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The Best Chinese Restaurant in Every State

The Best Chinese Restaurant in Every State

Food historians generally agree that the first Chinese restaurant in America was Canton, opened in 1849 in San Francisco. A second Chinese place, Macao and Woosung Restaurant, appeared later that year. Both are long gone, of course, but Pekin Noodle Parlor, established in 1911 in what was then a bustling Chinatown in Butte, Montana, is still in business — making it the oldest continuously operated Chinese restaurant in the country.

Today there are more than 40,000 Chinese eateries around the U.S., ranging from fast-food outlets and casual counter-service operations to elegant gourmet destinations. There’s probably at least one example in virtually every city or town of any size in the nation. Not surprisingly, when Chef’s Pencil, a website for chefs, analyzed Google Trends data last year, they found that Chinese was easily the most popular “ethnic” cuisine in America.

How authentic are America’s Chinese restaurants? Trying to define and quantify “authenticity” isn’t easy. The many regional cuisines of China are now well represented with at least some claim to credibility in some parts of the country (Southern California’s Orange County and the boroughs of New York City, for instance), but much of what is served might more fairly be called not authentic Chinese cuisine but rather authentic Chinese-American.

That category includes such ubiquitous dishes as chop suey, Chinese chicken salad, General Tso’s chicken, and of course fortune cookies — all prime examples of the many “foreign” foods that are really American.

In acknowledgement of the importance of Chinese — and Chinese-American — cuisine in our national diet, 24/7 Tempo has assembled a list of the best Chinese restaurants in every state, based on Yelp reviews and ratings.

Included are dumpling and noodle houses; restaurants specializing in regional Chinese styles (Sichuan most commonly); and old-style Cantonese places serving dishes that have become popular with American diners over the years.

Where applicable, we have noted some of the limitations on the services offered by these establishments. (These are restaurant reopening restrictions in every state.)

Because these restrictions change constantly as infection rates rise and fall, and because some restaurants might impose their own rules in addition to those required, it is always advisable to call before planning a visit or trying to place an online order.

To identify the best Chinese restaurant in every state, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the top-rated restaurants nationwide in the Chinese category on Yelp. To be considered, restaurants needed to be in or near a city with a population of at least 100,000 people. In states with few or no cities of this size, restaurants in smaller cities were also considered. Restaurants belonging to large chains, food trucks, and takeout places without seating were eliminated from the list, as were Chinese markets — unless they had in-store restaurants — and Asian fusion establishments or those with extensive offerings from other cuisines, such as Thai or Japanese.

Source: Courtesy of Eugene C. via Yelp

Alabama: Mr. Chen’s Authentic Chinese Cooking & Oriental Market
> Location: Tuscaloosa
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

All the basics are offered here, along with such slightly more adventurous fare as spicy beef tendon, hot stir-fried frogs’ legs, and spicy pork intestines in hot pot. Yelp reviews tend to use the words “real” or “authentic” — and the atmosphere and service get good marks, too.

Source: Courtesy of Pranjali S. via Yelp

Alaska: Pagoda Restaurant
> Location: North Pole
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

Voted the area’s #1 Asian restaurant a dozen times in the Fairbanks Daily News Miners’ Reader’s Choice poll (North Pole is a town near Fairbanks, known for its year-round Christmas decorations), the 30-year-old Pagoda offers an eclectic menu that ranges from the expected egg roll and kung pao chicken to such unexpected offerings as jalapeño scrambled eggs with shrimp or chicken and General Tso cauliflower. The restaurant is currently open for dining only in its bar area — not the main dining room — as well as for takeout and delivery.

Source: Courtesy of Jackie F. via Yelp

Arkansas: China Café
> Location: Rogers
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

In addition to the usual American Chinese restaurant dishes, this establishment in the Ozarks, near Bentonville, specializes in such Szechuan dishes as sliced fish with pickled vegetables, clay pot seafood and bean curd, and cold ox tongue and tripe with roasted chili peanut vinaigrette. Regular dining service is currently suspended, but customers may sit at tables to eat food they’ve ordered to go.

Source: Courtesy of Michael P. via Yelp

Arizona: Wong’s Chinese Cuisine
> Location: Phoenix
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Anyone in Phoenix who’s looking for chop suey, chow mein, lo mein, egg foo young, chow fun, wonton soup, moo shu pork, and other old-style Chinese-American specialties will surely appreciate Wong’s — for the service as well as the food. “Not only is the food absolutely fabulous, the staff at the restaurant are equally fabulous as well,” Yelped a visitor from Wisconsin.

Source: Courtesy of Din Tai Fung via Yelp

California: Din Tai Fung
> Location: San Diego
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

This international Taiwanese chain has 13 U.S. locations, all on the West Coast, plus another dozen in Taiwan and countless others all over Asia and in Australia, the UAE, and the UK — but they’re known for consistent quality everywhere. (The Daily Meal once named their original Taipei location the best restaurant in Asia.) Their specialty is xiao long bao, the broth-filled buns everybody calls “soup dumplings,” which the late L.A. Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold once called “small miracles.” There’s plenty more on the menu, though. “This place is a must try,” wrote one Yelp reviewer about the chain’s elegantly airy San Diego location. Currently, only takeout and delivery are available here.

Source: Courtesy of Mahrad M. via Yelp

Colorado: Fortune Wok to Table
> Location: Denver
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“Authentic Shanghainese cuisine is our passion,” reads this two-level restaurant’s motto. The ground floor portion of the place serves what are described as “street style eats,” meaning such fare as steamed or pan-fried dumplings, Shanghainese street noodles, or jasmine curry with beef, shrimp, or vegetables. Upstairs, COVID-19 protocols are not in force, the chef prepares a more formal menu, with no dumplings or noodles involved, for just four tables of diners. Seafood hot and sour soup and black pepper halibut are typical dishes.

Source: Courtesy of Willow H. via Yelp

Connecticut: Peter Chang
> Location: Stamford
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

Peter Chang is a celebrated Szechuan chef-restaurateur, once known for continually going to work at and then disappearing from restaurants throughout the Southeast. Chang finally settled down and opened a chain of top-level places in Virginia and Maryland. Early last year, he opened this place, his first in the Northeast. Expect such uncommon fare as scallion bubble pancake, spicy dry-fried eggplant, and Shan City pigs’ feet.

Source: Courtesy of Song Z. via Yelp

Delaware: Mom’s Kitchen
> Location: Bear
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Yelp reviewers love such dishes here as “awesome” spicy fish, salt-and-pepper fried chicken wings that are “a must try,” and beef and cilantro soup that’s “so good we almost licked the bowl clean.” Among the chef’s specialties are frog with spicy chili pepper and cumin spareribs with garlic.

Source: Courtesy of Luis P. via Yelp

Florida: Red Shallot
> Location: Doral
> Yelp Rating: 5 out of 5

“[E]ven more amazing than the reviews could make it seem,” wrote one Yelp reviewer about this restaurant in suburban Miami. “One of the best dining experiences that I’ve had in a long time,” enthused another. Taiwanese picadillo (described by the Miami New Times as “ground pork belly aggressively seasoned and served atop a bed of rice with strands of pickled mustard greens”) is a specialty. The restaurant is now open only for takeout and delivery, but there is a table outside at which one party of diners at a time may enjoy food they’ve ordered for takeout.

Source: Courtesy of Sumaiya U. via Yelp

Georgia: La Mei Zi
> Location: Doraville
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

It’s not every Chinese restaurant that serves such specialties as Hakka stir-fry pork belly, calamari, bean curd, and Chinese chive flower; stewed Chinese okra with crab meat and roe; or lamb with leeks and cilantro in hot bean sauce — but you’ll find those and a lot more at this Taiwanese place in a community just outside Atlanta. One Yelp commentator hailed its “fresh, delicious food” and phenomenal service. The dining room is closed for now, but there is outdoor seating, and takeout and delivery are offered.

Source: Courtesy of Shigeru C. via Yelp

Hawaii: Lam’s Kitchen
> Location: Honolulu
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

One Chinese-American reviewer on Yelp describes this hole-in-the-wall counter-service place as her “all time favorite restaurant in Chinatown,” and notes that she “[w]ent today for the 100th time.” Beef tendon soup with chow fun gets high marks from almost every commentator, while some also hail the pork and shrimp wontons (“PERFECTLY seasoned”) and pork liver rice soup.

Source: Courtesy of J K. via Yelp

Iowa: Long Xing
> Location: Iowa City
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

There’s nothing too exotic on the menu here, but Yelp fans love the crab Rangoon, egg rolls, General Tso’s chicken, Mongolian beef, and other Chinese-American standbys at this “quaint little hole in the wall…in a strip mall.” “If you like places like Panda Express…,” proposed one reviewer, “but also like to support local businesses, Long Xing is going to make you very happy.”

Source: Courtesy of Patricia C. via Yelp

Idaho: Red Pavilion Mandarin Cuisine
> Location: Meridian
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

Promising a range of offerings from “traditional comfort dishes to fascinating new flavors,” this restaurant in a Boise area city (considered one of the fastest-growing cities in the country) serves a menu that encompasses everything from pot stickers and spring rolls to Mandarin spicy shrimp and flaming garlic pork. (There is a second location in Mountain Home, southeast of Boise.)

Source: Courtesy of Daniel Y. via Yelp

Illinois: MCCB Chicago
> Location: Chicago
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“MCCB,” says this Chicago favorite, stands for “Modern Chinese Cook Book.” In addition to such familiar dishes as kung pao chicken and mapo tofu, the restaurant offers less common fare like piña-colada-flavored shrimp and the house specialty of charcoal-grilled whole fish as prepared in the style of the Chinese city of Chongqing. The word “amazing” tends to appear in Yelp reviews.

Source: Courtesy of John S. via Yelp

Indiana: House of Cheung
> Location: Indianapolis
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

This “sit down and eat” Chinese restaurant (as opposed to takeout places) pleases Yelpers with its lemon chicken, Peking pork, General Tso’s tofu (and also chicken), sizzling beef, and more. “The restaurant itself could be a set of a cool Wes Anderson movie,” wrote one reviewer of this “old-fashioned Cantonese style” place. At this time, only takeout is available.

Source: Courtesy of Loretta M. via Yelp

Kansas: ABC Cafe
> Location: Overland Park
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Offering “familiar dishes in casual digs and serving dim sum all day,” ABC has been described on Yelp as the area’s “single most authentic Chinese restaurant…[serving] the equivalent of Chinese home cooking” and a “place [that] lives up to the hype!” The 40-plus dim sum choices include barbecue pork puffs and chicken spring rolls with seaweed. Specialty dishes include chicken and eggplant hot pot and salt and pepper tofu.

Source: Courtesy of Stan J. via Yelp

Kentucky: Oriental Wok
> Location: Fort Mitchell
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

The menu at this restaurant in a community across the Ohio River from Cincinnati (where Oriental Wok has a second location) offers “Old Chinatown” dishes like chop suey, chow mein, and egg foo young, as well as a good selection of other fare. This includes seafood preparations like four varieties of fish cooked in one of three manners and a dish of stir-fried Cantonese lobster tails.

Source: Courtesy of Evie B. via Yelp

Louisiana: Dian Xin
> Location: New Orleans
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“This hole-in-the-wall restaurant is a little slice of heaven,” wrote one Yelp reviewer, who came without a reservation and had to wait an hour “but it was very worth it” for a meal that included, among other things, “the BEST tasting shrimp” he’d ever had. Other commentators call out the soup dumplings, the crab and crawfish bao, the sizzling steak, and the “really good” chive cakes.

Source: Courtesy of Connie C. via Yelp

Massachusetts: Clay Pot Cafe
> Location: Boston
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

Not surprisingly, clay pot dishes are featured at this cash-only Chinatown establishment. Versions made with yellow eel, Chinese sausage and pork belly, and chicken with Chinese mushrooms are among those specifically praised by Yelp users. Other dishes, including Shanghai rice cakes, ginseng black chicken soup, and stir-fried watercress with garlic are among the other dishes that win plaudits.

Source: Courtesy of Galaxy G. via Yelp

Maryland: Gourmet Inspirations
> Location: Wheaton
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

House specials at this place in Wheaton, near the nation’s capital (there is a second location just to the south in Silver Spring), include ginger and scallion lobster, crispy shrimp with walnuts, and Peking duck. Dim sum is also featured, with Yelp reviewers saying particularly nice things about the beef shumai, radish cakes, deep-fried shrimp, and sticky rice in banana leaf, among other items.

Source: Empire Chinese Kitchen / Facebook

Maine: Empire Chinese Kitchen
> Location: Portland
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Dim sum and “traditional and modern Chinese soul food” are the specialties here at this handsome establishment, which occupies the site of “Portland’s first deluxe Chinese restaurant,” The Empire (1916-1953). Lobster dumplings, pork potstickers, Singapore rice noodles, orange beef, and bacon fried rice are among the many dishes here that Yelpers love. Only takeout service is available currently.

Source: Courtesy of John R. via Yelp

Michigan: China Chef
> Location: Troy
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Whole steamed fish, crispy Cantonese-style chicken, and beef brisket hot pot are among the signature dishes here. Per Yelp, the food here is “ridiculously delicious,” the place is “a gem,” and the portions are “large…[and] reasonably priced.” One visitor added “It is top notch by any definition.” Michigan has halted all indoor dining until further notice, but China Chef offers delivery.

Source: Courtesy of Rakhi N. via Yelp

Minnesota: Golden Chow Mein
> Location: Saint Paul
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“Serving Cantonese food to the West 7th neighborhood for 30+ years,” this restaurant announces by its name that what it serves will be familiar Chinese-American cuisine. The menu lists both “quick service” and “cooked to order” variations on chow mein, as well as egg rolls, fried shrimp, lo mein, moo goo gai pan, beef with broccoli, and other such fare. No indoor dining is currently permitted in Minnesota, but takeout is available here.

Source: Courtesy of Eugene C. via Yelp

Mississippi: Mr. Chen’s
> Location: Jackson
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

A Chinese restaurant connected to an Asian market, Mr. Chen’s has been hailed on Yelp as “a great little restaurant” and “the ONLY place in MS with REAL Chinese food.” One reviewer wrote “I’m Chinese and live in NYC, but this is one of the best Chinese restaurants I’ve been to in the country.” Favorite dishes include twice-cooked pork, lotus leaf sticky rice, and basil clams.

Source: Courtesy of Blue Koi Noodles & Dumplings via Yelp

Missouri: Blue Koi Noodles & Dumplings
> Location: Kansas City
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

This “undeniably cool Chinese” place (according to its website) limits its menu — as its name suggests — to a dozen starters (dumplings as well as scallion biscuit, duck wrap, crispy tofu, etc.) and 14 noodle or rice dishes involving things like Chinese-style pot roast, black bean chicken, and braised organic tofu. “Blue Koi gets better and better every time I go,” reported one Yelp reviewer.

Source: Courtesy of Dave E. / Yelp

Montana: Hong Kong City
> Location: Belgrade
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

“This is a great place for Chinese!” enthused a Yelp reviewer visiting from Washington state about this establishment in a community just outside Bozeman. Other opinions: “the Mongolian beef is near ‘almost gourmet,'” “From the first bite of egg drop soup I KNEW it was going to be a slam dunk!,” and “Fantastic Chinese cuisine and great service … everyone walked away full and happy.” Only takeout and delivery are currently available.

Source: Courtesy of Dragon Wok via Yelp

Nebraska: Dragon Wok
> Location: Omaha
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“Every meal has been spot on” at this Omaha favorite, according to one Yelp reviewer. The restaurant promotes its “famous sesame chicken and our signature egg foo young.” A wide choice of fried rice, lo mein, and chow mein variations are also available, along with all the other expected dishes, from egg drop soup to sweet and sour pork.

Source: Courtesy of Shawn C. via Yelp

Nevada: Shang Artisan Noodle
> Location: Las Vegas
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“Shang Artisan Noodle aims to both honor and elevate the Chinese culinary tradition on handmade noodles,” reads the mission statement for this fast-casual restaurant. The menu is brief: a few appetizers (spicy wontons, beef and onion potstickers, etc.), half a dozen noodle soups (pork rib and seafood among them), five sauced noodle dishes (one with minced pork and preserved vegetables, for instance, and another with stir-fried tomato and scrambled eggs), and seven fried rice and chow mein variations.

Source: Courtesy of Brian W. via Yelp

New Hampshire: Golden Tao Restaurant
> Location: Manchester
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

This establishment in the Granite State’s largest city advertises its “Mandarin, Szechuan & Private Home Cuisine” based on combining “the freshest ingredients with popular Asian herbs and spices.” Specialties include Yu-Hsiang shrimp and sea scallops, crispy sesame beef, and two-flavored chicken, but there is also a selection of moo shu dishes, lo mein, chop suey, and other Chinese-American standbys.

Source: Courtesy of Gina R. via Yelp

New Jersey: Soup Dumpling Plus
> Location: Fort Lee
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

There can be no confusion about this B.Y.O.B. restaurant’s main selling point. According to a diner from a Shanghainese family, reporting on Yelp, the eponymous soup dumplings are “probably as good as it gets in the States.” Other dishes — the “plus” — recommended on the review site include eggplant with garlic sauce, scallion pancakes, and pan-fried pork buns.

Source: Courtesy of Leslie W. via Yelp

New Mexico: Tsai’s Chinese Bistro
> Location: Albuquerque
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“[H]idden away in a strip mall but worth looking for — per Yelp — this “little gem” is as “authentic as it gets for Chinese food in Albuquerque.” Menu offerings include Uncle Tsai’s spicy dumplings, mushroom duck, bean curd “home style,” and Hunan pork. Lo mein, chow mein, moo shu, and egg foo young dishes are also available. No indoor dining is permitted in the state at this point, but the restaurant offers takeout service.

Source: Courtesy of Rex W. via Yelp

New York: Han Dynasty
> Location: New York
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

This Upper West Side Szechuan restaurant — one of nine locations in New York City and the Philadelphia area (the first one opened in the suburb of Exton in 2007) — is noted for its dan dan noodles, which one Yelp reviewer called “incredibly flavorful” and another pronounced “the best in New York.” Other Yelp praise has gone to the dry pepper chicken, the dry hot pot with fish, and the cumin chicken.

Source: Courtesy of Sister Liu's Kitchen via Yelp

North Carolina: Sister Liu’s Kitchen
> Location: Durham
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Handmade dumplings, from a menu that changes daily, are the big draw here, including varieties filled with chicken and napa cabbage, lamb and carrots, beef and cilantro, and shrimp with pork and Chinese chives. Chinese “burgers” on steamed buns — pork, beef, or vegetable — are another specialty, and there are also a few sauced meat dishes (spicy pig ear, beef in mushroom sauce) and noodle preparations, some involving noodles made with carrot juice. Citing challenges in meeting customer demand for its dumplings, Sister Liu’s asks patrons, via Yelp, to “please pay attention to website dynamics” regarding changes in business hours.

Source: Courtesy of M N. via Yelp

North Dakota: Mandarin Kitchen Express
> Location: Fargo
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

According to comments on Yelp, diners here can expect “Sooooo much food…always very flavorful,” “Employees [who] are really helpful & friendly,” and “classic American-Chinese takeout but with quality ingredients.” (There’s also a dining room, with counter service.) Expect inexpensive versions of spring rolls, sweet and sour chicken, salt and pepper shrimp, and the like.

Source: Courtesy of Song Z. via Yelp

Ohio: LJ Shanghai
> Location: Cleveland
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“It doesn’t look like much when you walk pass this restaurant outside but the food will leave you begging for more,” wrote one local diner on Yelp last month, citing such dishes as the soup dumplings and the Chongqing SPICY beef noodle soup (caps hers) as examples. Noodles and dumplings are the things here, and other reviewers have liked the dumplings in hot chili oil, the Daoxiao pan-fried noodles with beef, and the pork noodle bowl. The restaurant is currently open for takeout only.

Source: Courtesy of Al L. via Yelp

Oklahoma: China Garden
> Location: Tulsa
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Signature dishes here include watercress fish, spicy fried cumin lamb, tofu pudding beef, and beer duck. Commenting on Yelp, diners have also singled out the egg drop soup (“full of noodles”), fried dumplings (“nothing short of perfect”), spicy boiled fish (“absolutely wonderful”), and spicy beef stew noodle (“cooked to perfection”). “Best Asian food in the Midwest,” opined a visitor from Arkansas.

Source: Courtesy of B T. via Yelp

Oregon: China Gourmet
> Location: Salem
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

A “delightfully updated, modern, and authentic Chinese dining experience,” promises this establishment’s website. “This little place packs in some BIG flavor and does it for a reasonable price,” according to one Yelp reviewer. Another was “a bit surprised by the outside…[which] doesn’t look very classy,” but was “tremendously surprised by the interior, food, and wait staff.” Recommendations of the site include curry fried rice, twice-cooked pork, and garlic eggplant. For the time being, the establishment is open only for delivery.

Source: Courtesy of Gerald S. via Yelp

Pennsylvania: Andorra Ping Pong
> Location: Philadelphia
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

The name of this “Northwest Philly treasure” — as one Yelper put it — might suggest a rec center in the Pyrenees, but it’s a serious Chinese restaurant offering dishes both familiar and unusual. Among the latter are chicken kidney in chili pepper, mustard green and fish soup, sizzling stuffed bean curd, and spicy pork shank Chongqing style. (There’s a second location in suburban Wayne, Pennsylvania, called R&G’s Ping Pong. The Philadelphia restaurant takes its name from the Andorra Shopping Center.) Pennsylvania restaurants are closed for indoor dining at the moment, but takeout and delivery are still available here.

Source: Courtesy of Robert M. via Yelp

Rhode Island: Oriental Taste
> Location: Cranston
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“I lived in NYC for 11 years and this food is pretty close to NYC Chinese,” wrote one enthusiast on Yelp. “Best Chinese ever,” claimed another one. Boneless spareribs, crab Rangoon, chicken and broccoli, and Szechuan beef with peanuts are among the dishes various other commentators have mentioned approvingly.

Source: Courtesy of James D. via Yelp

South Carolina: Peking Wok II
> Location: Columbia
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

One Yelper found the fare here to be “Some of the best Chinese food I have had in the States!” and another, lamenting how hard she thought it was to find good Chinese cuisine in the South, said, “I think I’ve finally found it!” Big portions, representing “great value on American-style Chinese food,” are a plus here, and such dishes as steamed dumplings, General Tso’s chicken, and broccoli beef left another reviewer “shocked and impressed by the quality of…food here.”

Source: Courtesy of Golden Phoenix Restaurant via Yelp

South Dakota: Golden Phoenix Restaurant
> Location: Rapid City
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

The individual combination dinner here, including an egg roll, a chicken wing, fried rice, and a choice of three soups, plus such main dishes as garlic shrimp, cashew chicken, or bell pepper steak, goes for $11.75, and other package deals, for two or more diners and with additional dishes added, cost only slightly more. Portions are huge, report reviewers on Yelp, and the food is “simply amazing.”

Source: Courtesy of John M. via Yelp

Tennessee: China Cottage Restaurant
> Location: Madison
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Among the house specialties at this restaurant in suburban Nashville are steamed sea bass, walnut shrimp, and crispy beef. An array of chow mein, lo mein, rice noodle, and noodle soup dishes are also offered. “I have been coming here for years and never had a bad meal,” wrote one fan on Yelp. “Make sure you either go hungry or with people to share with,” counseled another.

Source: Courtesy of Tiger Noodle House via Yelp

Texas: Tiger Noodle House
> Location: Katy
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“If you haven’t tried Tiger Noodle you are missing out,” according to a local fan of the Katy outpost of this four-unit Houston area chain, writing on Yelp. “It’s really that simple.” With both a counter service and a full service side, the place offers a menu of Szechuan dishes that goes far beyond just noodles. Taiwanese sausage, Chengdu grilled sliced fish, shredded pork in Beijing bean sauce, and tea-leaf-smoked duck are a few of the specialties. Outdoor seating, takeout, and delivery are available here.

Source: Courtesy of Fred B. via Yelp

Utah: Mandarin Restaurant
> Location: Bountiful
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

The variety of dishes in various styles at this no-reservations restaurant in suburban Salt Lake City includes Peking baby back ribs, Singapore vegetarian noodles, Szechuan halibut, and Nanking pork with yams and sugar snap peas. Yelp users particularly like the imperial noodles, cashew chicken, and char siu fried rice.

Source: Courtesy of Olivia C. via Yelp

Virginia: Judy’s Sichuan Cuisine
> Location: Chesapeake
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

According to a review in the Virginia Pilot, “The freshness, quality of food at affordable pricing and pleasant service make Judy’s Sichuan Cuisine habit-forming.” Yelpers praise the place, too — both this location and another one in Virginia Beach. The wontons in chili oil, pork in Yu-Shiang sauce, dan dan noodles, and kung pao chicken are among reviewers’ favorites.

Source: Courtesy of Yang Y. via Yelp

Vermont: Zen Gardens
> Location: South Burlington
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

The menu here offers what it identifies as traditional Chinese dishes like seaweed with garlic sauce and aromatic sliced beef, as well as such specialties as tangerine chicken and sizzling beef hot pot. Comments on Yelp also call out such items as scallion pancakes, duck with basil, and Hunan beef. “So excellent!!!” exclaimed one local.

Source: Courtesy of Huan D. via Yelp

Washington: Szechuan Brothers
> Location: Vancouver
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

In addition to more expected dishes, this “great restaurant,” “a treasure in the area” — per Yelp — serves such items as seafood okra soup, chopped pickled chili fish fillet, salted fish and chicken fried rice, and shredded pork with dried bean curd and Chinese celery. “Ask your server about the mural on the wall,” one Yelp reviewer recommends. The “art shows people making the dishes on the menu.” Washington opened restaurants to limited indoor dining early in January if they could provide sufficient fresh-air ventilation, but Szechuan Brothers is currently operating only for takeout and delivery.

Source: Courtesy of Sam B. via Yelp

Wisconsin: Sze Chuan Restaurant
> Location: West Allis
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Fans of this restaurant in a Milwaukee suburb tell Yelp that they enjoy specialties like spicy Szechuan dumplings, chicken in spicy numbing sauce, and fish fillet in chili pepper soup. Even the “more Americanized Chinese dishes…are better versions of what you’d get elsewhere,” wrote one reviewer, though another one thinks ordering those would be a shame because “This is a really authentic Chinese restaurant with some excellent Sichuan style cooking.”

Source: Courtesy of China Spring

West Virginia: China Spring
> Location: Martinsburg
> Yelp Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Hailed on Yelp for its “Friendly workers and good food!” and reasonable prices — one reviewer notes that prices are similar to those at fast-food outlets “but of a much higher quality” — China Spring offers an extensive menu of the usual favorites. “Best kung pao chicken I’ve ever had,” noted a visitor from Los Angeles (a city with a plethora of great Chinese restaurants). “Make sure you try the crab Rangoon and the steamed dumplings at the very least,” counseled another.

Source: Courtesy of Sierra H. via Yelp

Wyoming: Wonderful House Restaurant
> Location: Rock Springs
> Yelp Rating: 4 out of 5

A recent transplant from California called this place in a southwestern Wyoming city “a life saver for Chinese food” on Yelp, while another asked rhetorically, “Wow, who would have expected such a great Chinese restaurant in this small town?” The “freakin’ fantastic” food includes crab Rangoon, braised tofu, sizzling rice soup, and honey walnut shrimp.

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