Best Chinese Restaurants in America 2026

Manhattan's most cinematic Chinese dining room. The flaming Peking duck is the dish of the city — and the room is the most photographed in Midtown East.

Hutong's NYC outpost (London original) is the most ambitious dining room any Chinese restaurant has built in America in a decade. The flaming Peking duck — fired tableside, served two ways across two courses — is a hospitality moment as much as a dish. The dim sum lunch tasting is the most refined a la carte Chinese lunch in Manhattan.

Best occasion fit: a high-stakes client dinner when you need the room to read as 'we picked something memorable.'

The Korean-Chinese crossover that locals book for the dim-sum brunch service — Michelin-starred KBBQ does dim sum on Sundays.

Cote's Sunday dim sum tasting menu is the most stylish way to eat Chinese-influenced food in Manhattan. The XLB, the truffle siu mai, and the bone-marrow scallion pancake are reasons enough to book — though most diners come back for the Wagyu beef noodle.

Best occasion fit: a Sunday brunch date that needs to feel like an event.

Manhattan's defining xiao long bao. The 35-year-old Pell Street icon that taught New York what soup dumplings are.

Joe's Shanghai introduced soup dumplings to NYC in 1995 and has been the city's defining XLB destination ever since. The pork XLB and the crab-and-pork XLB are the orders. Shared communal tables, no fuss, the line moves fast.

Best occasion fit: a casual group dinner that wants iconic food and a ten-person reservation.

Los Angeles's most refined dim sum. San Gabriel Valley's defining Cantonese dining room.

Sea Harbour in Rosemead is the most technically precise dim sum in the United States. The shrimp dumplings, the char siu bao, the steamed XO sauce dumplings are dishes worth crossing town for. The Cantonese seafood menu in the evening is the city's most underrated fine-dining experience.

Best occasion fit: the LA family or team lunch for eight to twelve. Pre-order the steamed live fish and the Peking duck.

The Michelin-starred XLB chain's US flagship. Eighteen folds per dumpling, every time.

Din Tai Fung's Arcadia location was the first US opening of the Michelin-starred Taiwanese soup-dumpling chain. The original 18-fold xiao long bao standard still holds. The cucumber salad, the truffle XLB, the wonton with chili oil — everyone's order, every visit.

Best occasion fit: a low-stakes date lunch that wants to feel personal without feeling pressured.

The 2013 San Gabriel Valley opening that proved authentic Sichuan could survive the trip across the Pacific.

Chengdu Taste's first Alhambra location set the modern standard for Sichuan in the US. The toothpick lamb, the mouth-watering chicken, and the dan dan noodles are the orders. The numbing-spicy balance is the most authentic outside Chengdu.

Best occasion fit: the most defensible group dinner for four to eight diners who want their dinner to be the conversation.

The Lobster House. The single best preparation of garlic butter Maine lobster in America.

Newport Seafood's house-special lobster is the dish that defines San Gabriel Valley dining. Live Maine lobster, deep-fried in the shell, tossed in garlic butter and green onions. Order it for the table and add the salt-and-pepper crab and the steamed live fish.

Best occasion fit: a milestone birthday for eight to fourteen people. Pre-order the lobster.

Silver Lake's defining Taiwanese cafe. The dan dan noodles and three-cup chicken outperform every fine-dining peer at three times the price.

Pine & Crane's Silver Lake counter-service room is the most consistent Taiwanese cooking in Los Angeles. The dan dan noodles, the three-cup chicken, the lu rou fan, and the seasonal vegetable plates rotate weekly. The companion Silver Lake bakery (Joy) is across the street.

Best occasion fit: a casual weekday dinner date that wants to feel discerning without feeling expensive.

San Francisco Chinatown's defining Sichuan room. The chef cooked for President Obama's state dinner.

Z & Y Bistro is the more refined offshoot of San Francisco's most famous Sichuan restaurant. Chef Lijun Han cooked for Obama's state visit to China. The dry-fried eggplant, the spicy fish stew, and the kung pao chicken are the orders.

Best occasion fit: a group dinner for six to ten that wants to be a flavor expedition.

Las Vegas's defining hand-pulled noodle counter. The 2025 Eater list highlight. Worth flying to Vegas for.

Shang's open kitchen turns out hand-pulled noodles in five thicknesses on a 30-second basis. The xinjiang lamb, the spicy beef tendon noodles, and the dry noodle with chili oil are the orders. Counter seating is the experience.

Best occasion fit: a Las Vegas solo dinner at the counter — better than anything on the Strip.

Chef Brandon Jew's Michelin-starred Chinatown room. The most ambitious Chinese-American fine dining in California.

Mister Jiu's holds a Michelin star and a James Beard Best Chef West win. The cooking weaves Cantonese tradition with California ingredients — the salt-and-pepper crab, the whole roast duck, the silken tofu with crab. The Chinatown rooftop bar is one of the city's best.

Best occasion fit: the most exciting client dinner in San Francisco Chinatown.

Manhattan Chinatown's 1920 dim-sum institution. The longest-running Chinese restaurant in NYC.

Nom Wah opened on Doyers Street in 1920 and is the oldest continuously operated Chinese restaurant in NYC. The original egg roll, the OG sticky rice in lotus leaf, and the shrimp har gow are the orders. A piece of New York history that still serves real dim sum.

Best occasion fit: a sunny-Saturday brunch date that wants to feel like a New York moment.