You guys, if you’re rolling out of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (or any of our Daly City parishes) with Lola in the backseat and a barkada of cousins trailing behind, you already know — Sunday lunch is sacred!! The good news: Daly City is the Bay Area dim sum capital, and you’ve got real options within a five-minute drive of almost any pew. Here’s where to land those carts, in order of what the family will remember on the drive home.
1. Koi Palace (Daly City)
This one’s the headline. Founded in 1996 by brothers Willy and Ronny Ng, Koi Palace earned a Michelin Plate in the guide’s first Cantonese Food Guide, and The Infatuation literally calls it “the dim sum gold standard in the Bay Area.”
For now it’s still at 365 Gellert Blvd, but the new 20,000 sq ft Serramonte Center flagship (seating 760–800, right next to Jagalchi) is opening in Q1 2026 — and the original closes the same day the new spot opens. Check before you drive over!!
What to order: the xiao long bao sampler (the black truffle one — oh my heart), the espresso coffee ribs, and the baked egg custard buns. Those custard buns take 45 minutes, so order them the second you sit down. Sunday doors open at 10am — arrive at opening or roll in around 1:30pm, otherwise you’re looking at a 30-minute wait.
2. Dim Sum King (Daly City)
Tucked in Skyline Plaza at 99 Skyline Plaza, this is the casual all-day workhorse.
Open 9am to 9pm, dim sum served all day, happy hour weekdays 9–11am and 3–5pm. Walk-ins are the move — phone waitlists tend to get leapfrogged anyway. One Yelp reviewer said they’d “drive the 4 hours from Cambria to eat a half dozen easily” of the BBQ pork buns. Get the char siu bao (baked AND steamed — trust), the har gow, and the pan-fried turnip cake. Ang sarap naman!
3. Ming Yuan Restaurant (Daly City)
At 209 Southgate Ave, Ming Yuan (明苑酒家) opened in 2019 and got a whole new life about a year and a half ago under new ownership and a new chef.
Sunday hours are 10am–3pm, and it’s genuinely set up for multi-generational tables — kid-friendly, wheelchair-accessible front entrance, QR-code menus, even outdoor seating. A Yelp reviewer called the steamed taro cake “probably the best comparing to the best dim sum restaurants in San Francisco and the peninsula.” Get the taro cake, the siu mai, the salted egg yolk pumpkin, and if you’re doing a birthday table, the Peking duck.
4. Canton Dim Sum & Seafood Restaurant (Daly City)
Over in Broadmoor at 250 90th St, Canton runs 11am–9pm daily.
Named after Guangzhou, the place is built for big family parties — full Cantonese seafood-and-banquet menu alongside the carts, plus catering. Order the shu mai, the BBQ pork buns, the honey walnut prawns, and the crispy fried chicken with shrimp chips. Bring the whole barkada, book the round table, done.
A quick note on TC Pastry
The old Westlake budget favorite at 67 St Francis Square is currently listed as temporarily closed on Yelp as of March 2026.
Call before you drive. Ay nako — we’re hoping they reopen…