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Big Lantern
Categories: Restaurants Chinese Restaurants Vegetarian Chinese, Vegetarian [Edit]
3170 16th St(at Albion St)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Neighborhood: Mission
(415) 863-8100
Announcement
We are currently closed for remodeling. We will be opening again on January 27, 2012. See you soon!
- Hours:
Mon-Wed, Sun 10:30 am - 11 pm
Thu-Sat 10:30 am - 12 am
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
486 reviews for Big Lantern
Review Highlights
"I highly recommend the mandarin meatless chicken."
(in 99 reviews)
"I highly recommend the Dim Sum combinations."
(in 163 reviews)
"Same owners as Yum Yum House, but the decor is much nicer."
(in 11 reviews)
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486 reviews in English
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Review from H L.
Brisbane, CA
11/20/2011
Let's get this straight. Big Lantern is not the healthy fine dining experience you are looking for. Their delivery service is slow, but functional. It's not the best Chinese food in town. But it *is* THE BEST comfort food for your wilting dollars.
You send a ping out to your friends, not expecting a reply. And you find yourself in the Mission, with 12 hungry friends on a Friday night. Some are vegan, some are veg, some eat meat, some have crazy food allergies. What the hell do you do? Big Lantern to the rescue!
They have crack, aka excellent meatless chicken of any flavor. Sesame is my fave. The foil wrapped chicken is amazing. Dim sum for dinner, check. A huge menu where you almost can't go wrong, check. Something for everyone, check. Also, yay good beer. The service is fine, the restroom clean, and the kitchen fast. -
Review from Joseph M.
San Francisco, CA
11/18/2011
Really?
Who in the world thinks this spot has any decent food?
I was shocked when i ordered the special recommended by the man over phone and it turned out to be a deep fried mess with red a sugary red sauce. I expected clean flavors with high quality but instead it was a high fructose mess.
The meatless chicken is good but the sauce was overwhelming.
The fried rice was short grain rice and awful.
Overall it wss gut bomb. Save yourself and go somewhere else. -
Review from David M.
San Ramon, CA
11/4/2011
2nd visit. Great dim sum, reasonable prices. Amazing Pan Fried Buns!! Wow!
Great lunch place! -
Review from Genvieve H.
San Francisco, CA
2/7/2012
Two words; food poisoning!
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Review from Jasmine C.
San Francisco, CA
2/5/2012
I probably would never go to this restaurant by myself but a coworker is leaving and we reserved this place for our last Friday dinner together (for a group of 11 people).
Here are the good points:
Budget spending and my ordering of Peking duck is decent! The half Peking duck is only $13.5. It came with four small bum for wrapping--when I say small, it is really small. But it kinds of mimicks what a traditional Peking duck should be like. With the diced cucumber and green onion, I think this dish is a steal.
Other food that I've seen and tasted from my co-workers' orders: Mangolian beef and Mushu pork were a bit too sweet. The texture of the meatless chicken was no comparison to a good tofu dish, but I am not vegetarian so I can't understand why people like it so much. The green onion pancake was A-OK.
Can't say this is a bad experience but I prefer to go to other restaurants where I can eat something more healthy. -
Review from Urban Bon Vivant I.
San Francisco, CA
1/15/2012
Closed for remodeling until January 27th they told me when I called on January 15th.
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Review from Taisha R.
San Francisco, CA
1/26/2012
Vegetarian Orange Chicken is all I order. I've tried a couple of other appetizers and nothing really stands out but the orange chicken is consistently delicious.
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Review from Laura H.
San Francisco, CA
2/5/2012
Do not eat here!! I got food here last night, was finishing the leftovers today and found a freakin' COCKROACH in my sweet and sour tofu!! I will be contacting the health department tomorrow to report this!! I don't ever write yelp reviews, but I signed up for an account just to write this review. This is totally unacceptable for a business. DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Review from Mayra L.
San Francisco, CA
10/27/2011
Oh hey meatless chicken!
Ugh....this place is amazing! They have really good quality, healthy produce that they use for vegetarian and meat lovers friendly Chinese food. It's just oh so good, and for really reasonable prices. I love the chow fun with meatless chicken!
TIP: They deliver anywhere in the City with a 10 dollar minimumListed in: Some of my favorite things
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Review from Leigh F.
San Francisco, CA
1/27/2012
Very tasty and one of the few Chinese restaurants that delivers to South Beach. Love the garlic scallops although I don't know why they're called garlic scallops because they don't taste garlicky to me. Not a criticism, just an observation. Today they messed up my order and accidentally gave me crab rangoon. A lucky mistake for me because it's the best crab rangoon I've ever had.
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Review from Courtney A.
San Francisco, CA
10/29/2011 1 Check-in Here
I LOVE THIS PLACE. Big Lantern is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in the entire city. Here's why: I'm pretty much a vegetarian, but I REALLY miss chinese food like orange chicken or sweet and sour pork or what have you. This place has a huge menu (I mean, HUGE) and I've probably tasted a dozen dishes and everything was good (with the exception of the veggie fried rice being a bit bland).
The meatless chicken and the meatless beef are SO GOOD. Who knows how good they are for you, but man, they are delicious. i've tried the orange, the kung pao, and the general and want to go back for the 5-alarm sesame or something like that.
They also have DIM SUM and a bunch of veggie options like vegetarian steamed buns (!!!).
Lunch special comes with a small portion of an entree (but still enough food) with rice and a mini salad.
Service is nice and attentive.
Sure, you can get equally good or better food elsewhere, but there are few places you can get 1) delicious fake meat chinese dishes in 2) big portions for 3) a great price. All together this place becomes one of my fave spots. -
Review from John B.
San Francisco, CA
1/27/2012
They've been closed the past couple weeks for 'remodeling.' Hope it's true and they reopen soon. Very consistant and delectable, if not the most authentic. Love the General chicken, though only the veggie version seems to be on the menu so ask for it. it comes with broccoli on the side which is a nice touch. One of the few places I've found cold sesame noodles which I LOVE. Awesome fried string beans, pepper beef hot pot etc. Only bad dish was a fake chicken thing that was so bland we only had a couple bites.
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Review from Bry B.
San Francisco, CA
11/1/2011
PROS
- Quick
- Easy
CONS
-Just ok... -
Review from BatBoy x.
San Francisco, CA
9/12/2011
Hi,
I first came into Big Lantern by mistake running from a crowd gathered outside The Roxie and a buff guy smoking outside Kilowatt. Ducking, into a booth, the wait staff surprisingly brought me a menu and a glass of water. Not really knowing what to do I chugged down the water and sat helplessly staring at the waiter. He asked if I knew what I wanted and couldnt help but start screaming, "I'M VEGAN!". He smiled despite my sudden volume and pointed me to an entire page of vegetarian dishes. I heard someone next to me order the "General Meatless Chicken", so I exclaimed, again unable to control my volume, "GENERAL MEATLESS CHICKEN!!"
He went away and I nervously choked down my water.
He brought it out... and it was delicious.
Being Nocturnal, it's hard to find a good place to eat that isnt a diner full of tourists with cameras (as I have a phobia of flashing lights).
I now frequent this place despite the often heavy traffic on 16th. They've recently let me enter through the back which has been a relief and has cut my breathing exercises before entering in half.
I'd say come by and say hello, but I'd probably just scream.
-BatBoy -
Review from Foodie D.
San Francisco, CA
10/1/2011
I started ordering her a couple weeks ago after receiving their menu on my door. Very good. Fresh ingredients, good quality, not so greasy like some Chinese food can be.
Give'em a try. The prices are very fair. -
Review from Ivan L.
8/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
Big Lantern is A-OK... if you know what I mean.
I've had both dine-in and take-out service and was surprised both times at how quickly we got the food. The portions are also enormous - good for saving a few bucks.
Food-wise, they've got a pretty decent size vegetarian menu in addition to meat dishes. Nothing too special, nothing too authentic - just decent American style Chinese food. -
Review from Sean S.
8/23/2011
Your basic chinese resto. I had the hot n sour soup. Despite their promises, I don't believe it was kosher. I also had the garlic-chili cucumber dish, which was good, but so spicy I coughed! Add to that some veggie steamed dumplings, and I was good for the night.
Service was curt, but sufficient. Being a Monday night, it was not full of cute hipster patrons as I was hoping... -
Review from Kyle B.
Berkeley, CA
11/11/2011
I normally avoid eating at any Chinese place that doesn't come with a high recommendation. I also have a hard time picking the "right" thing off the menu. However, I finally made the right call at Big Lantern. The vegetable potstickers as an appetizer were great, but the five spice sesame meatless chicken was absolutely incredible.
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Review from David W.
San Francisco, CA
12/3/2011
Not the best looking place from the street, but the best tasting Chinese Food i have had yet in the city.
The soup & dishes have all been good, ready quickly, pretty good service. But the Orange Meatless Chicken is amazing!!! Unique and absolutely tasty! must try -
Review from Sarah B.
San Francisco, CA
11/25/2011
We get takeout from Big Lantern ALL the time. I would highly recommend this place ONLY for the 'meatless chicken' options, which are all delicious -- I especially recommend the 5 spice sesame and the kung pao. Even meat-eaters will like them, promise. The meat and seafood options are.... not good. At all. Also, do NOT get delivery; we live three blocks away but were feeling lazy on a stormy night so we ordered delivery -- our cold, greasy food arrived nearly two hours later. 5 stars for the meatless chicken options but 1 or 2 stars for everything else averages out to 3 stars.
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Review from Leuwam T.
San Francisco, CA
8/31/2011
I like Big Lantern best for its delivery. They are fast and my food has always arrived piping hot despite living in a different neighborhood. I think the prices are fair and the portions are generous.
This is not my go to place for in house dining but it it definitely is for delivery. They also have great vegetarian options. I go for the meatless orange chicken and garlic eggplant. -
Review from K W.
San Francisco, CA
6/10/2011
This is a Vegetarian Review.
Honestly, this is the best Chinese food I've ever eaten. The variety for a vegetarian at this place is IMMENSE. I truly cannot stress enough how heavenly this place is, so I'm just going to name off a small portion of what they have to offer.
- Meatless Chicken out the whazoo! Breaded, not breaded, big chunks and little, this place is a soy chicken lover's *dream*. Curry, General's, Sesame, Sweet & Sour, Five Spice, - and, seriously, I think at least a dozen more.
- Meatless Beef. I can't say much about this - I never liked real beef back in my carnivore days, so I don't order it. But if you want it, they've got it.
- A lovely variety of vegetable dishes. Black Bean Asparagus, Garlic Broccoli, Garlic Spinach, Dry Sauteed String Beans (my favorite), and on and on.
- Tofu dishes, of course.
- Yummy dim sum (served anytime) dishes like Taro Vegetable Puffs (HOLY GOD!!!!!), Taro Cakes, and several other vegetarian items not found at many Chinese spots.
- Plus they have things like the Meatless Chicken Salad - a yummy shredded cabbage salad with a crisp coated meatless chicken "breast" on top, and a creamy, sweet and light dressing. I've never had anything like it anywhere else. When I first had it I got so hooked that I really had to keep myself from losing my shit and eating it every day. ;)
Honestly, if you are a Vegetarian I can vouch for the fact that you will love the food at this place. It's clean, dining there is lovely, and they are quick with service and short on chitchat. Nice folks with no language barrier.
Also, they DELIVER! They always say "45 minutes" for the delivery time, but tonight it literally got here in 20. And right now my food is sitting on the counter waiting for me, so I'm afraid we've come to the conclusion of this portion of tonight's entertainment.
Try them out - THEY ARE GREAT! :D -
Review from Cate M.
Daly City, CA
9/6/2011
Sometimes I just really want standard American Chinese food...and that can be kind of tough if you're vegetarian. Although I don't usually crave fake meat, I do like it sometimes and this place has plenty of options. It's not particularly healthy or refined, but it totally satisfies any greasy Chinese craving you may find yourself with.
LOVE the orange meatless chicken, orange meatless beef, kung pao meatless chicken, and vegetarian dim sum sampler. I'll be back for sure. -
Review from Rosalee C.
San Francisco, CA
12/28/2011
i love their garlic noodles and their huge selection of meat subsitutions, even though i do eat meat.
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Review from Sylvia Y.
San Francisco, CA
7/18/2011
Yummy! My boyfriend and I order from here almost every weekend. Craving got bad enough once that we over-ordered (a lot of leftovers) and the delivery guy thought we were hosting a party. In some sense, we were. But it was a raid party on an MMO.
Dishes that we order almost every time:
* Turnip cakes - As a rule, I don't like veggies and I don't like dim sum. So that's how good these are. Probably one of my favorite dishes from here.
* Crab rangoon - Not much crab, mostly cream cheese. Crab rangoon is generally sinfully good and these are no different.
* BBQ pork buns - Good and a staple. I like it because it has less meat, I think my boyfriend thinks there's too little in there.
* Peking duck - Not enough steamed buns given with the order, but the duck is non-fatty and the skin is crispy and perfect
* General Tsao's - Ordered this the other night, very good
For the price and the ease of delivery, it's 5 stars. Don't let the haters fool you. I'm going to be a repeat weekend customer as long as we live within delivery range. -
Review from Richard C.
San Francisco, CA
11/19/2011
The order took 11/2 hours to be delivered. When it arrived the food was cold and oily. I called to check on the order and was given attitude by the man on the phone. Stay away from this dump.
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Review from M C.
San Francisco, CA
Came here because Mission Chinese Food was closed for Independence day. When we first arrived I thought we were in the wrong place because it was so empty. The whole place had another party of 3 and ourselves for the night.
The only reason I thought of coming here instead of another place because of all the people who mentioned this place that had gone to Mission Chinese Food . The place is not a $ restaurant, the only thing under $10 is the lunch specials. Most items were around the $11 boarder.
For the price we paid, the amount of customers that the business had that night and what we got, I totally do not believe the place is worth it. Our Mao Pao Tofu was nothing special, our spicy fish had a few pieces of cod and our Tea lamb was overcooked and tasted more like beef. -
Review from Tony G.
San Francisco, CA
8/16/2011
I love Big Lantern. I never eat there but I always order for delivery. Very prompt even in my remote Potrero cave. Everything is great from the dishes to the dim sum. They deliver dim sum!!!
Everything is great except for the white rice and that is why I am giving it 3 stars instead of 5. I used to believe that if your rice is bad then everything else fails but that's just not the case with BL. The white rice is a big fail but everything else makes up for it. I have since switched to brown rice which is way better and healthier. -
Review from Candy W.
San Francisco, CA
8/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
I crave Big Lantern, constantly.
The food is delicious and the delivery service is great, what more could you ask? The employees are very nice too. I am obsessed with the sweet and sour chicken, I get that dish at nearly every Chinese place I go, and theirs is my favorite.
I usually get delivery or pick up to go; they have great hours, staying open til 11pm on a Sunday is a huge luxury.
I've only dined in once with a friend...it was nice, aside from the super crazy guy a few seats away that kept interrupting our conversation. But that's the Mission for you. -
Review from Bex O.
San Francisco, CA
8/10/2011
I am a native San Francisco who has grown up eating at various Chinese restaurants across the city, and I must say that the dinner dishes they serve here are great!
The sauces they pour over their dishes aren't crowding the dishes and making everything oily. The meat dishes are served really well, tender, and juicy. And the vegetable - green beans are what we ordered - were just oozing with aroma!
And my absolute favorite part about this place? The potstickers with the slighty hot sauce oil! So amazing!!
The price wasn't that bad and being that it's on the Mission and served by true Cantonese folks, this place is a must-try! -
Review from Nathalie R.
Los Angeles, CA
7/3/2011
This place was a wonderful delight.
We ordered:
* mock orange beef (which came with broccoli as well)
* vegetarian mu-shu (delicious and rare to find in other restaurants but came with Mexican tortillas instead of Chinese pancakes!!)
*plate of veg. dim sum combo
Will definitely be back soon. It is very difficult to find good vegetarian Chinese food in San Diego, and even harder to find veg. mu-shu that is done right and has good flavors. Thanks for the good times Big Lantern!! -
Review from Demeter T.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 3/2/2011
Absolutely ridiculous. I will never order from this restaurant ever again.
I placed an order over 2 hours ago and still have not received the delivery. Literally four calls and four repeated promises of the food arriving "in 10 mins" is the best you can expect from this place.
Ugh. Definitely order here if you are looking for a headache, patchy service, and cold food.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/17/2010
Just a week ago, I would have rated this place 4 stars for its awesomeness. Now, I'm torn. So… Read more »
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Review from Nicole P.
San Francisco, CA
7/9/2011
Another easy and tasty place to hit up in the mission
We usually get pick up to take home but sometimes we do stop into eat. It is a typical Chinese restaurant but they do offer quite a few dim sum options. My favorite though is the Chinese food not the dim sum. Regular menu items we get are:
- hot and sour soup
- salt and pepper pork chops
- beef chow fun
- and the special eggplant dish they offer
everything is okay prices not super cheap but more on the pricey end of fast Chinese food. It is a nice mix of hole in the wall charm but nice enough you enjoy eating in their establishment. I love how close this place is and the are very nice about phone orders. The only major negatives are 1.) we like to order late night chow fun, sometimes after going out and they always say they have it, until after we pay and then they say the only have chow mien.
2.) There are no descriptions of the dishes on the menu which makes me hesitant to try different things. -
Review from Kevin C.
San Francisco, CA
3/22/2011
Sesame meatless chicken! Garlic string beans! epic!
The phone service is shoddy but dinning and take out is fine.
Also free chow mein when you order two entrees for take out! -
Review from shane s.
Oakland, CA
5/26/2011
I'm not sure why my (vegan) peers are raving about this joint.
Yes, they have (vegan) dim sum. Yes, it is good.
They also have a ton of fake meat dishes! Nomz. What sets Big Lantern apart from other Chinese joints with vegan dishes? The serving sizes! Generous indeed.
The one catch: An hour after eating Big Lantern, I feel like I have a gut full of grease... and I probably do. -
Review from Tara R.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 6/7/2011 5 photos
Vegetarian dim sim at Big Lantern was awesome! So many choices and all the ones I tried (which were quite a few) were delicious. I especially recommend the Taro Puff, the veggie Wonton soup, and the spinach dumplings. This place will definitely become one of my new favorite places to hit up.
ps. very friendly service! :) -
Review from DiMartin N.
San Francisco, CA
8/1/2011
I was looking for some dim sum late in the day but also feeling lazy--so what I needed was a place that delivered.
I ordered shrimp dumplings, chive dumplings, pork buns and egg custard. They all tasted pretty good and the price was okay. Delivery took an hour, which is too be expected I guess. I'll have to try their other stuff some other time, but I'll definitely remember this place for future reference. -
Review from Erik G.
San Francisco, CA
3/2/2011
Every time I've ordered from this place, the food and service has drastically decreased in quality. What was once a delightful treat is now nothing but aggravation.
After placing an order shortly after they opened, I had to wait 2 hours for the food to arrive, and not once was I contacted by them to let me know that there were any issues. I had to call twice to speak to someone, and each time they told me "it was 10 minutes away" and that they would "call the driver."
This place is not worth the trouble and the excuses. Why should I have to pay for their scheduling issues and lack of accountability? -
Review from Meredith W.
San Francisco, CA
4/3/2011
I've only ever got delivery, so I have no idea how the dine-in experience is.
Food is always delivered fairly quickly, hot and I've never had a dish I didn't like. The food isn't out-of-this-world-amazing; but predictably tasty for a good price.
They have a robust menu including good dim sum as well as vegan/veggie friendly entrées (I'm a meat lover myself, but like that when I'm ordering with friends I don't worry if they'll only have one or two options). -
Review from jessica r.
San Francisco, CA
3/21/2011
I ordered :
General Meatless Chicken w Broccoli
Vegetarian Pot Stickers
Brown Rice
The food was delicious and delivery arrived before the time.
