Louie’s Dim Sum

I came here a couple times. The last time the same situation happened but i just let it slide, but this time i had to say something! I ordered 3 hot buns and The lady owner went into the back and got 3 dirty buns. I saw her picking out some dirty stuff that was stuck on the buns. I told her to switch it for me cuz the ones that was displayed on the glass shelfs were nice and white! She refused to give me nice clean ones. So i ended up leaving! The buns are good but the lady owner is a b”! I hope the health department will go after her! That place is dirty and has tons of flies flying around! Never ever coming back again!

Honestly, I only come here for their Man Tou. and I buy them in bagfulls! I see a lot of Unilocal reviews complaining about the price, but where else is there good man tou in SF?
I never really order anything else here other than the white man tou and resteam it when I get home.

Really inedible dim sum. I tried 3 shu Mai and after a small bite, I tossed out the whole thing.

Found this place through Unilocal and wanting to find a good mantou. Just bought some mantou and pork/​veggie buns. Must say this place looks really unsanitary. The plastic bags/​papers/​buns are all over the place with no working fridge half opened that the buns are placed at. Not just that, but when she gave me the change, she placed the money on the tray that were used to put those buns on. Truly disgusting. IMO, the buns are not that great just ehh.
The Health Dept. need to seriously check on the sanitation of this place or it can possible make someone sick with non working storage places (refrigerator) and with the buns just sitting out there for who knows how long. I know this because I work in food service. I know that this is Chinatown and all but still, there comes to a point where any food joint needs to follow protocol; otherwise, there can be serious consequences. Just saying…

Still taste pretty good, but prices have gone up. Just went in and got 4 mantou at 55 cents a piece.
The day before that, it cost me 50 cents.
Are fluctuating prices the standard Unilocal?Or was it just me?

snack
food: i always get the steamed buns (man tou) here. it has a very subtle sweetness to it. some wont like it from it being a bit bland but i love these and this is one of the places that make it this way. they are so fluffy and layered in a way you can peel off. its the string cheese of bread. you can either rip it off in layers or bite the whole thing off. they have fresh ones and cold ones under the windows. always go for the fresh ones if youre going to eat it then. sometimes they ask but sometimes you have to request it. ***4/​5
service: it can be busy sometimes. especially if someone is doing a large order. but the lady there is nice. you order and you go. ***4/​5
atmosphere: theres no place to sit really. most of the orders are to go. it gets steamy in there anyways, so its not a good spot to stay for too long. i eat mines on foot all the time. ***3/​5
value: they raised the prices over the years, but its still great pricing. i usually get an order of 3 and go on my happy way. some places charges the same just for 1! ***5/​5

So we decided to host a Bao party. With tons of meat prepped and sauces of all varieties, all we needed were the buns. Lots and lots of them. This led us to Louie’s in Chinatown which provided us with the boxes and boxes of Man Tou that we were looking for. A box of them holds 22 and costs only $ 10. You definitely can’t get better than that if you can even find anywhere else to get them at all.
They also have some dim sum but honestly you’ll find better fresh dim sum elsewhere in the many nearby chinatown shops.
Overall, this place serves a very specific purpose and it does it very well. «I’m a fan».

This place has the best maan tous you will ever find. I used to get them by the dozens. They have wheat maan tous now which is better for my waist line… but I still prefer the original ones. The laap churng bao (Chinese sausage bun) is REALLY good!
Other types of dim sum I didn’t care for as I am happy with my 2dz buns

Loved their steamed buns. The texture was perfect and it wasn’t too sweet as I imagined it would be with the pppork buns. Customer service was good; no complaints Herr. Definitely coming back for more steamed buns!

Great dim sum! Open early! We were looking for some dim sum to go and checked out Louie’s in China town. It is a great shop with hot, fresh dim sum. Very reasonable prices. The employees speak minimal English, but were patient with and worked hard to make sure they got the order right. Everything tasted so good, we went back for more to take on the plane for our dinner a few days later.
Give Louie’s a try!

Best steam buns ever! Not sure about dim sum but steamed bun is good ! You can choose plain white or whole wheat bun. Although whole wheat is the healthier choice, the plain white one is slightly sweet, chewy, and just delicious!

Louie’s pricing for their dim sum isn’t in plain sight. it’s in chinese opposite the dim sum counter. unless one has eyes at the back of your head, you can’t see it when facing the counter lady.
eats:
–har gow (3/1.75)
thick skin, mushy shrimp, heavily msg flavoring
–siu mai (3/1.75)
large, bigger than a golf ball, tasteless except for msg
crumbs:
–head was spinning after a few bites
–hallucinagens? high from passing pot smoke?
–nope. too much msg additives.
–cash only?
2 stars
service was good, bbq buns out 3/2.40.
maybe man tou’s a better choice?
probably cheaper at Good Mongkok

It’s been ages since I’ve came here. I do remember there were times when I came here steamed chinese sausage bun along some other pastry and dim sum items. I was still in elementary school the very last time I came here for dim sum and pastry items. Also, I consistently walk by this shop whenever I walk down Stockton St. I’m definitely going to make a stop here one day for some dim sum items. There are other nearby restaurants that serves dim sum as well and this basically gives Chinatown consumers a flexible choice in dining options. The menu items are appropriately priced so it is pretty much designed to fit anyone’s budget. Anything I see is delicious, I would just go get it and eat it.
Some of the items they have here include pork & shrimp dumpling, mantou and chinese sausage buns. These are some of the common items you’ll see on the menu at most of the restaurants in Chinatown.
I’ll have an updated review available as soon as I came in to try some of the dim sum items here!
Parking:
— Mostly street metered parking*
— There are several public parking garages nearby
*Some spots are equipped with parking meters so be prepared to have spare coins on you!
Public Transportation:
— 8X BAYSHORE EXPRESS, 8AX BAYSHORE A EXPRESS, 8BX BAYSHORE B EXPRESS, 10 TOWNSEND, 12 FOLSOM, 30 STOCKTON & 45 UNION-​STOCKTON
BRIEF UPDATE FOR 6÷6÷2013:
I came and ordered a steamed milk bun and two pork dumplings, the total came out to $ 1.65 which was pricier than usual — RIDICULOUS!

This review is only for the steamed buns. Every time I tell my parents I am going to the city, they ask me to pick up a dozen of the wheat steamed buns for them. They are about 0.45 cents and worth every penny. You can heat them up at home and spread some butter or peanut butter on them for breakfast and they are super delicious. Or, you can just eat them by itself and savor the natural sweetness of the bun. And, if you can’t finish them right away, you can definitely freeze them and re-​steam them at a later time.

I have two words for you: man. tou.
The steamed buns here are TO DIE FOR. Seriously. The best you will ever find. If you’re feeling guilty about stuffing empty carbs into your body, go for the wheat ones — at least your body will have the illusion that you’re stuffing healthy carbs into your body while you nomnom away on these delicious buns: D
Lack of cleanliness? Lack of English? This is Chinatown, people. This is the norm around here.

It’s all about the man tou here.
Not bad, but be prepared to carry «weights» up those hills to your car cause these buns are HEAVY!!!

UGH. Well, okay. Maybe not completely ugh, just… maybe 65% ugh? I suppose it wasn’t THAT bad, but paled considerably to Delicious Dim Sum just down the street which unfortunately set extremely high expectations of all Dim Sum joints in SF Chinatown… tourist mistake!).
Anyway, perhaps I would have somewhat enjoyed this place had it not been for the glorious day spent prior to vising Louie’s when I was in Dim Sum heaven. But I was very disappointed to find that everything was a dash (or two… or three) too salty, and quite greasy.
Which is really a damn misfortune because my mother, expecting this place to be
like Delicious Dim Sum, bought a lot of food to bring home :(If you must know, it is now frozen in bags, and probably will never be eaten… Sad.
Oh, but I must say that the staff here was a tad bit friendlier/​spoke better English than those at Delicious Dim Sum. And they had a decent English menu.

Let’s face it people, your in China town, your kind tipsy, you DON’T know Chinese… sooo what the hell walk in to Louie’s don’t even try to ask the ladies what they are just pick a few dim sum and eat away… nom nom nom
For a whopping fortune of 4 dollars, I ate like a king and even bought an old-​school Coke at that! Wattaya know? China town is full of hidden treasures

I dropped in here thinking it had been renamed. Nope, still Louies, and nope… not better than GMK down the way.
I asked one of the two women at the counter for my usual, a pork BBQ steamed bun. Charged 80 cents… which if you’re counting is 10 cents more per bun than GMK, I was surprised that not only was the bun smaller than most I’m used to but they gave me a chicken instead of pork.
After returning and having them trade it in without issue, I’d have to go with three stars… the bun was good, with more of a stewed consistency but there just wasn’t enough bang for your buck with their buns.
Sorry Louie.

Quite impressed by the store just bordering North Beach, and with the yellow blaring sign above (how I find it)…
The freshest mantou (steamed white flour buns… also oatmeal as well), steamed and ready. Really really perfect…
Lots of steamed goods, char siu bao, standard dim sum fare in large tiered steamsacks…
True that it’s a bit of a dive, but it’s a takeaway, and it’s in Chinatown!!! Patronized by the local Chinese and you can’t go wrong with any sort of bao dx…