Din Tai Fung, the international chain of restaurants known for its superlative soup dumplings, will open its first Oregon location later this year at the Washington Square mall, the chain confirmed to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The chain, once named among the world's 10 best restaurants by The New York Times, made news last month just by filing for an Oregon business license.

The restaurant will take over the former Gap location near the Sears. Franchise owner David Wasielewski said the new location will open around the holiday season.

Though it started in Taiwan, Din Tai Fung now has restaurants in countries throughout the world, including 11 in the United States, all on the West Coast. The Washington Square location will closely mirror those in the Seattle area, down to an identical menu. Expect about 230 seats, a full bar and a "dumpling display room" where customers can watch dumplings being made.

Din Tai Fung's menu is built around xiaolongbao, or soup dumplings, a dish more commonly associated with Shanghai. But the rest of the menu, from fried pork chops to the beef noodle soup, actually looks a lot more like a Taiwanese restaurant. That's because Din Tai Fun actually started as a small shop that doubled as a cooking oil retailer on Xinyi Road in Taipei, Taiwan.

"We're definitely known for soup dumplings, but the rest of the menu is what sets us apart," Wasielewski said. "It's a good representation of Taiwanese cuisine. You'll have people come through our restaurant once or twice a week because for them, it's comfort food. And you don't get sick of comfort food."

Wasielewski was born and raised in Taiwan before coming to America with his mom and sister at age 11. He returns frequently for vacations, to see family and now for work. Before opening Din Tai Fung's first Seattle-area location in the east-side suburb of Bellevue, where he lives, Wasielewski worked as a marketing manager for Intel, a job that brought him to Beaverton and Hillsboro for meetings.

In Seattle, Din Tai Fung steadily progressed inward, opening a University District restaurant in 2013 and a downtown Seattle location in 2017. A fourth location, in the Westfield Southcenter mall near Sea-Tac airport, opened last year. Over the years, Portland-area diners have often asked him when he plans to open in Oregon.

"Now we have four large units, in my opinion covering greater Seattle pretty well," Wasielewski said. "Looking at the map, the logical choice was to go down south to your part of the world."

"I hope we do well down there," he continued. "We're really excited to be down in that market. A little intimidated, but also very excited."

-- Michael Russell