This Unassuming San Francisco Restaurant Served The First Ever Dim Sum In America

If you're a fan of Chinese food, you probably are familiar with, or even an expert in, eating dim sum. Dim sum are smaller bites of food typically enjoyed for brunch. They're often compared to Spanish tapas, as dim sum is meant to be shared between friends and family,  with multiple dishes ordered. Generally, between two to four is the correct number of dim sum dishes ordered per person. You can expect to find plenty of dim sum restaurants in cities with large populations of Chinese Americans and immigrants, including Boston, New York, and San Francisco, where you'll find the first-ever dim sum house that was opened in the nation. 

In a small alley in San Francisco's Chinatown is Hang Ah Tea Room, which has been open since 1920. As can be imagined, most restaurants would naturally undergo changes in a hundred years, but Hang Ah has, in many ways, stayed true to its origins. The interior maintains old-world charm, with memorabilia and photographs celebrating the Chinese community and the area's rich history. Many of the recipes have been passed down from the various owners over the generations. For a time, the restaurant was only open a few days a week with a single server. The current owner — the fifth since Hang Ah opened — increased the dish offerings from 25 to 40, hired more staff, and keeps the restaurant open seven days a week. Today, both locals and tourists enjoy an impressive array of classic Chinese dim sum options, like its signature barbecue pork bao buns, soup dumplings, crispy potstickers, delicious scallion pancakes, noodle dishes, and much more. 

One reason the long history of Hang Ah Tea Room is so impressive is its location. 1 Pagoda Place — the official address — is very much off the beaten path in San Francisco's Chinatown. This means casual tourists are unlikely to stumble across it. Generations of diners have actively sought out the restaurant, helping keep it in operation. When Hang Ah opened in 1920, its location was also the home of an incense manufacturer. This is how the dim sum house got its name: "Hang Ah" translates to "fragrance" or "aroma" in English.

By the time the restaurant opened, many Chinese immigrants had already settled in San Francisco; they'd been arriving for the last three decades. Still, Hang Ah gave them a taste of home. It's unclear whether any of the current menu items date back to the 1920s, but the current owner is doubtful, since many ingredients used in the early 20th century are no longer available.

Many dim sum fans are familiar with servers wheeling out carts full of various dishes. Patrons often point to what they want, and the server tallies their dishes on cards to let the restaurant know how much was ordered. But Hang Ah did things a little differently in its early years; servers carried water-heated trays full of food over their shoulders from which they served their customers. It doesn't appear that the eatery does this anymore (nor does it serve via rolling carts), but it's just one way Hang Ah stood out and retained generations of loyal patrons. There are still handwritten signs and arrows pointing those looking for Hang Ah in the right direction, similar to how customers found the dim sum house over a hundred years ago.