Henry’s Cafeteria

this place is closed — for as long as I’ve worked across the street (since at least ¹²⁄₀₉).

It’s between 3 & 4 stars. I gave it the 4^th because of the price. Only one lady working so it’s slow. As I came in she asked me: «For here or to go.» I replied «For Here.» She then told me. «Then stop standing and sit down now!» Which I replied: «Yes, Ma’am.»
She got low on Macoroni Salad, so she just took my half scoop and mixed it with more mayonaise to make it be more. That made me laugh. I had to close me eyes not think about how I was eating a pure half scoop of mayo. It was good though. I was SOOO happy to find a place that didn’t put onions in the macaroni salad. HURRAY!
I had the Terriyaki Chicken. It was actually quite tasty. I would have liked more chicken, and less onion, but what I had actually did taste pretty good. It was done just as I like it. I could have done w/​o Teriyaki sauce on my rice (I like it plain), but that was my fault for not saying anything.
Really cheep. I did get my money’s worth so definitely worth it.

When I came in, the woman behind the counter told me it’d be a 25-​minute wait. I opted to hang around because I had heard that they serve loco moco, and I was gonna have it, god damn it.
So a while later, I get my delicious-​looking steaming plate, with an extra egg for my time. I thought that was a sweet gesture, but I wished the egg would have been fried sunny-​side up. The grilled veggies were a nice touch, but I picked off the cabbage, that peasant crop. I like the loco moco at 88 Rice Bowl in Daly City much better.
This place is a bit too far from my office to justify many trips, though I could see myself coming here semi-​regularly if I worked much closer.

massive food for $ 4.95 or $ 5.95. And that price includes tax!
I ordered a loco moco ($ 5.95 pan grilled burger patty with fried egg on top), and it came with a big pile of fresh stir fried veggies. Way more than i can say for the chinese food places next door!
The curry chicken is pretty tasty, though needs some salt. But she gave me a massive amount of food – 2 chicken thighs! And it’s only $ 5! She easily accommodates any requests, like no mushrooms for me, less than one scoop of rice (though she looks at you funny for that haha), and you don’t need to take the macaroni salad if you don’t want it. I also asked for a fried egg on top, and she did it for me for an extra dollar, easy.
I’m adding this place into my regular lunch rotation now. Place may look sketchy, but the food is fresh, with a very homestyle stir-​fry taste.
Sorta hawaiian-​ey, sorta chinese-​y, but really it’s just LOTS of cheap food, made fresh, with a nice lady behind the counter making it and serving it to you.

wow this place is getting a lot mixed reaction. I’ve been here a couple times.
The food is cheap.
The portions are huge.
Made to order.
The food is good, not the best thing in the world, but its good.
Pay no attention to uptight jerks like richard l. Whats the sense in rating *everything* on extremely high standards? If you’re looking for a elegant experience with polite waiters, service, fine china, imported bottle water from Indonesia or where-​the-​heck-​ever, and highly reviewed food — this is not for you (and you suck). But for what it is, Henry’s Cafeteria is one of my favorites places to have lunch.

Instead of writing a review flaming the inedible plate lunches at Henry’s Cafeteria, I will disprove a glowing review penned by an author who has zero knowledge of hawaiian fast food.
– «O-​M-​G. I can’t believe how stupid some of these previous Unilocalers are. You don’t go to a place called Henry’s Cafeteria with one cook and no servers expecting a high class gourmet experience. How snobby can you get? Oh wait, this is San Francisco.»
Reading the review for Henry’s, a hole in the wall restaurant serving hawaiian plate lunch, I noticed the majority of the reviews expected lunch at Henrys to be less than exquisite. This is, after all, not gourmet food; hawaii bbq is homely food, cooked with ingredients found abundantly all season.
But that doesn’t mean Henry’s should get any slack despite it’s connotations as a low-​end restaurant. Food is food, and despite the label, the food should be judged through the lens of objectivity.
– «This is definitely a great find. The lady that cooks your meal is so sweat you could easily get on a first name basis with her after a few visits.»
Yes, she’s charming, but charm won’t win me over when the food is crappy. More on that later, though.
BTW, you probably mean «sweet,» but sweat is a great adjective for Henrys, too.
– «She asks you if you’re eating here or taking out. I said eat there and she told me to sit down she’ll bring it to me. I hate it when I go into a new place and don’t know the process so that immediately got her an extra star.»
Are you serious about giving this place an extra star just because of this seemingly poignant tip? Aren’t you inflating your review when this service is purported through convention? Every place does what the lady at Henry’s doing behind the counter: it’s called service.
So, the food and experience is actually four of five stars, according to your review. In the end, your review says this place is five stars — a complete disservice to anyone who’s reading your review, guiled by the absolutely terrible points, not to mention false statements, about this crap in the wall place.
– «The food is good. Its not great its good. The water is from the tap. This is what you should expect going in. If you don’t like it don’t go.»
I want great food. Do you know where I can get cheap, great Hawaiian BBQ? L and L, on kearny. And that’s a four star joint. How the hell does Henry compare to L and L? Oh wait, IT DOESNT.
– «The portions are huge, you definitely get a full meal for cheap. Two scoops of rice, macaroni and Chicken Teryaki. Mmm. The plate looks like something out of somebody’s kitchen cabinet.»
Um, right. She made it from her poorly equipped kitchen, stock full of ingredients past it’s prime, sitting in a stanky room exposed to grease and oil.
When I don’t want my food imbued in kitchen grease, I’ll eat at L and L or Hukilau.
– «The meal seriously feels like it was home-​made by a mother.»
That mother must suck at cooking.
Have you ever tried something else than the chicken teriyaki? What about spam musubi? Or chicken katsu?
OH WAIT. Henry’s doesn’t have any of the items listed above, which are common in all hawaiian place serving plate lunches. Even the chinese kitchen near the metreon has a chicken katsu plate lunch.
But what do I know? I’m a snob living in bourgeois San Francisco…
, and had lived in Hawaii for 20+ years, the birth place of hawaiian plate lunch.
update: 2÷21÷08
From David S.
– Pay no attention to uptight jerks like richard l. Whats the sense in rating *everything* on extremely high standards?
Did you read my review? Understand what I was saying? Lemme explain it to you, David, in something simpler — Henry’s bad. L and L good.
– If you’re looking for a elegant experience with polite waiters, service, fine china, imported bottle water from Indonesia or where-​the-​heck-​ever, and highly reviewed food — this is not for you (and you suck).
Dave, read my review, try to understand the context, then type out your shitty five star review before wrongfully interpreting my review. I compared Henry’s to L and L! have you ever been to L and L? L and L is far removed from the sphere of elegance.

Ryan A is right. If you get skeeved out by appearances, good, because I don’t need you taking up m’lady’s time when she gets to devote it to me and making me my dish to order at lunch. Ingredients are fresh, it’s sliced up right in front of you, and wok fried while you wait.
Maybe this reminds me too much of my latchkey-​kid, Chinese American upbringing in the 70’s but the gal behind the counter is able to whip up some decent grub with huge portions and rock bottom prices. No complaints here.

Not a bad place to grab an authentic Hawaii style lunch plate — teri chicken, mac salad and rice — served in a «mom’s kitchen» environment. You go in, mom asks what you want for lunch, you grab your paper and sit down and then, 5 – 10 minutes later mom hands you a fresh made lunch plate. All I need is some underoos and a high chair to make the experience complete.

I think I got 5lbs of food for $ 5. I did get to do a few arm curls with the take-​out box to burn some of the calories though.
It’s cheap and better than most fast Chinese/​Hawaiian food in the area (though that’s not saying much). So why not?

«I’m full, my stomach is bloated with rice.»
«Yes, I’m in a food coma.»
That’s what you get for 5 bucks. Not a bad deal considering OPEC prices for oil are higher today. I did find a hair my meal but for 5 dollars how can you complain?
Where else can you get stir fry and a Mickey’s Malt Liquor? Come on people.

That a restaurant with such hidden gem status as Henry’s Cafeteria exists blows my mind.
I came in expecting to get some sub-​par lemon chicken deep fried mystery medley combo type thing over rice, but when i didn’t see the typical rows of stainless steel vats full of the usual, I just about turned around and left. Luckily before doing that, I asked the lady at the register what the deal was.
She said they cooked everything to order and it would take «eight minutes». I had to stay. And in about eight minutes she whipped up and brought to my table the biggest, hottest and freshest meal anyone will every find within a mile radius for $ 5.00.
The food is pretty good actually, despite what some of the other reviews may lead you to believe. I mean, unless you’re comparing it to the prix fixe lunch at Farallon or French Laundry, I don’t see how you can complain about fresh, made to order, hot from the wok to your plate and still steaming fare that’s served up here.
I’ve been there a few times and had a chance to try at least three things from the menu and they’ve all been pretty good. I’m usually the only person there but usually during the 30 minutes I’m there at least three or four people will poke their heads in or take a few steps towards the counter then turn around and leave. I think people are weirded out by the «ambiance» (which consists of shadows, dust, old menus and inventory for the liquor store ((Henry’s Liquors)) stacked high all around) and the lack of pre-​cooked gross psuedo-​chinese food on display.
The owner is really nice. We got to talking and I mentioned that she should advertise a bit more — put up some pictures of the food, maybe mention how the place works so people won’t so surprised when they walk in and see no food. She said maybe, but at least now she doesn’t have to worry about getting too busy.
So I guess Henry’s Cafeteria will continue to be my secret, private lunch spot right in the middle of downtown.

I can’t believe how stupid some of these previous Unilocalers are. You don’t go to a place called Henry’s Cafeteria with one cook and no servers expecting a high class gourmet experience. How snobby can you get? Oh wait, this is San Francisco.
This is definitely a great find. The lady that cooks your meal is so sweat you could easily get on a first name basis with her after a few visits. She asks you if you’re eating here or taking out. I said eat there and she told me to sit down she’ll bring it to me. I hate it when I go into a new place and don’t know the process so that immediately got her an extra star.
The food is good. Its not great its good. The water is from the tap. This is what you should expect going in. If you don’t like it don’t go.
The portions are huge, you definitely get a full meal for cheap. Two scoops of rice, macaroni and Chicken Teryaki. Mmm. The plate looks like something out of somebody’s kitchen cabinet. The meal seriously feels like it was home-​made by a mother.
After you finish, ignore the guy in the back room yelling for whatever and tell the lady you’d like to pay.

Excellent Hawaiian style plate lunch. Beef tomoato, CHicken Teryaki or Chicken Curry are all solid choices.
it’s only $ 5 for literally two meals worth of food.
Scoop of Macaroni salad
Rice
Meat dish
Reminiscent of the first Hawaiian Drive In at Redwood City that opened in the 90’s.
They also have all the inventory for the liquor store next door, so you can get a 40 of OE or an AZ iced Tea :)

A little secret about me… I don’t know if this is disorder or what, but I really like it when I’m super hungry and the only thing I have to eat is something that isn’t very good. If any of you have ever gone camping you’ll know that the dehydrated meals suck. One of my favorite things about camping is being totally bushwacked and sitting down and eating a MRE or camp food, it somehow makes me feel more rugged. Maybe it’s the buddhist in me «I eat to live… I do not live to eat.» You realize that the meal is more about sustinance and refueling and less about indulgence. That’s weird right?
So why am I going on about this? Today it was beatiful day in the Bay, and I decieded to go for a run. On the way back to the office, I wanted to grab a quick and light bite. So I’m walking past the Henry’s Cafeteria… it astonishes me how bad this place is. Serioulsy, It was 12:30 and I was the only person in there. It’s like the cook has never tasted her own cooking, or she just doesn’t give a !@#$. Do they own the building? Is it a front from some ilegal business? It is some sort of write off or tax shelter? Does she get lonely? How long has that mac salad been in the fridge? These are not the type of questions that should be running through your head while your eating.
So I’m starving, and this food is very, very bad. Even the rice is gross… how do you mess up rice? Anyway, as these questions were running through my mind, I decieded to approach it from a Buddhist perspective. This is just a meal, only a meal… no more no less. In the end part of me began to enjoy it, the whole sadistic sustinance angle started coming out.
So please do avoid henry’s. If you’ve ever been I’d love to get your perspective. If your a sadistic type and enjoy punishment, please do eat at Henry’s
Also 5 stars from Andrew… Andrew do you eat plate lunch often? You do realize what it’s supposed taste like right?

the lady who served me was very nice. i ordered the lunchbox which included chicken teryaki, two scoops of rice and macaroni salad. mac not so good. pretty barfy actually. but the teriyaki sauce was good, but a little too soy saucy. the chicken was okay. i’m really picky when it comes to chicken. this place was alright, but there are just too many better places in the area.
Pro: not crowded.

not outstanding food, but it is cheap, and frequently empty, even during lunch rush. not a bad spot to grab a heaping plate full of stir-​fry and read the newspaper uninterrupted. most of the lunch specials are $ 4.95 and include two scoops rice, one scoop mac salad, and a main dish, like curry or kung pao chicken or broccoli beef. a better ‘hiding spot’ than gourmet eatery.

AMAZING value. Two heaping scoops of rice and one of a delicious macaroni salad, and choices of dishes galore (many with veggies) all for $ 5.00 including tax. AND, it’s a sit down place; they don’t rush you. I shouldn’t have finished my meal, but did b/​c it was so tasty. Quick, easy, old-​school, friendly, undiscovered.