Tins Teapot Bistro

Great food and service. If you’re craving for dim sum and you’re close by. This is where you want to go! Hits the right spot for dim sum!

Great spot in hayward for dim sum. My first time here food was great and fast. A lot of people here but we were seated within five minutes. Fried shrimp balls and chinese brocolli were my favorite. Will come back forsure.

The restaurant is nice and clean and the restrooms are clean as well.
We ordered:
Salt and Pepper Tofu: a little dry but good
Vegetable Braised Tofu: PERFECTION
Veggie Fried Rice: Very tasty
Soup Dumplings: Were great!
Beef Noodles: just the right amount of savory!
All the food was exactly as it should be!
Why 3 stars? SERVICE!
When we ordered the waitress didn’t even make eye contact. I asked for water for the table, she returned with two (there were 6 of us) so then several minutes later, my friend asked for water for the rest of the table. The woman returned with TWO waters again… When she finally came back my friend asked for water for the last two people. SHE RETURNED WITH ONE!!! So we asked AGAIN! They all (the staff) appeared to be very out off when we asked for water, OR A FORK!
I might try it again, or maybe order take out.

One of my usual dim sum go to spots. I usually get the hargow, chicken and salted fish fried rice and I always save room for their delicious steamed custard buns!

Pretty good service and food all around :)
Spot is located right next to the dollar tree store
Parking is usually cramped because it’s literally that busy
You won’t miss the big golden teapot right when you walk in
You can order dim sum throughout the day, which is pretty convenient or just order for pick up if you don’t feel like eating in
I advise you coming in after 2:30 since its always busy in the morning
The servers would be more attentive than usual
Waiter service always make sure to refill your drinks/​hot tea
The owner (Alice) is a very sweet lady who collects teapots
Thanks for taking care of us, we’ll be back!
–May, Johanna, Crystal, and Julie

Excellent service by Alice!
Super attentive and gave great suggestions. The food was fresh and hot.
We ordered the salt and pepper wings, har gow, shu mai, chicken feet, deep fried taro puffs and tried their sesame balls, red bean soup, and pineapple taro bun. Loved it all, so yummy!
We’re coming back for the Shanghai dumplings!

This place is okay for dim sum. we got the chicken feet, tripe, salt and pepper fish, chicken wings, rice roll bbq pork, rice roll shrimp, mango shrimp ball, bbq pork bun and pork belly.
The chicken feet did not taste good at all… wasn’t worth it. The sauce wasn’t flavorful
The tripe was the same thing it just didn’t have much taste to it. and they don’t give you much. it looks alot but at the bottom of the tripe is bean spouts.
The salt and pepper fish was however a must try. it was bomb.
The chicken wings wasn’t worth it. the flour that was deep
fried in was to thick.
The rice roll bbq pork and rice roll shrimp was okay. they didn’t put enough soy sauce.
Mango shrimp wasn’t crispy. it taste like it just sat there and
wasn’t Fried it was cold.
Bbq pork bun was okay as well nothing special at least it had alot of pork.
Pork belly was good. nothing special
Overall I come back for the salt and pepper fish.

Yum, I love the dim sum here. Order whatever sounds interesting to you on the menu, or ask questions if you’re curious because chances are it’s going to be tasty.
I mainly come here for dim sum and I enjoy it a lot. Service is also great here. While not all the servers have the best English it doesn’t stop them from giving you the best service. One thing I did notice is that at night when you order dimsum, the lady who delivered our dishes was kind of sloppy and spilled the sauce all over our ticket and table and don’t bother to clean it or apologize she just walked away…
Regardless, I’ve been here multiple times before that incident and I can honestly say this is my new go to dim sum restaurant. It’s nice to have one close to home because I used to have to go to Oakland for good dimsum.
Recommendations: sticky rice, fried sticky rice with egg, fried shrimp ball, deep fried meat dumpling (I’m not sure if that the name. But it starts with deep fried meat), eggplant stuffed with shrimp, beef chow fun, and the pea sprouts!
Definitely give this place a try if you’re ever around

I’m impressed. My dim sum expectations were either met or exceeded. Sometimes we worry others hype up a place, yah?
My friend and I arrived on a rainy Sunday at noon. We couldn’t even get into the parking lot because of all the traffic. We decided to turn back around past the block of houses and guess what? There was an empty space with no cars passing us whatsoever when we got back!
10 minute wait for two! Score! 3+ parties have to wait longer. *aim for the sign up sheet
We chose oolong tea ($ 1/​person) and took about 7 minutes to decide what to mark off on the menu. Excellent, mind reading wait staff. As soon as we finished with the paper, seriously right when I put the pencil down, a waitress came by and picked it up after asking if we were done.
*crisp avocado pastries: holla at this dessert! Yes, I’m starting with a sweet treat. Mashed avocado mixed with sugar, a bit of milk for the smooth consistency? inside a non greasy fried exterior. Surprisingly not rolled, kinda looks weird but break it in half for avocado goodness.
*4 pieces of siumai didn’t have much fat! Lots of meat and shrimp, less oil
*3 baked BBQ pork buns! Like Hurjane V. said, REAL pork, no red coloring! Win win
*salt & pepper fried tofu– a bit saltier but a must order! Cubed for easy chopstick pick up
*3 Shanghai soup dumplings are placed on aluminum cups, careful if you have leftovers to heat up. Juicy, eat them while they’re hot.
*4 shrimp dumplings in white gelatinous wrapper– lots of shrimp, pretty good
*3 shrimp & pea sprout triangular dumplings– loved the filling, tossed aside the thick sticky wrapper
*4 potstickers were somewhat sweet, thought I detected bits of corn shell, definitely generously filled! Nice pan fried exterior.
*shrimp rice noodle roll was satisfactory
*beef & cilantro rice noodle roll– my friend’s favorite,
I didn’t like it, beef was kind of ground up/​slimy
*dried scallop egg white fried rice– very good, looked almost exactly like Food Talk’s fried rice in Fremont, minus shrimp
We spent over $ 60+ tip and had a lot of leftovers. I appreciate them not kicking us out after almost 2 hours, maybe because we ordered so much food or tables for 2 weren’t in such high demand. It was actually difficult to get anyone’s attention, despite the many waitresses working the floor. Eventually, we asked for boxes and the lady helping us out was very considerate and patient. She also told me it was possible to split the bill.
The place still had 1 family waiting for a table by 2pm with the dining room mostly full. Very affordable dim sum ranging from $ 2.60 to $ 6.95, with a majority of the items being $ 3.35. Fried rice was $ 12.
Can’t wait to bring my mom here! Hoping future visits will have the same great service & food.

This is one of the best dim sum places in the bay area. Food is just delcious and always fresh. And the service is always good and fast. The servers are all friendly. Our server (Andy) always gives excellent service!
Must order the garlic pea sprouts and the pork chops which can be found in their regular menu.
Must have dim sum selections:
Eggplant stuffed with shrimp
Shu mai
Fried shrimp and meat dumplings
Sticky rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaf
Salt & Pepper Calamari– the best!
And they are open all day and serves dim sum anytime of the week.
I will definitely bring my friends & family and
will show our support to this restaurant for a long time!!!

This place is awesome! We ordered a bunch of dishes and everything was so good. The service was fast, and all the servers were super friendly. Really authentic Cantonese style and super delicious! It was packed when we went, but the wait was short.
My favorite dishes: shu Mai, ha gow, XO noodles, tripe, deep fried shrimp balls and the egg pastry! Basically everything :)
Absolutely my favorite meal and I would come here again!

My new favorite spot to grab Chinese food in the Hayward/​Union City area. There are not many authentic, Cantonese restaurants lingering around East Bay these days and I am sooo happy to have this place close to home. My mom took me and my sister here a month ago and just came back tonight to enjoy the same delicious Cantonese-​style meal (consistency!). I usually have to drive all the way to Oakland, Fremont or Milpitas for quality Chinese food, but even then, I don’t think they are as good as Tins Teapot Bistro.
My favorites (apologies for my weird Canto-​to-​English translations… this is the best I can do without looking at their menu XD): White egg yolk fried rice, clay pot tofu, seafood tofu soup, mandarin spare ribs, garlic snow peas. Also the complimentary tong sui is bomb (red bean and sai mai lo, my faves!)

I would say decent dim sum. There is no dim sum places that I really like in San Leandro so came here on Christmas eve. The wait was not too bad. Here is what I had that I can remember:
Shrimp dumpling: average, wrap a little thick
Siu Mai: thought it was pretty good
Portugese egg tart: good, think of a torched egg tart
Shrimp rice noodle: standard
Sticky rice chicken: decent
Chicken feet: decent
Pea sprout stir fry: actually really liked this
I would probably pick this place over any in San Leandro.

The first thing I noticed walking into Tin’s were the pictures of Jerry Brown on the wall at the ribbon-​cutting ceremony on opening night. Second, the crowd. Although there was a never-​ending stream of people walking in to either pick up/​put in take out orders or join the queue to sit down, the staff handled all of this with ease, floating around and juggling dishes and customers without missing a beat. But note that if you’re getting take-​out, call ahead or order online. You’ll shave off a chunk of wait time. Still, bring a book.
I ordered the honey walnut prawns, pan-​fried shrimp and chive dumplings, steamed vegetable dumplings, empress chicken, and the egg white and scallop fried rice, and everything was delicious. And yes, all for me. Hold your judgement, it was Sunday and I had a Mad Men binge fest queued up and ready to go at home to accompany this feast. Diving right into the weekend relaxation rabbit hole.
In short, the food is great and they manage the crowds well. Crowds just come with the territory when you’re opening a place this good in an area so desperately lacking in quality dim sum. Truly a gem in Hayward and well deserving of their fandom.

I love Tins so much… never thought we would have decent dim sum in Hayward!
Like any dim sum place, they do some things better than others and everyone has their own individual favorites. For me, the standouts are:
Fried XO noodle rolls (omg. I dream about these)
Salt & pepper calamari
Potstickers
Rice in lotus leaf
I probably rated 5 stars just for the XO noodles… I love them that much. Give them a try if you like chow fun. They are listed as «spicy» on the menu, but I’m really bad at eating spicy food and I don’t find them spicy at all.
The standard dim sum items like pork buns, xlb, siu mai etc are all tasty and good. Maybe you have different standard dim sum items than me :) But I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by Tins.
Very popular on the weekends, so come early or try to come at an off-​peak time. I wish someday they would get delivery!

Great little spot in Hayward off Jackson. Kind of a hidden gem with a small parking lot. Don’t let the looks deceive you the food here is excellent with many dishes and fresh seafood to choose from. Noodle dishes were cooked to perfection with the traditional dim sum dishes that have that savory taste.
My family ordered pretty much the whole menu, and not one dish that was brought out disappoint. Luckily we were the first family in so food came out quickly with minimal to no wait. Good thing since within minutes the restaurant was at capacity. Service was good considering the crowd, and with two crazy kids service is never easy. Great experience, great food and good time out. Come early or off peak hours to enjoy the great food at this spot.

My family always goes here for Chinese take out.
This place is also great for some dim-​sum. And it can get pretty busy on some days with a wait. We usually go here on off
Hours, brunch time in the weekdays.
My family always orders the salt and pepper prawns, beef chow fun noodles and salt and pepper pork chop; our dinner staples.
Our typical weeknight dinner for Chinese cravings.

Last night, we went out to try Tin’s Teapot Bistro. After reading the reviews I wanted to try the dim sum along with their dinner items. Arrived at 7:45 pm the place was packed the parking lot was full, we waited 15 min for a table. While we were waiting we checked out what seafood we wanted to have from the live tanks in the front of the restaurant. Our server Andy was excellent and we ordered the following:
Hot and Sour Seafood Soup very good with a ton of shrimp in the soup. $ 9
Shrimp Dumpling Ha Gau just OK $ 3.35
Shau Mai was just OK too. $ 3.35
Steamed spare ribs very good $ 3.35
BBQ combo platter was excellent $ 18 a must order
Steamed rod Cod excellent $ 24 per lbs. $ 46
Parking is an issue the lot is small and if they are full you need to find parking around the sketchy neighborhood. The service was excellent with server Andy. $ 92 before tip. Dim Sum is OK but you would need to go Fremont or Oakland for better.

I’ve had dim sum in Hong Kong (the motherland of this culinary art form), Shenzhen (for those who believe HK is an independent country), different parts of San Diego, and of course in the bay area!
I came here with three others around 12 PM on a Sunday afternoon. We waited a good 20 – 30 minutes before we were seated. They have menus by the waiting list paper, so while you wait, go ahead and start marking down what you want to eat!
We ordered:
S) 1 green onion pancake /​/​Meh. Thin, oily but not enough green onions.
S) 1 BBQ pork buns (3 buns) /​/​I am thoroughly impressed with this one! Uses REAL BBQ pork pieces, and not food colored to bright red. Kudos!
M) 1 fried taro balls (3 pieces) /​/​Hot and crispy, with mushroom and pork inside. Yummy!
M) 1 siu mai (4 pieces) /​/​I like this one because compared to other dimsum places, they definitely use leaner pork. The oily isn’t seeping out like crazy so I could eat quite a few of these!
M) 2 steamed bean curd skin roll (pork and vegetables) /​/​This is my jam at any dimsum place I go. No matter how bad the place is, they usually don’t screw this up. BUT what happens? This place does it wrong. Not that the flavor is off, but what in the world-​it has hot bean curd skin but COLD vegetables and pork inside. They clearly did NOT steam it enough, and luckily we requested it to be heated up. Manager took it back nonchalantly like it happens all the time…
M) 2 steamed shrimp dumplings (har gor) /​/​YUM. Probably astounded me when I took a bite. Most places only have a small piece of shrimp but this place STUFFS it with a HUGE wad of shrimp. My friend devoured these like no tomorrow!
M) 2 sticky rice in lotus leaf (chicken) /​/​First time having this at a dimsum place! Not my thing, but definitely a staple for those who enjoy dimsum. Portion is big, and two come in one order.
M) 2 shanghai soup dumplings (3 in each tray) /​/​Impressed! They put it in these little tin wrappings, which questioned their legitimacy (I mean, are they not supposed to stand alone?) But plump, juicy and not too oily!
M) 2 marinated chicken feet /​/​delicious! Not spicy like other places do it; more on the sweet sauce. But still yummy feet bones to suck on!
L) 1 fried shrimp balls (4 pieces) /​/​Oh dear, quite the mistake. Tasted like the beef balls but with shrimp? It’s chewy, but nothing too unique. Definitely not worth $ 4.30!
–1 bowl of congee (pork and thousand year old egg) $ 6.95 /​/​I’ve had better, but give it a shot if you like congee!
L) 1 fried avocado balls (3 pieces) /​/​Super random find, but I really enjoyed it. Avocado is somehow sweet-​reminds me of the green version of taro balls.
L) 1 fried dumplings (4 pieces) /​/​It’s yummy! Plump, stuffed, and juicy. Buttttt pretty pricey.
L) 2 rice noodles with shrimp /​/​Standard. Skin is not as thin, but filling enough.
L) 2 rice noodles with BBQ pork /​/​Yummy! Again, skin is not as thin but filling.
Jasmine tea pot ($ 4) /​/​Not worth. Watered down, no tea flavor. But at least they refilled it once we ran out.
S is small ($ 2.60), M is medium ($ 3.35), L is large ($ 4.30). There is also XL and KS (kitchen special)!
Pros:
–Quick service. Not your typical rolling carts, but since the location is small they can only work from the kitchen. But the experience is still great! Not all your food comes out at once (boohoo for nice photos, BUT at least your food is piping hot when they bring it to you.)
–Good portion sizes. Usually at dimsum places I leave starving, but this time I was stuffed. To the maximum! Come with friends, and definitely try as much as possible!
–Not too «flavorful». Compared to other places, the flavors here are definitely more «homey» than «restaurant». That being said, you can definitely feel free to eat more without feeling like you are ingesting oil!
Cons:
–Their bamboo containers are literally broken, so your food might spill out. Just be careful! And they should get new kitchenware…
–Beware of flies! People keep the front door open, and flies come in…(but they do their best to keep it closed!)
Tips/​Observations:
–Because of the drought, they only serve water upon request. They will charge you if have leftover ice water!
–The parking lot here is pretty small, so when you come in, be prepared to snag the parking spaces right at the entrance or circle in the back for someone to leave!
–Cross check what comes/​what you ordered! We were almost charged for items we did not order because they inputted it into the system incorrectly.
–Make sure to put yourself on the waiting list! They don’t go in that written order since they are trying to maximize the people influx and seating, so don’t be mad if you see your name next but no one calls you! But no worries-​they basically serve dimsum all day all night… so come get your fix whenever you want!
Overall, great experience. I have to say, hands down one of the better dimsum places I have been to. Unilocal,you’ve done it again!

This spot in Hayward was great consolation for a lost visiting Asian like myself. Between the three of us, we ordered about 80 dollars worth of dim sum for breakfast. It was about 50 more dollars than we should have ordered because we couldn’t finish but not because it wasn’t good!
I won’t get to specifics but the tripe dish was something I highly appreciated. I get that everyone won’t agree on eating innards of a cow but add some sliced jalapenos, some ginger and I’m game. Egg tart came out still hot and served as a great terminal dish for the morning. The hulk dumplings (not sure of the official name but I thought it was a cool looking green) had a skewed bun to stuffing ratio; towards the bun. It wasn’t bad but makes you feel full pretty fast but luckily I overcame that. Until next time!