Read the reviews and drove by many times, but first time visit. Most tables were occupied during our visit, but we were seated quickly. They were pretty busy so it took a moment before the menus arrived and we were able to place our order. Once order placed, food arrived fairly quickly. Everything we ordered was good - salt and pepper fish filets, Shanghai fried rice cake, string beans, dry fried chicken wings . . . The XLB were soupy. Hubs had to try the sweet rice roll - interesting and quite enjoyable. read more

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Didn't realize the owners changed... dad probably finally retired and I'm super sad about it. The biggest thing im sad about is the peanut noodles. Its a completely different flavor and just not the same. Another change is the bell peppers in the pork and preserved vegetables noodle soup dish. Im mildly allergic to bell peppers, which i understand is a me problem, but ive never had this soup anywhere before with bell peppers. The space was opened up slightly to accommodate a larger party at a round table. They almost didnt give me a takeout menu saying its the same as the old menu (we apparently have an even older one) but clearly, the food based on what i and others mentioned, is not the same read more

Order: Sticky rice: crispy on the inside with pork floss and vegetables. rice is soft and it comes warm. Happy this place sells this. Savory soy milk: expected this to come in a cup, and it came in a bowl similar to a soup. Good flavor and comes with crispy donut Shanghai dumplings: meat was tender, savory broth but it could be hotter Pan fried pork buns: one of their specialties, dough was not thick, juicy inside and crispy exterior. must order. Dry fried wings: more vinegary flavor to it, not as crispy Restaurant is closed on Wednesday. There are a total of 6 tables with 2 of them fitting 4 people. They can run out of soy milk as it gets later in the night. Staff offers tea or water. If you pay with card, there is a 4% surcharge. read more

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My cousin's go-to take out place for dumplings. We got the sticky rice rolls with the pork floss, XLB, pan fried pork buns, and Shanghai style stir fried rice cakes and salt and pepper chicken. Everything was a hit except the salt and pepper chicken which was very dry. Our 7 year old polished off two orders of the Shanghai dumplings! Plus the pan fried pork buns! Nothing more need to be said. Also my cousin says the owner makes his own sauce and yes, it's very good. The only thing is that we were there right when they opened the doors and put our order in. However we waited a long time while people who had phoned in orders after us picked up their orders. Oh well! read more

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. read more

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Small place but good food. They do predominately takeout orders. Ordered 5 dishes for $50, enough for 2 people. Dishes (ranked from best): 1) Pork and cabbage potstickers 2) Sticky rice roll: unique Taiwanese dish that is hard to find. It's good but not too special 3) Walnut shrimp: standard 4) Shanghai Dumplings: good but need to ask them for sliced ginger 5) Dry-Fried Chicken Wings: would skip because it tasted like Kung pow chicken (not crispy) Logistics: -limited street parking -accepts card and cash (cheaper if you pay in cash) -can order takeout read more

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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 read more

Traveled 2400 miles to go and enjoy some fantuon and other delicious dumpling dishes only to find out the establishment has been closed since March. So devastated. read more

Good food! Came right when they opened on a Sunday and there was no wait, phew! By the time we finished there was a crowd forming outside the small restaurant. Hot and sour soup ($11.50) - Really good, they were able to make it vegetarian for my friend. Sticky rice roll ($5.25) - So nostalgic! Is it just me or is it hard to find a place that serves this? Five spice beef stew noodle soup ($11.00) - Beef was tender but tasted like two spice noodle soup. A bit bland for me. Shanghai dumplings ($6.95 for 5 pieces) - Not bad. Got some juice. Vegetarian dumpling ($6.95 for 5 pieces) - Decent. read more

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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. read more

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! read more

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First, service was very slow as owners have changed. We waited a long time to receive the menu to order and even saw other tables have to go grab their own menu. The food took a long time, despite being the first of all tables to order. The food, especially what would have been considered appetizers were served last and much later than the rest of the order. I usually visit to grab their sticky rice roll and peanut noodles and unfortunately were let down. We received our peanut noodles and to second another review here, it has changed. The sauce is different, barely any sauce and the noodles are just tossed in what seems like soy sauce and some "peanuts" which the staff pointed out made it peanut noodles. Usually the sauce is creamy and more than JUST peanuts as a decoration that makes it peanut noodles. The dry fried chicken wings were overly sweet, completely different in a bad way to the popular San Tung wings, almost like the wings were dipped in honey. The sticky rice roll was alright, the Chinese donut was overly hard. Overall, I would not visit again as everything is different-- the staff, service, food. read more

Dumpling Specialist - Dry Dry-fried Chicken Wings (干烹雞翼) - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

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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! read more

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First time at Dumpling Specialist and probably not the last! We had an order of Shanghai dumplings, some chicken and corn soup, dry fried chicken wings, beef with bok choy over rice, potstickers, and the pork and cabbage dumplings for 3 adults and a 4 year old. We all really liked the chicken and corn soup, especially the toddler. The dumplings were pretty good as was everything else, but I wouldn't say the best I've ever had. The broccoli was cooked perfectly, though, beautifully green and still crunchy. The wings were definitely not as good as another establishment I frequent, but very palatable nonetheless. Prices were good, but the portions are also on the smaller side; the upside would be that you can try a couple of different items for the price of what you have to pay for one item somewhere else. I would definitely return! read more

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3.5 stars. I love their soups- hot and sour and the veggie. So good and comforting on a cold day. Being called a dumpling spot, the XLB were falling apart and lost all their soup before we could even take a bite. The sheng jian bao had a slightly sweet wrapper? Not sure if that was a mistake. And it was hardly pan fried- not a good sear on the bottoms. We did enjoy their weekday lunch specials (12.50 i believe). It's a decent neighborhood spot but if you want the best sheng jian bao in the area go to Brochette Dumpling in Park Merced. read more

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. read more

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Good food here. I appreciate that they have smaller portions and prices are low so you can try more variety of dishes! Stir fried rice cakes w pork - sliced thin, good texture, generously sized pieces of pork Soup dumplings Xiao long bao - pretty good, not as juicy and soft as I wanted though Pan fried buns sheng jian bao - good flavor but the wrapper is super thin, I prefer a thicker, more bready wrapper for these Steamed dumplings and potstickers - delicious Bean curd salad - not a ton of flavor, comes with cucumber. Really good with their house chili oil read more

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. read more

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Unfortunately, I think they've changed their recipes :( From the XLB, Pan Fried Dumplings, and Cucumber Salad, everything tasted different and not in a good way. So sad, this was my #1 dumpling spot, and I swore up and down this was the best place, even better than Din Tai Fung. But now I don't know what happened. Service was good though as always. It's such a small restaurant so you will never feel forgotten. They're always on top of everything. read more

New opened restaurant in sunset district to serve dumpling and fresh soy milk. Reasonable price for lunch special. Must come to try. read more

Dumpling Specialist - Good food with reasonable price in sunset district. - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

Seems like the owner changed and the menu changed. I wanted to move just to eat here everyday. What a sad day. Their peanut noodles were so fire. If you bring back the old menu leave a comment so i can update my review!! read more

These five stars are for the old owner. I want to say this is my fav place on Taraval, the food are always being fantastic. But now they're having a new owner, the food tastes differently...personally it's not as good as it used to be. If the old owner can see this, please - I'd like to know where is your new restaurant! If you're retired, thank you for the service in the past few years! read more

I am blown away by the little restaurant! I recently came back from Taiwan and was craving a sticky rice roll. It's extremely rare to find this in San Francisco, but I am glad this restaurant offers it! While we were there, we also got the seafood stir fried rice cakes and I thought that was the highlight of my meal. The rice cakes were extremely savory and flavorful. Lots of char flavor from the wok as well. It was delicious! I wish there were more protein options inside the sticky rice roll so hopefully they can incorporate that soon read more

Dumpling Specialist - Seafood Stir-Fried Rice Cakes - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

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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. read more

Everything we had was tasty and fresh. The menu is not huge, mostly different combinations of the same few things, but everything was fresh, well made & timed properly when it reached the table. Not bad value too, read more

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another solid chinese restaurant on taraval st! came by with a group of 3 on a sunday evening around 6, there was a bit of a wait to be seated since the space is pretty small and there didn't seem to be too many workers, but still a very reasonable wait time (5-10 minutes). i was a big fan of the pan fried potstickers - i thought they were very structurally sound. sticky rice roll is worth trying as you don't see it often. the cucumber salad fell a bit flat - it was a little bland and could've used more sauce. side note, they gave water in coffee cups which was interesting. it's cheaper if you pay in cash so would definitely recommend preparing some cash before coming. overall very cheap and authentic chinese food, would highly recommend! read more

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Tried this place for the first time last week, then ordered delivery a few days later! Loved the more simplified Shangahinese style Fan Tuan (鹹飯糰)! The cruller (yiu tiao 油條) was crispy. We also ordered the stir-fried rice cake with preserved vegetables （雪菜肉絲炒年糕, and the bok choy with salted pork rice soup （鹹肉才泡飯）. Yummm! Next time, we'll try the dumplings! But I'm so happy that they offer the Fan Tuan everyday, and not just on weekends read more

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It has been awhile since I last visited Dumpling Specialist. I live in Oakland, but I do come to the city on a regular basis, but I get around using public transport. I found out today that the "L" train is back in service all the way to the zoo. In any case, Dumpling Specialist is as good as before. I had the pan fried pork buns and the wonton in chili oil, both were excellent. Their prices are also extremely reasonable. If you want some great Chinese food, especially dumplings, this is the place. I'll be coming back much sooner. read more

Dumpling Specialist - Wonton in chili oil - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

This place is indeed a specialist with dumplings (and more)! We tried a number of dishes including the shrimp chow mein, xiao long bao, pan fried pork buns, and the sticky rice roll. The noodles were scrumptious and the soup dumplings had super thin skin with the meat was flavored with gingery pork goodness. The pan fried bao was also super tasty. We ordered the sticky rice roll out of curiosity and thought it was also pretty good. The place is super cozy with an only about six or so tables, service was fast and efficient and we are sure to come back the next time we have a craving for some comfort food! read more

A busy little restaurant. We tried a couple of the popular items on the menu. Some were good and some were ok. For a place called Dumpling Specialist, I thought the pan fried dumplings and potstickers were far from being their specialty. Potsticker: meat filling was pretty good. The skin was a little too thin. The skin needed to be a bit heartier. Pan fried dumpling: the meat was good. The bao part was very lacking. It did not have a good bao texture. Was soggy and not fluffy. Maybe it got watered on it? Not good. Shanghai rice cake: excellent wok hay. Good flavor. Maybe the rice cake could've used an extra couple of minutes to cook through and soften. Sticky rice: good! Well balanced, not too much rice. You Tiao was still very crispy. We ended up ordering an extra one of these. Peanut noodle sauce: wasn't expecting this flavor. Was interesting. Had a bit of a kick to it. Was ok. The restaurant only had a few tables. The take out order line was constant. Thr cashier guy was a one man show. It's a busy little place. So service was a little tight. read more

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I only ever get dim sum togo so I can't speak much to a dining experience here but every time I want dim sum I go here. Super consistent, priced right, good portions. I have never been let down by this place. Highly recommend!! read more

The food here is delightful. It is very simple and delicious. It is not Americanized. The service is pretty good considering there was only one person doing the serving and taking phone orders. The store is very small but functional and clean. I will definitely be back. The food was not salty which is usually my problem. read more

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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! read more

Dumpling Specialist - Exterior front - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

Cozy neighborhood spot. Came in for lunch so it was not busy. Got the sweet soy milk, Shanghai dumpling, har gow, and sui mai. Soy milk was good, hot and not too sweet. Had gow and sui mai were big and have good flavor. I think the thin skin on the Shanghai dumpling was appropriate, good flavor of meat, just want more juice inside. Everything was great and will be back for more. read more

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I love Dumpling Specialist! It's a cozy restaurant, but I haven't had too much difficulty getting a table for two for Sunday lunch. The service is quick and efficient. They serve piping hot tea and delicious food - such a comforting meal! My favorites are the XLB and wontons in chili oil, but everything I've tried here is great. The sticky rice roll is fun to share and the veggies (broccoli and green beans) are quite flavorful. They charge 4% for credit cards, but they accept venmo. Street parking is relatively easy by the nearby park. Overall, one of my favorite no-frills dumpling spots in SF! read more

Holy sheet.. they closed for a while and I thought the owner was away for Chinese new year and I was wrong.. their soup dumpling is about the same but the peanut noodle is nowhere near.. eeew what a waste of my money. Old owner - please let me know if you open a new restaurant read more

Take out only. Super fast service when you call ahead for pick up. Braised beef over rice , black bean sauce with fish fillet and 5 piece Shanghai dumpling. All were a good price for the amount of food you get. Shanghai dumpling was super juicy. Recommend if you want a quick meal on the go. read more

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This place is delicious. The service is fast and they are nice. There are only a few small tables inside, so eat fast!! Overall though, this is solid for what you want. The food was fresh and fast. It has a lot of young Asians and Asian Americans, so you know the food is familiar and delicious. One issue was the gave us four guo tie instead of five but whatever it was so good and the portions were filling. EAT HERE; IT'S GOOD! read more

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Very hot and fresh made to order we had the pan fried dumplings and steamed char siu pork bun and springs rolls everything was so hot and fresh had to let it cool down a little very tasty read more

Dumpling Specialist - Dim Sum Near Me - San Francisco, California

Came here to order some lunch on a Friday. They are take out only FYI. You cannot eat in! So just prepared to either eat by the park down the street or in your car. This past Friday, it was wet and misty so eating at the park wasn't really an option. Since we're visiting, we didn't exactly have a place to go to so we decided to eat in the car. My husband and I decided to get: Shanghai dumpling (aka XLB) 5pc Steamed pork/cabbage dumpling 5pc Sweet soy milk (cup) Five spice beef stew noodle soup It took about 10-15 minutes before our food was ready. The Shanghai dumplings were decent. I've had better but I've also had worse. The dumplings were decent as well. The sweet soy milk tasted a bit watered down ... and kind of wished they had a cold option. The best item was definitely the five spice beef stew noodle soup. It's different from the Taiwan version, which is what I'm used to. The broth is way lighter but still had a good flavor. The meat isn't as tender as I had hoped but the flavor made up for it. The noodles were a nice texture. Overall, the food is very good and is a great price! I think if I lived in the area, it would definitely be one of my to-go places. However, I can't say that it's a destination. It probably isn't a place that you have to go to when you're visiting. It's just a good place for some comforting food at extremely reasonable prices. Also, there's a 4% charge if you use your credit card, which why the prices are slightly higher when you order online through their website. So if you want to save that cost, use cash or venmo. read more

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