R&G Lounge is a lively three-story Cantonese gem in Chinatown, famed for its iconic salt and pepper crab and a bustling atmosphere perfect for group celebrations.
"Since opening in 1985, this Cantonese restaurant in Chinatown has stood as the backdrop to countless graduation parties, wedding banquets, and dinners with coworkers who just spent the entire day losing brain cells at some FiDi corporate event. This place is a multi-story maze made up of several dining rooms, a full bar, and hosts who communicate through earpieces (shepherding you through a seafood-filled evening is serious business). Big round tables are in the main dining areas—once you’re seated, let the salt and pepper crab, which arrives with a mountain of crunchy fried legs, should be the first thing you order." - julia chen 1, patrick wong
"Everyone has a story about some occasion they celebrated at R&G Lounge, whether you’re talking to your parents’ parents or a recent graduate who was born in the 2000s. The Cantonese seafood legend is a standby for birthdays, wedding banquets, and coworker bonding events—it’s a multi-floor maze of white tablecloths, fish tanks, and staff who communicate via earpiece. Get the roasted crab on your table, along with the Peking duck served with pillowy bao, and keep the lychee martinis coming." - julia chen 1, patrick wong, ricky rodriguez
"Bring up R&G Lounge around your boss, uncle’s cousin, or yoga teacher, and you’re bound to hear at least one nostalgic story about that time they took down an entire salt and pepper crab in one sitting, or had a graduation party on the top floor with one too many lychee martinis. The multi-story Cantonese restaurant has been going strong since 1985, so it’s hard to find a person in the city who doesn’t have fond memories of sitting at one of the banquet tables and passing around plates of shrimp with scrambled eggs and crispy salt and pepper tofu." - julia chen 1, patrick wong, lani conway
"Bring up R&G Lounge around your boss, uncle’s cousin, or even your favorite questionably flirty Trader Joe’s cashier, and you’re bound to hear at least one nostalgic story about the Chinatown institution. This Cantonese seafood restaurant has hosted everything from graduation celebrations to bachelorette parties to coworker bonding sessions since 1985. And it’s still the only place we want to pack a table with a big group of friends, roll up our sleeves, and devour a humongous pile of crab legs. R&G is a vortex of controlled chaos. But that’s what makes dinner fun. The multi-story space is loud and a little rambunctious. There’s something happening at every turn. Groups of ten and twelve people shuffle around each other on the stairs going from the first to second floor dining room. Bartenders shake lychee martinis at the bar on the ground floor and crack jokes with regulars, adding to the constant buzz in the air. Amidst the mayhem stand the hosts, who calmly communicate between floors via earpieces, and, like well-trained air traffic controllers, usher in groups of diners gathered on the sidewalk. photo credit: Jeremy Chen As for the food, the menu is the length of a young adult novel. You’ll see bowls of sweet corn soup, steamed clams, Peking duck, and seven types of fried rice. Stories you’ve heard about this place likely involve the iconic salt and pepper crab. The stunning crustacean turns heads as it's paraded through the dining room and becomes the gleaming centerpiece on nearly every round table. It arrives semi-deconstructed with fried legs piled under the shell, and crunchy seasoning mixed throughout. The other seafood and meat dishes are also worth getting. The baked sea bass is flaky and sticky from the sweet glaze. Shrimp is served with velvety scrambled eggs. And the house crispy beef is just what we want to snack on through road trips or long movies. But still, if you only get one dish, make it the crab. We’ll jump on any excuse to take down a whole crab in one sitting, and experience a Chinatown staple that shows no signs of slowing down. R&G Lounge is one of the most fun places in town to eat with at least ten other people who probably wouldn't say "no" to getting a crab tattoo on their lower back. If that person is you—or you need convincing—now's the time to get here. Food Rundown photo credit: Jeremy Chen Salt & Pepper Crab If seafood dishes in SF were celebrities, this salt and pepper version would be Meryl Streep. It’s been an iconic standby for decades, thanks to crisp, light batter, tender crab meat, and crispy fried garlic you’ll want on everything. photo credit: Jeremy Chen R&G Special Beef We could single handedly polish off an entire order of this crispy beef—it’s that good. But we usually just order at least two plates of it for our table. Salted Fish With Chicken Fried Rice Our favorite fried rice on the menu. The salted fish adds a little punch of umami to every bite. photo credit: Jeremy Chen Baked Chilean Sea Bass This sea bass jiggles like a mound of Jell-O when you pass it around the table, and is covered in a sweet glaze that gets stuck to the roof of your mouth, in the best way. photo credit: Melissa Zink Peking Duck Take off the seafood goggles and pay attention to this Peking duck—it’s one of the city’s best. The plate of glistening bone-in meat is tender with skin crispier than a Ruffle. It also comes with plenty of plump steamed bao for duck-swaddling, and you can opt for either a $30 half or $55 whole portion." - Julia Chen
"A Chinatown classic, R&G Lounge has three floors worth of white tablecloths and spinning Cantonese-style dishes. It’s known for its iconic salt-and-pepper crab that’s generously battered and deep-fried until golden. But you can also get crab prepared eight other ways, including with black bean sauce, salted egg yolk, or stir-fried with garlic and peppers." - Becky Duffett, Eater Staff