Lin’s Cafe

Edit on 05/​14/​2015: LOL. I guess my intuition was right. It did close! This is what happens when you serve and treat customer like trash.
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Surprised this place is not out of business.
It’s always empty. I mean always.
I don’t know why instep foot in here. Regret it.

Decent hole-​in-​the-​wall for staple chinese BBQ meats — BBQ pork, fried pork, and soy sauce chicken. Obviously not a place for a date, but good enough for lunch on a lazy saturday.
The meat is delicious, the rice and veggies were meh, soup is a little funky (old chicken feet floating), but for $ 4.60… I cannot complain. Good bang for buck

Chopped.
Right in front of me. Half a chicken. $ 6. Braised with soy sauce.
Chopping was done with purpose. Conviction. Efficiency. Confidence.
None of those words accurately describe the two meals I made with the quite good chicken. More like passable and edible.
Lin wins this round.

3.5+ stars. This is the one place in the Outer Mission to go and see roast duck and other HK-​style barbecue items hanging on the window. I came earlier this week with tow coworkers and ordered the roast pork over rice. It was quite decent, the skin was crunchy. I believe I’ve come in the past and experienced their roast duck which was good also. They serve you a pretty good-​size bowl of house soup when you order their lunch rice plates.

We took up both big tables and pushed 2 tables together for a family dinner after my grandmother’s funeral. It’s a hole in the wall type place that reminds more like a ‘Big Wong’ in Chinatown place in NYC. I think my uncles picked this place because there a family friend from the village back in China.
Food was great. The roasted pig and salt chicken was nice and flavorful.
I’ve eaten these dishes so many times it never wows me. Or it could be because it was a somber time during dinner.

Lin’s is amazing. I usually come here for their lunch specials which are 5 bucks and you get soup. The portions are huge and delicious. Also they let you substitute so you can order stuff that’s not on the lunch special wall. The barbecue stuff is also really good and service is pretty good too.

The Mongolian Beef over Rice here is the bomb. I’ve eaten here countless time and it never fails to satisfy me. Its only $ 5 when you go from 11AM — 3PM and $ 6 anytime after that. I recommend you try it.

This place is obvious not owned by Jeremy Lin (–sanity!). He may be the hottest pro-​athletic icon at the moment. But he’s got to be in the same upper-​echelon players or celebrities such as Michael Jordan, Junior Seau, or other retired pro athletes to run a restaurant.
Besides, I don’t think he (Lin) would operate/​own a restaurant on Mission Street. His hometown in Palo Alto may be a better choice.
This small Chinese Deli is one of very few along lengthy Mission Street. For lunch, I went piggy-​style and ordered the two-​item combo over rice. For $ 7.00, I get pieces of Chinese-​style Barbecue pork and roast pork with a ginger dipping sauce over rice. I’m not sure how much of the two popular Chinese-​style pork items are served in the Mission. But the meats were decent and nothing too «runny around the mills». My rice plate:
As I was eating my lunch, I was browsing at the posted menu on the wall. The tiny restaurant also has lunch specials with rice dishes for under $ 5.00. The family is friendly. Thus I may try that on my hopeful next visit.
Also I was watching the son playing with his Hot Wheel’s cars collection. And many times, I need to retrieve his little car to him. «I love to have his energy!»
Health Department score is 83. «Yeah, my kind of restaurant; DIRTY and DIVE!»

While searching for a place to order some takeout to bring home. Came across this place still open around 9pm. Stop in and looked at the menu, Ordered some stir-​fried beef tongue, lamb stew, and some other entrée part of a cow (don’t really know what it is and didn’t taste it) The food came back salty. i don’t know if it was because they were trying to have their own family dinner in the restaurant and rushed our order or its just how it is.

I come here all the time for lunch. They have a lunch special that comes with soup. Pretty basic Chinese BBQ place without any thrills.

This is Chinese food at its best, seriously. It’s quick, cheap, plentiful, and readily available. Parking is fantastic across the street at Safeway.
I always order their beef fried rice or beef ho fen (rice noodles) because they are really cheap. I usually buy one order of each for the family and it costs me a total of $ 10.50. You also get two small cups of soup for free. Although I don’t really care for the soup, it’s really nice all the food that they give you. The beef fried rice is just plain old fried rice with peas, scrambled egg bits, and a lot of beef. The beef ho fen is fantastic. The rice noodles are really thick but well cooked. They aren’t in clumps and there’s just enough soy sauce so that there’s flavor but it isn’t drenched in it making it too salty either; they’ve definitely found the perfect middle ground. There is also a lot of beef. The beef slices are somewhat thick and definitely plentiful along with a lot of bean sprouts.
Lin’s Café is definitely a great place for take-​out if you’re lazy like I am and don’t want to cook, especially if you’re local. Everything is fresh and made ready to order expect the hanging Hong Kong barbecue that they have in the windows (chicken, duck, ham).

I’ve been coming to this joint for a while now, even when it was Eastern Treasure Restaurant (or something like that). They have pretty good stuff. The shrimp and scrambled eggs are one of my favs. The soy sauce chicken is the bomb. Moist and super plump, with great flavor!

This is a new Hong Kong-​style restaurant located across the street from a Safeway on Mission street.
This physical location had similar restaurants in the past, but all of them eventually closed. Not enough business I guess. There’s plenty of seating space but the location is not ideal, they’d have more foot traffic if they were near either Ocean or Geneva streets intersections. Hopefully this owner will have better luck.
According to rumors the owner is known for her soy sauce chicken recipe, as being one of the BEST. Also, she was owner #2 out of the 4 or 5 different restaurant owners at this location. She took over after owner #1 was sick, and later decided to retire. So she’s back to give it another try.
The place is fairly clean and spacious inside. Like typical Chinese BBQ shops, the window displays a few meats for sale by the pound — roasted duck, steamed or soy sauce chicken, BBQ pork and roasted pork. These BBQ items are also used in the menu of noodle soups, rice plates, chow mein, fried rice, and stir fry. There is NO pre-​made food sitting in warmer trays, so apparently everything is made to order. Prices are affordable, between $ 5 — $ 8.
After dining here several times, I can say that I’m a fan of the soy sauce chicken and the roasted pork. Both are delicious! BUT many items in their menu are average or not that great.
Some of my food pics:
— Westlake minced beef soup ($ 5.95) — good.
— Soy sauce chicken ($ 6.95) — moist, tender, and great flavor!
— Roast pork noodle soup ($ 5.50) — good and tasty,
generous takeout portion.
— Chinese broccoli in garlic sauce ($ 6.50) — good, fresh and crisp!
— Beef chow fun ($ 5.50) — unremarkable. Missing «wok hay».
— Cashew nut chicken ($ 6.95) — they put peanuts instead, subpar. No longer on menu.
— Egg rolls ($ 3.95) — crispy and decent.
— Crab meat cheese puffs ($ 4.95) — crab and pork filling, no discernible cheese. Just okay.
— Potstickers ($ 5.50) — meh! skip this item, will never order this again.
CASH only, no delivery service. Hours: daily 9am-8:30pm.