Everyone who visits San Francisco goes to Chinatown for dim sum. That is fine. But the best dim sum in the city? Reviewers say it is not on Grant Avenue.
We read every review that mentions dim sum, dumplings, har gow, or siu mai, and scored how positively people talk about the food itself. Not the atmosphere, not the wait, not the parking. Just the food.
The ranking
Palette Tea House
Yank Sing
Lai Hong Lounge
Good Luck Dim Sum
Dragon Beaux
The Chinatown question
Lai Hong Lounge at 85% love is the strongest Chinatown option, but it trails Palette Tea House's 92% and Good Luck Dim Sum's 91%. The Chinatown spots tend to score lower on love because they get a lot of tourist traffic, and tourists are more likely to leave reviews about the experience (the wait, the chaos, the language barrier) rather than the food itself.
Good Luck Dim Sum is the value play. Takeout only, cash preferred, no seating. But at 91% love with those prices, the food speaks for itself. One reviewer put it perfectly: "I drive 40 minutes for a bag of their pork buns and it is never not worth it."
What to order if you only go once
Har gow (shrimp dumpling) and siu mai (pork dumpling) at every spot, because that is the baseline test. After that: Palette's truffle siu mai, Yank Sing's Peking duck bun, and Good Luck's pork buns. Skip the fried items at places with low turnover.
See the full dim sum map →Related
If you are in Chinatown, also worth the stop: char siu and roast duck at the BBQ shops along Stockton, and congee for a quiet morning meal.