Din Tai Fung

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TheTripChick

Joined 9 years ago

Very good! A few pointers: 1. Shoot for lunch, if possible. And arrive between 11am and 11:30am, no later! You arrive later and you risk having to wait for a table as right around 11:30am the Microsofties upstairs realize that it is time for lunch and they all head down, en masse, to Din Tai Fung for lunch.

2. Park in the Lincoln Square parking structure, take the elevator to the 2nd level, head north (away from the movie theatre, toward the skyway to the hotel across the street) and you'll see the restaurant on your right-hand side. On your way out, don't forget to get your parking ticket validated, they will validate for up to 3 hours. On your way in, take a moment to watch all the guys preparing the fresh dumplings in the great picture window.

3. Don' t try to circumvent the system, by sending in the token single person to "reserve" the table for the rest of the party. The hostesses are savvy and the restaurant has a policy of not seating you until ALL members of your party are present and accounted for.

4. If you haven't been here before and you feel uncomfortable ordering off the paper menu they present to you initially, ask for a color picture menu. They have several floating around and the servers are more than willing to graciously bring one over to you.

5. Get two things: the soup dumplings, and the spicy pork/shrimp dumplings. And if you need a veggie, the cucumbers are awfully good, too!

After that, you're on your own.

Enjoy!