At Himalayan and Indo-Chinese food truck Everest Momo, momo are the star. These bite-sized Tibetan-style dumplings are a popular street food in Nepal, and at Everest Momo, they’re served with a hand-ground spicy chutney. The chicken momo are filled with chicken, onion, ginger, and cilantro, while the vegetable momo are packed with a medley of cabbage, green beans, asparagus, and onions in a light green wrap. The trucks can be found across the Bay Area in San Jose, Milpitas, and Sunnyvale, and visitors are often eager to also try the chow mein, fried rice, and soups. 

For great dim sum takeout, look no further than Dim Sum King. Though the restaurant has been serving Chinese comfort food at this Sunnyvale location for the past 12 years, the restaurant moved to focus specifically on to-go orders during the pandemic. Wrapping more than 2,000 dumplings a day, Dim Sum King serves more than 30 menu items. The most commonly ordered dim sum dishes include har gow, siu mai, BBQ pork buns, and sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. Regulars also love the “Craaazy” Shrimp Ball — a nugget of shrimp paste smothered with crispy strips of egg roll wrap — as well as the Pork Football, a fried glutinous mochi filled with ground pork.

Family-owned Dumpling Depot is known for its assortment of hand-made dumplings, including soup dumplings and wontons. The restaurant’s most popular items mirror some of the most common dumpling fillings in Chinese tradition — pork and cabbage dumplings and pork, shrimp, and chive dumplings. Customers also love the Shanghai soup dumplings, and kids tend to gravitate toward the chicken dumplings with corn, as they have a mellower, slightly sweet flavor. The owners are local dumpling connoisseurs who began cranking out dumplings in San Francisco 20 years ago and have since expanded to the South Bay Area. In fact, they also own Epic Dumpling, another restaurant with the same menu offerings in Sunnyvale. 

Even as a smaller shop, Fuji Huoshao & Dumpling is known for its plump, chewy, and flavorful dumplings and stuffed flatbread called huoshao, a Beijing street food. The most popular dumpling orders consist of the Three Deluxe, which are filled with pork, chives, and shrimp. The dumplings are filled and folded at the counter by hand, and they can be steamed, or pan-fried for an extra dollar. The shop also has an array of frozen pre-made dumplings for sale — a great option for those who want to take some dumplings home for a quick meal later. 

Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Dough Zone serves a variety of homemade Chinese comfort foods, most notably the pan-fried buns, known as Q-Bao, as well as the popular soup dumplings, or xiao long bao. The Q-Bao originates from Shanghai, and is filled with Berkshire-Duroc pork and aspic, then wrapped with dough. The buns are first steamed and then panfried, which results in a chewy top and a crispy bottom. The star of the xiao long bao is the savory, juicy filling of poultry, pork, and crab. Today, Dough Zone has locations in Washington, Oregon, and three in the Bay Area. 

Cantonese dim sum is a hit at Sifu Wong Kitchen, a restaurant founded by a Hong Kong chef who immigrated to the Bay Area. With a wide range of dim sum offerings, Sifu Wong is almost bound to have a line on the weekends. Fan favorites include the piping hot, steamed classics like siu mai and har gow. Customers also frequently order the pan-fried dumplings and the cheung fun — or rice rolls — which come with a generous amount of shrimp or pork filling. The salty egg yolk bun — a pillowy, steamed bun with a gooey duck egg filling — is another big hit. 

Dumpling Time first opened five years ago in the Design District of San Francisco, but this location in Santana Row has brought the restaurant’s signature dumplings to the South Bay. Not only can visitors watch them being made by hand in the glass-walled dumpling room, but they can also enjoy Chinese staples that incorporate higher-end ingredients like lobster and wagyu. Dumpling Time also takes soup dumplings to the next level, with the King Dum, a giant soup dumpling served with a large bubble-tea straw to extract the hot broth. Guests rave about the tom yum soup dumplings with pork belly and coconut milk filling, wrapped in a beet-colored dough. 

No dumpling guide would be complete without Din Tai Fung, the world-renowned Taiwanese restaurant chain. Since it was founded in 1972, the shop has focused on making and selling carefully crafted xiao long bao, steamed pork soup dumplings. To this day, Din Tai Fung weighs each dumpling to exactly 21 grams and folds them by hand to achieve the signature “golden ratio” of 18 folds. The company has opened 170 locations in 13 countries and boasts an extensive menu that includes an array of steamed buns and potstickers. Though the Hong Kong branch has garnered the most international acclaim with a Michelin Star, the Westfield Valley Fair location in San Jose definitely draws quite the crowd. 

Jade Cathay first opened in 2011 with a selection of handmade dim sum items and wok-fired dishes. Diners frequently stop by for dim sum during brunch hours, and the siu mai with pork and shrimp, sesame balls, cheung fun, and steamed egg custard bun make popular choices. Jade Cathay also offers a variety of dishes from the Canton region in China such as walnut shrimp and Mongolian beef, with a goal of recreating nostalgic meals with local ingredients. And for those who want some extra dumplings to enjoy later, the restaurant also offers an assortment of frozen dim sum to take home.