Spices
San Francisco > Szechuan ,  Hot Pot > Spices

Spices

★★★★☆ (346 reviews) · $$ Szechuan, Hot Pot
Explore Menu

Menu

AppetizersSoupsPotsIron PotsVegetablesMeatSeafoodMain DishesSpices SpecialLunch SpecialDessertsBeverages

Gallery

outside

outside

Dry Braised String Beans

Dry Braised String Beans

Griddle Clam Iron Pot

Griddle Clam Iron Pot

Sautéed Cauliflower With Spicy Sauce

Sautéed Cauliflower With Spicy Sauce

Sautéed lotus With Spicy Sauce

Sautéed lotus With Spicy Sauce

Griddle Baby Cuttlefish Iron Pot

Griddle Baby Cuttlefish Iron Pot

Griddle Beef Tongue Iron Pot

Griddle Beef Tongue Iron Pot

Ground Pork With Pickled Long Beans

Ground Pork With Pickled Long Beans

Fried Baby Dried Fish With Chili Pepper

Fried Baby Dried Fish With Chili Pepper

Griddle Crawfish Iron Pot

Griddle Crawfish Iron Pot

Bean Sprouts With Garlic

Bean Sprouts With Garlic

Wok Fired Duck&Duck Blood W/House Special Bean Sauce

Wok Fired Duck&Duck Blood W/House Special Bean Sauce

Chicken Wings With Explosive Chili

Chicken Wings With Explosive Chili

Griddle Crab Iron Pot

Griddle Crab Iron Pot

Hot & Spicy Beef Combination

Hot & Spicy Beef Combination

Stir Fried Potato Strips

Stir Fried Potato Strips

food

food

House Special Chow Mein With Chicken,Pork,Shrimp

House Special Chow Mein With Chicken,Pork,Shrimp

Fish Fillet Bowl With Flaming Red Oil

Fish Fillet Bowl With Flaming Red Oil

Tantan Noodle

Tantan Noodle

outside

outside

interior

interior

interior

interior

outside

outside

Customer Reviews

Amanda C.

★★★★★

Oct 7, 2024


Have actually been obsessed with this place for the iron pot, which is essentially like hot pot flavors, but with no soup and in stir fry form. I usually get it with the fried fish filet which is *chef's kiss*, flavorful and crunchy but has a kick to it! Come hungry because the small iron pot is perfect for two people, and I usually take the rest home since I also order additional things. The leftovers even taste good the next day because the flavor has soaked in even more. I do recommend that you consider the spice level because like their name, "spices", the food can be pretty spicy even for a medium. I also LOVE their fried eggplant, for an appetizer. It's crunchy on the outside with that spicy chili and peppery flavor, and balances out the eggplant flavor so well. Like I said, service is quick and I'm so happy it's close to me in my neighborhood. I go all the time for some comfort food and am still not tired of it!

Read More
Joanne C.

★★★☆☆

Aug 1, 2024


Ambiance: casual Service: okayFood: hit or missCame here a few times and I do like their dry pots, it has a decent amount of protein and pretty spicy! Goes so well with rice! But recently we ordered their spicy shrimp which I thought would be lightly fried with szechuan spice, but it was deep fried. It just tasted like batter and oil, wasted $30 for old tasting shrimp.

Read More
Becca H.

★★★★☆

Oct 24, 2024


Yum! Pretty good food for Szechuan in SF. Everything has really great flavor and spice. The eggplant was really good - switched it up and got a different style than normal. Honestly all dishes around are pretty good. Service is ok - it is usually quick to order but took a while to get food. The spot is not too busy but definitely decent crowds in there. Would return for sure!

Read More
Ashley W.

★★★★★

Jun 10, 2024


So happy to discover another dry pot place in SF!I came here for Sunday dinner and they were immediately able to seat my group of 9. We ordered a bunch of dishes, but the highlights for me were the dry pot, tofu in meat sauce, and string beans. The dry pot portion is HUGE and the large can easily feed 4 people.Everything we tried was amazing and definitely worth the price! There's a ton of variety on the menu. Bonus points for friendly staff!

Read More
Jolens V.

★★★★☆

Dec 21, 2024


I had to try stinky Tofu and boy does it live up to its name. I thought I was not going to eat it but I never back down to a challenge. After asking for some rice I was able to eat it. I had some wonton soup and that was really good. The service was excellent and I enjoyed the Restaurants peace and quiet . The place was clean and well spaced.

Read More
Melinda H.

★★★★☆

Sep 27, 2024


Got the pork intestine and beef pot. it was delicious! The pot comes with a bunch of sides (bean sprouts, potatoes, green onions, etc). We opted for numbing spice which wasn't too spicy. In addition we got a side of chili oil wontons which were only okay in our opinion. This place was packed on a Friday! The owners definitely looked overwhelmed but were trying their hardest to accommodate everyone. Definitely recommend!

Read More
Mike L.

★★★☆☆

Feb 20, 2024


Even though I didn't visit them as often as I wish I did, Spices (Spices II?) was one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in SF. In part because, for the longest time, they seemed to be one of the best Szechwan restaurants in The City, but mostly because they were just really good in general. Which, given all of that, probably makes it rather curious as to why it took me so long to finally make my way to the "new" Spices. It certainly hasn't been due to a lack of desire, but I will say that the tepid experiences from family and friends absolutely didn't exactly light a fire to make it here...Compared to how the old/original Spices looked, the current version has a far more modern look. Gone are the colorfully painted walls and table cloths, having been replaced with relatively darker tones and monotone colors. The menu has been similarly revamped with a comparatively narrower range of options (they dropped a lot of their Taiwanese dishes), though most of their main offerings and Szechwan classics, like iron pots, noodle soups, map tofu, and tan tan noodles, are still found. However, even then, a bunch of them don't seem to be exactly the same as before, for better or worse.-- TAN TAN NOODLE WITH GROUND PORK...$16.99(https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/spices-san-francisco-6?select=N5rovqiSwHAdOCt4VSkVZg)I was super excited for this one, but I thought it was just okay. The noodles were great, and I liked the flavors of the ground pork/sauce a lot, but I was surprised by how oily the sauce/broth was (it was more than I expected).-- HOUSE SPECIAL SPICY BEEF CHOW FUN...$16.99(https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/spices-san-francisco-6?select=NsUg1dpr_ft7YR8AgZcwOg)This was...fine. While there wasn't anything "bad" about this dish, it didn't do much to amaze either. The noodles had a slight kick (which I loved), but not in the mouth numbing way (it had more to do with the slices of jalapeno).-- PORK IN GARLIC SAUCE OVER RICE...$14.99 (Lunch Special)(https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/spices-san-francisco-6?select=R8a5HpjcJ9Su-4z0q0-kgA)Despite how it's marked with two chili signs, we actually didn't find this to be spicy at all. The version that the old Spices also just tasted better, too; while there was a fair mix of pork and veggies, the overall flavors for this just felt lacking/muted.-- MAPO TOFU WITH GROUND PORK OVER RICE...$14.99 (Lunch Special)(https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/spices-san-francisco-6?select=0r0RcXkOjvqHogPKjJBuIA)Pretty solid, for the most part. The chunks of tofu were soft and plump and i liked that the sauce had a good amount of white pepper and Szechwan peppercorns. However, for $15, the portion seemed really small...Also, in terms of service, I generally don't expect, nor need, anything exceptional, but I thought it was interesting how different it was between our two meals here. The first time, we had a young female server who was great - super nice and very attentive. The second time, we had a comparatively older female server who wasn't rude, but didn't exactly give off the warmest of vibes and seemed to disappear for really long stretches.Given how big of a fan I was, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like the old/original Spices better, but that's not to say that this one is "bad". If this was the only Spices I knew, I admit I might feel a little differently about the food (though, not necessarily the value); it's just hard not to compare all of those old experiences to my most recent meals here. Plus, this is still one of the better Szechwan spots around these parts, so I'm sure I'll still make it back to try more of what the menu has to offer every now and then.

Read More
Aadya V.

★★★★★

Apr 20, 2024


There is one word to describe Spices -- FIRE. I've been to so many Sichuan restaurants, and this is hands down one of the best out there. The food is incredibly fresh and bursting with flavor. It's not for the faint of heart, though. This is true Sichuan, packed with spices and garlic and oil, which is what makes it so special. We got the veggie iron pot with fried tofu and lotus root added. This was my favorite because of a) how nourishing it was, b) the complex flavor profile, and c) the little candle that kept everything piping hot and start to char a little on the bottom of the pot. We also got the explosive chili chicken wings, which were nice and crisp and despite having a ton of chillies, were not overpoweringly spicy. We've also had the fish filet version of this dish before, which is even better than the chicken. It's a casual restaurant run by a family, and the service is extremely warm! They don't rush you out of the restaurant and make sure your water glass and bellies are full

Read More
Aretha D.

★★★★★

Mar 25, 2024


If you're needing to scratch that Sichuan food itch, this is the place to be! My friend and I ordered the Spicy Cucumber salad, the Fish Fillet Bowl w/ Flaming Red Oil, the String Beans (not pictured) and the Pork Shoulder w/ Garlic Sauce.I'm telling you...the Pork Shoulder is braised PERFECTLY. Imagine the most tender, juicy fall-off-the-bone meat, now imagine it having enough to feed 3-4 people. You will not regret getting this. All the spicy food got us drooling and blowing our noses, as per usual. Well done!!

Read More
Samir S.

★★★★★

Aug 8, 2024


My favorite spot in the neighborhood!I normally come in on a Wednesday or Thursday when Katie is working, she is wonderful and very honest about her recommendations and I always try something new.So far my favorites are the Mapo Tofu w/ Ground Pork, Pork Shoulder w/ Garlic Sauce, and Special Meat Sauce w/ Japanese Tofu.

Read More

Similar Restaurants

Szechuan cuisine

Szechuan cuisine

Rated: 4.2 (499 reviews) · $$

Szechuan, Noodles, Soup

Sichuan Tasty Restaurant

Sichuan Tasty Restaurant

Rated: 4.6 (227 reviews) · $$

Chinese, Noodles

Sichuan Home

Sichuan Home

Rated: 4 (583 reviews) · $$

Szechuan

DNM Hot Pot

DNM Hot Pot

Rated: 4.5 (138 reviews) · $$

Hot Pot, Chinese

Mulan Malatang

Mulan Malatang

Rated: 4.8 (18 reviews)

Chinese, Noodles

King of Noodles

King of Noodles

Rated: 3.8 (901 reviews) · $$

Chinese, Noodles, Soup

QingShu

QingShu

Rated: 3.8 (157 reviews) · $$

Noodles, Chinese, Soup

WenChang Dumpling Restaurant

WenChang Dumpling Restaurant

Rated: 4.5 (179 reviews) · $$

Chinese, Noodles, Soup

M Pot

M Pot

Rated: 4.7 (59 reviews) · $$

Chinese, Hot Pot, Soup

Zazang Korean Noodles

Zazang Korean Noodles

Rated: 3.6 (603 reviews) · $$

Korean, Noodles, Soup