Din Tai Fung Will Open Its First Bay Area Location This Year [UPDATED]

It's been rumored for years that Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung was looking to make an entry into the Bay Area, with many speculating that they might take the Embarcadero space that now houses Crystal Jade Jiang Nan. But it now looks like they're finally making their move with a planned restaurant in San Jose's Westfield Valley Fair mall. There's no official confirmation as of yet, but this email to the DTF mothership confirming the opening has been making the rounds on Twitter, and a Chinese-language newspaper (translated for Eater by a native speaker) says the deal is done, adding that they'll open at Valley Fair in October, and that the location will be a whopping 8,500 square feet, with 200 seats. Given that massive size, it's still unclear which space they'll take, but there will unquestionably be lines, at least in the early going.

For the unfamiliar, Din Tai Fung is known for its xiao long bao (soup dumplings), considered to be some of the best going—it's revered in L.A., where it has three locations and Eater critic Bill Addison says they've "mastered the formula" for the notoriously tricky treat. They also have two outposts in Seattle and dozens more around the globe (including Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand), but have thus far evaded the dumpling-crazed precincts of NorCal. The addition of such a high-profile restaurant tenant would certainly be in line with Westfield's ongoing spruce-up of Valley Fair, which will incur $600 million in renovations and the addition of a Bloomingdale's over the next two years. We've reached out to both Din Tai Fung and Westfield for confirmation on the opening; stay tuned for further intel.

Update, 1:58 pm: It's official! Westfield Valley Fair has confirmed to Eater that Din Tai Fung will be opening its first Northern California location there. We'll have more details shortly.

Update, 10:10 am: Westfield has confirmed the arrival of DTF multiple times on Twitter:

@pantrycooking true!

— Valley Fair (@westfieldvf) March 14, 2015

@belynlai @digdog we can't wait!

— Valley Fair (@westfieldvf) March 13, 2015