Xian Famous Foods, New York City

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Xian Famous Foods 67 Bayard Street New York City, NY 10013 (212) 786-2068 Xian Famous Foods Website

Why did we dine here? – Shockingly Good! Xian Famous Foods was made famous when Anthony Bourdain featured it on this TV show, No Reservations. The restaurant was recommended to us, so we had to add it to our NYC hit list. They have several locations in New York and Flushing, so we decided to eat at the Chinatown location as we were touring the city. In 2019 we ate at the West Village location.

You pretty much look at the menu on the wall, order, pay, then wait for food to make it up a dumbwaiter. The dining room is pretty barebones and small, so be ready to sit next to other fanboys.

It is really interesting that this has become an empire, the San Francisco area has no restaurant to rival this one.

Insider Tip – Be prepared for a spicy experience.

Cuisine – Chinese
Location – New York Chinatown
Opened – 2011

Service – Xian Famous Foods had a friendly lady who helped us with our order. The food is pretty much like a cafeteria aka fast casual.
Verdict – Xian Famous Foods impressed us with fantastic Xian food. The place is very down home, nothing fancy, but the food quality draws everyone in. We liked it enough to go back again!

Is this restaurant worth a 5 minute drive? Yes. 30 minute? Yes. 1 Hour? Maybe.

Xian Famous Foods Signature Dishes – Spicy Noodles, Lamb Burgers, Salad.

Xian Famous Foods’s Menu has about 30 items. Several different noodle dishes, burgers and more.

Website Xian Famous Foods Menu

Xian Famous Foods Food Picks:

Spicy Cumin Lamb Hand-Ripped Noodles ($9) Biangbiang wide, hand-ripped noodles mixed with sauteed spicy cumin lamb. A must order dish with very spicy lamb and some wide hand made noodles. Just enough spice, not too much.

Spicy & Tingly Beef Noodles in Soup ($9.25) Biangbiang wide, hand-ripped noodles, topped with chunks of lean beef, with a spicy and tingly (because of Sichuan peppercorns) lamb/beef broth. Spicy as heck, but a nice good sized bowl of noodles and tender meat.

Spicy Cumin Lamb Hand-Ripped Noodles in soup ($11.71) were ordered not spicy but still had a little kick. Really well done lamb (Could have used more!)  Lots of noodles with some nappa cabbage on the bottom.

Liang Pi Cold Skin Noodles ($6) Chewy wheat flour noodles, quickly stir-fried with bean sprouts, cucumbers, cilantro, and cubes of spongy gluten, in all our proprietary sauces, which includes soy sauce, black vinegar, chili oil (unless requested not spicy). Is a classic dish and done well here. It was pretty spicy with its tender noodles.

Stewed Oxtail Noodles in Soup ($10.75) Biangbiang wide, hand-ripped noodles, topped with sliced stewed oxtail, in a lamb/beef broth. Some like Oxtail, this noodle soup fits the bill for those that do not want spicy food.

Concubine’s Chicken Noodles ($8) Biangbiang noodles mixed with pieces of bone-in dark chicken meat, sauteed, stewed, and mixed with our secret house sauces including soy sauce, black vinegar, chili oil (unless requested not spicy). For those that do not like lamb. The same great noodles with chicken.

Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad Cold ($6) is a classic crunchy salad. Simple but done right.

Sour Hawberry Tea ($2) is an acquired taste, but proved to be too sweet and like a hawthorne candy.

OK: (Order if you like this dish)
None

Pans: (We would not reorder these dishes)
None

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