Laoban Dumplings, a dumpling shop that started popping-up in different locations earlier this year, will open up a small storefront in Foggy Bottom.
The dumpling pop-up — which has been featured at Compass Rose, the Passenger and On Rye over the past year — will replace the former Bertucci’s grab-and-go counter in The Shops at 2000 Penn. Owner Patrick Coyne told the Washingtonian that the new location will open in the next two to four weeks.
Coyne said he started the restaurant after spending a year in Hunan province of China teaching English, where he became infatuated with dumplings.
“One of my favorite activities was just going and hanging out in the dumpling shop outside my school,” Coyne said to the Washingtonian. “Going for lunch, or going for a snack, or going for a dinner and having a bunch of beers—that was always a fun, accessible thing to do. So the idea is to recreate that experience.”
Coyne said the new space in The Shops reminds him of the small dumpling shops you’ll find in China. There will be about six to eight stools running along a counter and he plans to use the design firm HapstakDemetriou — who worked on decor for the Rose’s Luxury and Cava Grill.
The dumplings will be made with the shop’s signature dough, and Coyne said he plans to serve two rotating dumpling flavors, one meat and one vegetarian flavor, to start but will later expand the menu. Other flavors the pop-up has previously offered includes ginger-chicken, five-spice pork, mapo tofu and bok choy-shiitake.
The shop will also offer a different type of salad each week, as well as creative drinks, such as cold-brew mint-green tea and sparkling citrus coffee.