East Dallas shop Hello Dumpling is going to say "hello" to a new part of Dallas.
Co-owner June Chow is opening a new restaurant in a shopping center called The Hill, at Walnut Hill and Central Expressway in North Dallas. The new Hello Dumpling is expected to open in October.
Update on Oct. 10, 2019: The new plan is to open in early 2020.
The shop will be situated near Sushi de Handroll, Bellagreen and Pokéworks. Other popular businesses in The Hill include a brunch spot called Snooze, a Houndstooth Coffee, a Tacodeli and a temporary Instagram installation called Candytopia.
When Hello Dumpling opened in 2017, we called it one of the most interesting restaurants to land in Dallas that year.
Hello Dumpling is inspired by Chow's travels back to northern China, where her mother grew up. The restaurant in East Dallas sells dumplings, cold veggie salads like pickled smashed cucumbers, and noodle dishes. Chow's rice dumplings are a special addition to the menu, as she remembers her mom making those for special occasions, if company was coming over for dinner.
"She'd make those and we'd lunge for them," Chow says of her rice dumplings. "They're very delicate."
The new restaurant at The Hill will maintain a nearly identical menu from the original Hello Dumpling, except Chow hopes to eventually add steamed buns, another dish her mom used to make. They were often filled with minced pork, garlic and green onion.
Hello Dumpling's staff makes the dumplings and noodles in-house, and the steamed buns will be house-made, too. It's a time-consuming process that is essential to keeping the quality high, Chow says.
Regulars in East Dallas likely know Chow: She's at the original Hello Dumpling constantly, greeting customers, taking orders and expediting dishes from the kitchen to customers' tables. Chow says opening a second location is nerve-wracking because she wants the second iteration to maintain the warmth and quality of the original. And she can't be two places at once.
"I'm just worried that I'm going to be exhausted," she says, laughing.
"But I think this concept and this product deserve to be within reach of folks in that area. ... I'm not out there to take over the world, and I'm not going to populate every corner, but I think it just makes sense to have a second location."
