The Richmond District wasn’t always a New York Times darling for dining. In 1984, when Mandalay opened on California Street, it was aggressively residential. Now the restaurant’s been recognized with an America’s Classics Award by the James Beard Foundation, and locally loved for its pioneering tea leaf salads and zingy ginger lemonade.
The corner restaurant, cast in bright yellow with Disney-looking lettering, is super laidback. While not the first Burmese restaurant in the city, Mandalay’s the longest-running now. Service staff here is warm, casual, and almost goofy in a family friend kind of way.
The 1 Muni bus runs from downtown right by Mandalay. If you make the trek out to this chunk of the Richmond, do yourself a favor and take a walk along Clement Street between Arguello and 7th Avenue, poking your head in all the bougie shops and grabbing a nightcap at the Bitter End.