Mei Mei

The best dumplings in town now have a new mother ship to call home. Inside Irene Li’s 4,000-square-foot cafe and factory—the latest addition to Southie’s Iron Works empire—diners can sit at one of the long communal tables and stare right into the glass-walled kitchen to watch the dumpling assembly line in action. You can once more get your fix of lemongrass pork or five spice tofu dumplings, plus the aptly named Double Awesome egg and scallion pancake sandwich. And this time around you can chase your spread with beer, wine, or cocktails. Feeling inspired? You can also now take in-house cooking classes—public or private—to better your own home dumpling skills.