Dallas–Fort Worth, TXChinese

Family-owned for around 50 years near Preston Royal on Royal Lane, this dressier dining room hand-pulls noodles and folds dumplings daily. The soup dumplings and Dan-Dan la mian, cold noodles in a spicy-sweet-sour Sichuan peppercorn sauce, are the dishes to order, and the open kitchen lets diners watch the noodle work.

The Teng family opened this Richardson restaurant and bakery in DFW China Town in 1990, carrying forward a name Chico Teng's grandfather started in China, and Chico took over in 2013. The hand-rolled juicy dumplings, made by extracting gelatin from pork skin for a soft, soupy bite, come steamed, boiled, or as potstickers, and the attached bakery adds a full case of sweets.

A Taiwanese kitchen with Plano and Lewisville locations built around beef noodle soup, popcorn chicken, and dumplings, with soup dumplings that have drawn a wave of TikTok comparisons to Din Tai Fung, which has no Texas locations. The pork chop fried rice, topped with a whole deep-fried chop, is a regular first order.

James Beard-nominated chef Jimmy Li opened this Plano specialist in 2024, built around Shanghai-style soup dumplings served both steamed and pan-fried. It runs a narrower menu than the citywide dumpling houses, but the focus shows in the thin, broth-filled wrappers that regulars come specifically to eat.

This Shanghai-style kitchen built its name on pan-fried pork buns and noodle dishes in a trendy dining room, and it runs two locations, one on Lower Greenville and one in Irving. The soup dumplings and Shanghai plates extend the same menu west of downtown for diners who don't want to cross the city for pork buns.