For your dump command, you could use the following
mysqldump --single-transaction --extended-insert -u [USERNAME] -p [DBNAME] | gzip > [/path_to_file/DBNAME].sql.gz
Extended inserts are better.
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/mysqldump.html#option_mysqldump_single-transaction
The Single Transaction option is better for dumping InnoDB tables.
In your my.cnf file, make the following changes temporarily
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/innodb-parameters.html#sysvar_innodb_doublewrite
innodb_doublewrite=0
and also
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/innodb-parameters.html#sysvar_innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit
innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2
Restart MySQL and then remove these options after your import and restart MySQL again.
Memory Tables
If you're entire database could fit into memory, you could change the ENGINE=InnoDB to ENGINE=MEMORY in your dump sql file for every table or just the tables that are taking the longest to import, import the dump file back into your database and then change the engine back to innodb.
ALTER TABLE name_of_table ENGINE=InnoDB;
mysqlimport command
http://linux.die.net/man/1/mysqlimport
I have used mysqlimport to import data backed up using the tab format option in mysqldump. It has proven faster than importing via the mysql command.
Dump the database using mysqldump
mysqldump --tab=/some_directory/ -u [USERNAME] -p [DBNAME] [TABLENAME]
Import the data into your database.
mysqlimport -u [USERNAME] -p [DBNAME] /some_directory/tablename.sql