Dim sum, the Cantonese culinary tradition of eating all manner of steamed and fried dumplings, is traditionally a weekend brunch thing. In Houston, however, a handful of restaurants have it available seven days a week. Selecting delicacies from pushcarts rolled around the dining room is our favorite way to experience dim sum, but plenty of spots where you mark up a sheet of paper to order are still well worth the visit.
Note:Information online can sometimes be hard to find (or inaccurate), so let us help you out. There used to be a restaurant next to H Mart with a sign that read “All Day Dim Sum - Shanghai,” but don’t be fooled. We can assure you that both the sign and the dumplings are no longer there, despite what some online resources may tell you.
The classics like har gow (left) go down well at Arco Seafood.
Warm service and a cozy yet elegant dining room set this restaurant apart, where you’re greeted by a salmon-orange color scheme, impressive chandelier, and corner wine cellar. Dim sum is served on weekends 10am to 4pm; we particularly love the har gow and shrimp-stuffed fried tofu. Arco is best for smaller groups, but the restaurant has private VIP rooms of various sizes.
Red-gold furniture and bright lighting define this gargantuan restaurant and banquet hall, where dim sum is offered 10am to 4pm daily. No pushcarts here: Mark your order on a form, and dishes are made to order. Har gow, shu mai, and cheung fun (noodle rolls) are always delivered fresh and steaming-hot.
Dim Sum King
Chinese
Asiatown
Looking for an all-day dim sum spot? Tucked behind a police station, this bargain hole-in-the-wall will satisfy your cravings from 10am to 8pm. In lieu of cart service, browse a picture menu and mark your orders down. There’s a handful of tables for larger parties, but this restaurant is tiny. Be prepared to wait during peak hours, and don’t miss the fried shrimp balls.
Weekends bring pushcarts full of dim sum, but Fung's Kitchen's specialty is live seafood like this fried crab.
This family-owned restaurant is known for Cantonese live seafood, but on the weekends, the dining room expands twice its size and becomes alive with dim sum pushcarts from 10:30am to 3pm. Veteran chef and owner Hoi Fung offers 100-plus options, including classics like har gow and shu mai, fried shrimp balls and crab claws, and his renowned chicken feet.
A tiny hole-in-the-wall with about a dozen tables, this spot in Dun Huang Plaza serves dim sum all day, every day. HK is best for small groups or dining solo. No carts here, just mark down your order from the menu and stick to the classics, but be sure to order the stuffed crab claws, too.
As the story goes, this Houston classic owes its notoriously extensive menu to Kim Su Tran La, “Mama La,” who memorized over 250 family recipes before fleeing Vietnam and ending up in Houston in 1980. A favorite of families and large groups, this restaurant offers a limited dim sum selection from the buffet on weekends, including standards like har gow and chicken feet, available until 3pm.
Ocean Palace Restaurant
Chinese
Asiatown
Pushcart dim sum can be had every day at this two-story seafood restaurant anchoring Hong Kong City Mall. On weekends, it opens the huge upstairs banquet hall, which can easily accommodate large parties. Theshu mai are outstanding; other good bets include the har gow, crispy shrimp balls, and soft tofu dessert. Visit the steam counter for braised dim sum, wonton soup, and gai lan (Chinese broccoli).
Shu mai and other dumplings at Regal come juicy and in generous portions.
A dim sum menu is available all day, every day at this handsome Chinese seafood restaurant with excellent service to boot. The quality of the dumplings here is a step above—get the giant, plump har gow served in ginseng broth, delicately crisp taro puffs, soup dumplings, and, if you call three days ahead, adorable dessert dumplings shaped like piglets, hedgehogs, pears, and pumpkins. For a splurge, supplement your meal with whole Peking duck, carved table-side.
When a new dim sum spot in a…checks notes…Courtyard by Marriott began getting some serious buzz, we were both intrigued and, ultimately, unsurprised. Of course. Because Houston. Despite its odd location, Silk Road delivers what is indeed the best dim sum inside the loop (and is the only inner-looper mentioned in this guide). Victims of their success, they were out of a lot of items on our April visit, which was frustrating, but what we did eat turned our frown upside down real quick. The cheung fun with crispy shrimp really is all that, and we also loved the har gow, stuffed tofu skin, and xiao long bao.
There was a ton of buzz around town when this worldwide Hong Kong dim sum sensation with Michelin cred opened its first Houston-area location in 2022. Dim sum is available here daily, ordered from a menu. The shu mai and har gow are spectacular, but don’t miss the baked BBQ pork buns, wontons in spicy sauce, beef balls with bean curd skin, sticky rice and pork cooked in a lotus leaf, and turnip cakes.
