Sam’s Chinese Restaurant

The broccoli and beef was pretty standard chinese food submerged in a pool of sauce. It was nice that it was piping hot when I got home, however the entire thing felt unhealthy and fatty. The good thing about Sam’s is that the food was made really quickly, and the prices are unbeatable.
This is a solid spot if you are on a quick walk home and want to pick up something filling but not necessarily healthy.

Ed U: «Sing it once, Sam. For old times’ sake.»
Sam: [lying] «I don’t know what you mean, Mr. Ed.
Ed U: «Sing it, Sam. Sing «As the Duck Skin Crisps.»
Sam: [lying] «Oh, I can’t remember it, Mr. Ed. I’m a little rusty on it.»
Ed U: «Here, I’ll hum it for you… Quack-​quack-​quack, quack-​quack-​quack…»
[Sam begins playing]
Ed U: «Sing it, Sam.»
Sam: [singing]
«You must remember this…
A duck is still a duck,
Chow fun is just chow fun.
The fundamental things apply
As the duck skin crisps.
And when two porkers eat,
They still say, «You gonna finish that?»
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings…»
I probably would go to Casablanca for good duck and then round up the usual suspects. But Jamie W. and I just went up Polk and tried Sam’s since I saw on their menu that they sell a Half Roast Duck for $ 13. I had to twist Jamie’s arm to come in since he loves Hahn’s Hibachi next door. So if Same failed to deliver, I wouldn’t hear the end of it. Needless to say, I didn’t hear the end of it. It was a heaping portion of duck indeed (see photo), but it didn’t taste terribly fresh.
The same could be said for the $ 5.25 bowl of Sub Gum Won Ton Soup (see photo), which had an oily surface and just didn’t make me want more than my little serving. We finished our meal off with the $ 5.50 Beef Chow Fun, which was also on the oily side (see photo). Standard-​issue Chinese. There were only a couple of other people eating in the place, although quite a few stopped by for take-​out. I don’t blame them for running away.
FOOD — 2 stars… less than middling dishes, pretty oily stuff
AMBIANCE — 2 stars… not the warmest spot
SERVICE — 3 stars… they brought out the dishes pretty fast
TOTAL — 2 stars… play it again, Sam… not!

Update 8÷20÷11
PLEASE DO NOT POST ANY MORE REVIEWS TO THIS LISTING, BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL SAM’S CHINESE RESTAURANT IS CLOSED.
A new restaurant has been opened under the same name at the same location, but it is NOT the same restaurant.
So, I have created a new listing under the name «New Sam’s Chinese Restaurant.» If you can’t find it in a search, use this link to go there:
Update: 8÷8÷11
Bummer!!!
Wanted to go to Sam’s today for some of their great won ton but they’ve gone out of business.
They were closed for a couple of weeks before this — supposedly for vacation until ⁸⁄₁ but the ⁸⁄₁ date was later scratched out. So, the sale must have already been in the works.
Now, there’s a change of ownership sign in the window & most of the tables are gone — aparently in advance of a remodel by the new owners.
I’ve been going to Sam’s for a good & cheap Chinese meal for over 20 years & it will be hard to find another «go to» place to replace it.
Don’t know what the name of the new restaurant will be or if the new owners are going to continue serving Chinese food or not and, if they do, how good & cheap it will be. Only time will tell.
Oh well. ..

FIVE stars for their WONTON soups! This is by far THE BEST wonton soup place in the City! Here are my favorites: Beef Stew, Shrimp, Chicken, Beef, BBQ Pork. I have yet to try the others, but the wontons are always fresh and delicious!
I also am a BIG fan of these dishes: Beef with Broccoli, Beef Chow fun, Dry Braised String Beans, Asparagus with Black Bean Sauce, Chicken with Broccoli over rice and most of their Chow Mein.
Mom and Pop hole in the wall and very divey… I usually order TAKE AWAY as I am not into the décor or lack there of. This place use to be super greasy and awful, about 21+ years back, but now it’s super awesome, fresh and delicious…
The waitress/​owner (Sandy?) at the front does not give out too many smiles, but she and the chef/​cook are the hardest working people! They are nice enough as I am a regular. Thank you, Sam’s!

A small Chinese restaurant on Polk Street. I ordered Hunan chow fun and broccoli beef. They tasted ok. This is probably a place people go for a quick lunch if you live in the area.

I haven’t had anything else yet, but f#%^! their combination wonton soup is sickly good, MSG yumminess! On their menu it’s called «sub gum wonton» — they DO try to make it easy to understand.

Not bad. Great old interior. Friendly service.
I ordered Chicken Chow Fun for $ 5.50. The chicken was fresh, but the noodles were soggy. I think it was dried rice noodles that were boiled, not fresh noodles from a «fun factory».
Much better chow fun (more $$) at Tai Chi at Polk and Pacific, or the definitive Yee’s Café on Grant Av ($ 4.50).

I am pleasantly surprised by Sam’s.
Having walked passed it many times, I’ve never really made an effort to look inside nor the menu for that matter. It seems so plain from the outside and «meh, it’s alright» seems to be the general consensus for the place.
But on this night I was in a hurry and needed a quick, forkable, takeout meal that I could rush home and get back to work — type with one hand, and eat with the other. After a quick peruse of the menu, I ordered the Kung Pao Chicken over rice.
Now this is where Sam’s steps it up. They redefine fast food. Once the lady in the front put my order through to the kitchen via the intercom, I heard the sizzle of a hot wok and in under 5 minutes, I found myself walking out of Sam’s with a pretty heavy bag of food.
If it’s fast, it can’t be good right? I totally expected over-​sauced, greasy Chinese food (and maybe that was what I secretly craved) but it wasn’t at all. The vegetables were crisp but tender and the dried chilies gave the dish a nice kick without the need to douse it in a thick sauce.
I might never dine-​in at Sam’s but now that I’ve tried them, I won’t be opposed to taking out from them more often. In fact, I know I will. For straight-​forward Chinese fast food that isn’t over-​sauced, Sam’s is a good bet on Polk, and a real steal at that.

The extreme ultimate most filthy tiny bathroom ever!
It looks like secret hidden door on the wall that you should not to open even though you are ready to crap your pants.
No!
Don’t open it.
But in case you did, there is a another door right behind it to the bathroom.
In the left side, I saw a locked fence that something you don’t know in it. creepy shit.
I am sure it’s nothing but FXXX, creepy shit.
It is really incredibly creepy nasty crappy bathroom.
I always walkin’ by the place but I’ve ever even bother to check it out.
The food was OK though.
Really.
The portion was huge.
But I don’t remember what did I ordered.
I think I’ll go back again to make sure what did I have.

Just completed some Beef Chow fun 6 dollars for a large take out box. Tastes okay, beef tastes good.
Portion is okay for 6 dollars. Carousel up the street would be a bit better at almost 7 bucks, but you do get a little larger portion in a flat tray with a bit tastier sauce and noodles.
I’ll try something else here and hopefully will earn a better review.
On the plus side, it was extremely quick, I had walked from Sacramento & Van Ness down to them and it was ready minutes later.
Ahh, lunch.
There are a few small tables inside, and it is old school looking. If your expecting the interior of an asian fusion restaruant you are in the wrong place. This is more 1990’s styled but still clean and tidy inside.

I was hesitant to try this place but decided to anyway because, well, why not?! The place is not dirty like so many have said … it was cute and old. The lady at the front wasn’t so friendly at first but when I went back to pick up my order, she was very sweet. The food was delicious — some of the best moo shu vegetable I’ve ever had. My boyfriend ordered the Mongolian beef and said it was good, but would try something new next time. We also ordered two soups — I wanted plain egg drop, but for some reason, it’s not called ‘egg drop soup’ in SF … it always has the word «flour» in it and this soup contained mini shrimp, tofu and I have no idea what else. It looked good but I do not eat any seafood or anything from the sea.
Prices seemed decent, food portions were pretty huge and I can’t wait to go back!

It’s small, cheap and fast. Everything I expect from a Chinese restaurant. The beef won ton soup blew my mind. It’s so good I can’t wait to go back. Stay away from the apps like egg rolls since the real stars are the soups and main courses. I love Mom & Pop places like this.

Like many Chinese restaurants in this neighborhood it very cheap, with very questionable cleanliness. The one aspect that makes Sam’s a little special is that carries Hong Kong style crispy instant noodle dishes, though they don’t have quite the dish I ate all the time when I lived in HK. I’m still looking for that.

All the words to describe Sam’s — hole in the wall, small, dark, service is mediocre. There’s only 1 chef, and 1 lady that runs the front … so don’t expect swift service on either account. But their food is soo good that all those things are tolerable. I don’t know any other restaurant that serves — Tomato Beef Curry Pan Fried Noodles — the BEST! Another favorite that my parents like are the Som See Pan Fried Noodles — not sure how to translate that, but with either you can’t go wrong.

Martin C. kind of took the words right out of my mouth.
Yes, this place is disgusting. There are flies everywhere, it’s ugly, etc. etc. etc.
But the portions are fucking huge, and the food isn’t bad either. My friend and I went there the other day and the bill for TWO of us was $ 13 and we were stuffed beyond belief.
Love it

This place looks filthy. The floors are dirty. The walls are dirty. Make sure you wipe down your utensils and your tea cups before you use them. That being said, this is your typical hole-​in-​the-​wall Chinese restaurant.
I’ve seen this restaurant in passing often, but I never felt adventurous enough to walk in and check it out. The prices are inexpensive and the one food item I ordered was actually pretty good. I agree that just sampling one food item really isn’t enough to base a review on, but with so many choices of places to eat in this city it’s difficult to predict whether I’ll ever make a return visit to any restaurant.
On my only visit I was greeted by a lady inside who asked that I take any seat. The two-​sided lunch menus are well worn with one side devoted to a long list of rice plates mostly in the $ 5-​$ 6 range. The other side of the menu offers noodle soups, chow mein, chow fun and Hong Kong style chow mein (crispy noodles). I ordered the Shrimp Chow Fun.
The waitress /​server lady brought me a pot of tea. It doesn’t matter to me whatsoever, but I took a peek anyway. They use tea bags and not loose tea leaves like most Chinese restaurants I’ve frequented in the City. Don’t look at the outside of the pot either because it looks like it hasn’t been washed in a very long time. I’m hoping the boiling water in the pot kills off whatever lives inside.
The noodle dish (
) arrived quickly. I picked up a piece of the shrimp. It was firm and flavorful. There were a total of eight medium sized shrimps in the chow fun with lots of rice noodles and bean sprouts. There were a lot of green onion pieces also some too chewy to swallow. There were strands of white onion mixed in but not a lot. The tingle on my tongue told me there was quite a bit of MSG.
Cash only. It’s a small mom and pop type of restaurant. There is a small television in front of the restaurant that continuously played contemporary music videos.

Polk is such an amazing street. It’s got overpriced and good, and underpriced and great. Sam’s in the latter. We’ve been coming here for years, and the same nice woman is always here. She remembers us from years gone by, and knows I love chinese mustard.
The food is fresh, inexpensive, tasty. Portions are good sized, and the variety is very good as well. Come enjoy!

I have walked past this place many many times and in each, I have judged the place based on its outside appearance. I’m very particular about my chinese food.
Well lately I have been on a soup kick, so I have been all around the neighborhood trying whatever soup I can find (typically, Thai, Chinese, and Vietnamese). I haven’t been too impressed with many of the Chinese restaurants version of the war wonton (I still call it that, I’m old school). But yet, because of their convenient locale, I keep going back to some of these same spots. One day, while ordering ‘to-​go’ next door at Thai Spice, waiting, I had some time to kill so I walked around and did some window-​shopping. There are so many places on this little stretch of block that I have not tried, such as Miller’s East Coast Deli, Quickly (who knew they served fried banana), the Cinch, the Tea Shop on the corner, and lastly, Sam’s. Why haven’t I tried them before?
So I stopped to browse their menus, which are posted on the window, made a mental note of their reasonable prices and decided that, when on a hunt for war wanton soup, I would give them a try.
It just so happens that it was time to rotate the soups, so I walked into Sam’s Restaurant, and based on the prices, ordered, not only war wanton, but also Spicy Mongolian Beef, pot stickers and steamed rice; all this for the grand total of $ 19.47.
Note, based on Sam’s outward appearance, I set my expectation level to low; however, to my surprise Sam’s exceeded my expectations. The soup broth was fantastic (not salty/​MSG), contents were fresh vegetables (i.e., strips of fresh broccoli, snap peas, whole mushrooms (appeared to be shitake), sliced potato, onions, etc.,), chicken, pork, one shrimp, and a gazillion large wontons. Was way too much for one person to eat (but I ate it anyway). The Mongolian beef was abundantly spicy, moist and tender (even two days later) and the portion was way too much for two persons, white rice adequate, and pot stickers were, a bit oily, but nonetheless, tasty.
Of course I didn’t eat this all in one sitting, and in fact it’s taken me four sittings; so if I do my math right, $ 4.86 a meal.
I’ll be back, that’s for sure! ;^)

Since I’ve started working, I’ve been looking for places to eat around the area. Whenever I’m free to roam without being hunted down with a sniper rifle that is.
You can obviously tell with the first sip of the broth that they put lots of MSG in it. I had the duck and pork wonton noodle soups here. The duck was literally all fat and barely any meat, so that ruined it for me, but I really like their wontons. The pork turned out to be much better! The portions of veggies, meats and noodles were decent.
There’s nothing spectacular about this place. It’s a hole-​in-​the-​wall None of the dishes really stood out for me. It’s cheap and nearby my workplace, so I just stop here if I have to.

Like many restaurants, the key to success at Sam’s is in the ordering. If you ask around (and yes there are a number of us from the neighborhood who eat here at least once a week) the consensus is that the soups are terrific. I prefer the sub gum wonton soup, a medley of wonderful things: soft wontons, rich broth, bits of bbq’d pork, green veggies, white chicken meat, shiitake mushrooms and, of course, the one shrimp. This is seriously good comfort food, people: for about $ 5 you get a big container of soul-​satisfying goodness.
Need something else to round out your order? The mah po tofu is excellent. The chow mein and chow fun are pretty much what you’d expect, but just what you need on those carb-​loading days. The owners are very hard-​working and if you want to see them smile, all you have to do is say something nice, or better yet, write them a little fan note. Believe me, they’ll post it on the wall forever. And the kitchen? It’s spotless, I’ve seen it.