Yuet Lee, San Francisco

If I have an old standby restaurant in San Francisco that is not attached to my parents then Yuet Lee is it. My parents are Dungeness Crab at Pier 39 kind of people, and I cannot go there and not think of them. My first experiences back in the Bay Area as an adult without my parents were almost exclusively centered on the East Bay, and I have many dining establishments there that resonate as standbys.

But in San Francisco, going back 20+ years I have only two--Mexican food south of Mission (I still crave chili relleno burritos that I used to eat in line waiting to get into the San Francisco Civic to see the Grateful Dead) and Yuet Lee. On my recent trip I was only there for a light lunch, but in the past I have been with groups that have ordered whole chickens and been surprised when the chicken comes to the table, all there, head to feet, choped up at regular intervals in between. It is not the chicken carving we non-Asians are used to. But the surprise is quickly overcome when we dig into the dish, because the flavor is fantastic. I love San Francisco's Chinatown, and this is an oft returned to favorite.