Xi'an Famous Foods

I came here for lunch today with my friend after I yelped lunch spots by our office. We are determined to try as many places by our office as possible. Kind of like our own food tour of the east and west village.

After reading reviews on yelp and looking at the pics we agreed to give this place a chance. I ordered the Ns1 which was the spicy lamb with noodles in soup. My friend had the spicy tingly beef with noodles in soup.

The reviews are correct about seating. Get there before the lunch crowd or you will not have a seat. There are little bench like chairs lined up against two walls with tables and another two facing the glass window looking out of the restaurant.

They apparently just started accepting credit cards which was a pleasant surprise. The food came out quickly and tasted pretty good. I wasn't falling off my chair from the amazing flavor. It was spicy, oily and filling enough. The pieces of lamb were tiny and kind of fatty but still not the worst thing I've had. As expected this Chinese noodle shop made flavorful food.

The aftermath of lunch is what made me write this review. Immediately after eating my bowl of noodles I drank some water from the bottle I bought from the place and it tasted funny. I know it was a brand new bottle so I thought that was weird. I thought maybe the lamb and the spices distorted my taste buds. Then I kind of felt my heart racing. I began to think about the side effects of msg.

I shook it off and we started walking back to the office. My throat became super dry and I drank more water. We finally get back to my office and my stomach is now feeling totally awful. I drink a ton of water. An hour or two pass by and my head is pounding.

It was a bad afternoon to say the least. I popped two motrins to get rid of the headache and drank a ton of seltzer for the rest of the night. My stomach settled down and my headache eventually goes away. I'm Chinese and msg has never really affected me this way which makes me wonder how much msg was in my food.

My friend did not finish her dish and barely made a dent in the bowl because of the quality of the fatty beef and oil layered on top of the broth.

The conclusion is that if you are immune to the effects of msg and want a flavorful quick lunch (which is a bit over priced) you should try this place. If your body reacts to msg the way mine did, STEER CLEAR OF THIS PLACE.

This was a while ago in July before the pandemic, but here's my review anyways..

I thought this place was amazing! Price was expected and it was a lot! I was able to save a bit of it to eat later because let's be honest.. eating Chinese leftovers are just are good.

Can't remember which bowl I got, but definitely got it with chili oil. Definitely recommend going to any of the chains!

My friend and I were there at Monday at 9pm and was able to grab a seat inside. There were many other people there as well in line. So definitely a popular place.

Not sure why so many locations are closed. I'm glad there are still some around. Their spinach dumplings are to die for. Literally I would have it as my last meal. Salivating looking at the photo. Quick service and chill vibe. HIGHLY recommend!

What is it about the term "hand-ripped noodles" that evokes mouth watering feeling of urgently needing to eat them? Well, look no further. Xi'an has a few locations throughout NYC but make you go to one of the legitimate spots.

This location is very small, NOT good for great groups but may be perfect for a first date spot. Personally, I say go big or go home when it comes to spicy food so I highly recommend getting the spicy lamb with hand ripped noodles! It's a bit spicy, heavy on the cumin so be aware of that. The portions are generous so ask for a to-go bag. I still think about those noodles some times.

Yo, I'm Fox and I come from TEHRAN
I like to have sex while I eat WON TON
I do 160 on the AutoBAHN
Like Right Said Fred, I'm too sexy for MILAN

I learned to French Kiss while at the SORBONNE
Doctored in Maths, I could've been a DON
I'm like Oppenheimer, girls tell me I'm the BOMB
So until the DAWN, let's Marvin Gaye and get it ON

If I was in Star Wars I'd be HAN
If I was Kirk I'd be the wrath of KHAN
If I was Connery (SEAN) I'd be BOND, James BOND
And like Jerry Maguire, I'm the ambassador of KWAN

If I was a Beatle I'd be JOHN
If I was an Eagle I'd be DON
If I was N'Sync I'd be GONE
And if you're at XI'AN, always get the N1

It was a very very long walk in the freezing cold wearing nothing but a very slutty muscle shirt to get to Xi'an, but it was worth it because the Lamb Human was as delicious as ever. That was supposed to say Lamb Cumin but even if was human, I'd still eat it, considering the way it tastes.

Get the N1. It changed my life. It's Xi'an's famous "Spicy Cumin Lamb Hand-Ripped Noodles" (SCLHRN to friends). The greatest Chinese meal I've ever had. Maybe the best meal of any kind. I thought I wasn't a Chinese food fan. In fact, I just hadn't tried XI'AN yet. Nothing rocks my world like Xian's SCLHRN.

Perhaps not as delicious as the old days of the basement in Queens but still spectacular, and I mean u-t-t-e-r-l-y s-p-e-c-t-a-c-u-l-a-r.

I still miss the basement. I'd have stuck to that original location in Queens except, well, it doesn't serve hot food anymore. Great decision. (Bangs head on wall)

I did not appreciate the mixed messages with the sign at the counter saying that we do not accept tips... and then the sign on the wall saying that tips are optional. Dude really needs to make up his mind, and now that he's a multi-million selling mogul he needs to stop being weird about tips. And you may know what happened with the Yelp issue he had... I understand both sides of the argument, but still. Ew. Also, he's obsessed with early 90s rap, but then I guess a lot of people are. And let's not forget, there's a lot of sexist music out there but early 90s rap is near the top of that tree. And he has some Maroon 5 on his playlist too so. He makes all of his stores listen to that same playlist... his prerogative, but ew. They must get pretty sick of it cuz it's always the same in every store. Fair enough.

The girl working here was really nice and I gave her a tip even though she wasn't supposed to take tips and she was very appreciative and then super friendly and hitting on me for the rest of the evening. Which I really appreciated. Maybe she wanted an even bigger tip. Ahem.

There were a couple of nice people in here and the space is wayyyyy too cramped so we were elbow-to-elbow trying to eat our noodles and as I was leaving I told them the story of the original restaurant. I have no idea if they appreciated it. I think she did more than he did LOL. She was from out of town and he was from NYC so I guess he should have been the one telling it, but you know me. But he was super friendly so it was okay.

Anyway, the food and the one server girl were too perfect to not give 5 stars despite the major caveats.

I'm closer to China than f***ing TAIWAN
Only thing that comes before "mi" is BANH
I been having sex while you been having NONE
You wanna Josh Duggar wit yo sister and yo MOM
I be friends with Cheadle, you don't know DON
I f***ed lots of Latin girls, you ain't f***ed JUAN
If you did, you'd have a premature ejaculaTION
Like Nic Cage, in 60 seconds you'd be GONE

I count to a billion, you only count to ONE
The biopic about me was screened at CANNES
Every girl I meet wants to have my SPAWN
You eat Sweet N Sour Pork, I eat XI'AN

Any place claiming to be better is a CON
Slow start, but ugly duck became a SWAN
Tastes better than the girl I just went down ON
And her sister, 2 brothers, Uncle and her MOM
And my Arabic boyfriend named HASSAN
XI'AN is a motherf***ing food phenomeNON

Michelle Pfeiffer comes here for Dangerous LIAISONS
Owner so rich he got 69 MAISONS
I won't eat your muffin if it's got nuts and RAISINS
And I don't understand how this rhymes with XI'AN

I get excited watching you dance to ReggaeTON
You need to cool down, girl, drink this EVIAN
Skip General Tso's, try this XI'AN
Damn girl, where's all my Lamb Cumin GONE

You'll wanna make babies and feed this to your SPAWN
You'll wanna marry Bowie like IMAN
You'll make Argentina cry like EVA PERON
You'll come back to XI'AN and you'll get the N1

I just f***ed 3 girls, 2 were named YVONNE
My Dad's from IRAN (but my real Dad's from KRYPTON)
He spilled XI'AN, on his KORAN
But Allah forgave him cuz ALLAH LOVES XI'AN

If I was Edward this would be my Bella SWAN
If I went Overboard I'd be Goldie HAWN
If I crashed weddings I'd be Vince VAUGHN
If I was Borat I'd be from KAZAKHSTAN
If food is the Mafia, XI'AN is the DON
Forget Neo Anderson, XI'AN is the ONE
If you only eat once in NY, EAT XI'AN
Oh sh*t, split ends, need to go to a SALON

You might think the food here looks simple and might wonder why there are literally 10 different locations in the city. However, that's the beauty of Xi'an Famous Foods - simple and affordable foods that focus on the flavor.

Although the menu is huge, a lot of the options are pretty similar. I'd like to recommend to always go for the dry option over the soup option. The soup's broth isn't that flavorful and it really just takes away from the flavor of the sauce. For a delicious and pure taste of Xi'an's flavors, go for dry over soup. With that being said, the spicy cumin lamb noodles are my recommendation. The lamb is great and the noodles/sauce are delicious and full of flavor.

The restaurant is very simple and small. You order at the walk-up counter and there are two long tables against the wall with maybe 5 chairs at each table. This is not a good spot for large parties. I'd recommend only dining here with 1-3 people or just getting it to-go.

Overall, a simple and affordable option for some tasty Chinese noodles. You can always expect a nice affordable meal for under $10 when you dine here.

Spicy cumin lamb noodle was on point! Keep in mind this review is only for this location. It really does not taste the same at another location I tried.

I tried the mild spicy and it had a good kick but not the kind that burns or lingers. It was a perfect amount of spice. It comes with a good amount of meat and topped with spicy sauce and fixings..that's the best way to describe it because I don't really know what's in it! But it was so damn good. The noodles are perfectly chewy, not too soft nor too hard. They're moist with the right amount of sauciness. I loved every single bite and was already thinking of when I would come back just to have these noodles.

Customer service was ok..no problems but they're just super quiet. I guess that's a good thing sometimes. But otherwise I had no issues.

Overall it was a dish that was different and woke up my taste buds..highly recommend for the Asian food lovers out there.

This is a review for only the spicy cumin lamb noodles which it's most known for. TLDR it's all hype, NEXT.

My best friend from New York did not recommend this place but it was next to my airbnb and I was hungry and curious. This 4 feet long noodle dish was too chewy and the sauce/lamb was OK. It tasted kind of sour and the cumin was a little strong for me. It also felt like the dish was sitting out for a bit because the noodles were room temp and some were stuck together.

Also, this is minor but the tables are a little too high which made it pretty uncomfortable eating.

Lesson learned: heed your best friend's advice. Both about that guy and tourist-y food.

Food was authentic, fresh, and delicious. Seriously like the food from my childhood! If you're planning to visit this location, I'd say either do take out or plan on waiting for seats, since there are only a handful of bar type seats against the walls.

Food can be mouth numbingly spicy (which we loved), but be warned if you have a a more delicate palate!

If you love vinegar, spice, and everything nice then COME HERE and get the Liang Pi/Cold-Skin Noodles.

On a quick weekend trip to NY and I absolutely had to make a stop here. Thanks to Anthony Bordain (may he Rest In Peace) I had to try what the hype was about.

The noodles have a great texture and the porous meat substitutes (gluten?) is a great addition to this dish. There's some cilantro, bean sprouts, and cucumber thrown in the mix, too.

I'm currently at LGA eating my leftovers and really had to write the review right now.

Yall... Do yourself a favor and stop by a nearby Xi'an Famous Foods.

Xoxo,
Gossip girl

I found this spot while looking for Chinese noodles outside Chinatown or Queens (we will fit those in next time!) and specifically something we could grab quickly before going to see Stomp at The Orpheum just down the street.

My husband ordered their most popular dish, the spicy cumin lamb hand ripped noodles, and they definitely lived up to the hype. Chewy noodles, abundant meat, and a savory spicy sauce that had damn near what I would call a punch of cumin flavor. Loved these.

I opted for the spicy tingly (because of the Szechuan peppercorns) beef noodles and even though the sauces looked the same in both dishes, the taste of this sauce was much sweeter and more pungent than the lamb one. Still enjoyed these, but they were definitely less memorable.

And yes, these were both super spicy; however, they had the right kind of heat - addictive while eating, but quick to fade from your mouth when done.

Xi'an might be a local chain and these noodles might seem common if you live in NYC, but it is not at all easy to hunt down a meal like this where we live. Very glad to have stopped in.