Wo Hop

Talk to a native New Yorker—your dentist, perhaps, or your best friend’s dad—and they’ll probably have at least one late-night Wo Hop story. Like the night before their wedding, when they got arrested right outside the restaurant after a night full of lemon chicken and Tsingtao. (All a misunderstanding, of course.) Tragically, like many other iconic late night spots, Wo Hop permanently reduced their hours in 2020. But even though you can't have a 2am feast here anymore, it's still a Chinatown institution.

This subterranean restaurant almost always has a line, so when you come, expect a wait. Not like a grueling two-hour wait, more like a 20-minute one that leaves you extra excited for Chinese food. Downstairs, blue-uniformed waiters bring solo diners hot tea, cops wait for takeout, tourists crowd into the yellow-and-red leather booths, and big groups cover their tables with empty beer bottles in between bites of astoundingly crispy fried dumplings and saucy platters of beef and broccoli. The walls of the cash-only spot are covered in ‘80s headshots of former Broadway stars and signed dollar bills. Bring a dollar, a Sharpie, and a sticker, and leave your own mark in between bites of fried rice.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Noah Devereaux

Fried Dumplings

You haven’t had a fried dumpling as excellent as this one. They are thick-skinned pockets filled with pork, and they arrive at your table glistening right out of the fryer. It’s the only way to begin a meal at Wo Hop.

photo credit: Willa Moore

Green Beans with Black Bean Sauce

Expertly fried green beans, with equally delicious bits of fried garlic and fermented black beans. Your chopsticks will return to this plate often.

Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce

A simple steamed broccoli, slick with oyster sauce. Not a must-order, but a nice addition to the table for a larger group.

Chow Fun

A meal here should be mostly shades of beige—think fried dumplings, fried rice, and chow fun, which you should get with beef. The chewy noodles benefit from the savory meat.

Fried Rice

Perfect culinary combinations include: milk and cookies. Peanut butter and jelly. Fried rice and Tsingtao at Wo Hop. Simple and perfect, with shreds of your choice of protein, and rice cooked so that you can acknowledge every single grain as it enters your mouth.

photo credit: Willa Moore

Lemon Chicken

Fans of orange chicken, meet lemon chicken. Big slices of fried chicken served in thick, sticky, sweet-savory sauce, with a few lemon rounds on top—a truly beautiful sight. Come with a group, get this and all of the above, and share everything.