After working alongside and learning from her family at Private Kitchen and Soup Dumplings STL, Yue Zhai wanted to create something of her own. In June 2022, Tiger Soup Dumplings was born, and the Sauce team liked it so much it was named a Best New Restaurant that year. Owned by Zhai and her boyfriend, Victor Lai, the pair opened up their first location in Fenton. After gaining popularity, they then opened up their second location in 2024 in Des Peres. Now they are gearing up for a third location coming this spring to 1900 First Capitol Drive in St. Charles.
Opening in spring 2026, with more details to come later, their new location is around 1,900 square feet. Zhai noted they are using the same design team they had used for the Des Peres location, with a similar elevated design following their black and wood theme. In addition to the other locations, there will be an open window for guests to take a peek into the carefully crafted soup dumpling process. The menu will stay the same without skimping on quality or freshness.
Everything at Tiger Soup Dumplings is house-made. Zhai notes that she believes the popularity of the restaurants is due to the fresh quality her and her team bring to every meal. She believes that a dish needs to be held at the utmost quality for guests to enjoy.
“I request that our staff does everything to follow the rules. If the food is not perfect, I won’t let them through, or never bring it out to the customer, because we are really strict to the quality and really strict for the food quality,” Zhai said.
It was important for Zhai to venture out on her own to change the perspective on how Americans usually consume Chinese food, which Zhai noted is usually through takeout. She wants young people to try her cooking, and encourages guests to eat at the restaurants, instead of the takeout option.
“I call it the new Chinese fusion food; I want to make some changes. I want to show confidence in the culture. I want to teach people what is real Chinese food, or new Chinese food, besides the old takeout. American Chinese food is totally different,” Zhai said.
Zhai stressed the success of the third location is especially important to her long-term goals of getting a central kitchen to supply to even more locations down the road. With a central kitchen, she and her team would be able to supply the same level of quality to even more locations.
“If I can open the third store and it goes well, that means this business model can be a long-term business model. So, this third story is our really important store. If it goes well, that means I can open four, five, six, and open more stores. So, this is a really important, big step for us,” Zhai said.