Hello Dumpling founder reflects on heritage and her Dallas shop
Hello Dumpling founder June Chow shares how AAPI heritage and family memories shaped her East Dallas dumpling shop, opened in 2017. Read her story.
Prajakta Sanjay Warwadkar 
DALLAS, June 15, 2026 — June Chow grew up helping run her family's restaurant and swore she would never go into the business herself. The cost of putting two children through college changed her mind, and in 2017 she opened the first Hello Dumpling in East Dallas.
Chow shared the story in an interview with KERA marking Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. She describes the shop as a way to fill a gap in the city's Chinese food options while sharing the flavors she grew up with.
How Hello Dumpling came to be
Chow said looming college debt for her children pushed her back toward restaurant work, but this time on her own terms. She lives in East Dallas, an area she calls a "Chinese food desert," and built the menu around the dumplings and noodles of her childhood.
Her mother is from Northern China, where wheat dumplings and noodles are staples. Chow said she wanted dumplings to feel as everyday and approachable as tacos.
What Chow means by 'soul food'
Chow traces the food to the street vendors of Beijing, where the air carries cumin, chilies and grilled meats rather than only the garlic and ginger many outside China expect. She settled on "soul food" as her description because the dishes came from ordinary people rather than refined kitchens.
Six fillings, each with a story
For first-time guests without allergies, Chow said she suggests starting with the pork dumpling, noting pork is China's national meat. The menu carries six fillings, and the one closest to her is the fish dumpling, which recalls her mother growing up fishing on a peninsula on China's northeast coast facing Korea.
One marker of success, Chow said, is a new generation of young regulars, including children who ask to hold birthday parties at the restaurant. Hello Dumpling has since grown beyond its original East Dallas storefront with a second location in the Lake Highlands area; menu and hours are listed on the Hello Dumpling website.
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