Columbus does not have a dim sum hall on the scale of the coasts, and this list is honest about that. What it has is a strong bench of Chinese kitchens across the city that cover the ground dim sum usually fills: dumplings, wontons, fried rice, the shareable middle of the table, plus a couple of adjacent Asian rooms and one Indian tandoor kitchen worth the detour. Judge these by the plate, not the label.
№ 01
Tai's Asian Bistro & Sushi
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Tai's covers East and Southeast Asian ground at once, which makes it the default when a table cannot agree on one cuisine. The chicken egg roll and mapo tofu are the anchors, kung pao chicken the crowd-pleaser. Portions run large for the price, service moves fast, and the room seats groups without a wait. Consistency has wobbled over the years, but the current run reads solid.
What to orderchicken egg roll, mapo tofu, kung pao chicken
№ 02
NE Chinese Restaurant
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The twice cooked spicy fish is the dish to build an order around, a Szechuan preparation that holds its heat even through a DoorDash bag. Braised beef comes with a soy dip on the side and arrives tender. NE Chinese runs mostly as delivery and takeout, and the kitchen's timing holds up under that model better than most.
What to ordertwice cooked spicy fish, braised beef, Szechuan style dishes
№ 03
Chuan Jiang Hao Zi
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A full parking lot at noon on an unassuming storefront is the tell here. The spicy dumplings in chili oil lead the menu, with crab rangoons close behind and Kung Pao chicken built with real heat that the kitchen will scale down on request. Mongolian beef and Hunan chicken round out a menu suited to a family table at lunch.
What to orderSpicy Dumplings with Chili Oil, Kung Pao Chicken, Crab Rangoons
№ 04
Molly Woo's Asian Bistro
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Molly Woo's works two ways: a sit-down room for family celebrations and a bar for happy hour, where potstickers, spicy tuna roll, and tempura shrimp cover both crowds. The bartenders draw specific praise for pace and attitude, and the tempura shrimp holds up as a straightforward order even when the kitchen gets a modification request.
What to orderpotstickers, spicy tuna roll, tempura shrimp
№ 05
Asian Kitchen
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Near Easton on the northeast side, Asian Kitchen runs on egg roll reputation, and the rolls earn the trip: crisp, worth ordering by the multiple so a couple end up in the freezer. Wonton soup and general Tso's chicken round out a takeout order built for a family, with vegetarian substitutions handled without fuss.
What to orderegg roll, wonton soup, general Tso's chicken
№ 06
Billy Lee's Chinese Cuisine Bexley
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Billy Lee's sits in Bexley, not Columbus, a lunch counter and bar combination where the happy family and general tso chicken anchor a straightforward takeout order. Wontons and hot and sour soup round out the plate. Bar service gets specific praise, including a margarita made to order while a to-go bag waits.
What to ordergeneral tso chicken, wontons, happy family
№ 07
Taste of Orient
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Chicken lo mein arrives in portions big enough to justify the price, and the dumplings draw the strongest praise on the menu, packed with meat rather than filler vegetables. Taste of Orient runs as a strip-mall counter built for weeknight takeout, with fried rice as the reliable third order for a table that wants volume over ceremony.
What to orderchicken lo mein, dumplings, fried rice
№ 08
Hunan King | Chinese
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Hunan King holds a place on the city's Chinese takeout roster as a straightforward counter operation, the kind of storefront that keeps a neighborhood fed without much fanfare. Details on specific dishes are thin here, which is its own kind of honest: a reliable option worth checking against a current menu before ordering.
№ 09
Red Chili Asian Kitchen
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Red Chili leans into ramen as its calling card, drawing a following near Ohio State that returns for it specifically, alongside pad thai and spring rolls that read as the practical order. The room runs quiet outside peak times, counter service and all, and the kitchen's ramen holds up as the reason to go in January as much as June.
What to orderramen, pad thai, spring rolls
№ 10
Joy to Go
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Joy to Go earns its name as a takeout specialist: fried rice, lo mein, and orange chicken in portions generous enough to become a standing weeknight order for regulars. The menu runs smaller than some competitors, and the room can slow when it is busy, but the food comes out fresh and the value holds.
What to orderfried rice, lo mein, orange chicken
№ 11
Haveli Bistro
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Haveli Bistro works the tandoor hard, and the tandoori shrimp and tandoori chicken are the dishes to order first, both benefiting from a kitchen that labels gluten-free options clearly across the menu. Saag paneer rounds out a vegetarian order. The room fills with groups even midweek; the buffet draws more mixed reports than the à la carte tandoor plates.
What to ordertandoori shrimp, tandoori chicken, saag paneer
№ 12
Golden Phoenix Restaurant
$$
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Golden Phoenix runs on affordable all-day cocktails and a menu built for groups, with shrimp toast as the opener worth ordering first and shrimp pad thai as a strong main. Wonton soup has drawn complaints about thin filling, but the rest of the table, service included, gets consistent marks for a fast, friendly room.
What to orderShrimp Toast, Shrimp Pad Thai, Wonton Soup
Frequently asked
What is the best dim sum restaurant near me in Columbus?
Columbus does not run a dedicated dim sum hall scene the way some coastal cities do, so this guide points to the Chinese kitchens across the city and its ring cities with the strongest dumpling, dim-sum-adjacent, and shareable-plate cooking. Check the Insider Score on each listing, which reflects the public review record, not any payment. No restaurant on this list paid for placement.
Which restaurants on this list are outside the city of Columbus?
Billy Lee's Chinese Cuisine sits in Bexley, its own municipality bordered by Columbus. Every other restaurant on this list operates within the city of Columbus itself. The distinction matters locally: Bexley, like Grandview Heights or Upper Arlington, is not a Columbus neighborhood.
Is the Insider Score the same as a star rating?
The Insider Score is this site's own composite reading of the public review record for each restaurant, weighing volume and consistency rather than any single platform's star average. It updates independently of the restaurant, and nothing on this list was paid for or requested by an owner.
Where should a group looking for dumplings and shareable plates start?
Chuan Jiang Hao Zi and Taste of Orient both draw strong marks specifically for dumplings, while Tai's Asian Bistro and Molly Woo's suit larger groups who want variety across the table. All are sized for a shared order rather than single plates.
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The data first, then the verdict
We start with the review record, not a press release. Every room here is a real kitchen with a strong rating across a meaningful number of reviews, ranked on our 10-point Insider Score. We weight consistency over time and the rooms locals return to, not the ones tourists pass through once. The list updates as the data does. How we work →
Tommy Vu
Staff Writer · Top of Columbus
Tommy Vu is the Corridors and Heritage Editor at Top of Columbus. He grew up rolling silverware in his parents' pho shop in a Bethel Road plaza and has been eating his way through the city's strip-mall corridors ever since. If the best kitchen in the plaza has handwritten specials taped to the register, he has already ordered them.
