Brooklyn Dumpling Shop Has Arrived in Dallas

Brooklyn Dumpling Shop opened its first automat restaurant in Texas this week at 2548 Elm St., at the west end of Deep Ellum.

The quick-serve restaurant is a marriage of different concepts and cuisines. While it offers some in-restaurant seating, all the ordering is automated. As in the automats of yesteryear, diners pick up their food from cold and hot lockers. And while the focus is on dumplings, the fillings inside the dumplings are based on food from traditional New York City diners such as cheesesteaks, Reubens, lamb gyros, mac and cheese, and pizza.
Owner Stratis Morfogen is a third-generation New York restaurateur, and the new Dallas location is his sixth overall and the first outside the New York area. The dumpling menu is based on some of his favorite New York diner staples. The first Brooklyn Dumpling Shop opened in 2021 after Stratis and his partners realized the popularity of the novelty dumplings at their full-service Asian-inspired steakhouse, Brooklyn Chop House.

The location has 14 hot and four cold lockers along with a pick-up window and seating for 34 inside the 1,850-square-foot space, across the street from the Kimpton Pittman Hotel and Epic Development (Harper's, Komodo and La Neta). Sam Cole, the local franchise owner, says this location was chosen for the late-night party crowd and lunchtime office workers nearby, along with downtown residents.

In addition to the diner-focused dumplings, the menu has a variety of traditional, vegan and gluten-free dumplings offered seared or crispy along with bowls with rice, proteins and vegetables. Pork soup, fire pork and chicken and shrimp dumplings come served in broth.

Guests can order online (at the time of publication that link isn't working) or at an in-store kiosk, scan the barcode and pick up the order in a locker as a modern take on the historic automat. Third-party delivery is available on most apps, including UberEats, DoorDash and Grubhub.

Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, 2548 Elm St. Sunday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 3 a.m.