J&M A-1 Cafe Restaurant: Authentic Chinese Cuisine in San Francisco's Chinatown

The chef/server was extremely nice. Food was delicious. Everything we ordered was good. The best dishes were the Shanghai soup dumplings, beef chow mein, bok choy on the clay pot rice and the peanut pork dumplings (fantastic texture in the steamed dough). We had lots of leftovers. Ice cold TsingTao for $7 a bottle also appreciated!

The Uncle running the shop is a good person. One-man army as everyone says running a restaurant like dhaba. Veg noodles were good in taste but Veg Dumplings were pretty bland in taste. Overall you can go there for an experience (specially the bathroom). Remember Cash only !!

Everything we ordered at J&M A-1 Cafe was delicious! Just a heads-up—during busy hours, you might have to wait a bit since the owner handles everything on his own, from taking orders to cooking and serving. He’s really kind and welcoming, which makes the experience even better.

I was in Chinatown to partake in new year festivities- watching the line for red envelopes, getting candy thrown at me, going deaf from the hundreds of pounds of firecrackers assaulting the city- and came across this restaurant, open amid many shutters taking off for the holiday. As a heads up, the food was great but ambience interesting. I enjoyed the dark lighting, kitsch decorations, and blown out speakers blaring hard and classic rock from the ceiling, but know not everyone would. The store owner is running a one man crew and is attentive over his customers, as long as you are willing to fish for eye contact or call him over. Also note that the establishment is cash only. I ordered the beef chow fun, imperial spare ribs, and shu mai, as well as a glass of Hong Kong milk tea with boba. The chow fun was amazing: just the right amount of flavouring, clearly greasy and using a lot of salts but not tasting greasy or salty at all. Comfort Chinese food at its finest. I absolutely enjoyed this dish and will come for it again. 6/10. Imperial spare ribs were good, not too tough, having just enough bounce to satisfy the carnivorous urge to chew. It is lathered in a BBQ-type sticky sweet sauce that I liked but which can get a bit overwhelming in sweetness if you have too much in a short span of time. 4.5/10. The shu mai came as an order of four: huge, juicy, steaming, and tasty. A little expensive but good, and hits the craving for some archetypical shao mai. 5.3/10. The Hong Kong milk tea was exactly as I wanted, a nice cold, sweet drink in traditional style with hot tapioca pearls, likely freshly made, which I greatly appreciated. All portions were good, and sharing a few plates between a group is definitely the way to go. I split my order between a friend and myself and we had a small plate's worth of food left to go. It's a solid spot successfully serving traditional flavours that I'm glad I discovered and certainly will remember when hungry again.

Very delicious and authentic Cantonese food. I got the imperial spare ribs, chow mein, oyster egg omelet, and some garlic green leafy vegetable. Everything was delicious and my favorite is the imperial spare ribs. A "one-man" show so come in, have patience, be kind, support small businesses with a hard working person, and enjoy the tasty food! I would definitely come back to try other dishes! Cash only and don't forget to tip this one man wonder!

It’s truly a hole in the wall restaurant! The owner/chef is the only guy that did everything! He is so friendly and so fast! We got these chowfun and wing fresh out of the pot. It was steaming!! So good! Very flavorful and with a lot of veggies and beef in the chowfun! It’s also reasonably priced! There is no restroom and cash only, but definitely bring your cash because it is worth it!

I’ve been visiting this place for 4 years. Every time I come to San Francisco I visit this restaurant. The food is very good and it is always open!!! If you are looking for an unique and alternative experience you should visit, nothing fancy but very traditional. It is one man doing everything!!! He cooks, takes orders and clean, he is very funny and kind. This place is also pet friendly. Prices are very reasonable and the portions are huge.

Cash only. Super fresh- I asked to use the bathroom and the chef (who was also our server) led me to it through the kitchen, where I saw him prepping all ingredients for our meal fresh. We ordered the beef and broccoli chow mein and chicken with green beans. Food was flavourful, but not spicy. Everything was cooked the right amount. Specify if you would like tap water or you will be charged for bottled water.