Along El Camino Real, a pink neon sign flashes “Dumpling City,” welcoming customers inside. Under the glowing sign is a chalkboard that says, “FRESH & FROZEN DUMPLINGS ONLY.” As customers enter the cozy shop, they immediately see a group of employees chatting and laughing as they fold pieces of dough into intricate dumplings.
Dumpling City, which opened in July 2017, is not your usual dine-in frozen dumpling store. It’s one of the only dumpling shops in the Bay Area that sells take-home frozen handmade dumplings.
Owner Kenny Chu immigrated from Guangdong, China, to Walnut Creek in 1994 as a high school sophomore. “I immigrated to the United States for a better life and freedom,” Chu said.
After studying engineering at UC Berkeley, Chu worked as an engineer at the International Business Machines Corporation for 14 years. “I always wanted to have my own business, and I was getting bored coding. I was inspired by my wife, who likes to make dumplings at home,” Chu said. Although Chu had no prior knowledge of making dumplings, he learned from his wife, who comes from the Northern region of China where dumplings originated.
Chu also noticed a lack of restaurants in the area that sold both fresh and frozen dumplings. “Dumplings are a very important part of Chinese culture, and at the time we opened, there weren’t many dumpling stores in Palo Alto,” Chu said.
Since its opening, Dumpling City has become a beloved shop in town. “I like seeing the satisfaction from our customers who enjoy our dumplings. We have a lot of repeat customers even though we don’t do many advertisements,” Chu said.
Each morning starts with preparing the fillings of the dumpling by chopping and mixing vegetables, spices, and meat. “Every morning, the employees come in to prepare the ingredients because we have over 30 different types of dumplings. They plan what they need to make for that day and prepare the napa cabbage, beef, carrots, seasoning, and mix all the ingredients together,” Chu said.
Unlike factory-made dumplings sold at grocery stores, Dumpling City offers the freshest handmade dumplings possible. “A lot of other stores use machines to make their dumplings but we like to stick with the tradition because we believe that handmade dumplings are the best. We have strict control of which ingredients go into each type of dumpling. The shape, texture, and size of the dumpling needs to stay consistent. Then, the second half of the day involves wrapping the dumplings,” Chu said.
Running a business is getting increasingly challenging given the rise in the cost of goods. “The egg shortage and rise in price has been really impacting us. The price of eggs has tripled but we cannot increase our menu price,” Chu said.
Chu’s advice to aspiring immigrant business owners is to be persistent about dreams and aspirations. “Focus on what you want and work hard. There are no shortcuts to owning a business. If you don’t fix the problem, no one will fix the problem for you.”
Find more information on Dumpling City here. The store is located at 3487 El Camino Real in Palo Alto.
