TL:DR - Good service, pretty solid food, tad overpriced for what it is but was a disappointment compared to previous visits. My review is through the lens of consistency. This is my third time visiting and had really enjoyed the previous visits however this one was a bit of a let down. For better or worse, I'm a creature of habit so when I find something I like, I tend to get it again. The soup dumplings are good and taste just like Lin, both of their akaushi beef entrees are solid (I think one was just added to the menu), and originally I would say the sesame chicken was the best I've had. Yes, I get it, sesame chicken is basic, but for 20+ dollars there's a certain level of expectation/curiosity. For the first two visits, it lived up to the billing, the breading was thin but incredibly crispy, sweet but a hint of savory, and most importantly wasn't doused in sauce. This past visit was the complete opposite: covered in sauce with soggy breading. Also low key and probably only relevant to 0.001 of customers, their diet coke was objectively bad (low carbonation, not enough syrup). As an additional data point: the restaurant was completely empty when I went so it's unclear if that had any impact on what was being put out of the kitchen. read more

OK, I first learned to cook seriously (50 years ago) from Chinese cookbooks, and Chinese dishes play a regular and important part in my own cooking. I've eaten in major Chinese-restaurant cities: San Francisco, New York, London. This is the best one I've ever been lucky enough to eat at. It is, hands down, easily the best restaurant of any kind in Austin. It specializes in steamed dishes and dumplings (for me, the most difficult part of Chinese cooking), but everything is wonderful. Chef Ling Qi Wu's food is both delicious and unique. I've never found anything remotely like it, and I've never had a bad dish there. She makes the best hot and sour soup I've had, both in flavor and texture. I *wish* mine tasted that good. The steamed buns and pancakes feel like silk on the tongue and have a subtle trace of sweetness. If you choose the dim sum seating, the menu offers dishes in fanciful shapes. My last trip featured a dumpling that evoked a fat baby chick. The table next to ours had a "crispy chicken turnover" in the form of a cute little mouse. It counts as one measure of the aesthetic and dedication of the chef that she doesn't *have* to do this. As I say, the food on its own sets my taste buds dancing. The decor, down to the chopsticks, is elegant, the staff friendly and extremely capable. You will pay more than what you expect at the usual place, but you get more value for the money (and a good typical Chinese restaurant already counts as a bargain). The food isn't mere food, but art. I previously lived in New Orleans for 26 years, so I have some experience with great food. Dining becomes a memorable experience. After 17 years of living in Austin, we will be moving many states away. This is the only restaurant I'll miss. I would seriously consider visiting Austin just for this place, because like New Orleans, you can't get this food anywhere else. Qi's will remain one of the summits of my dining life. read more

Service was mixed. Our server was super friendly and helpful with answering questions, however we repeatedly had to ask for simple things like chili oil, a knife, the $85 bottle of sake we ordered 15 min ago... Also we had called ahead and made reservations and explicitly asked if we'd have covered seating since it was raining. We were reassured several times that YES it'd be outdoors but covered. However only half our table was covered and the other half was in the rain. We asked to be moved and were told there was nothing they could do about it. read more

This place truly blew us away. From the minute we entered the restaurant, we were impressed with the restaurant's Asian-inspired ambience. Warm lighting throughout shine through the parasol fixtures on the ceiling. And the impressed feeling doesn't end there -- our dishes were outstanding as well. We ordered the lobster dim sum and soup dumplings, and you could taste the umami and time, dedication, and love put into them with each bite. Our main dish was the curry seafood - again, full of flavor and cooked to perfection. We went all the way in with dessert and got the mango bomb and chocolate. This is definitely more so a date night or special occasion type place...on the pricier end but oh so worth it. read more

Went on Christmas Day to Qi and I cannot rave about this place enough. Our server Claudia handpicked each of our items according to our likes/dislikes and each and every dish somehow surpassed the next. I will absolutely be coming again & thank you Claudia for your patience with our table!! The meals were incredible!!! (I only took one picture but this was sooo delicious) read more

Qi Austin - Dim Sum Near Me - Austin, Texas

Ambience and the only place I know in Austin that has Shanghai soup dumplings. Drinks were creative, and the sweet n sour soup was outstanding. Coming back for sure read more

The food and service were outstanding. It took a while for the food to come but likely because everything is fresh made and it tastes like it. Highly recommend! read more

Great dumplings....rice is ridiculously overpriced. Fried chicken was ok... I think we would try more next time and if you'd like to sell a kidney or your boat try the fried rice for $26! read more

Absolutely amazing soup dumplings, they melt in your mouth with rich flavor. Order enough of these and you won't need anything else off the menu. There's a romantic ambience inside that's perfect for a date location! read more

Not bad, but Lin and 1618 Asian are better. Dinner seemed over priced for what you get. The soup balls had a wheat texture/flavor that didn't compliment the broth. The spicy/sweet beef entree was way too salty and did not even come with rice. The lobster dumplings and cocktails were a smiley surprise and the service was great. With the other choices mentioned I wouldn't come back for dinner at least. Maybe brunch is the move? read more

Cannot recommend Qi and Lin's enough to everyone that asks me what my favorite food in Austin has been so far. I love love love the Shanghai soup dumplings. I'd just go and order 3 of those and be happy! But we went for dinner and did the dim sum brunch at Qi, everything was so good. read more

Excellent dumplings, noodles, vegetable dishes and service. Arrived for lunch and was told there was a 30 minute wait on Memorial Day weekend. We were sat inside 8 minutes. Our waiter was prompt, courteous and knowledgeable. Food is off the hook! I live in California with a plethora of legit dumpling houses and Qi is on point....Highly recommend!!! read more

I called the restaurant about 45 minutes before my friend had a reservation for a special birthday, and wanted to send a dessert to their table as a surprise. The guy who answered the phone was very dismissive and said they were already sending one over from the restaurant. I tried to ask if it could be from me and he abruptly hung up. Not great customer service. read more

Food was delicious and ambiance was fun. Only two restrooms which created a bit of a line for such a busy place.

My all time favorite restaurant! The best dumplings you will ever try! All the employers are so wonderful and they have my heart ! Def try to their truffle fried rice too!! read more

Really enjoyed this restaurant, especially the parking and delicious selections. My husband thought the host was unfriendly but the ambience was dynamic and very GenZ + millennial. I want to return to try the dumplings which I believe are a big draw... read more

Soup dumplings were almost as good as the ones I had in Beijing 10 years ago. This spot is a must go.

A bit smaller than we thought but the dim sum is enough to fill our dimsum crave since the close down of New Fortune. The egg bun and pea shoot was very good read more

We spent a lot of money here and it was well worth it! Loved the dumpling selections. We were greeted by great staff and the service was great. I would definitely come back with my whole family. I'm craving their soup dumplings now! read more

Food great. Service lacking. Staff seemed inconvenienced at our 1pm reservation. Lunch kitchen closes at 2, but we were declined a dessert order at 1:45. We literally had to flag down our waiter for service. And our check had several things on it that we did not order. The server laughed and then brought us a corrected check. Recommend for the food, but service staff needs training. And be sure to check your bill. read more

Great food. Fun atmosphere. We had a large party of roughly 15 and they were able to accommodate us with no reservation. Jonest tended to our party and he was amazing! Customer service was outstanding. Great place to visit. If I lived here I would be a repeat customer. Thank you Jonest and the rest of the Qi team. We had an amazing dinner thanks to you!! read more

Could not have been happier with our meal last Friday. We came in late afternoon around 4:30 so they had just opened, but our waiter was spot on with everything. We tried the soup dumplings and potstickers for appetizers and overall everything was good, not the best we have ever had, but solid. For our main course we had the honey beef, and that dish was excellent, we would come back for that alone. In addition, we had the mixed combination rice, most of which we took with us, but I ate it the next day and it was still great. For dessert, my wife had the Mango bomb and it was great and nicely plated. Food aside, I have eaten at several Michelin star restaurants and have never recently had such attentive service as we had at Qi. The food was good, but our waiter made the meal honestly. read more

We love this place. Soup dumplings are a must. We used to be able to walk in and now reservations are required. Worth the wait!

This place was great! I truly enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. We had. Large group so we sat upstairs! I highly recommend the dim sum and the beef special! read more

What a great find. In from out of town and Yelped this place. The food, atmosphere and staff were outstanding. You can feel the pride they have here. Outstanding. read more

I don't even have words, but run to this place as fast as you can! Dim sum is on point, location is gorgeous and convenient. I would highly recommend making a reservation though. read more

Fantastic food and service! Absolutely love this place! We love the soup dumplings! They are made fresh and so yummy!

I can only speak to the quality of Qi for takeout, as it's become a recent favorite of mine. (However, every time I walk in- coming from a walk in workout clothes- everyone is extremely friendly & I look forward to dining there sometime with its amazing decor & vibes). The soup dumplings are out of this world & always on my order; if you've been to Lin, yup, they're the same. For dessert this time I tried the chocolate bao & it's a perfectly sized delicacy with its hint of orange. The sesame chicken (yes, I'm basic) is worth the splurge & is definitely big enough to split, or in my case, leftovers. This time- either by accident or as good cheer- they even threw in some sesame balls, which were also perfectly done. Basically, I really want this restaurant here post-Covid, & it's so amazing they opened in a pandemic, so I highly recommend trying this high quality restaurant. read more

This one star is for the rude host who totally BS us on Xmas. We walked in didn't have a reservation so didn't expect anything. He told us that we cna sit on the patio, I asked if it was shaded or not cause we can't sit in the sun. He told us it's not shaded or we can wait 30mins for a table inside so we (wife and 3 year old ) decided we can wait. 20min later he comes to get us and guess what takes us out to the table in the patio in the sun. I go back to ask him that's not what we where waiting for and he says "well we are fully sold out inside that's all we have". So we didn't get to try the food read more

The food was phenomenal! I tried a sample of many things and most dishes where so good. I could go on and on about the food here. Please enjoy. read more

Came here with a group (4) of friends. We ordered several dumplings, entrees and drinks. Everything was great and we were really enjoying our time there. Our server was fantastic, friendly, ready with recommendations and attentive. After dessert we paid our tab and remained at the table a bit longer finishing our conversation. Out of nowhere a server we had not seen before rudely told us we had to leave since they needed the table for a reservation. Mind you, we had just spent over $300. We all come from the business and understand the need to turn tables. However, the manner it was done was completely unacceptable. When speaking to the manager about the situation he was just as rude and could have cared less. Truly disappointing. Needless to say, I will not be returning. read more

If I could give zero stars to this restaurant, I would. I have been here many times, and decided to bring my friends out to try this restaurant. After sitting at the table for two hours without any warning that our table had a reservation coming, the server rudely came to the table and told us that the reservation would be there soon and that we need to get up from the table and leave and then he walked away very rudely. I have never been treated so poorly at a restaurant, and I will never come back to this restaurant in the future. After trying to inform the manager, he would not even make eye contact and completely brushed us off. What a terrible place with horrible, horrible customer service! read more

Food's great. 4 to 5 stars. BUT: Management and staff treated us like 2nd class citizens. 0 stars. Hosting station took our name, stated about an hours wait. I asked him if we could grab a seat at the counter if someone left. He said no problem. It's crowded and several other parties hoping to find impromptu seating as well. We watched 3 woman at the counter pay their checks, gather their to-go bags and exit. We go over and sit down. After about 7 or 8 minutes the Maitre'd or manager, comes over and says "What do you think you are doing?" Not AN OUNCE of politeness or smile given. I respond telling him that the host station said it would be fine. The Maitre'd begins arguing with me stating the previous customers have not left and are merely in the bathroom, that they were waiting on food to-go. I tell him we watched them pay their check and leave. He still insists they have not left (why would 3 grown women abandon their seats going to the restroom together anyway?) So the Maitre'd has us get up and leave the counter so he can properly set it. Not a problem, until he feels he's got to get in my personal space (18 inches from my face) while we are standing at the host station. Tells me, don't worry, we'll get seated. Qi owners: why in the world would your staff believe it is OK to behave like this? Waitress could benefit by some smiles as well. Send them off for training. There's plenty of restaurants in town where we won't get treated like crap. read more

What a pleasant surprise. it was so easy to park for this downtown restaurant. The dumplings are delicious. Our favorite is the fish with soy bean sauce. Service was great. read more

Beautiful place with great food. Highly recommended for date nights and special celebrations. read more

My wife and I will make a drive in from Spicewood to enjoy Dim Sum, fresh vegetables, and specialty dishes that warm your tummy. Service is always impeccable and the ambiance of the restaurant is fabulous. read more

Great for any wanting authentic dim sum and awesome service. Available parking downtown which is a plus

Went here for my birthday dinner because im a personal fan of Asian and Chinese food! Thought about going to several other places but decided on here because it seemed more up-scale. We scheduled a reservation for 5 people ahead of time and when we got there service was amazing! We had to double check with non-alchoholic drinks, but after we were settled we orded 3 sets of dumplings, and an entree item each, (About $60 per person) which were great! Personal favs from the table were the Shanghai Soup Dumplings, Steamed Lovster Dumplings, and the Sautéed Mustard Green. I personally got the Salt and Pepper Lobster Tail, and it was amazing! There are amazing flavors and seafood, comfortable service, but what else? Personally, i thought the resturant was a little loud, but we went at 6:00- and the resturant was packed. Smelled nice, and decently quiet. Would definitely reccomend! Not my favorite, but a great not-quite-casual dinner spot. read more

Best of the Best in Austin!! Great food, ambiance and service! Ling Wu is a force in this town and she knows how to make her customers happy! Congrats on the second restaurant!! Amazing!!! read more

This place has AMAZING dumplings! The entree's are also great but pretty pricey. Went to dinner last night and loved it. Can't wait to come back for Sunday Dim Sum Brunch!! read more