Xi’an Famous Foods is a trendy dining spot serving some of the best Chinese food in NYC. This eatery is perfect for a date or a quick bite after work.
The restaurant has a very casual atmosphere with simple steel tables and oak wood seats. Their popular dishes include map tofu, which is simmered in chili oil with beef and tongue-numbing Sichuan peppercorns.
Xi’an Famous Foods
Located in the Saga International Shopping Mall, this restaurant serves a wide variety of dishes from Xi’an. It is a must-try for travelers because of its unique flavors and Tang Dynasty style. Try their majiang liangfen Ma Jiang Liang Fen cold rice noodles with sesame paste, chili oil, and vinegar or their babaozhou Ba Bao Zhou a cold date, lotus petal, seeds, and nuts porridge. It’s also popular to order their Xiaosurou a peppery lamb stew concoction.
Every day at noon, a line forms outside Xi’an Famous Foods in Lower Manhattan, where customers are eager to sample Shaanxi cuisine. The 900-square-foot store serves more than 15 dishes, including cumin lamb burgers and cold skin hand-pulled noodles with the lamb “Pao Mo” soup. The chain has six locations and has gained popularity among a diverse crowd, including several food program TV hosts. Owner and CEO Jason Wang has brought a youthful vision to the restaurants, keeping things casual with hip-hop music, modern minimalist decor, and no wait staff.
Atlas Kitchen
Atlas Kitchen has opened in the former Legends space on 109th Street near Broadway, with an interior that is both modern and calm. The restaurant offers familiar Chinese dishes like dan noodles and more adventurous options such as spicy duck tongue and chicken feet with two spices. Marble tabletops and a mural of mountains and towers by artist Qiu Anxiong set the scene.
This Hunan restaurant is a welcome addition to the Upper West Side. Its menu features dishes from the entire country, but it focuses on the cuisine of this central China province. Most dishes are rated with one or two red chili symbols, which indicate spice levels. The dining area is a contemporary affair, with brass accents, exposed bulbs, and curvy bamboo details. The restaurant is a good place to go for a quiet dinner or a meal with friends. A big bowl of spare rib rice noodle soup is a solid choice.
Nan Xiang XLB
A New York City classic, this Chinatown spot is a reliable place to chow down on cheap Chinese dishes. An order of four chive and pork soup dumplings is only $2, while MSG-free staples like crispy sesame pancake sandwiches are also inexpensive. There’s even a wide selection of Hong Kong-style rice and noodle dishes, including the stir-fried rice vermicelli rife with ham and other goodies.
This popular Flushing restaurant has moved from its no-frills original space down Prince Street to One Fulton Square, where it joins other acclaimed Flushing restaurants like Pappa Rich, the Malaysian fast-casual eatery, and Guan Fu, The New York Times three-star Sichuan eatery. The bright, comfortable space has Shanghai “Shikumen-Style” inspired modern interiors with a sleek glass open kitchen and bilingual hospitality staff to make sure you have a great experience. The menu includes traditional and contemporary dishes like okra-and-pork stuffed egg rolls drizzled with chili oil and tea-smoked duck with steamed buns alongside classic dim sum plates.
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Little Pepper
There is a reason Flushing, Queens is considered NYC’s true Chinatown: it has more dumpling spots, Chinese food courts, and street-food stalls than any other part of the city. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t great food to be found beyond the neighborhood in Manhattan, boroughs, and other parts of New York. In a dining room clad in blonde wood planks, this sleek restaurant from a married couple offers modern Shanghai, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Cantonese dishes. Its liangfen, or mung bean noodles, are a must-try, as is the stewed chicken in spicy tingly sauce.
The kitchen here makes ma-po tofu that combines power and nuance that can make other renditions seem heavy-handed. It’s the same story with many of the other dishes here, from tangy preserved “thousand-year” eggs to a Chongqing dish that uses small bits of fried chicken to deliver an assault on the senses. Those with less adventurous palates can order a more traditional Shanghai soup dumpling or pork with cumin sauce.