The Year of the Snake has finally arrived (again), and this weekend Chinatown in Manhattan and Flushing in Queens will be swarmed with revelers. And while you could cook up some of these good-luck dishes to get this serpentine year started right, you might also want to check out some of the neighborhoods' top dim sum spots for a few celebratory small bites. Here are a few of our favorites; share yours in the comments:

Nom Wah Tea Parlor: This Chinatown stronghold serves classic dim sum dishes from an old-school space. You'll probably have to wait a bit for a table, but the steamed delicacies they serve you inside are well worth it. Try the shrimp rice rolls, crispy scallion pancakes and dollar roast pork buns, The dim sum is cheap—a meal for eight can clock in at less than $20 a person—and you often end up with plenty of leftovers to keep the cheer going for a few more days. Plus, if you like a little history with your meal, Nom Wah is located on Doyers Street's "bloody angle," which is known for being a murder hot spot during the "Gangs of New York" era.

Nom Wah Tea Parlor is located at 13 Doyers St between Bowery and Chatham Square in Chinatown (212-962-6047, nomwah.com).

Dim Sum Go Go:: This place is a little more refined than some of the more old-fashioned restaurants in Chinatown. It's comparatively quiet and you don't get any cart-pushing servers snapping at you to pick your dish every five minutes. And though it feels like it can't be real dim sum if nobody yells at you, what they do here they do well. Try the pork dumplings and steamed duck, or nom on the spinach dumplings if you're looking for a veggie option, and make sure you close the meal out with some fresh mango pudding.

Dim Sum Go Go is located at 5 East Broadway between Chatham Square & St. James Place in Chinatown (212-732-0796).

Vegetarian Dim Sum House: If you're not a pork-eater, Veggie Dim Sum offers lots of faux-meat dishes that are a fun alternative to the usual vegetarian Chinese food fare. Adventurous-ish herbivores should check out the fake shark's fin soup and mock squid dishes. If you want to stick with something a little more classic, try the been curd, noodle and mushroom-heavy Buddha's Delight stew—it's a celebrated New Year's veggie dish.

Vegetarian Dim Sum House is located at 24 Pell Street between Doyers and Mott Street in Chinatown (212-577-7176, vegetariandimsum.com).

Ocean Jewels Seafood Restaurant: This famed Flushing restaurant is best enjoyed with a skilled Mandarin or Cantonese speaker or someone very familiar with dim sum dishes; you might find yourself pointing randomly at lots of odd dumpling and bean plates otherwise. But Ocean Jewels' (also known as Asian Jewels) big banquet hall style and mad-dash cart service makes it a fun visit, especially during a big celebration like the Chinese New Year. It's a little pricier than some of the other local dim sum spots, but a unique experience nonetheless.

Ocean Jewels Seafood Restaurant is located at 13330 39th Avenue in Flushing, Queens (718-359-8600, tunseng.com).

Jade Asian Restaurant: Jade Asian is another classic Flushing spot, and though it's a little bigger than Ocean Jewels, you'll still get all the rolling-cart banquet-hall madness associated with traditional dim sum. Since it offers more space than some of the other restaurants mentioned, the wait isn't too bad on weekends, plus they take credit cards! Expect to eat a few surprise shrimp dishes, and drink many, many cups of tea.

Jade Asian Restaurant is located at 136-28 39th Avenue in Flushing, Queens (718-762-8821).