Clark County diners can now get their soup dumpling fix without crossing the Columbia River. Dough Zone Dumpling House opened its 30th location on September 15 at 11909 SE Mill Plain Blvd., Suite 200, in Vancouver, marking the fast-growing Shanghainese chain’s first foothold in Southwest Washington.
The milestone caps a steady climb for a company that started as a single mom-and-pop shop in Bellevue in 2014, founded by Jason Zhai and Nancy Xia, according to The Reflector. In the years since, the chain has expanded by opening a few new locations annually, building a footprint that now stretches across Oregon, California and Texas, per the same report. Until now, Clark County residents wanting Dough Zone’s dumplings and bao had to drive into Portland, where the chain already runs three restaurants.
The Vancouver opening actually gives the Portland-Vancouver metro its fourth Dough Zone outpost overall, joining existing Oregon locations in Downtown Portland’s South Waterfront, which opened in 2022, as well as Beaverton’s Cedar Hills Crossing and Happy Valley’s Clackamas Town Center, according to Willamette Week. The new Vancouver spot took over a 2,950-square-foot standalone retail building that previously housed Costa Vida and includes a former drive-thru, as reported by Fuller Group, whose commercial real estate team represented the landlord in the lease alongside NAI Elliott, which represented Dough Zone.
Familiar Flavors, No Reservations Needed
Inside, the restaurant offers traditional Chinese flavors and dishes designed to feel familiar to American customers, per The Reflector’s reporting. The menu includes jian bao soup dumplings, along with dumplings, bao, and pan-fried pork buns, served in what The Reflector describes as a homey, modern environment. No reservations are required, and the food is positioned as affordable and accessible…