Picture this: hand-ripped noodles doused in spicy chili oil and cumin-spiced lamb sandwiched between two buns. These dishes come from the successful Chinese-owned chain Xi’an Famous Foods, a Chinese restaurant in Flushing, Queens, created by father-son duo David and Jason Wang. This chain separates itself from the traditional Chinese American restaurants by boldly serving Northwestern Chinese cuisine from the owners’ hometown of Xi’an, China. By exploring the restaurant’s official cookbook, Xi’an Famous Foods: The Cuisine of Western China, from New York’s Favorite Noodle Shop, we can trace the origins of Xi’an Famous Foods and better understand why it was able to succeed.

The success of Xi’an Famous Foods did not happen overnight, it was the result of hard work and word-of-mouth. In the spring of 2006, David Wang opened up a stall in Flushing’s Golden Mall’s food court. As soon as he opened,“word spread fast; people started coming in from out of state to try [their] liang pi,” a dish native to Xi’an.¹ The decision to exclusively focus on Xi’an cuisine proved crucial. Their restaurant’s dishes became a unique selling point to attract customers.

In 2007, chef Anthony Bourdain featured them on his TV show, No Reservations, where he tried various dishes from different countries. Thanks to Bourdain, the restaurant’s “lines get longer and more diverse.”² No longer are they serving just Chinese customers; now, more Americans from various backgrounds want to try their food. Today, the restaurant has sixteen different locations and continues to grow its business.

To conclude, Xi’an Famous Foods illustrates the success of an immigrant-owned business that thrived because of their authentic Chinese flavors that they mixed with American styles to create new dishes that attracted a wide array of customers.

1. Wang, Jason. Xi’an Famous Foods: The Cuisine of Western China, from New York’s Favorite Noodle Shop. New York (Abrams, 2020), 171. ↩︎
2. Wang, Jason. Xi’an Famous Foods: The Cuisine of Western China, from New York’s Favorite Noodle Shop. New York (Abrams, 2020), 172. ↩︎