We walked into the new Din Tai Fung in Glendale at 4:43 PM on a Friday evening. No line, empty tables, the dumpling makers behind the glass in the kitchen were laughing and rolling and stuffing their pork and shrimp dumplings with aplomb. By 5:26 PM, there was a line out the door, almost every table filled minutes after, and the dumpling makers, now doubled in number, were rolling and stuffing at a much faster click. So it goes at the new outpost at the Americana at Brand, the third location for the Los Angeles area, and only fourth in the country.
If you’ve been to the other two Din Tai Fung locations in Arcadia – the larger dumpling house or the smaller, more efficient spot in the strip mall – it’s all here: the menu where you check off what you want; the juicy pork dumplings; the shao mai; the soups and wontons and pork chops; the chili oil and vinegar on the tables. But here, there’s actually a small bar – yes, A BAR – where you can get cocktails (!) and beer. We found out just how well bourbon, ginger and blood orange soda go with juicy pork dumplings: like they were made for each other. You can also order dumplings by the half order, so if you only want to try five instead of 10 soup dumplings, although we don’t know why you would, you can order it that way. The servers were super friendly and helpful, even when our order of shao mai took extra long to get to the table (what happens when you order before it gets busy and then it gets busy). Needless to say, it seems like they’re working out some early opening kinks but still taking it all in. The crowds are there and they won’t be fading away any time soon, but go at just the right time and you might have some luck getting in without the waits. Take a look around below.