China Live
Chef George Chen built this complex at 644 Broadway with his wife and partner Cindy Wong-Chen. They split its main hall into eight cooking stations. The sheng jian bao come out with crisp bottoms. The Cold Drinks Bar is modeled on a bar in Shanghai's old French Concession.
Why go
Chen sets the seasonal menu himself. The ground floor holds a hundred and twenty seats. Fried scallion breads come rolled like cinnamon buns, $9 in August 2025. The mapo tofu ran $20 the same month. Butter garlic noodles and long Dongbei potstickers sit on the same card as Peking duck sesame pockets.
The marketplace on the way out sells what the kitchens make: chili bean sauce, chili crisp, duck fat popcorn.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the sheng jian bao, for the crisp bottoms.
- Order: the fried scallion bread.
- Avoid: booking one room and expecting the others. The fine dining restaurant and the Cold Drinks Bar are separate reservations.
What locals & experts say
- MacKenzie Chung Fegan and Cesar Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, August 2025:
There's always a lively energy on the main floor, thanks to a hawker center-like symphony of sizzling woks and chatty tourists.
1 - Dianne de Guzman, Eater SF:
The swanky, Shanghai-inspired Cold Drinks Bar is excellent for cocktail fans.
2
Good to know
- Getting in: dinner daily, and it books through OpenTable.
- Where: 644 Broadway, on the Chinatown side of the North Beach line.
- Take home: the retail counter carries the house condiments.
Verdict
could-visit — Book the ground floor and come as three or four.