New Denver Dumpling Shop Alert 🚨 #shorts

Denver has been getting more dumpling spots over the past year or two, which is a sentence I genuinely didn't think I'd be writing five years ago. There's been a real wave of them across the metro — Aurora, Greenwood Village, Westminster — and now there's a new one sitting right off I-25 near the Yale exit. Linglong Dumpling House is the newest addition, and it's small enough that a lot of people will probably drive past it without noticing. That would be a mistake.

What You're Walking Into

The space is compact. We're talking a few tables, enough room for maybe you and three other people comfortably before it starts feeling tight. If you're expecting a sprawling sit-down restaurant, adjust your expectations going in. But the size isn't really the point — what they're doing with the menu is. The focus is on made-from-scratch dumplings across a few different styles: soup dumplings (xiao long bao), fried, steamed. There are also noodles and soups, which puts it closer to a full Chinese comfort food menu than a one-trick dumpling counter.

The Dumplings Are the Main Draw, and They Should Be

The soup dumplings are what most people are going to come for, and from what I can tell, they're doing them right. Xiao long bao is a specific thing — thin wrapper, hot broth inside, pork filling — and when it's done well, it's one of the more satisfying bites in Chinese food. Denver's had a limited number of spots doing these well for a while, so having another option on the south side of town is a real addition. The fried dumplings are worth ordering too. The noodle and soup side of the menu is what separates Linglong from spots that are purely dumpling-focused, and if you're going with a group, it gives everyone more to work with.

What Works and What to Know Before You Go

The location near Yale and I-25 is practical if you're already in that corridor — not a destination drive from the north end of the city, but not unreasonable either. The small footprint means this probably isn't the move if you're trying to bring six people. Two to four is the sweet spot, and the menu seems built around that kind of meal anyway.

Denver's dumpling scene has been growing steadily, and Linglong is a new enough spot that the word hasn't fully spread yet. That's actually the best time to go — before the waits get longer and before the inconsistencies that can come with a busy new restaurant start showing up. Right now, it has the feel of a place that's still figuring out its rhythm, which usually means the food is getting the most attention.

A Note on Context

The Denver metro dumpling boom is real. There are spots in Aurora doing solid xiao long bao, and a handful of other newer noodle and dumpling places have opened across the city in the last year. Linglong fits into that wave, but the Yale-area location gives it a different footprint from most of the competition, which tends to cluster further north or out in the suburbs. If you're on that side of town and haven't found a go-to dumpling spot yet, this one fills that gap.

It's a small restaurant doing a specific thing with care, and in Denver's current food landscape, that's worth paying attention to. If you're near the I-25 and Yale exit, stop in — bring a couple of people, order across the menu, and see what lands for you. That's exactly how a place like this is meant to be eaten.