T & S Chinese Restaurant

These people don’t pay their vendors. They’ve closed their doors leaving at least one food distributor, Marine Foods Express, holding $ 4,000 in open unpaid invoices. If they do open again elsewhere, don’t reward this type of behavior with your patronage.

Still the best dim sum in Austin. Sure… it’s not as good as LA, SF, Houston, or wherever you come from… but really… just relax and enjoy what is in front of you.
When I heard they would be closing their doors, I had no choice but to get my fix. It was as delicious as ever. I regret not coming here more often. Service is always great and the food is always hot and abundant.
I was pleased to learn that they were indeed closing their doors, but are planning to open in a new spot! The building has been sold and will become an Indian restaurant.
I can’t wait for the reopening and look forward to many ears of dim sum, chili crab, and other goodies from T&S! I promise to make more future visits.

Growing up in San Antonio, I didn’t get a lot of experience with Chinese food, either authentic or Americanized. When I did, it was the usual suspects of items in gloppy highlighter-​colored sticky sauce, or the inevitably generic «brown sauce». We weren’t very adventurous. When we were being extra edgy, we would order the «krab Rangoon». That continued for quite a number of years after coming to Austin.
One of my first adventures away from Panda-​esque Chinese food was T&S Seafood, on far North Lamar. This was a favorite place of the wife’s mom, and one of the early times I dined with that whole family as they judged my worthiness to date their beloved beautiful daughter. Over the years, my memories of T&S often involved seeing a large party, perhaps boisterously celebrating a special anniversary in the front room, or just a family filling up the lazy susan with hot pots, or seafood dishes that I always wished I had the [Chinese word for ‘cojones’] to order myself. Sure, there’s always the ‘salt and pepper’-ed various proteins, the dim sum, the standard lo meins/​fried rices. But inevitably, there was always the jealous «What was that dish???» moment as food was brought to other tables.
Over the years, especially as my wife developed her gluten allergy, my relationship with T&S dwindled to mostly to-​go orders for one, primarily walnut shrimp. That’s the dish I had for the first time ever at T&S, family-​style with the wife’s family. So I may just be nostalgic about it because of that. Sometimes the place was horribly busy, other times it would be scarily vacant, seemingly on the same nights/​same times of day. I know they used to be open like way past midnight, and local food-​service folks would flock there after their shifts late on a Saturday night.
But next week, T&S is going to close permanently.
T&S is like that kid who lives around the corner that your mom didn’t want you to hang out with, that you wonder why you don’t do much with any more. Sure, this rating may be on the «now that they’re gone/​Ronald Reagan» sliding scale (with their 170+ reviews, I’m certainly not skewing their overall rating). But as someone who will probably never travel to China, T&S will always be what I imagine a regular restaurant in a strip mall in China to be (Do they have strip malls in China?): plenty of decent food, friendly (though sometimes rushed/​distant) service, a kitchen I probably don’t want to peek into, and a bathroom that I really try to not need.
And I’ll miss it.

Been here before. Good food but terrible service. Oh and they close at 10 on Sundays. I drove 20 mins to find out they are closed. They should change that on there Unilocal.I don’t think they really care about Unilocal cause a lot of people have already told them that. So yea good food but don’t expect more than that.

My favorite Chinese restaurant, sad to know that they will be closing their doors in May :(

Hello everyone,
This is a not a review but instead an announcement from me — a waitress at T&S — to our dear customers. Here is a message from our boss:
«Dear friends of T & S Seafood Restaurant:
We are sorry to say we will be closing the restaurant on Wednesday May 14, 2014. Thank you so much for your loyal patronage over the years and we will miss you! We will still be open until Tuesday evening May 13, 2014.
With many thanks and blessings,
T & S Seafood Restaurant «
Thank you everyone for supporting our business. I have met many great people during my time here. Hopefully T&S will have a new location some day.

Dim Sum ALL WEEK LONG!
Sure they don’t pull out the carts unless it’s brunch time on Sunday, but it’s orderable there all week… and just as good as any other spot in town…
To make it better, it’s the cheapest place to get dim sum in town… hands down. For 2 people, the most I’ve spent there has been roughly $ 25… and for 3 – 4 people, I’ve never cracked $ 40. You just can’t beat the prices for what you get there.
The down side of T & S is the locale… they aren’t trying to be fancy there… they’re there to do a job… and that job is make great dim sum.
I’ve basically been around the block on the dim sum menu at T & S as I have at other places in Austin and this is really no different… other than costing less…
The service here is always great and prompt… you really can’t go wrong.
I’ve actually now made this a regular stop of mine on the weekends. I love it, and I think you will too.

I’ve driven by this place at least 20 times and I regret not trying it earlier.
Walking into the restaurant crowded with people waiting for a table is always a good sign, if people wait for food then there’s something there.
The foods are very traditional and taste homemade, not the package and heated up stuff at other dim sum places. The prices are reasonable, and I can never get enough.
Finding parking is sometimes tough, but you can also park along the street next to the restaurant.
Will definitely becoming here again to satisfy my dim sum cravings!

I’ve been coming here for years. I remember coming here with my high school boyfriend and some friends. This place isn’t the fanciest but damn do they have great food. I remember coming here on the weekends with my family for dim sum.
Today Eric got out of work and he had a hankering for some Chinese food. I asked where he wanted to go and he said «Let’s go to that hole in the wall that we went to a long time ago.» I was surprised and said ok. We walked in it was about 11:30 and there were only 3 other tables. The lady that greeted us asked if we wanted a dim sum menu to which my head and belly perked up. I said yes to all menus. As we sat down to peruse the menus I got so excited because there was dim sum! It was a paper tally sheet so I just marked off everything that I wanted. Mind you there were not any carts cruising around but who cares. It’s Tuesday and I can get dim sum! I looked around to see who are dining companions were. My parents and I always joke you know it’s legit when the «natives» are dining at an establishment. That’s very true for this place.
My hubby’s only request from the dim sum menu was for some dumplings. He ordered the lunch Kung Pao Chicken that came with hot and sour soup, egg roll and he requested fried rice. Me on the other hand I had a smörgåsbord of food. I got 3 types of dumplings. One was panfried the other two were steamed. I had some shrimp and cilantro and the others were shrimp and pork. I can’t remember what it was called but I also had an order of shrimp that had like rice wrap that’s steamed with a soy sauce. I also got an order of sticky rice.
The lady that was there was working by herself and was rocking out this lunch crowd. It started out small but as we left it was about doubled the size. She did a great job. Quick, pleasant and efficient. Food came out piping out and timely.
My experiences have always been great and I’m so glad that I can rely on this place. I’m also super excited that I can now get dim sum whenever I want.

Be careful here if you can’t tolerate MSG. I became sick for three days right after eating here. Headaches, dizziness. The flavors are okay, the interior is needing help but looks like a typical hole in the wall.

I can’t believe I’ve never reviewed this place before. I’ve been coming here since like 2007 when my friend took me here on a lark. I’ve tried some other dim sum places in Austin, but I lust only for T & S.
We LOVE their dim sum. I’ve never eaten here for dinner, but we go to dim sum as much as we can and if it’s been too long… I start to itch.
Our favorites include: chrysanthemum tea, salt and pepper shrimp, chinese broccoli, seaweed shrimp, pork bun, shrimp balls, ha gow, shrimp and leek dumplings, and for dessert – coconut bun and sesame balls.
I’m salivating now. We’re going tomorrow.

One word… :disgusting
just horrible pot stickers egg roll and chicken and sauce never again!!!

They have a lot different food here
They will push 4 or 5 carts around with different food from a table to another table.
Service is decent here, but the wait to be seated probably around 10 minutes and above during rush hours.
Cleanliness are pretty decent too, however, we only provided with one napkin. I guess you need to ask one of the busy staff to get extra napkins for you if needed.

You know that food you constantly think about, that one thing that is just out of arm’s reach on a normal basis but if you could have it almost everyday, you would?
That dish for me is the Salt & Pepper shrimp at T & S Chinese. If it wasn’t such a trek for me from S. Austin up to North Lamar & Braker, I would probably order in at least twice a week.
There are pages upon pages of delicious & interesting Chinese dishes, including a fair share of of veggie options and tons of seafood. My favs are the Salt & Pepper shrimp (of course), Garlic Beef, Beef or Chicken with Baby Bok Choy, Pan Fried Dumplings & some noodle dishes that I can’t remember the name of.
I’ve always had such nice waiters or waitresses, they’re attentive and the food comes out quickly & fresh/​made to order, I don’t like sitting around & waiting, especially if the place isn’t busy.
If you’re looking for a legitimate Dim Sum joint, then T & S can deliver that as well. I like going for dinner when I can order off the menu but the Dim Sum is fun, picking & choosing things off the cart that you aren’t exactly sure what they are.
I can’t give T & S Chinese 5 stars because well, it’s not the cleanest restaurant and the hours are a little weird, closed for a few hours in the middle of the day but open late night — so make sure to check that they’re open before you stop in!
No matter what time you go, you MUST have the Salt & Pepper shrimp. MUST.

Coming from San Francisco– I have to say the dim sum here is NOT GOOD. Everything tasted bland and not fresh. My guess Is the dim sum is frozen and steamed upon order.
The one plus is the waiter was really nice. Otherwise, very poor dim sum.

My bosses own an Asian food restaurant, and are friends with a lot of other owners in town. They took our kitchen staff and I out for my birthday. After ordering me numerous sapporo, they ordered food for the table. We had coconut rice battered fried lobster, mushu pork, fish and crab soup, and a steamed fish. I wasn’t overly thrilled with any one dish, but the mushu pork and the fried lobster were very good.
I probably will go back to try their dim sum on Sundays, but not for much else. There are so many better restaurants within a mile of here.

Our usual:
Chinese broccoli or river spinach
Pan fried noodles with chicken
Shiumai
Wonton soup
Spicy salt squid

Never go to this place during the day; it looks like a roach and rat paradise. It might be. Actually, definitely is. The interior sucks, the music is odd (mildly) but the food is absolutely delicious. I’ve never had anything here I did not love. This is my second favorite Chinese restaurant in Austin; the first being din ho.
Things to order; steamed dumplings, salt and pepper shrimp (no shells), fried tilapia, regal fried chicken. The hot and sour soup tastes a little dirty sometimes, like they used tap water. That shrimp though… it tastes like an orgasm in your mouth. A salty buttery one. Mmmm!

Chalk this one up for one of those pleasant surprises and for being at the right place at the right time.
Over the holiday I got into a Chinese food kick, for some reason I had been craving good Chinese but had left the cuisine long ago since it’s generally not healthy and I hadn’t found a really good quality place.
Driving down N. Lamar on a late weekend night on an empty stomach (which is a no-​no) the craving for Chinese came back but I had written it off since I figured all possible options were close. NOT SO FAST — big bright yellow sign w/​the letters «T&S» flash before my eyes — — oh (I’m thinking), I’ve seen this place before, never tried it, but the lights are on and I think they’re open. A quick check on their Unilocal reviews — — and surprisingly they were very respectable, and these guys are open laaaaate. We’re talking 10−11pm-ish on weekdays, and I wanna say 1−2am-ish on weekends. Wowsers.
They were not busy at all, maybe 1 – 2 people in the store. I went with the reviews: Salt & Pepper Shrimp, Combination Fried Rice, and a couple of the Cilantro Shrimp Dumplings. Food came out in a respectable time and I gotta say I was quite impressed! the S&P Shrimp was deep fried (I didn’t know) but very tasty, not too greasy, I really enjoyed it. Loved the combo fried rice — lots of flavor and plenty of leftovers. The CS dumplings were solid — — nothing outta this world but they were good, but then again I’m not a huge dim sum guru but it was good.
A pleasant surprise in my book. I’ve driven by this place many times but never thought much of it, and you could easily write this place off since it’s not the prettiest gal on the block. Susan Boyle could chime in here and say don’t judge a book by it’s cover, that’s a perfect cliché for T&S Chinese.

Might be best dim sum in Austin but unfortunately not saying a lot. Selection kind of limited and definitely not as good as dim sum restaurants on the coasts (Seattle, Oakland, Boston) where I have lived.
Service is pretty quick and food served fresh. Also more expensive than you might think at $ 10+/person in my experience for brunch.

Not the cleanest or coolest restaurant in Austin, but a solid place if you are in the mood for Dim Sum. There always seems to be a wait on the weekends for Dim Sum and if you’ve had it, you’ll know why.
I ate there this past Sunday for lunch and the place has not changed – it’s dingy, tables are tight, and people are waiting for seats. The dim sum is traditional with a small variety of fried and steam items. The fried items are a bit dry in my opinion. My favorites are the pork dumplings, ribs and sticky rice. The carts are a little slow to come around, but the dim sum is solid.
Good prices and good food in a subpar building.