Dumpling Story - Fillmore — Restaurant in San Francisco

I've been here a couple of times now and I plan on going back in the future. The dumplings here are absolutely delicious!

First, I'd like to say that service is top notch! The wait staff are friendly, attentive, and welcoming.

The XLBs are what they're known for and they don't disappoint. I've tried the pork and chicken ones, both are delicious! The thickness of the dumpling skin is just right and the soup inside is so flavorful. It goes will with the vinegary dipping sauce.

One of my other favorite dishes is the green beans. It's delicious with the perfect amount of garlic. It also has a good crunch. Other dishes I've tried include their green onion pancakes, boiled veggie dumplings, boiled shrimp with woodear mushroom dumplings, pork/veggie potstickers, and house special bean paste noodles. All were very good, though I will say that the boiled veggie dumplings were okay. You really have to rely on the dipping sauce for flavor. But otherwise I found it to be a good palate cleanser.

It's a small space inside with tables that can accommodate mostly parties of 4. The three tables outside accommodate parties of 2. I've sat in both places, and it's nice to sit outside because it's actually quieter. Though, my friend and I sat through one of the downpours but we didn't get wet.

There’s only one bathroom, and it’s clean. But it’s near the kitchen and you can’t wait outside the door or else you’ll get in the way of the staff.. so you either have to keep a lookout for its vacancy or wait in the alley near it.

Definitely check this place out when you're in Pac Heights. And don't be surprised if there's a long wait.. but they use Yelp waitlist so it's easy to sign up and keep track of where you are...

This review was about to get five, until I saw what I saw, right before we left the restaurant. But I’ll start from the beginning first. This small restaurant was bustling with customers waiting to get seated no matter the long wait, which is an indication that the food must be great. I liked the simplicity of this restaurant, which told me the owners care about delivering delicious food and not how fancy the restaurant looks. The staff were very friendly and attentive and worked expeditiously. The menu is simple and obviously focused on mainly various types of dumplings prepared either fried or steamed. We ordered the fried chicken dumplings and vegetable dumplings and they were delicious. The green beans are a must. We liked them so much that we ordered them three times. The noodles were also delicious and we ordered two servings of them as well. The hot and sour soup was okay (not enough ingredients). Our waitress Shobi was so pleasant and attentive. However after we finished eating I decided to use their restroom and I saw one of the waitresses came out of the restroom with her apron on and was drying off the disposable gloves that she was wearing. I was disgusted as to why would she keep the disposable gloves on while using the bathroom? It defeats the purpose of wearing them. Very disappointed, as it made me wonder how many other employees dis that, those preparing the food and those serving it? Despite the great service and delicious food, unfortunately we won’t be returning to this restaurant. Cleanliness is number...

These are the dishes we ordered, ranked from best to worst:

1. Xiao Long Bao (Pork) - 5 stars; amazingly tasty and juicy. We've had Xiao Long Bao from 20+ restaurants in the Bay Area. These are better than most Din Tai Fung locations (Din Tai Fung in Las Vegas and Santa Clara were the worst), and a close second to the best Din Tai Fung locations (Din Tai Fung that has Michelin star in Hong Kong was the best); the exterior skin isn't as thin and delicate as Din Tai Fung's, but the interior was generally tastier.

2. Juicy Bao (Pork) - 5 stars; amazingly tasty, juicy, and the exterior shell is perfect. My favorite type of this bao used to be from 88 Bao Bao in Castro Valley and Dublin, but this is my new favorite.

3. Juicy Bao (Beef) - 4.5 stars; not as tasty as the Pork version, but still delicious overall.

4. Zha Jiang Noodle (Dry) - 4 stars; very tasty, but with one major caveat that almost brought it down to 1.5 stars: it is so ridiculously salty! We had to remove at least a quarter of the sauce before mixing it together in order to make it edible.

5. Dumpling (Shiitake Mushroom Chicken) - 3.5 stars; very middle-of-the-road as a dumpling.

6. Dumpling (Mongolian Beef) - 3 stars; not horrible, but the filling just did not work well with the dumpling-style exterior.

7. Dry Shrimp Egg Chives Pocket - 1 star; tasteless, and the exterior shell was not made well.

8. Jelly Fish Salad - 1 star; this appetizer is usually light and refreshing at most restaurants, but it was...