County EatsThe Best of Every Chinese Region in the Bay Area, County by County
China has eight great regional cuisines and the Bay Area cooks most of them. Here is the restaurant that does each region best in each county, with County Eats scores.
"Chinese food" covers a country the size of Europe. The food of Guangdong, all dim sum and roast meats and live seafood, has about as much in common with the chili and peppercorn cooking of Sichuan as Neapolitan food does with Swedish. China itself traditionally counts eight great regional cuisines, and that list leaves out Yunnan, the Muslim Northwest, Taiwan and the Northeast.
The Bay Area cooks almost all of them, but not in the same places. Cantonese cooking is strongest where the oldest Chinese communities settled, in San Francisco and Daly City. Sichuan, Shanghainese and newer regional styles cluster on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. So this guide is organized the way you would actually plan a meal: pick the region of China you are craving, then find the best version of it in your county.
Every pick carries a County Eats score out of 100, built from dish reputation, diner consensus across Google Maps, Yelp and Beli, critical recognition, regional character and staying power. The full method is on How we rank. We publish a score only when the evidence is strong, so some counties do not have a champion for every region yet. New county and region guides arrive every week.
The scorecard
| Region | County | Restaurant | Best dish | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sichuan | San Francisco | Z&Y | Fish fillet in hot chili oil | 89 |
| Beijing | Alameda | Great China, Berkeley | Peking duck | 88 |
| Cantonese | San Francisco | Yank Sing | Har gow and soup dumplings | 85 |
| Shandong | San Francisco | San Tung | Dry fried chicken wings | 84 |
| Cantonese | San Francisco | R&G Lounge | Salt and pepper crab | 82 |
| Cantonese | San Francisco | Capital Restaurant | Salt and pepper chicken wings | 81 |
| Shanghainese | San Francisco | Dumpling Home | Sheng jian bao | 81 |
| Northwest halal | San Francisco | Old Mandarin Islamic | Cumin lamb | 80 |
| Cantonese | San Mateo | Koi Palace, Daly City | Har gow, coffee glazed ribs | 79 |
| Yunnan | Santa Clara | Jun Bistro, Milpitas | Braised beef rice noodles | 77 |
| Sichuan | San Mateo | Royal Feast, Millbrae | Sichuan banquet dishes | 74 |
| Shanghainese | San Mateo | Shanghai Dumpling Shop, Millbrae | Xiao long bao | 72 |
| Cantonese | Santa Clara | Koi Palace, Milpitas | Dim sum | 70 |
Cantonese (Guangdong and Hong Kong)
The Bay Area's oldest Chinese cuisine: dim sum, roast meats, wok fried seafood and the salt and pepper treatment applied to anything that will hold still.
- San Francisco: Yank Sing (85) for dim sum, R&G Lounge (82) for salt and pepper crab and Capital Restaurant (81) for salt and pepper chicken wings. See San Francisco by region.
- San Mateo County: Koi Palace in Daly City (79), the Peninsula's dim sum landmark since 1996. See San Mateo County by region.
- Santa Clara County: Koi Palace in Milpitas (70). See Santa Clara County by region.
- Dim sum everywhere: The best dim sum in the Bay Area.
Sichuan
Dried chilies, chili oil and the numbing, citrusy tingle of Sichuan peppercorn.
- San Francisco: Z&Y (89), the highest score on this page, for fish fillet in hot chili oil.
- San Mateo County: Royal Feast in Millbrae (74), for refined Sichuan banquet cooking.
- Our full Bay Area Sichuan guide: the best Sichuan food in the Bay Area.
Beijing and Shandong (the North)
- Wheat country
- dumplings, hand cut noodles, scallion pancakes and Beijing's most famous export, roast duck.
- Alameda County: Great China in Berkeley (88), a 2026 Michelin Bib Gourmand, run by the Yu family, whose Peking duck is the best known in the East Bay. Order it with the double skin salad.
- San Francisco: San Tung (84), whose dry fried chicken wings draw a line outside its Inner Sunset storefront most nights.
Shanghai and Jiangnan
Soup dumplings, sweet soy braises and the pan fried soup buns called sheng jian bao.
- San Francisco: Dumpling Home (81) in Hayes Valley, a 2026 Bib Gourmand.
- San Mateo County: Shanghai Dumpling Shop in Millbrae (72), the soup dumpling stop ten minutes from SFO.
- Coming soon: the best soup dumplings in the Bay Area.
The Northwest and halal Chinese
Lamb, cumin and wheat noodles from China's Hui Muslim communities and the Silk Road provinces.
- San Francisco: Old Mandarin Islamic (80), whose entire menu is halal.
- Hand pulled Lanzhou beef noodles get their own guide: the best hand pulled noodles in the Bay Area.
Yunnan
Rice noodles, wild mushrooms and bright, sour, spicy flavors from China's southwest.
- Santa Clara County: Jun Bistro in Milpitas (77), for braised Angus beef rice noodles.
Hunan, Taiwan, the Northeast and more
Hunan's smoky, chili heavy cooking, Taiwanese beef noodle soup and night market snacks, Dongbei dumplings and Hakka home cooking are all well represented around the Bay, especially in the South Bay and the East Bay. Their champions will be named in our guides to Hunan food, Taiwanese food and Northern dumplings, and in our county guides for Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano.
If you only have one day
Dim sum at Yank Sing or Koi Palace for lunch. Drive to Millbrae or Chinatown for a Sichuan dinner at Royal Feast or Z&Y. Save room for wings at Capital or San Tung.