Chinatown

The park sits on the ground that used to be Five Points, and the neighborhood now plays mahjong under the pavilion for most of the day. Erhu players and singers set up along the paths in the afternoon. Tai chi groups take the benches early in the morning.

Daily, 6am to 1am

Cantonese cooking at the corner of Bowery and Bayard since 1981, with roast meats hanging in the window. Salt-baked squid and the noodle soups are what most tables order. Cash only, and nothing about the place has been prettied up.

Sun to Thu, 9am to 10pm. Fri and Sat, 9am to 11pm

A Chinatown bakery and coffee counter opened in 1968 by Mr and Mrs Chan, who had come from Taishan. After more than fifty years on Bayard Street it moved to a larger space at 41 Mott. A roast pork bun and a cup of coffee is what people go in for.

Daily, 8:30am to 7:30pm

A narrow Henan kitchen on Forsyth Street, open since 2010 and built around one dish. Big tray chicken arrives bone-in with potatoes in a chili-oil broth deep enough to take hand-pulled noodles, and a tray feeds three or four people. Cash only, no reservations, and you can carry your own beer in.

Reported open from late morning until late evening daily, though listings disagree

On the bend of Doyers Street, with the dough being pulled in an open kitchen a few feet from the tables. Bowls start around five dollars. The knife-cut noodles pan-fried are the better order over the thin hand-pulled ones. Cash only, and tables get shared once it fills.

Reported daily 10:30am to 10pm, not confirmed by the operator

Large round tables under bright light on East Broadway, doing Cantonese roast meats, Peking duck and whole fried crab. The roast suckling pig has to be ordered ahead. There is no corkage at all, so people carry their own bottles in. It took over the old Wing Shoon storefront in 2016.

Reported open from early morning until late evening daily, though listings disagree

The Bayard Street store opened in 2017 to take the overflow from the older one down the block. Hand-ripped biang-biang noodles under cumin lamb, and cold liang pi skin noodles for anyone who wants the chili without a hot bowl. You order at the register and then find a seat.

Daily 11am to 9pm

The first bookstore in New York owned by an Asian American woman, stocking writing from the Asian diaspora with a bar at the back. A fire in the building closed it in 2023 and it reopened on the same Mulberry Street block in January 2024 after the neighborhood raised the money. It stays open to eleven on the back half of the week.

Mon to Wed, 11am to 7pm. Thu to Sat, 11am to 11pm. Sunday hours not confirmed