The Dim Sum Garden Saga: A Primer

For years, Dim Sum Garden on 11th Street was just a nondescript place to eat dumplings and avoid natural light, directly adjacent to a bus depot. (In other words: heaven.) You never really had to worry about your more finicky friends or your parents tagging along when you were headed there. (Again: heaven.)

So it was a good news/bad news situation when word first got around that DSG was moving to swankier digs around the corner. The dumplings were still good, and there were more items on the menu, but now everyone wanted to go and try it, and ugh, the sun, it burns.

But things got complicated on a less jokey — some might say "realer" — level, too. At first, the story was that DSG was "moving." Then Michael Klein reported that "the 11th Street original [was] not going away," according to manager Sally Song. However, the original did close after the new restaurant's launch.

When the 11th Street location showed signs of life again a few weeks later, some found it wholly unchanged. (One Eater commenter, however, had found the food there lacking.) But (as Meal Ticket reported) Song was crying foul, and threatening legal action against the operators at 11th St., claiming they were operating illegally under DSG's good name.

Today, Klein paints an even more confusing picture. The 11th St. location is, in fact, under completely new ownership. As he explains, Song and her mother were not DSG's original owners, and the original owner is back at the original location. ...except he's not the owner now. You should probably just go read this one for yourself.

If you're still unsure what's going on, you're forgiven. But does anyone else now have a serious dumpling craving?

· Dim Sum Garden(s): A Tale of Confusion [Philly.com]
· All Chinatown Coverage [-EPHI-]