The Dump Truck

Portland, United States

3.2

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 503-877-3867
Website:
www.dumptruckpdx.com
Address:
SW 11th Ave & Alder, Portland, OR, 97205
Southwest Portland, Downtown
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
60 ftSouthwest 11th & Alder
290 ftSouthwest 10th & Alder
340 ftSouthwest Morrison & 12th
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Street, Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
No
Caters
No

Today

Today 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Portland) 7:28 AM Thursday, May 22, 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm

Description

Specialties

The Dump Truck specializes in hand-​rolled, steamed dumplings inspired in equal measure by Beijing and Portland.

History

Established in 2010.

Julia and Reid were both living and working in Beijing when they met in ’07. They were both huge dumpling fans, but Julia had developed a special connection to Mr Ma, who owned a dumpling restaurant near her apartment. Julia grew so close with Mr Ma that he showed her the secrets of making perfect dumplings.

Back in Portland, Julia missed dumplings so much she would make them for dinner and share them with friends. Julia spent a year crafting unique dumpling and sauce creations. By the end of that first year, Reid and Julia decided to open a food cart to bring their dumplings to more Portlanders.

The Dump Truck’s creations have been featured on Travel Channel’s «Food Paradise» and Cooking Channel’s «Unique Eats» & «Eat Street» and in the SF Weekly, Sunset Magazine, Toronto Star, Edmonton Journal, and Hong Kong’s.

The Dump Truck has been going strong since 2010, but we still serve the same great flavors Julia created with the inspiration of Mr Ma back in Beijing.

Meet the Business Owner

Julia F.

Business Owner

Julia has lived and worked in Beijing for five years, learning the secret dumpling arts at the feet of Mr Ma, a dumpling restaurant owner and Beijing legend.

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20 reviews of The Dump Truck

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Place rating: 5
Scotts Valley, CA
Holy cow! The vegan options here are great! $ 6 for a sampler that comes w 6 dumplings and a yummy peanut slaw! Hot and filling lunch on a chilly Portland day. The 2 women working were super friendly and helpful. I had the Down2earth and Potato Curry dumplings-​both were fantastic, drizzled w spicy tahini sauce! Great job Dump Truck! I highly recommend you for cozy vegan street food!
Place rating: 3
San Leandro, CA
I’m a super dumpling-​whore so having an «american» style dumpling with non traditional ingredients had me on the edge for a bit. I was hesitant about trying it, but damn dumplings are just so good. Plus, we don’t have dumpling carts/​food trucks back in the Bay Area, so I had to at least give it a shot.
The menu is simple with 4 variety of dumplings that they specialize in (when I went). You can mix and match, so basically create your own sampler for all under $ 10. We decided to go with the Mr. Ma’s Special and the Bacon Cheeseburger. The cheeseburger literally tasted like a cheese burger, and the sauce that came on top was like a ketchup/​mayo mix and then some that was supposed to give it that burger feel. I mean, it tasted just like what it saids, but there are some things that you just don’t put into a dumpling. But kudos for being creative!
The Mr. Ma’s is a classic take on your dumplings, steamed with a light sauce drizzle. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it also wasn’t gross but I appreciate it. The truck was slow, but we didn’t want to give it a try.
Something to consider if you’re looking for a twist since when in Portland, am I right?! The name Dump Truck is a little off putting, but perhaps more dumplings on the menu and some more classics will pep up business!
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
Pretty blown away by the dumplings here. Really one of Portland’s gems.
Try the cheeseburger dumplings, oddly amazing.
Place rating: 5
Portland, OR
The Dump Truck is a fantastic reintroduction to dumplings. They are located in the Alder food carts, though they are across the street from the main pod. Creative flavors of dumplings are offered from a cheerful cart and a bit away from the crowds across the street.
I decided to try this place as to culturally enhance myself at a bargain. The half order, which I purchased, is four dumplings for four dollars. It came in two minutes, while the guy at the cart was very friendly. Each of the four dumplings were unique and so were the differing sauces placed on top of each dumpling.
As I bit into them, I tried one of each kind. Whether potato, meat or a flavor I don’t know the name of, it was good. I don’t recall the dumpling as being too oily. Twenty minutes later, I still love the new feeling in my mouth. The sauces went away from my hands as I walked up the hill, without struggle. There could be better dumplings, but I don’t usually get too into dumplings and thus I would happily come again.
This is yours for the trying.
Place rating: 2
Bellevue, WA
I commend them on their flavors, but because the skin was so thick, I wasn’t sure if that’s the way they were supposed to be or it was not cooked all the way through. The dumplings just didn’t hit the wow factor for me. I would try the dessert dumplings to see if I feel any differently.
Place rating: 2
Sunnyvale, CA
My husband and I grew up on dumplings of all kinds. I fondly remember eating dumplings while visiting relatives in various parts of China, Hong Kong, and Macau. My husband and I loved the ones we get at hawker stalls in Singapore whenever we visit my mother-​in-​law. I don’t know what these were, but they were not dumplings. I thought everything sounded pretty fun with the fusion flavors (and vegan option), but the sauces didn’t marry well and the fillings were bland. Husband was pretty let down by Mr. Ma’s special. What a shame. I can’t give it a one star though because the business has a funny name though and the vendor was friendly. You can tell they’re trying. The dumplings just don’t past muster.
Place rating: 3
Beaverton, OR
I was super excited when I first moved to Portland and the first food truck that I saw on the street was the Dump Truck. There is always a line to visit the trucks so I assume it was absolutely delicious that EVERYONE had to try it at least once.
But I think I had too high of an expectation. I thought I would love this food truck, but I found it ok. It is something that if I see the food truck at an event I probably will order but not good enough for me to rant and rave about it. It is not bad food either it is just ok. I think my main complaint is that the skin was too thick like it was wrapped with too much dough and not enough filling.
I had ordered Mr. Ma’s special and I thought that the juice from the dumpling was going to burst in my mouth but it kinda just drizzled. I definitely think the dumplings can be better but they are not bad enough to be given a bad review hence the 3 stars review.
Place rating: 4
Portland, OR
I love this place. The texture of the skin and the fillings are on spot. But don’t mess around. Get the Mr Ma’s and get the Down to Earth. They are far superior to the other two. Mr Ma’s is super authentic. Down to Earth is so mushroom forward but uses ginger to lighten it up. delicious!
Sampler is fun but to be honest all the sauces get mixed up and I don’t think you end up enjoying either of them.
Mr Ma’s — DO IT!
Place rating: 2
Beaverton, OR
The name is interestingly negative… Definitely far from its service because service was great; however, taste was a bit synonymous /:
I tried all 4 flavors by getting the sampler
1. Mr. Ma’s special — suppose to be like a traditional dumpling. Although it had the traditional ingredients of minced pork, garlic, onions, soy sauce, it lacked authentic flavor
2. Down2earth — the mushroom and noodle-​ly texture was not pleasant. And from what I remember, it did not really have a taste to it
3. Potato curry — interesting concoction, however, I think it’d be best if the dumpling was fried and not steamed
4. Bacon cheeseburger — surprisingly, the best one out of the 4. They did use ketchup as the dipping sauce
Hm, don’t think I’ll be revisiting, but I’m glad I tried this place because I’ve wanted to every time I passed by
Place rating: 3
Los Angeles, CA
doing some sampling from the various food trucks in this food cart pod, we made a stop here to try their dumplings. we ordered the Le Super Sampler which comes with 2 each of the savory dumplings (Mr. Ma’s Special, Down to Earth, Potato Curry and Bacon Cheeseburger).
i’m not a dumpling connoisseur or anything but i wasnt a big fan of their non traditional dumpling fillings. the worse one was the down to earth. just didnt taste good for me. Mr Ma’s special is actually the traditional pork filling dumpling you find in most asian restaurants and that was the only one i liked. its a cute concept but it’s just A-​OK for me.
Place rating: 1
Portland, OR
This is a review for the food cart.
Slow. Very slow. The nice thing about dumplings is that you can make 1 984 842 882 of them and cook it whenever but I am assuming that they are simply underprepared.
The girl making the dumplings is wearing her ring (unsanitary).
Will update on how the food tastes.
Update on food: unsure about the amount of sauce they pour on the dumplings. Very salty and over powers everything or whatever it was I was eating. The point is to enhance the flavor of the stuff inside the dumpling. This is just as bad as ordering sushi that’s drowning in sauce. The skin of the dumplings were way too thick/​chewy and the amount of stuffing was pathetic. Especially when you are charging 7 – 8 dollars for a plate of eight. I grew up eating dumplings and I can pretty much say these were the worst dumplings I have ever eaten. It seems the owner did little to no research on what a dumpling should be. Or, he/​she has zero business being in the kitchen. Steamers (closed now) did it better by miles, even Costco frozen dumplings are better tasting.
Hey try it at your own risk. After all, this is the orange chicken of Chinese food. Or, rather, «edibles inspired by Chinese food.»
Place rating: 4
Honolulu, HI
«You two together?»
WHY?!! Because we’re both ASIAN?!! Do you ask all of the Caucasians that are standing near each other in line if they are together?!! CAUSE I DON’T EVEN KNOW HER!!! JESUS!
Just kidding.
It was kind of funny though, and not the first time during my stay in Portland that I was automatically lumped in with any Asian standing within five feet of me. Ha.
As for the dumplings, they were good.
I didn’t have to wait very long and I ordered one of each because I am adventurous and daring. Or indecisive. You choose.
Being a dumpling lover I could be all snooty and snobby and talk about the texture of the pi and the whatnot but hey, I enjoyed them. They were big and filling and the bed of cabbage was so much less a bed and more of a delightful salad.
I am almost ashamed to say that the cheeseburger dumpling was my favorite, because that is so distinctly un-​Asian of me but whatever. It was good. I would eat four of them right now if I wasn’t a million miles and an ocean away.
But I promise that in approximately one year I will be back. I will even bring my husband with me.
Boom.
Place rating: 4
Portland, OR
Since downtown PDX is such a food carts scene I decided to Unilocal my way through them all and stumbled upon The Dump Truck. It was literally a street over from the City Target. I ordered one of each of their four different kinds of dumplings. My favorite overall though would have to be the Mr. Ma’s.
The truck design looked really cool and their story for starting their business was a fun read during the wait for my order.
The dumpings themselves were amazing, but I felt that the potato curry dumplings had a curry taste that was just a bit too overpowering.
Overall I know that i’d most likely come back for a light snack here and there.
Place rating: 2
Alameda, CA
Cute name for a food truck!
I ordered the Mr. Ma’s Special and Bacon Cheeseburger dumplings and was not impressed. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve eaten dumplings my whole life and these dumplings didn’t taste much different.
Also, $ 10 for 8 dumplings is really steep!!!
Place rating: 3
Pittsburgh, PA
A mix of steaming, fast prepared, creative, multi– ethnic dumplings, at bargain prices is a great idea that I expected to love. We got the super sampler with 2 of every dumpling on the menu to try a bite of each.
Unfortunately, the sauces and fillings were all bland and boring. The dumpling shell’s textures were nice, but with so many other amazing food trucks and restaurants near by, save your taste buds for something exceptional.
Place rating: 3
Long Beach, CA
With such a gimmicky name, we had to stop by «The Dump Truck» for dumplings. Whoever thought of this, is a genius! If I were in the food business, I would definitely borrow the idea of a dumpling food truck.
The boyfriend was the one that stopped by and ordered the sample. It was good, not amazing — I’m a huge dim sum/​dumpling fan & have been slurping up dim sum and dumplings since I was a kid. These kind of reminded me of the dumplings I can buy frozen at the Korean/​Asian supermarket to be heated up/​fried at home. Just a little bit better due to the different flavors and sauces.
The wait time was also 15 – 20 minutes for the dumplings — which I guess means they’re made fresh in the little truck. Saw some people walk away because they were on their lunch break and could not wait that long. I even ordered food from another stand, came back, and ate it all with my boyfriend before we received the dumplings!
All in all, it was good. The guy in the truck was nice and the service was great. I would recommend maybe getting the sampler portion to share with a friend or two just to try it if you never have before.
Place rating: 2
South San Francisco, CA
The options looked and sounded enticing, but combined with the wait time and the mediocre taste, it wasn’t worth it.
There was really nothing to write home about. Sure, there was a bacon cheeseburger dumpling, which SOUNDS pretty amazing, but it wasn’t all that great. When you’re spoiled by dozens of excellent dumpling shops in SF’s Chinatown and the Sunset area, there’s really little point in getting dumplings anywhere else. The ones that were really good were the «normal» dumplings, or Mr. Ma’s special, which had the regular pork, green onions, and ginger that most people are accustom to when it comes to dumpling nomming. The rest were generally bland, didn’t really taste like what they were advertising, and were an overall meh. Honestly, there’s very few options that here that I’ve noticed that have straight up good Asian food. Apparently, Beaverton is the place to go for that…
I’d skip this place, though I do enjoy the punny name.
Place rating: 5
Beaverton, OR
Awesome dumplings. The cheeseburger ones are great and I’ve also had Mr. Ma’s Special which are equally as good. The only downside for me is they’re located down town and I live pretty far but was lucky enough to have them pull up across the street in Hillsboro so I seized that opportunity. Great food and very nice people, check’em out even if you gotta make a journey out to them.
Place rating: 4
Mill Valley, CA
Day 2 in Portland, and i had to revisit the 9th Street Food Truck Bazaar. With so many food trucks to choose from (featuring every ethnic cuisine imaginable), it was hard to make a lunchtime decision. I finally stumbled upon a food cart called The Dump Truck. Eureka! There’s no way I’m going to pass up an eatery with a name like that?
The Dump Truck as it turns out specializes in one thing, and one thing only… dumplings. I like it when a place does one thing and does it right. And the Dump Truck certainly fits that bill. Dumplings are kind of like pot stickers except they’re not fried. I ordered the Mr. Ma’s Special (Tender seasoned pork dumplings filled with green onion and ginger, served with a savory Soy & Vinegar Sauce). Within 2 minutes, I was served a platter of 8 or 9 plump dumplings. The whole thing only cost $ 6.50 — so you definitely get a lot of bang for your buck. Although I paid with cash, I believe they also accept credit card (unlike most of the nearby food carts).
As it turns out, warm dumplings are the perfect antidote to Portland’s cold, breezy weather. So if you’re in the mood for a quick, Asian, lunchtime fix — pay a visit to The Dump Truck. Funny name, but serious good eats.
Place rating: 2
Milpitas, CA
I’m a huge fan of dumplings but was a little disappointed by The Dump Truck’s offerings. We ordered Le Super Sampler for $ 7 and got 2 of each dumplings to share.
— Mr. Ma’s Special — seasoned pork with green onions and ginger
— Down2Earth — portabella mushrooms, rice noodles, cabbage and ginger
— Potato Curry — Malaysian-​style dumpling with potato, curry, leeks, garlic
— Bacon Cheeseburger —
I wasn’t really impressed with any of the dumplings or the sauces. I guess the best one would be the «regular» dumpling with the seasoned pork, green onions, and ginger. Skip the gimmicky stuff. It would have been even better if it was a potsticker and pan fried and not just steamed because it the skin was dry and the dumplings were more bland cooked this way.