Dim sum, or what some call the traditional Chinese brunch, is a cherished culinary art of sharing a delightful assortment of bite-sized delicacies, perfect for a mid-morning snack.
Dum sum in San Francisco is a cornerstone of not only the city’s Chinese food scene, but also the brunch scene with family-owned establishments spread city-wide.
Dim sum’s delicious dishes, interactive serving style with push carts or trolleys, cultural significance, and lively atmosphere make it a must-have, fun, and unique dining experience cherished by many, particularly when visiting San Francisco.
Dim Sum in Chinatown, San Francisco
Osmanthus Dim Sum Lounge, Chinatown
Osmanthus Dimsum Lounge’s menu offers a large variety of steamed, fried, and baked small plates.
Along with traditional Chinese small plates of spicy wontons and pan-fried pot stickers, Osmanthus also makes curry fish samosa, adding a dash of spice from India. Cool off your palate with a steamed custard bun and a cup of tea.
Insider’s Tip: If you’re dining in, you might order from a menu or by choosing items from a cart. In restaurants with servers pushing carts full of dumplings and other tasty delicacies throughout the dining room, wave down a server and point to the dish you want to try.
Super Kitchen 80
Looking for a quick bite to eat while walking through San Francisco’s Chinatown? Pop into Super Kitchen 80 and pick out a few dim sum items to go.
Ordering is like being at a bakery counter—consult the large photo menu of available dishes hanging over the counter and point to indicate the things that you’d like to try.
Insider’s tip: Super Kitchen 80’s sturdy to-go containers make it easy to take shrimp dumplings and pork buns on your day’s adventure, or a lunch in the park at one of San Francisco’s renowned parks.
City View Restaurant
Just across from the popular Chinatown hangout Portsmouth Square is the dim sum destination City View Restaurant.
The space is filled with tables large enough for the entire family to sit around and fill the dining room, in addition to servers pushing dim sum carts around with dishes. As mentioned, a longstanding tradition in San Francisco’s dim sum scene involves flagging down waiters as they make their way across the room with the dishes, and City View is no exception.
Insider’s Tip: Go for the Peking duck lotus buns, shrimp rice noodle rolls, or wok-fried walnut shrimp.
Dim Sum Beyond Chinatown, San Francisco
Yank Sing, The Embarcadero & Union Square
With two locations, one at the Embarcadero’s Rincon Center and the other near Union Square, Yank Sing is a staple in dim sum. A sampling of over one hundred varieties of dim sum is offered to guests via traditional push carts.
Choose from the Michelin guide Bib Gourmand restaurant’s array of dumplings to Lo Mai Gai, lotus leaf-wrapped sticky rice with surprise tasty fillings inside.
Insider’s tip: The Michelin Bib Gourmand is a famous restaurant guide that highlights establishments for their price to quality ratio.
Harborview Restaurant & Bar, The Embarcadero
The contemporary indoor dining space and casual outdoor patio overlooking San Francisco’s Embarcadero waterfront make Harborview Restaurant & Bar a welcoming spot to linger over Cantonese Chinese cuisine. The bamboo steaming baskets full of dim sum delicacies stack up quickly.
Try Harborview’s signature steamed black and white soup dumplings, a delicious duo of two black and two white stuffed with pork and black truffle.
For a sweet treat, don’t miss the longevity peach buns painted with food color to look just like peaches with a unique, savory-sweet filling of salted egg yolk and lotus seed paste.
Palette Tea House, Ghirardelli Square
Want something other than chocolate to eat on your visit to Ghirardelli Square? Stop by Palette Tea House for an artful take on modern Chinese food and dim sum. Experience yum cha, the tradition of gathering for tea with a large party or solo.
From Palette’s visually stunning black swan taro puff, resembling an actual swan, to their delectable pan-seared black pepper beef bao buns, their dishes are both creatively crafted and bursting with flavor.
Dumpling Home, Civic Center
The casual Hayes Valley neighborhood Chinese restaurant Dumpling Home earned the Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand distinction for its soup dumplings.
The award-winning dumplings are hand-folded and come in a variety of fillings such as chicken, beef, pork, and prepared via pan-frying, boiling, or steaming.
Insider’s tip: In addition to dim sum dumplings, check out their other goodies like savory green onion pancakes and spicy chicken wings.
Mama Ji’s, The Castro
If you’ll be dining alone, Mama Ji’s is the place for a solo dim sum date.
The restaurant has a cozy café vibe where reading a book between dishes or opting for a conversation with friends are equally welcome.
Mama Ji’s home-style Sichuan dim sum is made fresh in house, and you can’t go wrong with an order of steamed BBQ pork buns, shrimp and chive dumplings, plus a dessert of sesame balls filled with lotus paste.
Dragon Beaux, Richmond District
Dragon Beaux’s spacious dining hall is busy all day, serving flavorful and creative dim sum dishes by day and transitioning to a hot pot destination by night.
An example of their traditional Chinese cuisine with a modern twist is their Five Guys Xiao Long Bao soup dumplings. This popular plate features five distinct dumplings, each naturally colored with turmeric (yellow), squid ink (black), beets (red), spinach (green), and flour (white).
Rice crepe rolls are also a fan favorite menu item with savory fillings of shrimp, BBQ pork, or beef brisket stew.
Insider’s Tip: If you’re in the mood for a relaxing afternoon tea, Dragon Beaux’s is also known for its traditional Asian tea services.