A glamorous new dim sum restaurant has taken over a stretch of Boylston Street in Boston’s Back Bay, with a multi-level dining room, an open kitchen, and cocktails on offer. Zhu, at 903 Boylston St., serves dim sum, xiaolongbao, stir-fry dishes, and cocktails for business lunches, date nights, and group dinners.
A Former Irish Pub Becomes a Dumpling Destination
Zhu occupies the space once home to Lir, the Irish pub that closed in 2020 after 17 years in operation, according to Boston Restaurant Talk. As of October 2025, the restaurant’s proposal to the city was not seeking any kind of alcohol license at that time, per The Boston Sun. The restaurant serves cocktails. The name itself carries meaning: Zhu translates to bamboo in Chinese, and the owner’s mother used bamboo steamers to make xiaolongbao.
Joanna is Zhu’s owner and chef. Her xiaolongbao draw on her mother’s experience running a xiaolongbao shop.
Xiaolongbao Take Center Stage
The menu includes Boston lobster and crab xiaolongbao and Berkshire pork xiaolongbao. Dim sum here is ordered straight from a printed menu rather than wheeled out on carts, a structural choice paired with the restaurant’s open kitchen.
Beyond the soup dumplings, the menu includes sweet-and-sour pork. A separate restaurant review from thetech.com singled out the crispy shrimp toast with wasabi mayonnaise as the standout of the smaller plates, calling it unanimously the best small dish of the meal. That same review put the total cost at $57 per person after the kitchen comped a pork dish.
Soft Opening Gives Way to a Fuller Menu
The Tech’s review traces back to Zhu’s soft opening on Sept. 28, noting that the restaurant’s full menu was expected to roll out only after a grand opening the outlet then described as several weeks away. That same review framed Zhu as a destination for dim sum alongside other dishes drawing on Jiangnan and Sichuan influences, and listed hours running Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Zhu has its own website.
Zhu serves cocktails alongside appetizers, dim sum, xiaolongbao, and mains. Diners can reach the restaurant at 617-888-2388.
More Dumplings Could Be Coming to the Neighborhood
Zhu isn’t the only dumpling operation eyeing Back Bay. Din Tai Fung, the Taiwanese chain celebrated for its soup dumplings and dim sum-inspired menu, is planning to open at the Prudential Center in the space formerly occupied by Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, according to NBC Boston. Filing documents described a buildout with multiple dining areas, a 12-seat bar, a takeout counter, and a seasonal patio.
That proposed restaurant would mark Din Tai Fung’s first location in New England, per MassLive, which reported that Boston’s licensing board is scheduled to vote on the proposal’s agenda on Nov. 18. Whether that vote clears the way for an opening remains to be seen, but for now, Zhu has Back Bay’s dumpling scene to itself.
Dining and Cooking