My Two Din Tai Fung Experiences This Summer （One Without A Wait!)

There are several must-eat restaurants on my list whenever I’m there. Din Tai Fung is one of them. I love the delicious food and the atmosphere. Even though the wait is often long, for a great meal, I’m willing to wait.

This past summer (2026), I dined at Din Tai Fung twice during my stay in Taipei. Both times were on a late Saturday morning, at the same location (Nanxi branch), with my mom and my 11-year-old son. Both dining experiences were great. However, the wait times were very different, even though we got there at the same time on both Saturdays, 10:40am.

On a late June Saturday, just a couple of days after our arrival in Taipei, we went to Din Tai Fung, and for the first time ever, we were able to walk straight into the restaurant without a wait! Whoohoo!

My mom suggested that we get there at 10:40am, when the restaurant first opened. So we did. When we arrived at the SKM department store building (Din Tai Fung is located on the B2 level), there was a crowd standing outside. It scared me for a couple of seconds, thinking, what, so many people are already waiting for Din Tai Fung? But it turned out these people were waiting for the department store to open at 11am.

At the corner of the building, a Din Tai Fung staff member was giving out tickets. She handed us one and told us there was no wait, we could just walk downstairs to the restaurant. And just like that, for the first time ever, we walked straight into Din Tai Fung without a wait! Whoohoo!

When we finished and walked out, I noticed on the screen at the entrance that the wait time was now 120 minutes. It was not even noon!

We were so pleased with our strategy for dining at Din Tai Fung without a wait, so towards the end of our stay, we followed the same plan. It happened to also be a Saturday, this time in early August.

Once again, we arrived at 10:40am. This time, though, our experience was different.

When we arrived, there was already a line for getting a ticket. When it was our turn, we were told the first seating was already full and we’d need to wait 40 to 50 minutes.

We were in disbelief. The restaurant opened at 10:40am, so if we had to wait 40 to 50 minutes after arriving right at 10:40am, that meant the people already seated must have arrived super early.

We tried to compare the two experiences. Both were on a Saturday, the weather was similarly hot, the only difference was that the first time was in late June and the second was in early August. The only reasonable explanation we could come up with was that maybe more families were on summer vacation by August, and more people had the same idea of arriving right when the restaurant opened.

We didn’t mind the wait too much, since we’re used to waiting whenever we dine at Din Tai Fung. Since the restaurant is inside SKM department store, we knew exactly how to manage our wait, we headed straight up to the 6th floor to shop at Muji.

As we browsed around Muji, I kept an eye on my phone to check what number was currently being served, and we made our way back down to the restaurant just before our number was called.

Our order was pretty much the same as always. Xiao long bao, vegetable and mushroom dumplings, red oil wontons, and pork fried rice with egg are all must-orders for us, plus a few cold appetizers to start. The food and the service were as good as ever.

One small detail I noticed this time, quite a few of the servers were no longer wearing masks. Seeing their warm smiles made the whole experience feel even better.

If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s that you can’t predict the wait at Din Tai Fung, even at the same branch, the same day, the same time. What worked one Saturday didn’t work the next. But every single time, it has been worth it. If you want the practical details on which branch to pick and how to make the wait easier, I wrote a full guide here.