City View Restaurant
Dim sum restaurant · Chinatown
33 Walter U Lum Pl, San Francisco, CA 94108
Highlights
Fresh dim sum, pork buns, soup dumplings, and pan-fried options
Fresh dim sum, pork buns, soup dumplings, and pan-fried options
"High-end places like Yank Sing and Dragon Beaux may get all the dim sum glory, but City View should share the spotlight for its very solid dim sum. The restaurant is open for dine-in, with a wide selection of both classic dim sum items and larger entrées. The restaurant moved to a new location after facing eviction at its longstanding home in spring 2023." - Dianne de Guzman
"In 2023, City View moved into a handsome space at the bottom of 33 Walter U. Lum Place in Chinatown, across the street from Portsmouth Square. There are no carts, but the service is swift. The menu includes plenty of standard items and a few you might not see everywhere else, including scallop siu mai, fried green onion pancakes, fried crab claws, and baked pineapple custard buns. The restaurant doesn’t take reservations, so during peak hours on the weekend, be prepared to wait." - Paolo Bicchieri
"SF is spoiled when it comes to dim sum. You could hop on the closest passing bus, get off at a random stop, and still end up within walking distance of a place serving BBQ pork buns that will make you want to rezone your house for pig farming. That’s why a meal at City View is so disappointing. In a city with so many great dim sum options like to-go bakeries and long standing banquet halls, you should spend your time elsewhere. The Chinatown spot has been around for decades, but longevity doesn’t equal quality. Sure, the siu mai are plump and meaty, and the steamed pork buns are fine. But noodle rolls are drowned in oyster sauce to the point of no return, cheung fun is hard and waxy around the edges, and the xiao long bao look deflated and sad. It’s easy to be intrigued by the remodeled dining room—which swapped out bare white walls for neon green booths and bright overhead spotlights—especially for wayfaring tourists who want to check “get dim sum” off their San Francisco bucket lists. But there are better places. Instead, head down the street to Good Mong Kok for takeout dim sum, or snag a table at Hang Ah Tea Room or Osmanthus. Food Rundown photo credit: Julia Chen Xiao Long Bao Shiny in the same plasticky way as the frozen versions from a certain grocery store chain, and two-and-a-half times the price. Skip. photo credit: Julia Chen Pork Siu Mai Not bad. If you’re looking to fill out your order, these are a saving grace. photo credit: Julia Chen Peking Duck You can get a whole duck or a version portioned out for two people, which is nice in theory, but the meat is dry and feels stale. You (or anyone else) won’t really want to finish this. photo credit: Julia Chen XO Pan Fried Noodles This dish is overpowered by so much oyster sauce that you can’t taste anything else, much less the actual noodle rolls." - Julia Chen
"Earlier this year City View, one of the city’s favorite spots for dim sum, relocated to this new home at 33 Walter U. Lum Place in Chinatown, in the shadow of Portsmouth Square. It’s a dark and elegant space with comfortable booths and dramatic spotlighting above each table. There are no carts, but the food still shines, including bouncy shrimp and pork-stuffed shumai, impossibly thin and crisp scallion pancakes, and fluffy buns that explode with salted egg yolk custard. Service is prompt and polite making this a good option for a quicker sit-down meal." - Lauren Saria, Dianne de Guzman
"Popular for dim sum including soup dumplings, shrimp har gow, and crab claws." - Becky Duffett
