{"id":324499,"date":"2026-05-20T12:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/324499\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T12:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:05:12","slug":"this-mini-outer-sunset-restaurant-is-a-san-francisco-dumpling-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/324499\/","title":{"rendered":"This ‘mini’ Outer Sunset restaurant is a San Francisco dumpling star"},"content":{"rendered":"

My first thought when Mini Potstickers<\/a> debuted in San Francisco\u2019s Outer Sunset three years ago: \u201cWhat a dumb name.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Located on the glorious food\u00a0mecca of Irving Street between 19th and 25th avenues, Mini Potstickers was seemingly one more in the growing body of northern Chinese dumpling restaurants<\/a> \u2014 not a bad thing, but I was unexcited.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, one by one, friends, food influencers and strangers alike began telling me to go. Not just for the explosively juicy \u201cmini potstickers\u201d (to do them justice \u2014 they are small versions of sheng jian bao<\/a>) but for the majority of the menu. The anise-forward, tender beef noodle soup. The shatteringly crisp jianbing. The melt-in-your-mouth tofu fa (tofu pudding).<\/p>\n

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\"Pedestrians<\/p>\n

Pedestrians walk past Mini Potstickers on Irving Street in San Francisco, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

Since it opened in 2023, locals have kept this place close to the chest. That cover was recently blown. In early March, \u201cTop Chef\u201d alum and SF resident Melissa King\u2019s\u00a0Instagram reel<\/a> of her enjoying Mini Potstickers got more than 50,000 views in just a couple of days. While King has been gassing up Mini Potstickers in various<\/a>\u00a0articles<\/a> for at least a year, it\u2019s her video that resonated with people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is nobody here? This is, like, the best dumpling place,\u201d she says at the start. \u201cThis is one of my little secret spots,\u201d King continues, drizzling the\u00a0house-made chili crisp oil all over the mini dumplings while also grubbing on the chili pork wontons and jianbing, aka \u201cChinese burrito.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She racks up nostalgia points by sharing that on past visits, the little dumplings reminded her\u00a0Shanghainese father of his childhood. Owners Lili Liu and Hong Yao said they got pretty busy after that video hit, with customers having to wait up to 20 minutes for one of about 10 small tables inside the compact restaurant that feels around 300 square feet.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/p>\n

A Chinese burrito from Mini Potstickers on Irving Street in San Francisco, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE\"Mini<\/p>\n

Mini Potstickers owners\u00a0Lili Liu, left, and Hong Yao are pictured in the restaurant\u2019s dining room on Thursday, April 16, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

So on a sunny Thursday morning, my buddy\u00a0Lanlian Szeto returned to be my Mandarin translator. We could tell right away that Liu and Yao are boss aunties, with low-key bling style\u00a0\u2014 Louis Vuitton baseball caps, shiny designer bomber jackets and subtle Cartier bracelets. Sitting down and sipping tea with us from clear plastic tumblers, they shared that they have 40 years of restaurant experience between them, from back in China (Liu is from Beijing, Yao is from Shanghai) and also here.<\/p>\n

The duo owns both Dumpling Union locations (on the Marina-Pacific Heights border and in the Haight) and Dumpling Kitchen & Bar in Burlingame. Liu and Yao opened a second Mini Potstickers on Polk Street, but Yelp has it marked as closed. When asked about it, the two did not want to elaborate at the time.<\/p>\n

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Inspiration for their teeny dumplings\u00a0\u2014 less than half the size of a typical round, pouch-shaped dumpling\u00a0\u2014 came during a 2021 trip to see their families back home in China. They go every year. In Shanghai, the two spotted a long line outside a dumpling shop, which turned out to specialize in mini\u00a0sheng jian bao. \u201cThese would do well in San Francisco,\u201d thought Yao, knowing that no other restaurant here serves the mini versions of these fried dumplings filled with gelatinized ground pork that oozes savory meat juice.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An order of mini\u00a0potstickers,\u00a0or \u201cthumb-sized sheng jian bao,\u201d is served at Mini Potstickers on Irving Street in San Francisco, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

On the menu, the Chinese characters for the famed \u201cmini\u00a0potstickers\u201d actually translate to \u201cthumb-sized sheng jian bao.\u201d The English misnomer of \u201cpotstickers\u201d in the restaurant name is because Liu and Yao thought customers would be more familiar with the term than \u201csheng jian bao.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calling the mini\u00a0SJB \u201cpotstickers\u201d is an injustice, though. Not surprisingly, they\u2019re harder to make than their full-sized counterparts. In the middle of our interview, manager Rio Cheung jumped into the conversation, gesturing wildly while describing how the construction of the mini SJBs is \u201cvery, very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

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If the bottom is too thin, the\u00a0SJB will leak, she explained. If the folds at the top are too thick, they affect the mouthfeel. The frying process also has to be precise in order to achieve that crispy, golden bottom. There\u2019s no stiff knob of dough atop these minis (or any of the restaurant\u2019s dumplings), which even some of the most lauded dumpling purveyors have. If the chefs overcook a batch, they will refuse to serve it, apologize to the customers and say they\u2019ll need to remake the batch.<\/p>\n

\"Rio\u00a0Cheung<\/p>\n

Rio\u00a0Cheung prepares an order of mini potstickers in the kitchen of Mini Potstickers on Irving Street in San Francisco, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE\"Beef<\/p>\n

Beef noodle soup is served at Mini Potstickers on Irving Street in San Francisco, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

Here, the mini SJBs are fried on the non-pleated side, which is the opposite of full-sized SJBs I\u2019ve encountered, usually fried on the pleated side. Pleat-down might risk the tiny folds splitting open. Sprinkled with black sesame seeds and chopped scallions, it\u2019s easy to inhale an order of 12. I\u2019d advise ordering more than you think you need.<\/p>\n

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While Liu\u2019s and Yao\u2019s instincts were right about the success of the mini SJB, \u201cWe\u2019re really surprised at how popular the sheng jian bao are. It\u2019s not just Chinese people, but [non-Chinese] Americans, too,\u201d they said. The restaurateurs don\u2019t advertise, either. Over a weekend, Mini Potstickers will bang out 3,000 mini SJBs and 2,000 spicy wontons, along with hundreds of orders of beef noodle soup and jianbing.<\/p>\n

Mini\u00a0Potstickers specializes in many wheat-based foods. So yes, dumplings like SJB, plus XLB, wontons and boiled dumplings, as well as noodles. Everything is handmade. Liu and Yao believe the taste and texture are not comparable between machine-made and handmade dumplings. In their experience, machine-wrapped dumplings have less filling and thicker wrappers, for example. Recently, they brought back frozen dumplings on 4\/20 \u2014 apropos for a certain holiday where dumplings would be much welcome.<\/p>\n

\"Handmade<\/p>\n

Handmade shrimp dumplings are seen in the kitchen of Mini Potstickers on Irving Street in San Francisco, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just wheat products that the two care about. All the restaurant\u2019s meats are purchased in whole cuts and then ground in-house. The restaurant makes its own tofu and soy milk. Of course, it also makes its own chili crisp oil, though in an off-site kitchen, in huge vats; it takes four hours to make. Liu and Yao reveal only that there are more than 20 ingredients in it and that precise temperature control is key to extracting maximum flavor and aroma from the chilis.<\/p>\n

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Specials on the wall, written in Chinese, also say which region of China they hail from. While Liu and Yao are from northern China, their food also represents Cantonese (with an excellent tofu fa, almost a pudding, also available in Beijing and Shanghainese versions), Taiwanese (that beef noodle soup), Sichuan (Sichuan dan dan noodles), and American Chinese (kung pao chicken) cuisines. There\u2019s truly something for everyone.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s all done well. Chili oil pork wontons were studded with large chunks of crunchy water chestnuts. Super fresh dill-and-pork dumplings (which became a favorite of mine at King of Noodles<\/a>) immediately reminded us of the Ukrainian dumplings<\/a> we had with chef and cookbook author Anna Voloshyna a few years ago. Next time, I\u2019d be curious to try the tomato-and-cheese dumplings.<\/p>\n

\"Restaurant<\/p>\n

Restaurant manager Rio\u00a0Cheung prepares a Chinese burrito inside the kitchen of Mini Potstickers on Irving Street in San Francisco, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE\"Spicy<\/p>\n

Spicy chili wontons are served at Mini\u00a0Potstickers on Irving Street in San Francisco, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

As for that Chinese burrito, watching Cheung spinning the eggy batter to a paper-thin shell on a giant round pan reminds me of the first time I saw this being made on the cold winter streets of Beijing in the early 2000s. Cheung then piled the crepe-like base with strips of scrambled egg, deep-fried wonton skins, shredded lettuce, pork floss, chicken (or other meat choices) and squirts of\u00a0Sriracha, before deftly rolling it up and slicing it in half with an ASMR-friendly crackling sound. The dish, a rarity in SF, is so popular that the maximum limit is two orders per table.<\/p>\n

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Despite the owners\u2019 and staff\u2019s upbeat natures, things haven\u2019t always been easy for Mini Potstickers. The restaurant, along with other businesses and residents in the neighborhood, was left without power<\/a> for more than two days due to a PG&E substation fire back in December \u2014 when Mini Potstickers had purchased extra inventory for the busy holiday season.<\/p>\n

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For a restaurant already operating on small margins, two days without the anticipated holiday rush in business was devastating. Mini Potstickers lost all of its perishable inventory, and to this day, Liu and Yao say they have not yet resolved claim issues with PG&E. King\u2019s social media boost arrived at an important time.<\/p>\n

I still think the name of the restaurant doesn\u2019t do the star dish justice, but I\u2019ll willingly eat my initial thoughts just to go back. The secret about Mini Potstickers is out, and that\u2019s a great service to the restaurant and to taste buds across the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

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Mini Potstickers<\/a>, 2045 Irving St., San Francisco. Open Monday, 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m.<\/p>\n