Manhattan / Chinatown
Best Chinatown
Restaurants in NYC
Dim sum on Doyers, soup dumplings on Mott, hand-pulled noodles and Cantonese roast meats — the 12 best restaurants in Manhattan Chinatown, verified open and mapped.
Dim sum, hand-pulled noodles, regional Chinese and the late-night icons — the best of Manhattan Chinatown, ranked and mapped.
- 12 verified spots
- oldest since 1920
- most under $20
- 6 regional cuisines
The short version
- Best overallNom Wah Tea Parlor – the 1920 dim sum parlor on Doyers, and it still earns it.
- Best soup dumplingsShanghai 21 – tiny Mott St room, the city’s best xiao long bao.
- Best roast meatsGreat NY Noodletown – duck over rice, cash only, a Bourdain pick.
- Best hand-pulledXi’an Famous Foods – cumin lamb biang-biang noodles for ten bucks.
- Best duckPeking Duck House – carved tableside on Mott since 1978.
The best Manhattan Chinatown restaurants start with Nom Wah Tea Parlor for dim sum on Doyers, Shanghai 21 for soup dumplings on Mott, Great NY Noodletown for Cantonese roast meats, Xi’an Famous Foods for hand-pulled cumin lamb noodles, and Peking Duck House for duck carved at the table. This is the tight Manhattan Chinatown core — Doyers, Mott, Pell, Bayard and East Broadway, not Flushing or Sunset Park. Take the B or D to Grand, the J or Z to Bowery, or the 6 to Canal and walk in. We split it two ways: the icons and sit-down rooms worth a proper table, then the noodle counters, dumpling windows and cheap eats where the locals actually go. Bring cash — a lot of these still do not take cards.
At a glance
Every restaurant, the order, the hours, and the price — at a glance.
| Restaurant | The order | Days | Window | $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom Wah Tea Parlor | OG egg roll, classic dim sum | Daily | 11am-9pm | $$$ |
| Golden Unicorn | Cart dim sum, har gow, shu mai | Daily | Carts till 4pm | $$$ |
| Hwa Yuan Szechuan | Cold sesame noodles | Daily | 12pm-10pm | $$$ |
| Wu’s Wonton King | Roast suckling pig, Peking duck | Daily | 7am-10:30pm | $$$ |
| Peking Duck House | Whole Peking duck | Daily | 11:30am-10pm | $$$ |
| Joe’s Shanghai | Crab and pork soup dumplings | Daily | 11am-11pm | $$$ |
| Great NY Noodletown | Roast duck, salt-baked shrimp | Daily | 9am-late | $$$ |
| Shanghai 21 | Soup dumplings, spicy wontons | Daily | 12pm-8:30pm | $$$ |
| Spicy Village | Big tray chicken, hand-ripped noodles | Mon-Sat | 10:30am-10:30pm | $$$ |
| Xi’an Famous Foods | Cumin lamb hand-pulled noodles | Daily | 11am-9pm | $$$ |
| 1915 Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles | Lanzhou beef noodle soup | Mon, Wed-Sat | 10:30am-9pm | $$$ |
| Mei Lai Wah | Char siu roast pork buns | Daily | 7am-7pm | $$$ |
Map: where these 12 spots are
The Manhattan Chinatown core — Doyers, Mott, Pell, Bayard and East Broadway. Take the B/D to Grand, the J/Z to Bowery, or the 6 to Canal.
Pins are numbered to match the table above – tap any pin for the deal and directions.
The icons & sit-down
The dim sum halls, the regional sit-down rooms, and the duck — the Chinatown classics worth a proper table. For more on the dumpling side, see our best dumplings in NYC.
Nom Wah Tea Parlor
The oldest dim sum parlor in Chinatown, open since 1920, sitting on the bend of Doyers Street where it has tin ceilings and red booths that have not moved in a century. The Verdict: it earns the hype, but order right. Get the OG egg roll — thick, griddled, nothing like the takeout version — the shrimp and snow pea leaf dumplings, and the rice rolls. The Honest Caveat: this is the most touristed room in Chinatown, and it is dim sum off a checklist menu, not carts. It takes Resy for parties of three to five on weekdays; everyone else walks in and waits. The Local Move: come on a weekday afternoon when the line is short and the kitchen is unhurried. Worth it once for the room alone, and the food holds up.
nomwah.com · See our best dumplings in NYC
Golden Unicorn
This is the cart dim sum experience Chinatown is losing, three banquet floors of waiters pushing steam carts past your table. The Verdict: come for the ritual, not a quiet meal. Flag down har gow, shu mai, cheung fun, the egg custard tarts, and whatever fried thing looks good as it rolls by. The carts run until 4pm daily — after that it is menu ordering, so this is a brunch and lunch play. The Honest Caveat: it is loud, it is chaotic, and they will keep stamping your card faster than you can eat. The Local Move: go with a big group on a weekend morning, point at everything, and let the total surprise you. One of the last real cart halls left.
Hwa Yuan Szechuan
The restaurant that introduced New York to cold sesame noodles in the 1970s, shuttered for decades, brought back by the founder’s son in a sprawling multi-floor space on East Broadway. The Verdict: the most polished sit-down Szechuan in Chinatown, and the noodles are still the order — cold, nutty, sesame-heavy, the dish everyone copied. The Local Move: build a table around them with the dry-sauteed string beans, the cumin lamb, and the whole fish. This is the room for a proper group dinner, not a counter grab. The Honest Caveat: it is pricier than the noodle shops and the bigger banquet dishes want four-plus people. Worth it when you want Chinatown with white tablecloths and history on the wall. Takes reservations on Resy.
hwayuannyc.com · See our best Asian restaurants in NYC
Wu’s Wonton King
Out at the eastern edge of Chinatown, past the tourist core, where the locals book the big round tables. The Verdict: the best Cantonese roast meats in the neighborhood, and the move is the roast suckling pig — lacquered, crackling, ordered ahead by the half or whole. The Peking duck and the namesake wonton soup, plump with pork and shrimp, hold up too. The Local Move: it is BYOB, so bring your own beer or baijiu and split a feast across a group; per head it is a steal. The Honest Caveat: it is a haul from the Mott Street center and it is built for parties, not a solo lunch — and call ahead for the suckling pig. This is where Chinatown families throw banquets, which tells you everything.
Peking Duck House
One thing, done seriously, since 1978: the whole Peking duck, wheeled out and carved at your table into crisp skin and meat for the pancakes. The Verdict: this is the Chinatown duck order, and the room is a notch nicer than the cheap-eats spots, which makes it the easy pick for a celebration. Get the duck, the scallion pancakes, some greens, and call it dinner. The Local Move: reserve on Resy and order the duck when you book so it is ready — do not wing it. The Honest Caveat: outside the duck the menu is fine, not thrilling, and the bill climbs once you add dishes; let the bird be the star. Worth it for the tableside theater and skin that actually shatters. Right in the Mott Street thick of it.
pekingduckhousenyc.com · See our best Asian restaurants in NYC
Joe’s Shanghai
The soup dumpling that made New Yorkers care about xiao long bao, slinging them on Bowery since the original Pell Street room got too small. The Verdict: still the benchmark order — the crab and pork soup dumplings, thin-skinned and loaded with hot broth, the reason for the line out front. The newer Bowery room is bigger and brighter than the old one, so the wait moves. The Honest Caveat: it is cash only, there is a card-to-cash machine inside, and it leans touristy — nick the wrapper, sip the soup, do not be the person who bursts one onto the table. The Local Move: come off-peak, get a dozen crab-and-pork plus the braised pork shoulder. Joe’s Ginger around the corner on Pell is the same family if the line is brutal.
joesshanghainyc.com · See our best dumplings in NYC
Noodles, dumplings & cheap eats
The counters, the hand-pulled noodles, the roast-meat windows and the bakery — fast, cheap, and where the locals actually eat. Keep going with our best Asian restaurants in NYC.
Great NY Noodletown
The no-frills Cantonese corner of Bowery and Bayard, ducks hanging in the window, open since 1981 and barely changed. The Verdict: the move is the roast meats — duck, pork, soy-sauce chicken — over rice or noodles, with the ginger-scallion sauce that should come by the bucket. In season, the salt-baked shrimp and soft-shell crab are the locals’ order. The Honest Caveat: it is cash only, the lighting is fluorescent, and the service is fast to the point of brusque — that is the charm, not a flaw. The Local Move: a plate of roast duck over rice and a bowl of wonton noodle soup is the cheapest great meal in Chinatown. Open till 11pm on weekends, which makes it the after-something stop. A Bourdain favorite, and you can taste why.
greatnewyorknoodletown.com · See our Anthony Bourdain’s NYC favorites
Shanghai 21
A small Mott Street Shanghainese room that punches well above the size of its dining room. The Verdict: many locals call these the best soup dumplings in Chinatown, and the spicy-sweet Szechuan-style wontons in chili oil are the sleeper order — get both. Round it out with the scallion pancakes and the braised pork. The Honest Caveat: it is tiny, it does not take reservations, and there is almost always a wait at peak — this is a put-your-name-in-and-stand-on-Mott situation. The Local Move: go at an off hour, early lunch or mid-afternoon, when you can actually get a table without the queue. Cheaper and less touristed than the big-name dumpling spots, with dumplings that go toe to toe with any of them.
shanghai21nyc.com · See our best dumplings in NYC
Spicy Village
A Henan spot the size of a hallway off Forsyth, with maybe six tables and a cult following. The Verdict: order the big tray chicken — a heap of bone-in chicken, potato and chili over broad hand-ripped noodles that soak up the numbing, garlicky stew. It is built to share and it is cheap. The Local Move: add the spicy big tray noodles and the cumin lamb, and go with one other person so you can actually fit. The Honest Caveat: seating is brutal, you may share a table or wait on the sidewalk, and it is closed Sundays — this is a know-what-you-want, get-in-get-out place. Not a date spot; very much a great-meal spot. The regional Henan cooking here is hard to find anywhere else in Manhattan.
Xi’an Famous Foods
The Bayard Street outpost of the chain that started in a Flushing basement and taught the city about Shaanxi food. The Verdict: get the spicy cumin lamb hand-pulled biang-biang noodles — wide, chewy, slicked with chili and cumin, hand-pulled to order. It is one of the best ten-dollar lunches in New York. The Local Move: add the spicy and tingly beef or the liang pi cold-skin noodles, and grab the lamb burger for the walk. The Honest Caveat: it is a fast-casual counter, not a sit-down dinner — you order at the register and grab a stool, and seating is tight at noon. Yes, it is a chain now, but the Chinatown branch still slaps and it is right in the middle of everything on Bayard.
xianfoods.com · See our best Asian restaurants in NYC
1915 Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles
A newer Mott Street arrival doing one thing the right way: Lanzhou-style beef noodle soup, the broth simmered for hours, the noodles pulled in front of you. The Verdict: pick your noodle shape — thin, wide, prism — and order the beef noodle soup with extra chili oil and the daikon it comes with. Clean, deep, beefy broth; no MSG; the dough show is half the fun. The Local Move: get a side of the cold beef shank and the spicy wontons. The Honest Caveat: it is closed Tuesdays, it is a small room, and it is soup-forward — come hungry for noodles, not a sprawling banquet. A great answer when the dumpling and dim sum lines are too long and you want something fast, hot, and under fifteen bucks. Proof Chinatown still gets new blood worth lining up for.
1915lanzhounoodles.com · See our best ramen in NYC
Mei Lai Wah
A Hong Kong-style bakery and coffee shop running since 1968, now in a bigger Mott Street space after decades on Bayard. The Verdict: the order is the char siu roast pork bun — get the baked one, with its sweet crackly top, and the pineapple bun if you can — pillowy dough, sweet-savory pork, a couple bucks each. This is the great cheap breakfast or mid-crawl snack in Chinatown. The Local Move: pair a pork bun with the strong milk coffee and eat it standing, the way the old-timers did when this was the neighborhood gossip spot. The Honest Caveat: it is cash-friendly, the buns sell out, so go early — by mid-afternoon the best ones are gone. Not a sit-down meal, a perfect one-bun pit stop between the bigger spots.
meilaiwahnyc.com · See our best dumplings in NYC
Best Chinatown Restaurants in NYC: FAQ
What is the best restaurant in Manhattan Chinatown?
For a single pick, Nom Wah Tea Parlor on Doyers Street — the oldest dim sum parlor in Chinatown, open since 1920, and the food still holds up. If you want roast meats over dim sum, Great NY Noodletown is the local’s answer, and for a sit-down regional dinner Hwa Yuan Szechuan is the most polished room in the neighborhood. It depends on the meal — this page splits the icons from the cheap-eats counters so you can pick by craving.
Where are the best dim sum in Chinatown?
Two ways to do it. Nom Wah Tea Parlor does made-to-order dim sum off a checklist in a 1920 room on Doyers Street, while Golden Unicorn on East Broadway still runs old-school pushcarts across three banquet floors — flag the carts down until 4pm. For the best roast pork bun on its own, hit the Mei Lai Wah bakery on Mott. See more on the best dumplings in NYC.
Where can I get the best soup dumplings in Chinatown?
Shanghai 21 on Mott Street gets the nod from a lot of locals for the best xiao long bao in Chinatown — tiny room, real wait, worth it. The famous name is Joe’s Shanghai on Bowery, which put crab-and-pork soup dumplings on the New York map back in 1995 and still draws the line; note it is cash only. Both are excellent; Shanghai 21 is less touristed.
What is the best late-night food in Chinatown?
Great NY Noodletown at Bowery and Bayard is the late-night Cantonese answer, open until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays for roast duck over rice and wonton noodle soup. Joe’s Shanghai on Bowery runs until 11pm daily for soup dumplings. Chinatown does not stay open as late as it once did — the old 3am Wo Hop runs are gone — so these are your safest after-hours bets.
What is the best cheap eat in Chinatown?
Hard to beat Xi’an Famous Foods on Bayard for spicy cumin lamb hand-pulled noodles around ten dollars, or 1915 Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles on Mott for a hand-pulled beef noodle soup under fifteen. Spicy Village on Forsyth does a big tray chicken built to share for cheap, and a couple of roast pork buns from Mei Lai Wah run a few bucks. Bring cash at most of them.
Last updated: June 2026. Deals and hours change – confirm with the venue before you go. Spot something out of date? Let us know.
See also: our best hot pot in NYC guide.
