Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese restaurant chain known for its Chinese cuisine, especially xiaolongbao. The company is based in Taipei and has expanded to Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Its signature xiaolongbao are wrapped in paper-thin dough with 18 folds.

Founder Yang Bing-yi, originally from Shanxi, worked for ten years at a cooking oil retailer called Heng Tai Fung. In 1958, he and his Hakka wife, Lai Penmei, started their own cooking oil business, combining the names of his former employer and their new supplier, DinMei Oils, to create Din Tai Fung. Around 1970, canned cooking oil became common, hurting sales. A friend, Shanghainese restaurant owner Tang Yongchang, suggested they convert half the shop to making xiaolongbao, a dish rare in Taiwan at the time. The dumplings became so popular that by 1972, Din Tai Fung stopped selling oil and became a full restaurant. The original location is on Xinyi Road in Taipei, with a sign calligraphed by then Control Yuan president Yu Youren.

The first international branch opened in Tokyo in 1996, and the first North American location, operated by the founders’ son Frank, opened in Arcadia, California, in 2000. The first Indonesian branch opened at Plaza Senayan in Jakarta on April 24, 2005; by 2022, there were 13 branches in Greater Jakarta, offering three formats (regular, Noodle Bar, and Chef’s Table) with halal and non-halal options. The chain struggled during the 2008 global financial crisis. In 2000, the first mainland China locations opened, and in 2007, the Taiwanese government used a Din Tai Fung showcase in Paris for cultural diplomacy. The first European branch opened in London in December 2018. In January 2019, the Westfield Sydney location voluntarily closed after rats were found, displaced by nearby construction; the city council required a health inspection before reopening.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the first North American restaurant closed permanently on June 11, 2020. In March 2023, a Din Tai Fung Australia franchise was prosecuted in the Federal Court of Australia for underpaying staff, pressuring employees to sign a workplace agreement, and failing to pay about A$175,000 in owed wages. As of 2024, the chain has over 170 locations, with North Am