A little over 2 years ago, I asked people in this sub for their favorite dumpling in Chicagoland, from any cuisine. That kicked off a great exploration of everything loosely dumpling-related, including a gem of a quote from u/bucketman1986 "Look, as a fat man I love all dumplings as they are my people." and hilarious questions like, "Is a Pizza Puff a Dumpling?"
My records tell me that the first dumpling I included in this journey was on Aug 8, 2023 (Dong Bei Ren Jia at the 88 Marketplace Food Court), and the first post in the series was a few months later in December. Since then, I've made 17 posts in this subreddit on the topic, sharing a journey that included 66 different venues, 37 ethnicities/cuisines, 116 different dumplings, and over 200 photos. I've kept notes, and updated the Google Map with all that information for all that time.
It's been awesome. AWESOME! Such a great exploration. I've loved the whole thing.
But I'm going to be winding it down.
The places left on my list to try are located in areas I just don't get to often (sorry suburbs!), or are only open at times I'm unable to break away from other responsibilities (looking at you, River North/West Loop/Fulton Market). Sometimes I'm spending time researching more dumplings in new cuisines, and then spending even more time trying to hunt down a place in Chicago that serves it, and then even MORE time trying to justify an excuse to spend the time and money to get there and eat it. Too often, that much effort feels like a chore for the sake of this project when I'd really prefer to revisit one of my new favorites I've encountered along the way.
So…. I'm winding down the "I Dream of Dumplings" series. I'm going to figure out a way to make a recap post that picks my favorites (impossible!) and dumplings/cuisines I've learned about for the first time. So probably at least another post or two.
And of course, I'll still be eating dumplings. I'm not ENDING this adventure of eating "Cooked Dough surrounding Yummy Things", just…taking an indefinite break from writing/tracking/hunting/traveling about it. I'll keep updating the Map and my Spreadsheet, so those should hopefully remain up-to-date if you want to keep referring to them.
If you want to keep sending dumpling recommendations my way, I'll take 'em. Especially if you think I've missed something that I should ABSOLUTELY try.
Thank you to EVERYONE who contributed to this journey so far. I couldn't have done it without all the recommendations, insights, discussion, and guidance y'all have given me along the way.
I just have 2 questions for y'all at the end of this:
- What stupendously-good dumplings did I miss?
- What should the next Chicago-food-exploration project be?
by TheRedSe7en
Dining and Cooking