Dumpling news
Rare Nepalese restaurant with secret speakeasy opens in Arlington
Taipo dumplings
It's no reach to say that Taipo, a newly opened restaurant in downtown Arlington, is one-of-a-kind. The restaurant features Nepalese food, which on its own is unique in Dallas-Fort Worth. But it also comes with a hidden speakeasy, perfect for late-night gatherings or romantic dates.
The concept is at 200 E. Abram St. #140, on the street level of the Park Place residential apartment complex, alongside Inclusion Coffee, Twisted Root Burger Co., and J. Gilligan’s Bar and Grill.
By day, it's a cute fast-casual spot featuring pan-Asian food and Nepalese food, which co-owner Rachel Puri Zimba describes as a fusion of Chinese and Indian food, two of the countries Nepal lies between.
“It’s like Chinese food with Indian spices, that’s kind of what Nepali food is,” she says.
There are stir fries and lo mein. Spicy chicken and butter masala sandwiches. And momos, the coveted Nepalese dumplings, filled with choice of chicken, beef, pork, potato, or vegan.
Authentic Nepalese food is extremely spicy, but Puri Zimba says that they've moderated the spice level on most of their menu items to make them more approachable to a wider audience.
The star of the menu is taipo: two jumbo, savory fried dumplings with chicken, pork, beef or potato fillings. For Puri Zimba, taipos have a special significance, as they originate from her mother’s hometown Darjeeling, a small town east of Nepal in the Himalayan foothills.
“With Taipo, the fast food part at least, we wanted to have a gateway to Nepali food for people to get introduced to it in an environment they’ll be comfortable in,” Puri Zimba says. “We didn’t want it to feel too foreign to them.”
Beverages include a mango lassi (yogurt-based drink), lavender lemonade, masala chai, and pink punch.
Prices are fast-casual cheap: Taipo are $5 to $7 per order depending on filling, while momo are $10 for an order of seven dumplings.
The restaurant, which keeps long hours for nearby UT Arlington students from 11 am-12 am daily, has a welcoming atmosphere, with a distinct monochromatic palette done in a Tiffany-worthy turquoise, from the furniture to the walls to the company logo and packaging.
But once you enter the hidden door to the speakeasy, it's a different aesthetic: darker, with black and gold tones, including exotic carved and decorative items made by hand and imported from Nepal.
The speakeasy has its own limited menu - taipos and momos, mostly - and also serves alcohol with drinks such as the Darjeeling Chai, with Tito's vodka, Kahlua, chai, and cream; the City of Temples, with Jose Cuervo, peach, and egg white; the Lycheetini, a martini with Tito's and lychee; and the Pink Tuxedo, with Beefeater gin, strawberry, and lemon.
The speakeasy is open nights only: Sunday-Wednesday 5 pm-12 am, and extra late on the weekends: Thursday-Saturday, 5 pm-2 am.
Puri Zimba and co-owner Riza Rawal are both in their 20s and both from Nepal. Taipo was their way to introduce Nepalese culture and cuisine to the area while fusing each of their business aspirations. Rawal always wanted to open a bar, while Puri Zimba thought fast-casual dining would be a good business.
They're also using proceeds from the business to fund two automatic dog feeders in Nepal, which they say has a notoriously large homeless dog population.
“We wanted a social cause to give back to Nepal since it’s a third-world country,” Puri Zimba says. “We’re really big animal lovers, especially dogs, so it made sense.”
