Best of Flushing
Ten Flushing essentials, from hand-pleated soup dumplings to chili-oil wontons and basement food courts. Every address checked against the living city.
Your pick lands here
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- 1Downtown Flushing · $$ · Flushing-Main St (7) · 39-16 Prince St #104, Flushing, NY 11354
Also No. 1 on Best Dumplings in Flushing → · No. 1 on Best Dumplings in NYC →
Shanghainese soup dumpling specialist at One Fulton Square, hand-pleating xiao long bao to order since 2006 and still adding new ones, most recently a mala beef version.
Because the kitchen still hand-pleats every xiao long bao to order and was still expanding the canon as of January 2026, when a mala beef version joined the menu.
Order Pork and crab xiao long bao
Weekend lines at One Fulton Square routinely pass an hour, so go on a weekday before noon.
Photo: elyaqim (Elyaqim Mosheh Adam), CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo: elyaqim (Elyaqim Mosheh Adam), CC BY-SA 2.0 - 2
White Bear▲ buzzing
Downtown Flushing · $ · Flushing-Main St (7) · 135-02 Roosevelt Ave, Flushing, NY 11354Also No. 2 on Best Dumplings in Flushing → · No. 2 on Best Dumplings in NYC →
A tiny, cash-only storefront with a handful of seats, famous for exactly one order: the #6, a dozen pork wontons in roasted chili oil with preserved vegetable.
Because the whole reputation rests on one menu number, the #6 wontons in roasted chili oil, and the recipe survived a 2024 ownership change that had regulars bracing for the worst.
Order The #6, a dozen wontons in hot chili oil
Cash only with a handful of stools, closed Wednesdays, and the kitchen shuts at 8pm, so treat it as a takeout stop rather than a sit-down meal.
- 3Flushing · $$ · Flushing-Main St (7) · 41-28 Main St, Flushing, NY 11355Map ↗verified 7w ago
The reborn basement food court, opened in 1990 and reopened in July 2023 after a $2 million renovation, where a dozen-odd stalls serve dumplings, hand-pulled noodles and regional Chinese specialties under new neon.
Because this basement is where Xi'an Famous Foods got its start, and it came back from a $2 million renovation in July 2023 with its stall-by-stall character intact.
Order A bowl of hand-pulled noodles
Go at lunch when turnover is fastest, and bring cash; card acceptance varies from stall to stall.
Photo: Gary Soup (Gary Stevens on Flickr), CC BY 2.0 Photo: Gary Soup (Gary Stevens on Flickr), CC BY 2.0 - 4Flushing · $$ · 136-20 Roosevelt Ave, Flushing, NY 11354
The basement food court of New York's biggest Asian indoor mall: roughly 30 stalls covering Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles, Uyghur lamb skewers, jianbing, congee, hot pot and bubble tea, mostly cash-only.
Because no other single room in the city lets you choose among Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles, Uyghur lamb skewers and jianbing from roughly 30 stalls under one ceiling.
Order Lanzhou hand-pulled beef noodle soup
Most stalls are cash-only, so stop at an ATM first; it runs 10am to 10pm every day, holidays included.
Photo: Jeffrey Tastes, CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo: Jeffrey Tastes, CC BY-SA 2.0 - 5Flushing · $$ · Flushing-Main St (7) · 39-16 Prince St Ste G03, Flushing, NY 11354
Flushing's flagship Sichuan destination since 2016, styled like a rustic mountain lodge and known for hanging pork belly with garlic, peppercorn-electric pickled cabbage and a deep offal-friendly menu.
Because with old rivals Spicy & Tasty and Guan Fu both closed, this is the last of Flushing's great Sichuan houses, and the hanging pork belly with garlic is still the plate people cross boroughs for.
Order Hanging pork belly with garlic sauce
Reserve on Resy for dinner; weekend walk-ins at Prince Street can mean an hour-plus wait.
@mountainhouse.usa ↗Szechuan Mountain House
From @mountainhouse.usa on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 6Flushing · $$ · 136-20 Roosevelt Ave #A1, Flushing, NY 11354
Joe Rong's cheung fun counter, where silky steamed rice rolls filled with shrimp, beef or pork are made from batter stone-milled in-house; this Roosevelt Avenue original spawned a small citywide chain.
Because Joe Rong mills the rice batter in-house on a stone grinder, which is why the rolls come out silkier than anyone else's and why the line has not let up since the shop opened in 2017.
Order Shrimp and beef steam rice roll
It closes at 8:30pm, and the first-timer move is the combined roll so you get shrimp and beef in one order.
@steamriceroll ↗Joe's Steam Rice Roll
From @steamriceroll on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 7Flushing · $$ · Flushing-Main St (7) · 133-30 39th Ave, Flushing, NY 11354
A cavernous, chandeliered Cantonese banquet hall serving cart-and-tray dim sum every day, plus live-tank Hong Kong style seafood at night.
Because the dim sum carts still roll through the chandeliered hall seven days a week, a daily cart service most of the city's dim sum rooms gave up years ago.
Order Har gow off the cart
Arrive before 11am on weekends to beat the banquet-hall rush; on weekdays the carts come to you with no wait.
@asianjewelsny ↗Asian Jewels Seafood Restaurant
From @asianjewelsny on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 8Downtown Flushing · $ · Flushing-Main St (7) · 135-11 38th Ave, Flushing, NY 11354
Also No. 8 on Best Dumplings in Flushing →
A Hong Kong style noodle shop built around golf-ball-sized shrimp and pork wontons, handmade dace fish balls and lo mein, now with a second Flushing location and a Manhattan spinoff.
Because Michelin handed it a Bib Gourmand for wontons the size of golf balls, each one folded by hand around whole shrimp and pork.
Order Wonton noodle soup
If the 38th Avenue original is slammed, the second Flushing location at 59-20 Main Street runs the same menu with shorter waits.
@maxisnoodle ↗Maxi's Noodle
Loads from Instagram
From @maxisnoodle on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 9Flushing · $$ · 40-11 149th Pl, Flushing, NY 11354
A Korean barbecue institution of more than 20 years in Murray Hill, on Flushing's Koreatown edge, known for samgyupsal pork belly, a bottomless banchan spread and near-round-the-clock hours.
Because it has grilled samgyupsal on a near-24-hour schedule for more than two decades, with a banchan spread that gets refilled without your asking.
Order Samgyupsal (grilled pork belly)
It is closer to the Murray Hill LIRR stop than to Main Street, and the late hours make it the neighborhood's best option after everything else closes.
Photo: Chun Yip So, CC BY 2.0 Photo: Chun Yip So, CC BY 2.0 - 10Flushing · $$ · Flushing-Main St (7) · 59-10 Main St, Flushing, NY 11355Map ↗verified 7w ago
A humble dining room on south Main Street, in place since 2000, serving the Taiwanese canon: three-cup chicken, stinky tofu, oyster omelet, minced pork rice and ba-wan meatballs.
Because it has cooked the full Taiwanese canon on south Main Street since 2000, and Eater critic Robert Sietsema still ranks it among the best traditional Taiwanese restaurants in New York.
Order Three-cup chicken
It sits well south of the downtown crush, and portions run large, so bring company and add the oyster omelet for the table.
Good to know
- Which spots are cash only?
- White Bear is cash only with a handful of stools, closed Wednesdays, and the kitchen shuts at 8pm, so treat it as takeout rather than a sit-down meal; most stalls at New World Mall Food Court are cash-only too, so stop at an ATM first.
- How do I avoid a long wait?
- For Nan Xiang, go on a weekday before noon since weekend lines at One Fulton Square routinely pass an hour; for Szechuan Mountain House, reserve on Resy since weekend walk-ins can mean an hour-plus wait.
- Which spot works best for a group?
- Main Street Imperial Taiwanese Gourmet runs large portions, so bring company and add the oyster omelet for the table.