Why New York City's Chinese Food Is The Absolute Best

Exactly how good is New York City's Chinese food scene?

"Ass-grabbingly good," inveighed Eater NY food critic Robert Sietsema. Which is to say, very fine, and arguably the world's best.

But it wasn't always so. Upon arriving in the city in the 1970s, Sietsema recalled a total of one Sichuan restaurant, and the standard fare, "baby shrimps in a sweet sauce." 

But this began to change in the 1990s, he said, when working-class Chinese immigrants arrived in Flushing, replacing Taiwanese residents. Many of them converged on a warren of underground restaurants known as the Golden Mall. These came to include Xi'an Famous Foods. Today, Xi'an is a restaurant empire, weighing in at fourteen establishments, and best embodies the city's insatiable appetite for regional Chinese cuisine. Long gone are the days when white Manhattanites dictated the menu.

"Flushing," said Sietsema, "is calling the shots."

Join WNYC's Arun Venugopal, Sietsema and Eater NY editor Serena Dai on Thursday, Jan. 23rd for a Micropolis event marking the Lunar New Year. They'll be joined by cookbook author Diana Kuan, Jason Wang, the CEO of Xi'an Famous Foods, Amelie Kang, owner of the Mala Project and others. Great food will be served!