Why Xi'an Famous Foods Is A Must-Visit The Next Time You're In NYC

There's a reason Xi'an Famous Foods keeps winning namechecks in A-list media outlets, from The New York Times to The Wall Street Journal to Good Morning America — it's that good. Tasting Table agrees heartily, too, awarding the Chinese restaurant the silver medal on its list of best Chinese restaurant chains. Add to this a James Beard Award nomination and a Zagat award, and it's easy to see why the tiny stall at the Golden Shopping Mall in Flushing Queens became a true phenomenon that led to more than a dozen branches opening in the city. Indeed, you can take the word of Anthony Bourdain, who tucked in to a meal at Xi'an Famous Foods in an episode of "No Reservations" and declared, "This place is great. I've never had anything like this before."

Credit ultimately goes to the Wang family, who grew the restaurant from a small bubble tea shop, but also to Xi'an, China, where they hail from. One of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China and the starting point of the Silk Road, the city of 13 million brings together a number of cultures, including a large Muslim population. David Wang couldn't find any dishes — such as spicy cumin lamb and noodles — from his hometown as he worked in various Chinese restaurants along the East Coast, so he started to make them himself. They took off, outselling the bubble tea and inspiring more attention on the food.

Thanks in part to the Anthony Bourdain bump, you can now find a dozen-plus branches in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, making Xi'an also one of the best noodle restaurants in NYC's Chinatown. The spotlight remains on the noodles — pulled or ripped to order — in dishes like Liang Pi "Cold-Skin Noodles," made with many essential ingredients for Chinese cooking, including chilled noodles, bean sprouts, cucumber, cilantro, and seitan soaked in soy and vinegar sauce and "Spicy & Tingly Beef Muscle Hand-Ripped Noodles," with the tingle provided by Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers. But it's the "Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger" that Bourdain gushed over, thanks to the lamb, cumin, red onions, scallions, garlic, and longhorn peppers sandwiched in crispy flatbread.

Choosing your own dish may be influenced by learning the difference between "pulled" and "ripped" noodles. The first takes the dough and stretches, slaps, twists, and rolls it into long, thin noodles. Ripped — also called "biang biang" — noodles presses the dough into flat rectangles, stretches it carefully to the desired length, and then hand-rips it down the middle to separate it into two pieces. Regardless of the choice, it's best to make it in-store to get the full Xi'an experience, as that's the only way to get the right texture and freshness. "Delivery just messes that up," Jason Wang told Munchies during one demonstration. That said, DoorDash doesn't mind delivery, nor do Xi'an fans who still gush in reviews despite the compromised authenticity.