D & A Cafe
407 Clement St
(between 5th Ave & 6th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94118 (415) 668-7882
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 7:00 a.m.-1:00 a.m. - Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Late Night
- Alcohol: None
51 reviews
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
"This a place I have been visting for the better part of 20 years or so. It is located on Balboa next to the Balboa Theatre. I love to…" read more »
155 Reviews for D & A Cafe
If your looking for quick, cheap and chinese then this the place to go. I had to make a quick stop in here to feed my son. I was on quite a time crunch. Ordered a Hai Nam Chicken over rice...$4.25. Baked Pork Chop over rice...$3.99. 2 lemon ice teas...$1.20 each. Taste was alright for its price.
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I was sick a few months ago and craving porridge so made my bf pick up some from D&A Cafe (having never set foot in the place). I didn't get what I expected, but I figured that is because bf didn't really hear what I wanted since bf hates porridge (how can anyone hate porridge?)
Had a porridge craving last night so stopped by to pick some up (this time, the exact kind I wanted). First thing I noticed is that the restaurant is not clean. It's also a little difficult to order, even though I was speaking Mandarin. (I switched to English, which actually worked better). Imagining the bf ordering here made me laugh -- I always think it's funny when he is the token. (Although sometimes it is creepy because then it looks like he has an asian fetish, which he doesn't, but the thought still grosses me out).
Anyways, the food took awhile and the whole time I was engrossed at watching the staff peel raw shrimp and assemble other raw seafood items at the counter. Seemed unsanitary. But the food was for them, so I figured if it was problematic, they wouldn't eat it themselves. Order finally came. Thousand year old egg and pork porridge and salt and pepper spareribs. It totally hit the spot.
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No Bueno. Period.
You would think that stumbling in here drunk , the food would at least taste decent, because you know, when you're drunk, everything tastes a little better.
But shit man, I couldn't tolerate half the plates that came out. I felt like ordering a bowl of rice, and just eating that with soy sauce.
This place is terrible. I absolutely hate this place with a passion. You will never catch me in here. EVER again.
Unless I'm super drunk on auto-pilot mode. Then maybe you might catch me in here eating my white rice with soy sauce.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to handle the "runs" I received from this place.
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I came here a couple of times, though I probably shouldn't have after the first. Though the place is definitely cheap, the quality isn't great. If you're looking for a quick bite, and to stuff yourself cheaply, this is the place to go. However, don't bring your date here, he or she'll laugh at you.
Dirt cheap
yeah, for food that tastes like bleach
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Cheap, alright tasting food... But this place is quite dirty.... The one in chinatown looks better O_O. end of story ;D
-x3 shells
WHERE DO I BEGIN? this place is simply pretty bad. All those myths about gross chinese places this would be really make you believe them
The food there is inconsistantly cooked. I have been here a few times and each time i order the same dish it would be quite different. Such as the salt and pepper chicken. Once it was tasty then the next time it was bland with no taste.
Service is WOW. They obviously dont care for anyones business. They do ignore you to every extent. They forgot to make a one of my friends drink and we tried getting their attention after a incredibly long wait. Anal service = no stars in my book.
Food tastes alright. I enjoyed there vegetables that is about it.
BLEGH, these places disgust me and forever will keep me in a dilemma as to why the public health inspectors allow them to still be in service. You definitely get what you pay for if not less. You will get less of an appetite than what you came in with, less overall cleanliness, less attention, and the food is almost less than edible. It is drenched in oil and tastes anything BUT delicious. After consuming it, try hard to keep it down. Again, BLEGH!
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My favorite thing about this place: really yummy food at a low, low price! I like their chow fun/mien, it's really flavorful! I like their deep fried smelt, it's a staple! Their tapioca milk tea is perfect and my bf says he likes their watermelon drink (i don't like watermelon, so i can't confirm that). It's really an affordable place if you're not looking for a glamorous place to eat.
FOOD POISONING!!!
My husband and his friends ate here about 4 days ago. Since then, my husband hasn't eaten, throws up all the liquids and was hospitalized yesterday. The doctos confirmed it was food poisoning. His friends also got sick, but not as bad as him. I wouldn't eat here.
Eh, I've been coming here for a while now.
I'd give it a rock steady 2.5 stars.
The food is okay, good portions, quality is okay, depending on what you order. You can get more of a VARIETY of dishes here than MOST places, but that doesn't always guarantee the quality. Sometimes your favorite dish will be a solid hit, and the next it can be a mile wide miss.
However, given my habits of eating, sleeping, and going out, this place's hours, grub options and price range sure helps, especially after a nite out.
This place is the essence of "you get what you pay for". I have been to this restaurant on numerous occasions. It is cheap. It is somewhat dirty. But it gets pretty good business. Why? Because sometimes you don't want to pay for nice food. Sometimes you want something cheap that tastes okay. If you come with these expectatiions, you will be pleased. To be frank, this is not a place you should even bother yelping. And if you are looking up this place for any occasion, it is probably not what you are looking for.
Yes I would go again. No I wouldn't bring a date there. There's a special late night menu after 9.
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This place is really cheap for what you get. I didn't eat all day and I came here with a couple of friends and got beef cube with some creamy sauce and rice. Very delish! The service is somewhat bad but the food is good. My friend got this good drink, lemon coke, which is hot coke with some lemon. really good! Very good for a late night meal.
I never really cared for D&A...sure the food here is cheap ass hell, but it's not really tasty and just doesnt satisfy my stomach. I remember having noodle soup here and the broth didnt have much taste to it..the afternoon specials are worth it but you pretty much get what you pay for- i'd rather pay a few extra dollars to go elsewhere that will satisfy my tummy!
The price is reason enough to come! But the service could use a lot of improvement. I have to say though, I'm really cheap, and if you're looking for a cheap place to eat that'll fill you up, you can spend less than $5.00 and leave with a full stomach!
The only reason you would come here is for the price (my reason for the 3 stars). I came around 4pm on a Saturday and ordered about 3 main dishes, 2 appetizers, desert, and milk tea and my bill came out to about $20. The food was not bad either.
This is the only reason you would come to this restaurant. It's not for great service, cleanliness or anything like that. They don't usually expect a great tip either. This is your typical hole in the wall neighborhood Cantonese restaurant.
We needed some more ingredients for jook (so exciting) so we went over to Clement. After looking at a bunch of random stuff I'd never seen before at a Chinese market, we realized we might need something to go along with the jook.
We were walking around looking for some inspiration when we saw D&A. I was reminded that I like XO sauce. We looked at the menus posted on the windows and saw that there was a 3 item for $18.99 deal so we got the squid with XO sauce, tofu claypot with XO sauce and Chinese broccoli to go.
I love squid. It might be my favorite food but this was some fishy squid and I couldn't stomach much of it. The tofu was really good though, silky and flavorful. And they threw in a huge container of rice and a soup with a lot of ginger in it. I tossed the squid but I ate leftovers of the rest for 2 more days.
Service is super surly and I wouldn't want to eat there unless I was drunk.
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Rude, unfriendly staff.....-_-"
Opened late.
Dirt cheap food that satisfies my late night cravings when there's no where else to go.
...Only Chinese restaurant where I find middle aged Asian men playing MTG.
Oh geez!!
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It was almost 10pm and some friends and I were looking for a place where we could seriously chow down on the cheap. One of us brought up D & A which seemed to fit our appetites at the moment so we went.
Let's get one thing straight. Customer service definitely isn't this place's strong suit .Our only request was that we wanted a large enough table to fit all our dishes. And seeing that all 4 of us were pretty big tall guys a tiny booth was definitely not an option. We pointed out this 6 seater in the corner, but they insisted that we didn't have enough and proceeded to stick us on a table I swear was out of an Alice and Wonderland tea party. On top of that, old food crust was pretty much all over my friend's plate. Delicious!
Why then do you ask do I keep on coming back to this place? Cuz it's CHEAP and the food's decent. Let me give a quick breakdown of what we ordered:
Westlake soup- A bit watery, but the flavors were all there
Honey Walnut Shrimp- Not bad for $3.99
Beef Chow Fun- Noodles had perfect texture, beef was tender
Deep fried founder
Salt and Pepper Spareribs- A bit overcooked, but flavor was there
Salt and Pepper Tofu- Delicious, bite-sized nuggets
Salt and Pepper Chicken WIngs- Huge and plentiful
Soy Sauce Chow Mein
Hai Nan Chicken
Braised Tofu with Vegetables
Lemon Iced Tea- A buck for a seriously, refreshing beverage
Watermelon juice- Freshly squeezed, with drop of honey--AWESOME
Put it this way...by the time all the dishes arrived, you'd swear we were playing Jenga with all the shit we were stacking.
So yeah...if you want cheap, decent eats with generous portions, come to D & A...it ain't clean, it ain't friendly...but for damn sure you're not going home hungry...
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Yes, the food is cheap...dirt cheap, but it is the dirtiest restaurant (with a worst manner waitress who works in the morning) I have ever seen .... When you see a cockroach in day light, there must be tons overflowing behind the wall. If they can do this in front of customers, can't image what they do behind the scene... the waitress asked her co-worker to throw a table cloth to wipe a table... waitress could not CATCH the table cloth and it landed on floor, the waitress picked it from floor, wiped table..... that worst manner waitress truly has the worst manners....should get fried long time ago! If she is not happy with her job, please quite it, don't let customers suffer!!
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I think I'll have to come here after a night of hardcore drinking to get post-drinking meal. Ya know, when you're drunk everything taste like a gourmet meal.
I was hungry to the point where if you any sort of food in front of me I would've ate it, but D&A failed to do that.
I had the honey walnut prawns, chicken cutlet w/ spaghetti, and walermelon juice.
Honey walnut prawns were blah and tasteless...the walnuts tasted pretty nomy though.
chicken cutlet w/ spaghetti; i had 1 bite of the cutlet...and the spaghetti's meat sauce was very watered down.
My friends jelly fish...didn't look appetizing at all. (Since it was like the spikey jelly fish) And I love jelly fish too. =(
Fried tofu was ok, but tasted better than anything I had ordered.
The upside is that during the "happy hour" the appetizer plates are dirt cheap! But like the saying goes you get what you pay for.
Oh, and the other upside is the watermelon juice is ober yummy. Mmmm +1 star for the watermelon juice!
----Will have to review again when I come here drunk to eat.
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Service for this place SUCKS!!! The area is kinda dirty..why would you EVER come here..answer is the food is great and the prices are even better. There are places where the food is bad, but the service and location are great...this is just the opposite. The salt and pepper spare ribs are my favorite and the portion here are just fantastic..3 stars for food and not one star for service :(
We came here on Sunday, around 2 p.m.
Service here, is typical Chinese style. They take your order, they slap the food on your table, and they leave ya to it. And they hardly know who ordered what but at least it gets to the table.
Food was good though. My sister and I order the 3 items for $18, which came with soup of the day, and ordered rice separately. We ordered the salt-n-pepper chicken, which my sister enjoyed immensely, mixed veggies with dried shrimp, which was savory, with a lovely addition of bean thread which I hadn't seen before (great idea!), and the deep-fried flounder, which was pretty big!
My friend ordered the lunch special of onion/ginger beef, which she enjoyed.
It was a cheap lunch! And they make a strong HK milk tea! :-D
The menu was pretty interesting...lots of chinese dishes, but some americanized fare--spaghetti and sandwiches. Yeah, it was our first time, so we looked at the menu for 10 minutes trying to figure out what to order...it was all so tempting. And they have these crazy 'happy hour' specials, and just on and on the menus go.
Decor was very plain and simple. No tableclothes, just tables, chairs and a few booths. The floor was not clean, but it's a hole-in-a-wall kind of place.
Parking is typical Clement--tricky.
And don't be silly, we didn't leave much of a tip, because it's freaking lousy service but good cheap eats!
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staff may be rude n unfriendly but yesterday i went there, had a baked seafood with rice, drink and a soup for $7 i cant complain! And they certainly do not skimp you on the food! i would give it 3.5 stars if i could... but good chinese food with big portions and cheap prices... THAT is a REAL chinese restaurant!
Cheap Chinese food. For what you pay for and what you get how can you go wrong. Even better when you are there for the happy hour prices. Two people eating $17 including tip and we got 5 dishes. With prices like this you can't complain about anything.
Reminds me going out late night in HK.
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My method when fervently searching for a place to eat: look for a place that's crowded. So, famished, cold, and a little worn at the edges, my boyfriend and I ate here after noticing the crowd. After perusing the somewhat appealing pictures plastered on the windows, we entered. Little did we know that a crowd will acummulate anywhere there's food past 10:00 at night. This place is tepid, at best.
One, if you're looking for cheap food with none of the frills (ambience, service, cleanliness) then go here. It's a little dirty, but hey, I'm Asian, and that's how we roll. Two, service here sucks. When we asked for water, we never received it. When we asked for suggestions on what to choose from the appetizers, we received a weird glare and then a presumptious, "Everything is good on the menu." Yeah, sure.
We ordered our food, which granted, cost only 18 bucks for wonton beef stew, porkchop and rice, and salt and pepper fried tofu. My soup was basically msg broth with a few wonton bits and beef thrown in for good measure. I liked it but, after a while, my boyfriend would pull the bowl away from me and tell me to stop stuffing my face with what would amount to a whole friggin tub of msg sea water. His pork chop was standard fare, smothered in an eerie orange tomato sauce reminiscent of my grandmother's sauce. It looked like a dish served during a war or something because they gave us this worn tin plate with orange sauce overfilling the edges. But it was decent. The best part of the meal was probably the fried tofu, which came up perfectly fried in cubes, mixed in with some jalapenos and green onions. Surprisingly, it was not overly salty and very scrumptious, just as an appetizer should be.
Bottom line: if you're hungry and cheap and don't mind the filth and unattentive staff, by all means, go here. Oh, and they only accept cash.
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I'm a broke student, which explains why I ate here. I was hopeful it was good and safe since I saw two white guys go in ahead of me. That's how I judge Asian restaurants. If a white guy thinks it's safe enough to eat here, then it must be. However, both of them took their food to go. Perhaps they did not want to ruin their dining experience by looking at the ants crawling on the floor coupled by the stickiness of the tables and everything else. I'm Asian, therefore I was not expecting supreme cleanliness or attentive service. However, I was scared to put my feet on the ground, thinking that a cockroach would crawl up my leg. That's right, I'm not exaggerating. I kept my feet up on the seat in front of me...until I ate my cheap food, paid, and left.
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The food is definitely cheap here. Especially the Special menu (afternoon-tea). Items on this menu are $2.49 - $3.99, with drinks such as red bean drink, milk tea, honey lemon tea...etc for only $1.20 each.
Portions are unexpectedly bigger. You would've think that for 2 bucks they would give you a dinky dish. But they're actually a hearty size.
I don't generally have an issue with this place. But man...my sis and I got food poisoning from here yesterday. The 4 of us spent pretty much the whole day together. We had D&A for afternoon snack and went to my uncle's for dinner. The next day, today, both my sis and I woke up with a stomachache. Everyone else was fine. So that eliminates food from my uncles....meaning something we ate at D&A. And we highly suspect it was the red bean drink since only my sis and I were the only ones who had it.
So usually I can tolerate the rude waitresses, bussing carts frequently sweeping by and the dirty bathroom and floors. I mean...what do you expect from a cheap and fast place? But this stomachache...nuh uh...that crosses the line!!
I can't say I'll never go back. But it sure won't be for a looong while!!
May I add that their health score is only 80! 80?!?!
My friends and I almost always order the same dishes. The price has risen up for the 3-item + soup menu. The last time I saw it, it was $18.99. It used to be $16.99 many months ago. We love the juicy and flavorful black bean sauce clams and salt & pepper chickenwings and fried pork ribs. The soup presents warmth to the tummy before the rest of the dishes are served. We always eat at this D&A. I have eaten at the Broadway D&A before but not very often, so I'm not sure how I would compare them both. The service really isn't very great, as most of the reviewers here have mentioned. They are quite busy though but should be more attentive and thoughtful for customers all-around.
Better than ABC Bakery.
I like the salted fish and chicken fried rice.
Ah, I get it. Uppity Yelpers come to D&A expecting refined Asian cuisine, and come out angry and confused because the casual HK-American style food was not what they expected. Here's a hint: authentic Chinese food is most likely cheaply priced, because that's what most Chinese people eat. Chinese restaurants don't have frills or bells or whistles because it's all about the food, and about getting filled up.
At D&A, you will appreciate both. This place is a gem among the Asian community. For not a lot of money at all (the lunch special is just $3.99!) you get very generous portions of delicious Chinese/HK/American fusion dishes. The place is usually most busy during happy hour, when prices are further reduced. D&A also opens late, it's a good place to fill up after an eventful night in the city. The lack of decor negligible, all things considered, but they do have several televisions your eyes can wander to when you're waiting for your buddy to return from the restroom.
I went just last night and paid about 10 bucks for: soup, garlic pork chops over rice, and a plate of foil-wrapped chicken. Where else can you get all that for $10??
Unfortunately, I do have to report one negative thing about this place -- the service. The staff ignores you until you make it very obvious you're trying to get their attention. One time I ordered takeout, arrived 20 minutes later to pick up my food, and found that they completely forgot about my order and did not even begin to cook my food. The woman at the counter kept insisting it'll take 5 minutes, but it ended up taking 15 mins and I was double parked around the corner. =/
BUT I am willing to forgive them because I love this restaurant so much. D&A forever!
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I often spend time with a lot of my Chinese friends, and collectively our "cheap gene" tends to gravitate us to D & A for their late night specials!
Now listen, Posh Spice, this isn't the type of place you go for "ambiance". D & A is a simple little eatery to get some tasty, filling, warm food and hot tea for next to nothing. Even in the summer, the Richmond District can get quite chilly in the evening so one welcomes the warm nourishment.
One of my personal favorites on the specials is the deep fried mussels. Try that with a little garlic chili sauce and they are magnifique! Most of the time the specials late at night are $1.99 - $3.99 an item including traditional dishes like crispy fried tofu and salt and pepper chicken wings.
All in all, the Richmond District's best kept secret is this little gem.
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I don't hate, despite all the bad shit the people I know have said about this place. So since I don't recall having a superbad experience at this place, I'll give it the average 2.5 and another .5 extra for being in the Clement area where things are very convenient. They do have tapioca and stuff you can order to go, but I'm pretty sure you'll do a lot better over at 7th ave (the purple place). Oh yeah, the customer service sucks ass.
This place is good for late night food. It's the cheapest place that's open at 1AM (they close at 1), and it's good for being quick chinese.
Last time we went here, we got the seafood pan friend noodles ($5), foil chicken ($2.49), pork rice porridge ($2.49), and a watermelon fresh juice ($1.29). We actually had to take some of the rice porridge and foil chicken home, because it was a lot of food. If you go here, definately try their fresh juice. They use fresh fruits, ice, and a little bit of liquid sugar to make the drink, and by far, the watermelon and strawberry drinks are the best. Beats Odwalla (if you're looking for something less thick) anytime.
*sigh* memoriesssssss
I used to live right next door to this D and A and when I mean next door, I mean.. NEXT door. This was my place for late night cravings of fried chicken wings, hot tea, fried squid, and garlic/ginger chicken. I came here to often that they knew my name and treated me like i was family. Not surprisingly, after living here for about a year, I gained about 5 lbs.
Like all the D and A's that I've been to, its not the neatest and cleanest but who cares. I love their inexpensive, fast, and yummy hong kong style dishes.
I love this place. It's dirty, it's cheap and the food is good!
The 3 items for $17.99 is an awesome deal. The fried flounder, the garlic/ginger chicken are so tasty!
Don't expect great service. Don't expect immaculately clean. Don't expect quiet.
Do expect good, cheap food.
In wake of all the recession talk & paying off some bills...I urged for a much needed chow down for, of course...hearty on the stomach but light on the pockets meal. Inner Richmond 's Clement Street got a great strip of hookups and so I stumbled upon D&A Caf. Now I didn't understand why they must've popped 3 different kinds of long listed menus on us because we didn't need them. Seems like you can actually tell them what you like even though it is not on the menu. I have to give props to the grumpy waitresses for their flexibility on the food options...
Restaurant's not too pleasant on the eyes and felt like I wanted to get a Lysol and disinfect the place...unless you want to reminisce over an elementary school cafeteria setting...then the carbo loaded food is yum!
The boyfriend and I passed by this place earlier tonight when we were walking down Clement. After oogling at the pictures of happy hour dishes on the window, we grabbed a few menus and headed home. At around 11pm, the late night tummy growls began to kick in and we decided to try D&A. We ordered: honey walnut shrimp ($3.99), steamed rice ($1.00), fried squid ($2.49), and a red bean ice drink ($1.20). I could have done without the red bean drink, but everything else was good. The food is nothing first class, but we definitely walked away happy campers. Oh yeah, we're planning to come back for the salt and pepper chicken wings (another table got it and there were like 10+ wings for $3.99!). I'll also be bringing my mom here so we can go happy on the quail, frog legs, fish maw, beef stew noodle, duck gizzard, pigs intestine, porridge, and uh... basically everything else
nomnomnom
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We have been going there for quite some time now and always have the 3 items for 17.99 specials. Some of our favorites are fish, steam tofu with seafood and egg, pea sprouts, chicken wings and fried tofu with dried scallops. We took a Taiwanese friend from LA there one time and he was hooked. He'd ask us to take him there every time he comes to visit. The food is good and inexpensive. The employees were aloof at first, but now that we have become regular, they are now very friendly to us.
If you're looking for inexpensive food in a simple all-chinese atmosphere, you should give it a try.
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Well at this location, I usually have my food to go and its pretty quick. The food this is pretty good and reminds me of homestyle cooking that my mom makes. Don't expect friendly faces and gestures, the servers are totally pissed off already so don't make things worst. You dont want to get a tummy ache after the meal. O.O I came here like 12 am one night and witnessed a fight with drunkers half a block away and the cops were on it!
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