"Opening early Summer 2026." That line still sits next to Tipsy Dumpling's name on Bon Air Center's online store map. The Marin Independent Journal reported on September 8 that the restaurant had opened the month before. So the map is a little behind. The building itself spent a long time in between.
Number 340 is the standalone building in the Bon Air shopping center, and it is easy to place: it was Patxi's Pizza. The pizzeria had closed by early May 2025. From then until a dumpling kitchen moved in last August, the building found other uses. The best way to read what replaced Patxi's is through what happened while it was empty.
A Rose Show in an Empty Pizzeria
On May 10, 2025, the Marin Rose Society held its 48th annual rose show at 340 Bon Air Center, inside the former Patxi's space. The show ran from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Saturday before Mother's Day. The first 100 children got free miniature roses to grow at home, and blooms from the show sold for $1 a stem at a 2:30 p.m. sale. Consulting rosarians answered questions, and visitors could see a rose photography exhibit and interactive displays.
Amateur growers brought their own roses to enter between 7 and 9:45 that morning. For one day, a former restaurant at a shopping center in Greenbrae worked like a community hall. The Rose Society usually meets at the Marin Art and Garden Center in Ross. For its 2025 show, it came to Bon Air.
That is the baseline. An empty building was used as a place for people to gather. The question was what the next tenant would make of it.
What Peter Wang and Jessica Li Built Inside
Tipsy Dumpling belongs to chef Peter Wang and his wife, Jessica Li. They already own Oyama Sushi at Bon Air. Wang came to the Bay Area from northeast China, where he had worked as a sushi chef. Before opening, he and Li traveled to four cities in China and learned dumpling-making from 20 chefs.
The building's layout shows what they were after. According to the IJ's description, the restaurant is set up to be watched and shared:
- The window. Just inside the entry, a glass window fills nearly an entire wall. Through it, diners watch Li and her team knead dough and fill, wrap and pleat three styles of dumpling.
- The screen. Above the window, an animated story about a girl making dumplings with her granny shows how to eat xiao long bao. Set one on a wide spoon and break it open gently to let the hot broth out before you bite.
- The dining room. Dark green leather chairs and curved banquettes fill a casual 100-seat room. A large sculptural light fixture hangs from the exposed-beam ceiling.
- The patio. Another 45 seats sit on a fenced patio with a fire pit. Sail shades and heat lamps were being added in September.
Some of Patxi's is still there. The backlit liquor shelves and the three televisions above them at the back of the room came from the former tenant. The IJ reports that nearly everything else was redone. Altogether that comes to 145 seats inside and out, in a building that a year earlier was hosting a flower show.
The Menu, Briefly
Four steamed dumplings are filled with vegetables, beef and onion, or Kurobuta pork with either corn or shrimp and chives. The same fillings come boiled, which gives a softer, more tender texture. Both come eight to an order with a house sauce of soy, Shanghai vinegar, sesame oil, chili oil and garlic. Xiao long bao come six to a bamboo steamer, filled with Kurobuta pork alone or with crab or black truffle.
Past the dumplings, the menu runs from mapo tofu and braised pork belly to General Tso's chicken and Mongolian beef. There is also a whole sweet-and-sour squirrel fish, scored so it curls into a crisp pinecone shape in the fryer. The full bar works in Japanese spirits. The Sakura Sour uses Roku Gin and Aperol, and the Moon Gate pairs Suntory Toki whisky with honey and chili ginger syrup. There are alcohol-free options too. A daily happy hour was expected to start later in September.
Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The phone number is 415-886-8909.
The Turnover Around It
Tipsy Dumpling is the latest of several openings that have filled in Bon Air since spring 2025. In order:
- Squared Pizza, 140 Bon Air Center. A Tiburon resident opened this pizzeria, with a grand opening in early May 2025.
- Lark Shoes, 180 Bon Air Center. Grand opening on June 7, 2025.
- Bon Air Pet Hospital, 120 Bon Air. Grand opening celebration on September 6, 2025.
- YogaSix, 328 Bon Air. Grand opening on October 18, 2025.
- Tipsy Dumpling, 340 Bon Air Center. Opened in August 2026.
All four of the earlier openings are still on Bon Air's store map as of September 2026, along with longtime anchors Gott's Roadside and Oyama Sushi. Pizza in the old Patxi's building has given way to dumplings, and pizza has moved across the center to Squared. Bon Air also reports that its businesses collected 15 wins and mentions in Marin Magazine's 2026 Best of the County awards.
The Bocce Court Does the Same Job Every Wednesday
The 340 building is not the only part of Bon Air that works as a community space. Every Wednesday from 1 to 4 p.m., Marin Mahjong and Bon Air host open social play near the bocce court on the south side of the center, between Gott's Roadside and Mollie Stone's Market. There is no registration, and players of any level can join.
The Fall Festival on October 3 opened with the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura. This youth ensemble comes from the area around Paraguay's largest landfill and is led by Favio Chávez. Its violins are made from oil cans and its flutes from water pipes. Mollie Stone's Markets curated the food vendors along the promenade, and live music played through the afternoon.
October 31 at Bon Air
The next big date is the free Halloween Bash, listed for Saturday, October 31, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. As posted, the schedule is:
- 11:00 a.m. Dance with E.N.A. performs to open the event, then leads the all-ages family parade
- 11:10 a.m. Family Costume Contest and Parade
- 12:00 p.m. Woodland's Pet Costume Contest and Parade
- Also listed Face painting, balloon twisting, kids' pumpkin decorating crafts, a professional photo booth, a DJ, and trick-or-treating at merchants throughout Bon Air
Costumes are encouraged, and everything is free. Tipsy Dumpling opens at 11:30 a.m., halfway through the event's first hour.
Nearby, Marin Country Mart runs an honor-system pumpkin patch through October 31, holds its annual pie contest on Saturday, October 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and shows family movies on Fridays through October 30. Its Halloween Spectacular falls on the same morning as Bon Air's, October 31 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The building at 340 Bon Air Center has gone from Patxi's Pizza, to a rose show where children went home with miniature roses, to a 145-seat dumpling house where the kitchen is on view through a wall of glass.
If you're curious how places like Bon Air shape the feel of the streets around them, or how a good gathering spot fits into a home search, I'm glad to talk it over. Julia Camajani works with Greenbrae families who want local insight from someone who knows these blocks well. Let's Connect.
