Imperial Garden Seafood Restaurant plans to serve its final meal on Dec. 31, ending a 31-year run in San Francisco’s Portola neighborhood. The dim sum restaurant is a city-designated Legacy Business and is known locally as 德群, or duk kwan.
Owner Elaine Yen said the decision was difficult for her family. Her father, Phong Yen, opened the restaurant with her late mother, Elin Yen, in 1995. After the property sold in February, its new owners offered the family an early exit from a lease that still had several years left. Yen said the restaurant was not forced out; she cited less dining out in the neighborhood and a shortage of parking among the factors behind the closure.
The restaurant also houses Sassy Foods, a vegan dim sum business run by Menny Ly, who joined Yen in running Imperial Garden in 2023. Ly said she plans to relocate her business, likely to the East Bay.
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