david's taphouse3

Restaurant of the Week: David’s Taphouse & Dumplings

David’s Taphouse & Dumplings is one of the Cedar Valley’s newest hot spots, opening in November of 2021 and located only steps away from vibrant Main Street of Cedar Falls.

David’s Taphouse & Dumplings isn’t your typical Iowan restaurant. It serves up authentic Chinese cuisine along with other cultural specialty dishes, including noodle and rice bowls, steamed bao buns, Korean chicken skewers, crunchy samosas and, of course, dumplings. David’s is owned by husband and wife, Andy Anderson and Yi Cheng, and it is their passion for travel and food that inspired the creation of David’s. “We wanted to create an atmosphere where everyone is welcome, including children. Dumplings and authentic Chinese food came into play as everyone we know loves dumplings. The only problem is it’s difficult to find authentic Chinese and dumplings in the Cedar Valley, and we are hoping to fill that niche,” Anderson says.

You may also be wondering where the restaurant’s name came from. Anderson explained that they only sell Toppling Goliath beer and, with that great partnership, they named the establishment after the person who slayed Goliath – David.

As you walk through the doors, it’s obvious that David’s is the perfect location for just about any type of occasion and is very family friendly. David’s provides an abundance of natural light, a mixture of high- and low-top tables, a raised dining area for private gatherings, an extensive bar, an oversized David’s Connect Four game, basketball hoops, a LEGO play area, flat-screen TVs and David’s own mascot–Sue the T-Rex–a whopping 13-ft. tall and 40-ft. long LEGO dinosaur.

During my visit, I was delighted by a range of dishes that showcased the extraordinary talents of head chef (and chemist!), Jie, including flavor-packed dumplings: pork, kale and corn, Mongolian beef and teriyaki mushroom, available steamed or pan-fried. The fried vegan samosas are packed full of potatoes, corn, peas and carrots with a mouthwatering cilantro-mint chutney dipping sauce. The crispy-yet-tender Korean chicken skewers, beef bulgogi and Dong Po pork bao buns are what dreams are made of, while what are now my all-time favorite French fries are perfectly crispy, well-seasoned and served with homemade ranch.

With all of that delicious savory goodness, Chef Jie made sure palates were balanced with an authentic Chinese dessert that isn’t found anywhere else in the Cedar Valley: crispy milk cubes. That’s right, fried dairy for dessert! The crispy cubes are filled with milk mixed with a gelatin to help hold its form and drizzled with chocolate. The result tastes like mini funnel cakes.

With “taphouse” in the name, I would be remiss to forget about the selection behind the bar. David’s has several Toppling Goliath beers on tap in addition to a variety of cocktails (some even made with beer), seltzer and wine. One of the most refreshing cocktails on the menu is the blueberry-lemon mojito mixed with Verve blueberry-ginger-lemon kombucha. David’s even makes decisions easy by offering beer flights in mini mugs.

In addition to a superb atmosphere and incredible eats, David’s has happy hour specials Tuesday through Saturday, 2 to 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. to close, plus two additional discounts: 10 percent off for military every day and 10 percent off for teachers and students every Friday.

For more information about David’s Taphouse & Dumplings, visit www.davidstaphouse.com.

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