What soup dumplings cost in 13 US cities.

Every number comes from the restaurant records in our city guides. Each record quotes a few prices from the restaurant’s own menu or ordering page, names that page, and carries the date we read it. We did not visit restaurants, place orders or use delivery-app prices except where a record names that page.

Inclusion rules

• An observation is included only when the exact menu name and a dollar price sit side by side in that record’s quoted prices or order notes. No price is computed, converted or estimated. A test in the site’s build checks each one against the record text.
• Starting prices (“$12.99+”, “from $19.98”) and dim sum size-tier legends (S/M/L/XL price lists) are not item prices and are excluded. Where the record itself gives an item’s dollar price on a size-tiered or letter-coded menu, that price is used: Dragon Beaux (the restaurant’s ordering page showed the same item prices) and Koi Palace (read from the price legend on a scanned menu). Kirin Court’s record gives only a tier letter, so it is excluded.
• Piece counts come only from the menu name (“(6)”, “4 pc”, “10 each”). Price per piece is the listed price divided by that count, rounded to the cent.
• Dish category comes from the menu name: soup dumpling, xiao long bao or XLB; har gow or shrimp dumpling; siu mai and its spellings (shiu mai, shu mai, shumai, siu mye). Jeng Chi’s Small Juicy Dumplings are included because the record describes them as pork soup dumplings.
• Channel comes from the record’s source note: the restaurant’s menu (web page, PDF or menu image), online ordering run by or linked from the restaurant, or a third-party ordering page the restaurant does not link. 7 prices were read from menu images and are marked in the table.

Coverage, measured before publishing

• Soup dumplings: 29 listings from 25 restaurants in 13 cities (22 standard orders).
• Har gow and shrimp dumplings: 15 listings in 11 cities.
• Siu mai: 8 listings in 6 cities.
• Each category clears our bar of at least 8 listings across at least 5 cities. Per city, samples are small: 5 soup dumpling listings at most, and a single listing in 4 cities.

Named exclusions

• Kirin Court: “Soup Dumplings (XL)” — priced only by a size-tier legend, not an item price.
• Ocean Palace: “shrimp dumpling (har gow)” — the dim sum page lists size tiers without dollar amounts.
• Z & Y Restaurant: “Shanghai-style soup dumplings, 5 pieces” — no price quoted in the record.
• Buddha Bodai: “Vegan Soup Dumplings (5)” — no price quoted in the record.
• Jasmine Seafood Restaurant: “Xiao Long Bao” — no price quoted in the record.
• New Winsor Dim Sum House & Bar: “Pork & Shrimp Dumplings (Siu Mai)” — no price quoted in the record.
• Jeng Chi: “Fiery Juicy Dumplings (8) $16.75” — the record does not call them soup dumplings.
• A Bite of Sichuan (Kirkland): “Juicy Pork Dumplings (8) $11.99” — the record does not call them soup dumplings.
• Dumpling Cafe: “Mini Juicy Buns with Pork (6) $12.95” — the record does not call them soup dumplings.
• New Winsor Dim Sum House & Bar: “Winsor Juicy Pork Dumplings $7.25” — the record does not call them soup dumplings.
• Yang Chow (Chinatown): “Yang Chow Juicy Steamed Dumplings (8) $12.95” — the record does not call them soup dumplings.
• Sichuan Jin River: “Small Pork Buns Filled with Chicken Broth (8) $10.95” — the menu name does not say soup dumpling or xiao long bao.
• Koi Palace (Milpitas): “Shanghai Dumplings (5) $9.95” — the menu name does not say soup dumpling or xiao long bao.

What these numbers are not

• Not a ranking of restaurants or cities, and not a judgement of value or quality.
• Not a cost-of-living or inflation measure. The sample is the restaurants we chose for the city guides, not a random sample of each city.
• Not a price you will necessarily pay. Menus change; dine-in, pickup and delivery prices can differ, and delivery apps commonly add fees and mark up dishes. Several records note a different price on another channel.
• Before tax, tip, service charges and delivery fees.

Next full re-check: by October 28, 2026, together with the city guides. A record’s date changes only when we actually re-read its source. Found a price that has changed? The restaurant profile links the source page.

License and citation

The dataset is published under CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab). Restaurant names and prices are facts from each operator’s own pages. Please credit “Chopstick Compass dumpling price index, September 2026” and link to https://chopstickcompass.com/prices/soup-dumplings. CSV columns: dish, city, restaurant, exact menu item, price in USD, pieces, price per piece, standard order, channel and its source phrase, image-menu flag, checked date and the restaurant’s profile URL.