Tao Tao Ju (Shifu Main Store)

Tao Tao Ju has operated on or near this stretch of Dishifu Road since 1880, making it the oldest restaurant still trading in Guangzhou and one of the anchor institutions of the city's Cantonese morning-tea culture. The Shifu Main Store was renovated and reopened in December 2024, restoring a multi-floor courtyard building filled with carved wood screens, calligraphy scrolls and historical photographs documenting more than fourteen decades of service through the Qing dynasty, the Republican era and modern Guangzhou. The kitchen turns out upward of 200 dim sum varieties across the day, from delicate steamed shrimp dumplings and baked barbecue pork puffs to the restaurant's own mooncakes, produced seasonally and shipped to Cantonese communities well beyond Guangdong. Morning tea here is treated as a genuine social institution rather than a quick meal: regulars, extended families and out-of-town visitors settle in with a pot of pu'er or chrysanthemum tea and a trolley or menu-order parade of small plates that can stretch over an hour or more. The dining rooms span several floors, with quieter upper levels better suited to larger groups and a livelier ground floor that fills quickly once the morning session opens. Service is brisk and practiced, geared toward turning tables during the peak 9AM-11AM and weekend lunch periods, though the restaurant does not rush single diners lingering over tea. Its location a few minutes from the Shangxiajiu pedestrian street and the Xiguan old town makes it a natural stop for anyone tracing Guangzhou's Cantonese culinary heritage on foot.