Famed Vegas dumpling spot reveals opening date for Texas location

Everything is bigger in Texas, the old saying goes.

Does that also go for the xiaolongbao at ShangHai Taste, which is opening an outpost in Texas (after two in Las Vegas) on Oct. 1 in Plano, a northern suburb of Dallas? Will Lone Star dumplings be plumper? Will they have more pleats? Will a gusher of hot broth issue when you bite into them?

“I thought everything was bigger in New Jersey,” said Joe Muscaglione, co-founder of ShangHai Taste, laughingly referring to his home state.

No, he continued, the xiaolongbao won’t be plus-sized for Texas. The Plano menu, he said, would be the same as the menu at ShangHai Taste in Chinatown, which Muscaglione opened in 2019 with his business partner, chef Jimmy Li, a James Beard Award semifinalist.

The Texas restaurant, first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, follows the launch in June of a second ShangHai Taste on South Rainbow Boulevard near Windmill Lane, in the southwest.

Dumpling views

Although the Dallas location starts steaming slurpable xiaolongbao on Oct. 1, the grand opening celebration (with tastings and entertainment) will be on Oct. 8 for good luck, eight being a propitious number in Chinese culture. The restaurant is at 109 Legacy Drive in Plano, in a center that also includes Sichuan, Korean and ramen restaurants.

“We are thrilled to bring our Shanghainese culinary tradition to this warm and vibrant community,” Li said in a statement obtained in advance by the Review-Journal. “We hope to become a valued part of Plano’s outstanding dining scene and we live up to everyone’s expectations.”

The new location encompasses 1,350 square feet and 39 seats, along the lines of the cozy Chinatown original, and breaks from the red color scheme of Vegas with warm earth tones. An open kitchen affords view of xiaolongbao crafting: roll, fill, pinch, pleat, steam, repeat.

Texas calling

Why did the business partners decide to bring their dumplings and other Shanghai standards to Texas?

Since it opened in 2019, the restaurant has been widely praised for its xiaolongbao (often called Shanghai soup dumplings), much of that praise initially coming from locals, then later from visitors to Vegas, who spread the word on social media.

The word reached Texas, investors approached Muscaglione, he liked what he found in Plano (which is more than 20 percent Asian), and a dumpling deal was done.

Is ShangHai Taste No. 3 the start of an empire? “We will go wherever there is demand for ShangHai Taste,” Muscaglione said.

Have dumpling, will travel.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.