Mister Jiu's
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurant |
| Founded | April 2016 |
| Founder | Brandon Jew |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California , United States |
Area served | Chinatown, San Francisco |
Key people | Brandon Jew (chef patron and owner), Anna Lee (owner) |
| Products | Cantonese cuisine with contemporary Californian elements |
| Website | misterjius |
Mister Jiu's () is a Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant located in Chinatown, San Francisco, offering a menu that combines traditional Cantonese cuisine with contemporary Californian elements.
Background
The location was formerly occupied by Hang Far Low (), which dates back to the 1880s, followed by the Four Seas Restaurant (). In 1960, Four Seas underwent a $250,000 renovation of its interior. After operating for over fifty years, Four Seas closed its doors in 2013 when its lease expired. Throughout this time, numerous Chinatown eateries, including those catering to wedding receptions, experienced decline as restaurateurs gravitated towards the Avenues and South Bay, areas with more middle-class clientele.
Brandon Jew (), a Chinese American native of San Francisco’s Richmond District, initiated his culinary journey during college, advancing from busboy to cook. He completed a biology degree in 2001.
Jew honed his skills in Italian cooking through apprenticeships in Piedmont and Bologna. Upon returning to San Francisco, he gained experience at prominent venues such as Quince and dedicated two years to working under chef Judy Rodgers at Zuni Café. In 2010, he took on the role of chef at Bar Agricole. To deepen his expertise in Chinese cuisine, Jew also studied culinary arts in Shanghai.
The building’s ground floor functions as a retail space selling souvenirs like magnets and plastic crickets.
History
In 2013, Chef Brandon Jew leased the 10,000-square-foot four-storey building and spent nearly three years securing investors and renovating the historic structure to comply with city building code standards. The entrance was moved from 731 Grant Avenue to 28 Waverly Place. His final fundraising effort on Kickstarter generated over $67,000.
Mister Jiu's—named after Jew’s surname rendered in pinyin—opened between April 8 and 10, 2016. The founding team featured chef patron Brandon Jew, pastry chef Melissa Chou, sous chef Sara Hauman, and bar director Danny Louie. The second floor houses an 85-seat dining area with an open kitchen design, preserving Four Seas Restaurant’s "gold lotus chandeliers and filigree lights," complemented by white-painted walls, wooden floors, and furnishings inspired by midcentury aesthetics. Window views include nearby streetscapes, the San Francisco Ferry Building clock tower, and high-rises along Commercial Street. A neon green parklet was installed outside to accommodate outdoor seating.
Ownership currently rests with Brandon Jew and his wife Anna Lee.
Several former staff members have launched their own successful businesses: pastry chef Melissa Chou founded Grand Opening Bakery; sous chef William Lim Do established Lao Wai Noodles; Christina Marinucci opened Marinucci's Pasta Shop; line cook Armin Chan started Weirdough Focaccia. Additionally, chefs Franky Ho and Mike Long operate Four Kings nearby on Commercial Street.
Menu
The menu changes seasonally and draws inspiration from founder Brandon Jew’s late grandmother’s Cantonese recipes, which he carefully learned and documented. The dishes skillfully marry classic Cantonese cuisine with innovative Californian touches. At its debut, the $69 five-course tasting menu included lotus root salad, hot-and-sour fish soup, Shanghai rice cakes with leeks and kohlrabi, steamed Alaskan halibut, and house-smoked oysters. Optional add-ons featured tea-smoked duck and black-sesame cake paired with rosebud mousse and strawberries.
By 2016, the offerings expanded to dishes such as fried rice with beef tenderloin; beef tartare accented by jalapeños; lobster or uni-stuffed rice noodle rolls; baby bok choy served with scallops and prosciutto; steamed Alaskan halibut; roasted quail accompanied by glutinous rice and cherries; black sesame cake; and a coconut dessert combining rice cracker with cherry sauce alongside coconut ice cream.
In August 2019, the menu evolved further to include Dutch Crunch BBQ Pork Buns, sourdough scallion pancakes, sea urchin cheong fun (rice noodle rolls), crispy scarlet turnip cakes with olives and mushrooms, Taiwanese-style eggplant flavored with basil and fish sauce, a silken tofu variation of mapo tofu, potstickers, salt-baked McFarland Springs trout wrapped in banana leaf served with scallion ginger sauce, steak fried rice, and Liberty Farms roast duck—a take on Peking duck accompanied by duck liver mousse, peanut butter hoisin sauce, and bing bread garnished with scallions and cucumbers.
Brandon Jew co-wrote the cookbook Mister Jiu's in Chinatown alongside Tienlon Ho (何天蘭), which was published on March 9, 2021.
Reception
Within six months of its debut, the restaurant secured its inaugural Michelin star in October 2016, marking it as the first Chinese dining establishment in San Francisco to achieve this distinction, and it has maintained the accolade ever since. As of December 2023, it stands as the sole Chinese restaurant in the United States with one Michelin star. (Bistro Na's, another Southern California-based Chinese restaurant that opened in 2016, had previously earned a Michelin star.)
In 2016, Taylor Abrams from The Infatuation awarded the restaurant an 8.7 out of 10 rating, commending both its cuisine and service. Bon Appétit placed it third on their 2017 Best New Restaurants list. By 2019, Will Kamensky of The Infatuation emphasized the establishment’s inviting dining area and described the food as "impressive" and "incredible."
Michael Bauer from San Francisco Chronicle, after visiting four times during the initial two months, gave the restaurant’s cuisine and service ratings of two and a half stars out of four each, with the ambiance receiving three out of four stars. He remarked on chef Brandon Jew’s dedication to blending traditional elements with modern creativity, lauding dishes such as steak tartare, steamed Alaskan halibut, quail, and hot and sour soup while critiquing others like the fried rice for its texture. Bauer noted that the quality of execution showed improvement over time.
Moongate Lounge
At Mister Jiu's opening, the building’s upper level—formerly home to Four Seas's 500-seat banquet hall—was undergoing refurbishment. Nearly three years later, on March 2, 2019, owners Brandon Jew and Anna Lee unveiled Moongate Lounge, a companion bar located above the main dining area. The lounge occupies half of the 5,000-square-foot space, with Mister Jiu's occupying the remaining portion.
The design of Moongate Lounge incorporates curved arches and a Pantheon-style oculus, drawing inspiration from traditional Chinese moon gates and artist James Turrell’s installations. It preserves original architectural features from the building’s history, including a restored mural from the 1940s that depicts two of the Eight Immortals—Han Xiangzi and He Xiangu—which also influenced the lounge’s aesthetic theme. The lofty ceilings display original brass pendant lighting alongside exposed redwood beams.
Offering a seasonal menu centered around lunar themes distinct from Mister Jiu’s offerings, Moongate Lounge features cocktails named after moons such as Kerberos and Io, as well as beverages inspired by Chinese lunar calendar milestones like Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects) and the vernal equinox. The initial food menu included dim sum selections such as Crab Rangoon, char siu bao, bakkwa, salt-and-pepper squid, and a large Four Seas banquet chicken dish paying tribute to the building’s legacy.
Other businesses
In summer 2019, Grand Opening was launched as an ancillary venture by then-pastry chef and former staff member Melissa Chou. This side business specializes in Chinese-inspired seasonal pastries including variations of pineapple buns, "wife cookie" hand pies, black sesame banoffee pie with miso caramel, burnt honey pie, and sponge cake styles reminiscent of traditional Chinese bakeries. Operating on weekends on the restaurant’s first floor, Grand Opening temporarily halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic when Chou moved to New Zealand. She resumed operations in August 2021 after a year-long pause.
On December 18, 2021, Soon and Soon Souvenir Shop was introduced at the Grand Avenue entrance of the restaurant. This retail space offers merchandise alongside Chinese baked goods, a Hong Kong-style coffee menu, and alcoholic drinks. Its name pays homage to Jew's grandfather’s laundry business.