Xlb Dumpling - Brea

Funny thing is, the original XLB Dumpling Bar is right down the street from me, and I pass by it daily, but I have never eaten there. We were stopping by to grab a few drinks from Starbucks when we noticed XLB Dumpling Bar had opened another location. When we stopped by on a Thursday afternoon, there were no customers there. We ordered a Pork XLB (8) with Ginger Vinegar and Soy Sauce. After we placed the other, we stopped at our original destination, Starbucks, and ordered our drinks. With Starbucks' speed, by the time we returned to XLB, our order was not ready yet.Pork XLB (8) with Ginger Vinegar and Soy Sauce $10Freshly Made, Hand Wrapped, Marinated Pork with pieces of our Ginger Pork Broth that melts into a bite size of soup inside each dumpling.The XLB were not only small, but the pork was also super dry. There was no soup in the dumplings at all. Might as well call it a steamed wonton. With no other customers besides us, they either reheated these XLB for us, or they steamed them for too long which I doubt for the latter since we were only at Starbucks for less than 5 minutes. If there is no soup in a XLB, that is an issue especially when the restaurant is called XLB Dumpling Bar. The vinegar used is also a white vinegar, which varies from most other traditional XLB establishments. There was also NO fresh ginger pieces in the dipping sauce as well, which is a must! Blame it on the fusion? I could not believe that I paid $10+tax for this. This parking lot can be a bit difficult to find parking at times, especially since there are so many storefronts, but during an off time, it is not bad. The interior was very simplistic, and can tell that they hammered in nails to hang up each layer of bamboo steamers and etc. Some of the holes on the wall are remnants that an item used to hang there, and have since fallen or been removed. The only saving grace was the service, but the Pork XLB is a hard pass.

What a neat concept with special flavors for traditional XLB! We got the original and also the pizza flavor and a few other ones, and all were very tasty. The original XLB is definitely not as soupy and juicy as we had hoped, but it was still delicious. I would suggest trying the special flavors as you can't get those elsewhere.

I ordered the dan dan mian. It was served promptly on a weekday night. Flavor was good and had just enough spice to it. I would return here and it seems comparable to the Walnut location.

After doing a little shopping at the Brea mall (which looked great by the way). We checked out this little dumplings spot. It's located near the DSW and Mother's market on Imperial and Associated. We ordered the mushrooms pork dumplings, the Al pastor (yes), the pulled pork bao, bock choy and green beans with the sauce on the side. Everything was very flavorful. So good. My favorite the Al pastor dumplings. The brothers who own the biz were so sweet and really accommodating. We will be back

Fast-casual shop with traditional and interesting options.Grabbed a few items to go. Traditional items like pork shrimp, pork XLB, and spicy sesame vegetables were pretty tasty. The fusion items of pizza dumplings and cheeseburger bao were also good...a little odd, but fun to eat.The staff here is very nice.While the shop might not seem open, walk up and try it. The display prep kitchen upfront isn't used anymore since they moved their prep to another location.