This Clement Street Lunch Is Tremendous and Costs Less Than $10

San Francisco food prices are a sore spot for good reason. The United States Census Bureau found in 2023, the average median income is just north of $140,000. But even if you are amongst the lucky ones who make six figures, getting lunch that’s less than $20 can be tricky. It’s also frustrating as hell to pay $30 for a bad corporate salad. It can feel like a lose-lose-lose situation.

Thank god for Lucky Foods. This Clement Street restaurant opened in December 2024 and joins a string of phenomenal restaurants offering accessible breakfasts and lunches. The folks working here are kind as can be, and the menu is an outrageous display of just what the dim sum doctor ordered: fried chicken wings, chow fun, and marinated ribs. For breakfast, any three dim sum items go for $3.50.

The most important part, though: Currently, everything is 20 percent off in honor of the grand opening. That means with just a $10 bill, you can order a big plate of rice, two items, and a couple of sesame balls — with money still to tip your server. Just know that it’s cash only.

This Move is not complicated. San Francisco’s sexiest coffee pop-up Hi-NRG is literally next door. From 9 a.m. through 2 p.m., Thursday through Sunday, coffee fiends Luis Gonzales and Nathan Kruse take over the High Treason wine bar space. That means Dak Coffee and Pink Drinks, a lemonade-based bev with a thick layer of pink peppercorn-infused coconut cream on top. DJs, including Abby Imperial, come in to keep the inevitably long line groovy.

Get your coffee there, and take it next door to Lucky Food for a bacchanalia of caffeine and Chinese food.

There are the familiar, stalwart silver trays of steam table options. On the veggie side of things, there’s broccoli and mushrooms, steamed cabbage, and stuffed eggplant. There’s a slew of porridges — fish fillet, beef ball, shrimp — for $8.99, before the discount. The restaurant also has a ton of seating, ideal for working through a platter of salt and pepper shrimp. The menu advertises a $20 all-you-can-eat option, to boot.

The prices and this ongoing 20 percent deal are bananas, but many dim sum restaurants don’t charge what the food is worth. There’s a long history to that, covered well in Yong Chen’s Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America. Just one reason that price imbalance began with this cuisine is due to 20th-century immigrants doing what they could to gain social acceptance while making even a little money. America’s Chinatowns began with San Francisco. “Chinese cuisine has the bad luck of being labelled as something cheap,” food writer and researcher Fuchsia Dunlop told the publication Mint Lounge.

The idea, then, is not to sensationalize this mighty cheap lunch. It’s just smart business on a street with powerhouses, including Wing Lee BBQ one block away and Good Luck Dim Sum a few more down the road. Who knows when that grand opening discount banner comes down or when the discount falls off. In the meantime, don’t be a fool. Rock up to Lucky Food and cure what ails you. Namely, inflation and income inequality.

Lucky Food (445 Clement Street) is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day of the week.