Ricardo B.

I can't complain about the food. Everything is super tasty and fresh when it comes out. The spicy pork and shrimp dumplings are my go to app. Such an amazing way to start a meal and you need to follow those with ugly bad buns (pork belly bao buns) which taste so dang good!! Shredded beef noodles and the soup dumpling sampler are both awesome. Again, the food rocks, it's just the inconsistent level of service that we have received each time we go. We have been 5-6 times and some days service is amazing and other days we end up waiting for everything even though tables around us have received their food and even left in some instances. We will keep going, but they need to get service set to truly provide an amazing experience for all their customers.

Megan L.

I think Ugly Dumpling is a chain, and I'm honestly so happy Austin keeps getting more and more Asian restaurants!! The branding is super cute, and I was actually surprised by how big the restaurant is inside. It has a really fun atmosphere, and our waiter was hilarious and so easygoing, which made the experience even better. As for the food, I thought everything was pretty good, but nothing really stood out as being super unique or memorable. My favorite dishes were definitely the wontons and the beef noodle soup. Both were flavorful and satisfying, but I don't know that they were necessarily better than what you can find at a lot of other Asian restaurants around Austin. One thing I probably wouldn't order again is the boba. It was just okay, and I think there are a lot of better boba spots nearby if that's what you're craving. Overall, I enjoyed my meal and appreciate having another Asian restaurant in Austin, especially one with such a fun space and great service! That being said, I don't know that I'd personally go out of my way to come back. I think it's worth trying once, but there wasn't anything that made me immediately want to return.

Michael L.

THE BIG: Soup dumpling spot in the Arboretum area of Austin! Dark gray exterior but very vibey and modern interior. Plenty of parking outside in the lot. THE BLACK AND WHITE: Came here with the wife and son because we've been driving past it on our way home from Trader Joe's. The place isn't too busy but very pretty inside. For food we got the ugly dumpling sampler, string beans with garlic, orange chicken, and ugly bao bun. The ugly dumpling sampler was actually really pretty with the different colored soup dumplings. The taste was another thing. All had a different flavor inside but it was missing that extra kick, maybe a bit more salt to get the umami out. I think my favorite was the pork & truffle since you could really get the truffle flavor (I think it was the black one). The other dishes were just alright, a run of the mill chinese takeout produces the same quality. THE FINAL BAMBOO: Overall the damage done here was around $85 for everything. Good service, however the food was lacking in my opinion.

Phoenix P.

For anyone wondering if this is a Din Tai Fung dupe, it isn't. Pork soup dumplings 3/5 - the dumpling wrapper is too thick in my opinion. While there is a good amount of soup, the flavor was just meh to me. Beef noodle soup 3/5 - the broth has an overwhelming sweetness to it and not as beefy or savory as a typical beef noodle soup. The noodles have a good texture. Pork chop fried rice - 3/5 we ordered it "ugly" which is an extra $2 charge by the way, and it just tasted like a bunch of five spice powder and black pepper sprinkled everywhere. I most likely won't come back here but good to give it a try plus the location is in a great area.

Braden J.

Got curious after seeing Ugly Dumpling pop up at the Arboretum and figured it was worth trying. Austin has been getting more dumpling spots lately, so naturally I had to see where this one lands. Atmosphere: Casual and easy. It's more fast-casual than sit-down banquet hall, which honestly works for this kind of meal. Clean space, quick flow, and a good option if you're up north and want something better than the usual lunch rotation. It's located at 10000 Research Blvd in the Arboretum area, so parking is pretty painless. Food: The obvious move here is the soup dumplings. I'd start with the sampler if you're new, since it lets you try a few different versions instead of committing to one flavor. The pork truffle XLB is the safe classic. They come in that perfectly instagrammable steam baskets The dumplings were satisfying--good broth, nice flavor, and exactly the kind of thing you want to eat carefully unless you enjoy burning your mouth for sport. I'd also throw in scallion pancakes or chili oil wontons for the table if you want something with a little more punch. Not everything needs to be complicated; sometimes warm dumplings and a solid dipping sauce do the job. Service: Pretty straightforward. Order, wait a bit, and food comes out at a reasonable pace. Staff was friendly enough and the setup keeps things moving. It's not a place where I'd expect a long, guided dining experience, but for a casual dumpling stop it works. Wrap-up: Ugly Dumpling is a solid add to the Arboretum area. Casual, comforting, and a nice change of pace from the usual chain-heavy options around there. I'd come back when the dumpling craving hits, especially for soup dumplings and a couple of shareable sides.

Kristine L.

Amazing service, okay dumplings. My husband and I tried this place on a Thursday afternoon. The space is large with high ceiling and modern decor. The steam baskets around reminded me of DinTaiFung. Service is exceptional with someone always checking in at our table. We got the mix of soup dumplings, green beans, orange chicken and baos. Overall, food was okay. It was bad, but it wasn't out of this world. I think the soup dumplings and baos could use more flavor.

Crystal L.

Absolutely enjoyed our dinner service at Ugly Dumpling's day 1 dining service. We had come across their soft open and the crowds were phenomenal at dinner hours but the staff were so welcoming, our service by Michelle was even more welcoming. Michelle took the time to address and introduce us to all that Ugly Dumpling had on the menu and made some good recommendations! I absolutely loved the XLB sampler and our noodles were very tasty, spicy wontons were seasoned well and seeing the staff hand making dumplings in the window were so fun to see. The bubble tea drinks were refreshing and we loved the beautifully decorated interior, can't wait to return and love their offering of an assortment of Chinese comforts in Austin. Will be back soon!

Melissa W.

Ugly dumpling is a newly opened restaurant in the Arboretum. We went for lunch at midday mid week and it was a fantastic experience. Because they are new, they are not fully staffed yet and we did wait a few minutes for a table, which was not a big deal. We appreciated them spacing the seating out to not overwhelm the waitstaff. The soup dumplings were delicious and we tried the variety sampler. The potstickers were also very tasty. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable, and offered suggestions. It's a great addition to the neighborhood and we will definitely be back.

Kenny N.

Came here during a weekday with lunch, and the restaurant wasn't too packed. The inside is definitely fancier than the outside. The restaurant is pretty big inside. The building is in the shape of a U. There is a small window where you can see them making the dumplings on the right side once you enter. Got the wontons in chili oil, chicken dumplings, ribs, pork and fried rice (ugly version), and Mongolian beef. The wonton was great. The sauce is great, and the wrapper is thin and had a nice stuffing. The ribs' flavor is on point but could be a little bit more tender. Pork and fried rice is a little bit salty; the ugly edition is just a spicy version of the dish. Mongolian beef had good flavor, and the beef was tender. Overall, the place is pretty, and I would come back. I would like to try some of the noodle dishes next time.

Omar M.

We tried several of their dishes and all were really good. We ordered Miso Ramen, Green Beans with Garlic, XLBs, Pork BBQ (a bit dry), and a couple others. Ambiance was casual with modern design. There were a few parties with large groups and they didn't seem to have any issues. Service from our server was spotty as they are still short on personnel. It seemed they had enough runners, but were short on servers. They just opened two weeks ago according to our server. He managed to forget our Hot and Sour soup despite that we asked about it twice. Ironically, he recommended it since that appetizer typically comes out faster. Not so for us today. Be that as it may, the service we received was not atrocious. Price points were what we expected from a new and trendy dim sum venue. Great food, just not quite on par with DTF. Give them a try when you're in the area!

Eina D.

Grand opening day was not as busy as I thought it would be and we were seated within 10 minutes. The restaurant is spacious with two entrances and plenty of parking. We started off with green beans and they were a hit. The popcorn chicken had flavor, but could use some Kewpie mayo for more of an oomph. The skin on the soup dumplings was a little too thick for me, but otherwise decent enough. Not the best, but not the worst. Beware: the Szechuan one is spicy! I wish the beef noodle soup had a kick to it, but the meat was tender and the broth had a slight sweetness to it. The prices here are pretty decent compared to comparable places around Austin so that's a huge plus. If the craving strikes, this place hits the mark.

Mark F.

New place, saw it somewhere on the internet, prices for food and dumplings brought us in the door. Problem is their internet page was wrong, wrong, wrong and we asked the waiter if maybe this was a lunch menu. He didn't recognize the page with the menu items/prices and asked his manager but ultimately either a mistake, grab from another store or something went wrong. It was from their domain website specific to this location, so obviously wrong. Real prices were much higher and more realistic. Oh well. I ordered the regular dumplings which we thought were really good and the waiter suggested the 'soup' dumplings, which we also did and they were good but it takes a bit of practice to get them off the paper, onto a spoon and to bite the top off and eat the soup from them. It was an experience. I ordered the Kung Pao chicken. Sadly this dish was severely lacking in taste. There were at least good chunks of chicken (still not tasty) but the veggies were chopped too fine to enjoy hunks of red/green bell pepper, etc. We came, we tried.

Sarah M.

I've never heard of this restaurant before but I did hear it was similar to Din Tai Fung. I went here for dinner with a friend and we got the pork xiao long bao, spicy noodles, and shrimp and pork wontons in spicy sauce. The pork xlb were unfortunately not that great. The soup wasn't that flavorful and my friend said the pork was kinda gamey. The wrapping on them was kinda thick too. The spicy noodles were yummy. They aren't really spicy at all, but we wished there were minced pork with it. The wontons were okay too, nothing stood out to me on those. We got pork baos too and they were ok. It was pretty loud where we sat and we did ask them to turn the music down which they did. It is also very echoey, so it's hard to hear each other. It's awesome there are new Asian restaurants popping up, but this one was just alright for me.