Harry's Plaza Cafe
Chinese · Santa Barbara
About Harry's Plaza Cafe
En Harry's Plaza Cafe, un clásico de Chinatown en Santa Bárbara, te invitamos a disfrutar de una experiencia culinaria única. Nuestra decoración oriental de estilo tradicional te transportará mientras degustas deliciosos platos cantoneses y de Sichuan, elaborados con recetas auténticas. Ven a descub...
En Harry's Plaza Cafe, un clásico de Chinatown en Santa Bárbara, te invitamos a disfrutar de una experiencia culinaria única. Nuestra decoración oriental de estilo tradicional te transportará mientras degustas deliciosos platos cantoneses y de Sichuan, elaborados con recetas auténticas. Ven a descubrir el sabor genuino de la cocina china en un ambiente acogedor y familiar.
What Customers Say About Harry's Plaza Cafe
Harry's Plaza Cafe is a family-friendly restaurant with a historical ambiance. Customers rave about the excellent Chinese food and warm atmosphere, often mentioning the honey walnut prawns and dry fried fish. Some find the service indifferent, but the food quality generally outweighs this.
Popular Dishes
Best For
Tip: Consider ordering one of the family meals to sample a variety of dishes.
Features
What to see nearby
Data from Wikidata
Explore the area around Harry's Plaza Cafe
Harry's Plaza Cafe is located in Santa Barbara, surrounded by cultural and historical points of interest. Here are some of the most notable places nearby.
Historical Heritage
- Bank of Italy Building (A 338m) — building in San Francisco, California Hito histórico nacional
Museums
- Showgirl Magic Museum (A 57m) — museum in San Francisco, California
Religious Buildings
- Presbyterian Church in Chinatown (A 217m) — oldest Asian American church (1853), located in San Francisco, California
- Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, San Francisco (A 257m) — church building in San Francisco, United States of America
Parks & Gardens
- Chinese Childrens Playground (A 91m) — park in San Francisco County, California, United States of America
- Willie "Woo Woo" Wong Playground (A 98m) — playground in San Francisco, California, United States of America
- Saint Mary's Square (A 140m) — park in the United States of America
Other Points of Interest
- Sing Chong building (A 42m)
- Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, San Francisco (A 177m) — building in San Francisco, California, United States of America
- San Francisco Comfort Women Memorial (A 201m) — sculpture dedicated to comfort women
Data from Wikidata
Frequently asked questions about Harry's Plaza Cafe
Harry's Plaza Cafe Santa Barbara Reviews
You can feel the history in this restaurant—awe-inspiring ambiance and kind, attentive dinner service—a truly memorable Chinatown experience in San Francisco.
Amazing old-school Chinese restaurant. Great vibes and great food.
Wonderful Chinese food, excellent dry fried fish and honey walnut prawns! It’s a family favorite with such a warm feeling of historical significance in Chinatown.
I am accustomed to eating in every 4 and 5 star restaurant in San Francisco for the last 25 years, almost 7 days a week, and so I am always given the red carpet treatment and VIP treatment. But I have to say the staff here I'll do themselves.We were given a private booth so that we could talk about everything that was important to us without feeling that we had prying ears. This is the oldest restaurant in chinatown first restaurant and oldest restaurant and it is the reason why mayors and elected officials of the city prefer to have their functions and their little meetings here because this is where everyone finds the pulse of the city. The staff made sure that we had everything on the menu to our hearts desire. I am so appreciative and cannot wait to get back here.
Ignore the negative reviews, this place was wonderful. We actually overheard the concierge at our hotel recommending it to another guest, and when our kids started complaining of hunger while exploring Chinatown, we decided to stop in for a quick bite before our early Thanksgiving dinner. The service was incredible. The moment we walked in, we were greeted by (what I assume was) the manager, who was so kind and immediately had iced water brought over for my demanding spicy 4-year-old. 😂 Our server came right away to take our order, not pushy at all, just genuinely warm. Even when my daughter flipped out about the lemon chicken I ordered for her, he handled it so sweetly and reassured her she could just have the rice. Our food arrived quickly and was delicious. We ordered lemon chicken with steamed rice for the kids, and my husband and I shared the chicken fried rice. Everything was really good, and the prices were exactly what you’d expect at a solid restaurant, not overpriced at all. The interior decor is also beautiful, with ornate lanterns and lots of lovely little details that make the space feel special. Huge thank you to the amazing staff for such a great meal and experience. Highly recommend stopping in if you’re in the area!
This is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Chinatown and has kept the original look in the main dining room, which includes several private dining nook suitable for up to 6 people. Staff is very friendly and helpful and the food is usually very good. I recommend the chicken wings and hot and sour soup especially.
One of the most amazing place - 100+ year old (established 1920) Same location, name & art decor - the palace chandeliers hanging from the ceiling (recently beautifully restored), the picturesque landscape screens, the emperor’s throne were all brought over from China over a hundred years ago. You may have attended a banquet upstairs but it’s not the same - sitting in the restaurant on the 1st floor, enjoying ur own personal moment with history & ur food cook to order !
We rode the California Cable Car to Grant Ave. where Far East Cafe is located about 1/2 block away. This is the oldest or one of the oldest Chinese Restaurants in S.F.. The owner or manager at the bar was so nice and he told us all about the restaurant. What a beautiful and interesting banquet room to enjoy your food! I got the very delicious Prawn and Walnut dish with very large shrimp. My wife got an equally delicious large Scollop entree. This is a must for those who want to experience China Town the way it used to be!
Ordered one of the family meals and it was amazing. My kids ate everything and loved it. Our meal came with: soup, ribs, fried prawns, kung pao chicken, beef and vegetables, honey walnut prawns, and fried rice with prawns. We had leftovers but those didn’t last long. Probably the best Chinese food I have ever eaten.
Used to go here on vacations as a kid, this has always been the best Chinese restaurant in the United States in my opinion. I remember visiting and we were always taken care of by a guy we called “Jack”. Best place to bring kids and enjoy extremely good food. Absolutely family memories.
I highly recommend this restaurant! My friend and I had a wonderful dining experience there. The ambiance is rich with history, featuring charming, unique decorations that add to its character. Our waiter was incredibly attentive and courteous, enhancing our visit. The food was not only delicious but also fresh. We ended up ordering a bit too much, but the leftovers we took home were just as tasty the next day! It’s definitely a place I look forward to revisiting.
The restaurant is large. The interior is outdated, not very clean. The service is attentive and friendly. The order was brought quickly. No napkins on the tables. The dishes are delicious. We ordered sweet pork, Mongolian beef, spicy shrimp, eggplant. I would recommend visiting, but keep in mind that the price is above average.
The details and atmosphere are stunning. From century old chandeliers and murals to crown molding and vibrant colors, this restaurant will have you immersed in culture. We stopped in for drinks. The host was so knowledgeable about the history of the restaurant and kept us informed and entertained.
Overall very good imression on Thanksgiving eve. Ordered family dinner for 2 with prawns. Tasty dishes and sauces fast service, good size. A little bit indifferent personnel. Didn't feel that their staff was interested in serving us. We didn't care about it. This dinner cost us $46 without beer or wine.
Found this place on a dreary Sunday. And I have no complaints about this sf Chinatown eatery. Great dim sum. Especially the pork buns. And decent beer prices. High ceilings. Open space. Private rooms too. There was some commotion at one point..because a dragon came into the restaurant from the street.
Spend this Easter weekend up in San Francisco was walking china town when I got this delicious smell so I followed it with my trusty 👃 lol and man did I enjoy the food enjoyed it so much I forgot to take pictures of the food 🥘 but trust me it was good check this place out if u get a chance.
The food here is excellent. I originally thought that the dish "Foo Kin Fried Rice" was a joke played on foreigners, but what I got was incredibly delicious. The staff were incredibly friendly and even recommended a bakery and Dim Sum place for takeout. If you're lucky, you MIGHT be able to get one of the booths/cubicles for enjoying your meal here, but don't count on it.
The inside of the restaurant was beautiful. Soup was delicious, The food was prepared and cooked well. ...when they say 'sour' they mean it!
I had family in town and they wanted to visit Chinatown and have lunch. So we came to this place and decided to try it out. Service was great, food was OK, what was a disappointment was the bill because they added the tip for 4 people. But it's ok because i would have left more than what was on the bill.
Very mixed feelings about this place. We came here quite late mid week and were begrudgingly shown to a table by the male host. The waitress who took our drinks order was quite short & blunt, as was the man that took our food order (which we had a considerable wait for). I do wonder if this is a language barrier but it wasn’t warm/friendly or welcoming in the slightest. As we were eating late we shared a fried rice and a sweet & sour chicken. The food was delicious! Huge portion sizes and really reasonably priced too (especially for San Francisco). The restaurant had a sort of weird vibe, hard to explain and they had 2 large, very sad looking fish tanks at the end by the kitchen. I wish I’d taken a photo but they really didn’t look clean. This put us off ordering any seafood, especially since the sign outside advertises this place as a seafood restaurant. I don’t think we’d return here to eat inside, however a takeaway meal would definitely be considered!
There are much better and kind places to eat in Chinatown. Be prepared to pay per cup for ice tea and then never get refills on even water while waiting for food and then had to ask multiple times. Food come out very slowly and in parts however The bright side is food is decent but service does not meet SF minimums.
I sincerely hope that this is not the best in Chinatown. Bland. Whats all that rubbish on the walls about Michelin rated back in 2012. Its 2025, and the food is below average. Find somewhere else to eat, there is no doubt that the other place will be better.
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About Harry's Plaza Cafe
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631 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94108
Santa Barbara, CA 94108
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museum in San Francisco, California
park in San Francisco County, California, United States of America
playground in San Francisco, California, United States of America
park in the United States of America
building in San Francisco, California, United States of America
sculpture dedicated to comfort women
oldest Asian American church (1853), located in San Francisco, California
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