The Best Chinese Restaurants in New York City
Sichuan in Sunset Park, hand-pulled noodles in Chinatown, hot pot in Flushing, and the Williamsburg room doing Cantonese-Caribbean — where to eat Chinese food in New York.
New York's Chinese food is not one cuisine but a dozen, spread across at least four Chinatowns — Manhattan, Flushing, Sunset Park, and Elmhurst — and the best rooms are rarely the famous ones. Yingtao in Hell's Kitchen holds 1 Michelin Star for its xiao long bao and Peking duck; Chuan Tian Xia in Sunset Park is the walk-in Sichuan benchmark. The list below is organised by what each kitchen actually does well, each scored and verified by Dim Hour, with the dish to order.
A note on regions: Sichuan means numbing mala heat (mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, chili oil wontons); Cantonese runs milder and seafood-forward; Shaanxi means hand-pulled cumin lamb noodles and the lamb burger. They are different cuisines, not different price points.
Yingtao
A Hell's Kitchen room and the highest-scored Chinese kitchen on this list, working the refined end — xiao long bao and Peking duck. OpenTable.
Chuan Tian Xia
The Sunset Park Sichuan benchmark: mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, twice-cooked pork, and dry-pot cauliflower. Walk-in, and worth the ride.
Szechuan Mountain House
East Village Sichuan with a fuller sit-down menu — Grandma's braised pork, mapo tofu, cold spicy beef tendon, la zi chicken. Resy.
Xi'an Famous Foods
The Chinatown counter that made Shaanxi noodles a New York staple: spicy cumin lamb hand-ripped noodles, liang pi cold-skin noodles, and the lamb burger. Walk-in, fast, cheap.
Lei
A Chinatown Chinese wine bar and the most inventive room here — hand-rolled cat's ear noodles with cumin-tomato lamb, soy-braised short ribs with strawberry jam, sesame shao bing with cold butter, crispy fried whiting with seaweed. Resy.
Bonnie's
Williamsburg, Cantonese-Caribbean, and unlike anything else on this list: the pineapple bun slider, a char siu McRib, and a proper wonton soup. Resy.
Tolo
Lower East Side — cumin lamb skewers, mapo tofu, scallion pancake and twice-cooked pork in a room built for drinking. Resy.
Chongqing Lao Zao
Flushing hot pot: mala broth, spicy lamb, and Sichuan dumplings. Walk-in, and busiest late.
The Best Sichuan
A Garment District Sichuan counter for the chili-oil canon — dan dan noodles, wontons in chili oil, beef and tripe in chili oil, chicken in chili sauce.
Chang Lai
A Chinatown counter running curry fish balls, roast pork buns, shrimp lo mein and fishball noodles — the cheap, fast end of the list.
What is the best Chinese restaurant in NYC?
Where is the best Sichuan food in NYC?
Where can I get hand-pulled noodles in NYC?
Where is the best Chinese food in Flushing?
What is the difference between Sichuan and Cantonese food?
Which of these take reservations?
Where can I get cheap Chinese food in NYC?
What neighborhoods have the best Chinese food in NYC?
How many restaurants does Dim Hour cover in NYC?
Dim Hour scores every restaurant on food, service, ambiance, and value, and verifies every listing. This guide is updated as the catalog changes. Explore all New York City restaurants →