dough zone now open in berkeley
west coast dumpling and noodle chain dough zone dumpling house, headquartered near seattle, opened this week in berkeley on shattuck avenue, and we stopped by for some pork xiao long bao and a quick bowl of dry noodles.
the spacious, modern dining room next door to triple rock features a spare decor, semi-open kitchen, plenty of seating and a focus on qr-code ordering. paper menus are also available; service is fast and personable.
dough zone founder jason zhai is a uc berkeley grad, so despite the corporate feel there's a touch of homecoming pride about the opening.
the restaurant's easy menu of crowd-pleasers is already attracting a clientele of students, groups and families for lunch and dinner. house specials include green onion pancakes, soup dumplings (an order includes eight), steamed, boiled or pan-fried dumplings and wontons, noodle soups and dry noodle dishes, including dan dan and yibin noodles.
the most expensive items on the menu cost a little over $10, and include beef noodle soup, and orders of four pan-fried or steamed pork bao.
large windows face busy shattuck avenue; how to eat xlb. photo credits berkeley eats.
the new berkeley location is the 11-year-old chain's 29th, with locations across california, texas, oregon and washington state. the berkeley dough zone joins six others in the bay area. (one in san leandro closed in 2024).
dough zone is at 1912 shattuck avenue in berkeley.
november 20, 2025