Make-your-own hot pot dish. | Yintang Spicy Hot Pot. From hot pot to dim sum and everything in between, here’s where you can find the best Chinese cuisine in San Diego San Diego’s Chinese food landscape is getting more exciting, with restaurants of all sizes representing China’s vast and varied regional cuisine. In addition to familiar Chinese-American dishes, establishments are spending time making scratch-made specialties from gastronomic centers like Yangzhou, Shanghai, Xian, Hunan, and Hong Kong. While there’s room to grow, the appetite of San Diego diners is becoming more sophisticated and familiar with the nuances and complexities intrinsic to Chinese cooking. The city’s first Chinatown was established in the 1860s, encompassing an eight-block district where the Gaslamp Quarter sits today. Since then, standout Chinese restaurants have spread far and wide, from Kearny Mesa to North County and beyond. Here’s a list of Chinese restaurants in San Diego worth trying.