Marco & Luca

I like the food, but am disappointed in my order today. I asked for (and was charged for) two pork buns and sesame noodles. When I got back to my office, I found out they had only given me part of my order. Maybe if the staff (at the downtown mall location) was more focused on the orders and less focused on talking to each other and/​or leering at their customers, maybe they wouldn’t have messed up the order.
Honestly, if you not only want good dumplings, but also want great customer service and more side dish options, Got Dumplings is a much better choice than Marco & Luca’s.
For any manager’s reference, it was the staff working on 2÷25÷16 between 2 – 3 pm at the downtown mall location.

This place has held up! Dumplings and prices are as good and as low as I remember them from almost 10 years ago as an undergrad. Delicious dumplings!

This place is a must for when I visit cville. The menu is small but good. The dumplings are the main attraction and for good reason. They mouthwateringly delicious! The «secret» sauce is what makes these dumplings sooo good. The cold sesame noodles are also amazing. They are drenched in a sweet peanut butter sauce and topped with cucumbers. I order both every time and am never disappointed!

My first visit to UVA and I had to get my hands on these dumplings that I heard so much about. The dumplings are perfectly fried and the sauce perfectly compliments it. You get 2 choices of sauce: soy and hot. Both are delicious so you can’t go wrong with either. I also tried the pork hot bun which is pretty good. The food is ridiculously cheap. I wish they would open one up in Richmond or NOVA, but in the meantime I can’t wait to come back.

i love this place soo much. it takes everything in me not to stop here every time i am in or driving through charlottesville. everything is delicious and i love that they only serve a few perfected items. can’t beat the pricing either.

I was standing in line for 20 minutes and right when I got up to order 1 single order of dumplings they started to cleanup and I think that’s ridiculous, I was the only one left in the shop and they didn’t serve me… oh well at least I saved my money instead of buying shitty dumplings

Again greatful.
Good hot food
Inexpensive meal; I have a
Lovely woman by my side to share it with!
Life is very good!

We were visiting Standardsville (20 mins from Charlottesville) for the weekend and had to make a stop at the popular dumpling place everyone talks about. If you want cheap and scrumptious dumplings, look no further than Marco and Luca! These dumplings are fried to order which make them taste that much better than some other places that may serve similar types. The crispy outside is just slightly thick for my liking, but not so much that it ruined the taste of the dumplings. Like many of the other reviewers have said, it’s that sweet tangy sauce that really makes the dumpling stand out so don’t be shy and ask for extra! Serving size: you get 6 dumplings for one order but I am pretty sure we got at least 8 per order.
We also got the spicy sesame noodles which were just okay in my book and didn’t really stand out too much. For our first meal in C-​Ville and total cost under $ 14 this place is a bargain. It’s a small establishment so expect the inside tables to fill up quickly during peak hours. There’s only one person frying the dumplings and one guy handling the register so the wait times can be a little long. It’s located right in the middle of the downtown mall so you can take a nice stroll after you meal.

Continues to be mediocre.
Tried the pork and veggie steamed buns. Too much starchy, salty sauce. And is there pork in the pork bun?

Straight forward, Simple, good, and reasonably priced. An order of their hot dumplings on a cold rainy day is very comforting to me. The dumplings flavor is well balance, the texture is is crispy and has the right amount of chewiness and their sauce accompanies the dumplings well. Their other items are ok to me but once you try their dumplings you’d know why this place is good.

Disappointing after all the phenomenal reviews. I couldn’t taste any sesame in the sesame noodles — it tasted all peanut. Hot & sour soup was extremely hot and salty, but not sour, and had unusual ingredients (seaweed) as well as mysterious stuff that I could neither chew nor visually identify. Hubby’s pork bun was a little on the sweet side and dumplings were fantastic.
The low price is the redeeming factor for this hole-​in-​the-​wall. $ 12.50 for all that food, and they accept credit card. Place is small with limited seating, fast service, and clean.

Yum.
Little dumpling hole-​in-​the-​wall shop with a small menu: 6 fried pork dumplings, cold sesame noodles, cold sweet and sour spicy noodles, and pork or veggie steamed buns.
The dumplings are small, handmade and awesome. They gave us more than six so naturally, we love this place. The cold sesame noodles are thin wheat noodles in a more-​peanut-​than-​sesame sauce and they were also delicious.
My friend would say that the pork bun had tender meat inside and good overall. The sauce they put on it was sweeter and it would’ve been better if it was spicier since the bun itself is pretty sweet.
We came back the next day for a dumpling snack because we loved it so much. Once you go, I’ll bet you’ll get a craving for it.

I had a hard time finding this place at first. It’s located in a building with other businesses, but if you look for the window that says «dumplings» then it’s pretty easy to spot. The prices are dirt cheap for very good food. I tried the pork bun, dumplings, hot & sour soup, and sesame noodles. Everything is so delicious! This is a must try if you’re in the downtown mall area.

This little dumpling shop was the perfect quick and cheap option for a pre-​concert meal while hanging out in Charlottesville for the day. I was super psyched about the steamed buns because those aren’t available just anywhere. So as tempting as the fried dumplings looked, I held fast to my plan and went with the hot and sour soup and a pork bun. In an age where there are options on top of options, it was refreshing to see such a simple menu concept — dumplings, two varieties of steamed buns, two noodle dishes and the hot and sour soup. It allows them to crank out the food — fast and cheap.
The bun was delicious! But… How the heck are you supposed to eat it? I kind of ripped at it with my chopsticks. I felt very non-​Asian… But it was quite enjoyable even if I went about the actual eating the wrong way. The soup was just okay. Lots of tofu but missing other ingredients (like those squeaky funky mushrooms and bamboo shoots). Most importantly, it was lacking the two main flavors — hot and sour! I got some hot sauce from them which helped, but it still was lacking punch. But hey, 2 bucks for a big canister of soup! Seriously, pick your battles, right?
I’d love to come back and try their noodle dishes too. Oh and only non-​alcoholic beverages AND bring cash!

This place is right down in the mall, with red signs and yellow laters announcing «Marco&Luca Dumplings».
It smells great inside, but the décor definitely encourages taking orders to go or just quick noshing.
We wanted a quick bite and ordered a pork bun and 6 fried dumplings. Everything was delicious, and came out lava hot (definitely give it a moment to cool).
It all hit the spot and was the perfect blend of meat, ginger, garlic, spicy and sweet. As good as they were sober, I’m pretty convinced I’d battle a polar bear to get to this place if it was 1am and I was hammered. I’ll give that a try later, I just need to see if they’re open…

If I went to UVA I would have gone here all the time. You cannot beat the prices for the amount of food you get. The dumplings, cold noodles and pork bun were all pretty dang good. The dumpling have the most flavor and the sauce was terrific. The noodles, though good, did not have a ton of flavor. The restaurant is nothing to look at and service is average, but you cannot go into a street food place and expect the Inn at Little Washington. Overall, it was fantastic!

My kiddos and I stopped in here after a day walking around UVA and downtown. I have 3 boys, so I am always looking for a place to fill them up (a next to impossible feat) that doesn’t break the bank. This place sounded good to all of us, so we gave it a try.
We tried the pork bun, sesame noodles, sweet and sour noodles, and (of course) the dumplings. The dumplings were the best. That was the favorite part for all 4 of us. They were delicious. The pork bun was good. I wasn’t a huge fan of the noodles. They weren’t bad, I just learned that day that I’m not the biggest fan of them cold. The best part for us was the dumplings. I would visit here again and again just for the dumplings.
The place is small, but wasn’t too busy when we got there. We had no problem finding a place to sit. The service is quick, and the price is reasonable. If I was in the area again, this is definitely where I would stop in to eat.

I’ve always heard about these infamous UVA dumplings so it only made sense to get an order of dumplings and pork buns to start our visit on a good foot. The place is located downtown on a long row of small shops and restaurants. We went on a Friday night and it was dead silent except for the workers. Good for us, I guess? We paid $ 6 for an order of 6pc dumplings and 1 pork bun. The pork bun was alright nothing special but the dumplings were deliciously crispy outside and tender and juicy inside and the perfect bite size. The tangy soy sauce was definitely an added bonus. For the cheap price it was well worth the trouble of trying to find parking downtown and the walk in the rain. Glad we listened to the tip and tried out this place!

I don’t know why I thought there would be more than one variety of dumpling, but there is only one. I don’t eat meat, so I had to go with the other options available on a very tiny menu. I ordered the steamed bun and sesame noodles. The steamed bun was okay, the sauce was more of the highlight. The sesame noodles were good, but I’m not the hugest fan of cold noodles on a chilly day. I expected Marco & Luca’s to be very different. It’s okay, but I probably wouldn’t go there again on purpose.

Food — My sisters and I ordered the pork bun, sesame seed noodle, and dumplings! The pork bun was my least favorite dish — I didn’t think there was enough filling inside the bun and it was very bland maybe because of the bun being made mostly out of dough. The dumplings are always cooked perfectly whenever I visit, and this visit was no difference. The sauce was sweeter than I thought it would be but nothing I couldn’t handle. TIP: if you are a spicy fan, ask for extra spicy instead of just spicy (I didn’t taste any spiciness at all). Today was the first time I tried the sesame seed noodle and it was really refreshing on a really hot day. The dish included cucumbers with cold noodles with peanut sauce — very simple but oh so delicious!
Price — The prices are really affordable, I can’t complain.
Service — I didn’t find any problems with the service. We ordered, they cooked, and we picked up the tray of food.
Overall, not something I crave from this specific spot but will stop by if I am in the area — just because.