Went for dim sum with the family. Quickly sat (both indoor and outdoor dining right now) and order on paper. They bring it hot out of the kitchen, so you don't necessarily get everything at the same time but it's fresh. Dim sum was great and tasty! Would recommend read more

Loved the dim sum! Lotus leaf, chicken dumplings, etc. We had a great time and the restaurant was nice and clean. What a fun cultural experience. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Deep Fried Red Bean Balls and Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

Not sure my beef was beef lol noodles were good, I like salty food n they were as much salt as i would eat. Not the best service but kind server's. I would not come back and recommend trying other restaurants with higher ratings read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Chicken with cashew nuts and back pan fried shrimp rolls - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

Probably my favorite Dim Sum restaurant in all of the SF Bay Area. But this place gets super crowded, and doesn't take reservations in the traditional sense, so be prepared to wait. The food here overall is delicious, but with so many dishes, you will have some misses. However, the Dim Sum staples (shrimp dumplings, shui mai, rice rolls, chicken sticky rice, pork buns, etc.) are all really good. The only miss we had recently was the sesame sticky dumpling, usually one of the sweet items we get as a dessert. It was edible and actually okay, but it's definitely been better elsewhere. This place also has some specialty items which are a must get for my family, the roasted duck and the seafood crispy noodles. I'm not a huge duck fan, but there is always arguments on whether we ordered enough of it, so it must be good. But I do love the crispy noodles and usually we're all fighting for the last bits even when there's a table full of other delicious food. This place is definitely worth a visit if you're in SF Chinatown! read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Crispy Seafood Noodles. - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

Wow this is some of the best dimsum I've had in America. We arrived here on a rainy day 5 minutes before they opened and no one else was waiting in line. On the outside of the restaurant, they have pictures of Yaoming, Steven Hawking, and Obama -- having dined there previously. The interior is SUPER clean and nice, something I'm definitely not used to at a dimsum restaurant. This led me to believe that the dimsum would be very expensive but it actually wasn't too bad. We spent about $15 a person. The food isn't pushed around a cart and is made pretty much to order which means you've be waiting longer but the food is really fresh. I've never tasted such fresh dimsum before! The rice wrappers on all of their dishes were so soft, you could tell they were freshly made. The fried sesame red bean balls were delicious and I never like those! The mochi tasted so chewy and soft. The shu mai were good. The radish cakes were AMAZING (my dad said they were the best he's ever had). The two dishes I ordered that I would recommend skipping would be the potstickers (too doughy and not enough filling) and the XLB. Our first order of XLB was delicious. They put them in little tins so you can make sure you don't miss the soup. We ordered a second order since they tasted so good. The second order was not so great. There was no soup at all and the dough was too thick. Super inconsistent! Overall, my family was very satisfied with the food we eat and how full we were. I've never tasted such freshly made dimsum and I'm glad I had the chance to. Definitely try this place out! read more

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I'm not gonna lie, when the reviews are bad for a Chinese restaurant, it usually means it is authentic. I'm assuming most of these reviews are from tourists or maybe people who are not familiar with Chinese dining. The workers here don't speak a lot of English, but it is enough to get through a meal. They were mostly elderly workers who were very kind, but a little slow (which was expected). Now if you're looking for super clean and sanitary, you might not find it here. Luckily, I didn't find any of my dishes looking unsanitary, everything looked washed thoroughly. The food came out quite fast too, all the food was very hot and looked fresh. The food was quite yummy, nothing to complain. I forgot what I ordered but I have a picture below to show. It might not be the best dim sum place, but the food was still great for the price; I'll compare Din Tai Fung since it's well known, but this place is 100x better. I would definitely come here again. Also, this dim sum place isn't the one where they push carts, but rather one where you mark off what you want on a paper. read more

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

Came here for dim sum on Christmas day. Of course it always get busy on any holiday for any chinese dim sum place. Although we came on a holiday, they don't do the cart where they push the cart with the food. They have a paper menu and plastic menu that has some photo of the food with a number next to it. Once you know what you want, you marked many you want for each of the dish you want to eat on the paper menu. You get all your typical dim sum like chicken feet, shrimp dumplings, shu mai, etc. Its an average dim sum but their foods were still good. Average price but if you have a party of 6 or more, they will add the gratuity tip for you. read more

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It has been a while since I've had dim sum in Chinatown. I was hoping by eating in Chinatown the prices would be cheaper than eating in Diamond Heights. I was wrong!! I could not believe that a "small" dim dish is $4.50. We ordered 6 dishes (not even the fancy stuff!) and spent $40 here. I didn't think any of the dishes tasted any better than other dim sum restaurants. The most unpleasant experience (that is out of control for the restaurant but contributes to the ambiance of the dining experience) was the number of men smoking outside of the restaurant. Every time the restaurant door opened, it drew in the smoky air from the outside and brought it all into the restaurant. Dim sum with cigarette smoke. Yum! read more

The dim sum is really solid here! Slightly more expensive than some of the other small dim sum shops, but there is plenty of indoor seating and very fast service. The shrimp noodle rolls are good, along with the shrimp dumplings, shrimp and chive. Deep fried bean curd shrimp, and steamed tripe. read more

Solid dim sum! Dinner is pretty good too. I'm in between a 3.5 and 4 stars for this place but the dim sum bumped it up. I've come here before but I always forget to take pictures since I'm basically scarfing down my dim sum as it arrives. However! I came here tonight for dinner around 6:30pm for a belated Chinese New Year with my family. Thankfully they're not busy so we were seated almost instantly. The staff are pretty attentive and I also wanted to add that they're patient even if your Cantonese isn't spectacular. Some places judge you if you aren't able to speak out the menu items completely but the waiters here were different. We ordered about 5 dishes and we were also given complimentary soup which my grandma loved. Pretty standard meal, duck, quail, seafood claypot, fried chicken and a vegetable dish with rice. Food was flavorful overall. A bit pricy but I'd come back. I really wanted to try their sea cucumber so hopefully next time! read more

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OMG, Obama came here and I felt like I got the same service! Had to leave a 30% tip. My gf is high maintenance and they went above and beyond to accommodate. The Duck Noodle Soup was amazing and could easily feed 3-5 people as an appetizer. Really enjoyed the Szechuan Prawns and Sweet & Sour Chicken as entrees and they were delicious. FYI the restaurant is pretty big and seems like it could be good for a large group. They have both an upstairs and downstairs dining area. read more

So food is always good and tasty. However, was charged 18% automatically as tip for a party of three (3). No issue with the tip amount. However, this has never happened in the past at this restaurant and I am wondering if this is new? Usually there are signs posted about automatic gratuity for parties of six (6) or more ‍ read more

My go to in san fran chinatown! Pork (in back) was a bit salty but other than that, everything was so good! read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Steamed Pork Buns Shrimp Dumplings Steamed Chicken Claws - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

On the drive home from Great Eastern a conversation transpired. I was asked which of my yelp reviews is my favorite and then the questioner remarked that he particularly liked my single star review for a place in St Helena. This segued into a discussion as to why I preferred the review I mentioned (4 stars). Namely, I harbor no joy in having a poor dining experience. Yes, the review may write itself but I've spent real money for a meal that was far from satisfying and where's the fun in that? Or rather, where's the fun in my shi*ty Great Eastern experience? Despite supposedly being open until 11 p.m. I entered Great Eastern before 9:30 and was told the kitchen was closing imminently. I could dine there if I quickly perused the menu and made my selections while still standing in the entry vestibule. I did, and was shown to my seat as my order was placed. I've no idea why they weren't open later (but had no problem with the hurried process) so if you're expecting them to be open until 11 p.m, think again. My order was simple: Mongolian Beef, Ma Po Tofu, and steamed rice. Ma Po Tofu was first to arrive on the table and looked quite enticing but a few bites into it my dining partner and I grew wary. We both like spicy food but this was something else. Our tongues and lips went numb and the aftertaste was incredibly unpleasant. Mongolian Beef was a small portion which was plated sloppily though it tasted fine. The small size of the Mongolian Beef order led me to give the pushed aside Ma Po Tofu a second try and I was again met with the same assault of sensations. I was grimacing trying to eat even the smallest piece of tofu. With the tofu dish pushed to the edge of the table and with no more than 2 spoonfuls removed, a waiter stopped to ask if everything was okay and we explained our reaction to the Ma Po Tofu; it was unpleasant and tasted like something was off. We eat this dish on the regular so we aren't unfamiliar with traditional Chinese flavors but this tasted like someone unloaded an entire spice jar of I-know-not-what in there. We were offered iced tea (palate cleanser?) but refused it and then our waiter took the dish to the cook to see what was wrong. He returned (without the Ma Po Tofu) and reported that the cook said it was fine. So much for the customer always being right. The waiter offered to reduce the charge for the Ma Po Tofu, a tiny concession amounting to a price reduction of $1.95 for a completely inedible dish. Two dishes (one uneaten), two rice, 1 beer and the revised total was upwards of $35 pre-tip. Obama and Yao Ming and a boatload of Trip Advisor folk might've reviewed and liked Great Eastern but I'm betting all of them stuck to dim sum. I wish I'd done the same. Great Eastern is likely a satisfactory dim sum joint but for non dim sum I'd recommend you steer far clear of their Ma Po Tofu like, perhaps, somewhere up the street. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Mongolian Beef:  small order, sloppily plated (this is exactly what it looked like when delivered to my table) - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Came here for some authentic Chinese dinner and really liked everything we ordered. The portion size was good for 2 people. The only thing we found different than our expectation was the chicken dimsum, which was really a chicken wrapped inside a bun and not really steamed dimsums which we were expecting. The chicken chowmein was really good (and little spicy in a good way) and the spicy chicken schezwan was really tasty as well. We came here on a sat night for dinner and were seated immediately so no wait at all! read more

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This is probably the best dim sum restaurant in Chinatown. They open one hour earlier during the weekend at 9am and open at 10am weekdays. Sadly there aren't many dim sum restaurants left in Chinatown. There are two levels here. The guys are pretty quick to bring the tea and dim sum. Service is decent but dont expect them to check in on you to see if everything is going well. We ordered four dishes for two people. Eggplant stuffed with shrimp paste - came out hot and yummy Shiu Mai - this is made the way it should be. Like to have it with some hot sauce Pork and Shrimp Bean Curd Skin Roll - the inside was ok but the bean curd skin roll was not fluffy enough and a little on the drier side Rice noodle stuffed with Beef - the rice noodle was too doughy (like it coming thin and shiny). The beef was good inside. Prefer having the beef with bitter melon but they dont serve this here. The oolong tea acceptable but not my favorite. There are other dim sum restaurants with better quality oolong. read more

Good dim sum. I would've opted for a more vegan friendly spot, but considering I was with a bunch of meat eaters, this place was perfect! From roasted duck, pork spare ribs, shu mai, shrimp stuffed everything, chicken, pan crusted bass fish, hmm what else? Some of the veggie dishes were not completely vegetarian. For instance the green string beans were made with fried shrimp. I loved the garlic chinese broccoli and the fried pumpkin fries. Ordered the spiral sponge cake and egg tarts too for dessert. Didn't have it, but everyone else enjoyed them. One liter of Woodbridge red wine was $41. A plus was making a reso on Yelp for 10. Parking sucks, but its the city. Overall no complaints. Didn't even feel sluggish, so assuming they don't use msg. Great little start to our holiday pre-xmas staycation in SF. read more

Came here with friends for dim sum. Good, fresh dim sum, tasty eggplant, great dumplings. Come for the food, been around long time! Tried and true. read more

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

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The horrible, traumatic, and borderline racist experience I had at this restaurant is one of those human experiences that seem silly at first but later consume you. On a weekend trip to San Francisco my friends and I decided to stroll Chinatown for lunch. We stumbled upon this place and decided to go in. The food was alright. The decor was nice. Tea was good. The service was phenomenally bad. The "service" we received from the waiters felt forced and unwanted. They were blatantly ignoring our calls for water/food. Having made eye contact with multiple waiters passing by as I called and raised my hand, I can assure you that we were simply not the top priority. They'd drop off our food at the table with the same enthusiasm you'd expect from a run down burger joint. What made things worse, is we could see the almost bipolar shift in attitude from our table to the next. Having all of this in mind I chose not to tip when it came time for the bill (which coincidentally is the only thing they brought with haste.) Seconds before I was able to exit the restaurant I was approached an employee about the bill. He handed it over to me exclaiming "the tip?!" I was so taken aback that he had to repeat it. This time he told me the tip was mandatory. I then explained to him that I was not comfortable giving tip because quite frankly the service and overall experience was awful. He repeated to me that tip was mandatory and refused to accept the bill back. I held my ground and simply told him that I refuse to give tip and that was that. He finally snatched the bill from my hands and slammed it on the counter as I exited. Everyday that has gone by I have thought about that encounter at least once. I know that to a lot of people it'll seem as though I'm just being over dramatic but the thing is that as a young Hispanic woman I had never experienced racism so bluntly. I don't think I've ever written a review for anything. However after 12 days of having this haunt me I've decided that if I can spare any brown people like myself the heartache I experienced at this institution then I have to do my part. This all took place on December 11th. I left around 2:00. read more

Lots of options and the food is not overly greasy and/or salty. Delicious! read more

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

Party of 7, seated right away on a Monday afternoon. Great freshly made dim sum, reasonably priced, prompt service. Prepared dishes were also tasty and not over-sauced. I've never known SF to be great at dim sum despite having such a rich history of Chinese immigrants, but this place was a very decent option if you're looking for the traditional service. Would come back again. read more

Great Eastern is a dim sum spot located in Chinatown that my family and I would come to every other week. The quality of food and the service are both above average. My recommendations: shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, shrimp with eggplant, egg custard tarts, BBQ pork tarts, and pork and shrimp bean curd rolls. Prices are moderate. It usually ended up around $17/person which isn't too bad. Food: 4/5 Value: 3.75/5 Service: 4/5 Overall: 4/5 read more

Only the most AMAZING dim sum on the planet. We arrived in San Fran bleary eyed and starving and happily stumbled into Great Eastern, which was full of large tables of families and friends happily eating and chatting together. We ordered about 18 kinds of dumplings and each was better than the last. I especially enjoyed the steamed rice rolls, which were delectable, and a certain type of dumpling that was crisped on the top, with seafood inside. My only wish was that I had a second stomach to fit MORE dumplings. Great Eastern will be haunting me for a long time, and will probably be the cause of my returning to San Fran sooner rather than later. read more

We were brought here by the fact that the Obama's have been here and we were craving a real presidential meal. This place was yummmy!! Really really enjoyed our food. We walked in about 20 minutes earlier than our reservation and they still put the effort in to seat us immediately. We were greeted at the table with some hot green tea which was really comforting after walking in the cold, since there is no where near to park. We ordered a few things and they were all delicious! 1. Hot and Sour soup - a personal favorite and theirs was especially delicious. It was $10 for a bowl but the bowl was big enough to feed 4 people. The 2 of us refilled our cups 3-4 times. It was worth every penny, it was so flavorful and absolutely delicious. 2. Prawn Lo Mein - Very flavorfull. Great addition to the rest of our meal. The prawns were large and hearty. 3. Pepper Beef - Perfect texture. The beef was juicy and tender. Paired with a thick sauce and bell pepper. Really delicious. Was small for what it cost but this was a great quality over quantity moment. read more

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Really good food! the place is nice but the service is not always good. They have to improve their customer service for sure because if you are not treated nicely with respect then you don't enjoy your food or the experience. I hope they talk to their staff before they start losing customers. read more

Absolutely delicious! Service was efficient yet friendly. I liked how the menu had pictures so when ordering something new we had an idea of what we were getting. Overall it was a great experience. I would definitely go back the next time I visit SF. read more

We had a wonderful dinner after doing take-out/eat outside tonight. Everything was amazing! The hot and sour soup, the dim sum, the eggplant, soup dumplings, noodles and bun - so good! read more

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Oh man oh man can I eat dim sum all day? Truly a wonderful place to grab some delicious dim sum. I know there's a few options in sf for dim sum but this place is quick and efficient. Plus their food is always consistent. I've never had a bad experience and the food is delicious. My favorite is the deep fried shrimp dim sum and the pumpkin one is to die for. I really could eat this all day. The sad part is that they stop serving dim sum at 3pm so get there before so you can enjoy in these small pop in your mouth treats. read more

Stop by for a few plates on your way to another spot. My wife and I chose this spot while in Chinatown because of the number of Yelp reviews, and the fact that Obama stopped by here out of all the places he could have visited in Chinatown. While they have over 80 different plates; these are all small plates. I did not see any entrees to order. Did not see any alcohol either. While the server did bring us green tea that was delicious. This was all we had with our food. We didn't even get any water. I recommend ordering something dumpling based or sushi rolls. I do not recommend the meat. The duck was more bone and fat than meat. I recommend stopping by for a couple of plates if you are passing by, just to say you've been. However, I do not recommend for a full meal experience. read more

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Authentic Traditional Chinese Dim Sum and Food. Don't come cause Obummer had come but because it's a great place. Full of Chinese families which means it's a local favorite! read more

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Ever had bad service at a restaurant? This restaurant is the epitome of bad service. I can understand that the Chinese culture generally doesn't value Service as anything important. So I can usually expect and accept non existent "service". However.. these people are just CHOOSING to be rude. We walk in, wait in line for a couple minutes, see that there are a couple employees behind the front desk. They LOOK at all of us but don't acknowledge the person in front of the line, so we wait. I assume they're busy. Few minutes go by, a "local Chinatown uncle" walks to the side of the desk, talks to the host? and he gets a ticket. What. Just. Happened?? So the guy in front of the line had to holler and wave to get a ticket. Tells him there are people waiting (us) to also get a ticket. We walk up and he goes back to ignoring us. So I don't care what his reasoning is.... if you're in the service industry and you see customers staring at you.. you offer your service!!! Even if you're busy.. just acknowledge us! I don't care if Obama or Jesus ate here. I am never coming back and no one should support this type of behavior. read more

AVOID!!! "They know how to *take* the reservation, they just don't know how to *hold* the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them." - Jerry Seinfeld The Yelp reservations are pretty goddamn useless here, but not as useless as the front desk blowhard who refuses to engage with those who cannot speak his language. My inner Jules Winnfield was screaming at this M-Effer. Take your business somewhere else where customer service actually exists. The food is pretty good though. Totally opposite to the piss-poor service from the front desk guy. read more

An average Chinese restaurant for the area, which does not necessarily mean it's not good. Actually, the place is worthwhile for dinner (don't know about dimsum). Dishes that are attractive and tasty (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/QxHtdBOe3Kppf8tEd2Wm6A?select=ySK6AH6swSPwtd-h7pvZcg) are all one needs at a Chinese restaurant, and more so if in Chinatown since there are so many to choose from. Good portions at reasonable prices turned the three into four stars. The place is big, not huge but definitely bigger than a noodle house - with a downstairs area as well (the restrooms are also downstairs). I wouldn't seek out this place, but would return for dinner. Heck, would try dimsumming here just to see how consistent they are. And, having Yummy Bakery and Cafe (http://www.yelp.com/user_details_review_search?q=yummy&userid=09T1oyi6c-9lvyt7gQCD2w) practically next door is also cool. Note: A few yelpers and I came here for dinner so the company also helped. But, the good times made us forget to mention the "All food is 10% off everyday after 3:30PM when diners mention this offer they saw on YELP" deal. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Peking duck's buns were coconut-y flavored however - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I love dim sum here, and I approve this message. Great Eastern doesn't disappoint in their dim sum. Order dishes a la carte (instead of from dim sum carts), en masse, and your tasty, greasy morsels will arrive at your table as they are prepared. For me, highlights included the standard-but-dependable siu mai, and their shrimp scallop pea sprout dumplings - surprisingly delicious. Service is as charming as can be for a Chinese restaurant (read: efficient service). For those who care, the decor isn't half bad, and not gaudy; sit upstairs for more pleasant eye candy. The lunch rush might beat you there, though. read more

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"The world is a book. Some words stand out from the page." Mike Carey - Lucifer This is my fav place to eat har gow and sui mei. There are lots of places I can get these little dumplings but they are not as good. For example they have really cheap har gow and sui mei at the takeout places on Stockton St. but they tend to have just 2 notes or flavors: pork and salt. Great Eastern sui mei on the other hand is like Herbert von karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmonker for a performance of Beethoven's symphony #9. The highs. The lows. The subtle nuances. A rich experience with many notes and flavors working in harmony. You know there is a talented artist conducting the work in the kitchen. I'd be tempted to come here everyday for dim sum except for the huge line. 10:30am all the tables were taken and there were around 15 people waiting to get in. *sigh Decided to come back for dinner. Returned at 5pm and the place was less than half full. bbq pork fried rice - Excellent dish. The char sui had a delicious bold flavor which I really loved. duck won ton soup - Best won ton soup I have ever had! The duck had delicious flavor and aroma which was undiminished by having some flavor and aroma migrating to the broth. The broth was the best having both the tradition won soup flavor as well as the addition of the delicious duck. :-) Very good flavor from the pork and shrimp won tons as well. Service is very good and the place is very clean and nicely decorated. I've had a lot of dishes here and none of them disappoint. Better than any place I've eaten at in San Diego. read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - roast duck won ton soup - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Great Eastern is an above average dim sum place that I would return again to because the lines aren't as crazy as Hong Kong Lounge - 30 minute wait at 11:30am on a Sunday (reservations for 6 or more only). The food comes out pretty quick, and the prices were fair. The service is unusually friendly, I didn't get yelled at, always a pro! Their claim to fame is that Obama ordered take out here, but other than that the food is pretty mediocre. I still prefer HK Lounge and Koi Palace for overall flavor and quality. Note: They no longer have the shark fin soup at dim sum, which is what I was excited to try. Also, they take credit cards! Some suggestions based on what I tried: YUM: Delicious, order this!----------------------------------- * CRAB SHRIMP (4 STARS): This is the first time I've ever had this. The pictures looked delicious and they tasted fresh and crunchy. It's a ball of shrimp on a crab leg? I'm actually not too sure but I would definitely get this again! GOOD: Standard, I'd get it again.----------------------------------- * TURNIP CAKE * SHRIMP ROLL * CHICKEN FEET * SIU MAI * BAKED BBQ PORK BUNS * GREEN BEANS MEH: Skip!----------------------------------- * PEA SPROUT DUMPLING (2 STARS) This looked beautiful in pictures but tasted mostly of green onions. Edible but not great. * SHRIMP DUMPLING (2 STARS): Just not very good. * BEAN CURD ROLL WITH DUCK FEET...(1.5 STARS): This sounded like a great idea to me, I like duck feet and tofu wrappers, and I loooove mushrooms! It came out looking alot less appealing than I expected. It was like they wrapped up leftovers they didn't want. Pass. * FISH PASTE ROLL (1.5 STARS): Looks like a deep fried sushi. Had an interesting chewy texture, not my cup of tea. We mistakenly ordered this. read more

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This restaurant is not halal. Very polite staff, informed us that it was not halal, nor did they know what halal was.

My first time in San Fran and I had to narrow down which dimsum place I wanted to try! Thought..hey, I'll try the one Obama went to. Location was also really easy to find. Piece of advice, do not come right when they open at 10AM because then you can't order from the BBQ side of the menu (starts at 11AM). Either way, their dimsum was really good! I grew up in Flushing - NY's chinatown - and have been accustomed to eating authentic Chinese food. This restaurant definitely fulfilled my craving for authentic dimsum. They don't have the push carts, but they do have A LOT of waiters on hand to collect your order form. For the ones who are unfamiliar with dimsum, this place offers a menu of images to help you select what items to order. I think the other dimsum restaurants around might be a little cheaper but I don't doubt my choice in trying them. Their shrimp dumplings are huge. Probably the biggest I've ever seen. They also have the BEST egg tarts ever. I've had a lot of egg tarts in my lifetime, but these are the best. Crispy on the outside, hot on the inside. I want more! read more

Great Eastern Restaurant - Shrimp rice roll, beef rice roll, shrimp dumplings - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

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SF Chinatown isn't very well known for good dimsum, sadly. I've been to Great Eastern, once in 2006 before the colored picture menus and Obama visit, and recently this past weekend. Both experiences I didn't have to wait too long, as there is ample seating here. The overall food quality is average. Most dimsum range from $4-5/plate, which is pretty expensive given that you can get better quality for less than that (usually for $3-4/plate) elsewhere. But when in Chinatown, you pay tourist prices...especially since Obama's visit hyped up this place. Tourist/Obama up charge! I usually judge a dimsum place based on the quality of their shrimp dumpling (har gow). If a place makes good har gow, then usually the rest of the food is good. My criteria for good har gow is fresh shrimp that is crisp, firm, and well seasoned with a dumpling skin that is neither too thick (too chewy and usually over powers the crispness and flavor of the shrimp) and neither too thin (dumpling falls apart or sticks to each other). Well the har gow here was too thick and the flavor was weak, but the shrimp texture was firm. Not the best I've had... But it was passable. I've had other dishes here too, such as the shrimp fried in tofu skin (sin ha fu pei guen), custard bun (nai wong bau), chicken feet (fung jau) and Teochow style dumpling (chiu zau fun go). The shrimp fried in tofu skin, Teochow style dumpling and custard buns were good, but the chicken feet were so-so (not enough flavor!). Overall, average dimsum with a pretty expensive price tag. I wouldn't recommend coming here unless if you're in the area and don't have time to go elsewhere for dimsum/Chinese food. But be prepared to spend a bit more money since this place is somewhat of a tourist trap. Both times I came here was because my friends were visiting from out of town, so I had planned a tour of Chinatown along with dimsum eats. If you have a car, I would recommend going to the Richmond District or Sunset District to have dimsum instead, which is cheaper and better quality (e.g. HK Lounge in the Richmond). read more

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

For Dim Sum...Good dumplings and buns, including shrimp and pork. Nice pictoral menu allows for easier ordering if you're not familiar with the dishes. Dim sum comes out by the order and not on carts, so you can't see it ahead of time. No apparent parking so take an uber. The service was very average...just going through the motions. read more

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