New Hollywood Bakery & Restaurant

Green onions buns is as good as the reputation might lead you to think. Went on a china town tour and out of the entire three hour tour where we ate and walked and ate the entire time the green onion buns are my favorite!

Tried Green Onion Roll here today and it was truly great! It is normally an underlooked item in a bakery but they sure make it extra delicious with all that butter and soft bread. The Egg Tart is 3 for $ 1.60 now but still cheap and very good. If you don’t want to bother with the long line down at the Tourist Trap, here is a good local bakery.

The best Dan tats I have ever had!!! The crust was nice and crunchy without it being too flaky and messy, and the filling is soooo gooey and sweet!!! I would eat here every day, it fills me with regret to think that I didn’t eat more!

It’s just OK. Not for me…

The only thing you need to know: The Green Onion Roll is $.80.
That’s right, you can feed yourself for under a $ 1 here, and let me tell you, the green onion roll I had was OUT.FRICKING.STANDING.
I can’t even. I can’t remember the last time I paid for something that was under a dollar and gave me that reaction. DEFINITELY check this place out, it’s totally worth the trip into Chinatown!

Very efficient and friendly service. They serve the best HK style milk tea and have good baked goods like preserved egg pai dan so cake and other classic Cantonese tea pastries. They even have table service with tea served in porcelain mugs and saucers not just paper cups. It is a popular neighborhood café especially for seniors.

New Hollywood Bakery is 1 mile to and from my office on Bush, but after reading so many recommendations, I had to stop by. I came here to try the green onion bun, and it is surprisingly good! It’s slightly sweet, but the flavors of the green onion and butter all work well together. It’s only $ 0.80 too. If you thought you couldn’t get cheap, good eats in SF, think again and come to Chinatown.
I will be back for more green onion buns and will try the baked pork buns and egg tarts, too.

Saw the Green Onion Bun on 7×7’s list of things you have to try in SF, and damn it was good. So simple, so light & airy, and the green onion flavor was delicious. I also tried the Shrimp Chow Fun and it was fantastic too!

We went to New Hollywood bakery for lunch a couple of days ago, because The restaurant next door was closed.
Food was really good, but service was one of the worst I have ever experienced.
Also place was full of old men who kept going outside to smoke and leaving the door open (sigh)
Price was OK

Believe that this bakery/​restaurant was originally located on Stockton near Clay Street spot now occupied by Café Honolulu which offers similar pastries and small eats food. Nestled on the quiet side of Pacific Avenue, this store is the front space of a mini-​mall that has other typical vendors (video sales, herbal store, and tailor). To those unfamiliar with Chinatown, you might be taken aback by the cleanliness issue here.
The go-​to baked good here is their green onion bun which resembles a bagel stick laden with scallions. Like that their buns are kept in a warmer. One of my regular bakery stops especially when my friend craves that green onion goodness. Finally, I tried her recommended scallion bun (
) last night; I was impressed that the green onion flavor was consistent throughout the bun and that the dough was not overly sweetened like most places
Though the customers mainly consist of neighborhood workers or retirees, I was able to help a young non-​Chinese speaking couple who needed some help in identifying and buying a red bean pastry; yes, they steered away from that preserved egg one as expected. While waiting, I noticed two young girls slurping on small bowls of noodles which made me curious about their dine-​in menu. I asked for a take out menu and the cashier told me that they don’t have one. Instead, I looked at their dine-​in menu and saw a few items that made my tummy growl.
Will be back and hope to try their ox tail as good versions are getting more difficult to find.

Kind of iffy.
This place seems a little suspect to me. There were a lot of people eating things that didn’t come from here at the tables — out of plastic bags, which seemed a little odd to me.
It also didn’t seem super clean.

This is located next door to Yin Du Wonton Noodle which is highly recommended. I decided to pop in here to try some of their bakery items. Had a banana flavored dessert USD 0.6, a Green Tea Cake Roll USD 0.9, a Curry Turnover USD 1.2. None of these really was all that good. They look nice, but when it comes down to the quality and taste, it’s badly lacking. Did not try their egg custard tart which is 3 for USD 1.4, less than a third of the price charged for one at nearby Golden Gate Bakery which is USD 1.5. This place is packed with customers, be prepared to share a table if there’s an empty seat. Cheap it is, good tasting quality food, look elsewhere.

the PORK BUNS mmm
These 90 cent pork buns are huge and heavy, a great sign that they stuffed with a lot of cha siu filling unlike the others where you bite in and find a large air pocket or too much of the red gooey stuff. These are my favorite pork buns because the bun is light, buttery, and slightly sweet and the filing is plenty, meaty and savory.
Green onion bao is good too. a slight notch higher than other green onion bao but really, its just green onion and bao! get the pork bun.
Egg tarts aren’t the best here IMO. they have a denser crust and the filling is kind of a neon yellow and tastes a bit artificial.

The green onion buns here are good — for what they are. Nice soft bread braided into a a long bun and studded with green onions. Very nice light snack. Not too oniony — just a pleasant onion flavor. However it’s really nothing to write home about.

I came for one reason and one reason only — to try the green onion buns featured on 7×7’s Top 100 Things to Try Before You Die.
Not expecting much but the long, twisted bun was surprisingly light and airy and had some really pleasant green onion flavor and aroma (not overpowering). And for $ 0.70, it’s one of the best deals in town to grab and go as a snack.

Possibly the worst egg tarts I’ve had. After yet another Golden Gate Bakery fail, we headed to this place in search of egg tarts. The pastry shell was too thick, the filling very artificial tasting.
Not very good.

the New Hollywood Bakery is surrounded by dine-​in tables making it hard to get the bakery from the front door. (note: use the side door) eatery. very busy in the morning. clears out by 11 a.m. no idea what’s on the menu.
likewise for the bakery. no listing of baked goods available nor pricing thereof.
other reviews mention cheap eats.
eats:
–egg tarts (3/1.30) to go only
flaky crusts, sweet tasting egg custard, egg texture/​flavor slightly tasted
best ever tasted in this price range. usually .@.80.
–baked pork sung bun (1.10.)
flaky shell
nice pork filling
excellent!
crumbs:
–cash only
–fast service when not busy.
–shelves looked unorganized or i didn’t know where to look.
breads, buns, and tarts are in different section. some are on trays to the side.

What happens when Golden Gate Bakery takes yet another unannounced vacation? Go around the corner to New Hollywood Bakery!
Are their egg tarts as good as GGB’s? Probably not. But then again, GGB has closed on me soooo many times I don’t remember how good their egg tarts are.
At New Hollywood, their egg tarts are good enough to satisfy my cravings. Nice thin flaky crust. The egg filling light and not overly sweet. The price is a fraction of what GGB charges. (
)
Best of all, New Hollywood has a ton of other goodies for cheap!
7×7 Big Eat 2013: #71 green onion buns (
)
The bun comes in a long braid kept nicely warm and topped with green onions. Not only is it delicious, it costs 80 cents for one bun. What?!
Awesome place!

100 Best Things To Eat In SF Before You Die 2013
#71 Green Onion Buns at New Hollywood Bakery & Restaurant
4 Green Onion Buns, 2 Hot Dog Buns, 2 Pineapple Buns, 2 Hawaiian Bread, 2 Raisin Breads, 1 Bbq Bun all for $ 8.90!
The green onion buns had a wonderful golden baked top and emitted an enticing onion scent. It was well seasoned and you could taste the onion flavor without feeling overpowered. Presentation was great, liked how they braid twist their buns and are able to get them to retain their form.
The hot dog bun was ok, didn’t care for the hot dog but thought it was presented well. Bbq bun was more sweet than savory and the ratio to bread to filling was 3 to 1. As for the hawaiian bread, straight forward and delicious.
Overall Thoughts
Green onion bun worth trying, other things can be hit or miss but won’t break the bank if you want to try a variety of things

Green Onion Buns– #71 on the 2013 7×7 100 Things to Eat Before You Die list.
I used to eat green onion buns as a kid, but haven’t had one for years! I haven’t heard of New Hollywood Bakery & Restaurant before, so definitely wanted to check it out when I saw it on the 7×7 list for 2013. I parked on Pacific Avenue on the other side of Columbus, and we walked across the street to find the bakery. The sign for the bakery is actually located much higher than expected, so we walked past it and had to double back. It’s a medium sized bakery, and they have a bunch of tables if you want to sit down and eat your baked goods, or order something more substantial from their menu.
They don’t have a lot of items in the bakery case, so you kind of have to look to the left of the register to see what type of buns they have on sheet trays. I think they have a menu above the register, but can’t remember. You can also ask the ladies working behind the counter, but the one that was helping us wasn’t friendly at all, but hey, what do you expect for a whole in the wall type place. My friend and I just purchased the Green Onion Buns (3/​$ 2.10,
), and they were still warm and delicious! Soft and buttery, with the perfect about of salt. We both wished there was more green onions in the bun though! I didn’t like the look of the crust for their egg tarts so didn’t purchase any, but will have to come back in the future for more green onion buns and to sample some of the other baked goods!