I'm glad to go try this place despite the bad reviews left 5 plus years ago. Perhaps the owner or chief has changed, it turns out to be an authentic North East Chinese street food experience. Every dish tastes good, home made affair. BBQ is delicious spicy, lamb is tender, chicken is juicy. Ordered Korean cold noodle to relieve the heat after so much BBQ - it's very refreshing and authentic too, just like how I had it in Shen Yang City years ago. Be sure to try the 锅包肉 - thats the origin of Sweet Sour Pork. The only thing I'd suggest for the place is to improve the atmosphere - theres a musty smell, window view is completely blocked by posters, and the seatings are bare minimum - like street stand style. But considering there's only 2 people working, the very reasonable price, I have nothing to complain. read more

Ordered delivery from this place after a long day at work. I ordered the pipi shrimp, barbecue corn and barbecue sausage totaling $30. I open, what I thought was the shrimp, and it smelled horrible and looked even worse. Turns out they sent me crawdads, I tasted one and it was absolutely terrible, tasted like dirt and old seawater. The corn was no good, the bbq sausage was okay. Save your money and eat elsewhere. read more

Smiling BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - San Bruno, California

Solid Chinese BBQ in the neighborhoods. When I crave for those delish skewers but don't feel like traveling far south to Chef Yang's, I come here. Their Korean-style cold noodles was not up to par though, and the plastic bowl it came in was sticky and sort of disgusting. read more

If you're familiar with hard core Chinese skewer culture, this is the place to go. They serve all kinds of authentic Northern Chinese homestyle dishes, skewers, handmade dumplings - fundamentally different than the stereotypical or mainstream Chinese food which is overwhelmingly Southern based. The interior needs some work and would benefit from a remodel, but the food itself is the real deal. The same as what you would eat in Northeast China. read more

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The owner didn't seem happy cuz I only ordered a cold noodles'To Go' he triple checked if I ONLY want a cold noodles and charged me 10 dollars which it's only 8.99 on the menu. Haven't eaten yet probably won't taste as good read more

Smiling BBQ - Cold noodles - Barbeque Near Me - San Bruno, California

Have been here for two times and I will definitely keep coming and keep recommending it to all my friends especially Chinese friends!!!! FOOD -Authentic Chinese style BBQ! Love the oyster! -Must try spicy hot dip麻辣烫！taste really good!!! -I also love the cold noodles朝鲜大冷面! It taste sweet and sour, very appetizing. -打卤面(I believe it's fried meat with noodles?) is very chewy and tasty too. PLACE -clean and spacious -good for groups -good for hangout -good for late night snacks! 宵夜必去！ PARKING -there are a few parking spaces outside by the streets, especially when you come after dinner hours (after 7-8pm ish) I have no problems parking my car every time SERVICE -nice -food comes pretty fast except the BBQ oyster, it took a little while but it totally worths it (I'm a native Chinese speaker so I have no problem communicating with the server. They are all native Chinese speaker) PRICE -decent $~$$, depends on how much you eat -$7-10 for a main dish, $1-5 for various BBQ choice -it's better to come with a group of people, so you can try more and share the bill! read more

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Authentic and delicious Chinese bbq. Skewers aren't cheap but they're very tasty and flavorful. Highly recommend the squid and sliced man tou. Be advised the staff here almost exclusively speak Mandarin, so coming with someone who is fluent might be helpful. They also serve their skewers on a plastic tray lined with paper and literally carry the sticks in their hands out from the kitchen and place them on your table, so if you're looking for a more elegant or formal dining environment, this might not be a good fit. read more

Good affordable spot on the peninsula get a late night snack. A friend of mine recommended this place, since we were looking to have some beers, which they offer Tsing Tao. This is one of those hole in the wall restaurants, so don't expect much for cleanliness and good aesthetics. I normally order the BBQ Chicken Heart, Chicken Gizzard, Lamb, Beef, Squid, and Chives Skewers. The skewers here are very flavorful, but sometimes are a hit or miss when it comes to the level of spiciness. This appears to be a family run business, but there's always that one weird guy sitting on the couch that doesn't do anything and ignores the customers. The lady running the place usually just takes the orders and drops it off the food. Since my Mandarin is very broken, I tend to start ordering in English, which they give me a glare. Overall a good cheap place for late night eats. Despite the bad reviews, I still like this restaurant. read more

From China to the United States, from the roadside stalls to the big barbecue shop, had never eaten so unpalatable barbecue, Mala Tang is unbelievably unimaginable, and actually eat out the steel ball, but also more than one, it is difficult to understand How this store is maintained to this day 从中国到美国，从路边摊到大的烧烤店，从来没有吃过这么难吃的烧烤，麻辣烫也是难吃到无法想象，而且里面居然吃出了钢丝球，还不止一条，很难理解这家店是怎么维持到今天的 read more

Reasonably priced authentic Chinese BBQ. Everything is good and wait staff is very friendly! Can't go wrong with ordering anything. read more

Smiling BBQ - Lamb, beef, chicken skin - Barbeque Near Me - San Bruno, California

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Absolutely dissssssgusting. I ordered the beef tendon and the taste was disgusting. I also ordered the crawfish and they tasted old and def over cooked and rubbery. The squid was very tough and the corn is old! I can't even believe they are ok with serving this food. The bbq potato's and the flavoring on it wasn't terrible but wasn't what I was expecting. The only thing edible was the bbq bun. So disappointed. read more

Delicious northeastern Chinese food! The sweet and sour pork is a must try. Skip the wonton soup though and just focus on their specialties. You won't be disappointed! read more

UPDATE: Will not go back again. Service and food is getting so much worse. The skewers have a LOT of FAT. What they do is chop the meat, and put fat and non-fat ones on skewers. GROSS! The waitress's attitude is ANNOYING. Huge disappointment. Now I need to find a new Chinese BBQ place. read more

Avoid. If there were a negative star, I'd give it. The food here is gross, possibly treading on the fine line of health violations. We got some chinese skewers, "home made" sausage, lamb dumplings, and a stir fry vegetarian dish. Oh and a tsing Tao beer. Here's the breakdown. The beer was decent. The rest, not so much. The skewers were laiden with large pieces of fat, the home made sausage? They might as well just shown me the hillshire farm kelbasa and come clean (oh and it's not even heated), the stir fried vegetables? Turns out to be garlic sautéed with ice berg lettuce with a lot of oil, and I am not even sure what meat the lamb dumplings were made with. All this for a lovely sum 65 buckaroos including tip. And there's was an old man that gave us the stink eye the whole time, but obviously wasn't a customer, he just hung around. Avoid this health hazard !!! read more

FOOD POISONING!!! We have been coming here for awhile. When the place first opened, it was fantastic. The food flavoring was excellent and the pricing was good. Over the last year of visits the flavoring has dulled and almost every dish has become either too salty or not enough spice. Not to mention the prices have increased. The lamb skewers have gotten more fatty and the kimchi fried rice has become what tastes like a bowl full of salt and kimchi. To top all of it off last night I was poisoned. At 3:10am I found myself praying to the porcelain God... Last night was my last visit to Smiling BBQ. read more

Food is not good as before. Price is higher. Maybe because I have eaten better Chinese BBQ in Bay Area. But the food here is not as good as I remember years before. read more

Terrible Chinese BBQ, taste nothing like Chinese BBQ, more like Japanese teriyaki bbq, sweet as hell , never go back there!

Came in at 11PM on Sunday craving some Chinese kebab/skewers. Waitress told me it was closing to last call even though 12PM was closing time. Pricing is relatively cheap $1.50-$2.00 per skewers. BBQ Eggplant - Probably the best item I had. Well seasoned and came out on a plate. Lamb Skewer - Not too chewy, but was extremely fatty. Questionable as it was not too warm. BBQ Chives - Very chewy. Only flavor was the seasoning BBQ Squid - DO NOT GET. Severely undercooked even though this came out the last. Egg Fried Rice with Sausage - Recommended by the waitress as skewers were not filling enough. The pictures made it seem like it had big slices of Chinese sausage in it, but it came out with very diced up ham-like meat. Ridiculous for $10 fried rice. read more

My gf found this place while browsing sina weibo one day and it looked pretty legit based on the pictures. I didn't find this place easily on yelp because it has a different name on its sign. But after I came home, I found out there are a few reviews about this place already. The food and service can be hit or miss. It's legit chinese people cooking and running this place so you can count on that but it really doesn't have the taste of the real chinese street bbq that you can find in china. It's a good try though but paying $60+ for two people and not stuffing it home, it's not going on the top of my lists of places to chow down. Regardless, it's unique to this area, and if I ever get desperate enough, I might just stop by again. read more

Great BBQ! Lamb skewer is a hit! Even better than Chef Yang's and it's almost the same as what we can get in China. 这家的羊肉串才叫真正的羊肉串，基本上跟国内一样了。之前在杨师傅吃的虽然也不错但是还是少了分羊肉串的味道。另外烤茄子也很惊艳。别的串有很多都刷了朝鲜的甜酱，我没在东北吃过不知道那边是不是真的都这么吃的，跟预期有点不一样，味道都还挺好 read more

I went there with my friend last night and had a great experience! I have to say this one is truly local Chinese street food style, will come here again and again! read more

Smiling BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - San Bruno, California

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I really think this restaurant is underrated and deserves more attention. They have a variety of bbq items at a very reasonable price, and the taste is en pointe. I recommend their lamb skewers and beef dumplings. This is a good place to have late night snacks and drinks with friends. I only took away one star because it's cash-only under $30; and for someone who doesn't like to carry cash it's a bit inconvenient but hey - I'm not complaining if that's what it takes to keep its low price and fine taste. It's one of the few places in the Bay Area that presents authenticity for Northern Chinese food. I hope the Yelp community can do some justice to this local gem. read more

worst restaurant ever.... the food was cold even there were only 3 tables, not busy at all. All food taste the same~ Actually, I should say that they were all tasteless! And the size of the food are way too smaller comparing to TLT BBQ in Newark. The WORST thing that I saw was the beef skewer!!! there was five small pieces of beef~~ ACTUALLY, it is only THREE pieces because two of that five pieces are FAT!! yeah, I mean FAT!!! I knew see people doing restaurant business like that, giving customer the piece of fat and to act like a beef skewer..... I would NEVER go back again and I don't recommend anyone to try it out.... NOT THIS ONE!!! read more

Smiling BBQ - the beef skewer contains 3 pieces of beef plus 2 pieces of FAT!!!! instead of all beef.... - Barbeque Near Me - San Bruno, California

Food was ok here. I know food here are similar to the street food in china, but it just doesnt seem or feel like it should fit in that place. The service was ok, should be better. Even though I showed up here when there was almost no one in this place. I cant even imagine how the service is like when it does, or if, it gets packed. Maybe if the food looks a bit more presentable and the place to look a bit more better, I may attempt to give them another chance. Maybe. read more

Tasteless,pricey,not worth it! All meat tastes the same which is tasteless. They are not worth the prices that listed. Portions are way too small. It definitely not making me smiling! Won't go back again for sure. read more

Kind of OK for Chinese street style BBQ, found it waiting to pick someone up from the airport. Open late, it's taste were good., Kind of limited menu, and don't have what I craved, like roasted peppers... Can be clean up a little bit. read more

You will find authentic food at Smiling BBQ. Owner is from northern China. Recommend lamb BBQ. read more

Smiling BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - San Bruno, California

The chow mein and kimchi fried rice were so greasy. The BBQ rub they used tasted like the scent of old people. Me and my dad were very disappointed read more

As much as i like skewers and meat plates, it was hard to actually enjoy the food here. I could tell that every dish was topped with the exact same spices, even the bread! It got old fast, especially when dining with a big group and we had to order at least 6 dishes. Everything just tasted the SAME. The restaurant itself was not very clean. The table and seats were sticky and I was afraid to use the utensils without a good wipe down. read more

I was originally skeptical about going to a restaurant with less than 4 stars, but the minute I arrived it made sense -- this place is an old-school snack shack and not for people who rate restaurants based on "atmosphere." It's not a posh seafood restaurant you take your blind date or grandma to. This is not a food bloggers paradise. This is Millbrae's version of the corner store in Beijing, complete with fortune-paper on the wall, Chinese soap operas, and plastic bowls. And the food's delicious. Whole cumin seasoning with a light sprinkle of paprika. There is a sweet seasoning option for some of the food -- no idea what that is, but ask for original if you want authentic meat on a stick. read more

Walked by this place and they always have a couple of tables full in the dimly lit restaurant, even late night, so we thought why not. We came later in the evening (8:30/9?). We went next door to the Liquor Locker first to get cash at the ATM since there were no signs saying that they took credit card (no signs to the contrary either). When we walked up to the restaurant, we were looking for a sign with the hours since we didn't want to walk in just as they're closing. No sign. However, there was an older Asian fellow sitting outside waving us towards the door as he said something Mandarin. Unfortunately, I don't know Mandarin and told him in English that I don't understand. My SO and I walk in and wait to be greeted. They struggle to tell us which table to sit at in English. When it came to ordering, we had to point at what we wanted in the menus as they lacked a firm grasp of English. They told us they didn't have the eggplant with beef nor the pork dumplings after we tried to order it. They did have the garlic "vagetable" that we wanted and we were told they had the shrimp dumpling. We also ordered the mushroom, beef, and lamb skewers, 2 each was their minimum. After the menus were taken we got to talking and realized we didn't order drinks. I remembered seeing milk tea on the menu so my SO approaches the waitress and tried to order two milk teas. She had this look of confusion as she tried to piece together what he was asking for, holding up bottle after bottle from their drink selection. We ended up with (overly sweet) iced tea instead. The mushroom skewers were the first to come out, not plated since all the bbq goes on a platter in the middle of the table. We had to wait some time before the "vagetables" (pea sprouts) came out which were boiled to hell and thoroughly coated with oil and tossed in garlic. At this point, the waitress came up to our table holding a menu pointing to the shrimp dumplings to tell us they "only had five" in the kitchen - my guess was not enough for a full order. We asked to cancel the order and added the chicken gizzards, chicken hearts, and shrimp skewers instead. She notifies the kitchen and shortly after, our beef and lamb skewers arrived at our table. They both looked exactly the same and tasted pretty similar, with the lamb tasting just slightly more gamey. My SO found that the fat/meat pieces were indiscriminately skewered and cooked -- some being too fatty to eat. The shrimp was not worth the effort to peel as most of the shell stuck on the meat. The gizzards and hearts were as expected. The problem was all the bbq, regardless of what it is, is covered in the same sauce sometimes overly sauced. All in all, our dinner of 12 skewers and garlic veggies came out to a whooping $34! A little overpriced for what it is. But we're still interested in going back and trying some of the rice soup dishes. Just need to bring one of my Mandarin speaking friends with me! read more

I come here regularly for Ma La Tang and grilled varieties. It's a good place for comfortable street style grill and spicy stew!

If you want try the traditional Chinese food. This is the one. This small restaurant is not fancy. But their foods are really good. It's north east style. Some of the dishes are pretty unique. Their kebab is so delicious. The sugar coated sweet potato is the best. The service is very good. I will go back for sure. read more

Delicious food! I love chicken hearts and they prepared it well. Egg fried rice with beef was awesome. I tried beef tendon, chicken gizzard and gristle, they were all amazing. Hubby and kids loved it too. It is a simple place and people were ordering in a foreign language, the menu had English descriptions along with the foreign language making it super easy to order. This is a must try, great unique experience. read more

We waited for over 40 mins for our food, and then the waiter told us we needed to wait another half hour. The waitress was horrible. I understand that they are busy, but that's not the reason to let us wait that long and yelling at us. read more

I went to this place couple times. Although the environment isn't very clean, the food is definitely worth to try. Almost everything tastes good! read more

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I still like this place but I have to say last time the fried rice dried me up. The salt was wayyyy to salty and the food quality has gone down... In addition, they've also raised the prices on a couple of the items on the menu. The skewers dont taste as fresh as they used to be, and they are often a bit more expensive too. On the plus side, they have all the yummy chinese drinks I used to drink as a kid :) The staff are still extremely friendly. One time I left my wallet, and I believed they stayed another 20 minutes to wait for me to pick up my wallet. read more

The vicinity of this restaurant is spoiled with options, don't make the same mistake I did. 0/5 read more

First, just to be super clear, I'm from Shenyang, the city this restaurant claims their style of food originated. I grew up eating the most authentic northeastern Chinese food, so trust me when I say the taste of the food at this place is wayyyy not meeting the standards of being authentic. All the skewers and other dishes look the same as the northeastern food, but the taste is mostly not even half as good. Honestly I wanted to give a good review the first time I came to this place, because I was just too excited about finding a restaurant serving my hometown food, and I wanted to make an effort to "save" it from the 1-star reviews so it will not close. However, after coming back a few times, when the initial excitement wore off, I started seeing the truth about this place, and totally understand why this place would deserve bad reviews we see. I want to tell those who gave 4 or 5 stars to just wait and see, go back again and really look at and taste everything you got. I'm curious how many of them will update their 5-Star to a 1-Star afterwards. I already saw one update like that from a quick search. Here are the reasons for my rating: I was quite disappointed with the North Korean style cold noodles both times I ordered them, because they were soggy / over-cooked. 3 of the cold appetizers I tried also tasted the same (they must have used the same sauce on everything). While it's hard to mess up skewers too much, they were not as good as the other Chinese restaurants'. Overall the taste of food here is unacceptable for someone from the northeast, to be honest. Don't anyone ever think the food is authentic northeastern Chinese food. This place would not survive a week in Shenyang! Also, I noticed the price for an appetizer is $5.99 on the menu, but they ended up charging me $6.99 for it. The total on the bills have always been a rounded number to the dollar, and their receipts do not show how much tax was included. If you calculate it with our tax rate, you will realize they REALLY rounded it up, maybe by $2 or more. They may have charged me for some weird other fees or tax, which I would even be fine with as long as I'm informed, but you can never tell. There's no transparency and every bill is a mystery. At this point in life I'm not interested in disputing over 2 or 3 dollars on a restaurant bill, but this kept happening, and I want all of you to be aware and alert. read more

I was craving for BBQ but I didn't want to go KBBQ. So i give a try to this place. I didn't mind the rating in yelp because everyone has their own preferences. I like the prices for BBQ skewers are based on each skewer. I ordered several varieties like beef, lamb, chicken skin, chicken gizzard, chicken heart etc. The waitress was kindly explain to us how spicy of each level of spiciness. So we choose the mild but end up its no spicy at all. Overall the skewers were in or above average. But we were surprised by the other dishes like the potatoes with sticky syrup on it. It was very delicious. Only down side is the price of the non skewer dishes are quite expensive. We ordered four other those dishes. Three people out the door paid almost $90 seems better go to ayce kbbq then. Maybe next time when we go back we should order more skewers instead of the expensive dishes. read more