Din Tai Fung in Glendale to dump the Americana for its competitor the Galleria

After nearly 10 years of serving its famous xiao long bao at Americana at Brand in Glendale, Din Tai Fung said this week that it plans to leave for the neighboring Galleria mall in the Fall of 2023.

At the Galleria, Din Tai Fung will open along Central Avenue, right at the mall’s main entrance and will occupy an 11,443-square-foot space, with an additional 2,260-square-feet of patio space, making it the largest of the restaurants locations in Los Angeles County, said Lindsay Kahn, spokesperson for Brookfield Properties, owner of the Galleria.

A Gap clothing store currently sits in the Galleria space, which will be relocated to another property in Glendale, Kahn said. The restaurant will also occupy a mall store that currently sits vacant.

“We have been looking for a larger space,” said Aaron Yang, Din Tai Fung’s vice president in an emailed statement. “This move will allow us to include more seating, add a patio and provide a better working environment for our team.”

Among its reasons for the move, representatives for Din Tai Fung also cited the desire for a new relationship with different landlords, according to a report by EaterLA, which broke the news about the relocation. Americana at Brand is owned by real estate developer and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso.

However, Yang said he has been happy with Caruso and Americana’s management during his restaurant’s stay at the shopping center, calling the move “bittersweet.”

Caruso’s management did not respond to requests for comment.

Ahead of its 2023 opening, the restaurant will continue to operate at its Americana location on Brand Avenue.

Located directly alongside each other, the Galleria and Americana have been direct competitors over more than a decade, their struggle leading to the courts and an eventual $48-million settlement.

Since moving into Glendale in the 2008 the Americana, a retail and residential center designed to look like a historical American main street and boasts an avenue bearing Caruso’s name, has drawn higher end brands and shoppers to the area, outshining the older Galleria mall, which opened in 1976.

The significance of the aging mall nabbing a high profile eatery, such as Din Tai Fung, from the Americana was not lost on its onlookers.

When Din Tai Fung opened its Glendale at location at the Americana in 2013, the move was seen as a bit of a risk, since it was the chain’s first restaurant to open outside the San Gabriel Valley, especially in a neighborhood without a large Chinese presence, noted Times food critic, Jonathan Gold, following its debut.

Already popular in Taipei, Din Tai Fung had opened its first U.S. location back in 2000 at a strip mall in Arcadia, quickly drawing large crowds, and at times, two-hour wait times.

Although Chinese soup dumplings were already a staple of the San Gabriel Valley, it was Din Tai Fung that pulled westsiders for a rare trip east along the 210 freeway.

In Glendale, the risk paid off and the crowds followed.

“The Glendale Din Tai Fung, an elegant dining room a few steps from the red-carpet entrance to Nordstrom, is as popular as the opening weekend of an ‘Ironman’ sequel, and the lines there are twice as long,” Gold wrote.

Since then, the Taiwan-based chain has expended up and down the west coast, now with four locations in L.A. County, a San Diego spot, one in Costa Mesa, four other restaurants in Washington, another in Oregon, and one in Las Vegas.