Any new plays for restaurant brands going overseas? Starting from Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰) and Gong Cha (贡茶) clinching the initial top sales spot in the U.S.

Two unlikely frontrunners

It has been reported that Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰) — the Taiwan‑founded xiaolongbao chain — is currently the highest‑earning single‑store operator among North American restaurant chains, with average annual sales of about $27.4 million per outlet and roughly 20–21 U.S. locations. Equally surprising to Western observers: Gong Cha (贡茶), a tea brand that has largely disappeared from mainland China, has become one of the most ubiquitous bubble‑tea franchisors in North America, reportedly operating close to 300 outlets. Why these two? Product fit, rigorous standardization, and early, smart localization.

How they did it

Din Tai Fung’s playbook is both simple and surgical: decades of product refinement, a Japan‑era focus on operational standardization (every bun with 18 pleats has a reason), and a deliberate shift from ethnic enclaves to high‑traffic, brand‑lift locations such as major malls and Manhattan. That mix drives high turnover and broad tourist and local footfall — not long, slow dinners like steakhouses. Gong Cha’s success is a different lesson in capital and channels: it leveraged early international partners in Korea and Japan, private‑equity funding and a franchise‑heavy expansion model to grab scarce U.S. retail sites and long leases. It has been reported that U.S. buyout firm TA Associates acquired Gong Cha in 2019 for about $288 million, a deal that accelerated site capture and franchising.

Lessons — and the geopolitics around them

What does this mean for other Chinese food and drink brands that want to go abroad? Pick a concept that translates quickly to non‑Chinese diners; institutionalize service and quality; partner with experienced local operators; and be prepared to pay for the right rents or take over existing food‑service footprints. Cultural export still matters: experience and scene often beat flavor innovation alone. And while consumer food brands are less squeezed by trade sanctions and tech‑era decoupling than chipmakers or cloud vendors, capital flows, franchise ownership and cross‑border partnerships now happen in a politically fraught environment — so many successful China‑origin expansion stories have relied on non‑PRC partners and PE structures to de‑risk market entry. The upshot? There are repeatable plays — but timing, partners and real‑estate muscle make all the difference.