Franchising

China-based hotpot brand opens US flagship in NYC

December 7, 2020

The Dolar Shop, a hot pot chain founded in 2014 in Shanghai, China, opened its U.S. flagship store Monday at 55th and 3rd Avenues in New York City's East Village. The chain, which serves broths and seafood in individual hotpots, has 55 units after expanding to Sydney, Vancouver, Seattle as well as Flushing in New York.

The broth is labor-intensive and is made with a massive amount of quality ingredients, according to a company press release. The Silver Broth, for example, uses 100 pounds of ingredients to yield the same amount of liquid. The brand only sources steakhouse-quality meat from the US and Japan — American Wagyu, USDA Prime Beef, and A5 Japanese Miyazaki beef. The NYC location will also offer Shrimp Pâté, and every order consists of 25 Vietnamese shrimps hand-pounded 200 times into a paste.

"Normally winter is the peak season for hot pot since it's warm in nature and it brings people together during the holidays," Jay Zhao, general manager of the East Village location. "This year is a bit different because of Covid. To make sure people can still enjoy hot pot safely, we will open at 25% indoor capacity that allows for 45 guests to sit comfortably far away from each other, provide heated outdoor seating, as well as deliver to anywhere below 34th Street in Manhattan so people can enjoy hot pot in the comfort of their own homes. Our individual-style pot also helps avoid meal sharing, which makes social distancing easier during the pandemic,."

East Village is the first of three locations opening in Manhattan; neighborhoods like Chelsea and Midtown are on the horizon for the brand's next stage of expansion. With North America as a key market, The Dolar Shop has a five-year goal to open 10-15 stores in total in the U.S., according to the release.