Large banquets and buyouts, which accounted for half of the pre-pandemic business, never returned. Even if those diners had returned, operating the Jing Fong dining room, with its dozens of dim sum carts being pushed around to various tables, was a losing proposition at 25 percent capacity. In October, the restaurant tried its hand at indoor dining, but reception was lukewarm: the tourists that made up the bulk of the pre-pandemic business had not yet returned to the city. “It’s an atmosphere and volume game, otherwise it doesn’t work,” said Lam. Socially distanced tables and barriers did not mesh with Jing Fong’s business model. Even if the restaurant could have expanded its patio, it would have taken an empty parking lot to bridge the gap in the number of seats lost from pre-pandemic times. Revenue returned with the addition of takeout and eventually outdoor dining, but the restaurant was never able to aggressively build out its patio seating like some other businesses around the city, perhaps in part because it is located directly across the street from the NYPD’s 5th Precinct station house. The dip in sales forced Jing Fong to shutter its dining room on March 10, a week earlier than mandated by New York State. At one point in mid-February 2020, Lam counted just 36 customers in a room that can legally hold 794. But even before any mandates to shut down indoor dining, the restaurant saw its daily check totals plummet, mainly a result of diminished tourism but also because of racism and xenophobia surrounding the coronavirus. Sales at Jing Fong are down 85 percent year-over-year, which translates to a loss of about $5 to 6 million, according to Lam. A satellite location on the Upper West Side, which opened in 2017, is unaffected by any of the changes. The iconic dim sum restaurant, which opened in 1978 but moved to its current location at 20 Elizabeth Street, between Canal and Bayard streets, in 1992, has worked out a deal with its landlord to use the kitchen rent-free on a month-to-month basis. “With our drastic decline in sales and mounting losses sustained over the course of a year, we needed to make the tough call to close our indoor dining space and redirect our resources in hopes to continue our operations,” the third-generation owner and manager Truman Lam said in a statement. Following a growing trend during the pandemic, the restaurant has plans to continue operating as a ghost kitchen to fulfill orders for takeout, delivery, and outdoor dining on its patio. The servers here speak Cantonese, and my friend finds it very genuine.Jing Fong, the largest Chinese restaurant in Manhattan, announced today that it would permanently close its dining room on March 7 due to business loss as a result of COVID-19. ![]() It comes highly recommended by my friend from Guangdong, who vouches for its authenticity. They will tally up what you eat, so no need to worry about miscalculations.Īs a dim sum chain, this restaurant is well-known in Manhattan. Servers will stroll around with carts, presenting freshly made dim sum options. Their dim sum options are impressive, but I suggest avoiding their stir-fried dishes.Īnother authentic tea house, Golden Unicorn also offers the traditional dim sum cart experience. Each basket contains six dumplings, with three different flavors. I highly recommend trying their assorted xiao long bao basket, which includes flavors like pork, fresh meat, black truffle, crab roe, and more. Steam is known for its diverse flavors of xiao long bao (soup dumplings). ![]() You can directly pick the dishes you want, and they will be served right to your table for you to enjoy. They offer a unique dining experience where servers push carts filled with various dim sum options. ![]() With two locations, one in Chinatown and the other in Sheung Wan, this restaurant is a traditional dim sum spot. It's best to visit these restaurants in the morning or around noon to ensure you get a wide selection of dim sum, as some items may run out by the afternoon. Are you still struggling to choose a dim sum restaurant? Today, I recommend four locally acclaimed dim sum restaurants, each highly popular.
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