Dumpling Cafe — Restaurant in Boston

The AUDACITY of this place to try and force us to tip them when the service was non existent try again with someone…I always tip but if you want tipping to be MANDATORY tell me that before I sit down. My friend got beef and rice and I got two servings of dumplings and water. Ate one the other was gross…bill was $50. Not once did someone come over to our table and there was 1 other person in there. Yet they stood starring us down taking every bite. As took as I used my chop sticks to take up my last shrimp dumpling she ran over and took the bamboo steamer like the dumpling wasn’t even in my mouth yet. When it’s pay time She tried to signal for me to tip on the card I said I have cash. I gave $5 cash and she tried to say I have to tip more. I said why? She’s like because you have to everyone else does I said okay…I can tip whatever I want is it’s mandatory to tip you more???? She gets and attitude and stormed off. I went up to her counter like excuse me, if it’s mandatory to tip more tell me that before I get in here. Because you’re making it seem like if I don’t tip then I can’t leave this restaurant. And I tipped you, I’ve had better dumplings else where and you did NOT serve me at all but watched down like hawk. I get better service at McDonald’s. No way will you pressure me to tip you. You don’t get to serve mediocre food, dumpster service and expect a tip??? I tip based on QUALITY OF FOOD AND SERVICE. $5 was being nice FOH. Yall...

Although initially drawn back by the decent food quality despite the higher prices, our recent experience has left us with no intention of returning to Dumpling Cafe.

The waitress appeared disinterested and rarely smiled, giving the impression that she would rather be elsewhere. If this doesn't bother you, then perhaps it won't detract from your experience. Additionally, the restaurant doesn't adhere to a standard appetizer-to-entree sequence, resulting in dishes being served in a seemingly random order.

During our visit as a party of six, gratuity was automatically added to the bill. Unfortunately, when the waitress charged my credit card, I mistakenly declined a receipt. She took advantage of this by adding an additional 18% tip, resulting in an unjustifiable total tip of approximately 40%. Discovering this discrepancy on my credit card statement the following day, I promptly contacted Dumpling Cafe, but was met with unhelpful responses stating there was nothing they could do. Attempting to dispute the charge with my credit card company proved futile due to the lack of a receipt.

A simple resolution would have been to offer a gift card or refund to acknowledge their mistake and potentially retain our patronage. Instead, they opted to dismiss the issue entirely.

If you do decide to dine at Dumpling Cafe, exercise additional caution with your bill and always request a receipt to avoid potential...

Good food, poor service. Servers are often sitting down, on their cell phones or speaking with one another.

I usually tipped 20% even though the service was below expectations. There was one waitress who was helpful, but one server was especially terrible. In 2021. Dumpling Cafe implemented a mandatory gratuity of either 18% or 20%, and the service declined even further.

I inadvertently found out about the mandatory tip when I asked for a receipt and the server told me that I'm all set. I had paid with credit card and the restaurant had returned the card without a receipt. I replied that I was not all set, that I needed the receipt. The server said she couldn't print it out, to speak with the cashier. I then spoke to the cashier and he said there was no way to print out the receipt, that I had to talk to someone named Michael. I asked where is Michael and the cashier told me Michael wasn't there at the moment, to come back in an hour. I asked if I come back in an hour, how would Michael know which receipt is mine.

After I took a picture of the cashier, he miraculously printed out my final receipt and that is when I discovered the mandatory tip. I asked the cashier about the tip and he said this was something they felt they deserved.

I asked the cashier what if I had paid in cash, would there have been a mandatory tip and...