Where to Celebrate Chinese New Year

Smack dab in the middle of St. Marks Place, the boisterous 886—which is Taiwan’s area code—is perfectly at home. Lit up in neon, the Taiwanese eatery dishes vibrant and funky plates that are rooted in tradition (get the lo ba beng, oyster omelette, and tomato and egg stir-fry). Don’t miss their Year of the Pig sandwich before it’s gone Feb. 9th—a Van Leeuwen collab made with pineapple cake ice cream, crispy fried mantou, and candied bacon.

Nestled in an old Chinese opera house down a snaking alley, Chinese Tuxedo is an ode to the banquet dishes of lore. Outfitted in black leather booths, with towering plants and unfinished walls, the space is swanky and club-like, and has the food to match: feast on the XO noodles, whole squab with salt, Tuxedo dumplings, and any of their surprising dessert.
Last Call for their lucky $88 banquet menu, tonight only!

Sometimes, all you need to start off the New Year is a comforting and steaming bowl of noodle soup (remember: long noodles, long life—said every Ahma ever). And that’s what you’re getting at Hunan Slurp, where chef Chao Wang doles out the mifen rice noodles of his hometown. The noodle shop will also be handing out lucky red envelopes to enthusiastic slurpers—get yours today!

The rebirth of a Chinatown legend—the very one that introduced New Yorkers to cold sesame noodles back in the 80’s—Hwa Yuan Szechuan does Chinese fine dining right. The three-tiered space drips with Art Déco touches, and features Sichuan fare steeped in the Tang family history. Order the whole fish with hot bean sauce, kung pao baby mix potatoes, and sesame noodles, of course.

You wouldn’t think a Chinese restaurant’s secret ingredient would be soy sauce, but it is at this lively and hip spot. Kings Co. Imperial is a delightfully modern Chinese restaurant where soy sauce and Negronis are housed on tap, mock eel is made from shiitake (they’re excellent), and green beans (yes, green beans) are to-die-for. Bring a group, and eat your way through the menu.

Named after the narrow and twisting alleys that make up Shanghai, Little Alley is one cozy, delicious restaurant with a nod from Michelin’s Bib Gourmand. The Murray Hill establishment will be cooking up a special batch of specials to celebrate the Lunar New Year, including braised pig trotter (hey, it’s the year of the pig), Dungeness crab with salted duck egg, and cheese baked lobster. Definitely get their xiao long bao, they’re pretty perfect.

As New York’s oldest and most venerated dim sum institution, Nom Wah Tea Parlor does dumplings right. Settle into one of the red vinyl booths—the look here is a lovely “stuck in time”—and order baskets upon baskets of dim sum, which are made to order. Must-haves include the OG egg roll, the saucy shrimp rice rolls, crispy scallion pancakes, and the signature roast pork buns.

Authentic Chinese comfort food is the hallmark of Pinch Chinese, a sleek SoHo mainstay decked out in black and red accents. To ring in the New Year, chef Charlie Chen is cooking up his favorite dishes—which include lucky rice cakes, whole steamed fish, and long life noodles, natch—in addition to offering a dumpling happy hour every Monday in February (which you should definitely be excited about, as chef Charlie hails from the iconic Taiwanese institution Din Tai Fung).

Elevating hotpot to an art form is no small matter, and that’s what this Chinatown hideaway has done. Tang Hotpot focuses on the taste of Chengdu, offering five spice-laden broths to choose from, with dipping sauces (we like the house-made sesame paste), and various combo platters heaped with excellent cuts of meat, seafood, and veggies. Come hungry—this Michelin Bib Gourmand is best enjoyed on a cold, windy day.