Terra Cotta Warrior

Authentic Xi’an food.
Lamb soup was great.
Lamb burger and pork burger were better than NYC’s Xi’an Famous Food.

Awww yisss. Xi’an food don’t get much better than this.
I’m telling you before you leave San Francisco that you gotta try this Xianxi flat noodles in all of its spicy sauce goodness. The hand-​pulled noodles’ texture is just perfect, with flavors covering every inch possible.
If you’re looking for flavor overdrive, do try the lamb cumin dish as it packs an equal, if not more flavorful punch.
Oh, feeling even more adventurous, you say? Go for a dish packed of chili peppers with the Szechuan beef! That’ll get you talkin’.
When a place gives you memories of NYC’s Xi’an food scene, you gotta be in the right place. Killer food. Old school vibes. Bring an appetite or some friends, because it’s take a while to try their whole menu.

Shredded Tripes With Soy Sauce — Spice Level: 0
A bit on the salty side…
Chicken In Scallion Oil — Spice Level: 0
A very simple dish yet one of the most delicious out of everything I ordered. Very tender pieces of chicken breast (I’m assuming this because there was no dark meat to be found).
Braised Chicken With Potato & Pepper — Spice Level: 5 – 6
This dish was MASSIVE. MASSIVE as in it was twice the size of the standard dishes you’ll find in restaurants. Perhaps three times the size. But that’s somewhat expected since it’s $ 20.95. I saw everyone order it, so I had to follow suit. Had the first bite and was a bit disappointed. It’s just a typical braised chicken dish. I think my expectations were too high since everyone else in the restaurant ordered it.
Hot & Sour Pork Dumpling Soup — Spice Level: 5
Flavorful soup with a good balance between hot and sour. The dumplings were well made, especially the skin. It was opaque and had a slight bouncy texture.
Pita Bread Soaked In Lamb Soup — Spice Level: 0
The lamb was tender and was not gamey at all. Never had pita bread soaked in soup before and felt that it was quite an interesting first time experience. The texture is comparable to tong yuan (glutinous rice balls), but less chewy. The soup was flavorful, but really greasy. I had some leftover and popped it in the fridge over night. The following morning, I found a thick layer of coagulated fats on top of the soup.
Shaanxi Mian-​Pi –Spice Level: 6 – 7
Refreshing dish! Once again, a good balance between hot and sour. Tasted exactly like the hot and sour pork dumpling soup base. The sliced cucumbers were a good addition as well.
This place was PACKED like sardines. I waited for 40 minutes, so this translates to slower service. But that’s understandable. I brought my parents with me and they just couldn’t hang. I have never seen them chug so much water in one sitting. Just a big cup of NOPE for them. Their Southern Chinese palates couldn’t handle the spice and sodium. But for me, I really enjoy strong flavors and can handle my spices. I’ll be coming back to try the rest of the menu.

Hand made noodles were delicious. They are too spicy however, for taste… price is reasonable.
I like that they give you a pot of tea for the table.

Great selections of Shannxi style food. Very authentic and price is reasonable. If you on weekends, the wait can be very long.

==LOVED==
The sauce in shan xi mian pi. Mian pi itself could have been softer
==LIKED==
none
==DECENT==
Qishang pork noodle — got quite a sour flavor so you will like it if you like sour stuff. Noodles were excellent
Yang Rou Pao Mo (lamb soup w/​pita) — prefer softer pita, broth too much lamb flavor
==BAD==
Beef lung w/​chili sauce — the white sesame was strange, no cilantro, also don’t like the numbness from the spice
Cumin Lamb Hamburger — pretty disgusting, I’ve had way better. Stay away.
I see some comparisons to Xi’an Famous Foods. This place, while the food is similar, the taste is far below that of Xi’an Famous Foods.

Are you a global foodie and a fan of Xi’an Famous Foods? Well, this is the closest thing you’ll get here in SF, and lucky for you, it’s really tasty!
It was a cold and dreary day, and I wanted to eat something hot and spicy that would warm me up. This place did the trick! We walked in and were embraced with the fragrant smells of Chinese cooking. This is a different kind of Chinese food than you’ll normally get in SF. Most places in SF serve up Cantonese food, but this little gem specializes in Shaanxi cuisine, which means lots of spices, chili, heavy use of lamb and mutton. Strong, fragrant flavors. Spicy flavors.
We ordered the «Chinese burger,» which was basically pork in a bao, the noodles in sizzling oil, and the cumin lamb stir fry. The «burger» was a bit on the salty side; I’m not sure if it was supposed to be that way normally or if maybe they spilled extra salt into the dish. I liked the texture of the pork, which seemed like it was braised, but the saltiness detracted from my enjoyment. The other two dishes, however, were outstanding! I’m not normally a lamb person, as I find it to be too pungent and gamey, but here they cooked it in such a way that it didn’t have that strong gaminess. Rather, it was tender, delicious, and perfect over a bowl of white rice (necessary! Do get white rice!). It also wasn’t super spicy, which for a weakling like me, was appreciated. It had just enough spice to give it a good kick, but not so much that it interferes with the taste. My favorite dish was the noodles in sizzling oil. The noodles had such great texture! Each bite was hearty and chewy, such great bite! They must have been hand-​pulled noodles, I don’t know how else you can get that kinda bite. I was also concerned it would be too spicy, but it was only moderately so, and the spice only worked to enhance the flavors. I loved this dish!
I would recommend this place and would be happy to come back again and try the other dishes! It’s always nice to try something different once in a while, and I’m glad Terra Cotta Warrior exists to fill that niche!

There’s nothing I have not enjoyed from here, no lie. Disclaimer — I am on the experimental side with food and find it difficult to find something I actually don’t like. When coming to Terra Cotta Warrior, be prepared to wait because usually for dinner they will be busy. Just put your name down on the legal pad at the front and maybe waive down one of the waitresses for an estimate on the wait time. Also, they don’t like to seat you unless your whole party is here, so try to come all at once. If you like Chinese food from the Shaanxi Province, you will really enjoy the food here. If you are into Lemon Chicken or Mongolian Beef with fortune cookies at the end, turn around and run the other way!
Came here on a Sunday night around 7pm to have dinner with mom and brother. We ordered:
— Shaanxi Mian Pi (stir-​fried wide noodles) — 4.25
— Qishan Minced Pork Noodles (hand-​pulled noodles in a chili oil broth) — 8.95
— Noodles with Sizzling Oil — 9.25
— Baby Bok Choi (because they were out of the Water Spinach)
Everything was so tasty. What I ended up doing towards the end is dunking the Noodles with Sizzling Oil into the broth of the Qishan Minced Pork Noodles — soooo YUMMY. I will be back to try some other dishes I saw on tables around us.

Probably my favorite restaurant in the city. How did this happen?!
My family’s from Beijing, and this place totally reminds me of home, only everything is slightly oilier. But in a delicious chili way.
Here’s what I totally recommend:
— Mixed cold shredded potatoes
— Pork lungs in chili sauce
— Sir-​fried lamb with cumin
— Cumin lamb burger
— Qishan minced pork noodles
Here’s what’s just okay:
— Lotus root slices
— Mapo tofu
— Noodles with lamb
If it weren’t so far away, I’d probably eat here once a week, and get through the entire menu as quickly as possible! Totally obsessed.

Delicious traditional shaanxi food. Pretty authentic. Try those on the menu with a little star in front of them if u come here for the first time. The Pita bread soaked in lamp soup could be better if the pita bread was more well-​fermented and roasted and not already cut into small pieces but let customer tear it into small pieces by hand (which was the right way to do it). Also we had Qishan minced pork noddles soup, vey delicious and a little sour if you like vinegar this ideal for you. The other dish we had was Shaanxi mian-​pi which was good too.
A very busy restaurant. Be a little patient, if possible come a little earlier. You won’t be disappointed.

Nothing will ever beat my love of Xi’an Famous Foods in NYC, but the food here is really, really tasty and frankly excellent Shaanxi cuisine for San Francisco. I look forward to coming back sometime!
We arrived around 8:45 for dinner last night (Tuesday), and the place was pretty packed (although we got seated immediately — not THAT ridiculously pack). Impressive for the day/​time — clearly, people like what they’re putting down at Terra Cotta Warrior. They pretty quickly brought us a pot of tea, though we did have to ask twice before we got water.
For dinner, we had the cucumber salad, the cumin lamb burger, the Qishan minced pork noodles, the noodles with sizzling oil, the noodles with lamb, and the Shaanxi braised spicy fish. Definitely a lot of food for two people — could have taken two noodle dishes off easy… but we wanted to make sure we tried everything. We had wanted to also get the famed Shaanxi mian-​pi, but they were all out, sadly.
The cucumber salad, cumin lamb burger, noodles with sizzling oil, and braised fish were all amazingly delicious. I would absolutely get all of these items again, and I even considered getting a second order of cucumber salad to go last night (we annihilated them). Everything had the perfect balance of salt and spices. Plus, the cook on everything was excellent — nothing was over– or under-​cooked, nothing was oily (beyond expected chili oil «topping») or fatty, etc. We actually didn’t really love the Qishan minced pork noodles despite thehype — thought they were kind of bland and had too much potato (weirdly…) — and we definitely didn’t love the noodles with lamb — that was the MOST flavorless thing. So lacking in salt or seasoning or spices…
I’m excited to go back for all of the things we did love, however, and to try the Shaanxi mian-​pi.

Don’t expect «Chinese» food in the traditional sense from this restaurant. You are not going to get chow mein and kung pao chicken. Terra Cotta Warrior serves food from the Shaanxi region of China. It is very spicy and uses a lot of of wide noodles. I’ve eaten there twice and loved it both times.
I have tried the cucumber salad, jellyfish in mixed sauce, stir-​fried lamb with cumin, braised chicken with potato and pepper, Shaanxi braised spicy fish, pita bread soaked in lamb soup, Chinese burger with pork, and the Shaanxi mian-​pi.
Of those, everything was spicy except the cucumber salad (which is small,) the jellyfish (also a small dish,) the Chinese burger with pork, and the pita bread soaked in lamb soup.
The first time I went we ordered carry-​out, which was very easy. The second time we ate in. They brought the soup out last which I didn’t entirely understand, but after eating the soup after eating everything else, I think it makes the most sense. The soup is not spicy. After eating some of everything, my mouth was on fire (in the best of ways.) The soup really helped mild that out, with the delicious comforting tastes of the lamb with the square chunks of pita in it (which hardly seem like bread and seem way more like a noodle.) The soup was an excellent way to end the meal.
They do not take dinner reservations. The restaurant is small. You must have time to wait to get seated. But our party of 6 got seated within 45 minutes, which really isn’t bad. The service was great. And really, the prices are excellent.

Terracotta warrior!!!
If you haven’t tried this place you’re missing out, this place is unbelievable. We got there at 7 pm and the wait wasn’t too bad, we waited about 20 minutes. Once seated we started looking at the menu, if you haven’t been to a northern Chinese place a lot of it will look very unfamiliar.
We started with the Shaanxi mian pi (which was less than $ 5), it was noodles with sesame oil and chili, very tasty, worth every penny.
As an entrée we shared the minced pork noodle soup, the noodles seemed as if they just made them, they were very freah, the soup itself was spicy and very rich, we loved it.
We then got the beef lungs in chili sauce and I got to say we weren’t ready for this one, apparently it’s made with numbing chili that literally numbs your lips, it was unique, I recommend it.
At last we got the lotus root in chili sauce (the chili sauce here wasn’t numbing), it was good but I could’ve gone without.
So 3 cold dishes (tapas style) and 1 soup entrée came out to be 26 bucks, very affordable and amazing food, this place is a diamond in the rough.

Super authentic dishes from Shanxi province. The lamb soup with pita is so darn good and so addictive. The giant plate of spicy chicken with noodle has a great spicy kick but make sure chicken, sauce and noodle are well mixed.
Unfortunately, I’ve had to call them out a few times for forgetting a dish or two and were sneaky about still slipping the charges on the bill, so beware.

My favorite Chinese restaurant in the city. Food comes out super fast, it’s cheap ($ 45 for 3 people!!) and everything is delicious.
I always get the Qishan Noodle soup. It’s so good! The lamb with pancake bites soup is pretty good too. The lamb with cumin burger is also great. (I’m probably translating this all wrong)
I also like getting their cold potato appetizer dish and some of the cold dishes. I wish it was closer to where I live, but I’ve gone here a handful of times and I take tourists there too!

Four stars because this is authentic Shanxi province food, at least according to my dinner mate who comes from this region of China. I don’t particularly like this style of cuisine, but that is a matter of personal preference. I appreciate the authenticity nevertheless.
One of the best things about the Bay Area culinary scene is that you don’t have to settle for generic food like «Asian food» or «Chinese restaurant.» Restaurant featuring specific regional cuisines offer much deeper exploration into different styles of cooking. Shanxi style has a nice mix of spicy and sour (from greater use of vinegar), and more lamb dishes.

A little restaurant hidden in the Sunset, Terra Cotta Warrior was a nice surprise to someone who has disdained the oily, artless Chinese food that so many restaurants attempt. The prices are what I’m used to, and pretty great for a San Francisco-​based restaurant.
The wait was incredibly frustrating and the reason I knocked off a star. We were a party of 5 but wrote 4+1 because we had a small child with us. Given the small space, most tables could only seat 2 – 4. There were about 5 groups after us, and they all got to go in before we did. Then when a table that looked big enough to seat us opened up, one of the servers called my name, asked who our +1 was, and then told us «wait» (like we hadn’t been doing that already) and seated another 4-​person group. It ended up being about an hour-​long wait while we watched other tables beadily.
Once we got seated, the experience was a lot better. Our food arrived within minutes, and we would clear each plate in seconds. The mian pi is cool and slippery, and I think it was made with garlic oil. We also ordered the pita and lamb soup. I’ve had this at other places, and I always thought the pita was really gross, but I loved this dish. The soup was so flavorful, the lamb tender, and the pita was soaked with flavor. The lamb sandwich was really oily and got all over our fingers, but once again, so good! We were worried that we didn’t have enough to eat because of the small size of the dishes, but the chicken plate was huge and loaded with tender chicken, soft potatoes, and saucy noodles. We ended up having to take leftover chicken home.
Service was good, excluding the seating issues in the beginning. Our waiter was good with responding quickly to our requests, which is more than I can say for most Chinese restaurants.
And now my mouth is watering again.

I’m generally skeptical of Chinese food in the Bay Area as it’s usually not very authentic, so when a restaurant has a touristy name, I’m even more wary. That being said, I thought the food at Terra Cotta Warrior was very good. I would give it 4 stars but it wasn’t exactly all Shaanxi cuisine, so I downgraded by one to 3 stars.
Must Haves:
1. Mianpi: this in my opinion is the most authentic. It’s spicy but on the refreshing side, so it’s a great appetizer. I like that there are little bits of bread soaked in the sauce.
2. Tofu skin and celery: this is a cold dish that is not spicy, but it’ll save you from all the other spicy dishes. This is a very homey dish that only Chinese people know to order, so if you want an authentic experience, get this.
3. Spicy pork or lamb cumin sandwich: these are the two best ones, don’t get the regular pork. Very flavorful but very spicy as well, so beware!
Other good dishes:
4. Spicy lung and tendon: this is a Sichuan dish, but one of my favorites. Very numbing spicy, so beware. But it’s really good. My friend described it as a spicy bacon, so I guess that’s a good thing, huh?
5. Spicy chicken in gravy: not sure what this is one the menu, but it’s basically the most expensive dish there is (and even then it’s only $ 21). It’s humongous, so only order this if you’re 4+ people. It’s basically a slightly sweet and very spicy chicken dish in a gravy-​ish sauce, served over hand pulled noodles. It’s really good, very hearty and delicious.
Prices are very reasonable here. If you’re in a group, you’ll average maybe $ 25 here for each person, which is such a steal considering you’ll pay more for less authentic Chinese food elsewhere.

It was okay… too spicy for my taste. If you’re into spicy things, this is your place. We arrived around 6:45pm and waited maybe 10 minutes for a table, not too bad even though the place was packed.
Had the lamb burger, so spicy
Qishan minced pork noodles, the chewy noodles yummm and it was a tad spicy
Mapo tofu, it was a good amount of spicy when I had this with the rice, I think I had a good rice to tofu ratio so it wasn’t spicy spicy
Beef lung, tasted way better than it sounds, tastes kind of like chinese beef jerky yummmm didn’t taste like heart or intestines which I assumed it would
I really liked this because it wasn’t spicy, the pita bread was chewy and interesting and the lamb was thinly sliced
But the best thing we had was the herbal tea
it was worth $ 2.50 even though I’m sure you could buy this for $ 1 elsewhere. It tasted like a grass jelly drink without the grass jelly. This item gets 5 stars on it’s own. My mouth felt so cool after I drank it.
The waiter we had didn’t speak English or Canto, only Mandarin but they will understand you if you speak any of those.

They obviously raised their price after new years. However this place remains popular and the food is still very good.
I am a fan of the Shan xi mian pi, and hot and sour soup.
For the Da pan chicken plate, I am not sure. it’s too oily for me.
Overall service is good.
One bad part is the parking… just as all the other restaurants in SF, parking is a pain.