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Eight Immortals Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
1433 Taraval St(between 24th Ave & 25th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94116
Neighborhood: Parkside
(415) 731-5515
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 9:30 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
247 reviews for Eight Immortals Restaurant
Review Highlights
"Also had their clams with black bean sauce (also fresh."
(in 12 reviews)
"...just to mention their walnut prawns and salt and pepper..."
(in 16 reviews)
"I highly recommend both ginger and salt & pepper crabs."
(in 28 reviews)
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247 reviews in English
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Review from wolfy w.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 1/22/2012 1 photo
Gezzz, one year has gone by and already it's Lunar New Year again! ( To the date precisely! ). Dinner last night was another successful family annual indulgence to close off the years end and to start new beginnings in the year of the Dragon.
As always during dinner time the crowds are just getting started and many are eager with anticipation. We were fortunately has reserved a large table upstairs as usual with a party of 13. We started with the cold shrimp and sweet fruit lettuce platter, very refreshing. Winter melon soup serve in the whole steamed melon with morsels of pork, baby shrimp, kidney, mushrooms was like my mom's recipe. follow by a barrage of entrees: braised Chinese bacon with fermented greens, steamed fish, braised whole duck stuffed with barley-blackeye peas- chinese acorn nut- chestnut ( very very classic traditional old school dish), pepper fried pork chops, sweet snow peas saute, fried shrimp rice, soy braised squab, whole fried chicken (not too dried), stir fry glaze lobster and cod -seasnail- welk-clams with mustard greens. Yes, we finish all but a small bit of the stuffed whole duck & chicken.....Till next year.Listed in: Top Asian Eats
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/22/2011
After so many numerous time coming here for many years, I always enjoy their family style meals. We… Read more »
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Review from Victor L.
San Francisco, CA
1/30/2012 1 Check-in Here
Ehhh.. Don't know what all the hype is about. This restaurant lacks anything that makes it stand out. It is over-crowded and the customer service is horrible. My family made "reservations" to come eat at 7:30pm. on a Saturday night. When we came at 7:15 pm., they said it would take us 15 minutes to be seated. After waiting 45 minutes, we were finally seated. We were told we would get a table in the back because it was bigger, but we were lied to, and seated in the main eating area. There were 13 of us and it was crowded. We were sitting so close to each other it was uncomfortable.
The fish tank had but 1 fish, looking like it was ready to die from the murky water.
Service was horrible. We asked to get another chair because there were only 12, and they seemed to forget 3 seconds later after we asked. It appears they can't count either because they only gave us 12 plates.
We ordered the $220 set meal. It was okay... Nothing special.
This place just seems like your typical Chinese restaurant. Yet, there are so many better places that do not require a long wait.
Despite my review, this place will still continue to get lots of business with people waiting outside the door. Sigh. -
Review from Tiffany C.
San Francisco, CA
1/11/2012 1 Check-in Here
My brother discovered this place when he was in HS. He took our family here once time and since then I love the wonton "E Fu" soup. I never had it anywhere else so this is the place I go when I crave it! It is made of fried wontons boils in egg broth. I like how its not to salty and has the right amount of taste.
This place is inexpensive and have lots of seating. From my memory, I never had to wait to get a table. This is not a fancy restaurant but the food here are good and people here are nice. -
Review from Jack L.
Parkside, San Francisco, CA
2/2/2012 1 photo
I been coming here for 3 years and I recently just found a hair in my egg beef rice. I asked for a refund since I didn't eat much and I lost my appetite and they wanted me to wait till everybody leaves. once everyone left, i asked for my money back since i barly touched my food. the owner then said, "no refund, ill make you a new one". what?..... how do they expect me to eat their food after taking a bite and finding hair in my first plate. Never coming back again.
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Review from Lily W.
11/30/2011
This is totally our family's go to spot for inexpensive, delicious chinese food!
We do our usual--honey walnut shrimp, fried fish, beef + bok-choy, the occassional crab and shark-fin soup. We were there a few weeks ago (for dinner with some family friends) and totally did the whole $200 family meal. Super good. There were some dishes there that I've never tried before and we've been eating at this place for years! The fried taro and fu-kin chow fun was DA BOMB! Can't stress that enough--yum yum. Next time you're there, GET THAT. You won't regret it. -
Review from Rita Y.
San Francisco, CA
9/27/2011
Hubby wanted "Hong To Yee" won ton soup, $6, aka fried won ton in a thickened egg broth with strips of char siu. Not many Chinese restaurants serve this dish so it can be hard to find. BFF's hubby raves about this dish. It actually wasn't too bad but memories of this soup from yesteryears are more memorable than what I had here. The tea was lukewarm, that's criminal!
Their lunch menu is reasonably priced starting at $4.50 up to $7 for rice plates. We arrived for dinner and with our rice, we tried a real "country" dish, sliced pork belly with dry mustard green, $6.50. It was so unctuous and terribly bad for you. My only complaint, not enough mustard greens, just scant chopped bits. I really wanted the pork with taro but she said they didn't have any taro.
The beef steak with gai lan (Chinese broccoli) was very good, $7.50. Tender pieces of beef with crunchy broccoli which was not over cooked.
There are daily specials on the wall including frog legs, fried chitterling, and black bass at $13/lb. Service was attentive and pleasant but we dined at the geriatric hour, so they were not that busy yet. A green bean tapicoa dessert soup was complimentary, it was OK. Will have to make another visit to sample other dishes. -
Review from Stefan L.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 11/27/2011
So just maybe this place has won back my stomach but I'll keep that on reserve for now. I've upped it to 3 stars. We did a takeout of hung tu yee won ton, black bean fillet of cod chow fun and broccoli beef jean mien. I have to say it was good this time. There were plenty of ingredients and the portions were hearty. Not overly greasy and everything was tasty. Also didn't get sick!
Several things must have happened: the chef is happy and prepared a nice meal; the new boss said "please and thank you" to the chef; or the health inspector just made his rounds and the food is fresh.
The jury is not out so we'll need to see what happens in the future.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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8/13/2011
I've done a lot of take out over the years and recently there have been some changes. The new owner… Read more »
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Review from Quan T.
San Francisco, CA
12/25/2011
We dig this place first for the prices. Prices are like dated back to the early 90's! We also love the food: recently tried the Lobster noodles (perfectly seasoned), the crab with green onion could have been seasoned more, but the honey walnut prawns, chicken dishes, minced beef soup, and conch were tasty. The food's not too greasy either. They're generally very attentive.
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Review from Laura B.
San Francisco, CA
11/11/2011
I would give this place no stars if i could. Awful food, awful service, everything from tables to walls were dirty. Food was mediocre at best when it wasn't burnt. Walking by the kitchen there is the smell of a dirty cat litter box.
This place ruined our mothers day family dinner with an awful expearence even though it was pretty empty.
Will never go back here. So much for new ownership making this place good for something other than high school students cheap lunch. I wouldn't eat here again no matter how cheap it was -
Review from debbie r.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 10/7/2011
Sad Update: Shortly after I posted my sparkling review, this place took a nose dive. Every time I got food there, the bf and I would notice how the portions looked smaller, the ingredient quality was lower, and there was less and less meat. In looking at other Yelp reviews, it seems that there was a change of ownership.
We were given the wrong order so many times that I started checking every single container before I left the place, which the dragon lady owner very obviously did not appreciate. One time, she sent 3 orders of spinach instead of 3 orders of snow peas and scallops -- hello, that's a $15 difference, and she refused to acknowledge or make up for that mistake over the phone.
We've stopped going there. I can eat crappy Chinese food at one of those Chinese/Donut combo places (hah, ewwww). Really a shame, as I was so excited to have discovered them.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/8/2011
Holy moly. A mountain of food, all delish, for an extremely reasonable price with good service.
We… Read more »
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Review from C K.
Fremont, CA
12/17/2011 1 Check-in Here
I used to come here a lot when I was younger (3-4 years ago) and was here recently for a family dinner. The owners have changed and probably the chef as well. However, the portions are good and the food is still tasty. I'll be nit-picky and say that the walnut shrimp used to be better but apart from that the other dishes were fine.
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Review from kat s.
South San Francisco, CA
12/14/2011 2 photos
8 Immortals! This is the cheapest Chinese Restaurant I've ever been to. Cheap in a GOOD WAY! For its price, the food is good and the place is decent!
Some of our fave here are:
-Porridge (happy hour price is $2)
-Fried Fish (flounder/sole fish, suace on the side)
-Peking Duck with Steamed Buns
-Crispy/Fried Noodles with Mixed Seafood -
Review from Susy C.
San Francisco, CA
7/22/2011
Their service sucks donkey balls. The food is ALMOST mediocre at best, but most dishes can be too salty.
This place has definitely gone downhill over the years.
The last time I went (a couple of weeks ago) I had the saltiest freaking fish of my life. I was chugging water and shoveling rice down my throat to try to wash down the sodium + msg.
Portions vary depending on which cook makes your food too. -
Review from Benjamin W.
Santa Cruz, CA
9/8/2011
Used to come here ALL DEEE TIMEEE with family from when I was a young baby to teenage and young adult years. Haven't been here lately because prices rose a lot from back then, but nevertheless they still serve really great food.
Although the place is not the cleanest or nicest restaurant there is, the quality of the food is not diminished. They have really good fish, such as deep fried flounder. Their orange chicken is BOMB and would always be requested by the younger kids. They have pretty good fried rice and all their seafood is really good.
They have a 'party' room upstairs, well not really a party, but the room where you would have huge family events. With kids running around and adults having a great time as well, WITH great food also, what more can you ask for??
They also give out dessert after the meals that aren't just some shabby little gift to give away. Their desserts, whether it be red bean soup thing with little white tapioca, or their cold fruit cocktails, it would always be top notch dessert to follow up the top notch meal.
I've never left there unsatisfied. -
Review from Jack C.
San Francisco, CA
8/2/2011
This place used to be good. I heard they changed owners so I figured.
Anything associated with the word IMMORTALS should be nothing short of just that. Since this restaurant is named so, it SHOULD be a excellent restaurant.
Went today with my frd and ordered 3 dishes. The place only had 4 tables open so its not like they are busy.
They only had 1 chef working today, or maybe just really slow ones. The 3 dishes we ordered came out 10 minutes apart so its like a tease.
The portion of the dishes was really really small. It we had more than 2 person, we wouldnt be full.
No complimentary soup or dessert/orange/fortune cookie?
Wont be coming back for awhile. Wished the old owner would take away the "8 IMMORTALS" name so its old reputation wouldn't be ruin. -
Review from Kenny L.
7/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
Damn, i love cheap but good chinese food. when it comes to joints like this, who cares about the service? well whenever i'm at a chinese restaurant, i dont even bother thinking about service cuz they usually dont have any sense of good customer service.
Anyways, for lunch, they have a special of chosing three entrees for only 19.99 and it comes with rice and a huge bowl of soup for the party. It was a party of 4 this one day we ordered a black bean rock cod, black bean string beans, and a salted fish and chicken egg plant sizzling pot.
that was a lot of food for 4 people and we just got lucky and finished all of the entrees so we wouldnt have to take food home. food was really good. not too salty or anything and the egg plant was cooked really nicely. they use a lot of bell peppers and onions in the black bean dishes but i sure didnt mind.
lunch came out to about $25 with tip for four people. A-mazing. -
Review from Wilson T.
San Francisco, CA
12/2/2011
This place used to be super cheap and pretty darn good.
Now it's more expensive and just not as good. We always get the taro duck, peking duck, honey walnut shrimp and sweet and sour pork.
But everything was just not as good as when we were younger. Plus I think the portions got smaller... Still not too expensive for the sunset but just average food. -
Review from Stacey C.
Updated - 9/28/2011
I found a caterpillar cooked into my fried rice. Enough said. :(
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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7/18/2011
I'm not sure how long ago, but there is a new owner at Eight Immortals. The place seems to be even… Read more »
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Review from Killah K.
San Francisco, CA
8/7/2011
Came here on a whim with family. Should've eaten next door at Ninki's instead.
While the food was mediocre, the service was piss poor. I do mind seating myself, but at least acknowledge me as a customer! Meet & greet? They could seriously put in some effort into customer service.
Ordered sweet & sour pork with brown sauce - was okay but lathered with too much sodium-induced sauce.
The deep-fried fish that we ordered was teeny tiny. While I personally do not eat fish, my mom at least enjoyed it. Plus one for that despite the size of it.
The green beans w/ minced chicken was okay. Not great, but not bad. Nothing really special about it that made it memorable.
Overall, they can really put some more effort into customer service. I shouldn't have to flag the same waiter/waitress 2-3x in order to get my teapot refilled. I know they see me, but to have the audacity to purposely ignore me and not say a word? I should have taken my business and my money elsewhere.
This place would be good if you're a hungry & broke high schooler. If you want decent food with an acceptable customer service level, go elsewhere. Go next door! -
Review from DeathandFood b.
San Francisco, CA
4/20/2011
You know when it's not 1, not 2 but Eight Immortals that there's going to be some good food. This place is low on style and low on cost and it's always good food.
This is a neighborhood place filled with asian folks who live in the neighborhood or who's grandparents do. It has a huge menu as well as the many many signs on the walls and then there are the things they just make when they seem to have surplus of one thing or another.
Whatever you want they probably have. The vegetarian selection is smaller than some other Chinese places and there is mostly seafood. The prices don't seem to have changed in years and the portions are all good.
On my last visit I got the frog and bitter melon claypot that was served piping hot and fresh. The food isn't fancy, the decor is bare bones and I like most of the food I get here. The French spouse like the huge selection of prawn and other seafood dishes.
Also only paying 24 dollars for two entrees and a huge soup for two is pretty sweet. -
Review from Lily L.
San Francisco, CA
5/4/2011
I actually eat here by accident. I was volunteering and my friend say this place has very cheap and good food. WOW! The "tea time" items are only $2 each and some drinks are only $1. The size of the plates are not small at all. But the glasses are very very sticky, which i think it's nasty. The drink was okay though, a little too sweet for me. Good place for cheap and good food.
Will definitely come back again, except it's way too far from my house. -
Review from Rosalind S.
San Francisco, CA
5/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
New owner meant new chef. My family used to go here as long as I remembered but stopped going one year. Years later, we're back! I'm finding out now, as an adult, that apparently my fam didn't like the quality of the food.
We ordered a bunch of food and what stood out in a negative way was their salt and pepper pork. Flavorless and soggy. Their walnut prawn dish was sad looking with no creatively put into presentation. The fried rice was delicious and so was the pork belly dish. Everything else was just mediocre.
Whether or not we'll be back is entirely up to the fam again. -
Review from Chris T.
San Francisco, CA
4/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
I haven't been here for a couple of years and I've enjoyed it this place very much in the past. I came here recently with a couple of friends and it wasn't how I remembered it.
We ordered the following:
Fried Deep Fried Squid: Decent, good portion, and mild seasoning.
Mandarin Dinner for 3;
Hot and Sour Soup: Good, not to spicy or sour, almost 2 servings per person, recommended
Fried Prawn: Alright, it was a bit on the salty side but the sauce balanced it out. Definitely would order the Spicy Salt and Pepper shrimp over this.
Mongolian Beef: Alright, kind of on the salty side, good if you have steamed rice but doesn't go too well with the fried rice.
Shrimp in Lobster sauce: Didn't touch it, it looked like shrimp and egg goop. Not very appetizing.
Yang Chow Fried Rice: Good, not too salty and I thought it was prepared very well. Lots of meat and good amount of seasoning.
Lemon Chicken: It looked and tasted more like honey-lemon chicken. Sour initial taste then the sweetness kicks in. It's not too bad but I could only eat so much before the sugar got to me.
In addition to the Mandarin Dinner:
Clam in Black Bean Sauce: Very Good, this was probably my favorite out of all the things we ordered. Clams were cooked almost to perfection and the sauce was not too overpowering. Definitely recommended.
Sauteed Fresh Oyster with Ginger & Green Onions: This would have been delicious if I hadn't eaten 20 oysters this past weekend. It was overall pretty good, enough seasoning to compliment the oyster but not enough to overpower it. We did ask for some lemons to add a little bit of zest to it. Recommended, for about 1 dollar an oyster (We got 6 total).
Overall, the food was good. I would definitely skip out on the pre-selected dinner and order dish by dish. Our total overall was 56 dollars without tip. Service was okay, our waitress was definitely nicer than our waiter. -
Review from Hanuman R.
Redwood City, CA
11/11/2011
I could not believe the wide selection at such low prices. The portions were very generous and the low price (6 dollars for Mushu pork?) did not mean there was any issue with quality. The staff is very friendly and likes to see you smile.
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Review from Casey N.
San Francisco, CA
7/21/2011
This place brings back to my memories of high school. My friends and I would use to come here about once every two weeks for food after school. The prices were reasonable and it was a place for us teenagers to hang out. We would order the walnut prawn, sweet and sour pork, and eggplant with rice on the side. The food here tasted a lot better than what we had at school and we decided this was the place to hang out before heading to my friends house to play video games.
I recently came back here and found out there was a change of owner and change of chef. The food tastes the same as when I came here years ago and occasionally my family comes here for dinner with friends. For the prices they charge, it is more of a family style than individual meal so don't be scared when elder members of your family lick their chopsticks, grab food and put their chopsticks back in their mouth and repeat the process!!! -
Review from Joseph N.
4/9/2011
Last month I got some food to go for dinner, it was a special combination that was a lot of food for like $8. It included bbq pork fried rice, sweet & sour pork, and mongolian beef. It may have also included an egg roll.
None of it was good, and to make the experience worse I was rushed into ordering by the woman working there. If I try Eight Immortals again I will order something a la carte instead of going for a special, but there are tons of other Chinese restaurants in the area that I will try first. -
Review from M C.
San Francisco, CA
After looking for a local place to eat before going on a long trip I decided to come here. We ordered a bunch of food and got out of there in August. In February I get a call from my credit card that there were charges on there. This is a credit card that I rarely use.
This was the only place I used my card since my old one expired. So if you had illegal activity on your card and paid with your meal with it here, then it's their staff.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/24/2009
Thinking that this place is in the avenues might give false pretenses about parking, because there… Read more »
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Review from mary b.
Pasadena, CA
12/30/2010 7 photos
Eight Immortals is the perfect San Francisco family restaurant.
It's raining in December when my family unloads two cars of people into Eight Immortal's cramped waiting area. Thirteen families averaging eight people per table, share large passed plates of glossy, good-looking stuff. Is it rude to point and say "I want what they are having?"
A compliment to the chef, my family is the only one of European ancestry. The wait is short. One thing to note. There are no parties of one or two here.
This place was made for families. The largest tables don lazy Susans. ( a device which acts as a rotating platter on the table) It is the perfect way to share platters of food.
We read the specials that were in English on the wall, which listed the more rare seasonal dishes. There were some neat ones! Whole crab, whole steamed bass and interesting animals and organ parts like frogs and faces etc. I am almost kidding about the face part. Were my skittish family not with me, I would have gone for an exotic item to have tried it for the first time. Like Anthony Bourdain!
After making my food allergies very clear to our server, we ordered the whole steamed bass. One and a half pounds at $12.99 per pound, mixed vegetables with mushrooms in clear garlic sauce, combination seafood flat rice noodles, (no gravy) chicken curry, rice and tea for the table.
Gluten free friends, Chinese food is very hard to eat for us. We can not eat soy sauce, black bean sauce, barbecued meats, marinated meats, oyster sauce, Hoisin sauce, dumplings or hot and sour soup. What is left? Clear sauce, egg drop soup (no egg noodles) and curry. Be very clear about the "clear" part. If your food has any tint of brown color anywhere, chances are that you are allergic to it.
The good news is that you can have rice and rice pastas etc. This restaurant is a wonderful treat for my gluten free friends who take the time to be clear about their allergies. Only clear sauce! No gravy!
The whole steamed bass was covered in shredded Chinese leeks.(four stars) My sister said: "It's looking at me!" Ha ha! It was accompanied by a very good sauce of yellow broth and crunchy garlic for me and traditional brown sauce as well for the family. I was confident that my sauce was superior and confirmed it when my family preferred my sauce to theirs when seasoning the bass. (five stars)
The vegetables were good, not great, (3.5 stars) the curry chicken was very mild with large chunks of potato, the sauce was a little thin for my taste (3.5 stars)
Our favorite dish was the rice pasta with combination seafood. (five stars) We ordered more, we liked it so much. Gluten free friends, rice pasta, made fresh, is even better than the egg noodles off limits to you! Large flat rice noodles with fresh bok choy, shrimp and squid. This dish is traditionally made with soy sauce but can be made with nothing but salt on request. It is light, delicate and de-freaking-licious. They don't punk out on he seafood here friends. The large portion of shellfish makes this dish an outstanding value at only $6.
The menu is huge, the service is good, the prices are obscenely affordable, the food is great. Especially for my wheat allergies. The emphasis here is on family food. Well done Eight Immortals.
Viva familia:-) -
Review from Arnold T.
1/25/2011 1 Check-in Here
This is another restaurant I have some childhood memories. My recollections of 8 Immortals are of home-style Cantonese food and their signature waiter with a permed out fro and big o' eyebrows that grew a half an inch from each side of his face. He was a funny guy to say the least.
On that Friday night, I decided to take my family there for old time's sakes since we haven't been here in ages. When we got there we were seated immediately. Usually on the busy times, there would be a wait. Everything seemed the same as usual, but cleaner than what I remember.
The service was very personable as expected and they took our order pretty fast.
We ended up ordering something along the lines of this: clams with black bean sauce, oyster clay pot with tofu, deep fried taro duck (not a lot of places have this), and walnut prawns. Since we have three "rice buckets" in our family, we got white rice. (Yeah, you saw that right. There are no vegetables on that list.)
We ended up eating about half, consequently, leaving a lot of leftovers. The food was satisfactory. Much of the dishes were on the salty side (even the walnut prawns seemed salty) or was drenched in its sauce.
Comparing the food of then and now, the quality hadn't improved, but the prices went up. This place isn't expensive, but with competition of comparable quality or better in the area, the price tag makes a difference with the focus on their quality. Back in the day, if one could believe, they used to have some $3 dollar entrees.
If I were to recommend a Cantonese restaurant, I wouldn't recommend this place. I would send that person to Ming's Diner. 8 Immortals is cleaner, and the service a tiny bit better than Ming's (depending on your perspective). When looking for home-style Cantonese food, the food quality/price comparison is advantageous in favor of Ming's Diner. -
Review from Jules R.
San Francisco, CA
4/7/2011
I used to eat here often with my family, but, the quality of the food is not the same. The placement of the tables are exactly how I remember, but, dishes that I used to love now taste bland.
After expecting so much and leaving somewhat disappointed, I wouldn't return. -
Review from Dorian T.
San Francisco, CA
9/26/2011
With a name like Eight Immortals, one would assume that they served food that was worthy of the gods!!!!!! It wasn't - well it was cheap. The food was decent and everything tastes better with good company! I love friends. However the dessert sucked. Watered down red bean soup makes me want to move the mouse a little over to the left to deduct one star ...
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Review from Eric S.
San Francisco, CA
11/29/2010
I hate to admit it, but my son and I kind of got the gwai-lo treatment here. I say I hate to admit it because it's rarely happened to me personally. I take a little bit of pride in being a long-time SF resident who understands that levels of service at restaurants in such a diverse place are naturally, culturally different. Which is to say that we're super patient and always ready to offer (or accept) an excuse for slow or virtually non-existant service. I say this also as someone who has worked and cooked at restaurants in the past. I'm patient.
But we clearly weren't their ideal customer. We were the only non-Chinese folks here for lunch on a Sunday, and it took us forever to get a menu or an order placed. And then it took eons to get our food made and sent to our table. We sat and watched people (who were still waiting in line for a table after we ordered) get sat, order, eat, and get their check before we even got a set of chopsticks and a cup of tea and a menu -- much less an order placed. (And then they gave us forks when we asked for chopsticks. Of course.)
It was unwelcoming, to say the least. We stuck it out as a matter of principle, but we may not go back. Food is decent, though, with a few standout dishes, but it's not awesome overall. They eschew condiments on their tables, which saddens me. The flavors are mostly on the tame side. -
Review from Angel E.
San Francisco, CA
Really cheap and really, really good. Most plates cost $5, bottom off at $4.50 & top off around $8 (unless you're getting the abalone).
Definitely one of my top go-to Chinese restaurants even though it's a little far from my house. -
Review from Aris L.
Los Angeles, CA
3/13/2011
This Chinese restaurant taste average. the only thing that good is the price. very cheap! i forget what i order because i order too much last time.
CONCLUSION = NOT RECOMMENDED! -
Review from Austin N.
1/10/2011
8 Immortals brings fond memories with my family, so it always has a place with me. Oh the food isn't bad either! =P
I've been coming here since middle school with my family, and we always order 12-16 plates on average for just 5 people. Typically we order shrimp in walnut(one of the best I've had), clams with black bean sauce, oysters, fried tofu with shrimp, steamed tofu with shrimp, all sorts of vegetables, flounder, sweet and sour pork, some rice plate with tomatoes, crispy taro duck, beef chow fun, etc etc.
I must say, their food is above average and the prices are good as well. The restaurant has two floors of seating, but the second floor is open only when the bottom floor gets too crowded. Food is speedy, waiters are attentive because we know them, otherwise just shout out, it is a Chinese restaurant after all! -
Review from Jasmin F.
11/16/2010 7 Check-ins Here
What I've learned over the years while living in San Francisco is that to truly appreciate Chinese food, you must first accept their, mediocre if any, service. With that being said, Eight Immortals may be one of the very few Chinese restaurants in SF that actually serves deliciously authentic cuisine with the kind of service you can expect from any gross Chinese or Asian restaurant given my statement above.
What to order:
Their famous chicken with Chinese cucumber, bell pepper, green onion, and a hypnotizing medley of spices
Garlic spinach
Yes...that's it. Order those two things with steamed rice and your choice of fish and soup and you are good to go! Believe me, I'm not a regular at this place for nothin'.
Eight Immortals stands strong and probably always will, as my favorite local Chinese restaurant.Listed in: Welcome to Asia
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Review from Joyce W.
South San Francisco, CA
3/28/2011 3 photos
This place is not bad compare with other Chinese restaurant in the Milbrae area. Dinner time are crowed. But it only take like 5 minute to get us a table(not bad).
Saw alot of review saying that, they have a great deal during lunch hour for the Lobster Noodle. I definitely want to stop by at during lunch and get some of that. -
Review from Cassie J.
San Francisco, CA
7/16/2010 3 photos
No frills lunch spot for rice plates and noodles.
8 Immortals is my go-to spot for a cheap meal when craving simple Chinese comfort foods. I regular this spot for lunch for their amazingly cheap lunch prices. Rice plates range from $4.75-$6.00. Can't beat it!
Aside from being extremely reasonably priced, I really enjoy the food here too. Cheap and good is a rare combo these days.
For the portion size, they could easily be charging a bit more, but they don't. No complaints here. What I come for are simple dishes that satisfy those cravings.
My favorite comfort dish is Minced Beef with Raw Egg Over Rice. What I love about this dish in comparison to other restaurants that also serve it, is that they included peas, carrots and chopped onions to add that extra flavor. I've had this dish at plenty of places before that most spots only give you peas for texture. Saucy and flavor, and just the way I like it. If this doesn't scream simple and comforting Chinese food, then I don't know what else does.
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I also like to order their noodle dishes for lunch as well. Other favorites are the Hong Kong Style Combination Noodles and the Tomato Beef Chow Mein.
What's nice about the Combination Noodles is that there's plenty of variety. Good options for seafood, and for meat in one dish. Included are BBQ Pork (Cha Siew), Chicken, and pieces of Beef. There's also Prawns, Scallops and Calamari, and of course your much needed Bok Choy.
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Tomato Beef is also quite flavorful and included good pieces of beef. They definitely don't skimp on pieces and cut them into little tender slices.
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Overall, simple lunch for simple cravings. Price and portion size can't be better. I don't remember the last time I've seen a lunch plate priced at 4 bucks in a long time!
Until next time... -
Review from Karen W.
11/30/2010
When you get past the indecency of tables left unclean with dishes and leftover food parcels everywhere (which you might witness upon stepping through the door), you will find that the food served here changes your opinions about this place. Don't always judge a restaurant's food by the way the restaurant appears.
The food is good stuff! I've been coming here pretty often as a child. After having not visited for a number of years, the food remains as delicious as I can remember.
My favorite dish ever: Fish fillet in corn cream sauce-- fried fish fillets, then dressed with a corn starch sauce made of corn kernels, egg, and starch.
Other dishes that you can't go wrong with:
Sauteed veggies, steamed whole fish, tofu with shrimp.
Don't mind the service either. Food gets solid 4 stars. -
Review from Rich M.
San Francisco, CA
1/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
The only reason they don't get one star is that they weren't overtly rude. We waited 10 minutes for a table, ok, that happens, but there were several open. Then, it took forever to even place our order. (15 more mins) The help could be seen, but avoided us. Just when I was ready to leave, they arrived and we ordered the black-pepper ribs, walnut prawns, lemon chicken. and taro duck. The ribs were fine. I've never had them before so I won't ding them (soggy and fatty) and I liked the sauce. The walnut prawns were not. The walnuts were obviously stale and the serving size small. The lemon chicken "looked" good, but it was dry, and obviously over-cooked. The duck? It flew the coop, and, to be honest, we'd forgotten about it until they told us they were out. Problem was. We were close to finishing our meal. Of course, they left it on the bill.
I should have re-read the reviews before going. I bookmarked this place some time ago based on earlier reviews and it looks like ownership has changed since. I noticed several reviews mentioning how cheap the prices are. I didn't see that. The prices are comparable with other restaurants with the same, but better quality, menu.
