2 Best Restaurants in San Francisco, California

This unassuming local establishment serves a fiery hot menu of Sichuan favorites as well as Peking duck and other northern Chinese dishes. Traditional Chinese lanterns, watercolors, and calligraphy decorate the walls, and diners are seated at square tables or larger round tables with revolving trays. Perennial crowd pleasers include steamed pork dumplings, Sichuan spicy chicken, pickled vegetables and fish, and anything and everything smothered in chili oil, red chilis, and Sichuan peppercorns. Half of the extensive menu is bespeckled with hot-pepper symbols, so this place is not for the faint of heart.

San Francisco's signature Sichuan restaurant is a wonderful place to sample the often spicy, mouth-numbing (that's the "mala" heat, then the cooling effect of the peppers and chilies) cuisine of that northern China region. It's a long menu, so ask for advice from the servers. Be sure to book in advance for dinner, as the place is equally popular with visitors and diners from all over the Bay Area.