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Great Eastern Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Chinese Restaurants Seafood Chinese, Seafood
649 Jackson St(between Cooper Aly & Beckett St)
San Francisco, CA 94133
Neighborhood: Chinatown
(415) 986-2500
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 10 am - 12 am
Sat-Sun 9 am - 12 am
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Validated
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
About This Business:
Cioppino is a lusty and flavorful seafood soup which is uniquely San Franciscan. The origin of both the dish and the name came from the Italian… read more »
590 reviews for Great Eastern Restaurant
Review Highlights
"The peking duck is cooked to perfection."
(in 32 reviews)
"The clams with black bean sauce is terrific but they are..."
(in 8 reviews)
"Deep Fried Taro Turnover with Minced Meat: WOW."
(in 5 reviews)
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590 reviews in English
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Review from Kevin C.
Pasadena, CA
2/8/2012 1 Check-in Here
Short and Sweet:
Dim sum place that was super busy on a Sunday afternoon while we walked through China town...so we tried it. I think nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd. I liked what I ordered, it was pretty fast and fresh but this was after about 45 minute wait for 2. They obviously have their seating and number system well organized. I was disappointed that the first two things I ordered from the menu were already sold out but that tends to happen with on demand items and if a place keeps things fresh. It was a little pricey compared to SGV standards but So Cal have its own advantages. I liked and was happy and full. I'd eat it again but I'd also research my timing better. -
Review from Minerva T.
Garden Grove, CA
Since I was vacationing in San Francisco for a weekend, I knew I had to meet up with a friend I hadn't seen in years who had moved to the area. We agreed on dim sum and this was her suggestion for sit-down dim sum in Chinatown (there are mostly to-go dim sum places there). It wasn't hard to find at all but there was definitely a line when we went in on a Sunday morning around 10:30. Lines usually mean everything's great right? My friend told me while we were waiting that instead of traditional dim sum carts being pushed around, we would get a menu and order (sushi bar style almost). That was pretty interesting - it was a good thing there was also a picture page so we weren't lost by the translations.
We actually ordered a ton of food but managed to eat it all; hoorah for having a guy eat with us eh? I really liked everything except for the shrimp rice noodle which is my favorite of the typical dim sum dishes. It was probably BECAUSE it's my favorite that I was so critical. The fried crab balls were very juicy and delicious. I introduced the two to the taro and meat crisps, and we all tried fried shrimp paste. Great stuff. As for more traditional/steamed foods, the shu mai and har gow were great. There was also a shrimp & cilantro dumpling that I tremendously enjoyed for the bursts of flavor it gave me. Overall, a somewhat crowded place (hence the lack of carts being pushed around) but delicious food and quick service. My only real beef is that it was much more expensive than I'm accustomed to dim sum being! -
Review from Naoko M.
1/27/2012
The last few times I've done dim sum I've gone to Great Eastern. There's almost always a line but it moves fairly quickly, that's one of the perks of dim sum, right?
I had a so-so experience a Gold Mountain once, which is why I switched to Great Eastern at the suggestion of my sister. My major issue with some dim sum places is that sometimes it can take forever to flag down someone with a cart, and then once you do, you find out that the cart only holds dishes you've already ordered. I can only eat so many pork dumplings in one sitting!
At Great Eastern, this is not a problem, because you simply order off the menu and they bring the food to you. The food is fresher (or at least it seems that way since it's coming straight from the kitchen), it's still reasonably priced, and it's still fast. They also carry pretty much everything I would ever want in a dim sum place.
This place is also bigger than most people think because there's a whole downstairs area too. If you want some tasty dim sum, I would recommend checking this place out. -
Review from J N.
Elk Grove, CA
2/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
The service at this place was awful! Food and prices were outrageous, the 4 of us barely ordered anything and it cost $60 dollars total. I don't like the food here, there's no dim sum cart that get push around, you have to order off a piece of paper and everything takes forever to come out! Ughhhh!!! it was a bad experience :(
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Review from Lin G.
1/20/2012
After an hour of standing in line in a cramped waiting area (waiting outside is not an option as they don't call numbers out there) fingers clutching the number they gave us hoping to understand 52 in Cantonese, we were finally seated in the basement. That's what we get for trying to do dim sum on a Saturday at 1pm.
This is not the usual dim sum experience of women wheeling around carts of goodies, lifting lids and telling you whether it's pork or beef. Here, you order off of a menu with pictures and write everything down on a large piece of paper. We each got about 4 dishes. It's harder to order this way because we don't know what the food looks like (the photos are tiny) and it's hard to gauge how much is enough. It also takes away a bit of the anticipation of having your favorite dish wheeled to you by surprise.
The best we had were the roast duck and the squid with seaweed. Both chef's special orders and around $8, pricey for dim sum but well worth it. I also enjoyed the eggplant with shrimp paste balls. They had a lot of shrimp items on the normal dim sum list and it was a bit much. Nothing with chives! Very disappointing. Most of the other dishes we tried were just average. Service was okay for a Chinese place and it came to about $42 for two people. A tad pricey for dim sum and not worth it if you have to wait. -
Review from Leslie G.
1/17/2012 1 Check-in Here
There are not a ton of vegetarian options on the menu, but I suspect you could ask for just about whatever you wanted and they'd make it for you. I ordered "chow mein, with vegetables and no meat," not on the menu, and they brought me exactly that. It was excellent. The sauce was perfect, and the noodles were good too.
I also tried the green beans with XO sauce and vegetarian spring rolls dim sum. Both were excellent.
The free tea wasa hit too.
It was jam-packed on a Monday afternoon, but the wait actually wasn't bad at all - maybe 15 minutes? -
Review from Eric t.
1/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
The Dim Sum here was actually quite good, but overall, the wait for food after ordering was so weird and unorganized and the service was so poor, we actually had to cancel our last few orders of dim sum since I couldn't hang out there at the restaurant all day (it wasn't extremely busy either).
Also, wanted to order some of the roast duck at 10:53am and the menu said not until 11, so I said ok, we'll wait until 11 and the waiter said not until 11:30....strange place. Not too varied of a selection but what we did have was pretty good, just the service and vibe really blew.
I won't be back. -
Review from Wendy L.
Boston, MA
1/22/2012 1 Check-in Here
If I compared this place to other chinese restaurants in SF it's meh. We went on a weekday night so there was no wait. The portions were sort of small here but perhaps that is a West Coast thing.
We ordered the standard dishes and nothing really stood out for me. I usually leave a restaurant having a favorite dish but I left here with everything being just ok. They got one of our orders wrong and the server accused us for not being totally clear when we ordered so we were forced to just live with it.
I wouldn't say the food is bad here but really just nothing special. -
Review from Laura f.
1/26/2012 1 Check-in Here
A fun place to have Lunar (Chinese/Vietnamese) New Year dinner! If you speak Mandarin, you can have a pow-wow with the wait staff here and order off the menu. The lobster dishes were fresh and tasty. Either you can bring your own giant bottle of Johnnie Walker Black label whiskey or they have it here, it was so fun I didn't know where it came from. Great place for fun groups!
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Review from Linda B.
Las Vegas, NV
1/23/2012
Family style you can't go wrong....
First time and had a great experience! Great food and service by the third course serve I was getting full. I was glad that the friends spoke the language I wouldnt even know how to order.
Very pricing but it was worth the service and food! -
Review from Gar wing L.
1/14/2012
I had a "Yum Cha" itch so headed off to Chinatown, I nearly went to Yank Sing as I was staying in the finance district & heard gd things, but wanted a more traditional experience...maybe next time I'm in SF.
So off I headed into the Chinatown, it was surprising to find very few sit down places offering dim sum, quite a few were take out places, eventually looking at Yelp I settled with the Great Eastern.
The ambience was typical of a dim sum place, busy & noisy & filled with locals. I got a table downstairs, where you order off a paper menu that you mark off which dishes you wanted. The menu's extensive with over 60 dishes accompanied by pictures, helpful for those of you unfamiliar with dim sum. Dishes were categorised small, medium & large, costing between $2.60 - $8.
I ordered, siu mai, steamed tripe, beef cheung fun, chickens feet & beancurd rolls, washed down with a pot of tea, clearly my eyes were bigger than my belly!
The dishes came out in drips & drabs which was slightly annoying as I had to wait almost 20mins before I got all my food. The cheung fun was amazing, very fresh, the siu mai were plump & meaty & all the dishes were slightly bigger than what I used to - maybe cos I'm from the UK.
Overall very tasty, a solid place for dim sum with a vast selection, the only downsides was the long drip feed of dishes coming out & some dished looking slightly tepid, but were all very tasty. For me good value too the bill coming in at $18, but this may be because I'm used to paying at least $25 for 5 dishes in the UK. I'm giving this place a solid 3.5stars. -
Review from Megan S.
12/30/2011
Don't believe the rumour that you can't get good dim sum in Chinatown!
We had a wine tour booked for noon, so knowing we were about to drink our faces off and possibly be stuck on a bus for 5 hours with little to no food, we decided dim sum would be the perfect thing to stuff ourselves with. I spent a long time perusing Yelp and Chowhound to find a place (wow, lots of heated opinions out there!) and finally settled on Great Eastern.
We showed up 2 minutes before opening, so we decided to take a quick walk around the block to kill time. When we returned (maybe 4 or 5 minutes later, tops) the place was already a quarter full - a good sign, and we were the only white people - an even better sign.
We stuck with the standard dim sum fare - har gow, sui mai, pork buns and a few other dishes. Servings were large, everything was super fresh and hot and the dumplings were well-wrapped with nice thin skins. The standout was definitely the cilantro shrimp dumplings...so, so unbelievably good.
The only downside was the fact that we were brought forks...ouch! It's OK, how could they know we're from Vancouver and have been eating this stuff since birth?
The bill came to about $25, a bargain considering how full we were. I've been recommending this place to all my San Francisco-bound friends ever since. -
Review from Jessica V.
Fountain Valley, CA
1/9/2012
I have never written a review here on yelp but i must write about my experience here. Sadly, my first review will be anything but pleasant.
Food was by all means delicious but I had a horrible experience in regards to service.
My bf and I only ordered 3 small items and it took at least 25 minutes to get all 3. after our 3rd item came out, we decided to get the bill immediately because we wanted to have as much time as possible to walk around the whole city before the sun came down.
The bill came, we paid, and continued to finish eating. In the middle of eating our last few pieces, a waiter (who never came by our table throughout the whole service) asked if we needed a box for two pieces of fried dumplings; we said no. He then looked down at the check tray and followed that gesture with an unbelievable question... "no tip???" i responded with "we aren't done eating." i don't know if he understood me or not but he quickly reacted by banging on the check tray and continuously shouting "no tip?! no tip?!" i looked at him in disbelief and he walked away to have a conversation in chinese with another waiter.
I was so upset. Never in my life have I experienced such a rude level of service. I obviously said i wasn't done eating and you're really going to demand a tip from a customer you weren't helping??? i was so furious, we left without leaving a tip.
Never going back. -
Review from Sally T.
1/17/2012 1 Check-in Here
hmm...i'm feeling kinda lukewarm about this place. the wait and the food was as expected, but one thing that was odd was the ordering process. there are no carts to be seen, which can be a good thing if you've ever been the victim of having your jacket spilled on or simply knocked to the ground by the carts. you check of what you want on this big menu and they bring out your food as they are ready. i guess that's okay but i prefer seeing my food before buying.
we got the usual ha gow, siumai, turnip cake, taro puff, shrimp churn fun, gai lan, soup dumplings, that thing with the bean curd sheets wrapped around it, and cha siu bao. we never got the last two items because it was almost 3PM and they really shut down on the dot. actually i take that back, they brought out the thing with the bean curd sheets but took it away two seconds later bc someone already picked up our card and calculated our total. i guess the abacus wasn't capable of adding an additional $3.50 to the total. whatevs.
is this the best dimsum place? not by a long shot. would i eat here again? maybe if im in the area and the wait is short. the food wasn't anything to write home about. -
Review from Tammy C.
(See pics)
Another wonderful place for the absolutely freshly made delicate dim sum! And it's definitely better than the dinner experience.
Deep fried taro with minced pork in bird nest style
Shrimp dumpling
Chives dumpling
XLB
Very delicious chicken feet
Lotus leaf wrapped rice and pork
Egg yolk sweet bun (best as it's really flowing custard that's made with milk, egg yolk and sugar)
All these were just under $30 and each dish was handmade when ordered. Very very juicy hot and yummy. Prepare your appetite for some great happiness!
I love it so much quite a few times I forgot to take pictures until eating a bite or a few bites of it!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/20/2010
(See pics)
More of 3.6 stars.
I only heard about the dim sum but we came here for dinner.
Every one of… Read more »
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Review from Amber G.
San Francisco, CA
1/3/2012
This place is a solid Chinese restaurant. I will admit, it is not the best (because those are usually the hole in the wall ones scattered around town), but the prices are very reasonable, and the service is punctual.
I personally think their food is way better with a better price tag than R & G Lounge. Just sayin'.
I also hear their Dim Sum is legit. -
Review from JESSICA j.
Huntington Beach, CA
1/4/2012
Soooo we did it... went to San Fran and ate in Chinatown. I say this because when I travel, I sometimes just go with whats safe, convenient and close rather then being "adventurous." Chinese food in Chinatown...doesnt sound adventurous to you? SCREW YOU, let me get on with it...
This place was in a row of crowded restaurants. We had no clue what we were looking at or for as far as knowing what place is best, so we followed the crowd. We actually intended on going to the place next door but it was too busy and half the size. When we saw all the families circled around big tables and lazy susans, we figured we were on the right path. We were seated downstairs, smaller table between tons of families all eying us with suspicion as to what a bunch of white people were doing there(hence my intimidation to wander into the "adventure" zone.) Service was OK. Our server seemed very "chop chop people Ive got shit to do" but nice enough.
On to what we ordered...
Sweet and Sour Chicken...a favorite amongst the majority of the table
Wonton Soup with Noodles...soooo damn good, def one of my favorites
Scallops stuffed with Shrimp paste...3/4 of the table(I was the 4th) loved them and named it a favorite of the night...Im just not crazy about scallops
Peking Duck...I LOVED the duck...no one was crazy about the sticky buns it came with, really stuck to your teeth...yes, we are sooo white, I know.
Salt and Pepper Crab...I loved this, its a lot of work but it was on everyone's table and it was very well seasoned. The portion is HUUUUGE.
Sauteed Spinach with Garlic...You cant go wrong here
Chicken Chow Mein...everyones favorite...again not mine because I didn't eat it. I was concentrating on the crab.
Duck Egg rolls- BUMMER SOLD OUT!!!
Pork Eggrolls...DONT KNOW THEY NEVER SHOWED UP!!! They forgot to send them out. We obviously had plenty of food for the four of us and then some so we didn't ask. When we got the bill, it was written in Chinese and had to ask if they were still on the bill...they were.
So all in all, this place is great for large parties or families. We ordered way too much food and it ain't cheap! Make sure you really figure out what you want and what everyone likes because everything is quite large. I ordered the crab on a whim...$33 market price later and more then half of it left over...a little bummed. I was also the one that ordered the duck...half order was $16, not bad but again...I was really the only one that wanted to eat it(my friends are scared of duck and bones and fat...what the fuck is wrong with them?????)
Great experience! Had a blast! -
Review from Sam L.
12/11/2011
Good environment, good dim sum, good service and the majority of customers are Chinese families so you know it's the real deal Bruce Lee-ville. I doubt you can have a bad experience but I'm sure it won't be anything out of this world.
Prices are good as well and you can go for a walk afterwards in Chinatown and find some good gifts and unique items at a great price and burn off everything you just ate. Take note, they serve you hot tea when you sit down but it's not free ($2). The pork buns are BOMB. -
Review from Mei C.
San Francisco, CA
12/1/2011 3 Check-ins Here
4.5 stars. 5 stars for the service. Family favorite restaurant.
Ate here a couple of times and then organized a small Chinese banquet. The restaurant was very accommodating with regards to the menu choices and didn't charge a cake cutting fee. The dishes were also well above average and tasted excellent.
Fantastically diverse mix of patrons ethnicity wise. Love this placeListed in: Chinese Restaurants
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Review from Jennifer W.
San Francisco, CA
12/4/2011
When you're in Chinatown/FiDi and don't want to pay an arm and a leg for dim sum at Yank Sing, Great Eastern will satisfy your cravings. There are definitely hits and misses, but overall a decent choice. It's also a lot cleaner and newer than the majority of restaurant establishments in Chinatown.
Hits: Fried Taro Dumpling, Pea sprout Dumpling
Misses: Daikon Cake - this was a mushy mess, probably because they're skimping on daikons and substituting more rice flour. i'd def skip this next time.
Average: Siu Mai, Cheung Fen -
Review from Jessie C.
Bordentown, NJ
1/21/2012
Had a decent dim sum here. Definitely not NYC Chinatown dim sum quality tho
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Review from Katherine Y.
San Diego, CA
12/13/2011
Great place amongst so many restaurants in Chinatown. Came in at around 8 on a Sunday night, plenty of open tables but a nice little dinner crowd, including real Asians so you know it's good. The menu literally has more than 200 things on it so go hungry. My group of five ordered:
Dumpling soup with bbq pork: awesome on a cold rainy day, one order was good for each of us to have a bowl
Peking Spareribs : so good! Seved with tthat perfect cherry/plummy hoison tasting kind of sauce.
Spiced Chicken Szechwan Style: Good standard dish, not too spicy
Stewed Lamb with fried bean curd in clay pot
Fresh Assorted Mushrooms, Tender Greens with bean cake: Excellent. A dish doesn't have to have heavy meat to be good. The tofu was crisp on the outside and tender inside.
Rice Noodle with duck meat & snow cabbage. Definite favorite here.
All that with white rice, tea, two beers and two sakes was only $100. I highly recommend this place!
They don't have a webpage but you can find the menu here.
http://sanfrancisco.me... -
Review from Joanne G.
Updated - 11/1/2011 1 Check-in Here
I'm sick with a cold...and when I'm sick the only thing that makes me feel better is steaming bowl of jook. My mom is back in the east bay, so the next best thing? Great Eastern in Chinatown.
I know there are most definitely other places that are cheaper and better for rice porridge, but Hing Lung kind of worries me...as do a lot of the other restaurants in the 'hood. So yes, this was $8 for a decent sized container of porridge with century duck eggs and sliced chicken (substituted- normally it comes with shredded pork), topped with green onions and fresh ginger.
Brought it home, added half a jar of pickled cucumbers and some vinegar, and yep....felt better in mere seconds.
So yes, be it for dim sum, a Canto dinner, or porridge to go-- and limited to Chinatown--Great Eastern is still a solid choice.Listed in: Let Me Take you Down to…
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/13/2009
Great Eastern is a bit more expensive than other Chinatown restaurants, but then it's also cleaner… Read more »
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Review from Debby F.
Monterey, CA
1/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
I had to look at the restaurant photo to make sure all the five star ratings really were for the place where we ate. It is, and I don't get it. I relied on Yelp to help me find a place to eat, while staying near China Town. It was a Monday night, around 6pm and only two families were there-- all white. No Chinese in sight. No Dim Sum, as I guess that's only a lunch thing. The spare ribs were chewy, with a weird flavor I could not pinpoint. The sesame chicken was okay. I am guess we just didn't know what to order. As for the service, it wasn't good at all. In fact, the waiter was having a very LOUD conversation, in Chinese (well, duh) to one of his coworkers about one foot away from my ear. I couldn't believe it! I don't get the high ratings, but maybe I just don't know my Chinese food very well.
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Review from Lia M.
11/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
It was a tough decision where to eat in Chinatown, but we eventually settled on Great Eastern, as the first restaurant we tried refused to seat us. Service was extremely lacking though - not friendly and inattentive, hence my 3 star rating. It was a shame we were not really hungry, but I still wanted to try something in this famed section of San Francisco.
Unfortunately for me, I could not decide what to order, as everything looked good. I chose the Peking duck, which I regret - not because it was bad, but because I think Peking duck is fairly standard everywhere. Anyway, the duck was perfectly done - juicy and flavorful with an extremely crisp skin. Pancakes were soft and doughy, and the plum sauce was not too salty. I did not try any of my aunt's Szechuan chicken, but she enjoyed it. I got jealous when I heard the next table order lobster with XO sauce. The tea was very good here, as was the service. Great Eastern is probably one of the bigger eateries in Chinatown, and would be good for large groups. -
Review from Jeanne L.
11/14/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Standing outside, there are a dozen Zagat stickers to catch the eye, along with a Michelin Guide recommendation. (However, I wasn't going to let hype sway my better judgement.) As I walked in, I was pleased to find that the restaurant was about a quarter filled with people, pretty good for 9:30 AM on a weekend, and best of all, they were all Chinese.
Most of the nice sit-down dim sum restaurants don't open until 11AM, and based on Yelp searching, it seems that this might be the earliest one to open. (On a side note, if you feel like being adventurous, there is a $6.99 all-you-cant eat dim sum place half a block west of this place that is also open early.)
Prices run much higher than most dim sum places. The dishes range from $2.60 to $3.70, and then $6.90 for the "Chef's Specials".
However the quality is amazing.
I'm comparing this place to Mayflower and Hong Kong Lounge in the Richmond, two places that I have been told are the best in SF. Great Eastern is much better than those two places. Also much better than Penninsula Seafood Restaurant, which is next door. (I haven't tried any places south of the city, such as in Daly City, and I don't think it would be a fair comparison since it would require driving to get to.)
The first two dishes that came out were buns (baos). I was surprised at how fragrant they were. I'm usually not a huge fan of ordering baos at dim sum (since I prefer the less carb-loaded dishes), but these were so soft, airy, and buttery smooth. The chicken feet were also pretty darn good, large in size, with the skin falling off the bones. The beef short ribs were also quite large in size, with the perfect amount of fat and meat.
I've found a favorite place to go for dim sum! Spanning two floors, and dec'd out with crystal chandeliers - it's a good place also to take out-of-town guests. -
Review from Nancy B.
Rancho Cordova, CA
12/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
By far THE best dim sum in SF. The long wait and hoards of Chinese people tell you that Great Eastern is the best. The wait can be up to an hour during busy days, and it always seems busy. There are very few tourists here, since most won't wait, so the room is filled with locals. They have all the dim sum standards, but each dish is exceptional. If you are willing to wait, it's worth it! It's crowded, loud and a no fuss place.
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Review from Andy W.
10/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
This having been the *first time I've ever consumed dim sum, perhaps I should be more cautious with the fiver, but hey, it was soo good.
We walked in mid-morning on a Monday and there was a wait - the place was packed! That said, we'd seated at one of the basement tables in under five minutes. Service is punctual. We marked our sheet and off it went. The guys in green jackets take orders, the women carry out the goods. I'm not sure I even know what we ate - a spicy/sweet pork in a steamed dumpling, cilantro shrimp in a boiled dumpling, another kind of shrimp in a boiled dumpling (spinach?), mushrooms stuffed with shrimp paste, and another steamed dumpling, maybe chicken again? Hot, fresh food, FAST service and delicious flavors. Sated the sweet tooth with a sweet mango pudding and washed it all down with the house green tea. Excellent first dim sum experience.
Incidentally, the owner of Ching's Chinese Medicine & Therapy, which we visited twice, subsequently offered unsolicited that this is his favorite dim sum in Chinatown. And the place was full of locals...I'm just sayin. -
Review from Lynn B.
San Francisco, CA
1/29/2012
I've been here three times in the last few months for DimSum, and every time, it's been very good. It's not the best DimSum I've ever had, but it's relatively inexpensive. I routinely get out for about $10/person plus tip. If you can, go on a weekday, when there is less of a crowd. BTW: The staff is mostly Cantonese speaking, so don't try to impress them with your two semesters of Mandarin.
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Review from Di J.
San Francisco, CA
9/28/2011
I would say this is a standard place to go for dim sum in Chinatown.
It's cheap and pretty good. And best of all, they have picture menu for the dim sum so you'll get exactly what you are looking for. I hate to be disappointed when I ordered the wrong one.
Service is basic, I never expect an over par service at a chinese restaurant. But as long as it's good and cheap, it's fine with me. -
Review from ameer n.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 10/13/2011 1 photo
We had a 12 person dinner here, and got to eat in the secret upstairs room. The food was fantastic, the service was great, and we all had a great time.
Special shout out to the peking duck.
Secret note "double skin" does not refer to twice the amount of skin that comes with 1 order of duck.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/4/2011
this is my place for chinatown dim sum.
always solid, always a seat waiting for me, and always cheap.… Read more »
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Review from Lauren C.
San Francisco, CA
9/24/2011
OKAY, so I think I'll start with a series of qualifiers.
*I just returned from Hong Kong and lived in China for over a year.
*I've grown up eating dim sum.
*There are just certain things I expect when I eat dim sum.
Let's begin:
-The service was terrible and the waiters were rude.
-The duck was dry.
-The xiao long bao had no soup in it.
-The dan ta was not crispy or sweet.
So now my question is, why are there so many cantonese in here? Are they all ABC? Luckily, I took a family friend here that had never had dim sum previously. So, he thought it was good. Also, this place is NOT CHEAP. $50 for 3 people. -
Review from Andy C.
Santa Clara, CA
12/26/2011
Some of the most authentic food I've had here in the Bay Area. The lines were extremely long, but we were served quickly after waiting about 40 minutes. Very inexpensive!
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Review from Mo R.
Petaluma, CA
10/13/2011
Finally came here when friends from Wales were here to visit. Neither one of them ever had Dim Sum and so of course, no trip to the City is complete without heading to Chinatown and getting your bao bun on.
The dim sum was really good and I think this may end up being my go-to place for it. We particularly liked the sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf (which I don't think my UK buddies had never seen before) and the pork noodle roll. (We had like, 3 orders of this as opposed to one order of whatever else we got.) All three of us got nice and stuffed for less than $15 per person. I say win.
I know that dim sum is a hot button topic with my fellow bay-sters, and so I'm sure there are other places out there - and I've heard of them - that do it better. But really, this place is pretty solid, the location is convenient, the pricing decent, and so I think you can't really go wrong.
And if you have visitors from out of the area, well... here you go. -
Review from Robert S.
San Francisco, CA
12/19/2011
Fantastic ! One of the best Chinese restaurants in SF
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Review from Elle L.
CORONA DL MAR, CA
12/22/2011
Apparently authentic, non- Americanized. From what I have tried, it's good, but I prefer Yank Sing for the ambiance.
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Review from Frank R.
Imperial Beach, CA
12/27/2011
Visited from San Diego, and my first time trying Dim Sum. Great experience and good prices. The Crispy Duck is great!
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Review from Lara N.
Woodside, NY
8/28/2011
This was my first dim sum experience here in San Francisco. I came all the way from New York and was eager to compare. Firstly I did like how you can order off a menu instead of from the carts passing by. This was much more organized and a lot less chaotic than what I am used to in New York. We came early around 11 but the upstairs was already full so we were seated downstairs.
All of the dumplings we ordered were delicious, from the shu mai to the shrimp and snow pea leaves to the shrimp, pork and mushroom dumplings. We stuffed ourselves silly and ate to our hearts' content, even venturing so far as to order the jellyfish, which was also good but a very small portion for $7. I would have loved to try the tripe but unfortunately didn't have any more room in my stomach for another bite of anything.
In my opinion it was a little pricier than NY Chinatown. For two people our bill came to nearly $40, which I'm sure my mother would have been complaining about all day if she had been with us. But overall I thought the food was comparable to NY Chinatown in both taste and quality and I would definitely recommend a visit to Great Eastern to happily satisfy your next dim sum craving. -
Review from Linda H.
Jamaica Plain, MA
9/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
Came here for dim sum twice when I was visiting San Fran with my family. I think most of what my parents liked about this place is that it's pretty clean, even the restrooms.
Dim sum is made-to-order and it's pretty quick. Prices were on par with some of the other places that we've been to. Since you order off of a menu, you know the prices of the dishes that you're ordering, so you won't get ripped off and can potentially control your consumption if you're trying to stick to a budget. They also have a picture menu if you're not sure what the items are, but I think you have to ask for it. I saw it at another table, but they didn't give us one. -
Review from Tom P.
8/13/2011
I go to Great Eastern for all my dim sum cravings in San Francisco. Ideally located in Chinatown, it's where you'll get actual authentic dim sum.
Recommended by others long before I came to reside in San Francisco, I find the food to be superb and the prices are beyond reasonable. For a party of 3, the tab usually comes out to be around $45. GE is clean, the ambiance is fitting, and service is efficient.
The one knock on this place is, of course they don't have the traditional carts rolling around. You instead pencil in your order in the beginning and they bring it out your orders. This may be okay if you know exactly what you're getting, but it can be inconvenient when you don't know if you should order more (or when you realize you have ordered too much).
Nonetheless, I always find myself bringing others to Great Eastern. As long as the food is good and the prices are reasonable, I'll keep coming back. 4.5 stars.
