50 Places for Burmese Food in the San Francisco Bay Area

[Note: as of this update I have eliminated pop-ups and food trucks on  account of their elusiveness.]

In a now long ago post, I documented 10 places to try Burmese food in San Francisco, thinking it quite remarkable. If fact, I was only showing the tip of a iceberg. When I decided to expand my list to encompass the entire Bay Area, I was astounded at what I found. At the time of my first compiling the list I found 27 restaurants in the SF Bay area with at least part of their menus devoted to recognizably Burmese fare, but the list keeps growing with new discoveries and new openings.

Dates and nature of updates to the list will be noted at the bottom

Aung Maylika
836 Southampton Rd.
Benicia CA 94510
(707) 361-5675

Aung Maylika
1050 Contra Costs Boulevard
Concord CA
(925) 822-3230

B Star Bar
127 Clement St.
San Francisco CA 94118
(415) 933-9900
bstarbar.com

Best of Burma
146 E 3rd Ave.
San Mateo CA 94401
(650) 259-9339
bestofburmacuisine.com

Best of Burma 2
528 7th Street
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
(707) 623-9280
www.bestofburmacuisine.com/

Beyond Burma
154 McAllister St.
San Francisco CA 94102
(415) 272-7724

• (415) 272-7724

beyondburma.com

Burma Bear
325 19th st,
Oakland, CA 94612
burmabear.com

Burma Bistro
2135 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95050
(408) 372-5422
http://burmabistro.net/

Burma! Burma!
7294 San Ramon Boulevard
Dublin CA 94568
(925) 556-6188
burmaburma,com

Burma Cafe
63 Saint Francis Squar
Daly City CA 94015
(650) 992-6363
burma-cafe.com

Burma Club
8 Mint Plaza
San Francisco 94103
burmainc.com

Burma Gold
695 3rd St.
San Francisco CA 94107

Burma Love
211 Valencia St.
San Francisco CA 94103
(415) 861-2100
burmalovesf.com

Burma Ruby 
326 University Ave
Palo Alto CA 94301
(650) 285-2770
burmaruby.com

Burma Superstar
309 Clement St.
San Francisco CA 94118
(415) 387-2147
burmasuperstar.com

Burma Superstar 
4721 Telegraph Ave
Oakland CA 94609
(510) 652-2900
burmasuperstar.com

Burma Superstar 
1345 Park St
Alameda CA 94501
(510) 522-6200
burmasuperstar.com

Burma Town
60 Corte Madera Ave
Corte Madera, CA 94925
(415) 945-9096
burmatown.com/

Burma Unique
1375 North Broadway
Walnut Creek CA, 94596

(925) 954 1152

https://www.burmaunique.com/

Burmese Kitchen
3815 Geary Blvd.
San Francisco CA 94118
burmesekitchen.com

Donut Delight Oriental Pastries
34554 Alvarado-Niles Rd
Union City, CA 94587
(510) 429-1358

Experience Burma
600 Main St., Unit G
Pleasanton CA 94566
(925) 398-8219 

theexperienceburma.com

Golden Burma
15 Boardman Place
San Fancisco CA 94103
(415) 735-8282

goldenburmasf.com

Green Elephant Gourmet
3950 Middlefield Road
Palo Alto CA 94303
(650) 494-7391
greenelephantgourmet.com

Grocery Cafe
63 Jack London Square
Oakland CA 94608
(925) 566-4877

Happy Myanmar
2025 Gellert Blvd.
Daly City CA 94015
(650) 449-1378

Karaweik Burmese Cuisine
3317 Steiner St.
San Francisco CA 94123
(415) 922-1892
karaweikburmesecuisine.com

Kyain Kyain - Main Main Kyay Oh
3649 Thornton Ave
Fremont CA 94536
(510) 574-1819

Kyusu 
1312 Saratoga Ave
San Jose CA 95129
(408) 682-0777
kyusurestaurant.com

Ledu Resaurant
749 Hickey Boulevard
Pacifica CA 94044
(650) 355-8218

Mahar Yangon 
6318 Mission St
Daly City, CA 94014

(415) 347-7771mandalaysf.com

Mandalay
4344 California St.
San Francisco CA 94118
(415) 386-3896
mandalaysf.com

Mingalaba
1213 Burlingame Ave
Burlingame CA 94010
(650) 343-3228
mingalabarestaurant.com

Myanmar Pyi Thar

5450 Newpark Plz.

Newark CA 94550

(510) 396-3291

Myanmar Tea Garden 
41063 Fremont Blvd
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 687-1288
myanmarteagarden.com

Pagan
3199 Clement St.
San Francisco CA 94121
(415) 751-2598
pagansf.com

Paparikas
645 Clay St.
San Francisco CA 94111
(415) 398-2338
paparikas.com

Rangoon Ruby
1219 Burlingame Ave.
Burlingame CA 94010
rangoonruby.com

Rangoon Ruby
445 Emerson Street
Palo Alto CA 94301
Tel: (650) 323-6543
rangoonruby.com

Rangoon Ruby
680 Laurel Street
San Carlos CA 94070
Tel: (650) 592-1852
rangoonruby.com

Rangoon Ruby
590 Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco CA 94109
(415) 610-4333rangoonruby.com

Rangoon Ruby Express Kitchen

555 Salvatierra Walk

Stanford CA 94305 rangoonruby.com

Royal Rangoon
2628 Telegraph Ave
Berkeley CA 94705
(510) 647-9744

Shwe Myanmar Burmese Cuisine
1106 E. Stanley Blvd.
Livermore CA 94550
(925) 583-5308
shwemyanmarcuisine.com

Sweet Mango
1040 Willow St
San Jose CA 95125
(408) 293-2268
sweetmangosweet.com

T-28 Bakery and Cafe 
1757 Taraval St
San Francisco CA 94116
(415) 682-8200

Teni East Kitchen
4015 Broadway
Oakland CA 94611
(510) 871-4435
tenieastkitchen.com/

Tharaphu Burmese Street Food
2037 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley CA 94707

Yamo
3406 18th St.
San Francisco CA 94110
(415) 553-8911)

Yangon Restaurant
1136 Broadway
Burlingame, CA 94010
(650) 348-8848
http://www.yangon-restaurant.com/

[Edir 5/21.15 to add Karaweik Burmese Cuisine]
[Edit 4/19/19 to add Burma! Burma! and Burma Unique
[Edit 4/18/19 to add Shwe Myanmar  Burmese Cuisine
[Edit 3/17/19 to add Burma Cliub]
[Edit 3/4/19 -- Major update]
[Edit 10/18/17 to add opening of Experience Burma and Mahar Yangon]
[Edit 8/4/17 to add opening of relocated Grocery Cafe and closure of Little Yangon]
[Edit 6/23/17 to add Aung Maylika and Happy Myanmar]
[Edit 12/27//16 to relect closure of  The Refined Palate, opening of Best of Burma2
[Edit 12/26/16 to reflect closure of Grocery Cafe and Tender Loving Food]
[Edit 9/13/16 to reflect name change - Bobo Drinks to Tharaphu Burmese Street Food]
[Edit 8/02/16 to add Teni East Kitchhen]
[Edit 7/19/16 to remove Lil Burma food truck, retired on Golden Burma's opening]
[Edit 7/5/16 to remove Shwe Myanmar in San Rafael, closed]
[Edit 6/5/16 to add previously overlooked Ledu]
[Edit 6/4/16 to add Golden Burma]
[Edit 5/12/16 to add Burma Bear's Oakland branch]
[Edit 5/12/16 to add Hornbill Burmese Cuisine
[Edit 3/31/16 to add Paparikas]
[Edit 3/29/16 to add BOBO Drinks Berkeley]
[Edit 3/16/16 to add previously ovelooked Belmont Branch of Rangoon Ruby]

[Edit 3/16/16 to add Tender Loving Food]
[Edit 1/31/16 to add Burma Bistro and Donut Delight, remove double counting of Royal Rangoon]
[Edit 1/31/16 to add Ma's Burmese Kitchen, Burma Bear and Royal Rangoon]
[Edit 12/09/15 to add Starline Social Club][Edit 6/23/15 to add Yangon Restaurant]
[Edit 3/13/15 to add Wanna-E food truck]
[Edit 1/23/15 to add two new pending locations for Rangoon Ruby. Current tally 36]
[Edit 1/20/15 to reflect Burmese Kitchen now open at new location]
[Edit 1/9/15 to add Burmatown]

[Edited 12/29/14 to reflect that 4th location of Burma Superstar opened under the name "Burma Love"]

"Plus Ça Change.." 300 Block Of Kearny St. Retains Its Paramount Culinary Diversity Despite High Turnover

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, say the French. "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Six years ago I wrote about the culinary diversity of the 300 block of Kearny Street, a stretch chock-a-block with affordable lunch venues, suggesting (without contradiction) that it was the most culinarily diverse street in San Francisco. At the time I noted that there were 20 eateries in the mix, with Onigilly still in the works and the International Food Center not fully repopulated after its disasterous underground fire. Among these venues could be found 12 distinct national cuisines and additional sub-cuisines (Japanese ramen, curry and sushi venues, for example).

I also noted in that blog post that this stretch was a high-turnover area, but the turnover didn't impact the net diversity. I can also note that turnover has not resulted in noticeable gentrification.  Since August of 2012, seven restaurants have closed, with all but one reopening with new tenants, and some then-vacant spaces have been filled in. Gone is the esteemed Cuban restaurant Paladar, only to be replaced by the equally liked Israeli casual food venue, Sababa.   The International Food Center lost the block's only Chinese and Filipino lunch spots, but gained the Russian/Ukranian Pushkin, and a Turkish Cafe, The Sini, replaced a"New American" spot at 322 Kearny. Once again, the 300 bloclk of Kearny hosts 12 distinct national cuisines: American, Greek/Mediterranean, Hawaiian, Israeli, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, Russian/Ukranian, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese; to this can be added the stateless Asian favorite, a boba joint (Plentea) which the area lacked six years ago.

Here is the full list as of June 2018.  As before, I have included the International Food Center, which has a mailing address of 320 Bush St,, but has a co-equal entrance at 316 Kearny St.

Ayola (327 Kearny St.) - Greek/Mediterranean
Baladie (337 Kearny St.) - Greek/Mediterranean
Banana House (321 Kearny St.) - Thai
Bibim Bar (316 Kearny St.)  - Korean
Fleur de Sel (308 Kearny St.) - New American/Continental
Foundation Cafe (335 Kearny St.) - New Anerican
Freshroll (357 Kearny St.) - Vietnamese
L & L Hawaiian Barbecue (312 Kearny St.) - Hawaiian plate lunches
Muracci's Japanese Curry (307 Kearny St.) - Japanese curry
Onigilly (343 Kearny St.) - Japanese Onigiri
Pachino Trattoria and Pizzeria (318 Kearny St.) - Italian
Pao Jao (316 Kearny St.) - Japanese Dumplings and Ramen
Pasilla Mexican Grill (359 Kearny St.) - Mexican Grill
Pho Express (316 Kearny St.) - Vietnamese Pho
Plentea (341 Kearny St.) - Boba
Pushkin (316 Kearny St.) - Russian/Ukranian
Ramen Underground (356 Kearny St.) - Japanese Ramen
Sababa (329 Kearny St.) - Israeli
Super Duper Burgers (346 Kearny St.) American - Burgers
Taqueria Estrella (316 Kearny St.) - Mexican Taqueria
Tenmatsu (336 Kearny St.) - Japanese Takeout
Thainery (316 Kearny St.) - Thai
The Sini (322 Kearny St.) - Turkish


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Some Buzz About Buzzy Donahue On KPTZ Radio

Buzzy Donahue ca. 1965 and 2016. Her hair's grown a bit.

I hang out in a lively Facebook group called "San Francisco Remembered" where recently there were some musings about a North Beach institution from the Beat days onward, Clown Alley, noted for peerless charcoal grilled burgers and after hours celebrity crushes. (I once found myself waiting in line for a proletarian priced burger between Flip Wilson and Ahmad Jamal.) For nostalgia's sake, I decided to fish some snapshots taken at Clown Alley 50+ years ago from a shoebox for posting to the group. Among the ones I posted was of a woman in her late teens with a Clown Alley cheeseburger in her hand. There was no notation on the photo, but her identity was etched in my mind, because her girl companion had wasted no time in informing me that she was Buzzy Donahue, daughter of "Big Daddy" Tom Donahue. On the spot I decided I needed to immortalize her and the burger.

Tom Donahue?  If you are too young or unread to know the name or remember the booming voice, you can bet your sweet patootie that you owe him a debt if you listen to popular music today . He is considered nothing less than "The father of Progressive Radio" for it was he who freed pop music from the shackles of Top 40 AM radio and moved it to the greener pastures of FM radio (which also owes him big time), instituting the "album cut format" with accompanying erudite banter. He was also a record producer (the Beau Brummels, Bobby Freeman and the Great Society) and a concert promoter (the Rolling Stones at the Cow Palace and the Beatles at Candlestick Park). If you can find it, read his 1967 Rolling Stone article "AM Radio Is Dead and Its Rotting Corpse Is Stinking Up the Airwaves." He died far too young.  You can read about "Big Daddy" on Wikipedia, or here or here.

I was a little hesitant about posting the picture of Buzzy Donahue. In it she is looking into the camera with a displeased mien, somewhere between teen sullenness and an ur-"Don't bother me, I'm eating" take. Would she be pissed at the posting of the image if she saw it? Au contraire! She saw it, and not only did she not lecture me, she reposted the image on her own Facebook page and "Friended" me. Thanks to her jumping into my news stream, I found out she now hosts a weekly broadcast "The Buzzy Donahue Show" on KPTZ Public Radio in Port Townsend WA, just in time for me to hook into it. I found Buzzy's program a lovely and (mostly) soothing mix of Hawaiian (no, not Aloha Oe), jazz, folk, soft rock, and, for good measure, Buffalo Springfield's anthem for our time (and yours!), For What it's Worth. (Hey, how about a Phil Ochs cut next time, Buzzy?)

Check out Buzzy's sweet voice and sweeter playlists, Fridays from 9:30 to 11:00 on KPTZ-FM.

Port freaking Townsend, Washington, you say?

I once saw a poster on a phone pole about an upcoming "Psychic Fair" in San Francisco, upon which someone had scrawled "You don't have to be there to attend." It's 2018, dude, and so it is with radio. You don't need to be there physically or culturally to listen. For me, it was as simple as "Hey Google, Play KPTZ radio." If  Siri or Alexa don't understand that, fire them and stream Buzzy live from KPTZ's website.

And throw her a posie. It's lonely in a small market FM radio station broadcast booth.

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Cashless Food Trucks: Class-based Discrimination?

Long ago I became a booster of the Señor Sisig Filipino-Mexican fusion food truck's pioneering mission of promoting an under-represented cuisine, even though,unlike its nearest competitor, it did little cooking on-board but made its mark by finding novel ways of serving reheated food prepared off-site. I never begrudged bros Kidera and Payuma their cult following or the "Best Food Tuck" kudos their "more palatable" (read"no offal") sisig concoctions earned them. After all, they were flying the Filipino food flag high, and were part of a movement to gain Pinoy cuisine the respect it sorely lacked.

I was chagrined, however, when I passed by the Señor Sisig truck parked at its usual Ellis and Powell St. spot recently and noticed a sandwich board sign in its queuing area reading, in large letters, "NO CASH PAYMENTS ACCEPTED." The same signs, with nary a "Sorry" evident, were plastered on the side of the truck: The only explanation offered on the sign was that it was done to allow them to "focus more on the guest experience."

Some further elucidation was provided on SS's Instagram account, primarily related to the burden of counting cash and keeping accounts of it. They also mentioned reducing the possibility of theft, but the pedestrian activity and law enforcement presence are both so high at that location that such an occurrence seems unlikely. All reasons cited related to improving convenience for the vendor, not the customer. It goes without saying, too, that there is a cost to implementing a POS system, which gets passed on to the customers.

Señor Sisig serves an area hard by the Powell St. cable car turntable which has a significant population of street people who have to cobble together small amounts of cash to get a bite to eat, as well as many tourists who are loathe to go through the hassle of having their foreign credit cards vetted to purchase a sisig taco. For these groups, the truck's cashless system is at best an inconvenience, and at worst premeditated discrimination against cash-dependent people. In effect, it creates a two-tier caste system, the tech "haves" and the "have nots," with the latter group completely denied access to its services.

The United States long ago abandoned the Gold Standard and, as of yet, has not adopted the Silicon Standard. The Señor Sisig truck has a franchise to serve food for profit on a public street. As part of its franchise, it should be prohibited from discriminating against people who prefer to pay with coin of the realm. 

The Terrible Coffee in San Francisco's Restaurants (Deja Vu All Over Again)

Half a century ago the San Francisco Chronicle, locked in a titanic struggle for morning newspaper circulation with the San Francisco Examiner, published an eye-catching, week-long front page series on the "terrible" coffee available in San Francisco's restaurants, with the heroic subheading "A Great City's People Forced to Drink Swill" throwing down the gauntlet in the first installment.

I was reminded of this series last week when my daughter, visiting from New York to help me celebrate my birthday (yes, I'm so old I can't even do that by myself) and I had a nearly perfect meal at Mourad end (quite literally) on a sour note. At the end of the meal we ordered a couple of coffees (or "small pour-overs" as they are called on the menu).  I don't know where Mourad Lahlou sources his coffee, but we were served the thinnest of thin, sourest of sour, Third Wave-est of Third Wave coffees. As the late Utah Phillips might say, it was "otter water -- comes out of an otter."

I'm not blaming Mourad for this. By now, there's almost a whole generation of moneyed milllennials who don't know what coffee is supposed to taste like (hint: it should taste like coffee).  To me, when you order coffee and get something that tastes like it was produced by my Melitta Fastbrew when I mistakenly shortchange it a scoop of grounds, it's a big FAIL (and if you want fruity overtones, folks, go stand in line at The Boba Guys).

Restaurants in San Francisco nowadays bend over backwards to accommodate vegetarians, vegans, glutenphobes, kale lovers and all manner of food faddists. They also typically offer a jillion choices of wines. What would be so difficult about offering an alternative coffee selection, like a North Beach or imported Italian roast for those of us who haven't forgotten what coffee has tasted like for the last 350 years?

Why should those of us from the Graffeo ghetto be forced to drink swill?