Forkelo ranking · Updated September 2026
25 orange chicken across San Francisco, ranked on what people say about the dish itself — never the restaurant's overall rating.
Dynasty Dumpling · Pacific Heights
20 dish-specific mentions · 90% positive · 3 source types · menu verified September 2026
Diners call it crispy, well sauced and a table favorite, even orange-chicken skeptics. No dish-specific complaints found yet, so this top score rests on praise alone.
Z & Y Restaurant · Chinatown
44 dish-specific mentions · 82% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
Broad praise on Google and Yelp for a crispy, sweet peel-glazed plate, often called the best they've had. A few found it small for the price or no better than Panda.
HULU WA CHINA BISTRO · Castro
14 dish-specific mentions · 79% positive · 4 source types · menu verified September 2026
Written reviews and a local Reddit pick call it fresh, fragrant and crispy with real orange peel. Delivery raters are cooler on it than the written reviews.
Spices · Inner Richmond
17 dish-specific mentions · 82% positive · 3 source types · menu verified September 2026
Reddit and Yelp diners single it out as the city's best, crispy with orange peel left in and not over-sauced. One plate came out cold and rubbery.
Crazy Pepper · Outer Mission
24 dish-specific mentions · 75% positive · 3 source types · menu verified September 2026
Yelp regulars praise moist chicken with real orange rind that holds up reheated. Rare but serious complaints: one plate raw, one diner says it made them sick.
Win Garden · Glen Park
33 dish-specific mentions · 73% positive · 3 source types · menu verified September 2026
Praised for juicy, crunchy chicken and great flavor, including on delivery. Critics find the sweet-and-sour sauce thick and goopy, or the chicken tough and dry.
Mr Szechuan · Parkside
17 dish-specific mentions · 88% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
Families call it comfort food and one diner the best in SF; crispy with a sweet-tangy sauce. One Yelper found the meat itself flavorless under the batter.
YH - Beijing Duck House · Lower Haight
30 dish-specific mentions · 70% positive · 3 source types · menu verified September 2026
A reliable go-to for regulars who call it delicious and consistent. Knocks: small portions for the price, and one diner found the sauce cloyingly sweet.
Tsing Tao Restaurant · Outer Richmond
12 dish-specific mentions · 83% positive · 3 source types · menu verified September 2026
Richmond regulars call it consistent, tender and flavorful with real orange peel. One family hated theirs and threw it out.
Chang's Kitchen Restaurant · Inner Sunset
29 dish-specific mentions · 62% positive · 3 source types · menu verified September 2026
Many call it the best orange chicken they've had, crispy and saucy with a kick. Critics describe dry, stringy or overcooked chicken on some visits.
Golden Kim Tar · Tenderloin
15 dish-specific mentions · 80% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
Tenderloin fans praise a spicy, peel-studded orange chicken in huge portions. One diner found plastic in theirs.
Wok Shop Cafe · Cathedral Hill
28 dish-specific mentions · 64% positive · 3 source types · menu verified September 2026
Fans love the texture and flavor and rank it a favorite. Detractors call it chewy, generic or stringy with a weak sauce, especially on pickup and delivery.
New Ming's · SoMa
29 dish-specific mentions · 52% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
Admirers call it crispy with strong orange flavor; the premade lunch version has fans too. Others found it rock-hard, burnt or far too sweet.
Big Lantern · Mission
27 dish-specific mentions · 70% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
Praised for big pieces of quality meat and a tangy sauce that isn't too sweet. Critics found it tough and doughy, especially on delivery.
May Lee Chinese Restaurant · Inner Sunset
13 dish-specific mentions · 77% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
Cheap and well cooked, some diners' best ever, delivery included. Two diners hit a dried-out, off-tasting batch.
Hong Kong Clay Pot Restaurant · Chinatown
34 dish-specific mentions · 68% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
Chinatown family diners call it a favorite, some the best they've tasted. A steady minority finds it syrupy, too sweet or lacking any orange flavor.
City Chopsticks · Nob Hill
15 dish-specific mentions · 67% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
Made fresh to order and finger-licking good to fans. Others got dough balls fried hard enough to be inedible.
Sohunan of Henry's Hunan · Financial District
24 dish-specific mentions · 62% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
The Hunan orange-sauce build earns must-try praise from some diners. Others found it tough and overcooked, small for the price, or artificially orange.
Wen's Kitchen · Polk Gulch
12 dish-specific mentions · 67% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
Some call it perfectly crunchy with good heat. Recent critics say under new owners it seems frozen, with soft breading and bits of cartilage.
Maple SF Restaurant · Crocker-Amazon
14 dish-specific mentions · 71% positive · 3 source types · menu verified September 2026
Fans like the real orange in the sauce and meaty pieces. Critics call it greasy or loaded with sugar.
Capital · Chinatown
12 dish-specific mentions · 58% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
One diner's best so far, but others call it just okay, with a maple-syrup sweetness and little citrus.
Lazy Susan · West Portal
21 dish-specific mentions · 62% positive · 3 source types · menu verified September 2026
Fans love the fresh, bright orange flavor and the gluten-free prep. Several former regulars say it has slipped: chewy, dry, or like the General Tso's.
Heung Yuen · Mission
13 dish-specific mentions · 62% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
Some find it fresh and tasty. More recent diners call it heavily breaded, hard or stale, with no recent praise for the dish.
Bamboo Restaurant · Polk Gulch
31 dish-specific mentions · 52% positive · 2 source types · menu verified September 2026
Some diners crave it. More say it's too sweet, mostly breading, tough or burnt, and hard to tell from the General Tso's.
Elaine's Kitchen · North Beach
37 dish-specific mentions · 62% positive · 3 source types · menu verified September 2026
Fans call it crispy with a good glaze and worth a return trip. Many others got dry, reheated-tasting chicken compared to jerky.
Every score is built from evidence about the specific dish: how often locals recommend it, how strongly, how recently, and whether independent sources agree. A restaurant's overall star rating is never converted into a dish score.
Quality and confidence are reported separately. A dish two people loved can score high, but it is marked limited data until more evidence backs it up. The whole calculation — every constant, and three dishes worked through line by line — is written out on the methodology page.
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