3 new or soon-to-open dumpling shops in metro Denver

Mason’s Dumpling Shop turns out thousands of fresh steamed, pan-fried and boiled dumplings every day. And Denver’s got the appetite for it.

“If volume isn’t high, it’s hard to make dough and fillings every day fresh,” said Mason’s co-owner Shanzi Sun. “That’s why restaurants that serve them as appetizers can’t always make them fresh like we do.”

Sun and his cousin Ker Zhu opened Mason’s Dumpling Shop, an offshoot of L.A. institution Luscious Dumplings, in Aurora in 2020 and a second in Boulder in 2022. The family will debut its third shop in Lakewood in mid-February.

And they’re not alone. Metro Denver is in the midst of a dumpling boom. At least half a dozen dumpling-specific restaurants opened last year in Denver, Northglenn, Greenwood Village, Federal Height...