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CHINATOWN USA

For nearly two centuries, Chinatowns have been an essential part of American communities. If they began in the 1840s as safe havens for Chinese immigrants, they have remained vital parts of our cities ever since — neighborhoods where Americans could find opportunity, discovery, reinvention. Neighborhoods where we all come together to eat.

As Chinatowns across the nation — and beyond — have been devastated by the pandemic, it has become essential to share reminders of how much these places matter to all of us.

Here are the stories of why that is very much so.

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The Art of Dim Sum Is Exquisite. Now Is the Moment to Embrace It

Fans of The Great British Baking Show know that a soggy pie bottom is a cardinal sin. The same standard…

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All Brandon Jew Wants Is For Chinese Restaurants to Know Their Worth

When a Chinese auntie pays you a compliment — perhaps lauding your intelligence or admiring your rosy cheeks — there…

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Illustration of a takeout container as restaurant, on a suburban block

Chinese American Food Is Its Own Great Cuisine. Time to Love It That Way.

At least once a week, my dad would bring home takeout for the family. Sometimes, it was carnitas burritos, chile…

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A spread of dim sum dishes from Sea Empress in Gardena, Calif.

A Love Letter to Dim Sum, the Best Brunch Ever

Whenever I arrive at the misery that is LAX, after boarding a 6 a.m. flight out of an equally miserable…

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Chefs and Restaurateurs Explain Why Dim Sum Matters More Than Ever

Dim sum brings all of us together, across generations, cities, and Chinatowns. We asked Asian American chefs and restaurateurs from…

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In Charleston, a Chef Embraces His Own Chinese American Story

These days, Shuai Wang, the chef and co-owner of Jackrabbit Filly in Charleston, S.C., feels like he’s finally cooking the…

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Illustration by Jeannie Phan

Lessons in Closure, Or, Never Take Chinese Restaurants For Granted

Those of us who eat out for the sheer joy of it will always have a short list of Chinese…

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The roast pork bun at Mei Lai Wah. // Credit: Molly Tavoletti for Resy

The Resy Guide to Manhattan Chinatown, By Those Who Love It Best

New York City’s first Chinatown does not kid around. The oldest of nine, it was established in the 1870s when…

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The Resy Guide to L.A.’s Chinese Restaurants, By Those Who Love Them Best

It’s no secret that Los Angeles has a flourishing Chinese American community, one of the largest, most expansive in the…

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Three butchers standing in front of Hing Lung restaurant

The Resy Guide to San Francisco Chinatown, By Those Who Love It Best

San Francisco Chinatown is the oldest and one of the most historically significant Chinatowns remaining in the United States. So…

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The Resy Guide to Dim Sum in New York

Dim sum got its start in New York more than 100 years ago when Nom Wah Tea Parlor first opened, and…

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The Resy Guide to Dim Sum in Boston

With its frequent pushcart parades and bite-sized morsels tucked into steamer baskets, dim sum in Boston certainly boasts a level…

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The Resy Guide to Dim Sum in Washington, D.C.

Delicately made, beautifully presented and bursting with sweet or savory fillings, there is nothing not to love about dim sum.…

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The Resy Guide to Every Type of Dim Sum in L.A.

Dim sum in greater Los Angeles is an ever-evolving conversation. While classics like Monterey Park’s NBC Seafood have kept their…

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The Resy Guide to Bay Area Dim Sum

Dim sum translates to “a little bit of heart,” and it’s brought joy and love to many families and friends.…

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The Chinese American Dish That Isn’t, Really

My mother does not care for honey walnut shrimp. “It is not a normal Cantonese dish,” she says. Cantonese people…

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The Polarizing Beauty of ‘Phoenix Claws’

A pile of little bones, sucked clean of gelatinous tendon and skin, is a sign of a good dim sum…

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A Breakfast That Provides a Taste of the Familiar

Growing up in the suburbs of Milwaukee, breakfast usually meant shoveling into my mouth spoonfuls of technicolor cereal, swimming in…

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Credit: Molly Tavoletti for Resy

The Resy Guide to Flushing Chinatown, By Those Who Love It Best

The Queens neighborhood of Flushing, and its Chinatown, have been in flux for a lot longer than the pandemic. Over…

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Courtesy Barbara Leung

The Enduring Value of New York’s Oldest Chinese Restaurant

Nom Wah Tea Parlor, as my family tells it, was the first Chinese restaurant I ate at. I can’t confirm…

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Stephanie H. Shih, an artist based in Brooklyn, in front of her favorite bubble tea spot in Sunset Park’s Chinatown. // Photo by Mike Grippi for Resy

The Ultimate Guide to Brooklyn’s Chinatown, According to Stephanie Shih

It’s the height of autumn in Sunset Park. We’re on a sunny strip of concrete on the edge of 8th…

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What is actually good is giving Chinese cuisine — or cuisines — the space to exist along a spectrum: as a bargain-cheap meal, a blow-the-bank artistic pursuit, and everything else in between. The point is that the craftsmanship of Chinese cuisine, cultivated over hundreds of years, is worthy of a range of price tags. — Mahira Rivers, ‘Stop Calling Chinese Food Cheap. It Can Be Exceptional at Every Price.’
Illustration of WY Industries soy sauce, mustard, duck sauce and hot sauce packets

Packet by Packet, This Duck-Sauce Dynasty Forges On

Individual restaurants come and go, but the soy sauce packet is forever. And if you live and eat lo mein…

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Dishes at Dolan's Uyghur Cuisine, from left to right: Roasted lamb, a komesh kebab, and rangpiza, or cold-skin noodles. // Courtesy Dolan's Uyghur Cuisine

Uyghurs in America Want to Share Food and Culture. For Them, It’s a Matter of Survival.

In May 2017, as Bugra Arkin neared the completion of his graduate studies in international policy and trade, he and…

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Before opening the popular Shojo, Brian Moy found himself in charge of his family's many businesses. "If I didn’t open the doors, the business wouldn’t open. If I didn’t lock the doors, the business wouldn’t close." // Photo by Danh Nguyen

In Boston’s Chinatown, Brian Moy Is Building a Future Without Losing the Past

Since age 6, Brian Moy has spent his weekends, holidays, and summers at his family’s restaurants in Boston’s Chinatown. That…

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Jon Yao Kato

Jon Yao’s Taiwan-Inspired Cooking at Kato, As Seen Through Five Dishes

When Kato opened in West Los Angeles in 2016, Taiwanese food had just begun to creep westward from the San…

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The Historic Chinatown Gate. // Credit: JiaYing Grygiel

The Resy Guide to Seattle’s International District, By Those Who Love It Best

Asian people have been a part of Seattle since the Pacific coast city was founded in the 1850s. Chinese settlers…

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The Wonder of Chinese American Food, In Five Dishes

Chinese American cuisine parallels the Chinese American experience — a unique, sometimes blurred identity. Some dishes, like kung pao chicken,…

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Mere Portals: The Doorways & Dishes of Chinatown

If you like mysteries, Chinatown’s got mysteries. I mean, I’ve been coming here since my teens, but have never been…

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It’s Time to Support Chinatown Restaurants. Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou Is Even Willing to Share Her Secret List.

This March, New York State Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, who represents Manhattan’s Chinatown and the Financial District, did something she never thought she’d…

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Map of Chicago Chinatown

Eight Dishes That Tell the Story of Chicago’s Chinatown

On a warm summer day in other times, the most idyllic way to experience Chicago would be to board a…

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Six Dishes That Tell The Story of San Francisco’s Chinatown

Was the inventor of San Francisco’s famous Hangtown Fry — a scramble of eggs, oysters and bacon — really a…

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Eight Restaurants That Tell the Story of the San Gabriel Valley

Boba shops on every street? Yes. Sichuan peppercorns that leave your tongue numb and on fire? Check. Singaporean Hainan Chicken…

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Chinatowns have also changed the way we dine, not just in those neighborhoods, but across America and around the globe. Like when San Francisco restaurateur Johnny Kan and his friend, George Hall, introduced and popularized the Lazy Susan in the 1950s at his restaurant, Kan’s. — Deanna Ting

One Family’s Story,
From Toisan to Wichita

This is the story, untold until now, of a Chinese immigrant, Young Mar, who opened one of the earliest Chinese…

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Hunan Slurp Is Telegraphing the Tastes of Home, Now More Than Ever

Hunan Slurp first opened in Manhattan’s East Village in 2018 as a cure for homesickness. Especially after a year like…

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Credit: Eugene Lee

How Genghis Cohen Won Hearts, One Egg Roll (and a Big Helping of Shtick) at a Time

When Marc Rose first moved to Los Angeles almost 20 years ago, one thing he missed was the kind of…

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Chinatown’s Old Soul, in a Bowl of Brisket Noodle Soup

With hindsight, it’s fair to say that the brisket noodle soup at Wong Kei almost made me drop out of…

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Hang Ah introduced the concept of brunch as both spectacle and shared experience in a tea house that could only exist here in San Francisco’s Chinatown. — Tienlon Ho, ‘Hang Ah Remains Entwined In the Roots of Chinatown’
Three butchers standing in front of Hing Lung restaurant

The Resy Guide to San Francisco Chinatown, By Those Who Love It Best

San Francisco Chinatown is the oldest and one of the most historically significant Chinatowns remaining in the United States. So…

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The Resy Guide to London’s Chinese Restaurants, By Those Who Love Them Best

Chinatown’s popularity has long come down to its location and the quality of food, with older Cantonese restaurants and bakeries…

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The Resy Guide to Portland’s Chinatowns, By Those Who Love Them Best

A first-time visitor to Portland might see the city’s Chinatown gate as a beacon, inviting travelers into a rich cultural…

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London No Longer Has One Chinatown. It Has Many.

My parents left Hong Kong and came to the UK in the late 1980s in search of a better life.…

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Chinatown Has Always Made Us Feel at Home. Few Know That More Than the City’s International Students.

On a regular weeknight, hole-in-the-wall noodle shops and malatang outlets would be teeming with international students, making the most of…

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The Resy Guide to L.A.’s Chinese Restaurants, By Those Who Love Them Best

It’s no secret that Los Angeles has a flourishing Chinese American community, one of the largest, most expansive in the…

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Five Regulars on Why Wo Hop Still Matters

You don’t live to be an 82-year-old restaurant and not develop some sort of a following. Especially if you’re 82,…

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formosa cafe

The Formosa Cafe is a Masterclass in Restoration

Like an aging Hollywood star, the Formosa Cafe’s light may have dimmed a bit over the years, but it never…

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