NORTHERN CHINA BBQ

I don’t normally post reviews unless I think the place is underrecognized or is overhyped. This place is the former. Skewers are all absolutely delicious, my favorite is the original pork sausage skewer, so juicy and fatty just like the sausages in Taiwan. The beef skewer was also so beefy, amazing. The chicken gristle is also my favorite, pair that with rice and that can be a meal in it of itself I can’t wait to come back and try even more skewers.

A great casual and affordable place for delicious skewers! Can’t go wrong with cumin lamb, but their mushroom skewers are also delicious. It’s not hard to get a table each time I went. The staff is super friendly - we celebrated a friend’s birthday here and they even let us keep a cake we brought in their fridge until we were ready to eat it 💕

This place is a hidden gem for Northeastern Chinese BBQ! The grilled eggplant and beef skewers are must-tries — smoky, tender, and packed with flavor. I also loved the iron pot beef and spicy peanuts, both perfect with a cold beer. Friendly staff and great late-night vibes — perfect spot for gatherings or a casual meal!

We ordered 7 lamb skewers — excellent flavor and perfectly grilled, very much in the authentic Northern Chinese style. Highly recommended for anyone craving that regional taste.

Great Chinese style charcoal barbecue, tasting exactly like I had before back in China. Meat, seafood and tofu / veggie choices are all pretty good. We were particularly impressed by the lamb skewer and the tofu. Fully supportive of a trendy new restaurant in the city! Thank you for doing this~ much needed

I had high expectations for this place, and it completely delivered. I went with a friend who used to live in northern China, and they were impressed by how authentic it was—they absolutely loved it. The variety of skewers was great, and every single one was delicious. The restaurant is spacious with plenty of seating, making it perfect for groups. The staff were incredibly friendly, and the food was fresh and full of flavor. I’m already looking forward to trying the mala xiang guo on my next visit. The only drawback is the parking—you have to park on the street, so finding a spot can be a bit challenging. Other than that, everything was fantastic, and I highly recommend it!

I’ve been to Northern China BBQ a few times now since it opened earlier this year and it has not disappointed! My favorite Chinese skewer place in SF by a lot. I’ve been looking for one for the past 3 years!! You order through a QR code that leads to the menu selections. There are so many options of skewers to choose from. Not all the photos are from the same visit :) Totally recommend!

amazing skewers at this no frills chinese restaurant. worth visiting to try all the different types. highlights were lamb, enoki mushroom, chicken skin

Located in a super convenient spot in SoMa, this skewer place is open late and pretty cheap for the SF scene! Most of the skewers are about $3 each, and if you've had Chinese skewers before, it'll be a recognizable taste of a lot of spices like cumin and peppers. We ordered a ton, and they were quick to bring our food out! It was very good, and I'd come again for sure!

Good spot in SF for skewers! I came by Sunday evening around 7 pm and it wasn't busy. They use Yelp waitlist, so we added ourselves while we were on the way, but we really didn't need to. We were able to easily find street parking right around the corner, and it was free because it was Sunday. Ordering is done by scanning the QR code. Everyone can scan with their phones and add separately to the order, so it's super convenient. It's easy to add additional food/skewer orders later too. The three of us tried a variety of skewers as well as the duck blood + vermicelli in tinfoil ($18.99). My favorite was definitely the duck blood, as I'm obsessed with the stuff. Very flavorful and the vermicelli soaked up all of the flavor. They have a wide variety of skewers which range in price from $2/skewer to $3/skewer for the meats. From the skewers, my favorites were the lamb, beef, and enoki wrapped in bacon. Our first order of skewers were very flavorful, but the second order was very bland. Not sure what happened there. We also got two bowls of rice for $2 each. We spent around $30 pp here on a respectable amount of food. That's not too bad for SF!

Came to this Chinese bbq spot a few times and really enjoyed their skewers. I was craving some duck blood jelly after a trip from Asia and was very surprise they also have a duck blood stew! we made a trip to the restaurant around 9:30pm for a late dinner. It was pretty empty on a Friday night, service is minimal but efficient. Basically scanned a QR code on table and order on your device type of thing. We got the duck blood tin foil vermicelli, lamb shank, a few miscellaneous skewers (tendons, beef/lamb, chicken skin, fried stinky tofu and the wood ear mushroom salad. I loved the duck blood texture and the flavor paired really well. It's a bit gamier than the ones I had in Taiwan but still very tasty and cohesive as a dish. Just wish it's a little spicy and mala:) The lamb shank is a bit underwhelming though. It's good but I thought it was going to be more tender given the price. Wouldn't get it a second time. Same as the stinky tofu, it was a bit greasy and the texture wasn't too good either, but the flavors were there Everything was good and will definitely come back for the duck blood stew and it's skewers when I have a late night craving after 9pm!

A little gem were glad we found! My partner really wanted Chinese skewers and we were pleased to find this one only 10 minutes away. He's tried ordering from places in Daly and s. Sf, but having one closer is great since the best part of eating skewers is how hot and fresh they are when they come off the grill. Not too crowded for a Friday night, there was always a table open at any time throughout the night. You order through a QR code on the table and they bring it out as it's ready. Other reviews talked about the beef being really good and I have to second that. Chicken was fine, lamb was pretty good but a little leaner and more mild, the pork belly is always tasty because I can't get enough, and the beef was super juicy and soft! Chicken gizzards were interesting to try, my partner liked the pork intestines (said they had a nice crisp) and the tofu wrapped enoki and bacon wrapped enoki were very similar so either is a good option if you want some mushrooms. For veggies we got the Chinese chives, a choy (nice skinny strips of bok choy in like a chili oil/rice vinegar), and green beans. All pretty good with different variations of the same sauce. My partner wanted to try the duck tongue but it comes in an order of 10 pieces and I'm not the biggest fan so he thought it would be too much for him to eat on his own. Bring friends! Drinks are all bottled. Overall ordering was super easy, servers pretty much left us alone but can't over when needed. The music switched between Chinese Idol/daytime drama theme songs and clubbing. I kinda dig it. Apparently they had a party for Halloween night so the club music was a hint of how things can go down later in the evening.

Adulting is enjoying lunch alone. Because eating in PEACE is top-tier. Plus, you can order whatever you want and not have to act all proper... Because imagine holding a big 'ol lamb shank in your hands like a drumstick...in front of your coworkers silently judging you. Awkward. Northern China BBQ is a new shaokao resto in SoMa (took over Izakaya Dash). They're currently open for takeout and indoor dining only. M E N U Northern Chinese BBQ Skewers (shaokao) with an array iron pot (dry pot) and tin foil (entrees). No alkie at this time. Suggestion to owner: Kindly consider adding a lunch special for nearby workers; e.g. a bento box/lunch plate to include several skewers, a vegetable side, and rice. O R D E R I N G Contactless ordering through QR code on the table. You can add more skewers/dishes as you go. F O O D With Northern Chinese BBQ, all the skewers are usually seasoned with the same cumin and chili powder mix. With this resto, I noticed the seasoning is much lighter and they serve the seasoning powder on the side for dipping. Also, maybe because I had a small order and dining solo but everything came at once versus skewer by skewer. * 炭烤小羊腿 Lamb Leg (Small - $18.99) // 3.5 Stars: https://tinyurl.com/45dpn2j2 First time seeing an entire lamb leg offered at shaokao resto so it was a must order. They also have a large beef rib but they were sold out since the weekend. I enjoyed the crispy charred edges. The meat didn't easily pull off the bone with the provided fork and knife so had to hold it like a drumstick to eat. I think it needs more time braising before finishing on the grill. Skewer spread: https://tinyurl.com/3rh6uaez * 牛肉串 Beef Skewer ($2.99) // 4 Stars Juicy and tender but you don't get the smoky char since they use a gas grill. * 烤牛筋 Beef Tendon Skewer ($3.99) // 4 stars Delicious and meltingly soft but not warmed through on the grill. * 豆皮香菜卷 Cilantro w/ tofu skin ($3.99) // 4.5 stars Fav item - the tofu skin gets crisp on the grill with the cilantro adding a freshness to complement the meat skewers. * 烤玉米 Sweet Corn ($2) // 3 stars Boiled too long as the corn kernels were soggy. S E R V I C E Kind staff, minimal contact since nearly everything is done via QR code. I was the only diner at the time and my order took 20 minutes which is standard for shaokao. A M B I A N C E Two dining areas with 10-12 tables and three booths. Mandarin pop and rap playing. P A R K I N G Walked over from the office but metered parking is doable in the area. Overall, looks like Northern China BBQ is the first shaokao resto to open in SoMa (bold move). If you're in the area, craving Chinese BBQ Skewers, and don't want to trek to the avenues, give them a try!

Came here with six other friends while visiting the Bay because I'd been craving some skewers and it's not as much a thing I want to do alone. The food here was very tasty, flavors not EXACTLY what I was expecting (in particular, I didn't expect the vegetables to be so saucy, and I expected the grilled buns to be a little sweet rather than just tasting like toast). One important note I'll make: you do ordering on an app, and everyone can add things to the same cart. At the end, one person submits the order. The ordering system itself has one box where you can add notes, but the note we added was removed. I suspect what happened was one person added the note, but a different person submitted the order, so person B's empty note overwrote person A's note. Which was extremely unfortunate, because the note we had was "allergic to peanuts". And we found out by eating that there was maybe more peanut in this than other Chinese skewer places I've been to. The staff said the vegetable sauces that were brushed on had peanuts, and that the dry spice blend also had peanuts. It seemed like my allergy friend didn't consume a crazy amount, so he wasn't sure there was really much in the dry spice (only felt it after we got the A choy), but it was a bit of a damper. But! The staff was extremely kind about it. When I went and explained it all, they went through the trouble of checking the receipt (where the note wasn't, hence the note about the app), and then even though there wasn't a note, provided my allergic friend a plate of dumplings. Later, when we added more food, she came by specifically to verify and asked if we'd like to skip the seasoning (and just have grilled meats), which we did, and my allergic friend (and my friend who apparently isn't a fan of cumin!) were both able to happily enjoy the unseasoned meat. ...I also enjoyed it, the meat was delicious even without the seasoning, and since the tables provided seasoning, it was totally fine to add it separately. I really appreciate how above and beyond the staff were to making the experience nice for us despite some dietary restrictions/concerns. The food alone would've had me coming back anyway, but I would definitely recommend coming here. (That all said, if you have a serious nut allergy, I'm not sure how clean their grills are and if it's actually safe to eat, so please do not take my review as a go-ahead for that. But if you're only mildly so or if you dislike flavors in the classic Chinese BBQ spice, this place is happy to skip the spicing for you!)

I've been to Northern China BBQ a few times now since it opened earlier this year and it has not disappointed! My favorite Chinese skewer place in SF by a lot. I've been looking for one for the past 3 years!! You order through a QR code that leads to the menu selections. There are so many options of skewers to choose from. Not all the photos are from the same visit :) Totally recommend!

This is one of my favorite bbq spots of bay area. And it's very close to my home so I came here 4 times in the past quarter. I love the food here that they grill for you instead of deep frying like other restaurants. The service is great. Me and my family and friends all love the food here.

The food here is really good. The lamb skewers are one of my favorite. The service is fantastic and fast. If you're hungry and love Chinese food. Come here and enjoy their yummy food. You'll keep on coming back!

Cherylynn N.'s review came through my feed and I had to try this place. Her content/photos are excellent. Because of her, the community is better. I'm not sure how she always finds out about these new places. I ordered: corn $2, pork rib $7, sausage $3, beef $3, potato $2, beef tendon $4, tofu $3, toast $4, rice $2 and a coke $2. It would have been perfect if they had draft beer. Another item not available is the beef rib. The skewers here were not overly salty like the Japanese yakitoris. Those are more saucy, as where these are more smokey a with a slight burnt taste. It would be nice if they had Szechuan chili powder at the table. But they didn't. Everything tasted fine. Service was excellent with a slow kitchen. No fault of the restaurant, but there were these loud girls sitting across from me speaking Toisan. Some people need to use their indoor voices when indoors.

The food was great! It came out at a good timing, kinda wished that everything came out at once but to be fair, we ordered a lot of stuff. the spicy pot was delicious and the spice level was exactly what we asked for. The meats were fresh and not overcooked. The tofu and cilantro rolls were seasoned right and less greasy than the other skewer places in sf. Drink options: plenty! They actually have the Beijing yogurt which is super rare nowadays. One of the owners actually came out and introduced herself and explained how they just recently opened. Asked for any feedback and any improvements or adjustments. This made the service experience a lot more pleasant. Definitely a fun place to try.

Skewers were delicious! Authentic northern Chinese and tasty. They even had legit stinky tofu. If you're looking for a skewer place, go here. We got here early, and they weren't that busy. Maybe the location is setting them back cuz da food is legit! Funny thing is we just went to the shower place in j town and it wasn't nearly this good. The pig ears and cucumber were probably the best version of that that I've had.

Frog legs were the best thing we ordered because they were cooked perfectly. The okra was great. Don't remember which pork item we got-I thought they were good - my partner said they were overdone. The fried rice was on point. I am not familiar with this kind of cuisine but do love chicken gizzards but they were overdone for my tastes. I do want to come back and try the duck tongue. Oh, I tried the scallop and yes tasty but texture was not to my liking maybe because they were overdone. Place is clean and service was good.

Went here late at night by chance and the skewers were really delicious. We got the beef, chicken skin, chicken, lamb, squid, green beens, enoki, tofu skin, and chives skewers. They were so flavorful and cheap, so we kept ordering more until it's closing time. The owner was super nice about us being there late. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who likes BBQ!

Came here as a big group of 7. Ordering through QR code was very fun and can see everyone ordering their choices on same cart. Serving was slow but figured it was due to a lot of orders at one go. Meat was fresh and spices were amazing. Great drink collection from soft to alcohols. A good amount of gamey meats was also on the menu too, if you feel ambitious. A server doesn't necessarily speak English but can understand English. Lots of Mandarin speakers come in and dine. I recommend here to come!

I had been here multiple times. Ate different types of things like lamb, dumplings, and skewers. The taste is amazing and has a bunch of flavors. The food Is spicy but I don't mind it. The staff is super friendly and easy to get along with. The restaurant has plenty of seating. They also can seat a larger group as needed. I definitely will be eating here again.

The food is always very good and very authentic. The skewers are very delicious and the cold spicy pig ear with cilantro and numbing spice is one of the best Chinese dishes I've ever tried.

Reply to the restaurant That's definitely not the egg Only the plastic will having that much of bobble! Don't trying to making the excuses Telling me it was rice at the first then the egg white ! Well, The truth is it's plastic The plastic in the fried rice！ First they explain me it was from steam rice Then they told me it was egg white But it was plastic And we wait 50mins for the first item served

Probably the best Chinese bbq I've had in sf so far! The seasoning was good and dishes weren't overly salty or oily. They also give you a side of the seasoning powder if you need more flavor which is nice. The service was also really great and the food came out super fast. Definitely coming back!

i came here after it had just opened with 2 friends on a wednesday evening. the decor was really cute and overall the ambiance was great. ordering is done through scanning a QR code and they bring out the food as it's ready. we ate family style and ordered a few skewers, a beef pancake, sliced beef in chili sauce, and a lamb leg. i also got a beijing yogurt drink - i feel like you don't see those very often so i wanted to try it for the experience. we were initially a little confused by the menu photos bc the photos had sets of 3 skewers, but each order was for 1 skewer. we all really liked the enoki in tofu skin wrap skewer. my friends found the sliced beef to be too spicy and couldn't finish it, so i took it home. i was a little shocked at the overall price though, i feel like this meal would've been half the price in south bay but i guess you also pay for the nice ambiance. i'm not sure if the food was worth the price so i'm not sure if i would come again, but i'm glad i tried it.

Who closes their kitchen for cleaning at 12pm on a Saturday? Wasted my parking meter payment.

Really good food! Especially the beef / beef tendon / tinfoil duck blood. Dumplings were only ok. Also Beijing Yogurt is just yogurt lol.

Amazing food with great flavours! Really appreciate the price and variety and everything was cooked so well!

We came for dinner. The food was good and service was good. We really liked the pancake with sausage and egg, oyster mushroom, chicken wings, and bacon enoki mushroom. Chicken wings are very flavorful and the oyster mushrooms are juicy. Street parking was easy to find.

Very good skewers almost had me speaking chinese after the meal. I will definitely be coming back.

Great quality, service, and ambiance. Fantastic addition to the SOMA neighborhood. Additional plus that its open late until 10PM. Highly recommend the potato salad

We ordered skewers and the beef pot, the squid and potato is really really good, but others skewers including the pot are all dry and lack of taste. The ingredient aren't fresh, taste like pre-made food. There is no service, ordered beer but till the food are all here, nobody bring our beer to the table. Or if we supposed to grab the beer ourselves, nobody knows.

This is probably one of the best BBQ skewer place I've ever had! Fantastic food, great service and nice decorations! There are a wide variety of skewers, both meat and vegetables. And the prices here are reasonable! Highly recommend this place! Some items you must-trys! Lamb leg Lamb skewers Beef skewers Beef ribs Oyster Chicken skin skewers Corn skewers Chicken wing skewers Chicken feet skewers

The food was very good. Everything was well seasoned and came out fresh! Highly recommend the duck blood. My favorite was the oyster. The service was friendly and attentive. We received free drinks. I also heard they will have beer soon too! The ambiance is basically a Chinese izakaya. Will definitely be back!

Never again. I have been wanting to try this place for awhile. Got seated in minutes - ordered and waited. And waited. And waited.no drinks no food after 20 minutes - asked for our beers thinking they were busy - waited another 15 - nothing. Finally got fed up and left - on the way out - the table seated before us - had multiple drinks on their table and plenty of food.

Food is over priced although the taste was good. Service is not really up to par to the usual US standard. You'd better not make any mistake when ordering.

Had probably the worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant. Was seated fairly quickly and ordered on my phone. Waited about 30 minutes and didn't have a server stop by despite requesting it on the app. I had to go up to ask for water, was handed a red solo cup of water and told my food was almost ready. 15 minutes after that, I received my food and had to ask the server to bring me utensils and was handed a paper plate and chopsticks. Overall the food wasn't bad, I ordered green onion pancake, beef, pork belly, mushroom, and bacon wrapped enoki skewers. Where they went wrong was the pork belly enoki was still raw, found out after I was already on the second piece. The waiter didn't even apologize for the mistake and just came back and asked "so do you still want it." Also they forgot about my green onion pancake. Finished the rest of the skewers and had to get up and flag down someone to let me pay the bill and get out of there asap. At least they had the decency to remove the raw bacon I was served from the bill and the green onion pancake that never came.

Great food. Great service. Many different skewers to try. I ordered way too much food. My group enjoyed everything. I will definitely be back.

Good food, good service, nice relaxed vide, will recommend! Come again. Goooooooooooooo

串串还可以，不如fremont的好吃。烤冷面非常不好吃，上菜特别慢。 Skewers are okay but not as good as those Chinese BBQ spots in Fremont. Mandarin pancake is horrible.... barely no taste. Also speed is really really slow. I waited maybe 30 mins to get my small single size order.

Skewers are surprisingly tasty - the seasoning is appropriate for my taste, not too salty or plain. Chicken heart is a bit gamey. Service is good - they asked for feedback at the end of the meal and offered a free drink for each person (might be due to grand opening) I hope to try this place again soon and see if they have any improvements!

had great time here. good food good service. fantastic for late night snack with friends after work!

This was a great find. We loved the food and the service. I usually get my Chinese skewers in cuperinto, didn't know there were gems here in SF !

Really enjoyed this newish Chinese bbq place. The beef tendon and squid were the best part. Service was friendly and helpful, even offering extra sauce for leftovers. Will definitely come back again.

the food and service is excellent. we ordered lots of different skewers and each were well seasoned and tasty. the fried rice was solid and the pig ear salad was really good too!

The skewers were very juicy and flavorful. The staff was super friendly and she gave us some fresh dipping seasoning for the skewers. I think this place is a bit cheaper than other Chinese skewer places I've been to. The skewers are decent sized. I will definitely come back to eat again.

Food wasn't good. All the meats had too much gristle. Hard to chew. They didn't have anything without gristle. You order through a QR code (didn't like that). We had to hunt down the waiters anytime we wanted something.

The best bbq I ate in San Francisco. Love the food, especially the lamb leg. Also the service is very good, and nice. I will come back for sure.

Good Chinese skewers, I really like their Fried Rice. Everything was reasonably priced and their cups had cool names on them.