Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings opens 1st Pittsburgh location

Chinese cuisine lovers rejoice: there’s a new spot to get soup dumplings in Pittsburgh.

Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings — a Queens, N.Y.-based chain that debuted in 2006 — celebrated the grand opening of its first Pittsburgh location on Wednesday. The new restaurant is located at 2773 Sidney St. on the South Side.

“Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings is thrilled to bring the flavors and traditions of Shanghai cuisine to the Pittsburgh community,” Michael Ma, a shareholder in the company, said at the Wednesday opening. He added that the restaurant’s signature dish is more than just food — it’s a way to bring friends, family and communities together over a meal.

“Opening a new restaurant is never easy. There are lots of challenges, long nights and countless hours of preparation,” he said.

Nan Xiang is most known for its soup dumplings, tasty little pouches of dumpling dough filled with savory broth and various meat, seafood and vegetables. Soup dumplings — or xiao long bao — are one of the most popular foods in southern Chinese cuisine.

The chain prides itself on its authentic recipes and the consistently high quality of its daily-made dumplings, plus the fact that they never use frozen ingredients.

“In Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, we are at our best when we are celebrating each other’s culture and we are celebrating each other through customs and food,” Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato said at the opening.

After the ribbon cutting, there was music and a performance by the Pittsburgh Xiaobo Waist Drum Dance Group.

Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings not only serves their famous dumplings, but a full menu of appetizers, soups, dim sum and traditional Chinese breakfast dishes, as well as desserts. Delicacies such as fried shrimp spring rolls, red bean puffs and cucumber salad with garlic sauce will please any palate.

They also offer a full bar, a cocktail menu, hard seltzer, wine and beer. For those with dietary restrictions, the restaurant offers vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Guests will enjoy a spacious dining room and the opportunity to watch chefs craft dumplings through the restaurant’s large viewing window that peeks into the kitchen.

But the soup dumplings are front and center. A dish called the “Lucky Six” is a steamer basket filled with one of each of six different umpling flavors: their signature pork, chicken, scallop, black truffle, pork and crabmeat, and gourd luffa and shrimp.

Ma said that he certainly has a favorite. “The classic pork soup dumplings with the crabmeat.”

“As we’re trying to expand our brand and our company, a lot of customers that have come to our original base in New York from all over the country, they’d tell us where they’re coming from. We would hear so much about how Pittsburgh is such a foodie city,” he said.

Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings is now open on Pittsburgh’s South Side. The restaurant will be open daily at 11 a.m. To learn more, visit nanxiangxiaolongbao.com.