San Francisco Dim Sum Guide: Best Restaurants for Yum Cha in the City

San Francisco has some of the finest dim sum outside Hong Kong and Guangdong — a legacy of the city's deep Chinese-American history and the sustained appetite of the Bay Area's enormous Chinese-American community for high-quality traditional yum cha. The best dim sum here rivals anything in Asia, and the city's diversity of options spans trolley-service traditional houses, upscale contemporary interpretations, and Richmond District neighbourhood spots known only to locals.

The Richmond District on Geary Boulevard is SF's dim sum heartland — Ton Kiang (known for its Hakka-style specialities alongside standard dim sum), Koi Palace in Daly City (technically outside the city but worth the 20-minute drive for what many consider the Bay Area's finest dim sum), and the perennially crowded Good Luck Dim Sum on Clement Street (a no-frills counter service operation where the turnover is high and the quality remarkable for the price).

In Chinatown itself, City View Restaurant on Commercial Street has served weekend dim sum for decades to a clientele that skews older and more traditionally Chinese-American. Yank Sing in the Rincon Hill and Financial District locations caters to a more upscale crowd with an impressive if expensive trolley service. For the full traditional experience, arrive at any of the serious dim sum houses before 10am on a Sunday — the freshest har gow, siu mai, and turnip cake come off the kitchen line in the first hour of service, and the trolleys are fullest before the main rush.