There is a go-to restaurant for every kind of Chinese dish in Los Angeles—Beijing’s xiangbing (meat pies), Peking duck, cold noodles—and Seattle is no slump either, but for xiao long bao (soup dumplings) in both cities, we go to Din Tai Fung. Now with three locations in L.A., two in Seattle and one in Orange County, the Taiwanese dumpling house is a favorite among both tourists and locals for slurping down pork dumplings (pork and shrimp is another popular option) for lunch or dinner. At the Glendale location in L.A., a slice of truffle can be added on top of your dumplings—not entirely traditional, sure, but we’re not complaining.
With Lunar New Year right around the corner, how about getting into the mood with the very best food Chinese available in the United States? Treat yourself to Hong Kong-style sweet and sour chicken, or Peking roasted duck or chow mein or Sichuan pork...the list of amazing dishes goes on.
Beyond our biggest cities, seeking out the best Chinese restaurants in America can be like looking for needles (or better yet, noodles) in a haystack, only to find yourself grasping at straws. No doubt the entire history of the Chinese immigrant experience in America can be glimpsed in the fact that the best restaurants for Chinese food are likely to be mom-and-pop affairs that don’t cater to Westerners—they’re a little like our best Mexican restaurants in that way.
Whether this dim sum parlor makes unreal char siu bao or that hole-in-the-wall serves dandan noodles to make you cry, their discovery by English speakers typically happens through word of mouth, actual or virtual. That said, these 15 restaurants—some new sensations, others decades-old icons—stand out for helping to define (or redefine, as the case may be) Chinese cuisine in their communities. From dim sum restaurants in NYC to high-end restaurants in downtown LA to a local legend in Falls Church, these are the best Chinese restaurants in America—start planning your pilgrimages now.