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Michelin-Level Dim Sum Tim Ho Wan Just Weeks From Opening Near LA

The immensely popular global brand hits Irvine

A platter of Dim Sum from Tim Ho Wan in Irvine.
Tim Ho Wan
Tim Ho Wan
Farley Elliott is the Senior Editor at Eater LA and the author of Los Angeles Street Food: A History From Tamaleros to Taco Trucks. He covers restaurants in every form, from breaking news to the culture, people, and history that surrounds LA's dining landscape.

Tim Ho Wan is getting close. The Hong Kong-based dim sum purveyor with a Michelin pedigree is set to open either later this month or sometime in April down in Irvine, and is already one of Orange County’s most anticipated restaurants in years.

Word of Tim Ho Wan’s West Coast expansion first came last August as part of a Conde Nast Traveler story on the company. Not only is this first Southern California location on the docket for the chain, which has some 50+ locations, but owners are also heading into the Palms hotel and casino in Las Vegas rather soon. It’s a remarkable rise for the company, which started in 2009 with just one restaurant and 20 seats.

Reps for the iconic Tim Ho Wan tell Eater that an opening for the 129-seat restaurant could come as soon as the end of March or early April. There will be full service available in the dining room, as well as a takeout window for takeaway dining.

Irvine has for years been one of the better places to experience a variety of Chinese food in Southern California, and Tim Ho Wan’s new location inside the Diamond Jamboree plaza off Alton Parkway is perhaps the epicenter of it all. At twelve full acres and with nearly 750 parking spots, the bustling plaza is so famous for its food that it even received a profile from the LA Times back in 2017.

Tim Ho Wan. 2700 Alton Parkway, Irvine, CA.