Overall did not have a good experience here. Most of the kitchen staff (who serve the dim sum) were very rude and were visibly frustrated when we asked for vinegar or extra plates. The front of house staff were very friendly and polite, which was honestly one of the only redeeming qualities of my experience here. The dim sum was mediocre at best, with some items like the cha shao bao coming out already cold. For this price, there are much better dim sum places in the greater Austin area. read more

Shanghai Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - Austin, Texas

Bro, 3 small dim sum for $25. Sheeeeshh glad you are paying toast on top of overcharging everyone..... wait I had to pay them Too. Well at least you are not charging the additional 20% covid charge you used to. Small victory huh?!?! For real hard pass. read more

After seeing a post in our local foodies group the other day about dim sum at Shanghai Restaurant, we gave it a try on Sunday. From that post, I was glad to have the heads up on some wonky stuff and prepared to give them leeway because we'd be there during the Sunday lunch rush. Reservation: I made a reservation online. They charge $10 + a 15% service fee. The website said this would be credited to the bill, but it wasn't and I couldn't get the attention of waitstaff to ask about it. Which leads to... Service: They are clearly understaffed. Again, we tried to cut them some slack about it. Getting drink refills was like playing a not-fun game of "Where's Waldo". We only won once out of four attempts. Ordering: There's a QR code on the table. You use the camera on your phone to scan it and it takes you to a website where you order your food and drinks. You pay upfront rather than at the end of the meal. There's a $15 service fee attached that goes into their tip pool. You are prompted to add additional tip money, but it's optional. Once you submit the order, food comes to your table really quickly. (That part was great!) Food: If you enjoyed New Fortune, this is on par with that although the selection is not as big. I'd venture a guess that about 75% of it is purchased rather than made in-house. The price is a little steep for what you're getting, but everything is more expensive now so I wasn't salty about it. Final thought: My daughter suggested that the next time we want dim sum, we should go to H-Mart, buy a variety of things, and do it ourselves at home. I think it's a pretty good idea. read more

Food is delicious. Staff is great. My only dislikes are the price and having to order through an app. The prices are higher than normal dim sum. We racked up a steep bill pretty quickly. I miss seeing the plates on a cart but the food is good. My picky toddler drank up ALL the egg drop soup and pork puffs. read more

Great food and great people! I went to Shanghai Restaurant recently for a post-wedding lunch (love you, Eric and Alex!), and had a great time. Everything came out fresh and hot - you can see them working on everything through the large glass pane in front of their kitchen - a rarity, when many competing restaurants are simply buying frozen and reheating. They also make their hot chili sauce from scratch - our bride ate about half of the container by herself in one sitting, and the rest of us had to struggle to pry the sauce away from her. It was that good. Service was wonderful - they were kind and attentive, and genuinely cared about our experience. Due to COVID-19, many restaurants, including Shanghai, seem short-staffed. However, staff and owners are passionate about what they do and go above and beyond to make sure that food and quality and service are not affected, so diners get the best experience possible. If you're on the fence, I highly recommend you give them a try. read more

TLDR: Food was alright, service was okay. It's Austin so I guess beggars can't be choosers. We came as a big group of family arriving at 7:20pm (which okay our fault but we've been to other dim sums so many times we already know what to order). We were the only customers. We were greeted by the server (non-asian) with "we close at 8pm so I am out at 8pm" lol shitty attitude usually means good food for dim sum right? Wrong in this case. We were sat down and the server didn't even bother explaining anything on how to order, but realizing she was pissed, we just figured out on our own how to order through our phone. We ordered $200+ worth. Food came out at decent rate. Some dishes were a little bit too salty and oily. My sister did enjoy the combo fried rice. Roughly 10 pieces of shrimp with the shrimp and walnut ($20ish), good taste but not worth the price imo. Rice noodles were mediocre, really fills you up though. I usually take pics right before eating but the server really set the tone for me. She was prompt with our requests (napkins, fork, spoon, etc.) so I give her that. We were done by 8pm btw but never saw the server again that we ended packing our own to go boxes. The automatic 15% charge is just an annoyance but whatever keeps the business afloat, I guess. Owner was nice. read more

Genuinely idk why this place has such low reviews. I think people complain about the service fee but bruh they put it on the lil plaque u scan so idk why it's coming as a surprise?? The food is good, service can be lacking (but who cares?), and there is usually never a wait time. Also it's not that expensive for dim sum .-. I see lots of people comparing to houston prices but honestly i found the prices to be pretty on par. Overall solid dim sum place and i have no complaints read more

I stopped by shanghai to get my dim sum fix on. We ordered so much food, making it even more embarrassing when we barely made a dent in it. but, if I'm going to go to dim sum, I'm going to do it right and order everything I like. (Did that rhyme?) We ended up getting the har gow, fresh tofu, fried taro, bbq pork buns, pork ribs and chinese broccoli. For a dim sum, not in a Chinatown, Shanghai wasn't too shabby. My favorite dish was their fried taro - which was sooo yummy. Overall, their dim sum dishes hit the spot but I wouldn't write home. Will I come back? Probably! read more

Shanghai Restaurant - Dim sum - Dim Sum Near Me - Austin, Texas

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We normally go to New Fortune for our Dim Sum but they're closed now. I looked around on Yelp and this place came up. They don't push the carts around and the menu is simple but we still enjoyed what we ordered. We miss a few items from that new fortune had, especially the shrimp toast. Also, ordering and payment is done from your phone by scanning the QR code. read more

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Dim sum! This place is legit! My wife had been missing authentic Chinese food and had been putting up with the Asian-American fusion crap that gets peddled in Austin for too long! Enter: Shanghai Restaurant. This place looks non-descript and sits in the part of town that has recently become the "other side of the tracks", so to speak. I think the sign has even come off and looks like the whole outside could use a coat of paint or two, but cor blimey, the food is exactly what we would find in China. As authentic as it can get in Austin. We ordered what we would normally order when we lived in China and everything was true to form and tasted exactly how we remembered it. This place will now become our standard Saturday/Sunday brunch place for sure. The 20% service fee was a bit surprising, understandable to a degree during these times, worth it to most of the extent, but surprising nonetheless. I would totally recommend this place to everyone out there, Chinese or not. =) read more

Very tasty dim sun and a huge restaurant right north of Austin. Love that they serve dim sun all Day long. We had 4 ( shrimp and leak was delicious- yummy and large shrimp!)( the soup one also very good and the steamed egg custard bun was sweet and tasty- my least favorite today was the pan fried pork) but overall- great find! read more

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We went about an hour before closing and dined in. We ordered a little bit of everything. The food was great. The meats we ordered were very well seasoned and everything had great flavor. We will definitely be going back. I do recommend dinning in and enjoying the food while it's piping hot and fresh out because although the food still a had good taste while I was snacking on my drive home down 35, it was just 1000 times better piping hot read more

Not very Chinese, not very Cantonese, and not Shanghai ness at all. Food is not good. I went to many dim sum places in the US, dim sum here really don't worth the money. The service is ok. You have to order online with a 15% tip required. I don't mind the tip but the service has to be worth the tip. Overall disappointed. read more

pretty authentic dimsum for austin and the prices are okay! service here is pretty fast, came at a good time - i could only eat the turnip cake which was pretty good! a bit oily but tastes authentic! i love the sesame balls though very chewy! here's davids review: yum read more

Shanghai Restaurant - Shumai red bean balls pork puff and turnip cake - Dim Sum Near Me - Austin, Texas

Food was mediocre and kind of pricey. The staff was super rude and took forever just to bring extra napkins. Would not recommend

Unfortunately if you're looking for a go-to dimsum place, you're going to be disappointed here. Perhaps the weekend experience is better but we came on a Friday lunch time and were sorely disappointed. We ordered 5 dishes between the 2 of us and it came to $40 including the mandatory 20% gratuity (which is just ridiculous). We then had to wait 25 minutes?!!!!!???? for the food to start coming out. There were a few tables with larger parties and 1 waiter serving everyone so possibly the reason for the delay?! But still unacceptable considering the 20% service charge. When the food finally came out, to our extreme disappointment, the food was mediocre warm. It came right out of the kitchen so I can only assume it was sitting for a while before it was served. The food itself wasn't terrible but also didn't taste freshly made (we have had dimsum all over the world including Boston, Hong Kong, Singapore...) and while we didn't expect the same caliber of food, for the price, it should be better. In conclusion, we will not be returning and will not be recommending this establishment to anyone we care about. Note: we are still waiting for our last dish to arrive and have been sitting here for a total of 50 minutes. read more

Excellent service coupled with the worst soup dumplings I've ever had. Overall, I would come back. Large Dim Sum menu, authentic Sichuan cuisine, and some of the most friendly and attentive staff you'll ever come across. Their Mapo Tofu is on point, right amount of spice paired with some seasoned minced pork. The broth in the soup dumpling tasted like canned turkey gravy - I kid you not... we ate two, left the third one alone. The Curry Squid was a highlight however. It was a decent experience, just nothing really stood out was all. read more

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Food was amazing. Dim sum was great! Best dim sum in Austin tbh. We went on a Sunday evening and everything came out fresh and quick. Definitely excited to come and bring our extended families. read more

I really like this place. Best dimsum in Austin by a country mile! Mind you, this is not your traditional dimsum with the carts, but on the flipside, you know it is going to hot & fresh when you get it (which I prefer). Get the jalapeno filled with shrimp cake. It's AWESOME!!! The staff are are nice and attentive as well. Seriously, this is the best dimsum in Austin. Quality rivals that of California (SF & LA- SG Valley) dimsum. read more

Went here for the first time. The dim sum was ok, not bad and not great. It has limited selections which was real disappointment. Automatic charging 20 percent service fee without any good service, that's a very excessive. Water didn't get refilled. Never stopped by asking what we need. Very slow deliver of the food. Sorry to say that I wouldn't recommended for anyone to check this place out unless you are desperate for a taste of dim sum which was just ok. read more

Always loved this place in the past but now it is just another order by the menu place. No carts to select from and no explanation on the menu as what is what!!! Very disappointing and won't be back until they become a real dim sum restaurant again!! read more

Where the fuck is the staff had to a wait for 30 minutes for a wait when theres a lot of of fucking tables

We get dim sum every New Year's Day and this place in Austin did not disappoint! They had our favorites like shrimp noodle and soup dumplings and everything was delicious. They have large round tables to fit a big group. They even have lazy susans so you can turn the dishes for sharing. Servers walk around the restaurant pushing dumpling carts and you choose which ones you want. It's fast paced so you have to be ready to pick what you want when they come by but they'll come back around if you're unsure! read more

had a craving for dim sum and this place came through. short wait time and everything is ordered of QR code. food was good but i probably had too much oil with the noodles cuz it did upset my stomach a little. that being said, the food was yummy. the chinese broccoli was on point. and you know its legit when you look at the demographic of the people in there. you should give it a try! plus there's a tesla charger close enough that you can walk there while you charge. (i was a little disappointed with the congee bu† my perception of what rice porridge should taste like might be skewed since i grew up with the filipino kind) read more

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My favorite place to go to for Sunday dim sum. It's a relaxing restaurant that doesn't have many people, so I would suggest Shanghai as a good date spot if you're craving Chinese food. The dim sum does not work like a traditional restaurant. The only time you see your initial waitress is when they take your drink order. Or if you go to Shanghai for regular entrees rather than dim sum. Carts of food stop by your table and the workers pushing the carts ask which dishes you would like. After you receive the food you want, the worker places it on your tab. As for the dim sum they offer, I enjoy their black bean pork and their red bean buns for dessert. The buns are great if you like bread. The red beans inside make an excellent sweetener that complements the buns well. If you're new to dim sum and aren't feeling adventurous, then I'd recommend their fried rice and their mango pudding as dessert. I would highly suggest Shanghai for dim sum. It's not as loud as New Fortune, and the food is almost identical to the food served at New Fortune. read more

I only wish I had grown up eating dim sum as I wasn't introduced to it until living in Los Angeles in my 20's. I have eaten dim sum at every restaurant that offers it, in Austin, and this is my favorite. I LOVE that I can have it made to order every day, except when the restaurant is closed Tuesdays. My personal favorites are the cheung fun, har gow, shumai and of course the sweet treat of pork bao; I could eat them everyday! I love the owners, the staff and the picture window into the kitchen allowing people to watch the labor of love that goes into each and every delectable bite. It's a special occassions place for us AND when my husband and I can sneak away from the kids and stuff ourselves! As far as ambiance I enjoy the clean and minimalist decor with the plastic table cloth that says "get to eating and enjoy, don't worry about making a mess"! I go for the GREAT food and it delivers every time read more

I must say, as empty as the restaurant was, the food was delicious!! Each dim sum plate was absolutely freshly prepared & delivered while still piping hot! The food was flavorful and actually really good! Even the glass of water tasted quality water as well as the French press coffee. Suggestions for some change: - Wipe clean all of the items on the table such as the soy sauce bottle, scanable menu, sugar container. They were all super sticky!! - Lacked human interactions. Too much automation with ordering & payment process. The payment was complete even before the meal was brought out. Actually, the meal prep could not begin unless the ordering and payment were complete via an app. - Service fee of $11.82 for food order total amount of $59.10? We're vacationing here from California & didn't know what this fee was for nor did we inquire. Is this type of fee a norm in TX? read more

This place is a joke...1st of all there is no menu or wait staff!!!(REALLY) I had to scan a qr code pay and tip and pay a 7.98 service charge and order my own food through my cell phone...(why am I paying a service charge and who am I tipping ???) Food was terrible!! There were jalapeños in my general Tso chicken..(why?) No silverware on the table half the menu was not even available through the qr code ... DONT WASTE YOUR TIME!!LUNCH CAME TO $51.00 read more

one of the best dim sum restaurants in austin! i'm so glad to see that it's gotten busier because we went during covid and there was almost no one there, now it's a full packed restaurant and they totally deserve all of it!!! read more

Shanghai Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - Austin, Texas

Food was not good. Soup dumpling wrapper was "mushy.l Egg drop soup was bland, like water. Dumplings were not flavorful. Restaurant was not busy. 50 mins for dumplings and they forgot a few orders. Best part is when we asked where is our food and how long much longer, multiple waiters said, oh ok. Time passed, food came late, no apologies. Wish I took pics but when food came out, we just wanted to eat and leave. Would not come back! read more

This place has the most authentic dimsum I've ever had outside of NYC. I can't believe more people don't rave about Shanghai--it's so good and the owner was extremely attentive and knowledgeable about the Austin food scene. I loved talking to him. The shrimp shumai is amazing--as is the baked BBQ pork roll. The beef noodle roll and the egg tarts are also really, really good. I will definitely be back to dine in person and am looking forward to ordering takeout soon. read more

Shanghai Restaurant - Shrimp shumai, pork shumai, pan fried leek dumpling, fried shrimp ball, soup dumplings, and beef rice roll - Dim Sum Near Me - Austin, Texas

My friends from Austin often complain about the lack of good Asian food in Austin. I always wonder if this was true. I thought - There has to be some good places right? I would soon find out with Shanghai Restaurant for dim sum. This was one of my last meals in Austin. As a tradition, my friends like to get dim sum the last morning we're together [awwww...]. Dim sum always gives our big group a chance to try out different things without committing to something bigger [this may sound like a personal issue we might have] We came here with a party of 8 and waited around 30 minutes to be seated - It was pretty busy that morning. Shanghai offered all the staples at dim sum: - Har gow - Xiu mai - Sticky rice - Various versions of dumplings - Chun fun - steamed shrimp rice noodle Vast variety of dishes. Something was missing for me though. The variety and staples were there but the taste and feel of the dishes were a bit off. Most things were pretty bland and needed a lot of soy sauce. We ordered a ton of dishes and tried them all but I felt the dishes were average or above average, I couldn't entirely put my finger on why. I really think for the locals with the lack of choices, Shanghai offers them an outlet to get their dim sum fix. However, if you have discerning taste when it comes to dim sum, definitely think twice about coming here. read more

Shanghai Restaurant - Dim Sum Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Quick Summary: Price: Expensive for the quality Taste & quality: sub-par: barely enough to satisfy a craving Service: You don't really interact with a server, just order & pay through the online site Ambiance & Cleanliness: Outdated, a little run down and dirty Quick Overall: I would not bring friends or family here. Since this is one of the only places in all of Austin that serve a more "extensive" dim sum menu than other places - I might return in desperate moments but as stated above, it's barely enough to satisfy a craving... plus the price doesn't justify the cost of the meal. To go further in-depth: Price: Expensive for the quality. We ordered 8 items + 1 beer and our bill came out to $83. An order of Siu Mai is $5.95 and the quality of it does not justify the price. It does not taste flavorful, just looks like a Siu Mai. If the cost of the Siu Mai was maybe $3.50, then I believe that the price reflects the quality of the Siu Mai. As a comparison, for better quality If you were to go to Lunasia in LA - (Yes, I'm comparing to LA), their JUMBO Siu Mai is $6.98, extremely juicy, flavorful, and filled with better ingredients. Taste & Quality: Everything tasted just okay. We ordered the classics: Siu Mai, Har Gow, Turnip Cake, Sticky Rice, Mixed Puff with Pork, Pork Rib, and Chinese Broccoli. Nothing really stood out to me. They all generally lack flavor and just look like what they should be. Service: There is a wait on the weekend but moves rather fast. Once the host seats you that kind of ends your interaction with a human. You order and pay upfront through the site, then someone brings and drops off the food and doesn't say a word. In this Covid era, I think it's safer and efficient but also doesn't really justify a full 20% service charge. Ambiance & Cleanliness: The store is definitely outdated and not well maintained. My hubby and I had a table next to a wall pillar and the pillar was covered in dust and dirt. The table is lined with disposable plastic table covers that you get from the dollar store. You can also tell from the outside that the place is older. Usually, most people would say that this type of ambiance means that the quality of the food is authentic and good but eh, not this place. read more

Their dim sum is finally on point now!!! A little bit pricey, but due to inflation and gas price increase everything goes up. If you're in the Austin area and is craving dim sum, you can try it here! read more

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I am a very picky dim sum eater as I grew up in Taiwan and have had the pleasure of eating authentic dim sum. This is the only place I go to eat dim sum on sundays after trying many other places and going through countless horrific dim sum adventures. The cart service ends at 2:30 on sundays but you can order dimsum all day long and its alwys fresh and hot. Eat plate ranges between 3 to 5 dollars. if you are eating during prime dim sum hours from 11am to 1pm, they can get super busy. Which I dont mind because I know when its good dimsum, people are going to spread the word and it ought to be busy. The service is excellent as well. I always have people coming by picking up empty plates, refilling my water, and asking if i need anything. I speak mandarin so that helps a bit when translating for my friends. I have brought many friends here and they have always loved it. read more

Shanghai Restaurant - We couldnt decide what we wanted off the cart, so we took almost all of each :) - Dim Sum Near Me - Austin, Texas

The food is good to very good but if you are in a hurry for lunch you may want to look elsewhere. The service is very slow and leisurely paced, almost indifferent. Food's Ive had include the Dim Sum for lunch during the week (not great, I've heard it's much better on the weekends), General Tso's chicken (not the best in town but tasty), and the best dish I've had so far, Wet-Fry Beef with Flat Noodle. Wet-Fry Beef with Flat Noodle is a mixture of vegetables and thinly sliced and tender beef over very wide flat noodles in a delicious stir fry sauce. The dish arrived piping hot and the vegetables seemed fresh. There were also pieces of tofu present which was unexpected. The lunch menu is slightly larger than most places but still not overwhelming. As mentioned above, you can also ask for a dim sum menu. I'll be back to try other dishes on the menu. read more

Shanghai Restaurant - Wet-fry  Beef with Flat Noodle. Very tasty, and temperature hot   *burns tongue* - Dim Sum Near Me - Austin, Texas

I can only speak to the Dim Sum here. Came right when they opened on a Saturday morning. It can get busy on Sunday's. Cart service with fresh dim sum. Service is great here! read more

Shanghai Restaurant - Sticky rice,dumplings, chicken feet - Dim Sum Near Me - Austin, Texas

One of my favorite restaurants and Austin's best kept secrets!!! I wake up in a cold sweat craving this restaurant fr. The atmosphere is a lil sleepy on weekdays but it's so comforting. Reminds me of my grandma's house. The staff is super attentive and sweet. I see a lot of complaints about the pricing system but I get it. It's hard to sustain a constant flow of food on carts and likely unsanitary during these times. The 20% service charge makes total sense when you think about how hard the pandemic has been on small businesses! I say suck it up and enjoy your time in such a relaxing environment. You'd pay the same upcharge for mediocre fake dimsum downtown. For a dimsum deprived Texan, Shanghai hits the spot out of the park! read more

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Over 30 min wait for a to-go order, to which they also added a 20% charge? What is the service charge for? Food is ok. read more

Shanghai Restaurant - 20% "service" charge for a to go order. I did not dine in. - Dim Sum Near Me - Austin, Texas

I really love this place. Have been coming here for years. Super authentic food. I've never had a bad experience with food or service. The pork buns are to die for. Happy customer! read more