Love this restaurant food and ambiance is goodWill definitely come back to this place.
sumi seo
I went around around 1:30 and it was almost packed. No one came to take us a seat and not coming to serve water till calling several times. After finishing food, no one came to give us a check and doggy bags. Terrible service.??Parking: Any stores if you are going to are very difficult to find parking especially on Greary st.
Howard Chuang
Pretty decent dimsum options. Slightly higher than average prices but good quality.
Nancy Ngo
People there are rude. Not helpful. The roast pork dimsum is bony. Should have better slices being that expensive
Sam Drake
Quite strange. Placed a take-out order online. Went to the restaurant to pick it up. Had to wait 20 minutes before anyone spoke to me; they then said that online orders don't work and I should order again...and wait another 30 minutes. I showed them the online order and gave them 10 minutes, and the food showed up. The order was wrong, but they quickly fixed it. Food was good, but online ordering simply does not work at this place. Don't even try it!
Christine O.
We were driving down Geary looking for a good Chinese place to lunch at when we saw a banner saying grand opening. Figured we would try it and we were all (4 in our party) really enjoyed the dim sum there and would definitely come again. We haven't had a flaky lotus baked dessert with century old egg and ginger in it since our childhood days 40 years ago and were so excited to find it here. It did not disappoint. Everything except lotus leaf sticky rice (so so) was excellent.
Grant H.
Great food, prices and service. The people that work here are kind, and overall the value for the food is great. We came for dim sum and enjoyed all the dishes.
lily phan
Came for dim sum after reading that the dim sum here is under-rated; that lady was right. Dim sum was very good here compared to Hong Kong Lounge. My only wish is that they would expand their menu to include more dishes. I had the steamed beef balls, bean curd wrap and those I would recommend. Glad I found myself a new local dim sum restaurant beside Dragon Beaux.
Brandon Dunng
Always a solid place for dim sum. Good service, great food, and decent pricing. One of my definite go to's in the Richmond.
Lisa X.
Great dim sum and very good service. We have been here multiple times over the years, and had family gatherings/birthday dinners, lunches with friends and family here and they are great. My personal fave is always the Dim sum lunches as they are delicious and very good value. Don't get me wrong, I love the fancier dim sum places too, but this is a delicious and valued favorite.
Shai Lai has the BEST dim sum in SF, hand downs and is SO underrated, in my opinion. This is coming from someone who has tried just about everything - HK Lounge, Koi Palace, Grand Harbor, Yank Sing, and more. We are regulars and the quality of food is always consistently fresh and delicious. I created a Yelp account just to rave about this place. More specifically: - The service is great. It's a no-frills, family-run business and we always appreciate how attentive and friendly the waiters are. The whole staff is extremely hardworking and really cater to customers to make sure they're enjoying their experience and are being served as quickly as possible. - Dishes are made-to-order. At other dim sum restaurants, I've often found that it's more noticeable when food has been left sitting out or reheated. I've never had that issue here - everything is consistently hot and full flavor. Bonus: they don't use excessive MSG or flavor enhancer. We're usually pretty sensitive to MSG and this is the one place that won't give us a headache/salt attack after. - Prices are reasonable. Although other places may be considered "higher-end", you pay for the ambiance at the expense of quality. This is seriously worth every penny! Here are our go-tos: As a note, they have their standard dim sum menu and additional menu with other options. They give you a paper menu to mark items to order. - Steamed pork buns (cha siu bao) - Fried soya tofu - Sesame balls (dessert) - Spare ribs - Fried donut roll - Vermicelli with eggplant and tuber mustard - Jook with pork bone - Eggrolls - Chow fun - Chicken feet/claws - Beef tripe - Pumpkin squash with egg yolk (we tried this for the first time today and it was amazing.) Photos are from just a few of our many visits. Don't sleep on this place!
Alex Choi
Excellent dim sum. I thought the chicken feet (claw as they call it) was especially good. Prices were good. Was very full after spending $20. Service was good. Hung out for awhile with my friend and drank tea.
Shirley Luo
This restaurant is in our neighborhood. We have been there many times. This is our first time after the pandemic begins. But the quality of food has declined.
Terry T.
My go to is HK Lounge for gourmet dim sum. I went to Shai Lai one time at 2014 because HK Lounge was packed. Decided to give Shai Lai another try in 2021. Ordered beef tripe, shrimp noodle roll, beef noodle roll, siu mai, shrimp dumplings, bean curd roll, and chicken feet. The portion size is hugeee and prices are cheaper than the popular HK lounge/dragon beaux. Highlights are the beef tripe and noodle rolls. Beef tripe was easy to chew and had amazing spicy sweet soy sauce dip. Noodle rolls sauce and food quality were amazing. Above average are the siu mai and chicken feet. Siu mai was meaty and flavorful, but needs fish eggs on top to make it taste gourmet. Chicken feet were very flavorful, but the feet were too big. If they used smaller chicken feet, the flavor will definetly stand out more. My least favorite dishes were the shrimp dumpling and bean curd roll. They are average quality to me, but would order again. The shrimp dumpling were super big, but the skin were of lesser quality and compared to the cheaper dim sum places on clement or chinatown. The bean curd roll needed more black bean sauce for extra flavor. Service was good. Alot better than my experiences in HK lounge and Dragon beaux. This may be because of lesser customers frequenting Shai Lai. Overall, would come again especially for the beef tripe and noodle rolls. Overall quality can't match its competitors HK lounge or dragon beaux, but beats all of the places I ate in the LA or OC area around SoCal.
Frieda S.
Came here for dinner after going to an exhibit at Legion of honor. This place was off the hook amazing! The food was ridiculously good, the waiter was absolutely the most polite and professional waiter I've ever been served by, the portion sizes are generous and the prices are extremely reasonable (even for dinner). Came here with my 11 year daughter so family friendly too! I'm stoked on this place and will be returning when I'm in SF!! I used to go to China town to get great food but never again, it's the Shai Lai for me! I'll think about this food with happy thoughts for the rest of my life!
Love this restaurant food and ambiance is goodWill definitely come back to this place.
I went around around 1:30 and it was almost packed. No one came to take us a seat and not coming to serve water till calling several times. After finishing food, no one came to give us a check and doggy bags. Terrible service.??Parking: Any stores if you are going to are very difficult to find parking especially on Greary st.
Pretty decent dimsum options. Slightly higher than average prices but good quality.
People there are rude. Not helpful. The roast pork dimsum is bony. Should have better slices being that expensive
Quite strange. Placed a take-out order online. Went to the restaurant to pick it up. Had to wait 20 minutes before anyone spoke to me; they then said that online orders don't work and I should order again...and wait another 30 minutes. I showed them the online order and gave them 10 minutes, and the food showed up. The order was wrong, but they quickly fixed it. Food was good, but online ordering simply does not work at this place. Don't even try it!
We were driving down Geary looking for a good Chinese place to lunch at when we saw a banner saying grand opening. Figured we would try it and we were all (4 in our party) really enjoyed the dim sum there and would definitely come again. We haven't had a flaky lotus baked dessert with century old egg and ginger in it since our childhood days 40 years ago and were so excited to find it here. It did not disappoint. Everything except lotus leaf sticky rice (so so) was excellent.
Great food, prices and service. The people that work here are kind, and overall the value for the food is great. We came for dim sum and enjoyed all the dishes.
Came for dim sum after reading that the dim sum here is under-rated; that lady was right. Dim sum was very good here compared to Hong Kong Lounge. My only wish is that they would expand their menu to include more dishes. I had the steamed beef balls, bean curd wrap and those I would recommend. Glad I found myself a new local dim sum restaurant beside Dragon Beaux.
Always a solid place for dim sum. Good service, great food, and decent pricing. One of my definite go to's in the Richmond.
Great dim sum and very good service. We have been here multiple times over the years, and had family gatherings/birthday dinners, lunches with friends and family here and they are great. My personal fave is always the Dim sum lunches as they are delicious and very good value. Don't get me wrong, I love the fancier dim sum places too, but this is a delicious and valued favorite.
Restaurantji Recommends
Shai Lai has the BEST dim sum in SF, hand downs and is SO underrated, in my opinion. This is coming from someone who has tried just about everything - HK Lounge, Koi Palace, Grand Harbor, Yank Sing, and more. We are regulars and the quality of food is always consistently fresh and delicious. I created a Yelp account just to rave about this place. More specifically: - The service is great. It's a no-frills, family-run business and we always appreciate how attentive and friendly the waiters are. The whole staff is extremely hardworking and really cater to customers to make sure they're enjoying their experience and are being served as quickly as possible. - Dishes are made-to-order. At other dim sum restaurants, I've often found that it's more noticeable when food has been left sitting out or reheated. I've never had that issue here - everything is consistently hot and full flavor. Bonus: they don't use excessive MSG or flavor enhancer. We're usually pretty sensitive to MSG and this is the one place that won't give us a headache/salt attack after. - Prices are reasonable. Although other places may be considered "higher-end", you pay for the ambiance at the expense of quality. This is seriously worth every penny! Here are our go-tos: As a note, they have their standard dim sum menu and additional menu with other options. They give you a paper menu to mark items to order. - Steamed pork buns (cha siu bao) - Fried soya tofu - Sesame balls (dessert) - Spare ribs - Fried donut roll - Vermicelli with eggplant and tuber mustard - Jook with pork bone - Eggrolls - Chow fun - Chicken feet/claws - Beef tripe - Pumpkin squash with egg yolk (we tried this for the first time today and it was amazing.) Photos are from just a few of our many visits. Don't sleep on this place!
Excellent dim sum. I thought the chicken feet (claw as they call it) was especially good. Prices were good. Was very full after spending $20. Service was good. Hung out for awhile with my friend and drank tea.
This restaurant is in our neighborhood. We have been there many times. This is our first time after the pandemic begins. But the quality of food has declined.
My go to is HK Lounge for gourmet dim sum. I went to Shai Lai one time at 2014 because HK Lounge was packed. Decided to give Shai Lai another try in 2021. Ordered beef tripe, shrimp noodle roll, beef noodle roll, siu mai, shrimp dumplings, bean curd roll, and chicken feet. The portion size is hugeee and prices are cheaper than the popular HK lounge/dragon beaux. Highlights are the beef tripe and noodle rolls. Beef tripe was easy to chew and had amazing spicy sweet soy sauce dip. Noodle rolls sauce and food quality were amazing. Above average are the siu mai and chicken feet. Siu mai was meaty and flavorful, but needs fish eggs on top to make it taste gourmet. Chicken feet were very flavorful, but the feet were too big. If they used smaller chicken feet, the flavor will definetly stand out more. My least favorite dishes were the shrimp dumpling and bean curd roll. They are average quality to me, but would order again. The shrimp dumpling were super big, but the skin were of lesser quality and compared to the cheaper dim sum places on clement or chinatown. The bean curd roll needed more black bean sauce for extra flavor. Service was good. Alot better than my experiences in HK lounge and Dragon beaux. This may be because of lesser customers frequenting Shai Lai. Overall, would come again especially for the beef tripe and noodle rolls. Overall quality can't match its competitors HK lounge or dragon beaux, but beats all of the places I ate in the LA or OC area around SoCal.
Came here for dinner after going to an exhibit at Legion of honor. This place was off the hook amazing! The food was ridiculously good, the waiter was absolutely the most polite and professional waiter I've ever been served by, the portion sizes are generous and the prices are extremely reasonable (even for dinner). Came here with my 11 year daughter so family friendly too! I'm stoked on this place and will be returning when I'm in SF!! I used to go to China town to get great food but never again, it's the Shai Lai for me! I'll think about this food with happy thoughts for the rest of my life!