They used to be one of the few dim sum places with carts, but Covid changed that. They also have other dishes, but their specialty is dim sum. City View is cleaner and quieter than the typical Chinatown restaurant, and the standard dim sum choices are tasty and reasonably priced. Address is 1 Pagoda Place, which is the end of Hang Ah Alley, between Clay and Sacramento Streets.Ĭity View is a great dim sum place, more upscale in atmosphere even has white tablecloths.

I'm really happy this little gem is still here. Now it's a mixture of locals and visitors. This was before it was 'discovered' at the time, I was the only non-Chinese customer. I first came here in 1969 (!) on the recommendation of a Chinese classmate. On a recent visit, I had the Snow Daisy, or Kun Ming, tea, delicately flavored, amber-colored, and non-caffeinated, which was so good I've been searching for it in the tea shops ever since (no luck, so far). They also have some special teas, brought from China, which are fun to try. This little tea house is the oldest continuously open dim sum place in America.

The Hang Ah Tea Room, hidden away in a little alley in Chinatown, has been in operation since 1920. Here are my favorite Chinatown dim sum places, which are also loved by many others, include two sit-down restaurants, and a collection of hole-in-the wall bakeries that are mostly for take-out. But they are very popular because the dim sum is scrumptious and so cheap it hardly feels like you've paid for it! To be blunt, many of these lower-end places tend to have abrupt, rude service, and less than sanitary conditions. Not only is the food just like you would find in cities in China, the 'atmosphere' is authentic as well. The dim places with carts that go around the room are disappearing from Chinatown, possibly because of the space required, and most are now served from menus, or use the point at the display method (works well where English isn't spoken).Ĭultural warning: some of the best dim sum places are very authentically Chinese. Many people say eating dim sum is one of their favorite things to do in Chinatown. Possibly another one of the Covid era casualties in San Francisco. Hunan Home, one of my favorites, has closed, unfortunately. Reasonable prices (but not Chinatown cheap). Known for their salt and pepper crab and Peking duck dishes. Attractive environment, even though it's in the basement. Popular with the business crowd and locals. Service is fast.not friendly, but not rude. But here are some good ones: R & G LoungeĬlean, tasty, nicely-presented Cantonese food. I hate to say it, but Chinatown isn't really the best place for good Chinese food in San Francisco these days. Guide to where to eat in Chinatown, plus where to find great dim sum beyond Chinatown. How to pick out the best ones? Here are my recommendations for the best places to eat and where to find the most scrumptious dim sum! There are around 80 Chinese restaurants just in Chinatown! Walking around San Francisco's Chinatown, it looks like every other storefront is a restaurant. The Best SF Chinatown Restaurants and Dim Sum Places Plus best dim sum outside of Chinatown The other aspects of the service were great too, the foo.Updated May 8, 2023. He told us about the lobster dish, and also gave us two free mango puddings for dessert. That brings me to Uncle David-I think he's the owner(?), and is super nice. I don't think the lo mein is on the menu, Uncle David said it's a special. The lobster lo mein is delicious, and only cost $26 which is quite a good deal for the amount of noodles and lobster you get (my partner and I had a good amount left over). The texture of the rice roll is perfect, soft and chewy.

I especially liked the shrimp rice roll and lobster lo mein. So far, I've tried the pea sprouts, shrimp rice roll, xiao long bao, lobster lo mein, and mango pudding. For dinner, you can order off their full dim sum menu and/or order non-dim sum dishes like clay pot, noodles, etc. One thing that annoys me about a lot of dim sum places is that they don't serve dim sum at dinner time.

Dim sum restaurant san francisco