Little Henry’s

Lol at the these low-​star reviews! Of course this place has crappy, un-​authentic Italian food. How do you not know that from looking at this place for more than 10 seconds?!
I’ve been going here about 10 – 15 times a year since 2001 (never got sick from here). It’s cheap and the few items I get are decent for the price. Not many items seem to be actually made there. Just bought out and heated up. It meets my expectations, which are low (for this place). I mean, it’s a dive bar of restaurants. You don’t go to a dive bar and expect to get a well made sazerac, do you? You expect to get a piss beer and a cheap shot, hopefully in a semi-​clean glass. This is the culinary equivalent.
The servers here are atrocious. But so are most bartenders at dive bars here in the TL. Some people like those old ladies who barely able to speak or comprehend English. They find them ‘charming’. Not me. Still, they meet my low expectations.
Read my review of Geary Club. It coulda been used to describe this place. Essentially, this place is a shit hole. But that’s why it’s ‘good’. If you don’t ‘get that’, than you’re probably a douchebag. And if you LOVE dive bars but hate this place, I think you’re contradicting yourself.

I used to live right next door to this place. the food is not authentic or special at all, but its super cheap, and as a poor college student who lived next door, I frequented this place A LOT.

Not great service… too much garlic… red sauce better than white sauce… Visiting from out of town… not sure if I would eat here again. On the upside, the prices are reasonable

Solid Italian restaurant. Quality is on par with the price, but you get a great deal on the quantity for the price. I highly recommend this when craving Italian favorites.

It is one of the cutest, italian restaurants ever.
It’s sit down but the staff is great! I remember a couple onion rings burnt and the server replaced them right away without us asking her to.
The food was good, affordable and delicious. Definitely would go again when I am in the area!

I’ve had Little Henry’s bookmarked for months, and I’ve walked by it dozens of times. When I finally decided to go, I only then associated the name to the place. It’s quite nondescript. For my first visit, I ordered the fettuccine della casa using their Eat24 widget here on Unilocal,which was very helpful since the place is cash only. Unfortunately, when I went to pick it up, they had apparently not noticed that an order had come in and they hadn’t even started it. It was fine; it didn’t take more than five minutes to make. The whole thing came out to under $ 10, and it came with bread and salad. I must have gotten over a pound of food. But the food itself was lackluster… the cream sauce seemed to be an attempt at a carbonara-​style sauce with egg, and it was overcooked, so the egg scrambled. The salad was basically iceberg lettuce with a single slice of tomato and vinaigrette.
If you’re really really hungry and you don’t have a lot to spend, it’s a good value. I know I may be a wee bit spoiled after growing up in San Francisco where authentic cuisine from any region is widely available, but I was expecting this to be at least on par with Olive Garden or something. Meh.

Surprisingly impressed.
A dollar goes a long way here.
Fast, friendly, and tasty. What else do you need?

Great service.
Quick food.
Good prices.
CASH ONLY.
Plenty of options.
Overall, a good spot for a quick bite to eat before a night out. Just remember, it’s cash only.
I had the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich which was surprisingly good. Chicken was great too. Definitely had better, but for the price and how quick you get your food, it’s a great place to go.

Definitely not Italian. The service was horrible. My dad ordered eggs Benedict and the hash brown was burned.
I ordered the ravioli and let’s just say I have never tasted anything so bland. I could bet they were frozen ravioli.
My mother ordered the tortellini al pesto and IT TASTED BITTER. I do not know how but it was horrible. I’m 100% sure they were frozen and have gone bad a long time ago. We sent it back bc the taste was unbareable. The waitress had the audacity to tell us that a lot of people had ordered and never complained. What???
Avoid this place.

Family owned Chinese Italian Old School San Francisco treasure! Love this place, for a good home style meal at a good price, huge selection of Italian classics, lots of pasta, meals come with soup or salad and bread. Cheap beers and Carafes of wine. Love the huge portions of chicken and veal, and dinners come with a big side of pasta and veggies. Their burger is pretty good too, love the fried gnocchi or Fried Cheese to start! The same people been running this place forever, always feel right at home. Lots of cops will stop by to eat as well, cops know where the good food is. Plenty of tables or a long bar to sit at and watch the master in the open kitchen. You will not leave hungry.

Came here last night and it started out good. It was on the late side, so the place was pretty empty. A couple of regulars were seated by the open kitchen at a bar area, another couple at a table and a small group with a CHP officer at another table. The restaurant was unexpectedly clean for a Tenderloin hole in the wall. It’s also a cash only business.
Food is cheap and good. Don’t expect a gourmet meal for an Italian place run by Asians — it’s more like comfort food. Service was quick, probably due in part to the lack of a crowd inside. Bread served with butter didn’t look too appealing but actually tasted good. The crust was softer and chewier rather than crusty, but the flavor was like a good sourdough. I had the spaghetti and meat sauce with meatballs and it was a large portion! Pasta was cooked nicely, not too al dente or too mushy. The sauce was good, I don’t like a watery sauce and this was nice and thick and meaty. Very tasty!
The negative I experienced was when I finished my dinner and ordered another dish to go. I asked for the tortellini al pesto. Flavor was good and the pasta was cooked nicely again, but the portion size was about half the size of my spaghetti! I don’t know if it was because of the tortellini or the to go sizes are always smaller, but that was really disappointing. When I brought it home to Lois, she thought it was just my leftovers and not a dinner. I even told them that I didn’t need the salad and bread they offered that goes with every meal, so I know it wasn’t mistaken for a side order.
If Unilocal had half stars, I’d give this two and a half. Over all, this place is cheap with good comfort food. If I’m in the area and hungry for Italian, I’d go back — but only to eat in. I don’t think I’ll risk another to go order.

Generous portions and not expensive. Service is good. Family owned but not Italian. Cash only. I liked it. 4 stars

This one is all about expectations — I was expecting something good and got something bad. I wanted to avoid being biased by Unilocal this time by not looking at the reviews, and I probably won’t do that anymore. I walked in after seeing the Veal Parmesan sandwich advertised in the window as a special. Growing up in the East Coast, I know what that would look like and taste like, and I hadn’t had one in a while.
Well, everyone else seems to think an Asian-​owned Italian place is nice and quirky and quaint — I’m sure it’s possible for non-​Italian people to make good Italian food, but this was not an example of such. The veal was one strip of unidentifiable Steak-​umms-​type meat, with some cheesy substance melted on top. The stale white bread and tasteless tomato sauce wrapped it up — I’ll probably never return here. $ 8 wasn’t too much to lose, and to learn my lesson. After viewing the interior of this place (yes it’s in the Tenderloin but I’ve seen far better), I should have just immediately walked out.

By far the place to have breakfast Lunch and dinner. They’re open from 10am-​10pm the lady Jade is a sweetheart!

It’s all about the (less than) $ 5 breakfast!
This is one of the oldest and most affordable breakfast places left in the neighborhood, where you can get eggs, toast, and hashbrowns for (under) $ 5! And they only add $ 1 or 2 for bacon or coffee.
The people are always friendly, and the food is made to order, and they get it to you fast.
I have lived in the neighborhood for 11 years, and this is still my favorite breakfast spot!
As for the apparently racist and classist people on here, who seem to think that this place being an Italian restaurant that is run by Asian people, is a bad thing, well, they must be doing something right since the place has been open for longer than most of you have been alive.
Be sure to bring cash, since they are cash only.
Still, my favorite after 11 years.

I love Little Henrys! This Is THE best Asian Inspired & owned Italian Restaurant In SF. It’s really funny when unsuspecting guests come in expecting an authentic Italian experience, that’s clearly not what this place is about. It’s an Italian style Diner run by Asians, not an authentic Italian fine dining restaurant.
Having said that, the portions are huge. Everything comes with bread and soup or Salad. It’s delicious & filling & friendly. It’s quaint & quircky & they serve beer & wine as well as sodas, coffee, & tea.
Cash only and everything is served quickly.

Little Henry’s is always like going home for dinner. Family owned and operated, this little corner in the Tenderloin is warm, welcoming, and full of regular guests! It really does feel like you are a part of the family when you sit down and eat here!
The food tastes exactly like you would expect it to taste, which in this instance is perfect. Kind of like mom making you spaghetti and meatballs from scratch, because it was your birthday, and you got to pick what everyone had for dinner that night.
No frills here, and no pretense either. Great big portions for $ 10, and leftovers to enjoy for lunch the next day. I am a huge fan, and a loyal regular. Wonderful that they have been on this shady corner for what seems like 100 years!
PS. If you are one of the haters who only gave this place 1 star, then you are missing the point of Little Henry’s entirely. Take your head out of your ass for just one second please.

Oh my god so terrible. I went with 6 people and all of their dishes were a fail. It’s an Italian restaurant owned by an elderly Asian couple.
My veggie omelette was so not good. It was half-​assed steamed carrots, broccoli, zucchini and SPRINKLES of cheese. I just lifted up the flap of the omelette and saw the sad ingredients inside. It was not an omelette. And those are the type of veggies that go on the side of a rib eye steak or something. Huge ass chunks of veggies just laid in an omelette and 5 strands of cheese.
My friends couldn’t even finish their food cuz everything was so bland and the presentation was like a cafeteria lady just plopped that shit on the plate. «Hollandaise» sauce was a joke.
Every time I pass by this place on the street I feel disgusted.

I LOVE LH’s. From the first time I got take out to the most recent time where I dined in. Everything about LH’s is amazing. I get one thing and one thing only. Spaghetti with meat sauce and mushrooms. Mushrooms and sauce are made to order. The thing about this dish is that it reminds me of my mom’s homemade spaghetti. There is something about it, the taste or the spices, that hit close to home. Prices are great for a large portion of food.
If you dine in be prepared to be around great and friendly staff and even more friendly customers. Cops, regulars, solos, just about everyone is awesome here.
My only gripe is that I always have to ask for the key to the bathroom (small bladder!).

If portion control is an issue for you, yeah, I wouldn’t come here. If an artful presentation is important to you, just keep moving on. But if you’re looking for no-​frills comfort food that probably would have suited Ralph Kramden’s palate after Alice kicked him out of their cold water flat for yelling «To the moon, Alice!», then this is the old-​school greasy spoon with your name on it. I’ve passed by Little Henry’s hundreds of times never thinking of going in because I figured it was just a soup kitchen for the homeless despite the promise of Italian food on its signage (photo:
). I’m no food snob… oh, who am I kidding? But then I started reading some of the Unilocal reviews damning it with faint praise…
«I don’t hate the food here»…“Heart clogging goodness”…“It’s good for what it is”. Hey, at least nobody died here, so in my downscale brain, it sounded like it was worth a try. So I took the 19-​line up, a scary enough proposition on a Sunday morning with crackheads already yelling at me for taking their seat. Once I got off, I came upon a space that was filled with random tables covered in plastic red-​checkerboard tablecloths and lucite tabletops (photo:
). It was empty except for a couple of older guys at the window and presumably a father and daughter closer to the counter. After perusing the comprehensive menu that appeared to cover every possible meal of the day (photo:
), I went for the bargain-​price $ 5.45 Joe’s Special.
This is generally one of my personal favorites with ground beef, scrambled eggs and spinach (photo:
). It was decent enough though it pales to the one served at the Soma Inn Café. Of course, that one is about $ 2.50 more expensive, so I don’t have much room to complain. But I will anyway. The eggs were a bit overcooked with the spinach stems a bit too fibrous for my taste. However, it did come with a flat of hash browns, a perennial never-​fail option for me, and a couple of slices of toast that were a tad burnt (photo:
). Fair enough, it wasn’t bad really. So a couple of weeks later, I found myself in a foul mood from work and was in dire need of comfort food. Dare I return for another round with Henry?
Yes, indeed. I came back at dusk to find the place fairly packed with a lot of sluggos and legions of young Asians. This time, I looked at the other side of the menu (photo:
) and ordered the $ 8.95 Roast Chicken which came with a side of Spaghetti, my choice over the healthier option of vegetables (photo:
). But give me kudos for ordering the salad instead of the soup, even though I was chomping quite aggressively on the soft white bread that I slathered liberally with those same pats of butter I recall from my middle school cafeteria (photo:
). Yes, all of that was just $ 8.95, and we are talking about half of a chicken, surprisingly succulent, and a full mound of spaghetti with meat sauce.
Some broccoli florets were squeezed onto the plate for good measure. I have to admit that was pretty darn satisfying food and strangely becalming for all the calories it wracked up for me. On the other hand, the salad consisted of just a few random leaves of iceberg lettuce with a ranch dressing so watery I splattered myself, a feat that somehow completed my less than perfect day. But wait there’s more. I had the temerity to order dessert, a $ 2.15 Cream Caramel Custard which was basically flan with a huge dollop of Reddi-​wip on top (photo:
). It really didn’t need the whipped cream, but the flan was quite tasty. OK, I get it… it’s the need for a gluttonous dinner that would mark my return here.
FOOD — 3 stars… decent enough breakfasts but the hefty, satisfying dinners are for the penny-​wise and pound-​foolish
AMBIANCE — 2 stars… this place reminds me of some scene in ‘The Godfather” where somebody is about to get rubbed out
SERVICE — 2.5 stars… on automatic pilot although they did say goodbye when I left
TOTAL — 3 stars… gee, how many Weight Watchers points was that?