Crowds At Bafang Dumpling Are Crazy—But Partly Self-Inflicted

Bafang Dumpling recently opened on the perimeter of the Puente Hills Mall that fronts on Azusa Ave., adjacent to stores such as Starbucks and Krispy Kreme.  It's the biggest dumpling chain in Taiwan and word of its arrival created great excitement, particularly in the Taiwanese American community and leading to a mob scene on opening day.

I dropped by Bafang Dumpling, and while the excitement of the opening has dropped off, it is still quite a madhouse.  However as I learned, the mayhem is at least partially self-inflicted.  Actually I approached the store with trepidation on two separate counts.  First of all, of course, was the fear that the crowds would be unmanageable.  In addition, Bafang was profiled by EaterLA, and the article contained disturbing management comments that consistent with their location in the Puente Hills Mall street frontage, Bafang was trying to crack the general fast casual market, competing with players like Chipotle, and indeed admitting to tweaking their recipes to American tastes.  Horrors! 

However when I arrived, I was relieved that to see that the line went only to the front entrance, and that the shop was besieged by Taiwanese expats, hungry for a taste of Taiwan’s biggest dumpling chain, with nary a potential Chipotle customer in sight.

However things changed after I arrived.  It was nearly a 15 minute wait by the time I got to the front of the line to order, and when I got to my table I saw that the line had grown much longer.  And then it was at least another 15 minutes before my order was ready. This preparation gap makes no sense to me because the entire menu barely exceeds a dozen items. Famous for their potstickers and their dumplings, they only offer two varieties of each, “signature Bafang” and kimchee, which means everybody coming through is going to be ordering primarily these four items.    I did not realize at the time how lucky I was because it turns out it’s not unusual to have to wait an hour in line to order, and then another 30 minutes to get your food, which just deepens the mystery of why it takes so long to prepare your food. So with such a drawn out wait to get your food, it’s no surprise that the line to place your order is so long, and that the length of the wait is not solely due to the demand for the product.

The food itself is very good and the prices are extremely reasonable, which probably explains why so many people endure the wait. The signature Bafang potstickers are sold by the dozen and are excellent. No signs of the food having been adapted to non-Chinese tastes.

The signature Bafang dumplings are also very good, as are the signature Bafang noodles.

A dozen potstickers, a dozen dumplings and the noodles came to $25. I’d surely go back to Bafang if I didn’t have to wait in line.