My wife and I have been to several dim sum restuarants in Chicago and San Francisco and we're generally very picky about the quality of food we get at restaurants, especially since we cook all our own food from scratch at home. We were extremely happy with the food at Shiu Wah. It's the best dim sum I've had so far. The food, service, cleanliness was far better than another well known dim sum place a few doors down. We went on a Sunday around Noon and we waited about 25 minutes for a table for 2. Larger groups (5-8 people) were waiting for 25-40 minutes it seemed like. Waiting was a litlte confusing since we had to flag down a particular waitress who had a scrap of paper she was holding with some numbers on it. Apparently that was enough for her to keep track. She actually seemed to keep pretty good track of everyone, but we made sure we still stood inside the restaurant within view of her while waiting, just to make sure we weren't forgotten. The food was well worth the wait. And the dishes (teapot, cups, silverware, plates) were all clean (unlike another dim sum place we went to nearby which had stained, cheap looking teapots, cheap chopsticks, and sweaty unkept staff). Some of the food seemed to take a little longer than I expected, but it worked out because we ordered about 5 different dishes, so we weren't hungry for very long anyway. I didn't know they ask what type of tea you'd like, so I was pleasantly surprised by that. We got the Jasmine tea and it went great with our food.
Pros: Great tasting food, good prices
Cons: Noisy one-room dining area, service can be hit-or-miss
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