Chefs prepare dumplings at Dumpling Queen on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Flower Mound.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
The name and idea for Dumpling Queen came to Lulu Du at the same time.
She made some of her signature soup dumplings for a friend of her sister, and the reaction was more than excitement. The friend told Du she should open her own restaurant and name it Dumpling Queen.
About two years later, Du did exactly that, opening Dumpling Queen in Flower Mound in late May. She has joined forces with her daughter, Ruby Sun, who’s also the owner, and head chef Andy Fan, who has lived in Dallas for about 30 years, opening and cooking in restaurants including the franchise Lover’s Egg Roll.
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Head chef Andy Fan pictured at Dumpling Queen on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Flower Mound.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
It’s perhaps most accurate to call Du a dumpling chef.
When she was around 20, Du learned to make mian dian, or Chinese pastries primarily made from wheat and rice flour, in her hometown of Qingdao in eastern China. Over the next 30 or so years, she has made dumplings and buns in acclaimed Qingdao and North Texas spots including the now-closed Tian Tian Restaurant in Dallas and Shanghai Taste in Plano.
“She is really well-known in Plano,” Sun said in Mandarin. “It has been my mom’s dream to open her own place.”
Preparing dumplings entirely by hand is not easy. There are the wrappers, and then there are the fillings. Both have to be good for the dumpling to be great.
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Steamed dishes at Dumpling Queen include xiao long bao ($13), soup dumplings with thin wrappers and pork and soup inside, and four-color rainbow dumplings ($16) with fillings such as pork and shrimp, chicken and mixed vegetables.
Customers can also find sheng jian bao ($10-12), or pan-fried dumplings that are crispy on the bottom, soft on top and juicy inside. The pan-fried thumb bun ($12), a dish rare in Dallas, Sun said, features 10 small buns that each can be eaten in one bite. Guo tie ($13-$16), or honeycomb potstickers, is a local dish in Qingdao featuring a sheet of crispy flakes at the bottom.
Four-color rainbow dumplings pictured at Dumpling Queen on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Flower Mound.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Sun was introduced to Fan by a friend of her mom and invited him to bring classic American Chinese staples such as orange chicken ($18), honey walnut shrimp ($23) and broccoli beef ($18). All recipes and sauces come from Fan.
The duo of Chinese American dishes and dumplings is intentional. “It’s combining what’s trending at the moment,” Fan said.
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The dumplings are hand-wrapped right in front of customers, with chefs, including Du, working behind a sushi-bar-turned-dumpling bar in the middle of the restaurant. The wrapping goes on for about eight to nine hours a day.
The store may host dumpling-making events in the future, Sun said.
Pan-fried thumb buns pictured at Dumpling Queen on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Flower Mound.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Du’s pastries recipe, a business secret, is meticulous down to the weight of ingredients. She said she doesn’t use cold water to mix the flour like many other places, which helps her create a dough that is very soft and better for the stomach.
“I just want to make healthy food,” she said. She takes her understanding of American eaters’ preferences and knowledge of authentic Chinese pastry to create products that appeal to both U.S. and Chinese customers, she said.
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Du is confident her dumplings are among the healthiest in Dallas, with no MSG or additives. The rainbow dumpling wrappers are made with natural vegetable coloring. Every dumpling is made fresh each day, as is every wok dish by Fan.
Chefs prepare dumplings at Dumpling Queen on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Flower Mound.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Sun, who helped her mom open the restaurant, chose Flower Mound due to the relatively smaller Chinese population and the friendliness of the neighborhood.
Both American and Chinese customers have visited the restaurant since it opened. “I’ve always thought that flavors travel across cultures,” Sun said.
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Dumpling Queen is at 1050 Flower Mound Road, #110, Flower Mound. It is open Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30 to 9 p.m., Friday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. An official opening event on June 25 at 11 a.m. will include a ribbon cutting and a Chinese lion dance performance. dumplingqueendfw.com