Best Dim Sum Restaurants in Los Angeles

Dim sum, a cornerstone of Cantonese cuisine, is built around bite-sized dishes served in small steamer baskets or on petite plates. Originating in the teahouses of southern China, it’s deeply tied to the tradition of yum cha, or “drinking tea,” where friends and families gather to enjoy dumplings, buns, and other delicacies alongside hot, fragrant tea. Whether it’s delicate har gow (shrimp dumplings) or crispy-edged turnip cakes, dim sum celebrates the precision and diversity of Cantonese cooking.

Los Angeles is home to some of the best dim sum in the country, thanks in large part to the San Gabriel Valley enclaves of Rosemead, Arcadia, and Monterey Park. From opulent restaurants with modern takes to old-school spots with roaming pushcarts, these are 20 essential dim sum destinations across LA, including a few new favorites from the past year. New this update: The updated list welcomes strong newcomers like Big Ma’s Kitchen, the all-you-can-eat experience at Bistro 1968, and the small but mighty, no-frills operation at Dim Sum Box SG.



Meanwhile, we’re saying goodbye to some longtime classics like 888 Seafood, Grand Harbor, and Ocean Island. Also leaving the list are newer spots like All That N Dimsum and Wah Sing. Kristie Hang has been a food journalist covering the Los Angeles area for more than 15 years, but her dim sum expertise comes from a lifetime of eating it, both locally and during the one to two months she spends each year in Hong Kong.

To Kristie, good dim sum can mean a lot of things: incredible value, impeccable technique, or dumplings so delicate they’re only made to order. As an expert on both dim sum and the San Gabriel Valley, she knows there are two types of dim sum lovers—the old-school camp that swears by roving pushcarts and the new-school crowd that prefers a quiet checklist and freshly steamed baskets. She was featured on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown as a dim sum expert and is always chasing the next great siu mai across LA and beyond.

Ixlb Dim Sum Eats Ixlb Dim Sum Eats sits on the busy corner of Sunset Boulevard and Bronson Avenue. The restaurant is helmed by 77-year-old Tony Ying, a third-generation Chinese restaurateur who can be seen working in the restaurant every day. The dim sum is made in-house, with the staff visible in the open kitchen rolling out dough, steaming, baking, and frying various dishes.

The most popular item is the flaky French-style baked cha siu bao. Other favorites include egg custard tarts, pan-fried turnip cakes, scallion pancake, and xiao long bao dumplings. Dim sum is served all day until 9 p.

m., except on Sundays when the shop closes at 8 p.m.

The hip, to-go-only establishment has a wall lined with iPads for contactless ordering and also offers online ordering and curbside pick-up. The restaurant also has a location in Westwood. Also featured in: 18 Succulent Chinese and Taiwanese Dumplings to Try in Los Angeles 14 Fantastic Places to Pack Your Freezer With Frozen Dumplings in LA Kingdom Dim Sum For those who don’t wish to trek out to the San Gabriel Valley, Kingdom Dimsum by Thai Town in Hollywood is a quaint eatery featuring a few tables that offers fresh dim sum.

Customers place orders at the register, pay, and await the freshly steamed dishes. While the selection is smaller than other dim sum establishments, the classics are on offer. Menu highlights include rice noodles, baked barbecue buns, shrimp dumplings, deep-fried sesame balls with red bean paste, egg tarts, and shu mai.

For convenience, the restaurant accepts Apple Pay in addition to online orders. Lunasia Dim Sum House Although dim sum is typically a breakfast or brunch meal, Lunasia serves it from morning until night. The ambience is luxurious and showy.

Tea is served in heavy iron kettles and dumplings are jumbo-sized. Some menu items are on the gimmicky side — like the truffle siu mai, caviar siu mai, lobster rice rolls, and the super-sized shrimp har gow dumplings — but Lunasia’s traditional dishes are solid. There are several modernized takes on dishes like the scallop dumpling with squid ink and the fried sweet potato mochi balls with salted egg yolk that cement Lunasia as the go-to for upscale dim sum.

Lunasia offers online ordering, as well as curbside pick-up, but don’t expect to see push carts here. Also featured in: The Essential Los Angeles Dim Sum Restaurants, 2017 Edition Atlantic Seafood & Dim Sum Restaurant Atlantic Seafood serves dim sum favorites like the egg white snow bun, mini pineapple salted egg yolk bun, egg tarts, mango pudding, and fried turnip cake. Although most of the dishes are above par, the star is the mini pineapple salted egg yolk bun that is carried out on trays fresh from the oven.

The restaurant is among a select few left in Los Angeles that still use push carts. Atlantic Seafood also sells a number of its dim sum frozen for takeout. Also featured in: 21 Essential Asian Restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley NBC Seafood Restaurant NBC Seafood is a landmark in the San Gabriel Valley.

The restaurant has been around for decades and serves dim sum every day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.

m. with push cart service. The best dish is the special “To To” ma lai go sponge cake, which is layered with salted duck yolk and made using a recipe from a famous Hong Kong chef and food personality (梁文韜).

The dim sum offerings are vast, but don’t be alarmed — there’s a picture menu for the uninitiated. The restaurant has also opened an express dim sum shop next door where diners can order all the dim sum available at the restaurant to go, without waiting for a table or having to order tea, and therefore avoiding the tea charge. The express section also has a few tables and a standing area for those who want to eat there.

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Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again. Longo Seafood Restaurant Prices are on the higher side at Longo Seafood Restaurant, but the dim sum here is solid.

The lobster noodles are always popular, as are the scallop dumplings with roe, flaky barbecue pork pastries, baked barbecue pork buns, snowcap oatmeal buns, XO spicy steamed chicken feet, and the roast pork and barbecue pork rice roll. Don’t forget to order the almond souffle for dessert, which consists of hot almond milk with gingko nuts wrapped in a dome of puff pastry. Dip the pastry puff into the milk or push the puff into the hot milk to enjoy.

Also featured in: The 20 Best Seafood Restaurants in Los Angeles Lucky 1 Restaurant Lucky 1 is the go-to spot for no-frills and inexpensive dim sum takeout. The huge variety of fast-food dim sum offerings is not the most refined, but everything hits the spot when there’s a craving. Favorites include the fried yam dumpling, oatmeal snow durian bun, siu mai, har gow, and chicken feet — there are also cute pig-shaped pork buns.

Take a look at the online picture menu written in English and Chinese, and order by phone to avoid waiting in line. Lucky 1 is open seven days a week from 7:30 a.m.

to 7 p.m. Five Star Seafood Restaurant Five Star is a sit-down dim sum restaurant that’s been around for decades in the San Gabriel Valley.

Located on the fourth floor of the landmark Focus Plaza on Valley Boulevard, the restaurant is known for its value, large portions, and push-cart service. The classics are executed well here, include char siu buns, har gow, and sweet pineapple buns. Blooming VIP Restaurant Blooming VIP Restaurant is the newest dim sum restaurant in town and it's filled with LCD screens throughout the dining room.

Dim sum dishes are priced from $5 to $7 each. Look for many one-of-a-kind dishes on the menu, like an egg white souffle, lobster congee with a side of lobster dumplings, baked nuts and taro tarts, baked yam and cheese, and Guangdong-style big golden buns. Bistro 1968 What was once a more upscale dim sum experience is now an all-you-can-eat affair.

Bistro 1968 has transitioned to a 90-minute unlimited dim sum format, offering more than 20 varieties for $25.88 per person, plus a $2 tea charge per person. While the exact reason for the shift isn’t clear, the new format has made the experience more accessible, and surprisingly, the quality holds up.

Expect well-executed classics like steamed rice rolls and shrimp dumplings, along with a wide variety of other Cantonese favorites. Lines can get long, especially on weekends or holidays, so plan accordingly. The restaurant accepts reservations for large parties, and private rooms are available.

The spacious dining room features large round tables and a clean, modern interior, making it a solid option for groups. Keep in mind that unfinished dishes come with a $3.99 charge per plate.

Also featured in: 18 Succulent Chinese and Taiwanese Dumplings to Try in Los Angeles 22 Landmark Cantonese Restaurants to Savor in Los Angeles Dim Sum Box Dim Sum Box SG is a mini express dim sum shop run by the team behind the former Embassy Kitchen, a once-iconic Cantonese restaurant in San Gabriel. With only four tables and a setup geared toward takeout, it caters mostly to those grabbing food on the go, though diners can also sit down for a no-frills meal served on Styrofoam with self-serve tea. Think food court vibes, but with way better food.

The 26-item menu focuses on freshly made-to-order classics: steamed and pan-fried dumplings, turnip and taro cakes, and baked pineapple custard buns. There are no carts here—just check off your order and wait. It opens as early as 8 a.

m. for early birds. While takeout-centric dim sum spots often signal lower prices and lower quality, Dim Sum Box SG bucks the trend.

Thanks to its Embassy Kitchen roots, the dim sum here is reliably solid, walking the line between casual convenience and well-executed Cantonese staples. Happy Together Happy Together is one of the fanciest dim sum spots in LA. It offers traditional preparations and twists on classics like rice noodle rolls filled with beef-cilantro or barbecue-pork-corn.

The restaurant also has mixed-grain fried rice made with purple and long-grain rice, barley, corn, and shrimp. Traditional soups, such as steamed coconut chicken soup, are served during dim sum hours, which uses baked chicken with pork, longan, and chunks of coconut in coconut water. The barbecue meats and poultry section is also worth trying.

The coconut chicken features a thin, crispy skin and a hefty coconut aroma. All the meats are freshly roasted or baked in small batches. Also featured in: The Best Chinese Restaurants in Los Angeles Capital Seafood There are a number of Capital Seafood locations spread throughout Los Angeles and Orange County — each one with a different vibe, menu, and price.

Capital Seafood Beverly Hills has the fanciest interior. Capital Seafood Monterey Park is the most affordable and still employs push carts. Capital Seafood Arcadia ranks as the supreme location with an upscale cart-less experience with favorites like spinach dumplings, mini egg tarts, and roast duck.

And Capital Seafood Irvine is the most over-priced but carries typical dim sum like har gow, siu mai, and a variety of buns. Also featured in: The 21 Best Dishes Eater LA Editors Ate in 2021, Mapped Tasty Box Dim Sum Tasty Box Dim Sum is a fast-casual dim sum spot (not to be confused with Cantonese barbecue restaurant Tasty Box located in the same plaza). While there is some outdoor seating, most people prefer to grab dim sum to go.

Hone in on the restaurant’s more unique items, like pu’er barbecue buns that are infused with tea flavor and quail egg siu mai. Online ordering is available for those wishing to skip the line, but for everyone else, grab a clipboard with the menu and mark the items desired. J.

Zhou J. Zhou is a pricey favorite among Orange County residents. Don’t go looking for carts; simply order off the paper menu and wait for the dim sum to arrive.

The shrimp and chive dumplings, egg tarts, and garlic spareribs are solid. The lotus leaf-wrapped sticky rice, chicken feet, and steamed rice rolls are highly recommended as well..