Marco & Luca: Tried and Fried
Charlottesville’s beloved dumpling shop Marco and Luca Dumplings is practically a downtown landmark. Serving only a handful of well-honed dishes, it has cemented itself in the hearts and stomachs of students, locals, and tourists alike. This humble family-owned chain has expanded to include multiple locations within and around Charlottesville. Founded in 2001 by Sun Da and his wife Dragana and named after their two children, Marco and Luca was granted critical and popular praise soon after opening. Now, over 20 years later, the praise stays the same, and the business flourishes.
However, it has not been easy for this restaurant to thrive. In 2008, the financial crash prevented Sun Da from acquiring much-needed loans for his long-planned expansion to the Seminole Square shopping center, causing the expansion to be delayed to the winter of 2010. In more recent times, COVID-19 lockdowns and inflation hit the business hard. This caused management to increase the price of all listed dishes by an average of ($1.50). This caused a semi-ironic backlash among Marco and Luca fans online. The restaurant stands today as a testament to many things, including that a business can prosper with a good product and loyal consumers, and that the very same business can stay aloft during times of hardship. The quality of the food has stayed the same for decades, and that is the true reason for its popularity.
The food, of course, is a somewhat authentic play on East Asian street food. Its primary dish is the fried pork dumplings that come in batches of six ($5.75). The real star in this dish is the rich tangy sauce the dumplings are smothered in. Some detractors of Marco and Luca complain that this sauce is the only exceptional thing they serve and that the dumplings and buns served with it are subpar by themselves. Though I strongly disagree with this statement, I have to agree that I would not go to Marco and Luca if not for this sauce. In all truth, I have many times tried to recreate this sauce from scratch, with various degrees of success. The secondary dishes are just as well made as the dumplings. A particular favorite is the hot and sour soup ($4). With a rich broth and tofu, this is a surprisingly filling soup. Both the hot buns ($2.25) and sesame noodles ($4) are decidedly less ordered than both dumplings and soup but are no less delicious. All of these recipes are prepared in-house, and according to a 2013 article on “The Hook”, the noodles themselves are made at the Seminole location and sent to the other locations.
