Uninspired, limp noodle restaurant. Too bad I spent almost $60 for tasteless Shrimp Lo Mein, gummy "House" Dumplings sans any type of dipping sauce, and Wonton Soup overloaded with soggy dumplings. Whomever prepared my food, took no pleasure nor any type of consideration for the presentation of the meal. In fact, they packed the fodder in an unidentifiable bag, left no calling card, no menu sheet for future orders. This leads me to believe that Shanghai Dumpling knows they make subpar food that is contrite on one's palate, and that they don't gaf. One time, last time for me. Sayonara.
Monserat Garcia
If I could give this restaurant 0 stars, I would. I have never felt more dehumanized and disrespected at a restaurant before. The waiter refused to give us service. It felt racially motivated because we are Hispanic. However, two white students walked in and got their drinks and food before us. We waited 30 minutes, and the waiter still had not come by to get our order for drinks. I felt humiliated, and I will not be coming back ever again.
Tamika & Mercedes
I ordered orange chicken and it was $16 for what is pictured. This is ridiculous for what you are given. Also, most of the food here is just frozen and reheated. The workers are not friendly at all. For this price, you can get much more food and better service elsewhere.
Pat C
I believe the 3 star rating of this restaurant is fair and accurate. While the food tasted good and came out rather quickly, the portions are super small and the prices are much higher than the portions could justify. Everything is sized down, even the dinner portions of the entrees. There's a lunch version and a dinner version of the main entrees but the more expensive dinner option is still only about half of what I'd expect a typical plate serving to be. There's a lot of price gouging going on here because they know that the majority of customers are college students not paying attention to the prices. They should really focus more on customer retention and making it worth going back instead of trying to squeeze every dime possible out of new guests, the very first time they come in. The restaurant itself is tiny, super small inside with very limited and cheap seating. The food was okay, nothing special at all, but also nothing horrible. The bao / bun were pretty fresh and tasty but again, significantly over priced for what you get. They were out of 4 different things that we wanted which made us try plates we weren't super interested in which is also an issue. With a limited menu, you should have what you offer available. All in all, this is not a restaurant we will return to. The value isn't there for me. The high prices are justified when the building is nice, atmosphere is nice and inviting, the service is outstanding, and when the food itself is amazing. Unfortunately, none of these things were true here. Instead of feeling like I had a great dinner worthy of the cost, I felt ripped off. I should've listened to the other reviews mentioning the portion sizes but I couldn't imagine that the portions were as small as they are. I truly felt ripped off and it'd hard to imagine going back after feeling like that. It's a shame, simply lowering the prices of the small plates or simply.increasing the portion size would have made all the difference. I hope that changes jn the future, until then, we will not be back.
Xiaolu Pan
The food is mediocre. Some of them are probably frozen food reheat but it’s ok since there are no good Chinese restaurants in Chapel hill. I will just say it is better than it used to.Horrible service. The waitress complained about I order too much????. She did not do anything in an empty restaurant. Later, she added 18% tips on the tap how much they want. Too bad there is no good dim sum or any good Chinese restaurants in Chapel hill.
banana peel
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE!!! Horrendous customer service which felt rooted in RACISM. Server did not ask us if we wanted take out or dine-in, and THREW OUR FOOD on the table. As we were eating, he came up and told us that since we got take-out, we can’t eat there (even though there were plenty of open seats). I explained that since we never asked for take out, we assumed that we were eating in. He left, came back after a bit and then said there is a “dining service fee” if we stay. Between when he left and came back, other customers who were white and east-Asian came and left, and he was not rude to them whatsoever. He asked one of them if they wanted a table for two as soon as they came in. We felt so offended and mistreated that we left. We got an order of spring rolls which were not bad, but definitely not worth the dehumanizing experience. Will NEVER GO AGAIN!!!
Amanda
Stopped by for lunch as out of town visitors with two young kids. Staff was very friendly and kind (even warned us what we ordered was spicy for kids). The soup dumplings and Dan Dan noodles were great!
Sid Raj
Host was good, no rudeness even though we were only ordering two apps. Pork dumpling was moist and fresh with light wrapper, egg drop was perfectly cooked with creamy yolk mixed with ribbon whites. Recommend!
Phoenix
The food at Shanghai dumpling is always at a consistently high quality and indeed, the food has failed to disappoint me. However, contentions do arise when considering the price. Over the years, a noted increase in price combined with a decrease in amount served has made me hesitant to recommend those who aren't willing to spend 20 or more for a meal. Just for an example, over time I've witnessed the BBQ steamed buns increase in price from 4 for 6.95, to 4 for 7.95, and finally, 3 for 7.95. Although times are hard after covid, it feels difficult to let them go for this among other things.
Mckaila Newcomb
No air conditioning on this very hot day made it uncomfortable to dine in but the food was fantastic and reasonably priced.
great food! kinda expensive, but amazing dumplings. i had the dan dan noodles (n4), and they were quite spicy. i also had some sort of egg custard dumpling (b16) and they brought tears to my eyes. they were so good. still thinking of them.
LA Baker
Everything was so yummy, got there on a Saturday night and it was so peaceful and chill. I got the yolk custard buns and pork soup dumplings
Sam S.
I wasn't very impressed by their braised beef noodles (extremely skimpy on the bok choy and beef, which weren't very good, watery soup), and they got an order wrong and brought out two of the same dish. Unfortunately, they were out of two types of soup dumplings in the early evening, and I wouldn't go back to try out more. I'm not sure why they're suggested so frequently...
Emily J
Very yummy. Had dry hot pot, soup buns, scallion pancakes which were soooo good and had custard buns for dessert and they was also delicious. Can't wait to come back to try something else!
Ari Jiang
So glad we found out about this place. Authentic options for soup dumplings (skin is on the thick side but def not bad!! Lots of soup!) and pot sticks!! Made me so happy!!
Uninspired, limp noodle restaurant. Too bad I spent almost $60 for tasteless Shrimp Lo Mein, gummy "House" Dumplings sans any type of dipping sauce, and Wonton Soup overloaded with soggy dumplings. Whomever prepared my food, took no pleasure nor any type of consideration for the presentation of the meal. In fact, they packed the fodder in an unidentifiable bag, left no calling card, no menu sheet for future orders. This leads me to believe that Shanghai Dumpling knows they make subpar food that is contrite on one's palate, and that they don't gaf. One time, last time for me. Sayonara.
If I could give this restaurant 0 stars, I would. I have never felt more dehumanized and disrespected at a restaurant before. The waiter refused to give us service. It felt racially motivated because we are Hispanic. However, two white students walked in and got their drinks and food before us. We waited 30 minutes, and the waiter still had not come by to get our order for drinks. I felt humiliated, and I will not be coming back ever again.
I ordered orange chicken and it was $16 for what is pictured. This is ridiculous for what you are given. Also, most of the food here is just frozen and reheated. The workers are not friendly at all. For this price, you can get much more food and better service elsewhere.
I believe the 3 star rating of this restaurant is fair and accurate. While the food tasted good and came out rather quickly, the portions are super small and the prices are much higher than the portions could justify. Everything is sized down, even the dinner portions of the entrees. There's a lunch version and a dinner version of the main entrees but the more expensive dinner option is still only about half of what I'd expect a typical plate serving to be. There's a lot of price gouging going on here because they know that the majority of customers are college students not paying attention to the prices. They should really focus more on customer retention and making it worth going back instead of trying to squeeze every dime possible out of new guests, the very first time they come in. The restaurant itself is tiny, super small inside with very limited and cheap seating. The food was okay, nothing special at all, but also nothing horrible. The bao / bun were pretty fresh and tasty but again, significantly over priced for what you get. They were out of 4 different things that we wanted which made us try plates we weren't super interested in which is also an issue. With a limited menu, you should have what you offer available. All in all, this is not a restaurant we will return to. The value isn't there for me. The high prices are justified when the building is nice, atmosphere is nice and inviting, the service is outstanding, and when the food itself is amazing. Unfortunately, none of these things were true here. Instead of feeling like I had a great dinner worthy of the cost, I felt ripped off. I should've listened to the other reviews mentioning the portion sizes but I couldn't imagine that the portions were as small as they are. I truly felt ripped off and it'd hard to imagine going back after feeling like that. It's a shame, simply lowering the prices of the small plates or simply.increasing the portion size would have made all the difference. I hope that changes jn the future, until then, we will not be back.
The food is mediocre. Some of them are probably frozen food reheat but it’s ok since there are no good Chinese restaurants in Chapel hill. I will just say it is better than it used to.Horrible service. The waitress complained about I order too much????. She did not do anything in an empty restaurant. Later, she added 18% tips on the tap how much they want. Too bad there is no good dim sum or any good Chinese restaurants in Chapel hill.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE!!! Horrendous customer service which felt rooted in RACISM. Server did not ask us if we wanted take out or dine-in, and THREW OUR FOOD on the table. As we were eating, he came up and told us that since we got take-out, we can’t eat there (even though there were plenty of open seats). I explained that since we never asked for take out, we assumed that we were eating in. He left, came back after a bit and then said there is a “dining service fee” if we stay. Between when he left and came back, other customers who were white and east-Asian came and left, and he was not rude to them whatsoever. He asked one of them if they wanted a table for two as soon as they came in. We felt so offended and mistreated that we left. We got an order of spring rolls which were not bad, but definitely not worth the dehumanizing experience. Will NEVER GO AGAIN!!!
Stopped by for lunch as out of town visitors with two young kids. Staff was very friendly and kind (even warned us what we ordered was spicy for kids). The soup dumplings and Dan Dan noodles were great!
Host was good, no rudeness even though we were only ordering two apps. Pork dumpling was moist and fresh with light wrapper, egg drop was perfectly cooked with creamy yolk mixed with ribbon whites. Recommend!
The food at Shanghai dumpling is always at a consistently high quality and indeed, the food has failed to disappoint me. However, contentions do arise when considering the price. Over the years, a noted increase in price combined with a decrease in amount served has made me hesitant to recommend those who aren't willing to spend 20 or more for a meal. Just for an example, over time I've witnessed the BBQ steamed buns increase in price from 4 for 6.95, to 4 for 7.95, and finally, 3 for 7.95. Although times are hard after covid, it feels difficult to let them go for this among other things.
No air conditioning on this very hot day made it uncomfortable to dine in but the food was fantastic and reasonably priced.
Restaurantji Recommends
great food! kinda expensive, but amazing dumplings. i had the dan dan noodles (n4), and they were quite spicy. i also had some sort of egg custard dumpling (b16) and they brought tears to my eyes. they were so good. still thinking of them.
Everything was so yummy, got there on a Saturday night and it was so peaceful and chill. I got the yolk custard buns and pork soup dumplings
I wasn't very impressed by their braised beef noodles (extremely skimpy on the bok choy and beef, which weren't very good, watery soup), and they got an order wrong and brought out two of the same dish. Unfortunately, they were out of two types of soup dumplings in the early evening, and I wouldn't go back to try out more. I'm not sure why they're suggested so frequently...
Very yummy. Had dry hot pot, soup buns, scallion pancakes which were soooo good and had custard buns for dessert and they was also delicious. Can't wait to come back to try something else!
So glad we found out about this place. Authentic options for soup dumplings (skin is on the thick side but def not bad!! Lots of soup!) and pot sticks!! Made me so happy!!
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