Some restaurants have loyal customers. Din Tai Fung has believers: people who will wait an hour-plus for dumplings without batting an eye, know each of their XLB has exactly 18 pleats, and refer to it exclusively as “DTF” (us included). This is the Santa Monica chapter of the congregation, and it’s not just another outpost of the Taiwanese dumpling empire. Perched on the third floor of Santa Monica Place, it has a turf-lined patio, ocean views, bamboo steamer-shaped booths, and a giant abacus by the entrance that no one really knows how to use, but is fun to slide the beads around anyway. The food? Of course it’s good—it’s DTF. The soup dumplings are expertly folded and always arrive piping hot, the string beans are garlicked to perfection, and the spicy wontons swim in chili oil that deserves to be spooned over everything. The dishes are executed with crowd-pleasing consistency, but not in a boring way. Like watching Finding Nemo for the umpteenth time—you know what to expect, but it’s still kind of magical. You could argue that there are better dumplings in the SGV, and you’d probably be right. But that’s not the point. You’re here to eat delicious soup dumplings with an ocean view and fill up on other Taiwanese staples you can depend on. As with any DTF, whether you’re sitting next to a family celebrating a birthday or a college student explaining NFTs to his parents, there’s always a rhythm to the operation, with hyper-efficient service and dishes landing on the table like a choreographed routine. And unlike some other locations that are booked out until the next eclipse, Santa Monica has plenty of easy-to-get reservations, so you can skip the chaos and go straight to filling your table with dumplings as you stare out at the waves.