.. Lately I've been ordering the Chinese Broccoli with Beef and shrimp. It's peppery and a little spicy and goes great with a side of steamed or brown rice. While this restaurant isn't cheap its the best in the area. I've tried Yum Yum and Ben Wah and Eliza's beats them both. If you want crappy Chinese like thick battered and deep friend Sesame chicken this isn't your place. But if you want to feel good after a big Chinese dinner than take out at Eliza's! It's fast, the orders are always correct, and the people who work there have a clue as to what's going on. * Parking isn't easy but I usually just pull aside on California or Broderick and put my hazards on. Haven't gotten a ticket yet.

    (4)

  • Nora S.

    I have been banned from this restaurant more times than I can count (due to no fault of my own- they do not like the local high schoolers, and I was once one of those local high schoolers). Yet, I still continue to return. It is a shame that the Potrero location is closed because it was closer to my house and the people who worked there were nicer. Yes, there are a ton of negatives to Eliza's, but enough positives to keep me coming back and happy. Postitive #1: Speedy service (occasionally too speedy- I had hardly touched the soup that came with my lunch special when my meal arrived) Postitive #2: Hot and sour soup. Need to clear your sinus or just want to eat something delicious? Order this. Positive #3: Mongolian beef. The quality of their beef is unparalleled. I won't order this dish anywhere else. Positive #4: Lunch specials. Great price. Lots of food. In general I really like the sauces they have, and I really haven't found a dish I didn't like. I tend to order take-out to cut down on the number of interactions I have with the staff here, but the occasional sit-down meal is nice. I like that the bathroom is decorated as an undersea adventure. I would like my bathroom made in the same fashion. K, thanks.

    (3)

  • Cat C.

    NOM NOM NOM... if you can find street parking! This is what we got on our last trip: * Mango Beef * Honey Walnut Prawns * Eliza's Fried Rice My only "complaint" is that the fried rice has too much flavor and you have to enjoy it on it's own, the next day. Stick to white rice while you're there and you'll enjoy the flavors of the meat dishes more. Must go back and try other items on the menu, but it's so hard to get past their tried and true mango beef. I'll get around to it some day.

    (4)

  • Julia D.

    I really like their lunch specials. Like a lot. They give you soup, and a pretty big entree for about 6 dollars. They have brown rice for all you SF health freaks! If you can handle the handful of Drew and UHS students, you must come here. The service is ridiculously fast, too, you almost wonder how their kitchen can go that quickly...

    (4)

  • Matsuo U.

    Dining room is, how you say, interesting.... kinda a "wanna be upscale". Thought it was ok, with kind of the same response I had to the now closed Potrero Hill location: yelp.com/user_details_re… Dinner was good I have to say, not great. Price was ok.

    (3)

  • Tony M.

    Decent Chinese food but unfortunately rude and indifferent service. Don't expect to be treated well.

    (2)

  • Khoa D.

    It's the best valued Asian restaurant in SF by far. Great taste, good service, and very clean.

    (5)

  • Tony A.

    Second day on our vacation and wanted to try some good chinese. Lots of mixed reviews but we were in the area, so we decided to go in. Nice place, great food, and inexpensive. Amanda had the eggplant and tofu, which I really liked. I ordered the spicy scallop dish and really loved it. This place is very simple but well executed. We were in and out in 30 minutes and under 15 dollars. We walked out very happy.

    (4)

  • Dan K.

    Please don't say you are closed when you are open until 9:30. (Called at 9:10)

    (2)

  • Crystal O.

    We had this as takeout over a friend's house this weekend. Yum! Even after a bit the egg rolls (vegetarian) were still crunchy and not oily at all. What we had: Green beans - very good and well cooked but still crunchy Kung Pao Tofu - this was the break out winner for the night. Everyone (but me) was surprised at how good this was Eggplant - this was my least fave as it was battered and fried. I like it sauteed in brown sauce. Mongolian beef - I don't know but everyone else loved it. I can tell you that the jalapenos in it were hot though! Sesame chicken - my son loved this! Sweet and sour soup - What I expected Vegetarian egg rolls - great crunch, not oily and yummy insides:) brown rice - a note here, I was surprised! I was a sceptic but my friend had my try the steamed brown rice with my food. I loved it! The flavor of the brown rice totally works with Chinese food. I don't live in this neighborhood but would totally go back if I did! I understand that it's a really small place so not too many people can sit there. They do a terrific take out business.

    (4)

  • Angela C.

    I think I'm not super fond of this place because I don't eat chicken or beef, and those seem to be the best things on the menu so I've heard. The first time I went I had pretty good service and the portion sizes were very generous. I got some kind of salmon dish wich was alright, and it had a mountain of fried noodles on it. Unnecessary, but it was cute. The second time I went the old grey-haired server guy was short with me. Plus it had a MILLION kids in there which I guess wasn't their fault since it was the day before mother's day (the day when smug young mothers like to celebrate their major accomplishment of successfully having gotten knocked up at some point) so it was full of said smug young mothers and their 2-year-olds appreciating themselves. But anyway, I asked for something steamed and they gave me PLAIN veggies and shrimp. No flavor at all, not even salt. So yeah, I'd rather go somewhere else for Chinese. Nan King in my neighborhood is great for a cheaper price.

    (3)

  • Ashley G.

    LOVE LOVE LOVE Eliza's!!!!!! Best, freshest mandarin/Hunan food I've found in the city. BEST Mongolian beefive EVER had... Just wish the serving was larger!!! Only downside is its a tad pricier for slightly smaller portions... Incredible pot stickers too. Def recommend. It's a go-to.

    (4)

  • E S.

    giving them one star is generous - the food is very mediocre here-the chef does a very decent job w/low quality ingredients (very high priced for what it is too boot) the chicken is....I don't know what kind of animal....some kind of food product/they have a huge attitude...especially when you order a meat dish and it is Camouflaged mostly with celery.....SALT...to kill....everything - they suck - way way to many great places to go in SF - skip this one regardless of the hype

    (1)

  • Michelle C.

    I've always been a fan of Eliza's in Portero Hill but after visiting the Pac Heights location tonight, I felt so offended and upset by their service. We ordered the Sizzling Rice soup which the server did not equally distribute the soup and its contents. My friend got mostly broth and another just vegetables and barely any soup. So when the main entrees arrived, one was decent (shrimp and portobello mushrooms) and another COLD (Mongolian Lamb). I felt the plate, the plate was ice cold so no wonder the food was cold. This part made me furious: I asked our server to please warm up the dish. He displeasingly looked at me and stared until I explained to him the plate was cold, making the food cold. And he said, "We don't heat up the plates" I said it was fine but can he just heat it up. And he looked around, then said, "You are the only..." just stopped because he was going to say I was the only one who complains about the food being cold. But then he said he'll warm it up but it will "SHRIVEL". HE USED THOSE EXACT WORDS to describe what the reheated food will look like and I was INSTANTLY GROSSED OUT. SHRIVEL? Really? of all the words in the written English language, he had to use the most unappetizing word: SHRIVEL which makes me think of old vegetables or prunes. Thanks alot Eliza for making my night at your restaurant an experience i will always be horrified by. TIP: $2 because the food portion was small, SHRIVELED, and SERVICE WAS HORRRRRIIIBBBLLLLLLEEEE!!!!!

    (1)

  • Bryan S.

    My guardians and I enjoy this place every time we go here. Its just good food, can't go wrong with it. The sweet and sour pork seems to be my favorite at the moment as well as the... steak, I think. I tried the Chow Mein once and it was just a large bowl, more than i could handle. I've had dinner here eight times and in all those times, I have always been satisfied with the food given to me. Sometimes sticking to one food is good but there's a whole bunch to chose from, so open up or eat a lot! The lunch specials are just spectacular as well; perfect for me. Lucky for the Drew students, they get to have Elizas close by when they need it.

    (4)

  • Eddie R.

    Can't believe I've lived two blocks away for the past two years and haven't visited this place before. I've tried just about every other Chinese food place within a mile of here and they all pale by comparison. I popped in for lunch at 2:30 on a Monday and the place was still quite full. Nice decor for an Asian restaurant, very clean, and real (metal) chopsticks! I was quickly seated, given a menu and hot pot of tea. They have a long list of lunch specials priced between $6-7, including lamb and duck entrees. After ordering, a steaming cup of Hot and Sour soup arrived that was yummy. Not too salty or gingery and nice spicy flavor. Before I finished my soup, my Spicy Chicken with Basil arrived, and it didn't disappoint -- fresh, meaty chicken, crisp sauteed peppers and water chestnuts, and just the right level of spice + basil flavor. It was obvious that it was freshly prepared vs sitting in some warming tray for the past few hours. Finally, and for me this is important, even the fortune cookie with the bill was fresh and crispy :) The place does get knocked for bad service. I wouldn't call it bad, just perfunctory. But who cares, I didn't come here to chat up the staff. Oh, if I had to come up with one gripe, it would be that the orange slices that come with the meal were tart, and unripe. Granted, this was just my first trip. But my expectations were high based on the Yelp and friend's reviews. Expectations met and exceeded and I will definitely be back, maybe for dinner next time.

    (5)

  • Misha F.

    Do you LOVE awesome lunch deals? Rice plates with soup and a fortune cookie? Then try out Eliza's. I love the scallop dish, and the sunflower beef. The presentation is very nice, and they even offer brown rice! The restaurant is clean and has VERY QUICK service.

    (4)

  • Amelyn C.

    Where's the Mongolian Beef? The food is very tasty, but the portions can be a bit skimpy. My real complaint? Service. Mr. Short Term Memory was our waiter. When we walked in, Mr. S.T. M. looked into the back for a table for us. Then he walked away. Minutes pass. Finally, the boss walked up and welcomed us. We asked him for a table, which he took us to right away. Clearly, Mr. S.T.M. never did anything about seating us after walking away. Then I asked Mr. S.T.M. what the people behind us ordered. He said, Mongolian Lamb. OK, we ordered that. Later we learned the eye-tempting dish was actually Mongolian Beef. Lamb, beef? Same diff. Then at the end of the meal, I felt a little hungry (see note about the food above), so I ordered that delicious-looking Mongolian Beef (I don't eat a lot usually, so I just planned to take most of it to work for lunch the next day.). I told Mr. S.T.M., and he walked away. Twenty minutes passed. I asked Mr. S. T. M. when the Mongolian beef would be ready. "Oh, you want to order Mongolian Beef?" Me: Argh!!! I spoke to him firmly, and said, "Look I ordered this, but I am now too tired of waiting so don't place an order now. " Then I repeated myself, "I'm confirming that I do not want that beef dish now." Sheeesh. I nibbled on some cheese when we got home and drank a glass of wine. All better. I suppose you can work around this by just looking for the boss whenever you want something done. Oh, lots of kids in the restaurant that night for some reason. Messy kids and fried rice are an unappealing sight.

    (3)

  • Paul S.

    Updated review: Three months after the manager commented on my Yelp review and still no kids' drinks besides soda, water and tea. "Drink your sugar, kiddies. It's GOOD for you!" So Eliza's loses a star in my book. It's surprising, in a city like San Francisco, that they won't do better on such an obvious issue. Clearly, the owners just don't care. Maybe they think the dumb gwai lo want it that way? It's still my son's favorite Chinese restaurant. But he's 6, and only eats plain chow mein. We went there again last night. The place was crowded. But not a single Chinese customer, nor even a Chinese menu. Somehow, this makes sense. Eliza's isn't a Chinese restaurant, except for a having bad attitude towards customers that don't speak Chinese. If you want unobtrusive, pricey, westernized, "sorta/kinda" Chinese food, Eliza's will do. For the real thing, go to Lee Hou, or any other Chinese restaurant on Clement Street, nearby. Ideally, one that serves juice in addition to soda! By the way, be wary of writing a bad review about this place. Someone on Yelp took it on himself to heap abuse on me for doing so, using multiple user names (!) I had to report him to the Yelp abuse desk. I'm removing another star on the theory that management may have had something to do with it. Who else would bother?

    (1)

  • Kathy K.

    ALRIGHT. THAT. IS. IT. I give Eliza's 4 stars for its food. I love their Hot and Sour Soup, I like their little crab cheesey rangoons. However, I INTENSELY dislike their service. Minus all 4 stars if I could. Really...I mean a little soup Nazi-ism is entertaining and something that my date or friend or roommate and I can laugh off as "quirky" but last night's ridiculous treatment has me done with the big E from now on. My friend and I walk in a little after 8pm and are excited because it smells delicious. Well, after having 2 waiters walk right up, look at us then leave then come back and look at us again and not say one word I thought to myself, do I have something on my face?? About 10 minutes later, this gentleman comes up to me and asks me if I ordered take out and I said no..nevermind the guy who was standing in front of me CLEARLY waiting for his take out. I directed eager beaver to waiting guy and said,' I think he was first". Well, the host decided to ignore me and says, " if you're not here to pick up what do you want?" Yikes. I said, "we would like a table for two please", and flash my winning *smile* ( I admit it..I use my charms to get what I want hehehehe) "Oh, we are not seating. You can order to go but sit down is closed" Now I just saved my review and checked the times for this place because I don't want to get all nasty if I was in the wrong, BUT...nope. It says 9:30pm on Sunday. So, seeing as I clearly was there before 9:30pm it would have been nice to have been seated to eat. Perhaps if they don't seat people after 8pm they should state that on their hours, because I did not see anything to that regard anywhere on the premises. Nevermind the fact that there were 5 or 6 tables with people eating. This was added to the previous insults in the last year or two where it would take us 30 mins to be seated when it was clearly not busy and the constant whisking away of the dishes after we had finished and the hovering at the table until the check was paid. It really ruins the experience and is a turn off to go to a place where you feel like you're not a customer, you're an inconvenience. Next time I'm going to Yum Yum as so many others have recommended.

    (1)

  • donal c.

    I had a most satisfying meal at Eliza's last night -- something worthy of comment, because I have noted before about the very brusque, borderline-rude service I have experienced here in the past. The food was excellent, as usual - wonderful noodles, loaded with fresh, interesting veggies, and a most unusual Mongolian Beef, complemented with a fine Tsing Tao beer - very enjoyable! But, even more pleasant, and worthy of note, the service was attentive and friendly (even during a very busy evening.) There was no sense that I was being rushed along, or that they were trying to free up tables for the next set of customers (something I distinctly felt in the past.) Could it be that Eliza's actually do read their Yelp reviews? Optimistically, I hope that's the case. Whatever the reason, things have improved here, in my experience, and Eliza's is now one of the better Chinese dinner destinations in the City.

    (4)

  • Rainforest C.

    In sum: Very tasty and fresh cuisine and nice decour. Poor service. This "Chinese" restaurant has very non-greasy and fresh delicious options and a pleasant, light, upbeat and modern-ish decour with lots of colored glass. Excellent mishu and soups. Feels pretty healthy tasting. They do add MSG. Downside is the waiters are grumpy/hostile. Went with a friend who asked about gluten free options. They told her one thing on the whole menu. She asked what else, and they listed a second thing. It went on and on. Also they didtn come to serve us for a long time and when they did it was pretty grumpily. Food comes quickly but then they ignore you again adn you have to beg for a check. It's been like this repeatedly. Not that I expect fancy service from a restaurant like this, but I do expect decent.

    (3)

  • Harry E.

    Unbelievably fresh and delicious Chinese Food. The Mango Beef was delicious and this was the best Chinese Chicken salad I have ever had. Great food

    (5)

  • Whitney B.

    Great food. Ingredients were fresh and took it to a level above standard Chinese fare. Space kinda shlubby.

    (4)

  • Christine C.

    This is not your typical greasy, heavy Mandarin/Schezwan restaurant; neither is it an authentic light cuisine Cantonese restaurant. It's more of an Americanized Chinese restaurant, if that's what you are looking for. The restaurant is very clean with an eclectic/early 90s decor. We went for the mango beef per yelpers' suggestions and the string beans with chicken. The mango beef was too sweet for my taste but the garlicky string beans with chicken was fantastic. The string beans were stir fried to a slight crisp/crunch. The portions were moderate, definitely not the allocation of food you get at a typical Chinese restaurant. Still, I didn't find anything extraordinary about Eliza's, not the decor, not the service, and more importantly not the food. I wouldn't return again.

    (2)

  • Rico L.

    This restaurant has horrible service. Staffs with bad attitude. my coworkers and I went to this place for lunch. The waiter who took our order was rude. our food didn't come out till 40 minutes later so we told our server that we will take it to go. Waiter gave us small boxes and obviously didnt fit. We asked for more boxes, the waiter said "why didn't you asked for larger boxes". Hello!!! your the one who served our food you should know. The thing he said that broke the camel's back was "well, you guys knew you only had an hour for lunch you shouldn't have sitted in" instead of being apologetic for the very slow service. I don't recommend this restaurant at all.

    (1)

  • joyce l.

    I picked up 8 orders here for lunch and it was under $100. what a bargain!!!! the service was very fast and friendly. i've also dined in and they were always very nice. for a chinese restaurant, they are also very clean. i especially dig the lucite clear plastic countertop with tropical fishes. tacky? ok, maybe not in my home but i dig. as for the food, i've had GREAT chinese food elsewhere. for the price, it's a good deal. it's clean and cheap. and it's way better and more authentic than pf chang's. can't go wrong.

    (3)

  • Nik D.

    i'm dictating all my reviews. so forgive the misspelling. I tried out Elizas tonight on the word of a friend. got the potstickers, some chicken chow mein and some wonton soup. potstickers are rockin and they were actually more like Japanese gyoza, but much bigger. the wonton soup: small is actually quart size which is usually a large for most other places. it was so delicious unbelievably delicious with beautiful vegetables and a really flavorful broth , awesome. I was let down by the chicken chow mein, the quality was good but the overall flavor was lacking. I got to give this place five stars. it's got to go up to at least four stars on yelp. there are other Chinese restaurants in the city that have four stars that need to be closed down because of quality. comparatively this place is beautiful. oh..and I'm tired of people saying this is Chinese-American, no guys it's Chinese it's just not "rot_gut" Chinese. it's decent Chinese and that's all. final note: no.. not my mother, my grandmother, my aunt in law, my third cousin on my mothers side... nobody's Chinese, and they can't cook Chinese food either, so if you are lucky and your family is Chinese and they cook killer Chinese invite me over for dinner until then I'm going to Elizas

    (5)

  • Christina C.

    Okay, WHY is this place always crowded? The food is terrible, and as John W. so eloquently put it "Chinese food for white ppl who don't know what real Chinese food IS". Totally Americanized, but not even good! I'd rather go to Panda Express, at least it would be 1/2 the price. Do yourself a favor and make the trek to Clement. Pros: -Decor- eclectic, mix-matchy...I guess you can call it 'interesting' -No wait. I went at 7:30pm on at Saturday -Prompt service Cons: -Mango beef: weird combo, is this even Chinese?! Unripe mangos were bitter and stringy. Beef sans mango was decent. Sauce was the same sauce as the tofu -Fish. EW Our bass...or cod? was super gummy, tasted funny, plain bad...probably not fresh. -Tofu with mushrooms. Decent...normal stir fry that I could have made at home. Nothing impressive. I'm not impressed. NOT a fan.

    (1)

  • Tyler S.

    Eliza's sit-down space is a bit odd, but it seems good for groups. We do take-out most of the time. A great spot for Chinese food that isn't fried. We love the sesame chicken because it is sauteed and has fresh veggies.

    (4)

  • Divya K.

    I would have given 5 points easily based on the food and taste but gave 4 because of its' not so great service. The place is strange -- almost like a cave shape. But when you go inside the decor is very modern and elegant -- the walls are adorned with Chinese candles and there is a small neat garden with Asian artifacts that you can see from inside. The food is great -- it can be called as a Chinese restaurant with a twist. Almost fusion Chinese!! The portion size is really good and the prices are very reasonable. You won't be disappointed. We wouldn't mind going back again and again!! The only drawback is the parking and service -- the parking is no big deal if you are used to the city! The service could be slightly better in terms of customer relationship, otherwise it is quick!!

    (4)

  • Jane A.

    DELICIOUS! I never expected a good Chinese spot to be out in this neighborhood. My close friend told me about this place and so he took me here to prove how good it was. My first impressions of the outside was "this place?" but once I walked in the ambiance was pretty cute. I liked their decor. Funky, but in the likes. I automatically thought it was going to be another pan-asian restaurant but the servers and cooks were Chinese. The food presentation when they delivered plates made me want to take a photograph with it. The taste is SO-DAMN-GOOD. Flavorful and is real Chinese food. I would rather go here then any restaurant in Chinatown. LOVE IT!

    (4)

  • Ric S.

    High quality at reasonable prices. They take standard dishes and add high-end ingredients and interesting flavors. Very consistent - never had a bad meal. The weekday lunch menu is one of the biggest bargains in SF.

    (4)

  • KellyMoi M.

    Good but smaller portions than most places. We get the mushu vegetables. Lemon chicken. Vegetarian dishes. The ambiance is really beautiful.

    (5)

  • Sam K.

    After living in SF for 14 years, this was the best Chinese food (non-dim sum) that I ever found. Even better for pick-up. It's really affordable, generous portions in a family style, and maintains a clean restaurant. Dishes I recommend: -Pot Stickers, best pot stickers I have ever had, amazing. -Eliza's Spicy Chicken, my favorite dish, soooo good! -Sweet and Sour Pork, almost always cooked perfectly, great sauce. -Green Beans are also really good. The only two problems I have with this place are: 1. The parking is horrible... street parking in that area is near impossible to find after 5pm.. 2. Why don't they deliver!!! If this place delivered, I would be such a happier person (probably overweight too)! It would also alleviate the parking/double parking issues that are a major problem.

    (5)

  • Christopher S.

    Eliza's rocks: better-than-average chinese food in a wacky restaurant. The value-for-dollar on the lunch menu is unbeatable (watch out, Ali Baba's Cave...). I had tea, a big scoop of brown rice, sauteed veggies and chicken, and half of a delicious orange and my total bill was $6.60! Even with a generous tip, I was out the door for $8! The decor makes me curious about what used to occupy this space. The bar top is glass with strange designs and fish in it, and the walls are multi-colored. There are tons of figurines, fish tanks and trinkets on shelves around the restaurant, which make a nice (if not a little weird) atmosphere. The service is quick and friendly. They didn't even make me feel weird about asking for a table for one. And no, there's nothing sad about a table for one.

    (4)

  • Laura A.

    I was all excited today, because for the next two weeks I'm house sitting at a friend's place and I'm right across the street from Eliza's on California. I used to love Eliza's and I don't know if the quality has changed or my palate has matured, but I'm bummed out. To start, I called in at 8:31 and waited on hold until 8:43. I know they close at 9:00, so I had to hang up and call back. When I did, the woman who answered the phone sounded beyond annoyed. I almost hung up right then, but the lure of Eliza's onion pancakes and delicious food demanded that I bear with her, so I went ahead and placed my order. When I arrived to pick up my food, I waited another 5 minutes or so at the front desk before anyone came to check in with me. Eventually, I was able to pay, then quickly scurried across the street where I would dive into my Kung Pao Chicken and Eliza's Cakes. Problem #1: Is it me, or did the Eliza's Cakes get about 3 times more greasy than they used to be? :{ Problem #2: Ummm...where's the peanut sauce? A couple drops on two of the four slices. The peanut sauce is primarily what made them so irresistible! :( Problem #3: The Kung Pao Chicken, (which I ordered very spicy) had a remarkably oily and thin sauce that was disappointingly bland. The abundance of dried chilis helped a little, but the sauce was not at all infused with any flavor or heat. :| Problem #4: I thought I ordered Kung Pao Chicken, not Kung Pao Zucchini. Really, I like zucchini...actually, quite a lot, but it really overpowered the dish and made it difficult to find the tiny scrap of chicken here and there. I suppose I'm better off, because the random piece of chicken that I found was slimy, strange and tasteless. like it had been boiled and added in at the last second to completely prevent it from taking on any flavor from the flavorless sauce. :[ Not at all what I remember. I may give them a second chance during lunch time, perhaps when they're not as busy and I can get a better deal on the mediocre food.

    (2)

  • Carly B.

    My favorite Chinese in the city. Great hot and sour soup, green beans, and mu shu. Authentic and healthy at the same time.

    (5)

  • russell s.

    I've have been a customer at Eliza's since the early/mid 90s. Their food is always first rate. my favorites are absolutely consistent every time. I take locals and out-of-towners there all the time. Anything any newbie has ordered has been excellent. it's all good. i've never had anything bad there. Take-out was lightning fast, orders always correct. Honey walnut prawns, mango beef, sesame chicken, pot stickers, shanghai chicken, spring rolls .... all tasty, every single time. The platoon service is perfect for me, quick to order, quick to get served. all very efficient. a side note, I am not a fan of the chatty waiter who feels compelled to tell me their life story. Eliza's gets a bum rap by others here and recently by the SF Chronicle. I keep hearing about someone thinks there is better Chinese food at (insert restaurant name here). I try them and am not impressed. I was unhappy when the convenient (to me) Portrero Hill location closed. so now the only complaint I have is that I have to drive across town to have Eliza's instead of it being 5 minutes away.

    (5)

  • Beth P.

    Went there recently with my two sons and we all agreed the food was good quality, they don't serve you super large portions but what you get is fresh and top quality. We had salmon with aspargues in black bean sauce, mongolian lamb - delicious, chow fun I think it was and fried appetizer platter all very good. The restaurant is decorated nicely and not your typical chinese take out no-decor bland box. Very nice for a smaller gathering or date night. They also have a nice wine, beer list. The only part we were dissapointed in is that they do not offer dessert - oh well next time we go, (and we will go again) we'll just make plans to eat dessert in the area afterwards :)

    (4)

  • Dan S.

    I hadn't been to Eliza's in a long time. However as i walked in the door, i was cheerfully greeted, by first my first name. I used to go to Eliza's a lot for lunch when they were in Hayes Valley!! The original Eliza's. I've always been a fan of Ping's cooking and tonight was a reintroduction and reminder of what i've been missing. Fresh ingredients, cooked to perfection, using the flavor of the food to create the dish, not a bunch of overcooked, sauced food. I"ll be back more, I PROMISE and I'll bring my friends. be it ever so humble......

    (5)

  • David P.

    This is one of those Americanized Chinese places. Being an ABC, myself, and my wife, a mainlander, we could easily tell by how clean the place was. The clientèle was mostly non-Asian and the seating was comfortable. Anyhow, on to the food. We tried the walnut shrimp, Buddha's delight, some chow mien, and salt n pepper seafood. Overall, the food is good enough, but nothing really stood out. I wouldn't say the prices are low, as other reviewers have stated. Try some more authentic Chinese joints, and you'll see more value for your dollar. The service was satisfactory and we got ample attention. I would recommend Eliza's to anyone looking for decent and clean Chinese place.

    (4)

  • Jeremy R.

    I hate to update my review for Elizas and lower it but I feel it is my duty. The food here is great and the service is also really good.... so why you ask am I giving them 2 stars now..... ??? I went in to eat here last friday (the day after Christmas) for lunch .... it was around 1:45 and we proceeded to look over the lunch menu...... I usually come here for dinner and it IS a little pricey for chinese ... so I was excited to get to order off the lunch menu ... get free soup and actually order three dishes for the two of us since it was only like $6.00 per dish instead of $10.50 The manager or whomever sat us informed us that we could not order off the lunch menu since it was a "holiday". I'm not sure about the chinese culture but as far as I know the day AFTER Christmas is NOT a holiday. The only holiday it was that day had to be "Scam your loyal customer and squeeze every penny you can from them" day. I even made a point to say something to the manager that it was not a holiday and he mumbled something about the lunch specials being for the people at the hospital and other nearby businesses. Once again ... very lame scam excuse. They could have sent something over ... or at least gave us free soup. I am always bringing people here which end up becoming fans of this place. That did not happen on this day. It will be a long time until I go back there ....

    (2)

  • Cara Y.

    It looks like Eliza's is another place that yelpers either love or hate. Or love to hate. Or hate to love. Or whatever. From my visit last Friday, I can see both sides to the arguments. The rampaging waitstaff were so hell-bent on clearing each dish as soon as it looked remotely empty, that they literally snatched the plate out from under A's grandmother while she was still eating her mu shu pork. She rolled with it gracefully, but looked shocked as it happened. We also had an incident where a member of the waitstaff walked past one of the guests who was trying to assist with keeping the table organized and was holding an empty platter out for her to take...but she looked at him and just kept on walking. The gentleman host that I dealt with whisked away the cake that I brought as soon as I walked in, and handled the timing for presenting it beautifully - even threw a couple of candles on top! So I guess the upshot on the service is that 1/2 of the staff seems pretty pissed off, while the rest were polite and helpful. Of course, we were a table of 17, complete with 5 kids between the ages of 2-5. I might have just walked away from us too. The Food: The shells on the salt and pepper shrimp totally skeeved me out, and it was all I could do to crunch through my first and only bite without spitting it back out onto my plate. You know how you can usually tell when a shell is *supposed* to be left on? For me, this was not one of those times. Mango beef was good. Scallops with spicy garlic sauce were excellent. Appetizer platter was meh - mostly fried, battered miscellany. But huzzah to them for garnishing with shrimp chips!! Yeah, you know, those pink and blue fried jobbers that have no business being food in the first place? The Chinese version of the pork rind? Love. Them. Eliza's does not have a liquor license, so come with a thirst for wine, beer, or sake. I don't think I'd make any special trips into SF for this place, but I am giving them an extra star for making my friend's birthday party a success. He had a blast, and that's all that mattered on this occasion. ----- And to Matthew L., the "415 Native" who says that "Eliza's is not about the service... anyone who knocks Eliza's is shallow or simply prefers to have their ass kissed." Matthew, I can tell you that I personally don't need to have my ass kissed when I go out to eat, but I also don't care to have it beaten with a rusty hairbrush full of pissed off Africanized honeybees.

    (4)

  • Kimi M.

    After reading some of these earlier 1 or 2 star reviews, I really think people are too hard on this place. Here I come in it's defense...The food and service are consistently good, and I whole heartedly give this place a solid four stars. I left one star off only because it's not mind-blowingly 5 stars great. It's solid, though, and that means a lot in my book. I like the mushu wraps, the kung pa tofu and the salmon (a picture of it is on my profile pics). The interior is decorated with tasteful art and the place has a more yuppie/bougie feel to it than say a hole-in-the wall but that doesn't make it any less good. It may not have gritty hipster street cred and it may be a safe dining bet and yes it's Americanized (but most Chinese restaurants are... even ones in the in outer Richmond and esp. in Chinatown), but I recommend this place, nonetheless. Edited to add:: in my experience, the service is efficient and no nonsense, which I like, but I think some people may interpret this as plain rudeness.....

    (4)

  • Sara H.

    It has been too long since I have eaten here. I just don't make it to the city as much as I use to although it may be worth a drive up there soon. The food really is wonderful. The best Chinese food I think I have ever had. I have tried a few things but I most always get the cashew chicken. You may have a long wait on the weekend but it is worth it. It is just a sign that it is fantastic food. The restaurant is rather small so that is part of the problem as well. The prices are a little higher but I think the quality, price, and ambiance of the restaurant all go well together. The price is fitting.

    (4)

  • Jane L.

    Minimalistic. Neighborly. Familiar. Eliza's bright lights and mismatching eclectic decor brings you that nostalgic feeling of every good Chinese restaurant you've ever been to with your family. It's clean but not pristine, tasty and not sickly greasy. My pal and I were warmly greeted upon arrival and kindly informed that they would be closing in 10 minutes. Even at their closing hour, Eliza's had a fair amount of happy noshers - always a good sign. My vegetarian stir fry was chock-full of fresh veggies in a satisfyingly light Chinese white gravy sauce. It left me feeling full, but healthy and happy. I'd love to go back when I'm in the mood for something heavier. Know Before You Go: 1. If you can't find parking on California, park two streets over on Bush where parking is ample - the walk isn't long. 2. Great for vegetarians!

    (3)

  • Mary C.

    Eliza's is a great choice for consistent, tasty chinese. Lunches are a crazy value, and dinners are, too.Their garlic scallops are to die for. Brown rice is oh so good Plenty of healthy choices, very friendly staff who take the time to know you. Check out the artful mosaics throughout - even the b-rooms have fanciful tiles.

    (4)

  • Susan Z.

    Great food, but the service has always been lousy. Last night, I was tired and hungry, and needed to plow through a book before morning. It was 8:15, and I stopped in for a bite - alone. Three empty tables but no singles, and they wanted me to wait 15 minutes. I said, look, there are 3 tables, and it's getting late already. Absolutely not! I went around the corner and had great Thai food at My Ivy. Crankiness is one thing, but this pretty much tore it for me. The mango beef is good but not that good. Verdict: Get takeout or boycott them until they act like human beings.

    (2)

  • Elle A.

    I love Yelp being new in this city but I can't believe this place has such great reviews. The service is rude and abrupt, the food is salty beyond belief---- except the one eggplant dish we had, which was tastie. I hate to give a bad review but this place is far too uneven in quality and I don't think I will be back.

    (2)

  • Steve B.

    Elizas was by far the WORST restaurant experience ive ever had. It was recommended by my girlfriend who has been going there for years. First, when we walked in, this guy who portrayed himself as the manager sits us in this tight little 2 seater table right in the hallway that leads into the kitchen. I took it upon myself to sit us in another table that was in the back of the restaurant. This wasn't before hearing an earful from the guy who sat us. It took about 10 minutes for someone to come around and ask "you ready?" My girlfriend ordered food for both of us and the waiter, who happened to be the manager/host smiled and walked away without even taking a drink order. I ended up grabbing another Chinese girl walking by and asked her for a coke. When the food arrived, it looked medeocer. About 6 small heavily battered chuncks of chicken, 2 small bowls of overly dried rice, an eggplant dish with wayyy to much garlic, and salt n pepper prawns which were unpeeled. Now here was the beginning of our disaster at Elizas... Typically when ive ordered salt and pepper prawns at my favorite Chinese restaurants (PF Changs, Shanghai 1930, Mandarin House) they have always came unpeeled. When I bit into one at Elizas, i noticed the peel was still on it. Maybe this was the way that they serve them but i was unhappy and wasnt going to eat the dish. We nibbled at the rest of the low grade garbage they sent us and say around for someone to bring us the bill. After more than 30 minutes went by, I finally grabbed one of the female waitresses and told her to bring the manager over. When the manager finally came over i realized he was also our server/host. I explained to him my situation with the prawns and he started to tell me that they have been serving them that way for more than 100 years. LOL the place hasnt even been around for 15 years. He continued arguing with me on this subject and asked me if i wanted a box to take it home. HMMM a box to take home the crappy meal i was very disappointed with? I dont think so. He walked away and had one of the female waitresses bring us over the check. It was all written in chicken scratch so we couldnt make out what everything said, but it was obvious they were charging us for the prawns. I asked for the manager to be sent back over again. This time i was very straight forward with him and i told him i was not going to pay for the prawns. He told me i had to pay because i ate some of it. The only part of this horrific dish that was even touched, was the 2 prawns my girlfriend served to her and myself which we both spit out after realizing the shells were left on it. I lashed back at him obviously being very frustrated at this point telling him to remove the prawns from the bill so we can pay and leave. I told him there was no way i was paying for that one dish we didnt eat. The manager actually replied back to me saying "Do you want to kick my ass or something?" I could not believe it. That a manager of a restaurant would ask a customer something like that. At that point i was thinking in my head that i would like to kick his ass but i just shook my head and repeated for him to remove the prawns from the bill. He continued to antagonize me and my girlfriend for not telling someone sooner that we were disappointed with the meal. Funny for him to say that considering we didnt see the guy from the time he took our food order until the time we asked for the manager. The whole time he was doing this, there were two fortune cookies sitting on a plate in front of us with a black hair on one of the cookies. Didnt help his argument much. The guy finally broke down and said "ok ill remove it". He did some quick 3rd grade math at the table and deducted $5.00 from the bill. (The prawns were $9.00) I no longer felt like arguing or making a scene out of this so we payed the bill which included half the prawns, and left no tip. When we got up out of our seats and walked towards the front door, the manager walked about 6 inches behind me like he was going to sucker punch me. He continued to follow us out of the restaurant onto the sidewalk and as i got about 50 feet away he yelled to me "Im not scared of you!" Luckily for this guy i was with my girlfriend to restrain me or he would have really had something to be scared of. I think my girlfriend gave him the finger and told him we were gonna yelp the Sh*t out of him which im doing now. Overall, it was the WORST experience of my entire life and it ruined our evening. I hope no one ever sets foot in the restaurant and gives business to this low class dump. Please please do not expose yourself to such abuse when you are a good paying customer. Treat yourself to somewhere better.

    (1)

  • Jake L.

    Mango Beef. 'nuff said

    (4)

  • Celia B.

    3 stars, and would get 5 if it wern't for service! This place has some of the best Chinese food in the bay and it is so nice and clean inside! Their chow mein is soooo addictive! I really like their eggplant and recommend this for vegetarians, and for meat eaters their chicken dishes are good and even their mongolian and mango beef is super delicious. If you come here you won't be disappointed as long as you expect a long wait to be seated and really bad service. The service isn't bad in that it is slow, in fact it was pretty fast, but there is just no conversation what so ever. Our waiter, who was a male, was nice and kind, but the women that brought us water, our bill, etc. , not so much....When I say "thank you" I get no response, or even if you ask a question like "can I please have this boxed?" there is no response, they just quickly take it away from you with a stern look. They act like they are angry with you! A smile doesn't hurt anyone, does it? I have been coming to Eliza's since I went to school across the street back in the early 2000's and the service has always been this way. I even remember them being extra rude to the high school students and trying to rip us off at times... I would have thought something would have changed by now, considering its about 10 years later! Although the service sucks, the food is just sooo good and that's why they still get 3.5 stars! I will continue to come here when/if I make it out to the Pac Heights area, and just keep hoping that next time I will have a waitress in a good mood!

    (3)

  • Sasha T.

    FYI: if you love this place check out Alice's if you're closer to noe valley- same menu. Great asian-fusian alternative to take-out chinese places. Things to try: avocado sushi roll (cant remember name), mongolia beef, spicy eggplant. Ignore the very confused decor.

    (4)

  • Katie Anne N.

    I've read good and bad reviews about this place. The food-good. Service-bad. Well this is what I have to say. What do you expect? Most asian placed don't know much about service. I'm not mad. I'm just saying that service is different in most countries and you shouldnt be mad at that. Some people just don't know! The food here is beautiful. Appearance wise, it gets a 5. Taste is a 4 as I've had better Hunan food. But they are creative with their dishes. I almost feel bad for letting some of it go to waste. Especially when I feel like the chef put much effort into the design.

    (4)

  • Marcolm A.

    left town for a week long vacation and decided to hit up Eliza's and as expected it was slightly. I'm come to expect service that isn't 100%, but still good enough to meet expectations and add good food to that and everything is great. Thanks for welcoming me back to the city Eliza's.

    (5)

  • Vickie B.

    This is a wonderful place. We go here for lunch. There is the hustle and bustle of getting the well prepared food out quickly for those with limited time at lunch but I have never felt rushed. We always get the daily special and often the house duck. The food is attractively presented. The veggies are crisp and the choices are not the usual that you find everywhere else. A plus is when the special is the fried eggplant and shrimp. We are from Ohio and come so often that we are recognized by the staff. Eliza's will not disappoint and a wonderful value at lunch with soup and tea included.

    (5)

  • Jeff C.

    I've actually been going to Eliza's for roughly 18 years. Too bad they closed the potrero hill location. Parking is rough but worth it. I agree that the some of the waitresses are always uptight. Drums of heaven and shanghai chicken are my faves but we haven't had a bad dish yet. I'm actually heading there today.

    (5)

  • Caroline F.

    I had take-out this week from this place that happens to be near my apartment. It is always packed when I walk by. We finally tried it and it was amazing. Best Chinese food I think I've ever had! We had the mongolian beef, mu shoo pork, honey walnut prawns, cho-mien, and fried rice. Everything had so much flavor I could not decide what was best. We will be going here for all our Chinese food. Take out only took 15 minutes.

    (5)

  • Karla F.

    You have to be kidding me! ...right? $32.00!!!! What did I get for $32.00???? Let's see....chow mein, fried rice and Mongolian beef. This better be the best damn Chinese Food in the country!! ...No. The world! Chicken Fried rice...ok Shrimp Chow Mein...pretty good Mongolian Beef...tastes exactly like BURNED LITTLE BITS OF BEEF...hmmmm? I have purchased better Chinese food on 3rd Street for two bucks! Eliza's Chinese food...mediocre and over priced! Karla's night on the toilet after greedily consuming a $10.00+ portion of burned beef bits....priceless

    (2)

  • Selina L.

    I love the ambiance of this place and the lunch specials are very cheap and filling. Way better than Yum Yum and it's probably the only restaurant that has made a Hot & Sour soup that I actually want a second helping of. The mango beef I ordered had the beef perfectly and evenly cooked which has never happened to me at any restaurant and the portion was enough for lunch the following day and was even more delicious then. I know good Chinese food when I have it and considering the options available in Pacific Heights this is one of the better restaurants. Just because it's not a cash only place on Clement doesn't mean it can't be good. I have always believed the mantra that if you have good food you can't have good service, and the staff here just simply supported my hypothesis. I do give a thumbs up for quickly made without being undercooked food. Great place if you need cheap food to last you a few days at the office.

    (4)

  • Michelle S.

    I love the Eliza's fried rice and the Eliza's special chicken! Can't go wrong here!

    (5)

  • Jack C.

    Eliza's new Hunan and Mandarin fusion is an affordable, healthy, quick stop for Pacific Heights residents. Upon entering its cordoned yet decorative aura, the mixture of old Chinese scripts, green plants, modern lamps welcomes me. The ~ $6 lunch menu is fantastic. Warm tea prepares the stomach for the meal. I had Vegetable Delight that had shitake mushroom, snow peas, carrots, asparagus, brocoli, etc. The kong-pao tofu came in a good size. The sauce for that dish is garlic-y, sweet and absolutely great with regular rice. I am a fan of a good deal place. For 2 people, our meal was $13.

    (5)

  • Leslie H.

    Eliza's is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. I went to high school across the street, so I've been going here for years now. My two favorite things to get here are sweet and sour chicken and the Mongolian beef. Overall I absolutely love Eliza's and probably come here at least once every couple weeks. I highly recommend it, it's affordable and delicious!

    (5)

  • Charlie C.

    Not the healthiest food, but totally a crowd-pleaser. Awesome decor, reasonable prices and plain delicious food. You could take your Midwestern parents here and they would rave to their jealous friends back home (and while you may not brag to your friends about it, you will secretly crave to go back there again ASAP).

    (4)

  • Tamar D.

    I went in there with an open mind, despite the reviews. We may have had an advantage because our dinner companions are regulars, not Pacific Heights yuppies, and thoroughly in the manager's good graces. I really enjoyed the food. It was well prepared, not at all greasy like most Chinese food, and ample in servings. I highly recommend the sea bass (it was SO damn good) and the filet mignon special. The place is unpretentious, but I can see how the staff could get annoyed at the patrons who are...just chill out and enjoy it.

    (4)

  • Brittany D.

    ummm i Didn't like it... I didn't like it at all.... Something about the food here turned me off WAAAAAAYYYYY OFF We had Hunan Lamb, Eliza's Chicken [ which was the best dish we had ], and the appetizer combo [crab ragoons, pot stickers, egg rolls & Drum something or others] It wasn't good for me or my man...we wasted 30 bucks on shotty Chinese. Maybe I just don't like it that authentic, since thats what I"m getting from the other reviews. "Its soooooo authentic!" Well i like my food processed and my CHinese food Americanized!

    (2)

  • Leilah P.

    Consistently good. Not the best of the best, but a place I keep coming back to for tasty Chinese food. Great location. My parking karma has held up pretty well here too.

    (4)

  • Samantha S.

    I've had good and so-so meals here, but I keep coming back because they are so nice and seem to care about their customers. My latest, and now favorite is the KungPao Shrimp and Potstickers. It was very, very good, with plenty of shrimp, well balanced in flavor and vegetables. The Potstickers were amongst the best I've had.

    (4)

  • Robert M.

    We came with our two young daughters for early dinner. The staff was courteous, if a bit curt, but they seated us quickly. The sesame chicken was good, but the spicy shrimp was a bit bland. The Mushu pork was fine. I've had better Hunan and Mandarin cuisine, but for the price here it's certainly good enough.

    (3)

  • Eli B.

    Good food, super busy! This ain't your young and hip scene - This is where you come if you: 1. Have kids. 2. Have been married for 50 years and this is your Sunday night date spot. 3. Stumbled in off the street and are young and hip (us naturally). 4. Are generally over the age of 65. The lady was highly unamused that my name was Eliza. -1 star for that and the not-so-friendly service.

    (4)

  • Raquele C.

    I have heard this restaurant is a modern twist on Chinese food, but I think the twist is a little too twisted. I didn't get the feeling I was easting chinese food, but rather an urban fusion overly seasoned meal.

    (2)

  • Thomas K.

    If a 3.5 rating was possible, that's what I'd give. Food 4 stars (pretty damn tasty, and I'm not a huge fan of Chinese food) Price 4.5 stars (4 dishes + appetizer for $50 = 4 very stuffed adults w/ leftovers) Service 3 stars (very fast, not super friendly) Ambiance 3.5 stars (not bad, not great, it was very clean) I wouldn't make a huge effort to go to Eliza's, but it was a pleasant experience overall.

    (4)

  • Marissa G.

    My boyfriend and I have been here twice and were not impressed with the food nor service. Yes, its very nice inside and has a modern look and feel to it, but i was expecting more. The dishes we ordered had no flavor. We ordered sizzling rice soup, mushu pork, broccoli beef, and a fried rice dish. Not good at all. I would rather go to Yum Yum's around the corner because its much cheaper and the food is much better.

    (1)

  • Perci N.

    Sometimes, when you have to go, you have to go... ...I needed to make a pit stop, parked in an open spot on California, and Eliza's was right there. A bunch of Chinese people were heading in, I guess the people who worked there. I said, hey, can I use your bathroom, and pointed. He nodded, and so I went to do my business... ...and then someone unlocks the bathroom door as I'm in the middle of doing my duty and he starts yelling at me, "HEY! We're not open yet. What the ---- do you think you're doing? This is like you're breaking into our house! I should call the ----- cops!" WTF...! You've never gone somewhere just to use the bathroom before? And I asked someone who worked there. I actually asked a group of five people who worked there... I finish quickly and am practically thrown out by the owner and his dumpy rabid attack dog Cantonese wife -- I swear she was foaming at the mouth. I don't think there's a city ordinance against using a restroom without being a paying customer -- what would they arrest me for, illegal #2? Rest assured, I'll never be a paying customer here. Happy Year of the Rat, Eliza's - may you be infested.

    (1)

  • Ash A.

    Been to all 3 locations and have enjoyed the meals there. Love the serving dishes and the murano glass lighting. It is Chinese with a slightly upscale/fusion twist. I will continue to go back whenever I am craving Chinese food. The service is uneven, but has never been rude.

    (4)

  • Miriam W.

    Though the service in this location is much chided, I had no complaints after stopping in for lunch on Friday. The crab wontons and mango beef were just as tasty as the Potrero location and service was efficient. In fact, there is absolutely no discernable difference in the service here and the service at the Potrero location except that it may be a touch speedier here. And who doesn't like speedy service? I'll definitely be back as this one's much closer to the homeshed.

    (4)

  • R J.

    They don't deliver which sucks- BUT it's probably one of the tastiest and most reasonably affordable Chinese restaurants outside of downtown. No sugar/flour saturated gelatinous sauces, or bizarre cuts of meat. The flavors are great and make for yummy leftovers. Plus- after being inside you can tell that your food is handled in a clean environment- which is also very nice to dine in. Check out the soups- mmm!

    (4)

  • Bryan H.

    GREAT Chinese. What qualifies Eliza's as great? Only one thing. I didn't have to race to the bathroom an hour after I ate.

    (4)

  • John R.

    I struggled with the rating for this one...good thing I can explain here! On the plus side -- cool decor, good prices for lunch special, a nice big helping of brown rice with the lunch special at no extra charge. on the neutral side -- food was fine, but nothing too special to me. I had the house special prawns; the prawns themselves tasted fresh and well cooked, but the sauce was too sweet and needed a little more spice for my taste, and the veggies in the dish varied from overcooked to undercooked. on the minus side -- prices for dinner seemed too high (good thing we were there for lunch), and the service was brusque. If I just considered for lunch, I would probably have gone 4 stars, and would go back. But I don't think I would go back for dinner at those prices.

    (3)

  • Prem M.

    This is the best Chinese food I've ever had. Fresh and healthy ingredients. No MSG. We've been searching high and low for healthy, not MSG and horrible sauces laden, Chinese, and this is the only place that I found. The other edible Chinese would be Nan King, but still not as good and too touristy. Why did they close their Potrero Hill location? I'm very sad. I now have to drive across town if I'm in the mood for Chinese, but it's still worth it.

    (5)

  • Linda S.

    Entered the restaurant about 20 minutes before closure for some take-out. I asked if I could still place an order and they said: "sure". I ordered the Curry Chicken with brown rice. When I opened the boxes at home I noticed the Curry Chicken box was only half full, had only chicken, overcooked cucumber and a few pieces of carrot in it. No other vegetables. The sauce was very bland too, not spicy as curry is supposed to be. The brown rice was ok, but just like the Curry Chicken, it wasn't heated very well. With other Chinese places nearby I'll walk passed this place.

    (1)

  • Miranda T.

    I think Eileen L. should probably chill. First of all, doesn't it make sense that if you're five people, you only need five chairs? Maybe I should just get to the review. I like food. I know food fairly well. And the Mongolian beef here (which bears no resemblance to any mongolian beef you have ever seen) haunts me constantly. I LOVE IT. Their green beans are also excellent and most everything I've had here has been good. One bad thing has ever happened to me here-- the waiter kept trying to take a sauce I was saving from a previous dish. That's all. Go to eliza's on california, you won't regret it. the decor's weird, but so what

    (4)

  • Kate S.

    If I was rating Eliza's strictly on their food, they'd get 5 shiny stars for sure. The Eliza's spicy chicken and the walnut prawns are the best around...for reals. However, I have two major bones to pick with E's - 1. no delivery. Huge bummer. 2. They close so freaking early - especially on Sundays. A group of five of us went there last night at 8:25 and they weren't going to seat us because apparently their last seating on Sundays is at 8:15. 8:15?! are you kidding me? We got totally denied at first by one of the waitresses who was more than happy to tell us to get lost, but then with a whole lot of begging and pleading, another waiter decided to seat us...as long as we agreed that we would order in the next 3 minutes and that appetizers and entrees could come at the same time. Fine by us! No joke...all 6 dishes were on the table in 4 minutes. So I'd give E's 5 stars for food, 5 stars for speed of service, but unfortunately, 1 star for friendly service. OK maybe two because the guy was pretty nice.

    (3)

  • K V.

    There's only one other Chinese restaurant I have ever had this stellar of Chinese food before and that's all the way in San Jose in the Willow Glen area. The food here is stellar and so delicious! Great presentations and super fresh tasting. We got an eggplant dish and normally I do not like eggplant because I cannot handle the squishyness, but this was cooked in a way that made me not able to stop eating it! And a broccoli tofu dish that was insanely good! Would get both again & again. The ambiance is cool and eclectic. Only weird thing was how the waitstaff dressed. Very very odd and out of place, but that doesn't effect the service, food, or experience in any way. Prices are lower than average which is amazing! If you have been here and didn't like it then YOU did something wrong!

    (4)

  • Laura D.

    Lunch at Eliza's- certainly a bang for your buck. And my gosh, they are some quick cookers those Eliza chefs. Yes they are. Came her for a very important business lunch (must....get....out of ..... office) and I remain impressed by their quality, price, and service. Their lunch specials are $7 bucks and come with delicious spicy tofu/egg noodle soup and an entree paired with brown or white rice. I ordered the House Special Duck. It was saucy (lots of sauce is excellent, in my mind); the duck was tender and sans fat (perf!), and their were plenty of fresh veggies that were still crisp (asparagus, snapped peas). My co-worker ordered the Vegetarian Delight- it was not so delightful and rather bland. Avoid this dish. My leftovers are in the work fridge. Since I have no will power and live to eat (eating to live ain't' in my book), I will probably finish them in an hour.

    (4)

  • Devin F.

    this place is quite close to my house, so i go there a lot, and i have to say, i really like it. the servers are not the friendliest bunch, but the food comes out fast as hell. if you get as cranky as i do when i'm hungry, and let yourself be hungry for a very long time before actually deciding you should probably really get serious about eating something (as i do), then that kind of speed is clutch. for those veggie-minded folks: -mandarain eggplant. oh god yes. am sitting here hungover on a saturday morning and cannot wait to get my hands on that shit once they open in....ugh, 6 hours. -sauteed string beans. tons of garlic, but very tasty. -kung pao tofu. yum. this place is totally delicious, has a totally nice atmosphere, and is way reasonably priced. recommended: yes.

    (4)

  • Lisa C.

    Eliza's could easily rate 5 stars in my book, but since they don't deliver, I can't give them the full rating. I mean, what chinese restaurant doesn't deliver? That being said, this chinese restaurant is nothing like you'd find in chinatown, which is definitely why I like eliza's so much. The place is clean and the food is always fresh. Service has been ok on the occasions I've dined in the restaurant, but for the most part we prefer to do take out. Another knock off the 5-star rating is for the prices. It's pricey! Favorite dishes so far are the honey walnut prawns, mongolian beef, and the curry chicken. Clearly, we like our sweets. The string beans w/ bean curd is another favorite (not sweet). I'm not a fan of the steamed dumplings as there is too much ginger for my taste, but B really likes them - especially in the won ton soup. There are so many more dishes to try, but we tend to stick to our usual order. Now that we're moving and will be even closer to Eliza's, I'm certain we will end up trying everything on the menu. Stay tuned for a future update...

    (4)

  • Jonathan B.

    The lady had been by this place many times, noticing it's almost always full. So we decided to give it a try for some lunchtime deals. We were promptly seated, given some tea and given a couple moments to peruse the menus. The lunch specials are pretty sweet, soup, rice & entree for under $6. I had the sweet & sour pork, and she had fried rice, and we had some eggrolls as an app. They took our order and almost immediately came back out with some hotnsour soup. It's probably the best I've had a a restaurant, so I was very pleased. Then the eggrolls came out. They're packed REALLY full with the good stuff, and they were delicious, so that's another star for them! The pork was pretty good, but the pineapple wasn't very sweet and the grilled tomatoes they mixed in didn't help the dish any as they were pretty flavorless. The fried rice was good as well, BUT, be aware that it's not just your plane ol' fried rice. They throw in quite a lot of chicken, beef & pork. So even though it was really good, if you're a vegetarian, just ask first if there's a veg version. So, overall, the service is excellent and fast, the food is great, the decor is simple and it isn't too loud inside. You can actually have a pretty good conversation, even when it gets a little crowded. Also, the place is impeccable. As we were leaving, just after the lunchtime rush, they were frantically cleaning up on top of and underneath all the tables, almost as if they all had OCD. So I'm impressed with their cleanliness. The only thing that robs it of a star is, although the service is fast, it's not very warm. Basically, the moment they get you in, they're trying to get you out for the next customer. But they're not rude about it, and do it with a kind smile, so it's no big deal.

    (4)

  • Sal C.

    It is a great family place. You won't get shot driving to the restaurant, the people are really nice, just the food is meh. Too bad because I really wanted to love this place since they have that no MSG promise and all that. I guess no flavor if no MSG?

    (2)

  • Iggy V.

    The *best* american chinese food in the city. Tasty delishiousness! Thursdays lunch special is hot-n-sour soup, and OH IT'S SO GOOD! Extremely fast service, fairly cheap, especially lunch specials.

    (5)

  • Jonathan C.

    My wife and I were pretty excited to have learned Eliza's was still around on California street since their Potrero Hill location which is the one we frequented, had been closed. So we got there and everything was fine up until the food arrived. Let me note, my wife and I got into a minor argument. I had ordered The Sweet and Sour chicken over rice which is what I frequently had at the other location. I took a bite and it tasted a bit smoky and burnt. In fact, I could see some black spots in parts of the chicken. I said to myself "oh well I can deal with it." and continued eating. But no. It was to disturbing. So I asked the waitress and she brought me the manager or at least the "acting" manager. As soon as I tell him what was going going on, he leaves. He then returns telling me that the food was fine, that he tasted the batch from where my food came from and it tasted absolutely normal. I said "no, it taste burnt." He then went back and returned with a bowl of the sweet and sour chicken I was eating. He ate it in front to prove to me the food taste as it should. At this point I was upset and insisted he bring me the menu so that I may choose something else. He then noticed my wife hadn't said anything and looked upset, so he bluntly asked if everything was ok between us. I immediately told him that wasn't his business. Long story short: he insisted on the food and continued to get into our marital disagreement. Finally i told him I wouldn't eat it nor would I order anything else. I requested the check and he was charging me for the food that I did not eat because "nothing was wrong with it." I demanded he adjust the amount and so he did. His last comment as I walked to the door was "dude I have a girlfriend, and you just have to keep it inside." advising on how to, I guess, comunicate with my wife as if he knew what was going on. Ladies and gentlemen, I work in a food industry and if someone says their food taste bad or funny, I take it back without arguing with them for 10 minutes and on top of that, I don't barge into their lives asking them whether or not they have solved their marital issues. I am there to make sure their experience at my restaurant is great.

    (1)

  • Colleen B.

    I love Eliza's! Their Sizzling Rice Soup is delicious on a cold San Francisco night. Eliza's style is contemporary American/Chinese and unapologetically caters to those looking for nontraditional Chinese food. While servers on occasion are sterile, service is prompt and attentive.

    (4)

  • Dave S.

    Non-greasy but tasty Chinese food served in a clean restaurant---now that's a novelty. Yes, the reviews are right---the wait staff is down right rude (don't even try to go here anytime near closing), but the Mango Beef and Eliza's Spicy Chicken more than make up for a staff of truly bitter waitresses.

    (3)

  • Marina G.

    Great place to come with a group of friends but definitely make a reservation. Family style is the way to go and it ends up being under $20 a person. I love their Mongolian Beef - there must be something in there to keep me coming back. Much like my chap stick addiction - what do they put in it???

    (4)

  • Gita P.

    Five stars: food---fresh, piping hot and delish every time! The staff are friendly and efficient. The place is lovely, outback you can see their garden. And, you just can not beat the price! I love their kung pao tofu, their spicy eggplant, and their chicken dishes look amazing. Every time I have gone in, the vegetables are fresh, crisp and plentiful. I also love that they serve green tea and egg drop soup. Pleasing and delightful!

    (5)

  • Ryan K.

    This place is overpriced for the food they are providing. They do basic Chinese dishes that aren't that dressed up. They are simple and on the sweet side to meet the mass public taste. Often a wait.

    (3)

  • Jenn K.

    Its a artful healthy California-ized Chinese. The food is tasty, light and served quickly. Even though it is Chinese; it seems more modern; maybe healthy California cuisine with rice. Lunch is reasonable with a preset menu. Off the preset menu, some of the items are really exceptional. Modern, artistic restaurant.

    (4)

  • Sara C.

    YES YES mango beef and spicy chicken -- there is a reason Eliza's has been ranked Best Chinese in San Francisco. Just hop on the 1 California from downtown with an appetite. This is quickly becoming the celebration restaurant for me and my friends because of the price and quality of food. There are enough selections on the menu to keep anyone happy! I have always had a great experience with service, and was surprised to see so many reviews complaining about their experience. They are attentive, but not overbearing, and the wait is minimal.

    (4)

  • Taylor S.

    Sham on you, Jennifer!!! (the manager) So I own my own business and my business partner and I work out of my home. We always get takeout because we work really long hours and can't deal with cooking anything. I actually should be working right now, but need a break. Anyway, we spend probably $350 a month at this place. I ordered something on Monday evening for us; a usual occurrence. When I picked up my order I asked for one extra plum sauce. The one they gave me was barely half way full, no big deal, and I wanted a little more. Mind you, I have already paid at this point. The woman said, that will be $0.50. I looked at her and said, "really?!" At this point she felt the need to get defensive and backed back, "ya!." I explained nicely that I come here constantly and spend quite a bit with her establishment and that I don't appreciate being nickle-and-dimed by places I frequent. I mean, come on! Is $0.50 really going to help grow their business and pay their rent?!?! She couldn't have cared less, and again barked back, $0.50!" At this point it was the principal of the matter, so I asked for the name of her manager. She said she was the manager and her name was Jennifer. I explained to this manager, Jennifer, that I own my own business and that it is important to make your consistent customers feel appreciated and welcome, not charge them for every little thing. Again, she didn't care and said the container that the plum sauce comes in costs them a lot. My response - that's the cost of doing business. Clearly, they don't care about my patronage, so I think I will move on to a different Chinese takeout spot. I will take my $350 per month somewhere else...I would NEVER try and get pocket change out of my customers, it's so tacky!

    (1)

  • Gretchen N.

    My favorite Chinese food place in SF. I used to eat here about twice a month but then they closed their Potrero Hill location near me. Their dishes satisfy your Chinese food cravings, without making you feel like you've participated in a greasefest. I have been searching for another nearby go-to Chinese food place and so far nothing has come close. Looks like the next time I can't control my rainy day Hot & Sour soup cravings, I will be making the trek across town.

    (4)

  • Nina Q.

    I really like the food here. The decor of the place is really neat. They have a glass bar with little glass fishes and kelp. The ambiance of the place is pretty nice for the affordable food. Plates are around 8-12$ and two entrees can def fill up two. I would reccomend the Hot and Spicy soup. Its really great here. I also like how they offer brown rice for those of us who like to be a little more healthy. The green beans and bean curd entree is great but ask for the bean curd (tofu) to be prepared extra spicy. BUT THE BEST THING HERE IS THE HONEY WALNUT PRAWNS. OH MY GOSH. SOOOOOOOOO GOOD. You must try at least once. I am sure they are horrible for you but they taste just amazing. The sauce that cover the prawns is creamy and sweet and the walnuts add the perfect crunch. My favorite in the city.

    (4)

  • Sebastian S.

    Food is good, and the service is a bit moody. I can walk from my place to Eliza's in five minutes, and within that perimeter, Eliza's wins my vote for good, filling Chinese food, if a bit spendy compared with other places. Crab rangoon. Mu shu. Sunflower beef. Interior is more contemporary -- colorful and neon, not like your traditional Chinese restaurant with all the little temples, etc. Refreshing. Parking is a bitch in this neighborhood, so recommend you walk or take a cab or the bus.

    (4)

  • Robert M.

    I love Eliza's on 18th Street and obviously this is the same group (Levis and white shirts gave it away before I even peeped the menu). To be truthful, I've only used this one for take-out lunch -- over abundance of rice but the food is good and the price is right. This one might be as good as 18th Street if I gave it a chance but, for now, have to stay at 4 stars (which is pretty good for a lunch spot). By the way, there's always lots of teenagers at lunchtime (school on the corner).

    (4)

  • M P.

    SERVICE: To all of you who say the service sucks, you just don't get it. Eliza's is not about the service. DECOR: To all of you who say the decor is tacky have 0 sense of humor and need to feel cool by 'things'/places rather than on the inside. Eliza's is not about the decor. PRICE: Affordable...fantastic for the amount of food. FOOD: Ah ha...here we go. The Eliza's cakes, the Eliza's Chicken, The Mongolian Beef, The Princess Prawns, The hoision string beans... My mouth is watering. Best Chinese food I have ever tasted. Anyone who knocks Eliza's is shallow or simply prefers to have their ass kissed.

    (5)

  • Sam S.

    This place is the business. Little expensive but totally worth it. You won't find a better plate of Mongolian Beef in the City. Loses one star b/c there $9 combo fried rice and noodles are sub par. Other than that, their entrees are great.

    (4)

  • Pete J.

    Good about accommodating gluten free customers. Great quality and tasty. Not a San Franciscan so I haven't been exposed to quality Chinese food all that often.

    (5)

  • Jeremy S.

    4.5 stars for sure. I love Chinese food and it took a really long time to find a GOOD place in the city... honestly not sure why, all things considered, but I have just been dissapointed over and over again here! Anyway, after ~6 years of eating Chinese on a semi-regular basis in San Francisco we have finally found a place that is truly great. Eliza's Spicy Chicken (ask for extra spicy because it's about the mildest 'spicy' dish possible), mango beef, scallops w/ shitake mushrooms, house chow mein, etc etc it has all been very good to exceptional. REALLY fresh ingredients. The only chow mein I have ever seen that is actually mostly [extremely fresh and NOT overcooked] vegetables, meat, etc and maybe half was noodles. Definitely getting your $ worth on that one. VERY quick from order to food. Like... shockingly quick. So if your friend is circling around for parking, don't order till they walk in the door! ...been back a couple times and I'm sure there will be many many more dinners at Eliza's!... ...and yes, the decor is slightly insane. Certainly bright and colorful... ...metal chopsticks... now that's class! Jeremy

    (4)

  • Peter V.

    I would rate this a 4.5 if I could for friendly neighborhood Chinese. This place has great portions, fresh ingredients and cheap prices... I think this is a hidden gem in portrero. I have never had a chow mein noodle dish that had fresh veggies this crisp... Seafood was fresh and scallops cooked perfectly... the mango beef is pretty good too. Worth a try if you're ever out there... Not a greasy spoon like most MSG Chinese places down town. Service is on par for a Chinese restaurant, not terribly great... but overall this was a fun find, and is now my go to..

    (4)

  • Anya M.

    I love their Mongolian chicken. This place has better taste than any other Chinese restaurants. They should consider delivering lunch and dinner. More income that way.

    (5)

  • craig s.

    Have been here many times with continued success so figured I should write a review. Took my extended family there last night, 1 vegetarian, 2 vegans, 4 from Texas who will eat anything and myself who will too. The menu is great, it accomodated for all tastes, food is top qualify (fresh and tasty) and is well priced. One draw back is they dont take bookings so arrive early if you have a large group.

    (5)

  • Ruca R.

    The best chinese food in the neighborhood.....not to greasy, meat and veggies are fresh....Try the spicy chicken and a side of green beans . soo good!!!

    (4)

  • Ashley J.

    My favorite restaurant of all time... If you are ever in San Francisco, this is a great place to stop. I have been in Los Angeles for nearly a year, and I have found not ONE good Chinese food spot, maybe because I am always compariing everything to Eliza's, and no place is like Eliza's. I was the first to hold a large event here almost a year ago (my college graduation) and although they don't usually "do" large engagements, it was amazing. As for the restaurant: the veggies are crisp, fresh, and all of the dishes are cooked to order. No need to worry about chicken that has been sitting around all day, or veggies that are overcooked from boiling in a hot gravy waiting to be ordered. This restaurant is very vegetarian friendly. All of their vegetarian dishes are good, and they have a lot of different vegetables... The facility is beautiful, and the bathroom is always clean. Now, on to the staff. Um, what can I say? Not very friendly... To the point and quick. The only one who may crack you a smile is the manager, Richard (nice guy) I think the dishes are reasonably priced, beautiful, and there is something for everyone. Parking is a HUGE problem, so give yourself plenty of time to park if you have a date or meeting there.

    (5)

  • Brian Q.

    Fortunately for them and for me, the food is good enough that the poor attitudes of the servers hasn't deterred me from coming back. Their weekday specials are a great value at $6. Don't expect a smile or a greeting as you walk in, but expect delicious food. The Mango Beef is my favorite.

    (4)

  • Lori T.

    We had a delicious meal here! We were exhausted from a crazy work week, spirits a little depleted and ended up here on a whim. Eliza's lifted us up! The decor is a funky mix of zen, bamboo and fishes! We liked it! At 7:30pm the friendly staff greeted us right away. Our meal was awesome. Crab rangoon was rich, creamy, crispy wontons that were a tasty reward for a hard week. Not something we'd order all the time, but I think they are a little addicting. We also ordered two specials, the spicy eggplant with prawns was super. They lightly tempura the eggplant in a way you've never had before and the combo with the prawns and sauce was just perfect. Our other special entree was their fillet Mignon and that was just incredible! The meat was tender, and it comes with little shreds of lettuce and green onions. It wow'd us for sure! We also got the special chow mien and some brown rice. We had way to much food. It was hard to stop eating the specials but we did bring food home that we can't wait to have as leftovers. I would call this place more of a fusion restaurant then strictly Chinese, and we loved it!

    (5)

  • Claudine C.

    The differences between Eliza's Potrero and Eliza's California (in terms of food) are minimal -- with the exception of one dish that's served here that you won't find at the one in Potrero: The kick-ass sea-bass with black bean sauce served over a bed of crispy rice. Ok, I have to admit that over the years the quality and execution of this dish has not been the most consistent, but I still am fairly pleased everytime we order it. We frequent this Eliza's more since we live closer to this location than the Potrero location, but I have to admit that we haven't dined-in in years (we're usually getting take-out).

    (4)

  • Pete J.

    Eliza's is absolutely BOSS. Some of the best Chinese food I've had in the city (& the check will remind you when it comes...they's expensive!). But this review is more about the DECOR of the place. It's like you're eating on set for 'Lethal Weapon' or something. They've got the same polite but quiet waitstaff, very modern decor, & those fascinating giant fish tanks. You can almost envision members the Chinese Mafia sitting around in a darkened back room wearing $5,000 suits & counting neat stacks of crisp $100 bills. An older gentleman sits behind a desk. He's the man in charge. A much younger man with a scar across his cheek stands smoking an unfiltered cigarette off to the side. He is flanked by two much larger burly men, who only accentuate his badassity. This man is dangerous, & clearly not to be fucked with. It will take one, or perhaps TWO extraordinary cops to take down this operation. If I had the money to eat here every night, I'd wait around for two gentlemen resembling Mel Gibson & Danny Glover to walk in. It's bound to happen one of these days... What I'm getting at is this: Eliza's would be The Perfect Restaurant to film a Shootout scene in a Buddy Cop Flick. So eat there at your own risk. Plus the food is really good, which is an added bonus.

    (4)

  • John W.

    If there's a "chinese restaurant for white people who don't know/want real Chinese food" in SF, this is it. If the food were at least good, that'd be ok. Overpriced, low quality "chinese" food. The place doesn't deserve ZERO stars (yelp should have that option for some other places), but certainly no more than 1.

    (1)

  • Ellen M.

    One of the few restaurants in town that I NEVER tire of!

    (5)

  • Doug C.

    I keep hearing about Eliza's and how good it is, so I finally tried it tonight. I'm a self professed order out/delivery junkie, so if I have to venture out from the warm confines of my house, the food better be amazing...Sadly, Eliza's is not what I consider amazing Chinese take out. Damn! My yardstick for Chinese is Kung Pao Chicken, since it's what I order 95% of the time. Eliza's Kung Pao is okay, but I thought it had a bit too much zucchini. Also, I prefer the peppers to be roasted to give that smokey flavor, these peppers were just tossed in with all the other ingredients. Thumbs up on the pork fried rice. The serving was large and the rice was quite tasty. Overall, I've had better Chinese take out in San Francisco (although none compare to my favorite spots in Chicago), especially given that many others deliver. The search for better trudges on...

    (2)

  • Maria M.

    The food is delicious (it would get 5 stars)!! The service leaves much to be desired (It would get 1 star-if that). I suggest getting their food as take out. If you eat in the restraunt, see if they take your soup literally out from under you..while you're still eating it. :(

    (2)

  • Steph P.

    I really hate to disparage a place when the meal was on someone else's tab. But when I am just as underwhelmed the second time around, then something must be said. I've been to Eliza's on two occassions for work-related lunches. The only explanation I have for this is that my colleagues probably don't know any better or are too busy to figure out another place to have the end-of-the-semester luncheon. Eliza's seems to be trying to be upscale Chinese...hey, check out the Wedgewood china, the stainless steel chopsticks, the glass-blown sculptures...with that much effort in the details, you would think that they would strive for upscale food. But they're also trying to be mid-priced. It just doesn't add up to me! The food is largely uninspired, and while inauthenticity does not necessarily preclude quality, Eliza's just doesn't measure up to an objective standard of goodness. Sauces are either too salty or undifferentiated (hey is that the same sauce from that other dish?). Seafood not very fresh. I can't even comment further because everything is so unmemorable! Not to mention the service is really whacked out...they had a mad rush to clear our plates, but then took forever and a day to get us our check. 2 stars because their lunch specials ARE pretty cheap (about $6 for entree, brown/white rice, soup) and the food wasn't really inedible. I suppose there is a subset of people who will find Eliza's appetizing, but if it were up to me I would rather spend my money somewhere else. Either I would want to save some money and go somewhere more hole-in-the wall, or I would even be willing to spend more for better upscale Chinese dining. I just can't win at Eliza's.

    (2)

  • christopher h.

    this is the best chinese restaurant for americanizated chinese food. Plus it seems all clean and stuff inside. The food is great and i dont believe there is msg in the food so that's always good. I really liked the food and service and dont think you can go wrong here if your looking for less than authentic chinese food.

    (5)

  • Halli P.

    Best Chinese food in the city, although it should be noted that we are the whitest white people in the city. Some Chinese friends of mine kinda laugh at us that we love this place so much but we don't care. I think if you're looking for authentic Chinese food, this might not be the place. However, if you're into pure deliciousness, pay Eliza's a visit. We are cursed enough to live within a couple blocks so we order take out all the time. Unfortunately for those of you who don't live in the neighborhood, Eliza's doesn't deliver. I know some people have written that they are rude here, but I've never experienced anything like that. They are usually just in a hurry cause they're always busy (because this food is amazing). Definitely try the portobello mushrooms with shrimp. The mushrooms are the most heavenly things on earth and it comes with baby bok choy, always cooked perfectly. Another favorite is Eliza's spicy chicken and the vegetarian spring rolls. I don't know what we would do without Eliza's. Well actually, I guess we'd lose a few pounds.

    (5)

  • Mairead J.

    Lunch special is excellent - about six dollars for rice, soup, and a main dish. The food isn't super flavorful but it also doesn't taste like you're inhaling MSGs.

    (4)

  • Ashley S.

    My boyfriend and I ordered Eliza's to go, for dinner last night and I must say that it was very tasty. We ordered the Drums of heaven...which are so yummy! (Way better then Eric's) We were even able to order Chicken Chow Fun, even though it wasn't on the menu- (one of my favorite things). I was very impressed. We also ordered the walnut prawns which were delicious. And lastly, we debated whether to order their Mongolian Beef or Hunan. We opted for hunan, and ordered it Extra spicy! So they get 5 stars for actually making it spicy! I say we both went to bed fully satisfied with our experience! Thanks Eliza's!

    (5)

  • Parker H.

    OOOOO Elira's. Went to high school right next to hear. Elira's was basically my cafeteria. This place is the best mid-range chinese in the city. Don't come for the service, but you can always do take out. I haven't really had anything I haven't liked from here after many years. Definitely my favorites : Kung pao (best in the city), Eliza's spicy chicken, Fried rice, mongorian beef, mango beef. AMAZING!

    (4)

  • Stephanie W.

    Boo. I went to this place for the first time back in 2004, and I thought it was great! It was one of the few Chinese places I liked in the city... I am just not big on Chinese food (I generally dig Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese, though). I remember that I loved their dry-fried green beans and hot & sour soup. Maybe I was just a novice from Oklahoma-via-Colorado who didn't know what fresh, great food tasted like so soon into my SF life, or maybe this place has just gone down hill. But, recently I was getting over an illness and was craving some of that hot & sour soup so I sent my dear husband to get some. I was extremely disappointed. The food was picked up within minutes of ordering it, but it was mostly cold. His beef dish was drowning in grease. The rice was overcooked. The soup was bland and had fatty pieces of pork floating in it. Sigh. We won't be back here.

    (2)

  • Hannah Q.

    I'm going to come right out and admit this... I'm completely faint of heart when it comes to Chinese food. I do not want to diversify and explore "authentic" restaurants in Chinatown or Clement Street. I want my "chinese" food to come in quotation marks, like "chinese" light, meaning, more Americanized than Chinese-ified. I want to know exactly what I'm ordering and what basic ingredients will be in the dish. I do not want surprises in the meat department. Eliza's delivers a version of chinese food that is as americanized as PF Chang's without the pomp and circumstance. Good food, swift service, fair prices. This is where you take your unadventurous mid-western out of town visitors for dinner if they want some cultural flair. Bonuses: Fast - lightening fast - service Clean environment Nice, light decor Top dishes: Sesame Chicken Sizzling Prawns Mango Beef Downers: No veggie pot stickers (aargh!!!) No delivery (double aaaaaarrrrrrrggghhhhhh!!!!!!!) Yes, the wait staff is rude and rushes you from the moment you sit down People double-parking to pick-up take-out create a serious hazard on California street. Eliza's should really buck up and pay for some green loading zone parking spaces. They won't, of course, because that will cut into their margins and, like the soup nazi, they don't really need YOUR business, because someone else is always ready to take your place.

    (4)

  • ruth k.

    I wrote the below, but tonight Im starving, craving chinese, its a sunday night and it's across the street. Im dying for takeout. I waited 15 minutes for someone to notice me. Finally - the guy comes to take my order - I mention that I've been waiting and he gives a *lecture* about their night and process. If these people were any ruder, they would fire themselves asap. Meanwhile, I can't tell what's what on the menu, everything has random names and I'm trying to avoid the slime sauce and get something tasty and spicy. I can tell he wont take a second to explain a thing, and I can also tell that I don't want this place to get a dime of my money. They really don't care about customers, their attitude sucks, and in fact suckiness is pretty much the adjective. Done. -------- Um, I don't get it. Food is mediocre. But I can't be right, look at the reviews! I ordered the wrong thing, I should go again. Wait, its kind of bland and fine again, just fine, but not great. "Decor" is fine, but it's a chinese restaurant, I'm happy if it's clean. Well I guess I should try again, it's so close by! So yeah, that's how it went. I'd say a about 5 trys later, I've done due diligence and still don't see what the fuss is about. Hm.

    (1)

  • Alanna C.

    Eliza's is the bomb. I went here with my dad and stepfamily, and the food is so fresh, well prepared, and satisfying. It's so rare to find Chinese food in the city that doesn't leave me feeling hungry an hour later, and over-greased. Eliza's is the exception to this general rule. We started with delish, gingery spring rolls, and spicy hot n' sour soup (so good and loaded with tofu and veggies). For our main courses, we got a lot of chicken; chicken chow fun (substituted chicken for the crab cakes), kung pa tofu, spicy eggplant with veggies, sesame chicken, and a special chicken dish that came with dried strips of chinese broccoli, all with brown rice. Delish. The noodles were kind of greasy, in a good way. Yes, it is all white people in the restaurant (hello, Laurel Village stroller-pushers giving the cook a night off), but I don't care. All in all; stupidly good food.

    (5)

  • Louis M.

    This is my go-to Chinese place in SF...how lucky am I that it is within a stone's throw from my pad! Simply cannot go wrong with Eliza's Spicy Chicken...the right amount of crunchy, fresh veggies and perfectly crispy chicken that soaks up the delicious famous sauce. The Mu Shu is amazing too...as is their hot and sour soup. In fact, I haven't had anything at Eliza's that I did not like. They do close a tad early (take out only around 9p) but always a dependable standby. As my buddy Matt puts it, it's a "sure lock" on a second or third date...not sure why, but I gotta try that out.

    (4)

  • Gemma V.

    Oh my god! The worst telephone manners. Seriously.

    (1)

  • Rv G.

    We wandered in for lunch, just famished and not really expecting much. We were pleasantly surprised to have been seated immediately and as the menu was pretty straightforward, we ordered right away. We were given soup and hot tea (plus a refill!) while waiting for our order. We were even happier when the order came! WOW! We were novices so we just relied on the waitress's recommendations and she was good. We definitely enjoyed our meal and had take out to boot! Try their Garlic Scallops and their House Duck Special. Their vegatarian ma po tofu was also yum!

    (4)

  • Neej M.

    Tasty food, dirt cheap, fresh ingredients (or at least it tastes that way), no MSG, no bad headaches, no stomach-aches, no unexpected trips to the bathroom at work later..... which is refreshing for a $5.60 lunch special that gets you soup, rice plate, tea, and a cookie. No real reason to come here from another neighborhood, but if you live/work in the area, it's worth it. Sure. the staff is the opposite of 'chipper' but they aren't discourteous in my opinion. Sidenote: Lately it seems like an entire high school is coming here for lunch daily. What happened to PB&J with a carton of milk?

    (5)

  • Geoff K.

    Safe, whitewashed Chinese food. The line of people at the front is typically for take out so don't be dissuaded. Two people can easily eat here for $50 including tax, tip, and a couple of drinks, which is hard to beat in Pac Heights. Wait a minute...I've been living in Pac Heights too long. FIFTY BUCKS for non-authentic Chinese food?!?! Elin F. will beat me up if I go back. The service is pretty appalling. After taking your order, they want you out of there asap. Appetizers show up, entrees while you're finishing, and there's no offer of dessert. Just pay the goddam check and get out, thanks very much.

    (2)

  • Cheryll M.

    Dear Yelp, Easily one of the best lunch specials I've ever had in SF. For about six bucks (plus tip, if you believe in tipping), you get a bowl of soup, an entree with your choice of rice, a pot of tea, all the water you can drink, and a fortune cookie. Now that's what I call a good deal. Are people really rating this place based on the decor? If anything, the biggest eyesore is the uniform that the wait staff wears. You'll feel like you're walking into the Gap, circa '95. So much denim. None of that even matters though, because you won't have time to form an opinion on the aesthetics. You're literally in and out in ten minutes, which is far less time than I've waited at any In N Out during the lunch rush. The food is your typical Americanized Chinese. Clean, no MSG, stupid metal chopsticks. With Eliza's, it's the price and the service that keeps me coming back. Also, they serve this really good soup on Wednesday. I recommend it. I give Eliza's a fantastic score of 4 out of 5 stars. Love, James

    (4)

  • jj c.

    These people are nasty. It doesn't matter what their food is like. I went there a few times to see, oh, is it me? Perhaps they don't like my boyfriend? So we went separately for our carryout, but no. The food is fair to good. But after you have had Shanghai Dumpling House, to name a place that's cheaper and better, why should I put up with mean people? As they say, "mean people suck." Apparently Eliza' s just doesn't care. They have a cash cow.

    (2)

  • Nada b.

    Good lunch deal. The soup was somewhat bland but the shrimp dish I had came with a plentiful amount of shrimp and veggies. A little heavy on the sauce but at least it came out quickly. A decent neighborhood stop for lunch.

    (3)

  • Aaron S.

    I go to high school right nearby; great place, cheap, delicious lunch. A must-order is the beef broccoli. Like no other. AMAZING Great service; good at taking big groups

    (5)

  • Jenny K.

    I would consider Eliza's more Chinese fusion than authentic Chinese. I'm not saying the food is bad. It was pretty good. Just not authentic Chinese cuisine. We finally ate here at a friend's recommendation, who was of course present to guide us through our experience. We were all hungry so we went all out: combination appetizer platter (crab rangoon, potstickers, fried chicken drumstick, spring rolls, shrimp chips), sizzling rice soup, special prawn, hunan beef, sesame chicken, and szechuan broccoli. The appetizer platter was okay. The spring roll was standard. I tasted a bit of the chicken drumstick with an interesting seasoning. It almost seemed to be fried in panko bread crumbs. The crab rangoon was weird - fried wonton filled with a lot of cream cheese and hardly any crab. Definitely my least favorite item of the evening. The sizzling rice soup was good: chock full of scallop, shrimp, water chestnut, fried rice, chicken. Our friend thinks the sesame chicken is the best dish served at Eliza's. It was definitely the most interesting dish: the chicken is cut in strips and on a bed of julienned carrot, celery, green onion, zucchini and sprinkled with sesame and black sesame seeds. This was a tasty Chinese fusion dish. The hunan beef was very tasty but essentially mostly deep fried batter in sauce with snow peas. The flavor and texture were good but there was very little actual meat. The szechuan broccoli was disappointing. Regular broccoli with szechuan sauce on top. I ordered it thinking it would be chinese broccoli. The special prawn dish was okay. The prawn was stir-fried with sugar snap peas in a red sweet and sour sauce. Two of us had brown rice and one had regular steamed white rice. Our friend who ordered the white rice complained that it was like Uncle Ben's - not sticky and soft like true Asian rice. Service was efficient though somewhat impersonal. All in all, I'm glad I ate here. I enjoyed the meal overall but would not eat here if I had a hankering for authentic Chinese food.

    (3)

  • Jason R.

    I'm over Eliza's. The food's decent and the prices aren't that bad, especially at lunch time, but I just don't like the rub & tug, wham bam, "get the hell out" attitude they have. They're nice enough doing it, but the make no bones about wanting to serve you and that you leaving. That's all well and good if your at the car wash or even a lower end Chinese joint, but this is supposed to be the real deal, and it ain't.

    (3)

  • Ris M.

    Ok, people. Yes, the food is slightly better than your average delivery, but lets be honest, the service sucks with a capitol S. I have only lost my cool once in a restaurant and it was here. My dinner was extra greasy and I asked them to take it back. They said no, and I reminded them that I asked for reduced oil when I ordered. Both the server and the manager were nasty, and not in that Carnegie Deli/Soup Nazi "I love to be hated" kind of way. They are meanies plain and simple. Oh, an the decor reminds me of my gay uncle's condo circa 1991 after he cased in his Koala Blue stock.

    (1)

  • Julia S.

    Eliza's is by far the best Chinese food in San Francisco. It tastes like "healthy" Chinese food, if there is such a thing and all the dishes I have tried have been great. Eliza's spicy chicken is particularly good. The service is so so. The staff either hangs over you like vultures or forgets you are there. One extreme to the other, but I recommend it highly.

    (4)

  • Kevin R.

    Wow. Where do I start? Eliza's is the best Chinese restaurant in the bay area. No kidding. I know that might be hard to believe, but try it. You'll see I'm right. Lunch is great. They have a huge and varied menu. My favorite: House Duck with vegetables. Some of the best duck I've had in my life. Their attention to detail is astonishing. Beautiful presentation, top quality ingredients (vegetables & meat), generous portions. Soup, entree, choice of rice for under $6. Dinner is just as good. I've taken several large groups here where we ordered at least one of everything on the menu, and we were blown away by each dish. Even after I raved about it to my friends, they still all agreed that it's the best Chinese they've had. Ate there today, and I'm a happy boy.

    (5)

  • Meredith R.

    Hmm. So many controversial posts. I have been eating here for about 6 years and have enjoyed the consistency of the food, that's for sure. The Mongolian Beef is really good and tangy as are their variations of chicken dishes. As for the service, it's never been spot on or overly friendly, however, we were surprised Friday night that when we asked the differences between the sauces in four different dishes, she rattled off perfectly and informatively with a smile. So, glad to hear things are 'back to normal' though I never would have ditched it.

    (4)

  • Rich V.

    My Gf seems to friggin love this place, but to me it's not at all authentic. She's likes the fact that it's 'Americanized', I don't. It's good for what it is, and the prices for a PacH restaurant are normal. If you want americanized chinese- go here If you want authentic... avoid this place... Also, avoid the shortest female waitress, she's mean. ask for the chubby guy.

    (3)

  • Deka M.

    the food is OK; tastes like they add sugar... pretty decor horribly rude management and staff i arrived one day close to the end of lunch, more than enough time for them to heat something up but was told i was a disturbance by coming late (~1:30pm) and i should never come again what kind of business would say that to a customer?! i work too hard to give them any more of my money

    (1)

  • Susie S.

    I love this place. I love the Mango Chicken. The place is clean and colorful. The presenation is wonderful, looks good and pleasing. The taste is also good. I have tried several dishes they are big and tasty. Good for dinner and to bring out of town guest. I wish the delivered.

    (4)

  • Mark B.

    Excellent chinese food, grouchy unattractive staff. The lunch menu is quite reasonable. My sister said that the soup that was served was "resession soup" and not the same as other times she went. It was ok. The main course was excellent. My sister got the Mango Beef, which others have reviewed as superlative and I agree that it was quite tasty. My dish was excellent also as was the pu pu platter. All in all, a good experience. The staff just needs to get happy.

    (3)

  • suz q.

    I really liked this restaurant, until... first, the portions got smaller, then, we went on a double date and I got food poisoning. It was really embarrassing -- I actually got sick at the restaurant and spent about 30 minutes in the bathroom before we had to awkwardly excuse ourselves and try to make it home quickly.

    (2)

  • Jeff H.

    Really good chinese food and it is actually CLEAN unlike your typical chinese restaurant. Service was quick and the lunch menu was very tasty. You'll also get an egg drop soup with your lunch. I had kung pao chicken, yeah, how original of me. The only odd thing is their fortune cookies. They need to buy those from a different vendor. Mine was cheesy and it said "God Helps Those Who Help Themselves"...I will help myself to another trip back here.

    (4)

  • Igor B.

    I don't see what the big deal is here. I've been here a couple of times and left unhappy every time. The portions are minuscule and far from satisfactory, the soup of the day is literally the dishwasher water with a handful of disabled vegetables, the pot stickers are not very appetizing and the noodles are meh. And if you pile on the noodles and the pot stickers, it doesn't turn out to be that cheap. Far from the best Chinese places in the city.

    (1)

  • Jackie K.

    The food here seems to be just rather so-so for me. The veggie spring rolls are greasy and doughy, the walnut prawns are way over sauced with a mayonaise style goo, but the braised string beans are pretty good. Maybe it makes a difference that I only get take-out? And I really, I only order from here because I live around the corner and it's easy. Not a destination eatery.

    (3)

  • Ryan M.

    hmm just came back from this place. First off, it's a beautiful venue. that's it! WE had their special chicken, as recommended by the waitress. She was right its deep fried w/ special sauce, what was missing is actually the chicken, a good majority of the chicken is so battered, my question is, where's the freakin' chicken. WE then had their pepper garlic prawns, so pretty, flavors were alright, the prawns were very soggy, it felt like it was dep fried and left to so so sad... thhen we had their peking duck, as recommended by i dont' know if he's the owner, sure it wasn't too bad, and he did offer us a little bit more of the pancakes, but daaang where's the DUCK!!?!??! hmmm... dinner avg was $20 per person. hmm... not worth it... and parking is TERRIBLE!!!!

    (2)

  • Kristin P.

    Tasty Chinese food, no doubt. Not authentic at all, but definitely nicer/fresher than most American-Chinese take out joints. And did I mention it was fast? I went there for lunch and 7 of us were served in about 7 minutes (and I'm only exaggerating a little). Good sized portions, attentive waitstaff. Lunch is a good deal but dinner starts to get a little pricey for basic Chinese food.

    (4)

  • Neria J.

    The food is good but the service is bad. I work down the street at Kaiser we always go there for lunch have had group lunch and dinner parties there. They see us there all the time but insist on being rude and give terrible service. It's as if they don't even care. They have a sign that says they have the right to refuse service....... so if you don't like don't come. I have never received good service from this restaurant and I have been going there for the past 8 years. I sure wish the other one was still open.

    (1)

  • Byron W.

    Eliza's has some very good food indeed, I have liked everything that I've tried. I have never had better sweet and sour soup in my life. The decor is modern, clean, and it is definitely a neighborhood restaurant, but seating feels a bit cramped. There service is a bit abrupt to say the least. Not unlike many chinese restaurants in San Francisco.

    (4)

  • J. D.

    Get it to go. Love the Hunan Beef. Love the sesame chicken. Love the garlic chicken, although I don't taste any garlic. Buddha's delight is a good vegetable dish although I wish it had less tofu and more *actual* vegetables. Love all this mixed with, yes, plain white rice. And a beer or white wine. Not a big fan of the soups though. Sizzling rice soup was big on broth but short on the foodstuffs. Don't like the Ocean Party soup either, though I'm not a big seafood person.

    (4)

  • J S.

    I use to frequent their Oak street establishment which is now closed and really enjoyed their food and hodgepodge ambiance with their multitude of orchids and blown glass. Now more established, this California spot is eccentrically decorated with painted glass, Buddha's here and there, industrial steel back drops, cafeteria tables and chairs with their kitchen in the center (I don't think this is Feng Shui), which could also use a curtain in the door way so that your customers don't see you drop the chopsticks only to pick them back up- I'm glad our table already had its place settings or am I :0 Regardless, I am happy to report, although their decor leaves something to be desired, their food has not changed. After a hunt, disappointed by our trek through the Western Addition/NOPA area to a restaurant not open (see Poleng review)...we felt much much better with our bellies full. We had the sampler appetizer for two- which I highly recommend. I had the beef with black bean sauce and my friend had the chicken curry- both dishes were flavorful, my only comment was that there was not enough meat- it was a good portion of vegetables and rice and I'm not expecting an Atkins portion of protein, but a little more would have been nice. Service: indifferent servers, i.e. don't come here if you want friendly service Eliza's for an inexpensive and tasty lunch.

    (2)

  • jordan n.

    Shanghai Chicken

    (4)

  • Gabriela K.

    Reasonable prices, but I'm always a little "iffy." I think they round-up and, when you question it, they just say "Oh, that's the tax..." Anyways, the food is good. The prices are good. The atmosphere is good. It's all "good." You'll definitely leave feeling satisfied and well fed.

    (3)

  • Christine P.

    I got the Hunan fish, take-out for lunch. I was slightly confused if it was slightly breaded or not because it was kind of chewy, but when I bit into it, I did not see a lot of breading and actually a great ratio of fish. After talking about a coworker who got the same dish, we think it was breaded, but the sauce made the exterior chewy. Having cut oranges in the same container as the entree was a little weird. If I eat here again, I would dine-in and order something different.

    (2)

  • Keen G.

    It was really sucks.The worst Chinese I've ever had.I ordered lemon chicken,wonton and Mapo Tofu.Can u believe that they just put the sweet sour sauce on the fried chicken and call it lemon chicken?And the wonton was undercooked.Never come again!

    (1)

  • Edward M.

    Unbelievably bad. The food is actually okay. I've really enjoyed their Mongolian Beef and Sweet and Sour Chicken. I have seen a hair or two in my food a few times though, so the kitchen staff needs to step up their cleanliness. The worst part of Eliza's is the management and service. I've seen some racist acts by management, refusing service to some people. Their expectation for tipping is unreal, in fact almost demanding large tips in order to receive service at all. I can't support this kind of behavior anymore in my neighborhood. I'm incredibly disappointed that a local establishment in the city of San Francisco would be so close-minded to some people. The way that they treat their guests is pathetic. I hope that you read this review and rethink supporting this establishment, because they and their food don't deserve your money.

    (1)

  • Leron B.

    My food had a finger nail in it. Also hairs everywhere. Service took over and hour. Manager was rude.

    (1)

  • Steve D.

    Best Chinese food I've found in SF. Favorites: eliza's spicy chicken, sesame chicken and the egg rolls.

    (5)

  • Diana K.

    Beautiful location I must rave! We sat in the back surrounded by glass bamboo above! We had the lunch special, price was super affordable and good. I will eat lunch here again.

    (3)

  • Lauren K.

    I was excited to try this place based on the busy crowd (and line out the door for take out!), but we were extremely disappointed. In a city known for its Chinese cuisine, this place just doesn't cut it. Food was bland and lunch portions were small and mostly filled with white rice. I wish there was another option in the area, but unfortunately we won't be going back here.

    (2)

  • Amy W.

    How is it possible I have never reviewed this place only 1.5 blocks away? I kinda forget it is there, then when friends are in town and want a casual close-by dinner I often take them here, and they are blown away by the quality (Not NY'ers mind you, but from anywhere else). It truly is one of the best reasonably-priced Chinese restaurants in the city. Their lunch specials cannot be beat, cheap as hell (in the $6.50 range), and a ton of quality food with a choice of brown rice for no up-charge). Love the cashew chicken, and the black bean beef, but I have never been dissapointed with any other choices. As far as dinner entrees, my fav is the mongolian beef, I only wish the portion were bigger. and oooh those eliza cakes with the peanut dressing. If mu she is a special (often) go ahead and splurge. yummy. Only grip is that the place needs a redesign, they don't deliver, and on Monday holidays you can't get the lunch specials (regular menu only).

    (4)

  • BigJohnS F.

    Very Good Chinese Fusion Food LUNCH: A Great Value! I used to love the Hayes Valley location when it was there. (How long ago is that?)

    (4)

  • Vira P.

    Eliza's has good vegetarian options, which I appreciate because it's hard to find decent Chinese restaurants that has dishes other than green beans. I got the vegetarian mu-shu. I definitely could've shared it with another person, but I wanted it all to myself. I would definitely take my vegetarian friends here since there a lot of options that aren't compromised of mostly tofu.

    (4)

  • Blaine C.

    I love this place. Solid, consistent family establishment. My favorite apps are the drums of heaven and the crab rangoon (shocking! I usually hate these from other Chinese spots). For entrees, I love the Mongolian beef and Eliza's spicy chicken (which is actually pretty mild, so go extra spicy if you want any heat.) The decor in the restaurant is super interesting and I'm still noticing new things after ~10 visits.

    (4)

  • Dj S.

    One of my go-to Chinese restaurants. Here's my breakdown on Eliza's Food - 7/8 Great tasty quality food (but like most Chinese places, not organic etc...) Staff - 7 Nice Ambiance - 9 For the price range this place is fantastic Value - 9 Great pricing and value for the money, they usually serve tea and soup for free as well. Plus you can't beat their lunch specials!

    (4)

  • Malachi S.

    Why oh why Yelpers ain't this a 5. Mains for $10 in San Francisco with food quality like theirs. What's not to like. Ok maybe you can gripe about the chairs but not enough to dock them a star. This is really great food that has been consistently excellent for maybe ten years. I love this place. The chicken curry is excellent the pot stickers are great. The moo shoo is worth moooooing about ....

    (5)

  • IR C.

    We were here 3 years ago. There were a lot of diners, but now only a few diners even at peak hours. Half of the restaurant has been closed off, reflecting the lack of customers. Food was ok, but the food portions have shrunk. They give you a lot rice to make up for the small portions. Customer service is non-existent. There are so many places to spend your hard-earned dollars. We will not come back.

    (1)

  • S. M.

    Went for a dinner tonight and everything was super flavorful and different than other Chinese restaurants in the city. Service was a little slow but it was quite busy for a Monday night. The food isn't oily or too salty. I didn't feel gross after eating it which can be a big issue with Chinese food. All in all a great little neighborhood spot. The Neptune Delight was awesome!

    (4)

  • Natalie S.

    I've always wondered how this restaurant was and after eating there tonight, it is on my go-to list for Chinese food. The decor is nice, it is clean and they have highchairs and are baby friendly. The sunflower chicken dish was very tasty and love the endive element. The string beams with bean curd was yummy. Decent alcohol list and reasonable prices.

    (4)

  • Carl A.

    Unless you are dining with screaming kids, there is no reason you would ever want to eat here. The decor is the weirdest thing you can find in SF, the staff does their best to make you feel you weren't there (and you'll be wishing the same after glancing down at the floor and seeing several days worth of old noodles piled up under the tables), and the food is average. If you have screaming kids and are looking for Chinese food in the area, it's perfect.

    (2)

  • Kimmy D.

    I really don't know why the stars aren't higher on this place as it's my husband's and I favorite Chinese restaurant in the city. The food is very fresh (the house chow mein is our absolute favorite, with the spicy chicken eggplant dish pulling a quick second.) I mean, the service is fine, not amazing, and the decor is dated, but eh... who really cares. The food never disappoints and it is worth driving across the city and having to deal with bad parking to eat at this great neighborhood restaurant.

    (5)

  • Mandy A.

    it's official - my favorite chinese restaurant in the city. eliza's is clean, fresh and just solid on all counts. they do takeout just as well as they do service in the restaurant. the restaurant itself is super clean in side, the staff is super nice and professional, presentation is great and it's not too salty or greasy. all around great quality and fresh chinese food, which is super hard to come by. favorites to order: hot + sour soup sizzling rice soup mongolian beef (might be the best i ever had here) honey walnut prawns potstickers cashew chicken fried rice (so good here. so good!) in a week, i've been there twice and i'll definitely become a regular here.

    (5)

  • Eric P.

    After my experience tonight I realized that we are witnessing the decline of a once great restaurant. Eliza's was a pretty great place last decade, when we started eating there. And up until tonight, we were truly regulars, bringing our family to dine in or for take out at least 2-3 times per month. We could count on unique, flavorful dishes with fresh ingredients, hold the gristle. Also the presentation was always refreshing with flowers, kiwis and other pleasant accoutrements. Interestingly, the one thing that has been a constant over the years has been the rough service (with the exception of the nice gentleman who usually works the front). Almost like the treatment you'd get (and expect) at a great French restaurant. When the food is great and the atmosphere buzzing, the haughtiness just goes with the scene. But tonight, as I was driving on my way to Eliza's to pick up the food we had ordered to go, I came to the conclusion that it's just not worth it anymore. We ordered the food about 30 minutes prior -- when I was 5 minutes from the restaurant, I called Eliza's to ask if they would bring my order from the kitchen to the reception area, since I was so close. As I explained to Jen, the rude lady that answered the phone, I would be double parking to pick up the food, so wanted to shave a few minute off the process. Her answer: "No!". Not, "sorry sir, were very busy now" or "I'll try my best." Just "No". I could not believe the curt and terse response. Needless to say when I arrived at the restaurant I asked to speak to the manager, who had the nerve to say, "we don't offer curbside delivery service." Maybe important to point out that the time was 7:45pm and the restaurant half empty. Lots of staff were slowly shuffling around, failing to acknowledge me or any of the other guests who walked in. So does a restaurant with rude service deserve a one start review? Not necessarily. The food quality is the kicker. We got home to kung pao chicken with almost no chicken -- just a bunch of zucchini. Starchy skins on the potstickers. And the biggest disappointment was our once favorite mango beef. A decade ago, the beef was tasty, the mango crunchy with freshness, and the garnishes popped with liveliness. Tonight: soggy, greasy and limp. Photo uploaded so those of you Eliza's veterans can see the difference. Bottom line is this: Eliza's needs to make some changes to breathe air back into the standard they set a decade ago. And maybe add curbside pickup service, since the tables are not full. Until that happens, I'm going to eat at one of the 1,000 other great Chinese restaurants in San Francisco.

    (1)

  • PC S.

    Best Chinese Food in N.CA! Their mango beef is spicy but the mango gives it that sweet flavor, great combo! Potstickers are huge & flavorful & spicy chicken is just delicious! We moved to S.CA 7 yrs ago & this was our 1st stop when we visited the Bay Area! Great staff & they totally cater to kids!

    (5)

  • Veronica V.

    I came here with a group of my friends. One of them had suggested this place since it was a place they enjoyed so much. I gotten the pot stickers which by the way were huge, and very tasty. I also ate the Kung pao chicken which was also yummy, I just wish it came with more food. That just me otherwise the food was very good . The service was also very great and we were seated fairly quickly. I would differently return.

    (4)

  • Rachel H.

    Eliza is in my threesome. Everytime I'm in San Francisco, I have a favorite threesome hookup: Eric, Alice and Eliza. Get your mind out of the gutter folks, I'm talking about Chinese food, and Eric's, Alice's and Elza's are three of my favorite San Francisco lunch spots. Eliza's is a great spot. Easy atmosphere, fancy tablecloth casual, good food, and even better prices, this is an easy, fun trio. At Eliza's, my favorites include the veggie Kung Pao with tofu (trust me on this!) , the simple and subtle prawns with lotus root and the sunflower chicken. This is no Henry's Hunan. The flavors are subtle, veggie forward. Eliza's is phenomenal for lunch. Fresh, delicious, really tasty, and light --lots of vegetables and great tastes. Free jasmine tea.

    (4)

  • Girly Foodie F.

    the food is pretty good here, but once we noticed that the help uses soiled linens to clean the glass tables, it's a real turn off. we've noticed it several times now and are becoming reluctant to dine here, especially in cold and flu season. we actually saw a woman customer blow her nose in one of those linen napkins.....and you can visualize the rest of the story. please eliza's....stop using soiled, germ filled napkins to clean your glass tables. it's disgusting. use clean and sanitized towels, and use a germicide not windex to clean the glass. we give the food 3 or 4 stars, but the sanitary issues zero stars, thus the two star rating.

    (2)

  • Kevin B.

    If you're looking for a great Chinese restaurant with a side order of attitude, then Eliza's is your place. It's almost like something out of a Seinfeld episode. The food is good enough that you're willing to overlook the unfriendly staff. Just don't go in expecting servers with a smile or a thank you on your way out. It's not that kind of place. That being said, Eliza's certainly serves some of the tastiest (and cleanest) Hunan & Mandarin food in town. I've been here on multiple occasions and tried numerous dishes, and I've never been disappointed. I'd certainly recommend their pot stickers ($4.95). Although there are only 4 per order, they're rather large dumplings. But if you're splitting dinner with friends, I'd recommend getting two orders. Other menu highlights include their Drums of Heaven (think Chinese version of fried chicken), Mu-Shu Pork, Spicy Tangy Chicken, and Asparagus Salmon. I'm also a fan of their Chicken Chow Mein and Eliza's Fried Rice. All their dishes are never too greasy, which is a common complaint of most Chinese restaurants. And for you health-conscious diners out there, you can order brown rice with your meal instead of the steamed white rice. The place is nice enough, I guess. Though the pastel interior reminds me more of a day spa than a restaurant. Personally, I prefer picking up food to go rather than eating at Eliza's. Though the last time I was there, I did see John C. Riley (from Step Brothers) dining in the joint - and that's kind of awesome. Important to note - Eliza's closes early (9pm sharp). So be sure to place your order in time.

    (4)

  • Samir N.

    Service is quick, food is good and well-priced, you can actually eat healthily (I.e., tasty non-fried, non-rice or noodle dishes). Very accomodating of young kids if that is something you are looking for.

    (4)

  • christina a.

    You gotta try the crab ragoons here !!! Crab and cream cheese yummy !! and their potstickers are a good size and not too bad too All the food is served family style. We ordered the chicken fried rice.... it was pretty good a little salty for my own taste but good Also got the mushroom chicken now this had really great flavor And the bf got broccoli beef also really good nice crunchy broccoli and a good portion of meat But the was only server and he was running all over the place but still managed to get our last minute order of potstickers out before our entrée and working in the kitchen I know that can be hard to do so I gave it a 5 star I'm always around the area so I'll Definitely be coming back soon

    (5)

  • Leslie D.

    Let's get down to business... To consume... THE DUCK! I came to Eliza's for one thing and ONE thing only: The Peking Duck! My bff's family and fiance brought me here for dinner on a Friday night. Yes, we made reservations since it gets really crowded on the weekend. My party wasted no time once we sat down. We ordered two (yes, TWO!) Peking Ducks along with some dumplings and lo mein to accompany the quacksters. The food took a little long but everything came out piping hot and smelled delicious! Thanks to the Lazy Susan on the table, we were able to help ourselves and dig into the mass quantities of freshly made food before us repeatedly. Verdict? Absolute perfection- the duck meat was so juicy and tender while the skin was crispy. The dumplings were top notch and I slurped those lo mein noodles so hard I think the next block over heard me. Ahhhh!!! I want some more please. Wonderful meal and I know where to get my duck on next time I come out to SF.

    (4)

  • Isaac H.

    Came here for dinner. I ordered the sesame chicken. It was ok. I like the rice soup a lot. This is not the best chinese restaurant in San Francisco. It is ok.

    (3)

  • Alex T.

    Love this place. Great Chinese food. I have been going here for over 13 years and this place is still great and has not changed. Favorites include pot stickers, mu shu pork, hot and sour soup and Mongolian beef. On Friday and Saturdays they have the peeking duck which is delicious.

    (5)

  • Derek N.

    Craving C-Food? Stuck in an area in between Laurel Heights and Pacific Heights? Can't get to Richmond or Sunset? Then you probably "sol" like I was today... I had the hunan lamb, and it was just plain okay. Nothing special or stellar. Somewhat spicy...kinda greasy. Make the haul to Sichuan Home on Geary, if you want to taste a good lamb dish

    (2)

  • Amy R.

    Great food!! Wonderful service. Nice clean & bright atmosphere. A true find is a city full of Chinese restaurants. A must try!!!!

    (4)

  • Jeremy T.

    Eliza's is that trendy modern-Chinese place that's somehow made it through the 90's and 00's and is still thriving today. Probably the best to-go option for anyone living nearby (or those willing to deal with the nightmarish parking in the area). The decor is an interesting hodge-podge that I can only guess is supplemented anytime the owner looks at a blank area and decides to put something random in said area. And yet it works. :) The food is overall quite good, and pretty well priced. But don't expect anything traditional/authentic here, the dishes have the same names, but Eliza's own unique preparations. My favorites: * Sizzling Rice soup - very light and delicate broth, I think I could make this into my entire meal * Mongolian beef - deliciously seasoned meat with bits of crispy puffed rice - might sound weird, but it works, excellently * Hunan salmon - again crispy puffed rice, combined with one of the few preparations of salmon in Chinese cuisine I've ever had that makes me want to come back for more. * Sunflower chicken - another unusual preparation, and another very memorable dish. nothing I can really compare it to, but it's a staple for our family * Garlic eggplant - this is a "binary" dish - if you hate eggplant, this won't turn you into a fan. but if you *like* eggplant, this is a must-have. a little crispy, with a great tangy sauce. * DRUMS OF HEAVEN - so the drums are drumsticks, and as far as I can tell, they literally come from heaven. SO GOOD. One last note - the place is definitely kid-friendly and a great option for the 6pm family rush hour, as it doesn't typically fill up until after 7.

    (4)

  • PT B.

    Great place to take out-of-towners or in-laws who are in the mood for Chinese food but might not be up for a typical Chinatown or Richmond spot. The place is relatively hip and clean - located on the outskirts of Pacific Heights - and the food is delicious. Not too expensive, either.

    (4)

  • Curtis C.

    We had a large group with 6 kids. Eliza's accommodated us easily. The food was spectacular! Everyone raved about their entree. Several standouts were the Mongolian beef, curry seafood, chicken fried rice, and the cashew broccoli chicken. Yum yum!

    (5)

  • Mika D.

    Went here for dinner with some friends for a birthday dinner. I ordered the crispy peking duck as everyone ordered their own choices: crab rangoon for appetizers, mango chicken, spicy prawns and beef with broccoli. In the company of great friends, the dinner was good, however I'd had better.

    (3)

  • Vern R.

    Surprising find in the lower Pacific Heights area of California Street. Imaginative and well prepared dishes, great service, and a hip atmosphere, this Asian eatery will not disappoint. Try the Sizzling Rice Soup!

    (4)

  • Hyla S.

    Really good mongolian beef, hot & sour soup. They should offer delivery.

    (3)

  • Andrew M.

    Hands down of the the best chinese places in the city. Super fresh ingredients, clean flavors, never too greasy or loaded with salt. Must haves: Hot and Sour soup Garlic Eggplant Pot Stickers Spicy Tangy chicken Peking duck (eat in on weekends only)

    (5)

  • Skippy T.

    As a local, this is definitely going to be a place I hit up a lot. Lunch special is ridiculously cheap, which includes entree and soup. (min $6.20 for an entree but nothing really goes over $7). My lunch came out to roughly $9.00 after tax and tip. They give you a healthy portion of whatever you order. I'm not feeling stuffed by any means, but I'm not exactly starved for $6 worth of food either. Wait staff is a bit quiet, but friendly if you try to engage them. They seem pretty popular in the area and recognize customers. Food is definitely really heavily spiced (hot and otherwise) and salted / sauced up pretty heavily, but I don' t necessarily go out to eat Chinese expecting anything different. Definitely a 4 star in the grand scheme of things, but 5 star for the price. So cheap! Their soups are delicious by the way (try their hot & sour soup)! Great place to stop in for a quick lunch or get take out.

    (4)

  • Mansi A.

    As my friend's fav restaurant in lower Pac Heights, I was excited to try a Chinese restaurant off the beaten path. The ambiance is clean with modern decor. The lighting, on the other hand, could use a bit of improvement. Side note: Restaurants with poor choice in lighting really bother me, because lighting is one of of the main things that can make or break ambiance. We pretty much ordered the entire vegetarian menu (or what seemed like it) in order to sample a variety of things: - vegetable mu shu: I had never before had this Chinese dish, but it was very interesting! Basically a do-it-yourself Asian fajita, the first was assembled tableside by the server, and then you proceed to assemble the remainder as you eat. Very tasty! - vegetable chow mein: Served in a gigantic pot, this chow mein was loaded (loaded!) with fresh veggies! The proportion of veggies to noodles was excellent -- no skimping here! Just enough soy flavor, and not super oily. - szechuan broccoli: Probably the blandest of all dishes. While the broccoli was steamed and tossed in a spicy pepper sauce, the heat didn't translate well, so I didn't get the szechuan vibe. Just okay, but skippable. - spicy eggplant: Oh, dear. So obsessed with eggplant! Once again, melt-in-your-mouth pieces of eggplant that were an edible size and tossed with fragrant basil. Probably the dish that was most oily, but not overpowering enough to take away from the deliciousness! - vegetarian kung pao with tofu: I have seriously never seen tofu so well-cooked in an Asian restaurant! Mucho props for the mini pieces of browned tofu tossed with typical kung pao sauce and veggies. An excellent take on your traditional kung pao chicken, and I didn't even miss the chicken!

    (4)

  • Ric C.

    Just called for a pickup order & got a really rude guy on the phone. Their food is good but service is so bad!!! Last time ordering from this place

    (1)

  • Alexis S.

    Amazing food! Great prices for lunch. Got spicy chicken, Kung pow chicken and beef with broccoli. Spicy chicken was my favorite. The service was less than exceptional but the food more than makes up for it

    (5)

  • Amanda C.

    I live right next to the restaurant so it's definitely worth it to order their lunch specials. Lunch specials are only Monday to Fridays but for $6.20, it's a good deal! I ordered a kungpao chicken and spicy chicken with fresh basil. Both orders came with enough rice, but the chicken portion was a bit small. I had more peanuts in my order than I did chicken, but I guess that's what you get for the price. Still, I would come back again because the food tasted well, was cheap, and conveniently located next to my home.

    (3)

  • Bobby L.

    Eliza's is good. Really good. They have a great lunch special that gives you a good sized meal for a really good price. The service is cold but efficient, and they handle the lunch rush well. Prices seem to have slowly crept up, but you can still get out of there paying 7.50 - 8 dollars (with tip) for lunch. My only gripe is that they are giving more rice in exchange for less of your actual order. Sometimes I'll open my to go box and laugh at the mismatched portion sizes. I've done dinner a few times, but mainly I eat there for lunch. One thing I gotta comment on is that they have some pretty delicious hot and sour soup. I don't know why, but a lot of Chinese places seem to be skimping on the "sour" part, but not Eliza's!

    (5)

  • Tony H.

    Came here with a friend today for lunch, and was a little apprehensive how authentic it would be considering, I ate plenty of Hunan food when I was in China. All in all, it's decent Chinese food for lunch. $6.20 for some good chinese eggplant, soup, and rice? Yummy. Eggplant was properly cooked. My only complaint was that it wasn't spicy enough to be authentic, but I'll forgive them for that. Service was so-so, as the waiters seemed inattentive and a little standoffish, but I will take that for the decent quality of the meal. And am I the only one who marvels at how much liquid they give you for lunch (soup, water, and tea)? My bladder was bursting at the end of the meal.

    (3)

  • Meredith M.

    Um,...addicted. Coconut prawns (my mouth is salivating just thinking of them) and the green beans. Great for take out, though they don't deliver, and also for dine-in. Very similiar menu as Dragon Well, but half the price! The service is quick and efficent, but not the friendliest. My local Chinese favorite!

    (4)

  • Linda M.

    Eliza's is a great restaurant, the food great, quick service the staff friendly and once they've seen you once or twice remember you. They have healthy food, prices reasonable and if you ask can special order also

    (5)

  • Michelle S.

    We've been going to Eliza's for over 8 years and exeprienced all kinds of adventures in service and patrons. BUT one thing has never let us down and that is the food. It's fresh, consistent, fast and down right good. We seem to always gravitate to the Spicy Eggplant, Sesame Chicken, hoisen string beans and veggie mushu. We live in a completely different neighborhood and call in for take out more than eat in, these days. Someone mentioned the bowl of hersheys kisses...definitely a plus!

    (4)

  • Suzanne D.

    It pains me to downgrade Eliza's to two stars! Let me preface this by saying my updated review is based on in house service and not take out (as I had reviewed before) For take out- Eliza's food is 3-5 stars depending on what you order. First of all... we have been coming to Eliza's (in the former locations near Van Ness, and in Portero Hill) for over 20 years. It is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in all of SF. Here's the problem, the service. News flash to Eliza's... people in SF have kids! We were seated with one our well behaved 6 year old. There were two other tables (elsewhere in the restaurant) with younger kids who were making a bit of noise and mess. Probably drove the waitstaff into super rude mode because we caught their wrath. Our waiter (a woman, working on evening of October 7) was downright mean. She made us (four adults) feel as if we were intruding and corrected our order when we wanted more rice. She basically refused to add it to our order. She was also very rude when collecting the dishes. I mean, seriously, it is an art form to be a rude table busser. That takes real talent! We had 5 people too and a $60+ check. What made me really disappointed in the service, was the last straw... When we asked for a couple of additional fortune cookies, she rolled her eyes, made some nasty remark under her breath, and disappeared into the kitchen never to be seen again. I grabbed a second waiter for the cookies and he said "Yeah, yeah." Then yelled at my son for being near the walkway. He was just standing there minding his own business. No waiters were present and we were watching him. So again, BOTH waiters were incredibly rude!!!! The cookies never arrived. And we left feeling a bit betrayed by the restaurant where we had spent so much money in the past. Oh yeah, don't try Eric's or Alice's in SF either. Same family. Terrible food on those two. Eliza's does have tasty food, well, two of our four dishes were good. But, DO NOT EAT THERE WITH KIDS!

    (2)

  • David G.

    Very good, somewhat Americanized version, Chinese food. The restaurant is actually pretty small with a poor , but pretty , layout. If the place is busy the front waiting area makes you feel like you are in a cattle car...but it is a popular place for a reason. The pancake appetizer was excellent with the peanut sauce, the crispy spring roll was also very good..not greasy, the pot stickers also good. They had Peking duck, which was a special that night, was sooo good..not greasy, plenty of meat...really tasty! The mao po tofu was good...although could have been spicer with more peppers. Sesame chicken was so so, The fried rice is very good but their chow mein really sucks in my opinion. Walnut shrimp so so but the shrimp with basil was awesome. Service, which many complain about, I thought was good....the family that runs the place really went out of their way to make everything run smoothly...even though it was a busy night and we had a big party. If you are in this neighborhood check it out.

    (4)

  • Pablo R.

    This is a regular spot on my lunch rotation. Eliza's offers typical rice plates but above typical flavors. For the price, it's hard to beat this restaurant in this part of town. My favs are princess prawns and honey walnut prawns. The chow fun is also very good. The seafood seems to be the specialty here. Really tasty! There's no desert and no alcohol so it's pretty much eat and run. Eliza's is definitely a destination to consider when you're craving Chinese lunch rice plates. For the price, it's a good dinner spot for small groups too. Street parking can be tough sometimes.

    (4)

  • Jacob L.

    I went here a few years ago and really liked it. The decor is pleasantly modern, everything looks clean and well maintained, and I found the food to be nothing like authentic, but at least well made with good ingredients. I'm afraid they've gone way downhill, and I won't be back. We had the Spicy Chicken with Basil, the Triple Mushroom with Snow Peas, and some steamed brown rice. The only thing which was ok was the rice. The Spicy Chicken with Basil was actually greasy red peppers with a bit of chicken and a few leaves of basil. It was not spicy and the chicken seemed to be whatever pieces were left over from cooking other dishes. We should have known better than to order mushrooms, because the Triple Mushroom with Snow Peas contained what appeared to be canned mushrooms. These taste nothing like mushrooms, and I was not able to eat them. Times may be tough, and low prices are a good thing, unless it compromises the quality of the ingredients which a restaurant is using. I'd rather pay an extra $2 or $3 a dish and get better ingredients than to save them and end up with unappetizing food.

    (1)

  • Adam W.

    Two words: Lunch special. You get soup, a dish, and a plate of rice, all for under $9. Who cares if it's not amazingly good? That's a hell of a deal, and the food is totally above average. Nothing fancy here, no frills. Just solid Americanized chinese. Favorites include: Mu shu pork and hunan beef.

    (4)

  • Jess H.

    Horrible service. Americanized Chinese. Nothing special. First restaurant my boyfriend and I tried when we moved to the city. Huge disappointment. We got right in but out of all the tables open they sat us next to the kitchen door. They were frustrated when I wasn't ready to order 1 minute after sitting down. The food wasn't anything special, though good large portions. We had to ask to get a refill for waters and again received a bad vibe from our server. We feel like were very polite and pretty respectful customers but we kept getting a horrible vibe as if we were hassling the server and being an inconvenience to her shift. When the meal ended we didn't eat it all but like I said it was big portioned. They took our plates back into the kitchen to box them up (with a huffing and puffing under their breath). We felt so un welcomed to be there served by this woman that we ended up leaving our leftovers because we figured she was so enraged by us that she spit in them. We left a decent tip because we generally do even with bad service because we know it's tough being a server. The waitress came to the table and picked up our tip while we were still sitting at the table!!!!!!!! ( get out of my restaurant now, we felt.) As we left we said thank you as we passed by and got the stink eye. We're not going back.

    (1)

  • diane h.

    I would NEVER go back to this dump. I got food poisoning , the food was awful and the staff are rude. If you want to live, don't eat there. No stars for this one.

    (1)

  • bora o.

    Absolutely terrible place. I have been eating out for 30+ years. If I were to look for a restaurant with a worse service I would be very hard pressed to find one! Once when our order was 40 minutes (YES 40 MINUTES!) late the answer was "if you don't like this place don't come back" from the guy who is the main guy at the door. When I requested to talk to a manager surprisingly I received the same answer from "the manager". And the food is mediocre at best. I will not go back!!!

    (1)

  • Melissa B.

    My friend and I ate here for lunch today. I ordered the chicken basil lunch special which was the first item on the list. It came with a soup and they gave us green tea also. My dish was a little less than just okay. It was 2/3 red bell peppers, which was not mentioned in the menu otherwise I would have changed my order, and 1/3 chicken cut pretty small. The chicken had fatty and gristly parts which was too bad since it was such a small portion of the meal already. The soup was gross, it had a really thick consistency with very little flavor. Service was slow - they took a while to bring the check and then change. The good: The food was inexpensive, total we paid under $14 for food without ordering drinks. They have a brown rice option which is nice, and we were seated pretty quickly. The bad: Food not great, soup all bad, service... meh. Nothing to write home about, and nothing to try twice.

    (2)

  • tina a.

    Beautiful food that doesn't make you feel like garbage. Love!

    (5)

  • Anne Marie B.

    My coworkers and I walk down here for lunch on occasion because Eliza's seems to offer something for everyone. The lunch specials are where it's at in terms of price and amount of food per order. A heaping pile of rice coupled with some hot and fresh entree. I've had beef and shrimp here, both delicious. And the "free" hot and sour soup you get as a starter with the lunch entrees is probably the best of the complimentary lunch soups I've had in the area. Now I'm not a huge fan of Americanized Chinese food, as I much prefer dim sum, but we must all have those days when we're craving a little high class panda express. The service here is fast, though no one seems to smile, but speed's good for a workday lunch. I doubt I'd come here for dinner, but for the affordable and filling lunch options, it's not a bad choice.

    (4)

  • Julie F.

    Best Chinese. Really. So darn good BUT the the service is HORRIBLE, actually it was nonexistent. I am having a hard time rating it because I want to give it 5 for food and none for service. Yelp really needs a separate category for service. Can only really recommend for take out. Everything we had was great; hoisen green beans, Mongolian beef, hot and sour soup, mushu pork, crab Rangoon and Eliza cakes.

    (3)

  • Ayana K.

    This place is NOT as good as it use to be. Te food is bland and they give very small portions. I use to really like them. The family and I went last night and no one enjoyed the meal. We ordered 5 different items. The only the item we liked was the pigstickers. Szechuan eggplant w/prawns: had a nice flavor but the prawns were over cooked. Lemon chicken: small portion and soggy Hunan Salmon: mainly consisted of onions & bell peppers. Had to go on a scavenger hunt for the salmon and then it was dry. Triple mushroom w/snow peas: no flavor at all. Potstickers: tasty.. We will not be returning. We also got bad service. They never came back to check on us even though it wasn't busy..

    (2)

  • Charlene L.

    Whoa nelly! I guess from the way that some of you have been reviewing Eliza's it seems that the staff there are 1) insane robotos set for abuse, 2) asian domatrices bent on making you eat it all NOW! or 3) US Army PsyOps officers doing a study on how much the American consumer can take at a Chinese restaurant. Honestly I can get down on this place. Staff has always been friendly, albeit at times "sit here. ready to order." staccato, but I can respect that. I don't want to be hugged or stroked when I enter the restaurant. I save that for other venues...like work or something. JK big time, people. I typically go here for lunch so yes the staff is being efficient at moving the crowd, but my food always comes in less than 10 minutes so I am so not trippin. Tip: there is a bowl of Hershey's kisses by the entrance to the kitchen. That alone is its own reward.

    (4)

  • Michael G.

    Light, tasty Chinese food, good quality vegetables. Favorites: Mango beef, spicy eggplant, hunan lamb, green beans, pea shoots, asparagus. A little drafty in the back when its cold out.

    (5)

  • Wendy L.

    Food is consistently great and fast. The food is a great value, and the phone number should be on your speed dial. I've only eaten there once but I've had take-out many, many times. And they deliver!

    (4)

  • Dubs W.

    Yelp really needs to allow for a 3.5 star rating. I feel there's a real disparirty between the 3 star (I'm not going to bother myself going there) and the 4 star (I make an effort to eat there) restaurant. At least that's what I read into reviews when I'm looking for a new place to try. Anyway, I would give Eliza's a 3.5. The food is pseudo-authentic Chinese with your standard Chinese fare, but other than that the restaurant doesn't feel all that ethnic. If you're not overly concerned with it being authentic, I think the food is pretty darn good, and reasonably priced as well. I find it a really comfortable place to go grab a bite, and the food consistently leaves me satisfied and happy. The service is lack luster and never friendly, but I like that they always provide complimentary tea. The best part, of course, is the giant vase of Hershey's chocolate kisses that you can't miss on the way out.

    (3)

  • Kiyoshi F.

    It's true, the Mango Beef was F-ing legit!!! (3 "!"s) It had raspberries and pomgranate seeds in there too. The menu looks like the menu from Dragon Palace or something. Chinese food in general can be sketchy so this place would be well served to write discriptions for the dishes, instead of "#6 Mango Beef" they might say "savoy slices of sirloin sauteed with Mangos chunks, Raspberries and Pomegranate seed in a delicious home made sauce" or something.. that way you'd know what you're going to get. i look around at what other people got and it all looked good. we spent maybe $60 for two of us (one drink each). the service wasn't great but they didn't bother us while we eat, the food was bomb and they got the order right so - good enough for me. i'll deffinitly go back.

    (4)

  • Vince S.

    Absolutely one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the City. This is definitely not "authentic" Chinese food, and leans more towards the P.F. Chang's version of Chinese food. If you want authentic, go to Chinatown. If you want a nice non-traditional atmosphere with California fusion type food, then Eliza's is for you. On the upside, all the dishes are wonderful, you can't go wrong with anything. Particularly good is the hot and sour soup and vegetarian chow mein, but I am also partial to the mango beef. Also, the interior of the restaurant has some really cool sheet metal work and blown glass everywhere that is eye-catching. On the downside, don't expect first class service. The service is efficient, but don't expect to engage in a conversation about the new exhibit at MOMA with your server.

    (5)

  • Aaron N.

    As Uncle Jed the the truck driver might say, "Get 'er done'! That's how I feel about Eliza's. Eliza's comes through in the clutch when you're craving the convenience of a local neighborhood chinese dive; decent food at a reasonable price. Personal favorites include the Mango Beef and Hot & Sour Soup. And not to worry, for those of you hipsters who still think mesh hats are in style, you are more than welcome to come strut your stuff down the restaurant's aisle. Just remember, this is Pac Heights... not the Marina, so forgive us if we confuse you for Bridge & Tunnel folk.

    (3)

  • Jack B.

    I was not impressed with their food. I had the spicy chicken with fresh basil and it was not that great. I have certainly had much better chinese food. The atmosphere is nice but the service not that friendly. It would have been a good deal for lunch had it tasted good. Search elsewhere. And the soup was nothing to write home about either!

    (2)

  • Cristóbal José P.

    Being that I go to Eliza's regularly I guess that my opinion is slightly biased BUT I have to say that I have NEVER had a bad dish there. My favorite two dishes are the Hunan Fish and the Szechuan Eggplant but everything I have eaten there is fantastic!! I would highly recommend Eliza's for good food and a cool urban environment!

    (5)

  • Aaron W.

    OK I KNOW that crab rangoons are NOT Chinese food but they are so damn good and irresistible to Americans. YUM. The Chinese could kill off all the Americans with heart disease, just from these addictive little fat puffs with hot mustard. Speaking of not Chinese food, I'm pretty aware that this is not Chinese food. BUT it is what it is and my meal was quite tasty. The hot and sour soup can be ordered by the cup and it was perfect. Thank the heavens for that rarity. Don't you hate places where you have to get a HUGE punch bowl of soup? The specials were very interesting and unique. I had the Chow Fun with seafood and it was great. The tea was also very fragrant and served in a very fancy little cup and pot. The decor is very quirky and colorful but I like it a lot. The service was amiable and fast. Servers wear jeans and white shirts, ties for men. Hmm jeans and ties? Cute. Almost everyone in there looked like Pac Heights Folk. Certainly no Chinese customers. I saw more than one customer ask for things in rather annoying ways. I could see why the staff there may get a little testy. Oh the metallic looking chopsticks were awesome. YES! I'll be back. Don't come here on a date or to hang out... as others say, they are efficient and seem to get uneasy when you are not progressing with your meal and your exit.

    (4)

  • Clar L.

    Dine in or takeout, the service is pretty rushed for lunch and dinner. Good if you want quick, bad if you don't want to feel rushed out. They take plastic here, which is good, because the price is, well, a bit much for Chinese. Local Pac Heights professionals and their perfect looking high school kids seem to claim the place as theirs. Eating a lunch special there will get you alot of food with several sides or courses. I recommend the Lemon Shrimp or the Mango Ostrich. To be honest, though, I can't be sure this is genuine ostrich. This certainly isn't authentic Chinese, more like CA fusion that took the idea of Chinese and ran off with it. But it being essentially Chinese food, I think the elegant interior, the clientele, and the price seems like fancy dress to cover up the fact that it's much less. Like wearing the emperor's clothes, or being a poser, and hoping no one catches on to their ruse. If you want equally good Chinese without paying for the name or the restaurant's decor maintenance, go to Ben Wah, which is hidden in plain sight just across and down the street.

    (3)

  • Barbara M.

    The food is quite good, the atmosphere and service need a bit of brushing up, though.

    (2)

  • Melissa B.

    Had a Mother's Day celebration and was sorely disappointed by almost every element of the dining experience. The service was abysmal, the wait staff had all of the personality of a group of worker ants. My soon to be brother in-law found what appeared to be a large sharpened plastic object in his won ton to which our waiter dismissed with a shrug. Molasses moves faster than our order did from kitchen to table. Questions arising from our cryptically coded bill which had to be translated was met with gruff resistance from the manager. The food quality was below reproach and overall it was as dull and uninspired as the restaurants decor. Glass bamboo and brushed aluminum panels - "Holy shit! Am I in Ikea?" My opinion would be to forgo this joke of a restaurant for any other Chinese food delivery in the city. - Aidan (husband)

    (1)

  • Shannon V.

    Sometimes I am of the thinking that dubious preparation=authenticity, and I am all about it. (See: taquerias, "dog" tacos on streets of Mexico, Chinatown, etc.) But sometimes, I do not want to test my body to see if I really do have IBS or if it is all in my head, and I prefer a fresh, delicious prep in a slightly snotty neighborhood. That is Eliza's, for fresh, Californicated Chinese food. Or as I like to think their regular idiots call it, "Chinoise."

    (3)

  • Corey F.

    I've never had anything from Eliza's that I didn't think was great! It's pretty expensive Chinese food, but worth it because it's tasty. I HATE that they don't deliver, but, again, it's worth the drive to go get it. The Mongolian beef is the best I've ever had. I've tried it at other places that deliver and it's just not the same. :)

    (5)

  • Marco B.

    I love the food. Tasty and fresh, nothing is ever over cooked, nothing is greasy. The veggies are always firm and crisp. Price is great - especially for lunch. The waitstaff can be very rude. When they are near closing time they rush the hell out of you. It makes you very, very uncomfortable and I will probably never go back for dinner... or lunch past 1:30pm. It's quite unfortunate, really, because otherwise I love this place.

    (3)

  • Amanda L.

    Came here with my roommate this past Sunday and the place was practically empty. Ordered a couple of things off the menu. Fairly slow service. Food was ok. Waiters were overbearing and would interrupt conversations while we were still eating to see if we were done. Left minimal tip for poor service. She took the tip before we even left the table and showed some other waiter and gave us dirty looks, not that I cared because they weren't deserving of anything better. Got home and ended up breaking out in rash on my arms (only because I'm slightly allergic to MSG) which just adds to the disappointment especially since they charge so much for garbage. I will NEVER GO back.

    (1)

  • Lauren Y.

    honestly nothing special. i don't see what the rave is all about?

    (3)

  • Jenica M.

    Good for fancier chinese. Call Andy's if you are looking for cheap delivery. Pick up or come to Eliza's if you want something that is a step up (both in quality and price). If you're in the right mind set, its a good spot.

    (4)

  • Matt W.

    I don't get this place at all. It's been recommended to me time and again... and I've tried it time and again... and the food just doesn't have much flavor. I like spicy, strong, full tastes, and the food here has none of that. Very average and bland, IMHO.

    (2)

  • Jim L.

    I really don't see what the big deal is. The quality of the food at this yuppy-friendly place is just ok; although it does seem less greasy or heavy than a typical chinese joint. The portions seemed really small. The mongolian beef was way too sweet.

    (2)

  • Kurt G.

    Perhaps I had ordered wrong but this place has gone downhill a bit.. The Spicy Chicken was basically breading with some spices in it.. Either they forgot to add the Chicken or perhaps they were trying to make me a Veg head. Either way it was horrible.. The Sweet and sour pork was edible but lacked any flavor.. I knew I should have put my foot down and demanded we go to U Lee..

    (2)

  • Monika M.

    Eliza's is beautiful. It's not my favorite Chinese in the city, but it is pretty good.

    (3)

  • megan w.

    I've been a regular at Eliza's for years, and I've never experienced any rude service. Then again, I don't need to have waitpeople wipe my ass, I just need them to bring me some Shanghai chicken. Delicious Shanghai chicken. There is almost nothing I wouldn't do for you. (Well, except THAT, you pervert. But I might do that for the princess prawns.) Anyway, Eliza's. Chinese food for rich white people. Good, but not as good as Alice's. (Which, by the way, Eliza's, everyone knows you are related to in some mysterious way. The Shanghai chicken is a dead giveaway.)

    (3)

  • JEAN K.

    A good friend and I had a terrible experience at Eliza's after the lunch rush. It started when my friend's ice water glass broke at the bottom for no apparent reason, spilling ice water all over her. We notified the Manager, "Richard", who moved us to another table. When my friend said she was really upset that she was now drenched with ice water due to a defect in the restaurant's glass (or else they may have poured ice water into a hot glass which is why it cracked?), all "Richard" could say was, "good thing it wasn't vinegar". She was rather surprised at this callous remark, as "Richard" did not seem to empathize with the fact that she was now freezing cold, because of the restaurant's defective glass. Then at the end of the meal, we were given a full bill! Her portion was only about $7.00, and the restaurant didn't want to comp my friend's lunch (at the very least) for the trouble their defective glass caused her? We were appalled. When we asked to speak to "Richard" about this, he was shocked that we asked him to comp my friend's lunch, and started arguing with us about this. Only when my friend and I walked out without paying, and he followed us down the block (about a block away) did he finally agree to comp my friend her lunch, but very grudgingly and with a mean attitude. He later told us after we asked his name and he told us "Richard", that his name wasn't really Richard! This was my friend's first time to this restaurant, but not mine. I was already familiar with the rude service, but this took the cake! Restaurant management does not treat people this way in any good or even decent establishment. Needless to say, neither my friend nor I will never be back to Eliza's!

    (1)

  • Heather P.

    I can't get enough of the mu shu pork. Everything else is great too, but the mu shu pork takes the cake. All the dishes seem a little less suspect than other Chinese restaurants. I know the meat that i am eating is what I ordered. (You know what i mean?! Some other places i bite into my sweet and sour chicken and think...hmmm, was that reaaaallllyyy chicken? and if so what part?!). At Eliza's it is a little more fresh and healthier. Very fast take out and friendly service. It also helps that I live around the corner from it :)

    (4)

  • Jules T.

    It's clean and upscale chinese. The presentation is beautiful and the food is good. I can't say I'd go a lot and it's a block away from me. I rather get the cheaper, better tasting version at Ben Wah.

    (2)

  • YEQIN S.

    No genuine Chinese food here. They cook almost everything in thick soy sauce. Appetizers were amazingly awful. Dumpling with cream cheese inside? Drums of heaven = fried chicken wings? But to be honest, some of the Americanized Chinese food are not too bad, such as the mango beef. There was a dish called Mushu or something like that that was pretty good. I've never heard of it in China though, and neither has the waitress.

    (2)

  • EmSquem S.

    Was definitely skeptical after reading the list of unhappy yelps. But was more than pleasantly surprised by the friendly, efficient service, and great eats. Everything was absolutely fantastic, tasty, fresh & nicely presented. Yeah, the decor is cheeeeezy, but does it matter when the food's so good?

    (4)

  • Lauren F.

    Um...wow. I am soo tired of Chinese food. I'm tired of ordering too many dishes for the table, and feeling like we have to finish them. I'm tired of super greasy, fatty, cooked ahead of time Chinese food, and I, unless coerced, usually don't go. I always leave feeling like I'm gonna hurl, and then end up hungry just a few hours later. With that being said, I had no idea i was going for Chinese last night. Especially with a name like Eliza's. Just a hop, skip and a jump away from my place, I had NO idea this place existed. I don't think i realized it was a Chinese restaurant when I first walked in either. Bright white walls, with accents of modern decor and color, and a very "new" feel to it still had me confused. Most Chinese restaurants scream "someone went to china town, bought alot of crap and threw up". Not this one. I could tell right away this one was gonna be different. Not your typical Chinese food restaurant. They had zebras on the plates, a half-dead Beta fish in the fanciest fish bowl...(it wasn't dead, just kept disappearing), and a Buddha holding a glowing ball by his balls that changed color. The first thing that had me second guessing the authenticity of the Chinese restaurant is when the rest of my party (a few including two of the coolest yelpers i know) ordered individual entrees. What? We aren't sharing? Isn't that how we are supposed to eat Chinese? Oh, you have been here before and the answer is no..OK. So i went with one of their specials, Pan seared scallops served with shitake mushrooms. Perfectly portioned, perfectly cooked, definitely a meal for one. Oh, but i forgot to mention the appetizer...We shared a crab rangoon that was served with a great sweet and sour sauce and a spicy mustard. And guess what. The mustard was spicy. They don't lie. The rest of my table seemed to enjoy their entrees, and the ones i tried were awesome. The spicy and tangy chicken was just that...spicy and tangy, and the Chinese Broccoli and beef was great too. The only one I didn't try was the Hunan Salmon, but i didn't need to. It was served in what looked like a giant hat that you would wear to the Kentucky Derby....with these really tall friend noodles (the ones that are like crunchy air), and the appearance alone was 5 stars. Only one thing about this meal had me worried. At the end, when we got our fortune cookies, everyone had lucky numbers on the back of their fortune...except me. And I'm the ONLY one going to Vegas. Is that really lucky, or am I screwed, and should just back out now? Fortune: Confucius Say: When things go wrong, don't go with them. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?!?!?

    (5)

  • Evan A.

    I hate to agree to have to agree with the other reviewers, but the waitstaff knock down what would be a 4 star review. I've lived in the neighborhood for 5 years and they're consistant in impersonal if not occasionally rude service. The take out is great, you don't have to deal with them. The food is amazing, and is some of the best that I've had. It's fairly cheap, especially considering how good it is. The hunan salmon and mango beef are two of my favorite dishes, but all the specials I've tried there are amazing. The ingredients are fresh and not over cooked. Nothing seems frozen or overly sauced. I've noticed a little decline in quality in the last two years. I hope they're able to change that. I should really be a 5 star place.

    (3)

  • L W.

    Went to Elizas for my first time on Sunday. Great atmosphere, the food was quick, hot and delicious. I recommend the sesame chicken and the prawns and broccoli in garlic sauce. The only downside was the food was a bit too salty for me, but I will definitely go back!

    (4)

  • Eileen L.

    This place is PATHETIC . I came here with 4 of my friends . Me and 3 of my friends did not want to come here ( we're all Chinese ) because we had a bad feeling about this place . My friend's friend ( he's not Chinese ) said that he ate here many times and that the food is good . He brought us here so we had no choice but to eat here . When we entered the restaurant , the staff wasn't very friendly or welcoming . No " Hi " or anything . They told us to stand and wait when the restaurant was practically EMPTY . We chose a table with 7 chairs and was about to sit down but we were told that we couldn't sit there and they made us sit at a table with 5 chairs . I thought that was hella stupid ! I mean , doesn't the customers have the right to choose where they sit ? I mean , I understand if the restaurant was busy or if there was a lot of people or if the table was reserved.. they might need the table but this was not the case !! The restaurant was practically empty !! And I know the table was not reserved because by the time left , the table was still empty and nobody had come in !! Then , my friend was about to take a picture of one of the statue figures that was in the restaurant . He was told that he could not take pictures . My friend started browsing through old pictures and the staff kept giving him a dirty look . That was hella stupid too . The statue figures were hella ugly anyways and what's so special about them that we can't take a picture ?! It shouldn't even be there if we can't take pictures in their damn restaurant . I mean .. it's normal for people to go to restaurants to eat and then take pictures , right ? People will see the pictures online and see that the decor or food looks good and want to go to that restaurant . It just all makes sense and it's good for business . So it just makes me wonder if this restaurant knows or wants to make business or just drive customers away . So in return to their bad service , I kept saying very loud in Chinese to my friend about how it's stupid that we can't take pictures in the restaurant , how the decor is ugly and looks fake , and how bad the food was ( which it was ) . Hopefully they didn't spit in our food but I also hope they learn !! The food was bad .. it was bland and the not tasty at all . Very unauthentic Chinese cuisine if you ask me . I could have easily gotten much better food in Chinatown . They added two slices of oranges on each plate to try to make it look all pretty . I found that kind of hilarious and stupid because it's not going to help if your food tastes like cardboard ! I would think of all things that the orange would at least be sweet .. but it wasnt haha !! It was tasteless ! It was not sweet or sour or anything !! Oh , and they use teabags for their tea .. not loose tea leaf . Can anyone say cheap and fake ?! The fortune cookies were partly burnt . The decor is ugly and fake . The lunch menu is limited , the food is unauthentic , and the staff isn't friendly or welcoming . This restaurant is probably meant to fool American people who don't like authentic cuisine . I would highly recommend everyone to stay away from this place !! I never wrote such a disgusting review !!

    (1)

  • Eric M.

    This is geniune gourmet Chinese food at it's best. I love the crab rangoon and the portabella mushroom with shrimp. Good atmosphere and child friendly.

    (4)

  • Allen R.

    I don't know what's up with the Eliza hater reviews, but I just ate here last night with a friend and had a wonderfully yummy meal. Crab meat rangoons were tasty (and fattening of course). I dug Eliza's spicey chicken and she dug the Mongolian beef. If you're in the neighborhood and looking for some Chinese, definitely try it out.

    (4)

  • Amy H.

    If I were rating this place on the food and value of the lunch special alone, I would give it 4 stars. I work nearby, and have gone there a number of times for lunch. The lunch specials range from $5.60-$6.50, and come with soup, rice, and a generous portion of entree. BUT, my experience there today lost them major points in my book. They get docked a full two stars for what I consider to be DISHONEST business practices. The bill comes written all in Chinese, which is fine, pretty standard for Chinese restaurants, but they don't list the prices individually. Instead, they just give you a total. In the past, I've just split the bill evenly with my group. But today, we all ordered differently-priced things, so we probed a little bit to figure out who owed what. As it turns out, they were charging extra for brown rice, even though it didn't say so anywhere on the menu, and they offered it to you like it was free! Also, instead of calculating the sales tax exactly, they just rounded it up to the nearest 50 cents. It's fine with me if a business wants to do this for simplicity's sake, but they should then list the FULL price on the menu, and write "tax included." If not, they are essentially stealing from you. Granted, for my $6.50 asparagus salmon (which was tasty, though a bit too salty), the extra cost to me was pretty small. But I consider this a pretty dishonest way of doing business, especially since they disguise it by just giving you your total on the bill! Not ok, Eliza's, not ok.

    (2)

  • Carson H.

    I think the food is really good. The lemon chicken is perfectly crispy on the outside and just the right amount of zest to it. It's kind of modern on the inside, which is a rare find for a Chinese spot.

    (4)

  • Tammy W.

    I've been here numerous times and was glad to come by for lunch. Love the Mongolian beef, so yummy!!!

    (4)

  • Mister H.

    Never been treated so rudely in my life. If you don't mind horrible service and beyond rude staff, in exchange for B- food, this is the place for you!

    (1)

  • DD B.

    I really like their sunflower beef --- it's a bit spicy. The service is competent - no one has ever been rude to me here except for the woman who barked "We're closed!' when I came in one day shortly after 3pm. I had a cold and I just wanted some soup! I also find it irksome when places like this list a "$9 per person minimum" on their menus. If I want to come in and order a veggie dish that costs $7.15, is that really such a problem for them? Stuff like that just makes this place seem a little less welcoming.

    (3)

  • jane f.

    I miss this place. They have some great dishes. It is great for groups although expect a wait. Some of the food can be a little greasy, but all in all some tasty Chinese Food.

    (4)

  • kate s.

    this place is across the street from my house. literally. i make my husband pick up our take-out and i watch him through the window because i can't wait too long before i need that kung pao tofu in my mouth. it is delicious. the sauce is perfection. very spicy but not too spicy. and they have brown rice! the only thing that sucks is that they are very inflexible when it comes to the menu. they won't add any steamed broccoli to my tofu. they won't add any tofu to my steamed broccoli. if everything is so goddamn fresh, why can't they make any substitions, or additions even? i don't mind paying for it! i just want broccoli with my tofu! all the meat eaters i've taken here have fallen in love and every single time we have one of them over they beg to go to eliza's. my husband wants to eat there every other night. the other nights he wants pizza hut, so that might not be a good gage of taste but i swear it's a really great restaurant. cute too. fun decorations and i haven't ever had to wait more than a few minutes for a table. on the very rare occasion that we actually get our asses off the couch, that is. 7/17 edit: on the plane to texas we read the in-flight magazine and found out that robin williams loves this place. what? he also just had a benefit for my workplace. i saw the back of his neck (hairy) at work but have never seen him across the street. will update you if i do.

    (4)

  • Kate J.

    Great prices at lunch and beautiful atmosphere.

    (4)

  • Patrick G.

    Screw authenticity; this food tastes good. And I'm happy to pay an extra dollar for fresh ingredients and pleasant ambiance.

    (5)

  • Andrea R.

    Nice work. Tasty steamed potstickers. Really liked the baby bok choy it was served with. Fresh, fairly flavorful meal. The wait wasn't even that bad for 2 on a Friday night.

    (3)

  • Andrew Y.

    This place came sort of recommended. The dishes were okay, but not spectacular. I ordered walnut prawns, hot and sour soup, beef with black bean sauce and sesame chicken. When I picked up the order and got home, I was surprised to find out that the soup did not make it, but got veggies instead. Maybe a sign...maybe I'D ORDER VEGGIES IF I WANTED VEGGIES! Anyway, it kind of spoiled the dishes a little for me, but in the end I was satisfied. I would also like to commend Eliza's for the comfortable uniforms. Simple. Jeans and a white shirt. I wish I could wear jeans to work.

    (3)

  • J F.

    Simply put: one of the best. Order ANYTHING you cant go wrong.

    (5)

  • Kristin B.

    I am not a huge fan of Chinese food in general (usually too greasy/sugary/heavy for my taste) but Eliza's has given me hope! We eat there at least 1x a month and try to order different entrees so I've tried a handful and they are ALL delicious. You HAVE to get the crab rangoon (to die for) and the sweet and spicy soup is amazing. Off the top of my head I recommend the mango beef, the spicy eggplant dish (chicken and shrip), the chinese prawns, and the hunan beef. I've always had prompt, friendly service (dine-in or take out) and the prices are decent for a Friday night out with a few Tsing Taos!

    (4)

  • Chantal H.

    MMMM! Greasy Chinese food! Yum! Came here with some co-workers for a holiday lunch outing the other day. I had the shrimp curry and boy was it good. The soup they give you before your meal is good, too. I love all the glass art! The bar is a masterpiece in itself! Minus one star for pushy service. While trying to split up a check our waitress was rude and demanding. Other than that, this place is excellent!

    (4)

  • Melissa Y.

    had some eliza's last night. green beans. spicy basil chicken. veggie mushu was disappointing but everything else was delish. i wish they delivered...

    (4)

  • Lisa F.

    This is my mother's favorite - simple food for a simple midwestern mother - if only my mother was really that simple - the food is good and clean but i always have to wait even when i order it to go

    (5)

  • Anna L.

    Although the food is good (for lunch) - I had a really awful experience here with a friend. The owner was a real jerk and had my friend in tears because she complained that the mango wasn't ripe. She had even asked in advance if it was before she ordered and they assured her it was. She ended up being embarrassed by the staff and owner and left the restaurant in tears while I put down cash for my meal and left. One of the worst experiences I have ever had and I no longer eat here nor do people in our office which used to be regulars. I see others have said the same thing about the wait staff. Don't reward them for this kind of rudeness.

    (1)

  • George C.

    I'm kind of finicky about Chinese food. Whatever your take on California-fied versus traditional, the Mongolian Beef here is amazing. I find the food in general to be fresh and tasty, and the atmosphere to be pleasant, though the staff aren't gonna win any personality contests.

    (3)

  • Richard P.

    I came here many years ago and wasn't very impressed. It is still just the same. Medicore Chinese food in a white person's environment that really would be more at home in Walnut Creek. However, there apparently is quite a market for such fare as this place always seems packed whenever I go past. Dinner at Ton Kiang is in a whole other country compared to this place--like maybe China. So, two stars for running a successful business!

    (2)

  • Zubin D.

    This is good Chinese food. My dad always makes us go to the same place every time he visits me. It is a little annoying because I always want to try a new more expensive restaurant that he can pay for but he LOVES this place so we have been here about 5 times. The food is fresh, good, and pretty cheap. I always get the Kung Pao Chicken. Yum

    (4)

  • Colleen B.

    Just as good and cute as it's Potrero Hill sibling. Also, my gym used to be around the corner, (before the Russians took it over) so I never felt bad about chowin' down here after 'earning it'. Hmmmm, I could use some Eliza's right f'ing now!

    (4)

  • kenny l.

    Just got back tonite from dinner. To be honest, I've never heard of this place before and I've lived in the city all my life. This place was busy so get there before 6PM to get a seat. The food was delicious we had princess prawns, hunan lamb and pea sprouts. One funny thing about this restaurant is the selection tha tthey offered not alot of traditional Chinese dishes but more "westernized." They have this jar of hersey's kisses in the middle of the place and everyone just helps themselves. I'm bringing a bag next time to empty it out.

    (4)

  • Gary R.

    We'd heard about this place so many times, it seems impossible that we'd never eaten here, and yet we finally did this week. Let's get this out of the way first: The worst part of Eliza's reputation is definitely the service, however, our initial visit (note the foreshadowing) was perfectly pleasant -- and we had a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old with us. Several different staff members assisted us and all interactions were fine. Our companions are regulars to the Divis location and say the horror stories are a thing of the past. We did have an early start (5:45) so it wasn't too crowded and there was no need to rush us. The ambiance? A bit funky with an odd and cluttered assortment of physical objects on display. So many Chinese restaurants have a space and are furnished with all the charm of a hospital cafeteria with too bright fluorescent lighting that I'm not going to complain. Now, most important, the food: I'm not Chinese, I've never been to China and I unfortunately do not get to enjoy Chinese home-cooking, so I have no clue what "authentic" really means in this case. (For what it's worth, I went to Bangkok for a week and the food I was served there bore little resemblance to what you get in most Thai restaurants here, which I generally love.) (And secondly for what it's worth, most SF residents I've spoken with on the subject of Japanese food have a notion of "authentic" and clearly they don't know jacksquat. Take sushi as an example. Here's an SF rule of thumb: Cheap sushi = good. Lines of people on Geary don't seem to mind stringy tuna as long as it's $3.95 a serving.) Back to Eliza's: The food was excellent. Our companions had the special, Peking Duck. They loved it and always order it when they come. My wife and I eat a largely vegetarian diet and enjoyed everything else: The grilled Garlic Eggplant appetizer with moo-shu sauce drizzle; the large Veggie Eggrolls with tender cabbage inside; the Kung-pao Vegetables, which had an inordinate amount of those little red hat peppers yet the dish wasn't overwhelming spicy; the Braised Pea Greens (I've made up the name of this one), it was a dish of very mild tasting, somewhat salty greens with a small amount of julienned peppers -- delicious. And I've saved the best for last: The GREEN BEANS. Cooked to crisp-tender perfection, drizzled with moo-shu sauce like the eggplant, sprinkled with sesame seeds. Utterly fantastic. A couple of bucks a plate more than the typical Chinese restaurant but definitely worth it. We'll certainly be back.

    (4)

  • La C.

    Service sucks! Food is mediocre....If you are from San Francisco, you know what quality in Chinese food should be. And be careful with ordering for pick-up, remember to check your order before you pay and leave......they have a tendency to mess up on your order!!! They forgot to add rice to 2 of our 4 lunch orders and ended up blaming us for not checking.....Not cool, esp. when your office is far from the restaurant and the parking around there is terrible!! If you're craving Chinese food, look elsewhere!

    (1)

  • David C.

    To be honest, I am kinda shocked that anyone would give this place anything lower than 4 stars. The food is great. The decor is nicer than 95% of the Chinese restaurants in the city. It is a great place to pick up and bring home. Lunch specials are cheap. Don't listen to the haters. This place is real good and a must try if you have not already. Try the Eliza cake appetizer and the Mongolian beef. You will not be disappointed.

    (4)

  • Cel H.

    aside from some small spots on clement, this is by far the best chinese food in san francisco. its not greasy, the food is always so good, and it has a nice, chill atmosphere. if you're in the mood for take out or take in, come here! it's always good! =)

    (5)

  • Nils A.

    Great potstickers! Also, try the green onion cakes. We were there shortly after 5 on a thursday and had no trouble getting a table, but it started to fill up while we were there. They seem to do a brisk take out business too.

    (4)

  • Rose K.

    This place is hard to miss with the line of double parked cars out front with their hazard lights on. Living in a city with so many decent chinese restaurants that deliver, I wondered what would make people go and pick-up their chinese take out. So last night I finally tried it and to be honest, I wasn't all that impressed. I really wanted to love it. The decor was the nice; the hoard of people waiting for their take out all seemed to be regulars...but it just wasn't that good. We had the sweet & tangy chicken and the kung pao tofu which were both far from memorable. Luckily the delicious potstickers were just what I imagined they would be; fresh, flavorful and different. I will try it again someday, and hopefully find the dishes that seem to keep people coming back.

    (3)

  • Jonathan N.

    Great place--I recommend the vegetarian mu shu, the szechuan eggplant and prawns, and the crab rangoons. Always great quality, good serving sizes, and the workers are really efficient. They remove used dishes faster than any other restaurant I've ever been to, but never in a bothersome fashion. Really vegetarian friendly, though note the hot and sour soup does have pork in it. The atmosphere is really nice--calm and relaxing, a great spot for a quiet dinner.

    (5)

  • Josh K.

    Eliza's is the perfect lunch place: inexpensive lunch deals, fast service, and good food.

    (5)

  • Lane K.

    Only acceptable on Christmas right before the Latke Ball.

    (3)

  • Tess C.

    I like this place... It is really white washed but loved their shrimp w/ portabella and brown right. yum! I can't complain about this place

    (4)

  • Nicoletta K.

    I can't remember if I reviewed this place. We witnessed two women in their late 70's. One sweet woman did not like the smell of her meal and politiely requested it be returned. She didn't touch a bite. They brought her another which she ate, but charged her for both meals. She refused to pay for the one that had a funny odor and the "Manager" called the police on this sweet older woman. She was so shaken up. The officer tried to coerce the manager to leave the woman alone...to no avail. Finally she paid and was so upset with this whole ordeal, it was hard for her to walk out. This "manager" was brutal. We will never, ever return to this place. We should have intervened on her behalf. It was heartbreaking. Who cares about the food!

    (1)

  • Janet L.

    Good for take out. Dining in is nothing special...no ambience and average service so you might as well take out. Overall, good chinese food.

    (3)

  • M'ia K.

    I do not understand the people who LOVE this place...Chinese abuse is the attitude du jour??? I have stopped going there after REPEATED abusive waitstaff created a situation where i began to wonder why i am PAYING them for such awful service, horribly snotty attitude, and sub-par cuisine. For whatever this is worth, I hope you all realise that Eliza's on California is the joke of the neighborhood, all the trendy kids seem to love this place but it's not for the food, the prices, the service, the parking, or the decor. (They have not changed it for over six years. Wow, where does all the money go anyway?) If you check citysearch comments on this place, you will see what I mean. It's overrated, overpriced, oily, greasy chinese 'fusion' food that is served with a smirk and a pitcher full of attitude. Last time we were there, we had a friend out from across the globe and wanted the waitperson to take our picture. She refused and when my friend decided to take the picture instead, she WALKED PAST the camera as we were taking the picture and HELD HER HAND (as in 'talk to the hand') in front of the camera. Huh. Haven't been back since. SAVE YOUR $$$ and go elsewhere. SO not worth it. Update 12/06: Woah, this place is SOO empty these days! Ya think Yelp had something to do with it? Ya think? I like to think so. It used to be that you would drive by and see hoardes of people waiting to eat there, but no more...

    (1)

  • Chris B.

    Better than most Chinese joints in town, especially when it comes to the decor and lack of greasy dishes. I'm always amazed at how quickly they get the food out to you, which sometimes leads me to question how "fresh" it really is. The only downside is they don't deliver, so unless someone has a better rec, I'll keep ordering from Tai Chi.

    (3)

  • Conny F.

    I can only speak about the pick up orders at Eliza's, I have never actually sat down to eat there. When I feel like not to greasy chinese food, I call up Eliza's. Its a bit expensive and unfortunately I don't know about the authenticity, but I like their sesame chicken and the Peking shrimp are pretty yummy. Not so sure about the Crab Rangoon...very cream cheesy. One tip: whenever you pick up food there...make sure you find parking. There is always a double parked line in front of it but sometimes you get ticketed for it ;(

    (4)

  • Marie a.

    This place is clean and food it good. I stick to the spicy chicken and hot and sour soup.

    (4)

  • Frangelo A.

    I love this place. I have yet to receive bad service from the staff. The colors took a while for me to get used to, with so many things going on it was hard for me to focus. But all in all the food is excellent! I'd highly recommend the crabmeat rangoon and Eliza's chow mein as easy staples.

    (5)

  • Mary S.

    My family and I are complete Chinese food snobs... we never recommend any Chinese restaurants, but Elizas is the only "Americanized Chinese" place that we will go to. Its clean and the food is really good... not overly greasy or anything, and they do not use MSG. I really love this place. The people are really friendly and every dish I have ever ordered is very tasty.

    (5)

  • Melissa A.

    A rare combination of a nice atmosphere and authentic chinese. I am a tough critic, and there are so many places you can get one without the other. Good for families...as I often take my stepsons, but also go on our own when we are looking for some Hot and Sour soup that is the best in the city.

    (4)

  • e w.

    Great bargain lunch spot. You can walk out of here with the lunch special for $8 incl tax and tip. I love the fresh flavor and style of food here, the curt service is made up for in the fact that your food comes out in 2 minutes.

    (4)

  • Sarah H.

    this place is my favorite chinese place in sf. there are a lot of places that are more authentic, so if that is what you are looking for, this might not be it. if you are looking for a hole in the wall, this is not your place. but if you are looking for very good food, prepared in a somewhat unique way, and a nice atmosphere, this is a great place. the mango beef is fantastic (the chicken good too), the eliza's cakes very yummy, the sesame chicken is great - but not the typical. it is not oily and deep fried but it is topped with black sesame seeds and tastes as good as it looks. the veggie delight is the best ever with veggies like lotus root and other goodies. the sunflower chicken is great, the sea bass is delicious. they do not deliver, there is often a wait and parking can be hard. but who cares, this place is great.

    (4)

  • Katie P.

    You get what you pay for here. The food is decent, the portions are quite large and the service is tolerable. While I don't know if would call this "healthy" Chinese food as some of the other reviews have alluded - but it isn't sopping in MSG which is a plus in my book. I think the lunch special is amazing, so much food for such a low price!

    (3)

  • Brandon J.

    If you like walking into the worse art gallery (imagine a really really bad acid trip) and then deciding to eat there, you are weird. The service was okay but when I ordered three different dishes and all of them had red bell peppers that were barely cooked you have to wonder if the fumes are getting to the cooks. Another restaurant completely catering to the upper crust with the same boring Chinese American menu. I can only wonder if our children will know what real Chinese food tastes like?

    (1)

  • C B.

    i'm a have to agree with mia there. there are few restaurants that i find unacceptable; few places where i would leave 0% tip and eliza's in pac heights is one of them. i went once and received such rude and obnoxious service i swore i'd never go back. several months later, i was dragged there against my will thinking perhaps things might have changed. this time the waitbots were even more rude than the first time. there is a difference between brisk and being brusque. the waiters at alice's, eric's and eliza's potrero are all brisk but manage to be polite. the wait-bots at eliza's pac heights are NOT polite. water was spilled on me, apologies were not rendered, i was interrupted several times while placing my order, the bot WALKED AWAY from the table in the middle of my question. every interaction was accompanied by sighing and eye-rolling from several different completely inattentive bots. if that weren't enough reason to avoid this place, the food was small, of mediocre quality and overpriced. this place is so horrible, it is worth an organised boycott. i actually don't understand why this one is so terrible and the rest are so much better. eric's is actually my favourite chinese place in the city and they seem to be owned by the same ppl. BTW, the best part of this restaurant is the bathroom, it's got crazy art on the walls. if you simply must experience this place, just go in and ask to see the menu and when they aren't looking, sneak into the bathroom to check it out. do not worry if they sneer or spit at you, it's the same treatment you'd get if you were a paying customer.

    (1)

  • J L.

    Its good chinese food, but it still doesnt beat chinatown chinese food. I do have to give it props for having pretty nice decor for a chinese restaurant. Its clean from top to bottom doesnt have a rough feel whatsoever. I would probably even go on to say that for some reason it feels and tastes healthier. Priced higher but its probably the location. All the staff speak English clearly which is nice. Too bad its hard to find parking and they close in sometime between 3pm and 5pm.

    (3)

  • Angela H.

    Dined in both location. Decor is a (or few) step up from other Chinese restaurants. But definitely NOT authentic Chinese food. not really fusion either. I had the mango beef/chicken, still don't know what the buzz is all about. i guess i am more into authentic food, and for a few extra bucks, i can be at places with even better ambiance and decor.. Not a place i will pick up to entertain people.

    (2)

  • Stu S.

    Jane and Bing and daughter Eliza run one of the best restaurants in SF. Great art, great food and great people.

    (5)

  • Victoria A.

    This is where I go when I feel like cheap chinese food but my friend wants a nice sit-down place. Yeah service may be lacking, but I get major cravings for that yummy mango beef and it's awfully pretty for a cheap chinese place. You can't walk in expecting 5 star service in that neighborhood for those prices, come on, people.

    (3)

  • Jennifer S.

    :) i wrote 4 today... and for the ladies, if you get your monthly cravings, please read my next review... *** Just got in from a stuffed dinner, and I was very pleased .. YAY! finally a place other than the sunset district... I honestly can't pinpoint a negative thing about this place, seriously! even the bathrooms were clean! except the tables were too small... not for us, but for groups more than 5 that is. Not really a date place, per se, more where you can just come and grab a quick bite with a friend or two... Sorry, I didn't take no fotos because I was busy eating... Now, to the food... Like I said, VERY pleased and VERY tasty... Man ive gotta stop eating out everyday! ***Mango Beef $9.25 (5 stars) presentation was nice, even though it wasn't enough for 4 heads, it was perfect for 2 people, which is why we ordered two of these. The mango actually didn't even taste like mangos, tasted more like potatos but still, it was good. -Sea Bass w/Blk Bean Sauce $16 (3 stars) rather small, but it was okay. I guess, the price wasn't worth it, and it was a bit bland, but just use your spoon and put the sauce over it. -Garlic Chicken $8.50 (4 stars) Chewy chicken and very tasty. ***Eliza's Chow Mein ($9) 5 stars. Nothing like panda express. Lots of veggies, and lots of noodles, cooked well. YUMMY for mY TUMMY. -Snow Peas Beef $9.25 (4 stars) it was good, but lacked snow peas... it's about balance folks... but good. ***Honey Glazed Walnut Shrimps $10.95 (5 stars). YUM! VERY TASTY... MM MMM!!! -Brown rice $1.50/person. the *** are my recommendations... I will so come back again... Sucks that they don't deliver...

    (4)

  • Lori R.

    By far my favorite restaurant in San Francisco! We visit often (this location + Potrero Hill location) and have never had a bad experience. The food is superb! My husband and I especially love the hot & sour soup, the celery salad, the Hunan beef, and the spicy basil chicken. TASTY!

    (5)

  • Tara G.

    After such a great experience at the Eliza's in Potrero Hill, I was looking forward to a relaxing dinner date at this location. The decor was fabulous with all the bright glass and spaciousness, but that was about all that impressed me about this place. The dishes were disappointing, mostly because their description was deceiving. A simple prawn entree came out deep-fried with a thick creamy sauce and the duck dish left a lot to be desired. The worst part of the whole experience had to be the "waitbots" who hover over your table looking to snatch your plate the instant you might be done and can't wait to rush you out the door. All in all, definitely the evil step-sister in this culinary fairytale.

    (2)

  • Liz Y.

    actually exciting vegetarian chinese food in a non vegetarian restaurant. kudos to eliza's the food was really really good. and while the decor isn't the coziest, its no frills and clean.

    (4)

  • Becks A.

    The lunch deal cannot be beat, tons of food for under $6. The mushroom and prawns is the best.

    (5)

  • Kevin S.

    The BF and I are regulars at the Potrero location but we hate this one. Where the staff at 18th street is welcoming, learned our names and preferences, and always hustle, the staff at this store are snotty, brusque, and slow. It's a much less comfortable layout and I feel the food often comes out cold.

    (2)

  • Michelle L.

    I've lived two blocks away for 2.5 years and have never been to Eliza's before last night. How did I let this happen?! Probably because when I think of Chinese food, I think of sitting on my couch waiting for it to appear at my door, not actually sitting down at a restaurant and eating it. But, if I HAD to get out of my lazy coma and eat Chinese food, I would choose Eliza's. The food is quick and the menu items are not as vast as your typical Chinese place. This is a good thing. C'mon, all Chinese places have the same stuff, just stick to the good dishes. Which is what Eliza's does. We got the steamed dumplings, hoisin green beans mmm mmm good, cashew chicken yum yum in my tum tum. The fried rice was a little greasy for me. The huge pot of tea in the center of the table hit the spot. The decor is very vibrant. Next time I'm in the mood for Chinese, I'll definitely be ordering from Eliza's.

    (4)

  • kyle e.

    Sounds like take out is the best option. I've never actually eaten here-- I live around the corner, so I always take it to go. I love the Spicy Tangy Chicken, the Shanghai Chicken and the Crab Rangoons are fantastic. I think the price is very reasonable considering the portions are pretty large. They have my food ready in 15 minutes, are always pleasant on the phone and have never screwed my order up once. This is definitely my favorite chinese food in the city - like others have said... it does taste "healthy" somehow for chinese.

    (4)

  • Jennifer T.

    Great Chinese food! Not the friendliest staff, and sometimes you have to hold onto your plate so they don't clear it before you're through...it's worth the gruff service because the food is downright good!! Yum: Mongolian beef, Sizzling Rice Soup, Wok Tossed Bok Choy.

    (4)

  • Lia J.

    I loathe this place. I've been here a few times over the years and other than the company I keep, I've been unimpressed every time. To start, the decor is tacky and the overpriced food is mediocre at best. My last visit took the cake, however, when the prick of a manager threw a shit fit at our table. My boyfriend and I complained about the salt and pepper prawns - which were battered and deep fried with their shells intact and thrown on a plate with diced, uncooked chili peppers. After screaming in our face that the recipe was 100 years old and refusing to strike the dish from our bill, he followed us out asking my bf if he wanted to kick his ass. Good business strategy, buddy. Anyway, if you're going to pay too much for Chinese, it may as well be worth the food, ambiance and service. My recommendations: Shanghai 1930 or House of Nan King. Both of which have excellent, shelled salt and pepper prawns.

    (1)

  • Suepattra M.

    Where else can you have a full lunch ( tea, soup and a fairly large portion of fresh stir fried prawns and vegetables with rice) in under 10 minutes and for under $7 in Lower Pac Heights? I'm not there to make friendly with the wait staff, I just want my food - fresh and fast.

    (3)

  • Oksana T.

    The food came out hot and was great, although the eggplant dish was lacking its usual saucy quality, which wasn't that bad of a decision at all. Its not the cheapest Chinese food, but its not the most expensive. Although, I absolutely didn't approve of the cold rudeness of the service: they tend to throw napkins missing your face by about an inch.

    (3)

  • Philip M.

    Probably your best option for Chinese in the Western Addition, although not much of an option. The Potrero Hill location is somewhat nicer and the atmosphere alone makes the food seem like it tastes better. You'd be better off at Eric's or ordering delivery from Brandy Ho.

    (2)

  • Nicole S.

    Off the hook chinese restaurant, right down the street from my house. Food is great, spicy eggplant is my fave. Service not always the best, but the food is consistently good.

    (4)

  • Katherine F.

    Not going to defend my Chinese food cred, and I've only been here twice - once for dinner and once for lunch - but both times the food has been great. I just had an excellent lunch, in fact. Hot and sour soup that made my nose run (that's a GOOD thing!) and a tasty shrimp and lotus root rice plate. Shrimp were fresh; veggies were good and crunchy, and the sauce was light yet flavorful. Brown rice option and included tea are definite pluses. Service was fine too.

    (4)

  • Cindylooo o.

    Mango beef mmmm..... mango beef. Must have their mango beef.

    (5)

  • Jennifer L.

    Although Eliza's always has a line on any given night, the wait is never longer than 15 minutes. They do a great job with all their dishes. I absolutely love their hot & sour soup! My favorite take out place!

    (4)

  • Carolyn B.

    Reliably tasty, not-too-greasy, all round good Chinese food. The place doesn't exactly have an authentic "cultural" feel, but it's quite pretty and makes you feel like you're going someplace nice--which is useful when you're in the mood for this AND Chinese food at the same time (instead of Chinese food with vinyl chairs). I was also really impressed with the speed of their takeout service. [Review is for California St location].

    (4)

  • B B.

    Arrived with 3 friends minutes before closing on New Year's Eve, they were in a rush but willing to seat us. Food was delicious as always, service wasn't great as the staff was noticably rushed and trying to get us out of there, but we were thankful to have been seated, and it didn't detract from our experience. The scallion pancakes are one of my favorite appetizers there.

    (4)

  • matthew w.

    Go to the one in Potrero Hill, this location for some reason dries out the white rice. It's like they microwaved a pack of Uncle Ben's or something. Otherwise, it's a great place for a cheap tasty lunch.

    (3)

  • Asha E.

    This place is the best chinese in SF and ridiculously reasonable. The service, it is not so great. But this is easily eclipsed by biting into a perfect moo shu pancake. Mmm.

    (5)

  • sherly A.

    not so impressed with the food nor the service. this is the far worse mediocre California influence Chinese that i had.

    (3)

  • Erin D.

    okay every place starts with the hopes of five stars. eliza's failed. -minus one star: the menus are cheap and lame. a piece of paper? where are the crayons to draw with? and where are the descriptions of stuff? what is an eliza cake? i'm not so sure i want to enjoy one of those. (actually i did, but still) chicken delight? eliza's spicy chicken? help me out here!!! had to ask the waiter numerous questions before ordering. -minus one star: service. got our tea and water fine, but couldn't stop a waiter to help us. when we finally did, we ordered and saw him once more. but worse than that... they would take all of our plates away as SOON as our fork touched the last bite. my boyfriend was still using some of the dipping sauce when some lady grabbed the plate away from him. "i guess i was done" he says... a little rushed. they took all of our plates immediately. not cool. -minus one star: the decor. seriously? where am i? monterey bay aquarium? how is this chinese? i don't get it. and i'm a little scared. -minus one star: price. dear god. 9 bucks for something i could make at home? -minus one star: flavor. there was none. ok so where are we? oh right zero stars. -plus one star: the meat quality was excellent. not fatty, lean, white meat. yummy. sooo if my math is correct 5-5+1=1. sorry eliza's.

    (1)

  • Rabbit B.

    This is a fabulous restaurant and I can't say enough good things about it. I heard about it a few years ago and just never got around to trying it until last night. All I can say is I haven't got one complaint about my experience--not one. The food was beautifully presented and absolutely delicious, the service was fantastic, the atmosphere was lovely and the prices were very reasonable. I can see why there are so many good reviews here and why people have been telling me to try Eliza's all this time. So do yourself a big favor and dine at Eliza's. I know the parking situation is pretty bad over there so if you can use public transportation all the better. And if you want to have Eliza's at home, just call them and place an order for pickup (they don't deliver, unfortunately). Just bring someone with you to drive the car around the block because double-parking is a big no-no on California Street and you don't want to get a ticket and ruin your dinner now do you?

    (5)

  • betty p.

    I dont know what the rest of the people are talking about but this place is Very good!!!! The food is delicious! I love the mangolian beef and the chow main. It is very pretty inside and a good place to come have dinner

    (5)

  • Beth W.

    Pretty food. Pretty decor. Pretty bird. (j/k) I love their mango beef. And sea bass. Definitely worth a try if you're in the neighborhood.

    (4)

  • Max C.

    As others have said, the Potrero location is a lot more friendly, but the food is good and I give them and "A" for effort on the interior, even though it is a little too cramped.

    (3)

  • Andi B.

    Out of all the great SF restaurants in SF, my out of towner parents INSIST that we go here every time they come to the Bay area! Its a winner, and they have a cool bathroom ;)

    (5)

  • Bethany D.

    I don't know why everybody always goes to Eliza's. To start, the architecture is incredibly insane. When I walk in I feel like I'm in a dark corridor with no end in sight. The glass tables are too clinky with the clinky soy sauce beakers and such. Awkward clinky, yadidimean? The prices are high, the portions small. The food is okay, thus the two stars. But you can get better, cheaper Chinese food at Ben Wah just down the street. Also, way too many rich Pacific Heights teenagers for my taste. Loud, obnoxious, and entitled. The worst!

    (2)

  • Olivia B.

    Overpriced generally, but it has good lunch specials. I am very partial to the green onion pancakes served with the peanut sauce. Good to come here after a massage session at Mindful Body which is across the street

    (2)

  • Veronica L.

    eliza's mongolian beef is the most delicious mongolian beef i've ever had. it must have crack in it because me and a whole bunch of my friends are addicted. its damn good. I even have facebook groups dedicated to it. the other food is pretty delicious too. lunch specials are sweet too. they usually come with the delicious soup of the day. I usually am hesitant about chinese restaurants that have no chinese people eating in them, but this place is so tasty.

    (4)

  • Patrick C.

    I use to be a regular at this very eatery because of its delicious food and reasonable prices. That was until I truly noticed how plain terrible the waiters and waitresses were. On one occassion, they overcharged us 12 dollars. The bill had only had two chinese letters and a numerical value of 36 dollars. This was most shocking considering that I went with 3 other people and we all ordered 5 dollar lunch specials. We complained and paid only 32 dollars without tip. Unable to understand that the bill was way over what it should have been, they banned us from eating-in. I turned from being a loyal customer who visited twice a week, to officially banning it myself, even after being invited back to eat in by them after realizing that they had shutdown a loyal customer. A normal business would have corrected the bill but their snotty nature and terrible business ethics prohibited such acts of generosity. DO NOT VISIT THiS LOCATION.

    (2)

  • kimberly t.

    Suprisingly a perfect spot to take kids. Quick. Good food. Well lite and spacious. It's also a great premovie and take out restaurant. Not so good for a date;).

    (3)

  • Ashley Nicole C.

    My financial advisor lives in Pac Heights and hails Eliza's as her go-to Chinese restaurant so naturally, the first time I was asked to housesit for a week, had to try it out. If you dine in, you'll be seated quickly. Although it's not the highest quality of service by the staff, there's nothing notably wrong with the service. If you take out, your order is ready under 30 minutes most of the time. Dishes worth mentioning: Eliza's spicy chicken (extra spicy), potstickers, sizzling rice soup, won ton soup and string beans w/ pork. A star off for the lack of delivery and lack of parking.

    (4)

  • Shannon P.

    The food is delicious! I can appreciate their huge portions. I hate dining in because these people are rude. I never get a smile, and when I paid for my food earlier today the man took my money and sat my food down on the counter and walked off instead of handing it to me. It's the little things people!!! And why is my total for the same thing I order always different?

    (2)

  • Christofer B.

    This place is highly overrated. I have eaten here a few times only because my boss likes to go here, and I have tried many different items trying to find something that I like. Unfortunately I have yet to find a dish that was worth the price. The restaurant itself is not bad looking. Nice decor. But there is never any parking here. And don't get me started on the customer service. It is the worst out of any restaurant that I have ever gone to. Sometimes you find a bad waiter at a restaurant but this is not the case. All the workers here are extremely rude. Even when I call to place an order for pick up for my boss, they never say thank you, don't wait to see if you are finished with your order, and just hang up on you. If it weren't for my boss who for some reason thinks this is the only Chinese restaurant in the city, ( she is a 92 year old lady ) I would never come back to this place.

    (1)

  • Sebastian F.

    This Chinese eatery in PacHeights is somewhat neglected on Yelp - probably because it's located in a very residential area between Divis and Richmond. Nothing else there other than apartment buildings. Surprisingly packed at dinner time on a Friday night, Eliza's has an inviting yet a bit outdated interior - large colored glass walls, a small bar, and around 15 tables. Our party got seated quickly and glanced at the menu. The food seems to be tailored to the neighborhood - Chinese food for the Western taste, which is not necessarily a bad thing, if done right. The BROCCOLI BEEF w/ WHITE RICE ($12) was tasty and quite alright, the portion size however pretty small. I tried the HONEY WALNUT SHRIMP w/ WHITE RICE ($12) which was satisfying both in plate size and flavor. I'll go back there to try some more from their menu but so far it has been an okay experience.

    (3)

  • Ruby H.

    The food here is not family friendly, extremely small portions/flavorless & greasy. And we ordered 5 small plates and paid over $100 save yourself the money and don't come here!

    (1)

  • Derek S.

    We only have been here a couple times but each time it was delicious. Chow mien, sizzling rice soup and vegetable Kung pow was very tasty.

    (4)

  • Kayla A.

    Absolutely delicious!!!! Food is amazing and service is efficient and quick! Food came out very hot and fresh! Definitely try the chicken chow mein and the Mongolian beef! Really nice and clean restaurant, not dirty and dark like most Chinese food places! Five stars I will for sure be back!

    (5)

  • Sonia A.

    This is one of my favorite chinese restaurants in the area. Sit down is quiet and quaint...the decor is a bit cheesy Chinese restaurant, lol. Instead, i just love to order their food or take out, take it home, curl up on the couch with a friend, watch a movie and munch on all the Chinese goodness I ordered from this place. It's the best way to eat the stuff from here. My favorite is the pan fried noodles, so good! But I would have to say that everything my friends have ordered, or I have seen people order looks good and fresh. Definitely a must try. Make sure to grab a menu when you pick up your first order, so you have it handy for future take out orders. You will be back for more orders, I promise;)

    (5)

  • Charm T.

    Haven't been here in over a year..And still the same!! They are RUDE AF! They need to look into hiring here!

    (1)

  • Chris B.

    Always tasty at a great price. House duck special is my go to. Funky decor to boot!

    (5)

  • Nolan M.

    alright i have to keep it real... the service is kind of short... the food (it hurts to say this only because I didn't give in till now), but the food is one of the best chinese i"ve ever had... if u know any better please let me know... I like the spring rolls, won tons, brown rice, mongolian beef, spicy chicken, or kung poa

    (5)

  • Michelle L.

    This was my first time here and I had been told the food was good, but it was fantastic! The Prawns and Portabello mushrooms was to die for, and the portion was generous. We also had the chow fun, they allowed us to substitute chicken for the imitation crab. The flavor was very good, although it could have used a few more noodles. The food was delivered promptly and the service was great. It's popular so expect a short wait if you arrive during high traffic hours...

    (5)

  • Diana A.

    This place may not be super super authentic Chinese, but it'll suffice. I absolutely loved their chow mein because they use the thicker, home made style noodles. Those noodles are my favorite and takes me back to my childhood, when my dad was working at a noodle factory in Hawai'i. It pretty much sealed the deal for a 4 star review. My friend is a loyal customer of this place and raves about Eliza's spicy chicken. Service wise, I'd say they're pretty stereotypical of Chinese restaurants. The servers are no nonsense, get sh*t done kind of people. You're here to eat, and then leave.

    (4)

  • B M.

    Eliza's makes decent food but their portion sizes are inconsistent, and some not worth price. The Mongolian Beef we got the other night might have been the biggest ripoff dish I ever seen from a Chinese restaurant -- they filled a small takeout container with airy dry noodles and put a spoonful of beef on the top -- weak!

    (2)

  • Jahan T.

    I must confess. The lunch menu portions leave me hungry. I'm not a big guy and still if I dabble with the specials I feel like I just had an appetizer. So I do the sensible thing and order from the "regular" menu. For $10 (pre tax and tip) I chow down on some delicious food and walk out happy. What else can you possibly want from a little place that makes no claims to groundbreaking technique and has zero pretension? It's clean. It's tasty. It's really affordable. And the chicken or pork with long bean (and the hint of smoke that lingers on) is killer. I don't care if the wait staff aren't big on smiling. That's not why I'm here.

    (4)

  • J J.

    Wow (and not in a good way)! Extremely unimpressed with the food. Maybe my expectations were a bit higher based on some of the reviews, but the food and service were below par. We ordered the eggplant appetizer, Mongolian beef, and mu shu pork. Eggplant - horrible. It's basically one small Chinese eggplant split into 3 pieces with sprinkled minced garlic. Mu shu - this was the better if the 3 dishes. Good portions and tasty. Mongolian beef - horrible. No more words needed. The worst part, they lay the beef on a bed of "popped" rice to make the portions look more substantial. Do they think we're that naive??? One and done with Eliza's! So many other places with better food and service.

    (2)

  • s b.

    I have been dining here for over 10 years. They never disappoint. Their food is delicate with subtle flavors. I rarely write reviews but after reading that the wait staff is rude. I have never experienced that. Could it possibly be the diner's fault?! Some of my favorite dishes are the pot stickers, any soup, Mongolian beef (any beef dish is good), prawns with eggplant, chow mein. Huge fan - don't listen to the haters!!

    (5)

  • Stephen C.

    This is my favorite Chinese food in the city. Not because it's the overall SF champion (although it could compete for the city championship) but because I've been getting it 1x month for the past 10 years and it has NEVER failed. Elizas produces arguably the best pot sticker in SF. Super meaty and just pops with juice and flavor. I'd also recommend the fried rice, Eliza's spicy chicken, hoisen green bean, moo shoo pork, and mango beef. The hot n sour soup never fails and the yellow chicken curry is delicious. The problem is they don't deliver but I cannot dock them a star based on that. It's just a minor inconvenience as that I would order them 4x if they did. They are however located close to a couple of bars so it's nice to grab a few beers watching a Giants game, call it in, and pick it up after 2 beers. If you haven't tried Eliza's, make sure you do, it will not fail.

    (5)

  • Mark D.

    Just gave Eliza's another try using take out. This is no exaggeration: the Mongolian Beef had more than HALF the carton filled with rice noodle FILLER (I call them "packing peanuts"). So, we payed 10 dollars for half a carton of mongolian beef. The sesame chicken was easily half a carton filled with these julienne-sliced carrots and onions, with the chicken on top. I will just warn you that with take out they are measuring their pennies by putting crap at the bottom of every dish to minimize how much meat they give you. If you want delicious food and a decent value, try New Country Sky or Tai Chi restaurant--both in the same neighborhood.

    (1)

  • Donald C.

    Good fresh tasting food with healthy interesting flavours. The house prawns were the best dish I encountered there and I am looking forward to exploring the rest of the menu.

    (4)

  • Jolly S.

    Called at about 1:20pm this afternoon to place an order for pickup this evening at 5pm for a board meeting. They wouldn't take my order and said very rudely "We are busy. Call back at 2:30 to place order." If I could give them no stars, I would. No thank you. Goodbye.

    (1)

Q & A on Jason's Deli

When did Jason's Deli open?

First Jason's Deli was started on 30th November 1976 at Beaumont, Texas, United States.

Where's the nearby Jason's Deli?

There are around 275 delis in 28 states of the United States. You can locate a nearby Jason's Deli by using our Restaurant Listings Directory.

When does Jason's Deli open and close?

Jason's Deli opens early in the morning daily at 6 AM and closes at 6 PM on weekdays and 3 PM on weekends.

Does Jason's Deli have a drive through?

Yes, Jason's Deli has a drive-through. Besides the drive-thru, Jason's Deli also set up Jason's Express especially for on-the-go families to make things faster. Drive-thru and take-out options help individuals and families to order and pick their meal quickly while on a busy schedule.

Does Jason's Deli serve gluten-free items on the menu?

Jason's Deli isn't entirely a gluten-free environment, but it does offer a gluten-sensitive menu. You can order food from the gluten-sensitive menu to ensure your food is gluten-free.

Does Jason's Deli serve vegan items on the menu?

Yes, they do. The vegan options are limited at Jason's Deli. You can try the organic vegetable soup, spinach veggie wraps w/o cheese, hummus, salsa, guacamole, and many other options from the salad menu.

Does Jason's Deli Cater?

Yes, it does. You can use Jason's Deli's catering service to serve hot and fresh foods to your guests. Whether you want to feed 5 or 5000, Jason's Deli's experienced team can handle your catering order and ensure timely delivery.

What's on Jason's Deli breakfast menu?

Jason's Deli serves a variety of different items on their breakfast menu. You can try the breakfast sandwiches or wraps prepared with fresh-cracked eggs. You can pick up breakfast as early as 6 AM at any Jason's Deli nearby.

Sorry, No Coupons available for this restaurant.

About Jason's Deli

Jason's Deli is a popular bakery restaurant in the United States. Jason's Deli started its operation in Beaumont, Texas on 30th November 1976. The bakery restaurant was started by four partners: Joe Tortorice Jr., Rusty Coco, Pete Verde, and Pat Broussard. Currently, the delicatessen restaurant chain operates in more than 268 locations across 26 states in the United States. Jason's Deli is one of the most successful restaurant chains with under 300 locations.

Deli Management Inc. owns Jason's Deli along with several other deli restaurants in the United States. Jason's Deli is famous for its standard deli style menu where the customers can order from traditional sandwiches to salads, baked potatoes, and pasta. After initiating a health drive in 2000, Jason's Deli successfully eliminated added trans-fat from its food in 2005, later got rid of high fructose syrup in 2008, and finally removed MSG from its food. Today, Jason's Deli offers a wide range of food items including vegan and gluten-free dishes.

Healthy Food Options at Jason's Deli

Jason's Deli offers a standard deli style menu which consists of traditional sandwiches, soups, pasta, baked potatoes, wraps, and salads. If you choose wisely and skip the extra sides or dressings as you order at Jason's Deli, you can find a good variety of healthy food options at Jason's Deli.

Map

Opening Hours

  • Mon :11:00 am - 3:00pm

Specialities

  • Takes Reservations : Yes
    Delivery : No
    Take-out : Yes
    Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
    Good For : Lunch, Dinner
    Parking : Street
    Bike Parking : Yes
    Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
    Good for Kids : Yes
    Good for Groups : Yes
    Attire : Casual
    Ambience : Casual
    Noise Level : Average
    Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only
    Outdoor Seating : No
    Wi-Fi : No
    Has TV : No
    Waiter Service : Yes
    Caters : No

Categories

Chinese Cuisine

The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.

Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.

There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.

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