Dumpling Garden (Saugus) — Restaurant in Saugus

The current owners are brand new - I think maybe maybe 6 months or less. They sent out a glossy multipage advertisement in the mail announcing their opening and pitching their menu. It was pretty slick and leagues better than the typical mail flyers.

The previous ownership/name was okay, but like a lot of the Chinese places in the area, hit or miss on any given night. The store front has changed management at least 4 times since we have lived in the area. It's always been at best so-so. Often they would start strong, but after a couple years the quality would go down hill.

I mention this because there seems to be a lot of reviews of the old place(s). Anything older than 6 months is not applicable. Normally I wouldn't care, but hear me out.

The prior management changes really just flipped the space and changed the name. However, this owner put some money in, freshened up the interior, put up a distinctive sign and laid out some promotional money - in the middle of a pandemic. It looks cute from the outside. In normal times I wouldn't mind eating in - something I would never have thought in the previous places.

My family ordered a boat load of food when I was not around for dinner and ate pretty much all of it. I got the leftovers the next day. Not expecting much, I was surprised - very tasty. I asked about their experiences when it was fresh. Good sushi, solid dumplings, and confirmed my thoughts on the Chinese dishes.

We were referred to it by neighbors/friends that know a good place and they didn't let us down. Give it a try and I think you'll like it too.

We'll be getting it again soon, without a doubt!

Update (4/3/2022) This is still our go to place when we have a hankering for sushi or Chinese food. Quality is top notch. Now that the weather is warming up I am definitely going to hit up their outdoor tables. Having spent time in LA, I have a soft spot for strip mall sushi. It's often top notch because they move volume and the fish turns over...

This was my favorite restaurant in all of greater Boston, I went religiously at least once a week essentially paying this places rent. Friends and family got me gift card here every holiday it was truly a staple in my home. They recently had to shut down due to a water main issue, and even then I drove over an hour round trip to visit their other locations which are both great still. However when this location reopened there were new owners. Everything has changed. The rice is awful and tastes almost stale, soggy sushi, everything tastes three days old. And most disappointing was my soup dumplings. Those were my favorite on the menu and my favorite soup dumplings in the area as they were clearly homemade with love and delicious. Now they are visibly factory made, frozen soup dumplings. Like someone else said here, not even the good frozen soup dumplings. I have yet to go back to the other locations as I was afraid to waste the money and be disappointed again. One can only hope. Do not go to this location, however do try out the store front in Danvers I still have...

Well, our dog enjoyed it. We ordered a bunch of things to try - general gao’s chicken, mixed vegetables, fried rice, spring roll, egg drop soup, pork soup dumplings, chicken dumplings, crab rangoons, shangai dumplings, beef and cabbage dumplings, and taro sticky buns. It was so, so disappointing. We liked the soup and chicken dumplings, but the rest was quite literally flavorless and not fit for human consumption.

We have been excited to try this place, so this was really a shame. We were also disappointed with the delivery service. After deliberately selecting the ‘deliver later’ option on their website, the food came way too early, and the delivery driver did not respect the no contact delivery we had requested. He was also rude and called me on the phone to get me to come to the door, because he wanted a cash tip as well as the one I left on the website (in addition to the delivery fee + convenience fee). ...