The diner may be America's most iconic American restaurant, but in San Francisco, diners are rare and largely stylized. Mel's Drive-In, Art's Cafe, and Joe's Cable Car definitely have a following, but this city also has another kind of diner: the homestyle Cantonese restaurant. Tuna melts aren't half as easy to find in San Francisco as oxtail hot pot and beef-tomato chow mein, especially if you live in the Avenues or in the northeast part of the city.

This week's full-length restaurant review of Capital Restaurant is a by-product of Rice Plate Journal, the block-by-block survey of Chinatown restaurants I embarked on last month. As I was asking around, looking for spots that typified Chinatown's many modest, family-run restaurants, several of the people I talked to mentioned Capital Restaurant. So I decided to spend a little extra time there.