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Go Go Cafe & Restaurant - CLOSED
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
1830 Irving St(between 19th Ave & 20th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122
Neighborhood: Outer Sunset
(415) 661-4289
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Late Night, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
160 reviews for Go Go Cafe & Restaurant
Review Highlights
"6.95 for a whole deep fried dungeness crab is insane (esp."
(in 4 reviews)
"Perfect for our late night munchies."
(in 21 reviews)
"I love their chicken with black bean sauce."
(in 6 reviews)
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160 reviews in English
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Review from Kimberley M.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 4/5/2010
We ordered one from them around Christmas or NYE time and made the mistake of ordering too many (very inexpensive) side dishes. Yeah it sort of seemed like this had almost a caramelized as if fried garlic crust. It was the main event. pretty good with some hoi sin or sambal.
Yesterday it was shrimp chive dumplings that stood out as a fave.
I wrote the review while we waited so maybe I should add more detail. We ordered three items yesterday and they insisted we order another because the three items were under twenty dollars. The fourth item amounted to a pretty sizable order with most of our Chow fun uneaten, due to fullness.
I may have underestimated the yummyness factor. exceptional dumplings!
I think this place is cheaper than shopping at Safeway.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/4/2010
Hmmmm....
The food here is more more homestyle and Dim Sum, less fancy, sometimes has a little too… Read more »
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Review from Luis C.
7/7/2010
This popular (because it was open until 1am) late night Chinese restaurant CLOSED 2 months ago. On the few times I came here the food wasn't bad but not great either. Strange it went under, since they always seemed to have customers compared to less popular restaurants that are still in business.
Any hungry Yelp readers looking for dining alternatives past midnight can go to Chabaa Thai Cuisine just a few blocks away.Listed in: CLOSED, out of business,…
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Review from Dorothy T.
San Francisco, CA
5/17/2010
I've never been to this restaurant but...
I walked by the restaurant today on my way to PPQ and saw a huge rat about 6 inches long running along the windowsill inside the restaurant. The restaurant wasn't open and had a sign that said, "Closed today - 4/21/10". Not sure if they got shut down for health reasons, but I am still so grossed out by that sighting.
I've never really considered eating here and needless to say, I'm glad I never did. -
Review from Patra B.
9/16/2009 1 photo
I was working from home on a Friday and needed a quick bite to eat. I strolled down to Irving and was debating between Chinese or Vietnamese. I finally settled on Chinese and walked into Go Go Cafe.
I walked in and picked up a menu...hmmm...no lunch specials. So then I ask the waitress and she hands me another menu. But then she told me they can also turn regular entrees into lunch specials. Nothing on the lunch special menu peaked my interest, so I went with the salt and pepper pork chops( http://static.px.yelp.... ).
I walked home and was ready to dig into my chops. They were still hot and crispy. The portion was pretty big, and being a pig, I ate it all! Good cheap eats for lunch! -
Review from Matt G.
10/25/2009 1 photo
This restaurant that serve authentic Chinese food is obviously not owned by the 80's punk rock band. "I used to think that lead-singer Belinda Carlisle was pretty "HOT" with her talented voice!"
The venue is bigger and surprisingly cleaner than some Chinese restaurants with a wine-bar. But the wine-selection could use more variety.
From the huge lunch menu, I had one of the specials: the Salt and Pepper Pork Chop over Rice. For $5.00, I get a six bone-in mini pork chops with a touch of spice and battered and fried to a crispy golden brown. No vegetables and all meat with a heaping scoop of rice is a meaty and hearty meal built for Matt G. My meal also comes with Hot Tea and soup. I enjoyed eating my meal on the bar-side of the restaurant, which is on the right and watching a Hong Kong gangster movie.
There are plenty of specials available on the lunch menu and served seven-days a week. I don't come out to Irving St. too often, but I might take the rest of the Fantstic-4 to check out one of the restaurant's many specials. And hopefully the restaurant won't show any violent Hong Kong movies upon our appearance. -
Review from John T.
San Francisco, CA
6/25/2008
I knew I would like this restaurant the moment I walked in and noticed the screensaver on the bar computer. It is a picture of a busty Chinese woman in a green bikini. That's pure class, my friends. They could have chosen any screensaver, but no, the staff chose soft core pornography. Well done.
I sat at the bar and ordered an $18 salted fried crab with hot peppers. It was pretty good. It doesn't compare to PPQ Dungeness Island crab, but for half the price, the flavor to price ratio seems reasonable.
The neighborhood seems to like Go Go Cafe very much. It was packed. I wasn't sure if they were there for the food or screensaver. Probably the decent Chinese food. Not everyone enjoys soft core pornography as much as I do.
3 stars -
Review from S B.
San Francisco, CA
9/19/2007 2 photos
This place is open late and good if you're really hungry, but I recently was invited to a rooftop party at a building next door that overlooks the back of the restaurant and was disgusted/horrified at what I saw.
Go Go restaurant apparently defrosts large amounts of food outside in large red tubs, and that's disturbing to me because we live in a filthy city. Next door to the restaurant was a new building that was being constructed and the building dust from the construction as well as the filthy soot from busy 19th Avenue no doubt lands and rests on the top of the food in the tubs. If that's not enough, the nail salon is next door, and the exhaust is pumping out nail dust and fecal matter from dog crap on the Go Go rooftop are no doubt landing on the Go Go food.
The party lasted for about 4 hours, and during that time I witnessed the food which remained outside, the cooks crushing cans and smoking next to the tubs, and a dog barking at them from the roof. Talk about chaos. I think about what must be floating in the tubs, or what special ingredients are used in marinating the food... I hope they throw a few antibiotics in whatever they're cooking!
I liked the place before I saw all of this, and I wonder whether there are some other health issues at stake here. Despite the "AA" rating from an inspection card that the restaurant proudly displays, I think the pubic needs to be informed of what's going on in this case.
And all of this is really too bad, as the workers inside are very nice, and the restaurant is extremely busy. I like neighborhood restaurants that are open late, but I probably won't eat there again after seeing what I witnessed. I called my friend several times to ask about whether it was just a "freak" thing that the food was outside, but apparently it's a nightly thing. Maybe there's a health issue here, or not, but all the same, I wish I never saw it! -
Review from Stanley K.
San Francisco, CA
10/7/2007
Don't come here if you hadn't eaten anything all day!!
Somehow you will order more than you can eat. I got stuffed!
Remember you didn't come here for the service or the ambiance, just the food. This review is for the food only.
The crab won tons are great and a must order. The veggies plate are a little bland but edible.
Stay away from the tofu. It's not all that. -
Review from Wes M.
San Francisco, CA
2/7/2008
Man, I've really gotta kick this Sunset habit and get back to the east side. Just as soon as I finish my delicious Chinese leftovers from Go Go Cafe...
I suppose it would be fair to call Go Go the quintessential Outer Sunset chinese spot--it's certainly one of the most crowded, with lots of those 10-person round tables taken up by big families. What impressed me most, though, is the fact that they have a *seasonal* menu--I thought that was reserved only for Cal-Eclectic foodie cuisine. Naturally, I didn't even bother to look at the extensive standard menu. The sauteed lamb & green onions was delicious, albeit not too adventurous, but the real standout was the catfish clay pot. Deep fried spicy catfish pieces, complete with skin and bone, mixed with plenty of veggies and sauce. Real big portions too--and cheap (they made the Chronicle's 2007 Bargain Bites list).
Regarding those pictures of the food being defrosted out back--that scared me a bit at first, but then again, have you ever roasted a hot dog on a campfire? You'll get all sorts of stuff on it, but it don't kill you. Of course, it would still probably be a good PR move for Go Go to do all their food work inside.Listed in: Mid-Outer Sunset
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Review from Alexandra M.
Brooklyn, NY
6/3/2008
Alright, truth be told I was on a search for the perfect dumpling and I was disappointed. Maybe I should have ordered other things? Well here's the problem, I let the server order for me. I thought that was the best thing to do, but I wasn't THAT impressed.
My spice loving Vietnamese friend and I were kinda hurt by their sweet and sour soup. We looked at each other while eating it and he finally said it:
"This is spicy to the point of being unenjoyable."
I stopped sippin it.
crispy exterior, god damn succulent.
But the dumplings, the dumplings.
"They're watery," said my friend.
God damn, he said what I was denying, and I think that was the case with this place all in all.
Tasty, but not great but service is excellent if you get the nice lady. -
Review from Jeff W.
5/13/2009
the single most outstanding dish I have had at a Chinese restaurant this year is the XO sauce fresh frog served here at Go Go. just the right amount of spiciness, and simply a tasty dish. XO sauce is a dried scallop condiment used in a lot of different Chinese dishes. the combination with the fish like qualities of the sauteed frog was awesome. the garlic noodles were good but not GREAT. open late night is another plus!
here are the ingredients of XO sauce:
Typical ingredients of XO sauce include:
Diced onion
Dried scallop
Fresh red chilli
Ground black pepper
Jinhua ham or Smithfield ham
Large dried shrimp, shelled
Minced garlic
rapeseed oil
Salted cured fish
Tiny dried shrimp, unshelledListed in: cheap Chinese food in the…
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Review from H C.
Bay Area
3/17/2007
What a bargain meal... We ate crab (3 kinds) - salt & pepper, ginger, and general to our heart's delight. I don't recommend the dumplings - both the veggie and pork were very soggy inside.
My favorites: Garlicky pea sprouts and salt & pepper cod.
Plus, two thumbs up for taking a reservation for 10 people on a Saturday night! -
Review from Heather H.
San Francisco, CA
8/30/2007
It pains me to do this. It really does. I've never really written a bad review... but, here I go.
First off, you walk in and the smell hits you like a ton of bricks. I almost gagged. They have these fish tanks in there that have NEVER been cleaned. EVER. I have a keen sense of smell so I thought "I'll get over it" and with a warning glance from my roommate Trevor (who is trying to get me to try new things), I proceeded to mechanically sit down and look at the menu when really all I wanted to do was exit the restaurant while dramatically gasping fresh air in to my appalled lungs.
Onwards to the menu. Well, they certainly have a lot of variety. Lots of dishes I've never heard of and some familiars. We decided on egg rolls and crab wontons to start. While waiting for the appetizers I glanced around trying to take in the decor (and ignore the nasty smell). It seemed to be decorated in a hurry and the fish tanks.... *shudder*. So we get our appetizers and the egg rolls are nothing special. They reminded me of the ones I used to get at this Chinese Buffet in my hometown. The wonton's... eww. That's all I can say is eww. They kinda tasted like dish soap to me...
At this time I was starting to get a little panicked. How can you mess up something that's deep fried? Even Trevor was getting to the point where he was disenchanted. But did we leave? Oh no. He insisted on trying a dish. I don't remember what he got but I do remember mine: Lemon chicken. Nothing fancy, I know but I figured it's easy to make right?
HOLY WRONG.
First off the chicken it was made out of... well I'm not sure if it was a chicken or a pigeon. It was all tough and stringy and the sauce it was slathered in kinda tasted like pine sol (don't ask how I know what pine sol tastes like... let's just say my older sister and I disagreed over something and that was the first weapon she could find...). I was ready to get the F*** outta there but ooooooooohhhhh no. Trevor was enjoying my discomfort far too much. So I sat and waited, not touching my plate until he was finished. After we got the bill from the super nice waitress (which is the ONLY reason I'm giving it a star) I got the heck outta there.
As we walked down the street in silence, Trevor looks over at me and admits his food was fairly nasty and proclaims "Let's tell everyone we know, not to go go to Go Go".
Mission Accomplished. -
Review from Missy B.
San Francisco, CA
8/3/2005
Seriously yummy late night dim sum and whole crab delivery experts.. If you have stoner friends in the Sunset and are looking to deepen your relationship, know about Go Go.
The menu is a good seven hundred items long, but the entrees I've tried there are kinda' crap.. Dim sum though.. Big ol' greasy thumbs up! And they come to you, so another star for that. Gooooo, Go Go! -
Review from A. H.
San Francisco, CA
4/23/2010
FUCK this place, seriously...
Tonight i ordered food on grubhub like a normally do after a long hard day. I was told our food would arrive around 10:50. At 11:45, i had called them 4 times with no answer and unable to leave a message since their phone hang's up on you, so i decide i have to go down there. This place is open until 1 right? i mean, grubhug and yelp and their website aren't all mistaking are they? at 12, this place had obviously been closed for quite sometime. Did i mention that my credit card had already been charged??
This is what makes me so mad. If a restaurant is closed, grub hub won't let you order. This means i was not in the wrong by ordering from them. The fact that they either closed unexpectedly or are normally closed at this time and didn't update their online ordering service is just irresponsible. Even further, the fact that they don't have voice mail is just sooo frustrating.
So tomorrow morning, i gotta call them as soon as i wake up until i finally get ahold of this fucking place. This is such bad customer service i am really hoping for an explanation and some fucking good ass chinese food. -
Review from Teri C.
9/13/2006
After a night of dancing and drinks on a weekday, my friend was hungry. But being a gentleman, he wasn't going to go if I wasn't going to eat with him. Usually I'm not so interested in late night eating after a hearty night of partying, especially with heavy items from Denny's and the like.
However, when he suggested Go Go Cafe, my first thought was porridge. Yes, I can definitely go for porridge. And so off we went. I had the Thousand Year Old Egg with Porridge ($3.95). This usually comes with salted pork, but I requested mine without. I like the clean smooth taste of white porridge. (White porridge as opposed to the stuff when it's cooked with lots of chicken/turkey bits in it.) And with green onions and julienne slices of fresh ginger added, porridge is my comfort food. Add a bit of white pepper and it all comes together. It leaves me satisfied but not overdone. I'm content.
My friend always goes for the Singaporean Chow Fun, a ribbon rice noodle dish with curry. I didn't try any, so I can't comment on it. But that was on his mind when we were headed there.
They close at 1 am on weekdays, which is pretty nice and parking isn't usually a problem on Irving that late at night.
Go Go Cafe is a simple Chinese restaurant that satisfies my late night food runs without regretting it after wards.
09/29/06: UPDATE: They changed their menus...therefore prices have gone up! The porridge is now $4.50! And I also tried the deep fried prawns which was definitely not what we expected! They are battered heavily and look more like calamari rings. They come with a sweet and sour dipping sauce too. It wasn't bad, just not what we expected. A different kind of deep frying action going on!
01/29/07: Update - I was there last week for a late night dinner after a visit to BW. My mom loves their "Chee Fan", which is this saran-wrapped thing of sticky rice, dried pork jerky stuff, and a Chinese doughnut. I had their vegetarian Chow Fun, dry-style and it was good. We also had their Shanghai dumplings. I loved that they give plenty of ginger julienne slices and the red vinegar is at your table already. They were pretty good!Listed in: My Hood, Xiao Lung Bao!
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Review from Wilhelm Y.
San Francisco, CA
3/15/2007
I was part of that large group that Jenny K brought into this restaurant over the weekend. Our group had just completed nearly three hours of intense physical labor at a volunteer project in the Park and we were hungry. I sat at a table separate from JK and we decided right away to order family style so that each person at our table of eight could sample more dishes. That's when the not-so-great service came up. Long after we were seated and had our chance to study the menu dish by dish did a waitress finally walk over to see if we were ready to order. We were already working on our second pot of tea!
Based on the experiences of group dining at another Chinese restaurant two persons at our table suggested that seven dishes be chosen which meant most of us got to choose a single dish of our liking. The food was good but not great. Each dish was devoured quickly, but keep in mind that we were hungry. With each dish the kitchen staff showed quite a bit of variety among the use of ingredients and most of the dishes were well seasoned.
Everybody's favorite Honey Walnut Prawns came out first with the sweet crunchy walnuts sprinkled with sesame seeds beside large crispy, succulent shrimp in a mayonnaise sauce over a bed of lettuce.
We ordered the Seafood Chow Fun, dry without the gravy. Lots of flat rice noodles and bean sprouts ... not so generous with the seafood although the calamari was tender, the shrimps were firm and the chunks of white fish fillets seemed quite fresh.
Calamari in Garlic Sauce was hot and spicy with hot peppers, bell peppers, lots a tender calamari, minced garlic, peanuts, water chestnuts and white onion. The addition of the peanuts worked well with the spicy sauce.
The BBQ Pork with Mixed Vegetables featured thick slices of lean BBQ pork, broccoli and carrots.
Cashew Nut Chicken had large chunks of chicken dark meat, cashews, snow peas and celery in a delicate sauce.
One of us had ordered a Shanghai-style chow mein with the crispy pan-fried noodles, but that wasn't what they brought us. Instead they brought out a Lo Mein with regular chow mein noodles, julienned cabbage and strips of lean pork. We ate it up anyway.
There was a considerate pause before they brought us our final dish; although, we had finished off the previous six dishes, and most of us were full already.
The Salt n Pepper Pork Chops came out hot and well-seasoned covered with lots of oil-seared garlic that wasn't oily at all. The pork meat; however, was a bit on the tough side.
It's always more fun to dine as a group, and the Go Go Cafe offers some good Chinese food. The portions are good and the prices are fairly low. Give this one three and a half stars!Listed in: Picky Chinese Eater, A Seafood Odyssey
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Review from Natasha I.
San Francisco, CA
4/29/2009
We were starved and craving Chinese so decided to explore our neighbourhood a little. A little help from yelp and some directions we decide on Go Go. So we got there and anticipated a lovely meal.
Err ...not to be.
We ordered the veggie dumplings, Veg Chowmein and Mushrooms and Tofu curry with broccoli. The dumplings arrived, a little watery but tasty. And we were famished so we gobbled them down.
Next came the tofu curry. But what do I see, it was "garnished" with a strand of hair. Hmm. I showed the waiter that and he immediately took it away. And then came my Chowmein. We served ourselves and before we could eat we spotted another hair strand! This time in the Chowmein. Grr. Now we were seriously concerned about what was going on. We showed the owner this and he promptly took the dish away. He later came back profusely apologising and said that it was awkward and embarrassing for him and he had asked the chef to wear his hat! Well, thats alright, accidents happen. He said that whatever we had would be on the house and we would not be charged for it. Sounds fair enough.
Then, we waited for our food to arrive. We waited waited and waited for almost eternity. We were having a discussion and didnt realise how long they were actually taking. It was well over 45 minutes when we were struck by the horrid thought that maybe they were not going to replenish the food. I started looking around for the owner and waiter, none of whom were to be seen. So eventually we got up from our seats and there you are,the owner. He came and shook our hands and said sorry and that was the end of it. No food nothing. It was 11.30 and there were no restaurants open and we were uber famished. The dumplings merely made us hungrier. And angrier. I mean WTF just happened? Why did the food never come? Were those apologies just a f***** sham?
Im sure Go Go will never have me wanting to go go back. EVER. -
Review from Yan M.
San Francisco, CA
11/26/2007
OMg, we had a party of 12 and we must have ordered in excess of 12 dishes or so....
We had the following:
Deep Fried Whole Founder
Shrimp with walnut
Spare Ribs In House Special Sauce
Mu-shu Chicken
Beef Chow Fun dry style
Frog Legs with chinese sausage steamed in a lotus leaf
Spinach with preserved salted duck egg
Stewed Lamb with soyabeen sheet pot
House Special Tofu Pot
Stir-fried Fillet of Rock Cod
Fish soup and fish cooked 3 ways
Free sweet red bean soup dessert and the bill incl tips were $16 per person. We left happy and full, tasty and definitely a sumptious dinner. Parking was easy but perhaps it was still Thanksgiving weekend. :) -
Review from J T.
CA
6/19/2007
Pet peeve time:
Why are there three listings for this restaurant here?!
One of Go-Go Cafe is plenty.
Rice, tea, water... fine.
Service was good. Bathroom.. clean.
Food-wise... we probably could have ordered better.
Kung Pao Shrimp and Mongolian Beef were OK.
Starter soup was alright.
I was hella disappointed with the Lemon Cod Fillet.
Imagine oblong chunks of white fish, floured, deep-fried, then dressed in saccharine sweet Jell-O liquid.
This, when we were expecting a nice plate of fresh, steamed cod pieces. *snicker* I wrote "cod piece". I'm so eight years old.
:P -
Review from Susy C.
San Francisco, CA
6/16/2008
[ x ] deep fried salt & pepper crab
[ x ] snails in black bean sauce & sweet basil
[ x ] hungry Susy
[ x ] Jay Chou World Tour Concert dvd playing on flat screen
pure satisfaction. -
Review from Cathy K.
10/21/2008
Great place for a satisfying late night Asian snack.
The food is fresh and the restaurant is spacious for the Sunset.
Good for groups. -
Review from Jenny K.
San Francisco, CA
3/12/2007 3 photos
Not bad. The food, that is. The service ... well, that's another story altogether. I think they did their best since our group of 15 dropped in on them in the middle of a Saturday with huge appetites and unquenchable thirsts.
We made the fatal mistake of ordering before figuring out that we were going to eat family style, so there were a couple duplicate dishes at our table. The salt & pepper cod was the big winner in my opinion. The dish was deep fried, but there was not a hint of grease on the cod ... it was crispy on the outside and flakey on the inside. Well seasoned.
The kung paos were good too. Not great. No nuts, and I'm really into nuts (see pictures I posted).
The mapo tofu was spicy and delicious. It's not vegetarian, though ... ask them to hold the pork if you must, but if you mustn't ... it's not grisley pork and adds some much needed flavor to the tofu.
Pan-fried noodles with beef .... don't order it. Too peppery and not much else. Kind of a wimpy portion of the gravy-stuff that goes over the noodles, too, so the noodles didn't really soften.
Fried rices were good. They have a ton of veggies in it, and they're not the standard peas and sprouts, either. Good variety of things ... even broccoli and snow peas!!
It's open until 1am. They accommodate large groups and do their best to dish it out quickly. And, their food is cheap and tasty. I'm going to go again and try some more adventurous stuff...Listed in: Dinner for Two ... for 20…
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Review from Stacey C.
3/17/2008
This is my favorite Chinese restaurant around Irving Street and I am a regular here. But recently, they must have been discovered by Zagat readers which means... the prices went up - a lot! I was really disappointed. The prices weren't "chinatown cheap" to begin with, but now my noodle dishes are more, even dumplings are more expensive. They even changed their steamed chicken. I ordered it - one of my favorite dishes - and they raised the price by about $2 because of the new fancy chicken they use - aka, run-free chicken, which is a skinnier chicken. Let me tell you, I need the fat, ugliest, cheapest chicken you've got! I don't care for the skinny chicken! ok ok, it tastes good, but you have several more little tiny bones to pick out.
Aside from the prices going up, the food is excellent. Oysters are delicious - a must try. When they're nice at dinner, you get dessert too. I usually order noodle soups and dumplings for lunch. They have really good Shanghai dumplings and hand-made noodles. Fabulous.
I would still go here because the food is so good. I used to go once a week, but because it's probably gonna cost me $40 a meal, I better go less often. -
Review from Hello K.
Fremont, CA
7/8/2008
Food: Not the best Chinese food I've ever had but it'll do when I'm on a budget and in the area! I've tried several dishes here...the string beans with chicken, the dry style chicken chow fun, and the shanghai pan fried noodles. All dishes are okay but not a lot of flavor.
Price: Pretty cheap. They have a small list of lunch special items that they serve til 3/or 4 pm on weekdays that are $5 and under. Other dishes are $6 and up.
Atmosphere: I've never actually eaten in this restaurant but it seems pretty quiet and clean.
Service: Okay.
Location: Located next to Chic salon on Irving . Parking available at meters or side streets. -
Review from An u.
San Francisco, CA
8/15/2006
Gym has no effect! thanks to places like Gogo Cafe and Pakwan.
I was just gonna go home after running few miles and then my buddy calls - 'yo! gogo cafe at 9pm...' next thing I remember is trying to recover from the food coma.
all the dimsummy/chinese fried snacks goodnes, whole crab, hunan chicken, fried rice, sesame crusted pancakes, list goes on...
its cheap too! and you feel extra gratified because you can eat similar stuff like other chinese folks there, instead of pansy-ing at some fu fu asian-fusion place like.. like... like... BETELNUT... I said it!
My only beef here and some other traditional chinese restaurants in city- Dude water must not be an afterthought I need it before my tea, man, and constantly refilled!!... My friends always oblige and let me drink their water cuz men in black and white took forever to fill my glass. gets annoying, seriously.
take this review with pinch of salt - I also like Henry's Hunan, D&A cafe, and that chinese restaurant at the corner of broadway-columbus & broadway and stockton, and yea my neighborhood joint Eric's -
Review from Manton R.
Santa Clara, CA
9/16/2009
I live in the Sunset and there are countless Chinese restaurants to order from. I decided to choose Go Go Cafe. What did I order? Vegetable Fried Rice, Beef Chow Fun and Kung Pao Chicken. Yes, yes . . . I know it's typical food to order, but that's all I know.
The Vegetable Fried Rice was really good with fresh vegetables. The flavor was almost bland, which I like. I hate MSG injected food. Gross! The tofu in the Vegetable Fried Rice was a very nice touch! The Kung Pao Chicken was also pretty good. The spice wasn't too overpowering and they did throw in a lot of vegetables. Maybe too much? I actually had to dig around and look for the chicken. The Beef Chow Fun is another story. The Beef Chow Fun was greasy, oily and it smelled funny. I took one bite and threw it away. I know there are hungry people out there, but I cannot eat something I don't enjoy. Sorry!
Bottom line . . . I've had better Chinese food in the Sunset. The food was moderately priced and the Vegetable Fried Rice was delicious. I have had better Kung Pao Chicken and the Beef Chow Fun is something you must stay away from. -
Review from Marisa L.
San Francisco, CA
5/1/2007
Oh man! This is one of the few spots that I have refrained from yelping about because I really wanted to keep it on the DL, but now that I've been PUNKED at the Go Go, I'm outting it for all it's worth.
I love coming here because it's a five minute jog down the street and around the corner from G's house. We've enjoyed many a Shanghai-style brunch on weekends; the dumplings, green onion pancakes, siu lung bao, and sweet soy milk with donuts would keep me satiated well to dinner time. Checking out the critters in the fish tank was a calming way to start the day, too.
The last two times I've been there, though (as recently as this past Sunday) the sweet soy milk has had a distinctly sulfuric smell and burned taste to it. I ignored it the first time, but G's mom spoke up about it this time around. The waitress immediately said, oh, no, it's SUPPOSED to taste like that... the burned taste is really an indication of high quality, concentrated soy beans. Don't you know? We hung our heads in ignorant A-B-Cantonese shame and kept eating. (Apparently, they must get lots of comments about the soy milk taste, because the waitress replied as if she knew exactly what we were talking about.)
Then, when our siu lung bao came out in the bamboo steamer, they were solid and bone dry. No kidding. The shrimp and leek dumplings made for better examples of siu lung bao.
But we obediently ate and paid our bill, realizing afterwards how dumb we were not to send the food back and get what we wanted. I'll be back to this place - it was too good before to write off - but next time I'm calling their bluff when the dim jeung smells like a volcano!!
(Of course, if it's SUPPOSED to taste like that, someone tell me...) -
Review from Garrett W.
San Francisco, CA
7/2/2008
Eh. It's not good. But for 3.95 it's you get a little more than what you pay for. I've been here twice within the week. They have a 3.95 lunch special. Salt Pepper Cod Fillet w/ Rice - good deal, flavored well. It's a simple dish, so I'm glad they could do it right. The Salt & Pepper pork chop was decent. Again a simple dish, but I've had alot better. Avoid the beef chow fun unless you plan on putting alot of chili pepper to add some flavor.
The place is clean; I don't get what everyones crying about. If you think this place is dirty, just walk down the street to any other Chinese restaurant on Irving and see whats up. Come on guys, you get what you pay for. -
Review from Roger W.
San Francisco, CA
9/5/2006
Very nice place with relaxing atmosphere.
Not a lot of restaurants are open late here in this city, but this one is.
So I went there on some late, hungry, Sunday night looking for some halfway decent food whilst expecting much worse.
I was pleasantly surprised; the flounder with black bean sauce was delicious and this must've been the first time I saw fish in it's natural form in this country, as opposed to fried with french fries, or freedom fries if you're a moron and then some.
The service is friendly, some of the waiters lack sufficient English but certainly make up for it with what they do to you under the table.. nothing that is, but they're nice.
Try to get a seat near the door and the big flat screen telly for a first rate... crappy Honk Kong movie festival with English subtitles. Those movies usually give me the creeps, and I can't say whether it was the atmosphere, the fish or the beer I had previous to my visit that made me enjoy myself so much.
I hope you'll go there, and we could meet. And go home to your place afterward, if you're female and stuff. Provided you pay, of course.
I'm giving it four stars, to serve my darker side. -
Review from Spike S.
San Francisco, CA
1/12/2008
Very disappointing...
The "seafood" hot pot had three very small prawns, two small scallops, two pieces of squid, and a few shreds of rock cod. Most of the hot pot was tofu, more tofu than I've had in dishes with tofu in the name. It was also low in seasoning, despite some roasted garlic.
The spinach with garlic was similarly unseasoned, and also was oily and chewy. The seafood dumpling soup had a tasteless broth and some very funky dumplings that did not taste like any seafood I have ever had. Really not sure what that filling was.
It tastes like they threw away the seasonings in the kitchen.
Very good service, however, far better than many Chinese restaurants in the area. -
Review from Don H.
Walnut Creek, CA
10/12/2007
Let me start out by saying that the food here is really good. Even a gwei loh like me can appreciate it. That being said, the service leaves a lot to be desired.
I think this place shows the Chappelle's Show "Pop Copy" skit as their service training video.
"Occasionally you may encounter one of these customer types. Your job is to frustrate them and make them feel unwanted."
Or, The Simpsons when Bart gets his free sundae on his birthday.
"Eat it and get out."
...I watch too much tv... -
Review from Christy L.
San Francisco, CA
8/14/2007
OMG, sweet sticky rice with shredded pork! I found you!
I was contemplating placing a Craigslist "Missed Connections" ad, but now I don't need to! I've been searching for you since the tasty little Taiwanese place closed up the street a few years ago!
This place is generally packed late at night and is great for large groups. I've eaten here a few times and it can be a hit or miss with both the food and the service.
Great place to go for a late night bite with your pals. I'll be back for more fan trun! -
Review from Clarissa S.
San Francisco, CA
1/4/2009
I used to come here a lot for the inexplicably cheap lunch specials. After a long hiatus from this place, I decided to get some food delivered by these guys and I have to say that it is pretty tasty. In fact, it is very likely the most authentic Chinese food delivery joint in the sunset. Granted, that doesn't really say much considering 3/4 of the delivery joints in the city specialize in broccoli beef, but I'm sitting here at the computer munching away at my garlic snow pea tips and my shrimp stuffed tofu and I'm pretty damn satisfied.
Also, the poor delivery guy arrived at my door with chattering teeth as it is literally 40 degrees outside. Despite him being cold, my food was still relatively hot, a testament to how quickly they deliver even to my hilly neighborhood, even if the guy had to freeze his ass off in the process.
Minus 1 star though for having the gall to charge me $2.50 for an order of white rice. Are you serious? I'm Asian. I'm practically made out of this stuff. Makes me wish I had just busted out the good ol' Zojirushi while I waited for my food and saved myself the cash. Times are tough...shit. -
Review from Jackie S.
11/19/2007
A typical Chinese restaurant located in the Sunset District. We had a group of people share a $48 dinner special and ordered additional sides.
Our meal came with the following:
1) Honey walnut prawn- Too much mayo for me, but the walnuts were yummy!
2) Sauteed spinach in garlic- I always love spinach!
3) Crab- Crab is always messy to eat, but the flavor wasn't too bad. I wish the shells of the crab were cracked more.
4) House soup- Nothing memorable.
5) Spare ribs in Sauce- More like deep fried pork chops with way too much salt.
6) Steamed fish- It was fresh fish, so that was good.
7) Red/green bean dessert- Not too sweet which is a plus.
There is might be more dishes, but I don't recall any at the moment.
We also ordered additional items:
1) Mongolian Beef- Good sauce and the beef was tender.
2) Salt and peppered cod- Bleh, it was like eating the ocean.
3) Crispy tofu- I didn't get to try this dish.
Overall, the service was lacking, and the food was pretty good. Would I come back? Probably not since I'm not in the Sunset district. However, this restaurant is a decent place to eat at for Chinese food. -
Review from Fannie S.
2/11/2008
Food = good, nothing special, but nothing bad either
Drinks = okay selection
Service = typical asian place
Seating = clean enough
Prices = cheap
It's a good hangout for late nights with friends though. -
Review from Mimi T.
5/18/2008
After B2B today we were famished! We decided to make a small trek down to 19th and Irving for some Asian eats. We stumbled into the Go-Go cafe and I saw right away they have an authentic Chinese Breakie menu. The savory soy-milk hit the spot. We also had the pork dumplings, the rice roll, the chives pancakes with egg, and of course the fried bread. Everything was delicious and really fresh. The fried bread was straight out of the fryer...crispy and fluffy. The sticky rice roll was surprisingly soft..The food there was reminiscent of all the things I loved to eat as a kid.
I saw that they have a full menu of dinner dishes and noodle soups that also looks yummy...hopefully next time! -
Review from Tani S.
2/20/2009
A friend took me here last weekend for takeout and I wasn't expecting much since the prices are on the affordable side in comparison to the Boston and Seattle Chinese area restaurants we've been to in the past.
Our order arrived within 15 minutes and I really enjoyed the black bean steamed fish, the con-gee, and the scrambled egg and prawn noodles. Everything was quite flavorful although the noodles were a wee bit on the greasy side (I still enjoyed them).
I would definitely go back and looking forward to getting takeout with my family sometime soon. Just wish it was a bit cleaner. -
Review from Chelsea C.
San Francisco, CA
1/4/2010
Go Go Cafe isn't bad but it isn't good. I've tried a numbers of different dishes on at least 4 different occasions and there are only a couple I would order again, yet alone recommend for someone else to order themselves.
I do thoroughly enjoy their Lemon Chicken. When you order this togo it comes with the lemon sauce on the side. Which is a big plus for me, because normally when I order lemon chicken from other Chinese food places I find that the chicken is literally swimming in sauce. No bueno.
I did not like their Chow Fun at all. Noodles were over cooked and the sauce was flavorless.
Shrimp Fried Rice is acceptable, nothing to write home about though but gets the trick done without you feeling deprived of shrimpy goodness. -
Review from Shane L.
New York, NY
10/1/2006
Yummy!!!
At 10:45pm on a Saturday I had a hankering for Chinese food. Where to go? I hit Yelp for suggestions. Go Go came up as open till 1am. Looking through the reviews I got a good idea of what I could expect and what I should eat. I drove over.
The place was fairly busy for 11pm on a Saturday. They have a dining room and a small bar with a little more dining seating. I sat in the additional dining area by the bar. I dropped a star because for a good chunk of my meal the movie on the flat screen (The Poseidon Adventure) was blaring so loud I couldn't think.
I was pretty sure I knew what I wanted:
* Crispy Duck
* Snow Pea Sprouts and Garlic
* Preserved Egg in Porridge (no pork)
I asked for all three. The porridge came first - man was that good. It was like eating slightly lighter than usual grits, but with the fascinating "preserved" egg chopped up inside. I ate about three or four bowls.
The chicken came next. It was pretty good - but not really anything to rave about.
Finally came the Snow Pea Sprouts with Garlic. Now, the pricetag on these things was a bit high, and when they showed up I really wasn't impressed. Then I had a bite - SO worth the money. It was fantastic... Seriously. I don't know if it was the sauce or the taste of Snow Pea sprouts (never had them before), but it was just phenomenal. If I had room I would have eaten them all.
I left there with a full belly and at least a night's worth of leftovers. All in all a good meal for a good price.
Get a late night craving for Chinese and you are in the Richmond or Sunset? Head on over to Go Go's!
