Rooster & Rice — Restaurant in San Francisco

Top notch chicken and rice, but prices could be lower.

As you enter and make your way to the kiosk to order, you're hit with an intense chicken aroma, like the smell of opening a container of chicken stock. The place is pretty clean, could be a little bit cleaner; there was some spilled broth on one of the tables furthest from the counter, so maybe they couldn't see it. You'll place your order on the kiosk, and follow the instructions so you get your order.

I ordered the Original, breast only (it normally has thigh and breast, but if I'm paying $16, I don't want the least expensive cut of chicken), (there's also the Marina which has brown rice and breast only) and had to wait about seven minutes to get my order. Someone called my name, and I went to the counter to get my order, which consisted of some cilantro over evenly cut chicken slices spread over rice, with some cucumber on the side and sauce in a container, and a little container of chicken broth. I ate a piece of chicken breast, and it was pretty tender. The rice was slightly wet and had the smell of chicken broth, so I'm guessing they put chicken broth on the rice. I tried a dab of sauce on some of the rice, and it was really really good. I poured the whole container of sauce on the chicken and rice. I took a sip of broth, and it was really really chicken-y. It was bright yellow, so there was probably some turmeric in there. The whole dish was a simple and very delicious combination of flavors, and cost about $16. The portion was enough to be filling. If it's not filling enough, you could order a side like an egg, extra broth, or a cup of rice.

Overall, it's a nice place to go for a quick meal. Most of the people there are coming from work and it was pretty quiet, except for ambient music. My only complaint is that the price was pretty high for something that's...

The one on second street is way better. Ordered from this one tonight to-go and the veggie dinner came out ok. But the chicken dinner was barely half the container. I thought it was because I ordered the Original with brown rice. “Maybe that’s just how they do it with brown rice” I thought. Not a problem probably healthier for me anyway, even though I had seen people eating in with overflowing containers. No big deal. It is what it is. Everyone has an off day.

Then I got to the thigh parts of the chicken and realize that it’s basically all skin! I don’t mean skin covered chicken (that’s part of the Original after all) I mean skin covered skin!

Add to the fact that the cucumbers tasted a little and the broth was extra salty today, this was my worst Rooster and Rice experience ever! Too bad I’d already commuted half an hour away by the time I found out I was sold a bag of not so goods.

This location is particularly busy and maybe it was an off night. Service was friendly, but if you don’t get what you pay for, you have to speak up!

Definitely not the best end to a long day. Please do better next time. For now, I’ll just stick to the 2nd St location. They’ve never...

The name says it all, albeit a little incorrect since I think it's chicken and not roosters they have but they certainly have rice, this I know. In fact, wait that was a lie, they have broccoli as well. So really it's Chicken, Rice & sometimes Broccoli. I'm guessing that doesn't roll off the tongue though.

Have you been to south east asia? Have you heard of this dish before? It's so simple and fantastic. In fact this type of food is usually found on street-side stalls in Malaysia, Thailand, and Brunei. It's so cheap and easy and filling they can sell a ton of it and get it to you in minutes - real fast food.

Buuuuuut, SF has to ruin it by charging an arm and a leg. Now you're thinking "Hey! they got to pay rent and pay their people", well you'd be right but you could easily walk out of here paying $18 for chicken, brown rice, and additional chicken. It's actually not that bad but for what you get the price point seems a big high.

No worries to them though - they are constantly out of the front door with their lines as people eagerly wait to try this wonderful dish.

Protip: try pouring some of the broth OVER the chicken and rice to add flavor...