Dumpling Specialist

Savory soymilk and rice rolls have been a childhood favorite of mine, so I was thrilled to find this spot! It's my ultimate comfort food, all in one place.Everything here is so good--the dumplings, Shanghai noodles, soymilk, and rice rolls are all must-tries. I usually grab mine to go since the restaurant is on the smaller side, but if you come early, there's no wait!A hidden gem for authentic flavors

Knocking off all the places on Taraval St. This place has 6-7 tables inside and when we went at 6pm on a Monday, it was empty (for obvious reasons), but I've seen this place packed before on weekends when walking by! Pretty solid Chinese food! The Shanghai noodles were my favorite because they were super wok hei, same with the Mongolian beef!! The pork/cabbage dumplings and pan fried buns were flavorful and delicious as well! I could pass on the sticky rice roll and the hot and sour soup though. I wished the soup was more sour and spicy lol. It didn't quite hit the spot but at least it came out piping hot!

Dumpling Specialist is a very small hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant in Taraval. There's usually a wait when I've come here and their hours and very limited, especially on the weekend. I came on a Saturday and had about a 15 minute wait for a party of 2 before we were seated and brought hot tea. The food was mixed for me...I liked some dishes, but didn't care for some also. We ordered the cucumber salad, savory soy milk, sticky rice roll, steamed pork cabbage dumplings, Shanghai dumplings, and wonton in chili oil. The cucumber salad didn't have a lot of flavor. At least all the cucumbers on the top didn't. The ones that were soaking in the bottom were better, but the flavor still could have been stronger. The savory soy milk was just okay. I liked how it came with pieces of the fried Chinese donut (you tiao) and pickled veggies (zha cai), but the flavor of the savory soy milk didn't compare to some of the best I've had. The wonton in chili oil was just okay as well. It wasn't bad, but didn't stand out either. The Shanghai dumplings were good in flavor, but lacked a bit in presentation. The steamed pork cabbage dumplings were good. The sticky rice roll was pretty good. The staff was nice and good with service. There is a 3% fee if you pay by credit card. No extra fee if you pay cash. They also take Venmo, no fees. Also, they didn't charge for hot tea. The portions are small, but the prices are not high. Overall, this is a good Chinese restaurant. It's best if you don't come with a large party.

Love the pan fried pork buns here! We went on a weekend night and the restaurant was quite empty so we didn't have to wait at all!The food was a solid four stars. We got the fan tuan (sticky rice wrap with fermented vegetables and pork floss), dumplings, Shanghai style chow mein, and pan fried pork buns. The highlight for me was the pork buns. The bun is soaked in umami soup. The pork is sooo tender. I wasn't a big fan of the fan tuan as it felt kinda plain and was more of sticky rice than fillings. I would go again for the pan fried pork buns!

I realized my last review had a typo so I'm just updating to fix the typo. I've also been to this location 2-3x more times since that review and Dumpling Specialist continues to remain consistently excellent and good even with take out orders.I have so many review updates for this place and compared to my first review, this place has changed so much and is now my new favorite dumpling placed in SF. For the price, quality and service, Dumpling Specialist is unmatched in any other placed I've been to.1. Pan fried dumplings: Amazing! Perfectly cooked on the outside. The size of the dumplings are so much bigger now from when they first opened (I think you less amount but its so much better now). The flavor, soup, crunchiness from the outer wrapping are all perfectly made.2. Noodles in Peanut Sauce: My favorite dish here. The sauce and meat are incredible. Noodles are perfectly cooked. This is a much try.3. Wonton in Peanut sauce: Super delicious sauce. The wonton itself doesn't have too much flavor but the sauce itself is delicious and there is so much meat inside the wonton. Another much order dish.4. Sticky Rice Roll: I love the texture differences with the rice and the crunchy Yao Tiu inside.5. XLB: Such amazing flavor and lots of soup inside. One of the best in the Bay area and again, the dumplings are so reasonably priced.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Overall, this place now lives up to their name. They truly are the dumpling specialists of San Francisco. They also are the noodle specialists as well. Must try! I also think the food tastes way better eating in rather than take out unless you eat it immediately.

There aren't a ton of places that we keep coming back to in the city but Dumpling Specialist is one of them. We specifically come for the fan tuan or sticky rice rolls! It's the perfect thing to pick up and enjoy on the go with some piping hot sweet soy milk which they also sell here. The rice is perfectly QQ, the chinese donut inside extremely crunchy, and the sweetness of the pork floss harmonizes so nicely with the pickled veg inside. Don't change a thing! I have not found another place that sells fan tuan in the city so if you know of a place let me know. I've had fancier versions in LA and in the South bay which were also great but seems to be a dearth of places that sell the sticky rice rolls in SF so we keep coming back here and not mad about it. The other thing we enjoy here is the bean curd salad. Highly recommend getting this! The bean curd noodle texture is chef's kiss and pairs beautifully in the sauce with the bites from the cucumber. So good! I could eat a giant bowl of this. Shanghai dumplings are also a fav. They're solid and the price is right. Unfortunately I haven't tried a whole lot from their menu since we stick to the fan tuans here and they're pretty filling with the rice. Service always fast and efficient. Pro tip: Order online before and take the food to the park right across the street called McCoppin Square. They have several picnic tables you can enjoy your meal at as well as a few benches to sit on. Parking can be a bit tough to find in the area though.

give dumpling specialist a try now that the taraval street construction is over! pan-fried baos, chow mein, rice plates, garlic-infused greens and more!

Small shop with great prices. There's only around 6 tables in the shop, but service is fast and the food is solid.My favorite was the 生煎包- so crispy and juicy on the inside! We also got the shrimp dumplings which were excellent. The 5 spice beef noodle soup was slightly sweeter than I expected, so don't know if I would order again. The lunch specials were average, but huge portions for the value.

Small restaurant with solid Chinese food. The dumplings are good but my go-to is the dandan noodles (peanut noodles) with extra chili oil. Would recommend as the prices aren't too expensive and they're pretty quick.

Small shop and popular, which means a wait for dinner at around 6pm onwards. The turnover isn't that quick so prepared to wait a bit.We got the savory soy milk (comes with youtaio and zhacai), wontons in chili oil (sesame sauce base), shengjianbao, dry fried string beans, and pork and preserved vegetable rice cakes.Everything was pretty good but the portions are on the smaller side, which is made up with their lower prices per dish.