Joyful Garden

Joyful Garden is a small family owned and operated business that makes fresh and delicious Cantonese cuisine. The food is made to order so it did take a little longer for the food to arrive, but it was definitely worth the wait! It's not fast food and it shows in the quality and flavor.You must try: -A7 Shrimp Har Gow, -A14 Scallion pancake (the hot sauce is soooo good!-cheung Fun B3 pork slices rice noodle roll. Ask them to add cilantro!-J14 green pepper (jalapeño) stirfried gizzards! They were fricken awesome!!!!It's not fast food. It's worth the wait and I'm sure things will only get better for them. I strongly suggest to come out and try. Let's support this business!

Not so joyful experience.Love supporting local businesses but the food pickup took way too long. Estimated pickup was originally 20 minutes then increased to an hour and food was finally ready after 90 minutes. Unacceptable.We sat there waiting for our food at the restaurant and they were not busy. No other people came to pick up food.They were also out of an item we ordered and had to swap out.Joyful Garden needs to drastically improve food prep time or else the joy is going to run out.

So . . . You know, if you read my reviews, that I don't play! I am a confessed Bitch when it comes to food, flavor, freshness, taste and quality. A few weeks ago, while at the 44O Bar, a little Chinese woman came over and gave us samples of her signature dish and appetizer. It was a huge deveined shrimp in a fried wonton sheet cup, covered with a light but delicious mustard sauce that complimented the shrimp, and the crunchy wonton cup holding the shrimp were fabulously delicious together! The little Chinese woman was Joyful Garden Chinese Restaurant Chef/Owner, Xiulian su. (Irene) Irene took over what used to be the Thai restaurant next door to the 440. The space had been empty for some time. They have a unique method of ordering. Mario was on the door and helped me order. They have a huge ordering menu kiosk, with beautiful fotos of Irene's delicious homemade offerings. I tried a dish recommended by the bar doorman who swore by it. I don't know the name of this dish, but I ordered the shrimp version. It was shrimp wrapped in a soft delicate rice sheet and in a tasty soy looking subtle sauce. OMG! Sooooo good. I could eat there easily, every day! I don't have their hours, but if they were open for lunch, I probably would! There are a great many Chinese restaurants in this city, but you should give this kind lady, and fantastic cook/chef/owner of The Joyful Garden, Irene a try. You won't be sorry! Please say hi to Irene, and tell her Veronika sent you! Once you eat her food, you will understand why she named her place. "The Joyful Garden!"

This place is conveniently located in the Castro and it's one of the few Chinese restaurants, and the only only one as of this writing , that is in San Francisco city limits that closes at 12 midnight on weekdays and 2 AM on weekends to get your Chinese food cravings during the late night. Chef Irene has been very hospitable and the two sample dishes that I ordered have been very good: the thin noodle wrapped beef ( Cheung Fun) is delectable and the Mapo Tofu with just the amount of spiciness is delicious. I will be coming back next time for my congee ( Cantonese for porridge) and won tons next time . The place is in the location where the Thai restaurant used to be and they are slowly doing more promotions . It is very down to earth and unassuming ( very welcoming). The old Thai restaurant sign is still out there and you can ignore. Come and sample their food and in the process help out this neighborhood business.

Amazing and very tasty food! The owners are also incredibly nice. Would highly recommend anyone to visit!

Really yummy! Ordered the kung pao chicken and pork buns. Portion was huge and everything was delicious.

I have yet to get the check and I'm overjoyed with what I ate that I had to share about it.I ordered the beef congee and the custard bun.While waiting I helped myself to their tea and it was hot and exuberant.I was getting a tad bit impatient with my food. To be fair there was a party of seven ahead of me.All that went out the door with my first spoonful of congee. It tasted home. The rice porridge consistency is just right, not too thin and not too thick. It had the right amount of green onions and fine julienne strips of ginger. I was going to take a picture of the food before I ate it but decided otherwise thinking that it's just congee and nothing to write about. Was I mistaken.Especially when I had the beef as not only was it so tender but also its flavorful marinade comes through without overpowering the meat and the congee.I thought I would not be able to finish the bowl as it was such a generous serving. Again, I'm not unhappy to be proven wrong. I would have kept on eating only to be interrupted by the chef apologizing that she made a steamed pork bun instead of the custard bun I ordered and will take a couple of minutes. I didn't mind as I was still savoring each spoonful of congee.Came time for my sweet bun, woah! It looked decadent. Let me tell you, its insides matched the outsides.I'm so full. I didn't expect to have that gastronomical experience at this kinda hidden gem. It's easy to walk past this place as its front door is a walk up to the quaint restaurant on the second floor which is kinda nice as it overlooks the busy street below.

Spectacular food! The salt+pepper tofu was stellar, gorgeous fry. And the spicy fish was soo tender. Loved the string beans too!

I am places an order via Fantuan and an item that I ordered was out so we had to edit the order. I don't see why it took an additional 40 minutes to order beef chow mein and beef brisket noodles. We originally ordered three different items but had to switch to 2 orders of beef chow mein.I don't see how adding an additional item would take that much time to make when it's literally beef chow mein

Great Chinese in the Castro, open super late. Mongolian beef was super tasty. Service reasonably quick