Mei Mei to reopen as dumpling factory, cafe, and classroom
Two and a half years after Boston dumpling hot spot Mei Mei closed because of the pandemic, it will reopen at a new South Boston location in time for Chinese New Year on Jan. 22, 2023. As part of its fund-raising to support the January 2023 reopening, Mei Mei plans to host a “sneak peak” celebration on Oct. 30.
The new Mei Mei location in South Boston will be more than just a restaurant: the company’s website describes the new space as a “dumpling factory, cafe, and classroom” in one.
That combination might seem unconventional for a former food truck-turned-restaurant. But for the team behind Mei Mei, it reflects a continued emphasis on fostering community, which has been a priority since Mei Mei launched in 2012.
Mei Mei founder Irene Li described the pandemic’s biggest challenge as “figuring out how to connect with guests and community in the absence of being able to connect with them in physical space.” But her team found creative solutions, including hosting online dumplingmaking classes. Li also helped found Project Restore Us, an organization that partners with restaurants in Boston to deliver “culturally appropriate staple groceries” to families in food deserts.
It makes sense, then, for Mei Mei’s new physical space to include a classroom — where dumpling-making classes can now happen in person — as well as a factory where Mei Mei employees will make dumplings in bulk for both the cafe and for delivery.
Li has always seen dumplingmaking and community-building as intertwined. She grew up in Boston and explained that “a big piece of celebrating our Chinese culture was Chinese New Year, as well as just anytime that we could gather friends and family at the house. And usually that involved a bunch of people sitting around the kitchen table, making dumplings, cooking dumplings, putting them in the freezer, so that people could go home with bags of them.”
When Mei Mei opens to the public this Chinese New Year, Li hopes that Boston residents can join her in the community ritual of dumpling-making: whether by taking a class, touring the dumpling factory, or enjoying a plate of dumplings fresh from the cafe.