Tiny downtown dumpling shop is on the move. Here’s what to know

When Angel Gould launched her fast, affordable dumpling shop in the heart of downtown’s Roosevelt Row in 2024, she wanted to start small. The first-time restaurant owner wanted to make sure Lovebite Dumplings would work.

The Brit and her team turned a former 400-square-foot bike shop into a hip grab-and-go dumpling house serving customizable boxes of steamed foods. Customers can snack on combos of gyoza, noodles and pink lemongrass-coconut rice made with dragon fruit powder, a recipe from Gould’s Persian mother. The boxes are among the most reasonably priced meals one can find in the heart of a dining district better known for its breweries, cutting-edge cocktail bars and pricier eats.

“The whole point of Lovebite is that it’s fast food, it’s accessible, but you still get an experience,” Gould says.

The popular shop also gained fans while serving at Coachella and providing free meals to people in need. 

After two years, Lovebite needs more room. Currently, diners can only take their food to-go or eat on a few sidewalk-side tables — tricky in the throes of summer. And the team wanted to stop contending with building challenges, like their air conditioning going out.

“We definitely outgrew the last space,” Gould says. “We’re excited to be in a place with AC, electricity, water, all of these luxurious amenities.”

Soon, she’ll be able to offer diners indoor seating, slushy margaritas and soft serve in an expansion of the concept downtown fans have grown to love. Lovebite is set to move two blocks west on Roosevelt Street and reopen at the Ten-O-One building this fall.

What to expect at the new Lovebite

Inside the Ten-O-One building, just a tenth of a mile west from its current restaurant, Lovebite will have about five times more space. Lovebite’s new 2,000-square-foot home is still under construction and renderings of the dining room hang on a papered-over window above a table filled with blueprints. Gould hopes they’ll be ready to open in September but says that timeline could stretch further into the fall.

With a proper kitchen space, the owner will expand dumpling selections beyond gyoza. She’ll start with manti, bite-sized, meat-filled dumplings that are often served with yogurt or in a yogurt sauce, as another nod to her Middle Eastern heritage. Gould is also open to showcasing dumplings from other parts of the world. 

“Manti is our priority because that’s what I grew up on. That feels like comfort food to me, and I’m excited that it fits so well with our concept,” she says. “And we can introduce something that not a lot of people are familiar with.” 

Customers have asked for Chinese soup dumplings, Gould says, and she’s a fan of Nepalese momos. The Lovebite team sources its dumplings from vendors and is currently tasting locally made manti.

“We’re open to all things and options and opportunities as we grow,” she says.

Diners will also be able to order desserts, soft serve or “easy, simple, cheap alcohol options for the girlies downtown,” like slushy margs, Gould says.  

Customers will continue to order at the counter, but the rest of the restaurant will be used for seating, the bar and a cooler filled with grab-and-go food options. An upstart florist, Gaia Floral, will occupy a portion of the space, too.

“A lot of what you’re going to see in the new location is going to be what I want to see living downtown,” Gould says. “I always need a florist.”

The dumpling shop will open in a building that also houses the cafe and shop dialog, Revolución Tacos + Cantina and the luxe lower-level cocktail lounge and restaurant Rough Rider. 

Gould says she’s grateful to have found a larger space that’s still in the downtown area where she lives and started her restaurant. Ultimately, she hopes to host more events there and wants people to treat Lovebite as a hangout.

“It is the center of downtown,” Gould says. “I feel like it could really be used for more community spaces.”

Lovebite Dumplings

Opens this fall
1001 N. Central Ave., #100