Follow the dim sum carts at the huge Grand Palace in South Philadelphia

The servers pushing dim sum carts through the new Grand Palace in South Philadelphia are getting in their daily steps, in a big way.

The restaurant, which opened last month on the former site of Saigon Maxim in New World Plaza at Sixth Street and Washington Avenue, can accommodate 700 people in its ballroom-size halls. Dim sum is served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, outside banquet hours.

The kitchen is half a city block away from the front dining room, decorated banquet-style, with lazy Susans and pink linens on the tables and bright red chair covers.

Grand Palace shares ownership with Chinatown’s Ocean City, also a dim sum destination, as well as Pho Ha, a Vietnamese restaurant two doors away in New World Plaza. Managing the day-to-day is Thao Tran, who was a pharmacist for 17 years until the December 2019 death of her husband, restaurateur Dan La.

Tran assumed his share of the business, and she has been learning the ropes.

The carts never stop. Best to flag down the one carrying congee to start the experience, and order jasmine, green, or chrysanthemum tea (or something stronger, as there is a service bar).

The carts’ assortments vary but include steamer baskets full of shumai, rice rolls, har gow, sticky rice, all sorts of dumplings, meatballs, shrimp cheong fun, and egg tarts and dessert buns. Most baskets are priced at $4.95 to $7.95, though specialties like fried quail ($16.95) are higher.