The East Bay has a plethora of Chinese restaurants, including dumpling houses and spicy spots serving spicy Sichuan fare. Want dim sum? There are plenty of places worthy of your time. Keep in mind this (very non-exhaustive) list is just a sampling of restaurants serving Chinese regional food and the selections range from casual fare to fancier options. The East Bay encompasses a huge swath, and we’ve included places up and down the 80 and beyond.
Read More15 Outstanding Chinese Restaurants in the East Bay
From handmade dumplings to Sichuan classics
New Dumpling
The East Bay has needed a high-quality jiaozi, or boiled dumpling, spot, so it’s no surprise this El Cerrito restaurant has been a hit since day one. Cold appetizers like sliced pig ears are great, and scallion pancakes are crisp and wonderfully oily. But the only move here is to order as many of the restaurant’s compact, two-bite dumplings as you might reasonably expect to eat. Fillings include delightful combinations you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere — zucchini, egg, and shrimp, for example. Most of the dumplings are also available frozen to bring home.
Noodles Fresh
As its name suggests, Noodles Fresh specializes in Chinese noodles. The restaurant’s main point of distinction is that it doesn’t have any one regional focus, but instead seeks to introduce diners to a wide array of highly specific noodle dishes: Guilin beef tendon soup with rice noodles, Taiwanese beef noodle soup, and Yunnan “over the bridge” noodles. It’s one of the only Bay Area restaurants where you’ll find Jiangxi-style rice noodles — toothsome and delicious, especially when served stir-fried with flank steak, peppers, and a fiery chile sauce. The restaurant has a second location in downtown Berkeley.
Dumpling Hours
Dumpling Hours is the sister restaurant of San Francisco’s Dumpling Home, which earned a place in Michelin’s Bib Gourmand list back in September 2021. The pork xiao long bao is a popular item, as are the pan-fried pork buns, but it’s worth branching out to the shop’s non-dumpling dishes, such as the beef brisket soup noodles or the dry fried chicken wings. There’s a second location in Oakland.
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Sichuan Style Restaurant
With a staff and kitchen crew largely made up of defectors from China Village down the street (with a very similar menu), Sichuan Style has arguably surpassed its more well-known neighbor when it comes to classic, tongue-numbingly spicy Sichuan fare like water-boiled fish. Standard orders include the fragrant fish fillet soup, surprisingly mild and soothing despite arriving at the table topped with dozens of chili peppers; the wok-charred cabbage; and the big, puffy round of sesame bread.
Wojia Hunan Cuisine
It’s tough to find dishes from the Hunan region in the East Bay, but this Albany restaurant has filled that void with its menu of regional specialties like Chairman Mao stewed pork hock. In addition to Hunan’s characteristically fiery dishes, Wojia also delves into the region’s smoky flavors — try the “special fried rice” with smoked pork or the smoky grilled pork chop dusted with cumin and crispy garlic. The savory fried glutinous rice balls are also an immediate showstopper and local favorite.
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Great China
Great China is an excellent place to take groups, as the longtime Berkeley favorite seems practically built to accommodate larger parties, especially given its proximity to the Cal campus. Don’t skip the Double Skin dish as an appetizer, made with mung bean noodles and an assortment of seafood, meat, and vegetables. The roast duck is also worth consideration; meanwhile, wine aficionados will want to peruse Great China’s extensive wine list, which has earned an excellent reputation.
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Good To Eat Dumplings
After many years operating as a pop-up, this Taiwanese-inspired restaurant has put down roots in Emeryville. The vibe is always good, plus there’s draft beer and a rotating menu features items like elongated potstickers and Taiwanese dishes like street-style grilled tofu. The restaurant incorporates many seasonal, locally grown Asian vegetables and herbs. The restaurant added a multicourse tasting menu, which tends to sell out quickly, showcasing chef Tony Tung’s cooking.
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Hong Kong East Ocean Seafood Restaurant
Still a gold standard for dim sum in the East Bay, this spacious Emeryville waterfront restaurant serves traditional and well-executed yum cha fare. You can bring your own tea to brew while trying small plates of chicken feet, shrimp dumplings, and side dishes like Sichuan eggplants. Or, go fancier with a Beijing duck or whole fresh fish. Plus, the views can’t be beaten.
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Gum Kuo
The menu is unreasonably long at this Chinatown classic for Cantonese comfort food, so stick to the best stuff: congee (with doughnuts, of course), wonton noodle soup, rice noodle rolls, roast pork, and roast duck.
Classic Guilin Rice Noodles
More than 20 herbs go into the namesake dish at the Bay Area’s first Guilin-style restaurant, which serves variations on the same staple: slippery rice noodles, peanuts, scallions, garlic, pickled long beans, egg, a soy-herb sauce, and your choice of meat. There are additional locations in Milpitas and San Mateo.
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Ben's
This scrappy, no-frills neighborhood lunch spot is the very definition of “better than it needs to be,” with a short menu of inexpensive rice plates made with fresh ingredients and a whole lot of skill with the wok. It’s probably best known for its Wednesday-only fried chicken special, which routinely draws a crowd and requires a little bit of advance planning to order. Another standout is the shrimp over egg (or its variant, the “David Special” — if you know you know), which — like everything on the menu — goes great with the absurdly delicious black bean hot sauce. Make sure to bring cash, as this restaurant doesn’t take credit cards.
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88 BaoBao
Located in a strip mall, this popular spot serves some of the juiciest, most delicate xiao long bao in the East Bay. Buns, dumplings, and other snack-y items are the way to go. Other favorites include the equally juicy, crisp-bottomed sheng jian bao and the beef rolls — it’s like meaty, rolled-up scallion pancakes.
Veggie Lee Restaurant
This vegetarian Chinese spot is helmed by a former Daimo chef with serious Cantonese cooking chops, so all the usual mock-meat preparations are a cut above. Dishes like the eggplant with vegan fish steak, the salt-and-pepper pumpkin, and the pan-fried tofu skin are as good as anything you’ll find at any of the area’s omnivore-oriented Chinese restaurants.
Din Ding Dumpling House
Bay Area diners have gotten so xiao long bao–obsessed that you’ll now find the soup dumplings at dim sum parlors and all kinds of other Chinese restaurants that have no affiliation with the Shanghai region from which they originate. Din Ding isn’t strictly a Shanghainese restaurant either, but it qualifies as a specialist: The handmade XLB here have delicate wrappers that bulge and jiggle from the juices contained within. It’s no wonder, then, that dumpling lovers from miles away make the pilgrimage, especially on the weekend.
Customize MaLaTang
This is one of the only places to get a customizable bowl of “mala” soup with noodles, a Sichuan street-style of hotpot — but the food is on point. The malatang comes both in a dry bowl or soup option with housemade broths. The a la carte menu is also not to be missed, with an Instagram-worthy presentation.