At Great Eastern Restaurant, the room hums with the beautiful chaos of a Cantonese banquet hall. The service won't flatter you, but the dim sum arrives fast and hot. Dumplings glisten, tea flows endlessly, and somewhere nearby a bustling family is ordering enough food to feed a small province. This is old-school San Francisco: loud, crowded, slightly worn around the edges, and all the better for it. read more

I'm from Portland. And the far southwest suburbs of Portland so we lack some dim sum cred. It's very possible my standards are too low but here's my honest review First impressions. I notice the very professional service. I like the Chinese places with different uniforms where everyone has a specific job. I found it odd that there was literally one woman working in while restaurant. All the rest men All the standards were really tasty. Good succulent shrimp in the shrimp dishes. My first one was a little over cooked and not very pleasant but the rest were good. I got the roast duck. It was good but I was confused by the temperature. It wasn't hot but it wasn't cold either. There is a downstairs area with more seating and some truly disgusting bathrooms. I've been to China though, this is on brand. Tip is included as a line item. It makes sense because Chinese are not a tipping culture. Due to the bill being illegible and we paid with cash I appreciated the waiter pointing this out ever after the fact. I've had better dim sum in the Bay Area but this is still pretty solid read more

Complaint about terrible service and unequal customer treatment On 7/1/2026, I was served by your staff. Their service attitude was extremely unpleasant: they were impolite, impatient and unhelpful when I asked for help. Worse still, they treated guests unequally. They were friendly and accommodating to other customers but gave me cold and unfair service on purpose. This discriminatory behavior is unacceptable and made me feel humiliated. I ask the management to look into this matter, retrain all staff to treat every customer fairly and respectfully, and fix this poor service problem. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Terrible man - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

We were looking for dim sum for dinner and this was one of the few open after 3 pm that had good reviews. We were very pleased with the selection. We had shrimp dumplings, shrimp and cilantro dumplings, siu mai, and turnip cake. We also had some mixed veggies and orange chicken over noodles. Service was amazing. They anticipated everything and picked up empty dishes as soon as they weee empty. The ambiance was classic old school Chinese restaurant. Sorry, I was too excited to eat to remember to take pictures. read more

Vegetables fresh but the place could use an update. Had the veggie chow mein which was good with a slightly smoky flavor. Also tried the deep fried squab which was tasty but the spices in the salt has a flavor I don't like. My hubby and father liked it though so I didn't have to eat it. The fried rice was packed with shrimp and bbq'd pork and had that same spice. I wish I knew what it was so I can avoid it in the future. Service was excellent. They came up to us as soon as we walked in and then seated us. They don't offer you water but they give you hot tea right away. You have to ask for water. The tea had a different flavor that was just super floral and my father and I didn't like it. Other than that update to decor that this place needs it is mostly pleasant until it gets too noisy to have a conversation. We had both experiences. We walked here.. there is only street parking. read more

See all

Went for dimsum. No carts. The small dimsum dishes came out after a long time. It looks like they were cooking it in the back. Nothing is ready like a typical dimsum place. The dishes were ok. Nothing special. Not bad but not so good either. The ambience is casual with all the aunties and uncles having dimsum. The staff were ok, I've been here twice now - I think I am over it. read more

See all

Second time at Great Eastern Restaurant and it still tastes just as good as I remember. I really appreciate the consistency in the food. This time I brought both of my grandmas, my parents, my husband, and his best friend, and everyone enjoyed the meal. The Peking duck was a highlight--the skin was so crispy and flavorful. The service was great--staff were very kind, attentive, and made us feel welcome the whole time. It made the experience even better, especially sharing it with family and loved ones. Definitely one of my go-to spots in Chinatown. I'll be coming back again. read more

See all

We.were craving the salt and pepper crab from the new Z&Y but they were closed so we walked acrossed the street and didn't want to wait in line for the old Z&Y so we saw on the menu that this place also has crab. Surprise that President Obama and.others celebrity had dine there. We were greeted and sat promptly. Ordered the ginger and scallion crab and black bean sauce clams, and a few more dishes. Overall, traditional Chinese food, solid flavor and we were satisfied. Chowfun was ok. But we did enjoyed the well prepared crab and clams. Spacious, banquet style traditional Chinese decor kind of restaurant and ambience what you would expect in Chinatown. Tip is automatically included in the bill even just for 2 guests. read more

See all

I was excited to bring my husband and son here since I'd had a great first time experience last year, boy was I wrong!! We didn't mind the hour long wait, but once seated it took forever just to get utensils, tea, or have our order taken while other tables (with persons of different backgrounds) were helped right away. BIG TURN OFF! Over the next hour dishes came out one at a time, and they forgot one of our dishes entirely. By then we were over it. They also added gratuity for our party of three, which didn't sit right given the service. Want to shout out the older guy at the front with the high fade and wire glasses, he was especially RUDE and dismissive, I saw him wave off other customers mid-sentence and walk away. Tossed items onto our table. Ugh! So many better options in Chinatown. We won't be back and I'm sure they won't miss us either. *Regarding the food, it was mid. Short ribs, spicy wings and soup dumplings were all good, orange chicken mid, shrimp dumplings not good. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

I came here with a group of friends on a Sunday morning. We came close to opening time and had no wait. They let you order on a paper for your food, so everything comes out fresh. We ordered so many different dishes: chicken feet, har gow, shu mai, pan fried turnip cake, pan friend buns, and more! Overall, the food was alright. I definitely feel like I've had better outside of SF. I didn't like the shrimp-based dishes here too much, which is a shame because those are typically my favorite. The highlights of everything we ordered were the chicken feet, tripe, and turnip cake--nothing was a huge standout though. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant, San Francisco: 2026 Feb 7 (4.25 of 5) Dim Sum is best when shared. There were six of us and we ordered 11 dishes. This gives us a chance to experience a variety of small, bite-sized dishes. I believe Dim Sum is all about sharing and enjoying each other's company. We ordered: 1. Steamed Pork Buns 2. Cold Chicken Claw 3. Roast Duck 4. Deep Fried Bean Curd Skin Rolls 5. B.B.Q. Pork Puffs 6. Turnip Cake 7. Cilantro Shrimp Dumplings 8. Pan Fried Leek & Shrimp Dumplings 9. Rice Noodle Roll with Shrimp 10. Rice Noodle Roll with Deep Fried Dough 11. Shrimp Dumpling Location: Easy to find if you happen to be walking along Jackson Street Service: Good but hectic Atmosphere: Crowded and loud $$$: Some items were priced well but there were several that's priced above average Amenities: We sat below stairs. There are two restrooms - one for men and one for women. The facilities were quite clean. read more

See all

This is my second time dining here, and I have to say this place is excellent. The food is always fresh, flavorful, and consistently well prepared. The wait time has never been unreasonable, and what really stands out is the consistency--the quality has remained the same over the past five years. If you're looking for great food and a reliable dining experience, this place is definitely worth a visit. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Dim sum - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

Review #982 Posted on 1.5.26 We came here for dim sum here on New Years Day after staying in the City on New Years Eve. This spot is deep into Chinatown on Jackson St. You walk in & there's a small lobby, and a host stand. Tons of tables & seating on ground level & downstairs too. You're given a number, kind of like when you go to the butcher, and then wait for your number to be called. Once we got sat they greeted us a short while afterwards. They took our drink & food orders, then next thing you know the food will start coming to your table based on what's cooked first. Now, the dim sum is unreal, it's excellent, everything we tried was really good. We tried fried shrimp balls, shu mai, shrimp dumplings, shrimp & chive dumplings, fried rice, & one of the best Xo noodles I've ever had. We also had wonton soup which was great. Some of the best & most quality dim sum I've ever had. Now to the service......A couple of waiters splitting the whole downstairs, just the 2 of them. At the end of the day, cool in aspect of make your money fellas, also not your fault they only schedule you two y to handle that whole room & all tables in it. Having said that, the service suffered majorly because of the that. I don't mind the food staggered, we're used to that now when getting dim sum, but them coming back to check in and get you refills on water, red chili sauce, etc, you need that on point to properly enjoy your meal. Another issue, they missed 3 items we ordered, 3 is a lot. Last was waiting a long time to get togo boxes & our check after requesting both. Now I'm against auto tipping in general as if you don't give stellar service, why am I tipping you above 15%? But for a party of 4 to be automatically I think it was 17%? That wasn't the service we received. Don't get me wrong, I'd eat here again, we didn't leave mad, but it put a damper on the experience a bit. I'm still giving them 4 stars, but I'm being insanely generous in doing so. read more

See all

Got the chilly garlic scallops and that was delicious. I was not expecting it to be a dry dish. All the chilly garlic is usually a wet dish. I loved it. Can't wait to go back and try it an entree. The place is also huge, so did not wait for a table at all. The service is quick as well. It's a no fuss restaurant, which i like. It's not trying to be anything but a good Chinese restaurant. read more

Food was excellent I had the shrimp/chicken fried rice dish. Plentiful portions. They understood vegetarian and gluten free requests. We had a party of two and they automatically added 20% tip and didn't tell us!! Very sloppy writing I almost missed it. BEWARE read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - 109. SHRIMP FRIED RICE大蝦炒飯 with chicken - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

We got hungry and craving for dim sum so we decided to come to Obama's fav dim sum place in SF. They have many photos of him up on the wall. Overall, the dim sum items are pretty legit and authentic. We ordered most of the staples- har gow, siu mai, fried turnip, chicken feet, chicken leaf covered sticky rice, etc. We ate so much among 4 of us that we couldn't finish everything. The waiters are all pretty nice. They even have more seatings downstairs at the basement. read more

See all

my friends and i stumbled upon this place as we looked for a restaurant that could accommodate 10+ people around 8:30p on a saturday. someone in our party exclaimed "obama ate here!" hahaha and we ended up going. the restaurant sat us right away. since it was towards the end of the night, service was pretty quick, especially for a large table. we ordered so much: peking duck, steamed pork buns, chive and shrimp dumplings, crab claw, sweet and sour pork, orange chicken, sesame chicken, and a bunch of other dishes i didn't try. i thought the dim sum was the standout. everything tasted fresh. the meat dishes were okay, the sesame chicken was the best of the "saucy" dishes. i didn't try the duck, but my friends seemed to enjoy it. it comes with steamed buns instead of rice paper, which they were happy about. the dim sum isn't the cheapest you'll find in chinatown, but it's not the most expensive either. i would come back to try more options. and find out what obama ordered. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - forgot to take more pics, whoops. we did enjoy the turntable in the middle of the table to make it easy to share - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

A great place for big round table dinners! They fit our party of 14! It was pretty shoulder to shoulder, the table was probably meant for 12 max but we were able to squeeze. The dishes were so tasty. Lots of vegetarian options. My highlight was the Peking duck, so crispy and juicy. The eggplant was also tasty! Prices were good - I think perhaps a little lower on average compared to surrounding restaurants, which was great for our party's needs. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

Delicious food with a variety of dimsum at relatively lower prices than other dimsum spots! My party of 11 ordered a bunch of different dishes for lunch and I enjoyed every item I tried. I especially enjoyed the crispy green beans, flavorful fried rice, and the pork rice noodle rolls. Service isn't great here but honestly I've experienced that at a lot of dimsum restaurants. Staff rarely looked over at our table despite multiple people in our group waving our arms to try to get their attention. We had to flag down the server many times to get water, takeout containers, and the bill. They were pretty dismissive and also forgot to gave us one of our orders. We did have a larger party and ordered a lot of dishes so I understand it was a lot to keep track. 2/5 for service 4/5 for food Don't expect attentive service here but the food was very enjoyable and tasty which makes up for it. Though, I wouldn't go out of my way to dine here. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

A decent restaurant in Chinatown. The service was good. The tea especially was highlight as well. Loved our peeking duck and fried crab. Both were delicious. The ambience was decent. read more

See all

Quality in takeout dinner has gone down in recent years. Some of the meat was not cooked properly even though the place wasn't busy at the time. Also crazy price increase while portions and quality shrunk quite noticeably. read more

We had no clue about this place but saw pictures of Obama on the window and thought if it's good enough for Obama it's good enough for us. I also was in desperate need of a restroom so even if I had to suffer through a meal I was determined. This turned out to be the best chicken chow mein we have ever had. We played it real safe because I have a tendency to go wild and we had an event tonight I did not want to get sick for. We got veggie spring rolls, chicken chow mein, and sesame red bean curd balls. We also got tea that they put on the table which fyi is $1.75 per person and so is water. They also do automatic tip for you which was fine but no one said anything. We found a spot we can come wearing stretchy pants. I saw some really yummy food on other peoples lazy Susan's and we're already planning a return trip. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

Was wanting to go to the restaurant next door, but it wouslnt be opened till another 30 minutes. So we decided to go to this one. The picture of Obama there made me think it was really good. Not that it's bad but there's nothing stand out about it. For the price I was expecting more. Also havi g an automatic tip (4 of us) was weird, but at least they don't ask for another tip. read more

We were able to get a table for 7 reserved 1.5 hrs before dinner through yelp on a busy December evening. We ordered from their menu with corresponding pictures. Our food was served in less than 10 minutes. The star of the dishes we ordered was the Peking duck. The skin was perfectly crispy and the meat was very tender. I couldn't take photos of other dishes we ordered because they were devoured quickly. read more

See all

A cool fun fact about this place is President Obama has visited before! They have all the photos on the outside of their restaurant. They have plenty of space with upstairs and downstairs. Service was the usual and easy to order. Sadly they ran out of the baked custard buns so you need to get there early! The food was so delicious. I couldn't stop myself from eating because everything was THAT good. For the price point and the portion size, it was perfect! Will definitely be coming here again. read more

See all

More like 3.5 stars, typical average for a Chinese restaurant. Went here with about 12-14 people for a work lunch. We somehow managed to squeeze in at a large round table. Only reason for knocking off half a star is because usually dim sum is pretty quick, but service seemed a little slow here on a Thursday at lunchtime. The dim sum options are good here. We also added greens (snow pea leaves) and the Hong Kong style chow mein (crispy noodles) with chicken on top. My fave dish at other restaurants is the rice noodle roll with XO sauce. It was good here and good size portion, but I think it needed just a bit more sauce. Dumplings were all tasty. Service was friendly enough but nothing crazy. They have an upstairs and downstairs here, and we sat downstairs which is nice because it seems like it might be a little quieter. Good spot in Chinatown! read more

See all

Our server had zero personality which doesn't help my critique. We started out with honey barbecued pork 1/2 of the plate was too chewy to eat. The other half was excellent. We had potstickers which we loved.we had sesame balls which too were very good. The spring rolls were just ok. a small bowl of white rice. It was weird the server added a tip to the total. And to make matters worse they didn't have any egg custards that we love.We should have gone to yank sing to experience dim sum carts. read more

See all

Me and my girlfriend went here for the mid autumn moon festival. We ordered the broccoli with oyster sauce, salt and pepper, spareribs, orange chicken and chicken chow mein, which was really good customer service here was really fast and friendly. Deathly recommend coming here. Will be back soon. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

This place has that classic Chinese family style restaurant vibe that I grew up with - food is good enough, service isn't super attentive but is very efficient, and the vibes are nostalgic. 4 of us shared 4 dim sum plates, 1 soup, 1 noodle, and 1 vegetable dish and it came out to $118 total (including tax and tip). The food isn't anything special but it gets the job done if you're looking for something to feed a large group for a reasonable price. Would say the flavors are pretty authentic - it's not a super Americanized restaurant. The servers are swamped so they don't check on you but will listen if you flag them down. Will definitely return for other group dinners!! read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

The food was good, the service not so much the atmosphere is somewhat noisy and the bill surprised me a lot they charged us the 20% tip it didn't say anything on the menus it's something I didn't like we were three in total and I feel that the service we received was not 20% because they only went to let us order and we no longer receive attention until we asked for the bill read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - 109. SHRIMP FRIED RICE大蝦炒飯 - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

We were in Chinatown, so we decided to go for dim sum. Our first choice place didn't have seats, so we went next door to Great Eastern, and we were seated much sooner. I'd say that they are a pretty standard SF Chinatown dim sum place. The place is a little dirty, the staff is pretty indifferent. The food is tasty but unremarkable. The prices are set for tourists. I will say that the waiter pointed out the included service fee, which I thought was considerate so that I didn't accidentally over tip. I did give a few dollars extra because I always do, but the service certainly didn't warrant a double tip! I grew up in the Richmond district, and that's where I prefer to get my dim sum. I think Great Eastern is a perfectly fine place for dim sum in Chinatown, but if you aren't in the area, I wouldn't bother coming here. read more

Did you know Obama has visited this place? Oh yeah, his picture is shining brightly up on the wall for you to get a glimpse of. I came here because I wanted a sit down dim sum experience with my parents early in the morning and we got lucky to come across this place. They seat you right away and there are constant servers walking around to help you whenever you need. We ordered a medley but my favorites were the Shanghai Dimplings with the juicy steaming broth in the inside pouch of the dumpling and the order of the duck. The texture was so crispy on the outside that you could hear it crack but also feel the deep crunch when you bit into your first bite. Then when you get past the first layer you come across the savory dark duck meat that you've been waiting for. I like this place. President Obama likes this place. I think you have to fine and decide if you do. read more

See all

DONT COME HERE!!! I would not recommend this restaurant based on my experience. My sister and I came in with high expectations, but the service and billing practices were extremely disappointing. It took approximately 20 minutes for our waiter to take our order and another 20 minutes for our food to arrive, despite us ordering only two items. To make matters worse, we discovered that a 30% gratuity had been automatically added to our bill without it being clearly communicated beforehand. Charging such a high automatic tip for slow and inattentive service is unacceptable. read more

I think this is a solid option for dining in Chinatown. We went on a Friday evening and it wasn't very busy, but there was a small rush after we got there. We got the following: - steamed pork buns. Tasty but pretty small compared to other restaurants - deep fried minced meat turnover. Good texture but really wish it had more meat inside. Disappointing for the price. - cilantro shrimp dumplings. Very good - turnip cake. Not great honestly, not much flavor. - pan fried shrimp rolls. Very good! - steamed Shanghai dumplings. Tasty and juicy Overall I think the portions weren't very good for the price, as each dish is in the $9 range but not super big. Staff was kind and helpful throughout our dining experience as well. I'm not against coming back but I'd also like to try other restaurants. But I don't think this was bad. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Menu - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

We were a party of three, and the waiter automatically added the tip to our bill despite the service being poor. He didn't even present the bill! read more

Best item: Chung fun rice rolls are so soft and comforting. Good dim sum that really old school. You can tell by how many old people are here. If you want upscale this might not be the place for you. read more

Would not recommend. Service is not great - I'd even go to say they were rude. The dim sum was very average and the prices are more than what I am used to for dim sum. They added an automatic $15 to the bill which was 20% of the total, for a table of 4. Our bill came to $114 - the most I've ever spent on dim sum!! Overall a disappointing experience. read more

Service was horrible. We were seated immediately and then ignored for at least 15 minutes. After we finally got some drinks, the server didn't take our order until we were able to get a manager(not sure, he was in a nice suit) to come over and take our order himself. We got his attention once and he straight up ignored us and attended to others. The manager was great and explained the menu, no complaints about him. read more

Recently celebrated one of my siblings' birthday here with his family. We originally wanted to go to another dim sum restaurant nearby, but that place doesn't take reservations and we had 7 people in our party so that's a no-go. Luckily, Great Eastern has Yelp reservations which is very convenient. Great Eastern had been around for a long time. It was here when I was a child and my dad used to take me to lunch. Also, our family occasionally gather here when we have out of town guests come to visit. On this day, we ordered a lot of dim sum and food. It's good luck to have lots of leftovers. Everything was delicious. We had a great time. Although a bit shabby in the interior compared to another newer renovated dim sum restaurant, this place is still very popular and good. Hope it stays around for many more years. Located on Jackson St. in the heart of Chinatown between Kearny and Grant. read more

See all

We ate here for Thanksgiving dinner. There was a waiting line but we got in within 5mins and with the nice supervisor/manager. The place is old but well kept and decor with Chinese painting and wooden doors and displace of roasted duck, bbq meats and fish tanks. The menu is quite big but plenty of choices. We decided to stick with DimSum and 1/2 of Perking Duck. Easy order with our waiter, whom is nice and friendly guy. Wishing 5mins, the foods started rolling out. Quite big portion with reasonable price tag. The foods are hot, quite tasting, and packed with favor. Quite impressive. We really enjoyed our Asian Thanksgiving dinner here at this place a lot more than we expected that we ate them all and were overly full. Thank you. read more