Shanghai 21 · 21 Mott Street
A sit-down stop for Shanghai-style soup dumplings and noodles. Look for the xiao long bao on the Shanghai 21 menu.
Eat and shop / Manhattan
Chinatown, NYC food and shopping guide
Walk Manhattan’s Chinatown for soup dumplings, dim sum, pork buns, pandan ice cream, porcelain shops and markets around Mott, Bayard and Doyers streets.
A Chinatown food and shopping walk
Start at Canal and Mott. Walk south for porcelain and chopstick shops, then turn toward Doyers Street for dim sum. Take a break in Columbus Park and finish with a bun and a scoop on Bayard Street. If soup dumplings are the main event, make time for a sit-down stop on Mott or Bowery.
Open the walking route Chinatown boundary map and nearby transit Chinatown Partnership visitor guide
Where to eat in Chinatown
Joe’s Shanghai · 46 Bowery
A longtime Chinatown destination for pork or crab-and-pork soup dumplings. Joe’s Shanghai menu and location
Nom Wah Tea Parlor · 13 Doyers Street
Stop for dim sum on the bend in Doyers Street. Browse the Chinatown menu and hours for dishes like shrimp dumplings and egg rolls.
Mei Lai Wah · 64 Bayard Street
Pick up a baked roast pork bun, or look for the pineapple bun with roast pork for a sweet crust and savory filling. Mei Lai Wah bakery
Wo Hop · 17 Mott Street
Head downstairs for a Cantonese-American sit-down meal. Check the Wo Hop menu for noodle dishes and other classics.
The ice cream stop on Bayard Street
The original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory is at 65 Bayard Street. Start with black sesame if you like a nutty flavor, try lychee for something floral, or look for ginger and pandan. The menu groups some flavors as seasonal or rotating, so ask what’s in the case when you visit.
The twist on top of a soup dumpling
One of us at NewYorkian used to go to Shanghai Cafe Deluxe on Mott Street for xiao long bao, the soup dumplings sealed with a little twist of pleats. The old café is a neighborhood memory. City restaurant records list Supreme Restaurant at its former address, 100 Mott Street.
Shanghai’s city history traces one influential version of the modern dumpling to Nanxiang in 1871. It describes thin dough gathered into pleats at the top and meat jelly that melts into broth as the dumpling steams. That pleated top is part of a tradition more than a century old. To try one, set the dumpling on a spoon and make a small opening so the hot broth can cool.
Shanghai’s account of xiaolongbao Archived Shanghai Cafe menu NYC restaurant inspection records
Shops worth a stop
Wing on Wo & Co. · 26 Mott Street
Browse porcelain bowls, teaware and other home goods at this family shop. Its community arts initiative is the W.O.W. Project. Wing on Wo & Co.
Yunhong Chopsticks · 50 Mott Street
Look for everyday chopsticks, gift sets and designs in different materials. Chinatown shop listing
New Kam Man · 200 Canal Street
Browse the grocery aisles for tea, sauces, dried ingredients and snacks. Kam Man’s Chinatown store
Pearl River Mart · 452 Broadway
Add this nearby Broadway stop for kitchenware, gifts, snacks and home goods. Pearl River Mart’s store information
Beyond the food stops
Pause at Columbus Park, or check what’s on at the Museum of Chinese in America. If you’re returning in the evening, check Think!Chinatown’s night market page for upcoming market dates.