Minneapolis pop-up Saturday Dumpling Co. is planning a fast-casual restaurant in the Nicollet Island-East Bank neighborhood.

For their first brick-and-mortar location, co-owners Peter Bian and Linda Cao signed a lease for the former Glam Doll Donut space at 519 Central Ave. NE, the couple announced on Monday.

Saturday Dumpling Co. will serve steamed, pan-fried, and deep-fried dumplings with a variety of pork, beef, chicken, and vegetarian fillings, plus a rotating filling of the month. It will also offer rice bowls with a choice of protein and vegetarian toppings, scallion pancake burritos, and là cháng sliders, as well as modern Chinese snacks and beverages.

Bian and Cao started selling frozen dumplings online in early 2021 and making them available for pickup on Saturdays. They gradually added pop-ups, collaborations with other restaurants, catering, and small-scale distribution to local stores.

Saturday Dumpling Co. is moving all production to its new space in Northeast from Dots Gray Kitchen in North, where pickup will continue until the restaurant opens, in addition to other pop-up locations across the Twin Cities this summer. Frozen dumplings can also be purchased at both Wedge Co-op locations and Bench Pressed.

“We will absolutely keep our frozen line of dumplings going,” Bian said in a statement. “ We'll have plenty of frozen packs of dumplings for sale at our new shop to pick up and take home whenever our doors are open.”

Bian and Cao expect to open their Saturday Dumpling Co. shop in early fall. Its hours of operation will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday to start, but it will eventually be open seven days a week.

Building permits have been submitted to the City, and once those are approved, a buildout will begin.

The counter-service restaurant will have 45 seats inside and 10 seats outside.