Little Shanghai Restaurant

Our new favorite spot for weekend brunch. We always see a huge crowd in front and a full parking lot in the back so we decided to give it a try. It's definitely packed during lunchtime on the weekends since they have special menu items only available during that time. Their menu is huge with anything from clay pots, noodles, rice cakes, fried fish, lions head meat balls, and dimsum. We've been twice now and have gotten the savory soy milk soup twice (only available weekends), the pan fried pork buns, glutinous rice sui mai, Shanghai rice cakes, steamed rice with preserved pork and veggie clay pot, XLB, spicy wontons, green onion pancake, the savory rice roll, and the most unique thing the puff pastry bun with radish cake inside. The radish cake buns and savory soy milk are must try's imo. I could finish an entire bowl on my own. And it's only $5!Service is wonderful too. Once seated, the wait staff is super friendly, attentive, and even helped us pack up all of our leftovers at the end. Come early when they open if you don't want to wait!

Service is so amazing. Every single worker was so nice and friendly, noticeably accommodating each table with care and positive attitude.Food was alright! Noodles were chewy but lacked a bit of flavor. XLB & Pan fried dumplings also lacked flavor. Rice roll - the Chinese donut was soggy and usually the ones I've had are crispy. Wine chicken 10/10!I feel like if we tried the more traditional dishes they could be better than the ones we ordered

All the food was amazingly delicious. Will revisit this restaurant and would highly recommend. C. BedfordPalo Alto, CA

We just had a great dinner at Little Shanghai. We've actually been coming to this restaurant for 15 years but somehow the chef changed or something around 2022. We tried it a few more times and we didn't think the food was as good as it had been. Well tonight it was really good. We had Shanghai style noodles with pork and spinach. So so delicious. The green onion pancakes were the best we've had ever! Wor wonton soup was really good with delicious wonton, shrimp, chicken and pork. Also had yummy sweet and sour chicken. The service was really good. We haven't eaten inside the restaurant since the beginning of 2020. The restaurant looks really fresh and clean. We will definitely be back soon.

This restaurant is two blocks away from the Thai massage. After our amazing massage we came here to enjoy our lunch. We ordered the Xiao long bao, string beans, savory soy milk, and Pork & Pickled Veg with rice cake. The food is tasty but the food portion is kinda small. Customer service is okay. :)

Little Shanghai Restaurant is my faveee spot for Shanghainese food in the Bay. Every time I've been, they're always packed. And the food always hits.The Shanghai style salted pork and veg rice in a clay pot is the besttt. Nice salty flavor which seeps into the rice and the perfect crisp on the edge from the clay pot. It is so yummy.I also rlly like the braised meatballs. Part of it might be I just love the name for Shanghainese braised meatballs. In Chinese, it literally translates to lion head, which just sounds so cool lol I also first heard the name in a drama as a kid so there might be a nostalgia factor there. Anyways, the meatballs here have a great consistency and texture. They are nice and soft but not too soft and have a great flavor. I also like how they come with some veg. I think they usually come with Shanghai bokchoy, but maybe they ran out today, so they came with spinach, which was still good. Nicely blanched and not over cooked.Their xiao long bao are pretty standard and not a huge standout. The meat filling is good and there is a good amount of savory soup in each dumping. However, the skin of the dumpling is a bit thicker than I prefer. Still, it does the trick when I'm craving xlb and also want other Shanghainese dishes.

Food is deliciously sacred (xXiao Long Bao (8), Shanghai Style Rice Cake, & Shanghai Style Chow Mein as well as Sweet Soybeans Milk with (X2) Chinese Donut per appetizer starter with Shanghai style pork buns (6) ^-^

Authentic Shanghainese food in San Mateo! Friendly staff and food that will keep you coming back for more! Very old feel with the complimentary tea and large round tables for families. Staff makes you feel at home and offers suggestions. Food is very authentic and definitely worth the visit!

Little Shanghai Restaurant was chosen as the location for our group lunch while we were recently visiting relatives in the Bay Area. It's a mom-and-pop type of place in San Mateo that was pretty busy when we arrived. There was sufficient seating in the dining area for about 50 customers. Nearby parking was all curbside which made it challenging since we were unfamiliar with the area and had to park further away and then walk over.The offerings were vast for a small kitchen. It wasn't purely Shanghainese cuisine, however with a ten-page menu, you could easily find items to fit your palate. I did notice the unique title on one page that was unfamiliar to me. Jiang Nan Reminiscent Dishes was the English translation. Since my cousin picked this place, we also let her do the ordering for our party of eight. We ended up with the following...* Shanghai Style Rice Cake with Beef* Pan Fried Noodles with Shrimp* Sweet & Sour Spare Ribs Shanghai Style* Pig's Ear with Five-Spice Sauce* Pig's Kidney Flowers with Soy Sauce* Pig's Stomach Strips in Sesame Sauce* Cabbage and Diced Pork Noodle Soup* Pork and Cabbage Dumplings* Spicy Wontons* Xiao Long BaoThe three pig organ dishes were certainly more exotic and not appetizers I would have selected. The wontons looked spicy, but the heat factor did not match the fiery appearance. It was a tie between the pan fried noodles and the noodle soup for my favorite dish of the meal. What impressed me was how quickly the cooks prepared the items. The servers brought them to our table in a rapid fashion. I think we ordered too much although I believe taking home plenty of leftovers was part of the plan. For the quality of food we ate, the prices were very reasonable, hence a four star rating.

Great food great service The dumplings are amazing authentic Chinese food the food I can't tell you how good it is because it's fantastic