Yank Sing (Spear St.)

The Yank Sing on Spear Street occupies a sprawling, modern interior defined by its cavernous ceilings and the constant, rhythmic clatter of steaming bamboo baskets being wheeled from table to table. It began in nineteen fifty-eight as a tiny takeout shop in Chinatown, started by Alice Chan Chen. She taught herself to cook by reading cookbooks, eventually expanding her operation into a full-scale dining hall. The cart service here preserves a style of dim sum delivery that many restaurants have abandoned for printed order sheets.