Mimi Cheng's is closing the doors of its East Village restaurant on Friday, September 11, ending a 12-year run as one of New York City's go-to spots for steamed and fried jiaozi. The shop at 179 Second Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets is the brand's last remaining brick-and-mortar location in the city, and its team says the closure comes because the lease has ended.
To send the storefront off, Mimi Cheng's is bringing back a fan favorite for its final stretch: the Emmy Burger dumpling, a collaboration with Emily Pizzeria loaded with dry-aged beef, caramelized onions, white cheddar cheese, crushed pretzel pieces, and Emmy sauce, according to Time Out. The dumpling is available from September 1 through September 11, the shop's last day in business. It's the latest in a string of buzzy collaborations for Mimi Cheng's, which has also teamed up with Katz's Deli on pastrami Reuben-inspired dumplings, Lucali on calzone dumplings, and The NoMad on a roast chicken version, per the same outlet.
A Sisters' Business Rooted in Their Mother's Recipes
Mimi Cheng's was founded by sisters Hannah and Marian Cheng, who opened the original East Village shop in July 2014. Neither had a background in restaurants: Hannah had worked on the interest-rate derivatives trading floor at JPMorgan, while Marian worked in fashion wholesale at Dolce & Gabbana and Burberry, according to Business Insider. The sisters named the restaurant after their mother, Shirley, nicknamed Mimi, whose scratch-made Taiwanese dumplings inspired the business after the pair struggled to find high-quality organic dumplings elsewhere in the city, as reported by EV Grieve.
The brand grew well beyond its original storefront over the following decade. In 2016, Mimi Cheng's signed a 10-year lease for a second, 700-square-foot location at 380 Broome Street in Nolita, which carried an asking rent of $11,700 per month, the outlet's report notes. A third restaurant followed in February 2021 at 309 Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side, which closed before the East Village flagship did, according to iLovetheUpperWestSide.com.
From Storefronts to Freezer Aisles
Even as the East Village location closes, Mimi Cheng's dumplings aren't going anywhere — the restaurant team says the frozen line will continue on after the storefront shuts down, per Time Out. The company's pivot into retail grocery began in September 2024 with a debut at Whole Foods Market's Lenox Hill Daily Shop, followed by expansion to stores in the Bowery, Tribeca, and Williamsburg that November, according to Supermarket Perimeter. By fall 2025, the frozen line had gone nationwide across Whole Foods stores, with flavors including Heritage Berkshire Pork & Chive, Chicken Bok Choy & Zucchini, and Chicken Parm, per a release covered by the National Law Review.
In the Tri-State area, the seven-ounce bags of frozen dumplings retail between $9.99 and $10.99, according to Taste Cooking. Whole Foods Market itself gave the brand a notable endorsement last October, naming Mimi Cheng's Dumplings a standout in its “Freezer Fine Dining” category in its forecast of top 2026 food trends. Beyond Whole Foods, the frozen dumplings are also sold at Farm to People and Berkeley Bowl in California, per Time Out's reporting.
What Comes Next for the Cheng Sisters
The company isn't abandoning physical dining altogether. CEO Hannah Cheng revealed in a September 2025 podcast appearance on The Kara Goldin Show that Mimi Cheng's was preparing to open a new dining venue at JFK Airport's Terminal 1, suggesting the brand's next physical footprint will lean toward high-traffic travel hubs rather than neighborhood storefronts. Hannah Cheng's profile has continued to rise alongside the company's growth: she was named to Inc.'s 2026 Female Founders 500 list and had previously earned a spot on Zagat's 30 Under 30, according to the ASTRSK Pro Bono Competition.
For now, East Village regulars have until September 11 to get one last taste of the Emmy Burger dumpling before the storefront that started it all closes for good. What remains, according to the restaurant team, is a growing frozen-dumpling business built on the same recipes Shirley Cheng once made from scratch — just headed for grocery freezers instead of steamer baskets.
