Xi'an Famous Foods

History

Jason Wang serves as the company’s CEO and president. He and his family come from Xi’an, one of the oldest cities in China with more than 3100 years of history. Born in Xi’an, Wang reminisces about the food that his grandfather cooked when he was young. Once Wang and his family moved to the U.S., the yearning for home flavors inspired Wang and his father to make dishes with his grandfather’s secret sauce recipes. They felt that there were people like themselves who missed the cuisine of their hometown.

Before Xi’an Famous Foods existed, Jason Wang’s father started a bubble tea shop, which sold food on the side, in Flushing, Queens. Meanwhile, Wang was in college at Washington University in St. Louis, but came home during breaks to help his father in the shop. They soon realized that their food sold better than their bubble tea beverages, so in late 2005, they moved their shop to the basement of Flushing’s Golden Shopping Mall and called it Xi’an Famous Foods.

After Wang graduated in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in business, he worked in corporate for a short time, but then decided to focus on co-founding his family food business with his father. From that moment, Wang and his father continued expanding their food business to Manhattan and Brooklyn, opening eight more shops. Wang and his father made and sold their homemade Liang Pi Cold-Skin Noodles, Spicy Cumin Lamb Burgers, hand-ripped noodles and other specialties, offering a taste of home to their own ethnic community. “We’re going to keep it pure, because that’s what people are coming to us for,” Wang told the New York Times.

Menu

Xi’an Famous Foods’ menu consist of cold noodles, burgers, soups, hand-ripped noodles, dumplings, cold dishes, and other specialties. While many of Xi’an Famous Foods’ dishes are spicy, a good amount of them allow the customer to decide the level of spiciness, ranging from not spicy to very spicy. Most dishes are prepped in the central kitchen and the noodles are hand-pulled in the shop. With around 30 different dishes, Xi’an Famous Foods maintains quite a variety for its customers. Each shop also sells a variety of homemade teas (Jasmine, Chrysanthemum, and Sour Hawberry) and sodas. The teas are prepacked and branded.

Operations

In late 2005, the original Xi’an Famous Foods opened in the basement of the Golden Mall in Flushing, Queens. In August 2009, two more shops opened, one in Flushing and one on East Broadway, but were both closed due to their limited space and facilities not conducive to the growing operations. In 2010, Xi’an Famous Foods brought their authentic Xi’an cuisine to Manhattan in the East Village on St. Marks Place. Following its success, another shop opened in Chinatown ten months later. The company continued to expand rapidly. By end of 2016, Xi'an Famous Foods has opened six more shops in Manhattan, one in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and a sister restaurant called Biang! in the East Village. Xi’an Famous Foods plans on expanding its food empire along the east coast within the next five years with the purchase of their newest 20,000 sqft building to be developed into the newest central kitchen. Xi'an Famous Foods corporate office was established in Manhattan near the Empire State building and is in place to support the operations of the restaurants and its expansion.

Cultural Influence

Xi’an Famous Foods was the first shop to bring Xi’an cuisine to the United States. Located in New York City, it caters not only to Chinese people, but also to people of all backgrounds. Jason Wang made it his goal to differentiate his shop from Chinese restaurants, which tend to remain in the niche market of the Chinese community. “[Chinese] people always think Chinatown is the world,” Wang points out. “Everyone is focused on how we compete in Chinatown as a microcosm…with those ‘northerners or southerners,’ not really how we compete in the U.S. with other types of restaurants.” With its menu translated into English, Xi’an Famous Foods is accessible to everyone.

Not only has Xi’an Famous Foods been praised by the press and television personalities Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern, but it has also grasped the attention of its hometown in China. The company became an ambassador of its hometown food, while still retaining the identity of an American-born business. Xi’an Famous Foods has introduced America to the unique cuisine of its hometown: Liangpi “cold skin” noodles, Lamb Pao-Mo soup, and wide hand-ripped “biang biang” noodles. None of these dishes were popular in the U.S. prior to Xi’an Famous Foods’ creation. It has furthermore spawned hype on the term ‘Xi’an’.

Press

Since Xi’an Famous Foods rapid expansion in New York, the Queens restaurant chain has been picked up by many media outlets. Most recently in January 2016, Xi’an Famous Foods was named the “#2 Chinese Restaurant in the USA” by Time Out and “Breakout Brand of 2016” by Restaurant News. Following that mention, media outlets such as Business Insider and NBC Asian-American have picked up on Xi’an Famous Foods’ story.

Biang!

Biang! is a scion of the well-known Xi'an Famous Foods brand, which is an expanding chain of specialty Chinese restaurants that specialize in authentic Chinese cuisine from the western Chinese city of Xi'an. While Xi'an Famous Foods is great for fast and casual dining, Biang! is situated in a chic venue with full waiter-service. Biang!'s Full Liquor License also give them the chance to offer a variety of Chinese Baijiu to its customers. In 2012, Biang! first opened its doors in Flushing as a proper, table-service version of their fast casual original. During its three years of operation, Biang! has received one star from the Times, and was also included on Michelin’s Bib Gourmand list. In December 2015, the original location of Biang! closed its doors and moved to Manhattan’s East Village. Opened in January 2016, the Biang! seats 40 and is serving all its popular skewer sand noodle dishes to its customers. With Biang!'s Full Liquor License, it's also offering a variety of Chinese Baijiu at the bar.

LNYF (Lunar New Year Festival)

Lunar New Years Festival (LNYF) is a concert hosted by Xi’an Famous Foods that not only celebrates both Chinese New Year but also the blending of culture, music, and food that embodies Asian-American culture. The event brings together Asian and Asian American talent to appeal to an extensive fan base while also providing the opportunity to introduce new music to those in attendance. As a major player in the New York City food scene, it was only natural for Xi’an Famous Foods to curate top vendors to provide food and drink during the concert. Besides Xi’an Famous Foods, vendors line up will include NYC Asian food favorites such as Otafuku, Yonekichi, Korilla BBQ, Mokbar, and Nom Wah Tea Parlor. 100% of the proceeds of the festival will be donated to Apex For Youth, a non-profit with a long and successful history of providing opportunities to underserved Asian and immigrant youth from low income families in the NYC area. Through mentorship, tutoring, and a variety of other programs, Apex For Youth made a difference in the lives of 1,300 children in 2015. Taiwanese American Professionals New York, one of the largest non-profits dedicated to building the Asian and Asian American community in the NYC area, is also involved in event planning and advising. On the mission and goals of the festival, Jason Wang, CEO of Xi’an Famous Foods said: “We’re here to create an amazing experience, bridge cultures, and of course, make a difference – you don’t see this quality or variety of talent at other events.”

2015 Lunar New Year Festival

2015’s Lunar New Year’s Festival took place on February 21, 2015 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Special guests included MC Jin, Wanting Qu, Clara C, Esther & Lara Vernonin and The Shanghai Restoration Project. Food vendors included Xi’an Famous Foods, Pok Pok NY, Otafuku, Yonekichi, Fatty Crab and Nom Wah Tea Parlor.

2016 Lunar New Year Festival

2016’s Lunar New Year Festival took place on February 20, 2016 at Terminal 5. Special guests included Far East Movement, Kina Grannis, Softlipa and Kimberley Chen. Food vendors included Xi’an Famous Foods, Korilla BBQ, Otafuku, Yonekichi and Mokbar.

Sponsored Events

Since 2016, Xi'an Famous Foods also started to sponsor all kinds of Asian music events in New York City, this includes being the presenting sponsor for China's Modern Sky Festival and the headline sponsor for Jam Hsiao "Power of Love" concert at Madison Square Garden. Modern Sky Festival took place at Governors Island on September 17, and invited artists including DJ Wordy, Ma Di马頔, Su Yang苏阳, YAKSA夜叉, and bands The Mystery Lights, Navy Gangs, and Breanna Barbara. Xi'an Famous Foods also served up food during this whole day event which includes boiled skewers and Liang-Pi Cold Skin noodles. Xi'an Famous Foods is dedicated to continuing support Asian culture and music events in New York City.