Very delicious and genuine Sichuan food! Order anything you like, and be careful about the spicy level 😂

+2

Delicious sichuan style food in a no frills family-friendly setting. The servers are all very efficient and super friendly. Great portions! Will definitely be back.

+2

One of the best Sichuan restaurants in the Bay area - highly recommend the fried green beans and shuizhuyu (spicy fish) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazing authentic dishes, good portions, clean and spacious environment and friendly & attentive staff. Their kumquat drink was great too!

Since I came alone I was seated right away at a round shared table. Place was packed but service quick and attentive. Menu is on a tablet with pictures. I tried the Sauteed eggplant string bean and Steamed surf clam with soy sauce & green onions. Everything was excellent. Right amount of spice, great mix of textures. Will go back.

+2

Authentic sichuan flavor! There are so many cuisines I want to order. Be aware that the food is spicy and will also make your tongue numb. I extremely recommended to order less numb if you are not tolerating with this food type. The fish fillet is expensive but worth it, thin, soft and fresh. Not like the frozen Swai fish fillet you bought from the market.

This is one of the best Sichuan and Hunan restaurants in Bay Area. The price is good and the food is super delicious. You can eat almost all famous Sichuan and Hunan dishes here. Definitely go again.

Great Northern Chinese food. Order the chicken with oil and green peppercorns, ma po tofu, tan tan noodles and the gelatinous rose almond for dessert (it is yummy!). The restaurant is clean, and service is prompt. They have a great collection of drinks, try the homemade plum soda. We really appreciate that they also pack all the leftovers for you to take home.

+6

Best 鱼香肉丝 in town as well as other spicy dishes. Will definitely visit again. If you visit around dinner/lunch time during weekend, be prepared for a potential wait of ~30min or so.

My first visit to Shang Cafe! Overall experience was good. I wasn't sure about the spicy of food from the beginning 🤔 Manager so kind to accommodate my issue with one of the dish~ Many dishes are with pork. I am not a meat eater 😀 Will like to try their Fish dishes next visit. My son really loves their mapo tofu!! Spicy but really delicious 😋

One of the best sichuan food I had in Bay Area, maybe no need to say one of! Lazi chicken and beef tripe stew are both very authentic! Boiling fish is as expected, similar to what you would expect anywhere.

Delicious Sichuan food that really hit the spot for my love of spicy flavors! I came on a Monday, so no wait and the food came out fast. Great service and nice atmosphere—I’ll definitely be back!

Bryan Nagaishi

All dishes are spicy, the restaurant is consistently busy, and cook times can vary— stop the complaining. That said, the food is traditional, authentic, and flavorful. The sliced beef combo in spicy sauce is my wife’s favorite, while I particularly enjoyed their take on the ribs. The sautéed frog, however, was our least favorite dish. Recommended (for spicey aficionados)

Yi Zhang

Every dish was delicious! The spicy and numb levels might not be high enough for someone hardcore, but it was perfect for us to enjoy the flavor in the food. There is enough people that you know it’s a great restaurant, but not so crowded and popular that you had to wait a long time to get in. The waiter was very considerate and offered to bring forks when the kids were discussing the right way of holding chopsticks. Have so many dishes that we’d like to try, so will definitely return when we come to the Bay Area next time!

Tim Wang

The wait was minimal. The staff were very friendly and the food came super fast. All the dishes we ordered were rich in flavor, especially the intestines, which was crunchy and full of texture!! Something to watch out for is the food can be very spicy so make sure to order according to your spice tolerance.

Yiwen Dai

The service was great and the servers were very helpful with any questions we had. Each serving of rice was literally two bowls worth (see picture). The food very good.

Ke Z

Undoubtedly the best authentic Chinese food there is in the entire Bay Area! However, the place gets incredible busy on a weekend dinner time. Long lines and waits to get the food. If you don't mind. Then you And then you get to taste the best authentic Chinese food there is. The Maple tofu. It's so good. Nice, spicy, nummy and very flavorful. The fried rice is some of the best ones you will ever try. It has the flavor of wok hay, and each grain of rice is separated and coated with the amazing umami flavor of the soy sauce and the entire dish is sprinkled with a decent amount of fried eggs. The sour fish is also amazing, not too spicy but extremely flavorable. The fish is very tender and the pickled Vegetable In it adds a nice sour flavor..

Daniella Xu

Delicious Hunan / sichuan food ! Spicy chicken is wonderful! Viggie Fish soup is pretty good! I also like the pork dish! I am becoming regular.

N J

Shang Cafe has been keeping up to their high standard, which speaks for itself. The food is delicious and portion is good. They are moderate in terms of seasoning and salts. But still manage to make the dishes delicious. They keep pushing new creations, which are usually good! Good job all these years!

Dr Z

After COVID: food is still good, service is still nice Great genuine Hunan food. Super friendly service. The menu is smaller than Hunan impression (same owner), but quality is equally good! Not cheap but portion is great!

Wenjia Fang

Authentic Sichuan restaurant with excellent food. We showed up when the restaurant opened at 5pm so there was no queue. By the time it's 6pm, queue was 10-15 minutes so time your visit.

Authentic Sichuan restaurant with excellent food. We showed up when the restaurant opened at 5pm so there was no queue. By the time it's 6pm, queue was 10-15 minutes so time your visit.

+1

After COVID: food is still good, service is still nice Great genuine Hunan food. Super friendly service. The menu is smaller than Hunan impression (same owner), but quality is equally good! Not cheap but portion is great!

+4

Shang Cafe has been keeping up to their high standard, which speaks for itself. The food is delicious and portion is good. They are moderate in terms of seasoning and salts. But still manage to make the dishes delicious. They keep pushing new creations, which are usually good! Good job all these years!

Delicious Hunan / sichuan food ! Spicy chicken is wonderful! Viggie Fish soup is pretty good! I also like the pork dish! I am becoming regular.

Undoubtedly the best authentic Chinese food there is in the entire Bay Area! However, the place gets incredible busy on a weekend dinner time. Long lines and waits to get the food. If you don't mind. Then you And then you get to taste the best authentic Chinese food there is. The Maple tofu. It's so good. Nice, spicy, nummy and very flavorful. The fried rice is some of the best ones you will ever try. It has the flavor of wok hay, and each grain of rice is separated and coated with the amazing umami flavor of the soy sauce and the entire dish is sprinkled with a decent amount of fried eggs. The sour fish is also amazing, not too spicy but extremely flavorable. The fish is very tender and the pickled Vegetable In it adds a nice sour flavor..

The service was great and the servers were very helpful with any questions we had. Each serving of rice was literally two bowls worth (see picture). The food very good.

The wait was minimal. The staff were very friendly and the food came super fast. All the dishes we ordered were rich in flavor, especially the intestines, which was crunchy and full of texture!! Something to watch out for is the food can be very spicy so make sure to order according to your spice tolerance.

Every dish was delicious! The spicy and numb levels might not be high enough for someone hardcore, but it was perfect for us to enjoy the flavor in the food. There is enough people that you know it’s a great restaurant, but not so crowded and popular that you had to wait a long time to get in. The waiter was very considerate and offered to bring forks when the kids were discussing the right way of holding chopsticks. Have so many dishes that we’d like to try, so will definitely return when we come to the Bay Area next time!

+4

All dishes are spicy, the restaurant is consistently busy, and cook times can vary— stop the complaining. That said, the food is traditional, authentic, and flavorful. The sliced beef combo in spicy sauce is my wife’s favorite, while I particularly enjoyed their take on the ribs. The sautéed frog, however, was our least favorite dish. Recommended (for spicey aficionados)

+1

Shang Cafe remains the king of Sichuan in the Bay. Some dishes stand out more than others, but I've never had anything less than solid here. Every time I taste their 辣子鸡 (chili chicken) I am taking notes, trying to learn how to make it that good. 水煮鱼 (water boiled fish), 干锅花菜 (dry pot cauliflower), 莴笋 (lettuce stem), and the fish soup with green Sichuan peppercorns (I forget the Chinese name) are other favorites. Yes, it's a little pricier than other Chinese restaurants, but their food is consistently a cut above the rest, so it feels reasonable. It's a very popular place, so we tend to go there for early dinner when there's less wait, and service can be a bit slow. The ambience is nothing to write home about, but it's definitely a bit nicer than most Chinese restaurants, and the lemon in the water is a nice touch. The fact that the place is packed almost exclusively with people speaking Mandarin is the only ambience you need to know you're in for a treat.

Wandering Wok

Shang Cafe remains the king of Sichuan in the Bay. Some dishes stand out more than others, but I've never had anything less than solid here. Every time I taste their 辣子鸡 (chili chicken) I am taking notes, trying to learn how to make it that good. 水煮鱼 (water boiled fish), 干锅花菜 (dry pot cauliflower), 莴笋 (lettuce stem), and the fish soup with green Sichuan peppercorns (I forget the Chinese name) are other favorites. Yes, it's a little pricier than other Chinese restaurants, but their food is consistently a cut above the rest, so it feels reasonable. It's a very popular place, so we tend to go there for early dinner when there's less wait, and service can be a bit slow. The ambience is nothing to write home about, but it's definitely a bit nicer than most Chinese restaurants, and the lemon in the water is a nice touch. The fact that the place is packed almost exclusively with people speaking Mandarin is the only ambience you need to know you're in for a treat.

Many people compare this place with Hunan Impression, and I can’t help doing that too. I’ll say Hunan Impression is definitely better for it’s use of sauces in stir fried dishes—the taste is more tangy. Shang Cafe even feels like Sichuan food a little bit. I’ll probably just go Hunan Impression when I want spicy food coming into the future, but I really can’t give up 翘脚牛肉 here in Shang Cafe. Hearty, comforting beef tripes with lettuce leaves—one sip and heaven right there. I’m marking Shang Cafe for that one dish :)

Crowded place, long queue so you gotta be patient. But foods are nice. We tried the chili chicken, spicy fish fillet soup and pork veggie, favorites are the chicken and fish.

Environment is a little crowed. Each dish exceeds my expectation. It's easy to find chicken meat from chilli.

+1

We came around 12:30 and waited for about 20 min for a table. The thinly sliced pork belly was nice. Yuxiang eggplant is a bit too sweet and sour and lacks depth of a good yuxiang dish. Mapo tofu also needed some more seasoning other than the abundance of Szechuan pepper.

+6

Shang Cafe is famous for their Sichuan cuisine and it seems that there are always people waiting for tables. On a Saturday evening we arrived at 5:24pm (they open at 5) and were lucky enough to be seated at the last table of the first round. The party after us had to wait for over 40 minutes already. Their food is pretty good especially if you like spicy Sichuan food. We like their signature Boiled Gish Fillet with Saucerkraut (原味老坛酸菜魚). It’s spicy but not super spicy like the Boiled Fish Fillet with Sauerkraut and Green Peppers (青花椒老坛酸菜鱼). Note that there is a choice of snakehead fish vs basa fillets, and they make the default to be snakehead (黑魚) which would add $10 to the original price of $28.

+5

Jim Ratchford

We arrived at 5:30pm on a Monday. No wait to be seated. Lots of menu options. Food was good and service OK. Price was reasonable.

James Zhong

Delicious food. Got the spicy fish with picked veggies, steamed pork, and a pork appetizer. All very good. However, they ran out of a dish we ordered about 30 min after the first dish was served. A bit disappointing there. May come back or just order takeout, as the service is quite bad.

Thunder Zeus

There are several dishes made me WOW. The downside is that all dishes are very salty and oily, and many tasted the same... Price is high, but portion is also BIG. I would only list the dishes catered to my taste. (Not exactly mapping to photos) The best dishes are: taro stew with chicken, fish maw in chilly oil, pepper grilled pork intestine, twice cooked pork slices. 4-6 people could feast well on those with rice. The restaurant is extremely busy on weekends. Making a reservation via phone is recommended!

Hanmei Chen

The food tastes good, but the portions are very small, and it feels overpriced overall.

Jingyi Xu

Pretty authentic Sichuan food.夫妻肺片 had a good spicy flavor and the portion was pretty good. 辣子鸡 was full of red pepper which made it very authentic. Compared the other dishes, 酸菜鱼 was not as amazing as I expected. Flavor was a bit simple.

Kailiang Huang

Shang Cafe is Hunan style spicy Chinese food. The menu and taste are pretty much similar with shaoshan impression. The restaurant is modern and spacious. Go for the hot pot if you have a large party, the portion is generous. You are looking at around 50-60 per person.

Shang Cafe is Hunan style spicy Chinese food. The menu and taste are pretty much similar with shaoshan impression. The restaurant is modern and spacious. Go for the hot pot if you have a large party, the portion is generous. You are looking at around 50-60 per person.

+1

Pretty authentic Sichuan food.夫妻肺片 had a good spicy flavor and the portion was pretty good. 辣子鸡 was full of red pepper which made it very authentic. Compared the other dishes, 酸菜鱼 was not as amazing as I expected. Flavor was a bit simple.

The food tastes good, but the portions are very small, and it feels overpriced overall.

We arrived at 5:30pm on a Monday. No wait to be seated. Lots of menu options. Food was good and service OK. Price was reasonable.

+1

There are several dishes made me WOW. The downside is that all dishes are very salty and oily, and many tasted the same... Price is high, but portion is also BIG. I would only list the dishes catered to my taste. (Not exactly mapping to photos) The best dishes are: taro stew with chicken, fish maw in chilly oil, pepper grilled pork intestine, twice cooked pork slices. 4-6 people could feast well on those with rice. The restaurant is extremely busy on weekends. Making a reservation via phone is recommended!

+2

Delicious food. Got the spicy fish with picked veggies, steamed pork, and a pork appetizer. All very good. However, they ran out of a dish we ordered about 30 min after the first dish was served. A bit disappointing there. May come back or just order takeout, as the service is quite bad.

The stir-fry dishes taste pretty fresh, and I would happily give them five stars for the food alone. However, the wait time can be quite long. I came in pretty hungry, and my first dish didn’t arrive until about 45 minutes after ordering—I was almost ready to pass out by then.

Miao Hu

The stir-fry dishes taste pretty fresh, and I would happily give them five stars for the food alone. However, the wait time can be quite long. I came in pretty hungry, and my first dish didn’t arrive until about 45 minutes after ordering—I was almost ready to pass out by then.

Not recommend! First, the tastes of different dishes are very similar, we ordered 6 dishes but they tasted like 2. Second, it’s very salty and oily. I like Sichuan food in general but this is too salty. Third, very pricy and small portion. My fiends who used to come here said they cut the portion by half compared with the past.

+1

The food is very spicy even if you tell them to go easy. There are many other great Chinese restaurants

Luke Jackson

Each dish was unnecessarily spicy/hot, and it wasn't indicated as spicy on the menu. My buddy and I ordered two dishes, first dish was served after 10 mins upon ordering, it took another 25 mins for the second dish to be served. We had to ask if they forgot about our second dish. Place is loud, and food is expensive for the portions.

Allen Xie

Very disappointed. This is the second time we’ve had this exact same problem here. We placed our order at 6:02pm. The first dish arrived at 6:15pm, which was fine. But now it’s 6:30 and nothing else has shown up—not even our appetizers. It’s ridiculous to wait this long without any explanation or update. It’s honestly baffling that the kitchen can’t get the timing right or coordinate service better. We came in expecting a nice dinner, but instead we’re just sitting here hungry and frustrated. I really hoped last time was a one-off, but clearly it’s not. Won’t be coming back. One more thing I cannot understand that some group sit 40 Mins later than us got the food right after they sit. I wonder why this happened. The first picture is my order, it showed order time. The 2nd picture is what we got after 40 minutes.

Very disappointed. This is the second time we’ve had this exact same problem here. We placed our order at 6:02pm. The first dish arrived at 6:15pm, which was fine. But now it’s 6:30 and nothing else has shown up—not even our appetizers. It’s ridiculous to wait this long without any explanation or update. It’s honestly baffling that the kitchen can’t get the timing right or coordinate service better. We came in expecting a nice dinner, but instead we’re just sitting here hungry and frustrated. I really hoped last time was a one-off, but clearly it’s not. Won’t be coming back. One more thing I cannot understand that some group sit 40 Mins later than us got the food right after they sit. I wonder why this happened. The first picture is my order, it showed order time. The 2nd picture is what we got after 40 minutes.

Each dish was unnecessarily spicy/hot, and it wasn't indicated as spicy on the menu. My buddy and I ordered two dishes, first dish was served after 10 mins upon ordering, it took another 25 mins for the second dish to be served. We had to ask if they forgot about our second dish. Place is loud, and food is expensive for the portions.

Order takeout, while enjoying the mapo tofu, wife scoop up tofu with unknown body hair….argh

The waiter told us should be 30mins to have the dishes ready, but we waited for 50 mins and no food comes. The waiter repeated to tell us we will get the food in every 10mins but they just cheated to fool the customers. We will never come again for sure. only get one dish and taste is normal. Nothing is worth to come here.

Xinmeng Sun

Food is very salty. It tastes like that they try too hard to impress the guests. Eg. too salty for entries, too greasy to over-fry the crisp texture, too sweet for the jelly, etc. They only serve on one side of the table (we had 6 friends party in a row) and it’s annoying since people from the opposite side constantly not getting food. The big no is that they do not allow you to bring your own beverage, even though we ordered $250 food. Overall would not recommend.

Food is very salty. It tastes like that they try too hard to impress the guests. Eg. too salty for entries, too greasy to over-fry the crisp texture, too sweet for the jelly, etc. They only serve on one side of the table (we had 6 friends party in a row) and it’s annoying since people from the opposite side constantly not getting food. The big no is that they do not allow you to bring your own beverage, even though we ordered $250 food. Overall would not recommend.