Chong Qing Xiao Mian

Definitely recommend this place! Service was fast & you got a lot for your money! Had the numbing noodles and they were so good!

Coming from NY to SF as a tourist.
Everything thing around kills you price wise from inflation, leading you to want to find the best bang for your buck, more than ever.
This quaint little restaurant (20-30 full capacity?) serves DELICIOUS food. For average 1 bowl of noodles between 12-17 dollars, the portion is huge. You'll easily get out stuffed with portion and flavor for no more than $20 after tax/tip. If you add a drink and app, that's up to you. But I think that's just too much food. Now if you wanna share it with a date, 1 bowl, 1 app, and two drinks. After tax and tip, less than 30-35. For excellent satisfaction.
Highly recommended.

If you're looking for a quick but good meal in Chinatown then this is the spot. I stopped in for lunch on a Monday. The place is small, probably 12-15 small tables. The waitresses were fast and accurate with my order. I had the sautéed pork belly with rice and a Thai tea.

Everything was very good and I'd order it again.

A co-worker took me here; she grew up in China so she knows her Chinese food.

No wait on a Tuesday around 11:45am. Perhaps 75% of the (small) space was full. It got busier, but there was never a wait throughout lunch.

Maybe I didn't order the right thing, but I was excited to see Wuhan "Spicy Noodle Soup" (热干面 or "Hot dry noodle" as the literal translation), not quite aptly translated into English, on Nanking's menu. This dish is a local favorite for people from Wuhan (me). However, it disapointed...

* Wuhan Spicy Noodle Soup ($11.95) - 2.5 stars
I'm a native Wuhanese person, and I was excited to see our famous hometown dish on a menu stateside! I had to try it. Unfortunately it disappointed compared to the real deal - the noodles were too soft (the dish is usually made with a harder, rounder egg noodle) and the sauce was too watery (it's supposed to be on the dry side and have a bit of a gritty texture from the sesame paste). It was worth a try, but I won't be getting this again.

We also tried a cold chicken (3 stars), cucumber (3.5 stars), and bean jello (3.5 stars). Note these are all dishes I don't usually like so I don't feel fully qualified to rate them.

4/5 - Spicy Beef Noodle Soup - generous portion bowl. Beef on bone was tender and lots of noodles! Noodles were a bit chewy and starchy and might have needed a couple more minutes boiled. Spice level was solid. Broth was ok on its own

4.5/5 - Braised pork belly slices were flavorful and nice. Came with bok choy below

Staff was busy but still friendly. Very bustling tables for a Friday evening but we were still able to be seated

I saw Feed MeiMei come here and I KNEW I HAD TO TOO!

At 12:00 there was plenty of seating and I got to choose my own seat. By 12:30, it began filling up and soon every table was almost full but there was no line.

At first, I was worried about the service. Some places in Chinatown are nice to foreigners but have ruder service to locals/Chinese people (probably bc Chinese people don't expect nicer service - BUT NOT I! I LIKE SERVICE!). When the waitress asked me what I wanted, she asked me in mandarin and I think quickly realizing I speak better Cantonese, she changed her language. I had intended to get a cold soy milk but they ran out so I got the Thai iced tea. I also got a pitcher of water and while asking me the waitress called me "liang niou" which is pretty girl and heh, I felt really pumped up. Nothing like being called liang niou by a waitress. To be fair, I think she says it to everyone but it WORKS!

Spicy Beef Noodles: HUGE portion and it was really spicy! I should've asked for less spice which I didn't know you could do until I heard the waitress suggest that to a table behind me. She had confidence that I could handle the spice. Thank you ma'am but no, I had tears in my eyes and sniffling and my lips were numb I am but a wimp. But she called me liang niou so I had to pretend that the spice wasn't killing me on the inside. It was super delicious and one of the better beef noodles I've had in the Bay Area but my god, I was going through it. Note: I cannot handle a lot of spice.

Beef noodle with pickled cabbage is my favorite. There's tangy pickled cabbage plus fresh cabbage that adds a little sweetness to the spicy broth. Then there's bok choy and I think daikon. The fresh cilantro really helps add freshness to the spicy broth. I love that this dish is not just meat and noodles. The broth is the perfect amount of spicy. It always comes piping hot and the noodles nice and chewy. The rib can be fall of the bone most days, sometimes not as tender but that's a super minor flaw. The bowl is so big it's enough for two meals. Service is better than most in the area.

Came here on a Tuesday night with a friend for dinner. It's a cozy spot with not a ton of seating but not packed. We got the Spicy Beef Noodle Soup and the Dan Dan Noodles. Our food came out so fast (definitely less than 10 minutes, maybe even 5?), and the portions are massive! We both had to take half of the bowl home as leftovers.

Spicy Beef Noodle Soup: 5/5, definitely the right amount of spicy for it to be enjoyable but still with enough of a kick. Loved the melon, and the meat was so tender it came cleanly off the bone. Great noodle texture!

Dan Dan Noodles: 5/5, love the lighter flavor of the broth on this one and great noodle texture as well.

They take card here which is nice as well. There was only one waitress so it was a bit tough to get her attention at times, but overall a great experience with ample servings for reasonable prices. Need to come here again!

We stumbled upon this restaurant after passing by several times and decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, our visit left much to be desired.

Pros:
The Spicy Numbing Beef Tendon appetizer was flavorful and delicious. The presentation, with sliced pieces rather than small chunks, was a nice touch.

Cons:
The Chongqing Numbing Spicy Noodle was just okay, but the excessive saltiness was a major drawback. It was so salty that I woke up several times during the night.

The Braised Pork Intestine Noodle Soup fell short of expectations. It lacked authenticity, using the wrong type of noodle and an identical soup base to the Chongqing Numbing Spicy Noodle. On the bright side, the portion of pork intestine was generous.

The food and service here was fantastic! The atmosphere was cozy and charming, the portion sizes were huge, and prices were more than reasonable.

We stopped in Chinatown on our way to the San Francisco airport in search of some authentic Chinese food!

Having spent a year in China teaching English, we fell in love with the food and have been hoping to find some of those same flavors here in America. This restaurant did not disappoint!

We ordered the Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, another noodle bowl I can't remember the name of, the Cucumber Salad, and the green onion pancake. All items were beyond tasty!

We tried so hard to finish our meals, but had to make it to the airport for our flight home and only wish we could have taken our leftovers with.

There is another Chinese restaurant next door with lines down the street. There should be lines down the street of this restaurant, too because the food, service, and atmosphere are all worthy of that level of attention.

If you're in San Francisco's Chinatown, do not miss the chance to try this place!