A panel of local chefs and restaurant owners recently put together their picks for the 13 best dim sum spots in the city, and honestly, it's one of the best arguments for living here that doesn't involve venture capital or microdosing. The list spans from the historic parlors of Chinatown to a sleeper hit out in Forest Hill, covering everything from impossibly delicate soup dumplings to rice rolls with the kind of bounce that would make a trampoline jealous.

This is the free market doing what it does best: fierce competition producing extraordinary results. San Francisco's dim sum scene didn't get this good because of a government grant or a Board of Supervisors resolution. It got this good because talented people opened restaurants, took risks with their own money, and let customers decide who survives. That's how it's supposed to work.

For anyone visiting or driving through, one local offered the most San Francisco advice imaginable: "Don't leave luggage in your car." Sad, true, and worth repeating — but don't let that stop you from making the trip.

The real beauty of this list is the geographic spread. Chinatown gets its well-deserved recognition, but some of the best har gow and Peking duck in the Bay Area is hiding in neighborhoods most tourists — and frankly, most residents — never think to explore. Forest Hill? That's a residential pocket most San Franciscans only know as a Muni stop. But apparently someone out there is turning out crispy duck worth crossing the city for.

If you want our unsolicited fiscal advice: dim sum is one of the best dollar-for-dollar dining experiences in the city. You can eat like royalty for the price of a single cocktail at some Marina bar. Skip the $22 avocado toast, grab three friends, and order one of everything off the cart.

San Francisco's dim sum scene is proof that when government gets out of the way and people are free to cook, compete, and create, everybody eats well.