Given Doyers Street’s notoriously grisly gang wars in the early 20th century, it’s a surprise that the original owners of Nom Wah decided to set up a dainty tea shop there in 1920, turning out reputation-making moon cakes. Today, the biggest fight on the block is the weekend wait for Nom Wah—now the oldest dim sum parlor in the city. The classics remain, alongside brunch mimosas and gluten-free options. The historic house specialty, xing ren bing (almond cookies), are as big as dinner plates. Char siu bao (fluffy BBQ pork buns) explode with shredded meat and caramelized onions. “The Original” egg roll (chun juan), is the size of a prizefighter’s meaty fist and comprised of a soft, eggy crêpe, stuffed with shredded chicken and mushroom.
Okay, we’re wading into dangerous territory here: Declaring the best dim sum restaurants in America is a task sure to excite the same level of furious disagreement that we faced when we endeavoured to rank the best Mexican restaurants and best sushi restaurants in America. Because people are passionate about their dim sum. But so are we—nothing pleases us more than a steamer full of har gow straight from the cart—which is why we pushed forward with the task. From Chinatown in San Francisco to downtown Manhattan to Miami, Vegas, Portland and beyond, these restaurants do little-dishes-on-carts (and sometimes not on carts) better than the rest. They’re the best dim sum restaurants and, if you’re a dim sum lover, your foodie bucket list.