These Dumplings Are Taking Over 🥟

Nana's has been on my radar since they were at the original Tejon Street location in Denver. They made it deep into a local dumpling bracket that had nearly 600 entries — Final Four, up against some serious competition — so when I heard they were opening a new spot on Havana Street in Aurora, I figured it was time to actually go.

Havana Street is one of those stretches that most Denver people never bother with, and that's a mistake. It's one of the better corridors for Asian food in the whole metro area, and dropping Nana's into that mix makes sense. The soft opening is happening now, so the room still has that slightly unsettled energy — not everything running at full speed, staff still finding their rhythm — but the food didn't reflect any of that.

What I Actually Ordered

Xiao long bao were the obvious starting point. If you haven't had them before, they're soup dumplings — thin dough wrapped around pork filling and a small pocket of hot broth that releases when you bite in. Getting that wrapper right is harder than it looks, and Nana's does it well. The skin is delicate without tearing before you want it to, and the broth inside actually tastes like something. I've had versions at other spots where the liquid is basically just hot water with a vague pork suggestion — these are not that.

The gyoza situation is also worth paying attention to. There's a style called hane gyoza, which translates roughly to "winged dumplings" — the pan-frying process creates a thin, crispy crust that connects the bottoms of the dumplings into a single piece. You get the soft dumpling on top and a crackery base underneath. It's a specific texture combination that's pretty hard to pull off well, and Nana's gets it right. The crust holds without being greasy.

The Honest Part

This is still a soft opening, so I want to be clear about what that means. Reservations are how you get in right now — walk-in availability seems limited, and I'd check the website before assuming you can just show up. Service was attentive but moving slower than it probably will once they're fully settled. That's expected, not a criticism.

What surprised me was how consistent the dumplings were. When a place is this new, you sometimes get variance — some orders coming out great, others clearly rushed. Everything we had was in the same range. The xiao long bao especially, which is the item most likely to fall apart (literally) if the kitchen isn't dialed in.

The room itself is clean and straightforward. Nothing particularly distinctive about the space, but the location on Havana puts you right in the middle of a stretch worth exploring if you haven't spent time out there. Parking is easier than anything you'd deal with in LoHi or RiNo, which is its own kind of selling point.

Getting There

The Havana Street corridor in Aurora is a straight shot east if you're coming from central Denver — not a long drive, maybe 20-25 minutes depending on where you're starting. Given how limited the Denver dumpling scene is for this specific style — good xiao long bao in particular — the distance is reasonable.

If you go right now during the soft opening, make a reservation. Don't skip that step. The menu is designed for sharing, so going with a group means you can cover more ground — the gyoza, the soup dumplings, a few other things — without having to choose.

Nana's made the Final Four in that dumpling bracket for a reason. The Havana location gives them more room to operate and puts them in a neighborhood that already understands this kind of food. Worth getting out there sooner rather than later while it's still easy to get a table — that window usually closes faster than people expect.