Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings

This place had the best dumplings in Chicago. I think they recently changed their recipe on the dumpling skin. It is a thinner, chewier and more generic skin and I have to say I am not a big fan. But the coriander lamb filling is where this place shines. I like the older version of their dumpling skin they had when they were in the food court. It was more doughy and fills your stomach. The new skin I guess doesn’t absorb the juices as much. So its more of a soup dumpling now. Hopefully they will revert to the old dumpling skin.

I don’t want to come here, frankly. But my classmates want to have a taste and carry me here again this evening. The people is not too many but the service still is not good.
Many dumplings were nearly $ 14 an order, and my party ordered 4 – 5 orders at a more normal price of $ 9 to $ 10.You need at least 3 orders per person for full. So I think it is very expensive.
The chef should be unprofessional, they even cook some kind of unknown plastic in the dumplings.
I really agree it is delicious but disagree it is a great place to enjoy your meals.

Good reviews brought us to this dumpling joint on a Saturday night. We were seated immediately. The restaurant is fairly clean and the types of dumplings are cleverly etched into wood panels as décor. For dumplings, $ 8 for 16 is a bit pricey. However, all the dumplings we ordered were tasty and you could tell they were homemade. We ordered, pork and cabbage, pork and mushroom, and leek/​egg/​shrimp. My favorite was the leek/​egg/​shrimp. There was only a subtle difference between the pork/​cabbage and pork/​mushroom. We also ordered the beef appetizer. This was very traditional and tasty. The dipping sauce that comes with it makes the dish. Overall, I like the food, and while dumplings are generally not that expensive, these are a bit on the pricier side.

Nice to see that they started their own store front. It was my second visit and this time we were able to get the famed lamb and coriander dumplings! They were the best! We also got the pork with pickled cabbage and the shrimp and leek dumplings. The dumplings were simple but flavorful. They are hot so make sure to wait a little bit before biting in. We will be definitely be coming back often!

Service is mehh but glad they have a vegan dumpling! I’ve been on d hunt for vegan dumplings in chinatown, d dumplings weren’t too oily so I enjoyed them

Can’t go wrong w/​any of the dumpling selection. Everything I’ve tried from their previous location and current are juicy and have its own unique flavor.

We came here for dinner at 5 on Saturday night. Since we came early, they were not busy yet, so we were seated right away. We ordered 2 orders of lamb skewers, 1 order of beef skewers, lamb chops, lamb and coriander steamed dumplings, beef and onion steamed dumplings, pork and pickled cabbage boiled dumplings, pork and egg boiled dumplings. Everything we had was delicious. We especially enjoyed the lamb skewers and the lamb and coriander steamed dumplings. For our party of 4, the bill came to 90 before tip. We will be back. Definitely order the lamb and make sure to order some of the steamed (not boiled) dumplings!

Something must have been amiss the Friday night when I came to the restaurant at 8:30pm. The reviews are quite remarkable here, and even Eater had a special citing the dumplings as worth making a special visit for. The tables had dirty dishes on them, and we were initially sat at a table with dirty dishes as well. We waited nearly 10 minutes to be brought menus. I went to the front of the restaurant and had to get them myself. We ordered dumplings, which judging from the one $ rating must have been raised since the restaurant moved from the food court downstairs to this street level location. Many dumplings were nearly $ 14 an order, and my party ordered 3 orders at a more normal price of $ 8 to $ 9.
Chinatown is full of very inexpensive restaurants with high quality food with above average portions. Thus we thought one order of dumplings per person would suffice. This was far from the truth. We waited literally 55 minutes for the food to come, as we were counting each minute since we were already eating late and very hungry. We ate the orders (which had 14 dumplings each) and we finished them in 10 minutes. Clearly you need at least 3 orders per person if you’re hungry, as we waited nearly a hour for only the portion of an appetizer. The waiter apologized profusely for the long delays, but given the lack of value and the truly horrible dining experience I sadly have to give a 1*, which I do not like doing. Apparently a waiter canceled last minute, and that was the reason for such delays. If you come here hopefully the restaurant is operating at what I assume is a high level for its 4.5* average rating!

This place has moved from the Richland’s food court to the old Sala Bua Restaurant which is only a couple shops from the Richland building. Instead of going in the Chinatown strip it is located outside the strip where you can see the train station across the street. I Absolutely love this place. My experience at the new place was even better than the old place.

Yes! I’ve been here when they were a vendor in the basement of the dead mall. It was great then, but the service was slow and I thought it was pricey for a mall foodcourt.
Now that they opened a storefront, it’s totally worth every penny! Here’s why:
What we ordered:
Potato Salad: Cold shreds of (raw?) potato with chili oil. This is super refreshing and comes with a kick. I love the refreshing crunchiness of the potato shreds and it had a tartness to it as well. Great palette cleanser in between different dumplings.
Beef & onion dumplings: Came in a steam basket. SO ridiculously juicy. Almost like a soup dumpling. The meat was super soft. The skin is thin enough where you can see the juice inside, but firm enough to hold it together without it bursting open every time you pick it up. So tasty!
Shrimp, Pork & Leek dumplings: Boiled dumplings that come on a plate. Super refreshing fresh taste. The chopped up pieces of shrimps were nice and bouncy. The pork was juicy and soft. Leek provided the «soup» in the dumplings a light sweetness. Loved it.
I suggest making your sauce with equal parts soy and vinegar with a dollop of chili oil (all available on the table).
Service was fine. Nothing horrible and nothing spectacular.
Overall, this is my favorite dumpling place in Chicago! Will return asap!

Damn… this place is awesome!!! Listen, if you r living or visiting Chicago, u have to go here! Most of the menu items are 8 $~10 $ for a really huge plate of steamed or boiled dumplings stuffed with fresh and perfectly seasoned fillings, with plenty to share!
Great food, great price especially for the huge portion size, great service and pleasant atmosphere made me a great experience!

Note: No longer located in the food court basement of the Richland Center. It is now located a few doors down on street level and have their own location.
Very courteous and attentive staff. Dumplings came out very quickly and were nice and hot! We had the pork and coriander and they were excellent.

most authentic chinese homemade dumpling in chicago, all the dumplings there are hand made
they used to be in the basement and recently moved upstairs and finally have a store front, it might be a bit chaotic now as they are short staffed, but i think they will get past this and continue to serve the awesome food they have
must try dumplings are the lamb or the seafood ones
the spicy soup is pretty good too

Made to order dumplings full of flavorful soup, meat (and veggie). The lamb and cilantro/​coriander dumplings came out piping hot from the bamboo steamer, while the pork and shrimp ones came out on a plate — couldn’t tell why they were served differently, but in general the mode of eating in the Richland food court is pretty no-​frills.
For two hungry Unilocalers, we had the two orders of dumplings and a set of four lamb skewers, which were packed with chili-​herb flavor too. All in all, a tasty snack or meal stop at a place that might seem tucked away and hard to find — steamed dumpling-​seekers will not be let down.
Edit: Qing Xiang Yuan has since moved upstairs and has their own storefront on Wentworth, a stone’s throw from the Richland center where they were in the underground food court. A bit easier to find, so I hope their dumplings are as good as they were at their previous location!

Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings was so good, I went there two days in a row. Amazing little dumplings! You order at the counter, grab a seat and wait about 15 – 20 minutes for them to wrap and steam or boil them. They ring the bell and gesture to you when they’re ready. Hold off on eating them right away, because they are piping hot, but once they cool down, you can just pop them in your mouth — there’s a wonderful burst of «soup» and flavorful meat.
I really enjoyed the lamb and coriander, pork and shrimp, and pork and leek. The lamb is the most unique and flavorful, but there is strong lamb flavor so you would have to like the taste of it. The pork and shrimp is equally good, and I would say pork and leek had less flavor compared to the other two. I would have no problems eating a whole order (18 dumplings) by myself, but my friends thought you could share one. We also tried the lamb skewers, which were also a winner! These didn’t have as strong of a strong lamb taste, rather more of the spices.
Food is excellent, but the Richland Food Court is rather depressing. On my last trip, a phone was snatched off a table by the entrance, so I would be very careful about watching out for your belongings. Fortunately, this place is moving upstairs soon!

Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings is located in the food court of Richland Center. There you can find many other types of restaurants, shops, and even a barber. The restaurant specializes in dumplings which are the only options on their menu. Don’t fret my friends, they do offer a wide array of dumplings so there are something for everyone (unless you don’t like dumplings… then I have no clue why you are even considering this restaurant).
The dumplings are made to order, so be a little patient. I shared an order of 16 dumplings with my sister. We opted for the pork, shrimp, and leek dumplings. The dumplings were delicious: piping hot, bursting with flavor, and oozing with soup. Be careful biting your first bite, the juices are super hot and you can get burned.
If you want a quick and satisfying snack, definitely give this place a try. The owner is extremely nice and can help you make a decision if you can’t decide. Don’t forget to use the vinegar and hot oil for that added flavor.

Crave amazing dumplings? You’ve heard of xiao long bao (aka XLB or Shanghai soup dumplings), right? Well, these aren’t soup dumplings but rather juicy dumplings. Qing Xiang Yuan delivers divine dumplings in a secret location that is literally off the map — the food court of Chinatown which I never knew existed until recently.
Like many carts/​merchants in Asia, Qing Xiang Yuan specializes in one thing and does it very well. These dumplings are full of juice from the fat that melts from the filling as they are cooked. They have more juice/​soup inside of them than other places that were supposedly xiao long bao. One bite, you’ll immediately notice that each one is freshly handmade since everything is made to order and the filling is packed with meat juices. It’s like the Gushers Fruit Snack from the 90’s for northern Chinese dumplings. These delicate and flavorful little pillows are heavenly.
The great thing about Qing Xiang Yuan is that there is no secret menu, you don’t have to order in Chinese, the food is consistent, and each order is pretty large. The real secret is the location. Just go down the alley, take a left, down the stairs, and it’s the third or fourth vendor.
I don’t know what Qing Xiang Yuan means but my guess is that it literally translates to Heavenly Meat Juice Gushers Dumplings.

I got some soup dumplings to supplement the noodle soup from another restaurant in the food court. I asked the front person for her best recommendations, of which she said the lamb + coriander and pork + shrimp. They came out in a steam basket, very warm and delicious. It was a tad annoying because it was difficult to pry the dumplings off the wicker basket. If you’ve had soup dumplings, you know how sad it is when they prematurely burst and you lose all the delicious broth.
There were about 16 dumplings per order, priced around $ 9 each.

This place is inside the Richland Center food court on the edge of Chinatown Square near the El and the parking lots that no one I know has ever ventured into because we always thought stuff there would be sketch and bad.
I really craved dumplings though but hadn’t thought far enough into where I’d go to get them, and it took us some effort to find the booth.
It’s definitely not a quick meal. They wrap and cook all the dumplings to order, and you get like 18 in an order for around $ 7. That’s a lot of dumplings to make on the fly. Add a side of kelp salad for $ 1 and you’ve got the homiest cheap meal in town from a really friendly family business.
The dumplings themselves are good. They’re not like the ones my mom makes, that’s for sure. I think personally, I prefer Katy’s in Westmont still. But everything about this place — the food, the little side dishes, the owners’ super northern Chinese accents — is just a portal back to the China I grew up in, where you could get food like this for really cheap in little stalls. And what’s not to love about that?
Cash only.

I will start out by saying the only downside to this place is the wait times but they are totally worth it.
They make everything from scratch and the dumplings are hand stuffed to order, which is why the wait is longer than most dumpling places.
The prices are incredibly reasonable and you get more than a dozen dumplings per order (16 I think).
I usually get the pork and coriander dumplings since they are the standard chinese dumpling and taste amazing each time.
If you order your dumplings ahead of time they will pre-​stuff them but won’t cook them until you arrive so expect to wait a little bit more after you arrive and pay.

I’m sad I found this tucked away dumpling spot so late in the game, otherwise I would have spent more hard-​earned money on these fantastic dumplings. We’ll just call it QXY, and it’s located in the underground Richland shopping mall that’s only sparsely populated at all times.
First of all, the minus one star is for the absurdly long wait time it takes to get these dumplings. It’s a double-​edged sword, really. QXY handmakes all its dumplings to order (you can watch them being made in the stall), which is a plus-​plus in my book. That means the make plus steam for an order can and ought to run you 20 minutes. That’s a fine wait for these delectable pockets of tasty.
Unfortunately, if there’s any number of orders ahead of yours, the wait time increases three-​fold. We always paired the dumpling order with a bowl of soup from neighboring Yummy Yummy Noodles. Those bad boys come out in five minutes, whereas a typical dumpling order has ranged from 30 – 60. All of this is a roundabout way of saying that if you want to eat these things without an absurd wait, call ahead and be prepared to speak Chinese, or come at a very off time and hope there isn’t a plethora of orders ahead of yours.
As for the actual dumplings themselves, they rock, as you’d expect from made-​on-​the-​spot. Each order comes with 18 dumplings for a very reasonable price ($ 6 on the cheaper end, $ 9 on the higher). If you’re coming into dumplings entry-​level, try the pork and cabbage (or pork and coriander if anti-​green). If you’re feeling bolder, go with a lamb choice. Those can be steamed «soup dumpling» style in a traditional bamboo steamer, providing an extra oomph of juice into every bite. There are other beef, chicken, and seafood options to satisfy your fancy.
There’s no special sauce here, but QXY provides an array of soy sauce, vinegar, and chili oil to create your own.

Paid another visit to the Richland food court and looks like the QXY owners now own the skewers place next door.
I had some lamb skewers and they were perfectly seasoned and heavier on the lamb flavor.
If you want a comforting, affordable Chinese meal, the dumpling + skewer combo is the way to go at the Richland center.