It is the envy of its peers, the master of its industry.

Yet Taiwanese restaurant chain Din Tai Fung is not seeking to go fast and furious, even as it continues to blitz past competitors and rack up long lines of diners hungry for its globally renowned xiao long bao soup dumplings.

Instead, Aaron and Albert Yang, co-chief executives of the company’s North America business, are adamant on where their focus should lie: staying disciplined.

It’s been the guiding principle of each decision made since the Yangs – brothers only a year and half apart in age and grandsons of the brand’s founder – in August took over as the third generation of the family to run the Arcadia-based operation.

They’ve had their hands full in their first 10 months at the helm, with Din Tai Fung opening its first restaurant in New York City last summer and pushing into Vancouver this spring.

Some may be surprised to hear, however, that after a quarter of century of operating in North America, Din Tai Fung only reached the East Coast and Canada in recent months. Overall, in North America, it has 18 restaurants – a small fraction of the more than 165 globally.

Given the brand’s enormous popularity, critics could ask: why wait?

The Yangs – speaking jointly at their sprawling new restaurant in Santa Monica, where diners are invited to sit at circular booths shaped like bamboo steamer baskets – had an answer to that.

“Our priority is not to make the most money and open as many stores as we can,” Albert Yang said. “We want to open as many stores as we can while maintaining our quality standards, and we’re just unwilling to expand too fast, where we’re compromising that quality.”

Aaron Yang, the elder brother, echoed that view.

“I think a lot of people in our position would try to open a lot more (stores) and open at a faster pace, just to take advantage of the opportunity,” he said. “(But) we need to make sure that if we’re going to open a new restaurant, it’s going to be of the same quality, if not better, than the existing locations.”

The fact is, the Yangs have in recent years already ramped up the pace of openings regionally, from one to two stores a year to three to four annually, they said. This is the “pace that we’re comfortable with right now,” Albert added.

Opening each location is no small task, either. Each restaurant churns out an average of 10,000 dumplings a day, with 30 chefs on rotation. And every new site requires an army of about 300 team members – or even 500, in the case of New York, its largest location globally.

The company is proud to be privately held and able to set its own speed, Albert emphasized.

“I’m sure if we were a public company or (if) private equity was in charge, they would force us to open 10 locations a year, 20 locations a year,” he said, “and we’re just unwilling to sacrifice our quality.”

Flying high

Looking at the numbers, analysts say it’s clear the executives aren’t just paying lip service.

Din Tai Fung is already dominating. This month, it made headlines for generating the highest revenue per location of United States restaurant chains, blowing its peers out of the water.

The company has reported a whopping $27.4 million in average unit volumes (AUVs), a measure of sales for each location. That would be nearly double that of the next closest chain, steakhouse group Mastro’s Restaurants, and almost triple that of Japanese fine dining chain Nobu, according to market research firm Technomic Inc.

“Just how far ahead they seemingly are is very impressive,” said Benjamin Bahena, a research analyst at Euromonitor International who focuses on U.S. consumer food service.

Feeding the Taiwanese brand’s success is the sheer size of its restaurants, which has grown in recent years and tend to eclipse many of its peers.

The company’s Santa Monica and New York locations, for instance, command footprints of roughly 16,000 and 25,000 square feet, respectively, which would naturally bring up the volume of sales logged at each location.

Din Tai Fung’s tables also turn faster than places such as Mastro’s or Nobu, which focus on fine dining, multi-course experiences, Bahena noted.

And the dumpling chain likely enjoys more repeat clientele, since it’s seen as a more casual setting compared to competitors that are often venues for special occasions, noted Lisa W. Miller, a consumer strategist who has consulted for large restaurant chains through her firm, Lisa W. Miller & Associates.

Paying for a trusted experience

Above all, however, experts say it’s all about quality.

For decades, Din Tai Fung’s standards have been the stuff of industry legend. Each of its best-selling soup dumplings follow the so-called “golden ratio,” with the dough being painstakingly folded no less than 18 times and each bite weighing no more than 21 grams.

Training is among the most rigorous in the sector, with chefs assigned to learn how to perfectly roll out, stuff and fold each of its dumplings, traditionally filled with pork, ginger, green onion and a warm, savory broth in an exacting program that runs from three to six months.

For Aaron Yang himself, it took about a year to get it down pat.

“He got it faster than me,” he said, nodding to his brother Albert as he rolled on a pair of gloves in the Santa Monica kitchen to demonstrate the technique and offered a cheeky explanation. “I’m left-handed.”

While investing in such onboarding can be expensive, “I think it shines through to the customer,” said Bahena. “If it’s consistent all the way through from the branding to the decisions that are made at the top level to the actual experience of everybody sitting down, that doesn’t just lead to a good experience … it leads to, ‘I’m going to come back or I’m going to tell my friends about this,’ and that organic cohesion is what can drive a high AUV like that.”

The amount of training and care is also what can distinguish Din Tai Fung in this uncertain economic climate, Miller said, explaining that it would give staffers a sense of pride in their work and a commitment to consistency.

“A lot of people are having sticker shock right now,” she noted, citing rising food and labor costs. “As long as you deliver on the brand promise and that trust and consistency, consumers will keep coming back. (That’s what) makes the experience worth it, which makes it worth paying more for, which gives you competitive insulation.”

For this reason, it’s paramount that the company’s leaders remain steadfast on preserving quality – and don’t fall into a common trap, she added.

“They have to kind of resist temptation to grow big too fast,” Miller said. “It can be like a graveyard of failures if you go too fast.”

Maintaining a legacy

The Yangs grew up in their parents’ Arcadia restaurant, running credit cards for parents Joanne and Frank Yang from the age of about 7. Aaron recalled being so short they had to tiptoe to see over the counter. At 12 and 13, they graduated to folding dumplings.

Though the Yang brothers were always encouraged by their parents to pursue their own passions, they never considered going elsewhere.

Both brothers studied hospitality at Cornell University and said they couldn’t imagine not supporting their family in the business, which was originally born as a cooking oil store in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1958 by their grandfather Bing-Yi Yang.

The elder Yang later transitioned to selling soup dumplings, which quickly gained a cult following and allowed him to create a restaurant empire. He died in 2023.

For the whole family, the hands-on commitment has remained strong.

Frank Yang, who still frequently visits the restaurants, is often found steaming dumplings in the kitchen when he stops by, according to his sons.

“Because that’s what he did – he grew up doing it,” Albert said. “And he’ll be giving little advice to the steamers on how to steam the dumplings.”

Albert described his mother as “a huge stickler for cleanliness,” often making sure to inspect the bathrooms on her visits.

“If it’s not pristine and immaculately clean, I’ll definitely get a message about it,” he said with a laugh. “They’re like a secret shopper, but not so secret.”

This has kept the Yang brothers on their toes, even as their parents have stepped away from daily operations.

“They definitely still impact the culture,” said Aaron. “They definitely pass down these values and the things they look out for.”

Division of duties

Now, Aaron oversees restaurant development and IT strategy, while Albert steers operations and food safety. Aaron is seen as the introvert, while Albert is more outgoing.

Both share a love for design and have taken steps to elevate the experience to a more premium one, such as by choosing a patio with ocean views for its Santa Monica branch and an entryway in its New York location intended to mimic a traditional Chinese bamboo garden.

They also claim they never fight.

“I can’t remember where we had to have a tiebreaker on a huge decision in terms of company direction,” said Albert. “That’s never really happened.”

The fact that the family remains close-knit and aligned means they’re likely to avoid the biggest risks of passing the torch in a family business: fighting over vision or losing touch with what made it special to begin with, according to analysts.

“What is hard is, they’re third generation, so it’s basically: how do you keep the soul of the brand alive, but at the same time try to stay relevant and stay current?” Miller said of the Yang brothers. “If that brand’s been around for over 50 years now, you’ve got to keep that brand warm.”

The road ahead

As the team continues to expand, Aaron said it was particularly excited about continuing to grow on the East Coast, where its location off New York’s Times Square has fast become its busiest in terms of foot traffic and order volume.

Chocolate and mochi xiao long bao are the best-selling dessert across all locations, while pork soup dumplings, string beans with garlic, and shrimp and pork spicy wontons remain the chain’s top three dishes.

The company is currently also preparing for openings in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Irvine.

“We’re looking at every major city in the U.S. and we’re branching more and more out to the East Coast and the rest of the nation,” said Albert.

New locations in the pipeline could be announced later this year, Aaron hinted. How each one bears their stamp will continue to play a huge role.

“The fact that they’ve been able to fingerprint their identity onto every single location that opens up is an impressive undertaking,” said Bahena, the Euromonitor analyst. “It’s very calculated, it’s very planned and that is going to be the hardest thing for a similar chain, I would think, to replicate.”