When Is New York City Restaurant Week 2021?

NYC Restaurant Week 2021 extends from January 25 through January 31, 2021. It’s time to get your grub on!

I know what you’re thinking— “But, but, but…indoor dining is still not a thing yet! And it’s 25 degrees outside.” Fear not! NYC is taking its dining culture seriously and adapting to the COVID craziness of today. Read on to see exactly how…

The First Ever NYC Restaurant Week To-Go

NYC Restaurant Week has been a beloved event showcasing the city’s strong food culture and opening the doors to said noms to its residents since its first event in 1992. The event is typically held twice yearly, and the cancellation of the NYC Restaurant Week in Summer 2020 was its first ever. But it is back!

For NYC Restaurant Week this Winter 2021, you can order lunch or dinner options for takeout or delivery from a wide assortment of restaurants across the city. This Restaurant Week is also the biggest NYC Restaurant Week in history, with over 500 restaurants signed up. This is your year, your time. Let’s go!

Is NYC Restaurant Week Worth It?

Every restaurant participating in this NYC Restaurant Week 2021 will offer at least one meal for $20.21! (How festive.) Plus, MasterCard users get additional $10 back on each meal purchased, up to 10 times. Now I wish I had a MasterCard.

Let’s put money aside for a moment, though. COVID has been brutal for so so so many individuals, families, mom-and-pop shops, large chains, consumers, suppliers…everyone. And yes, you are essential too even if your occupation isn’t listed on some poster on the sidewalk. ***Alright, I’ll get off my soapbox now***

What I’m trying to say is that the restaurants of NYC have been ravaged for nearly a full year now due to COVID. And while I definitely can’t afford to support even a noticeable portion of the 500+ restaurants in this NYC Restaurant Week, I can support a few! And I think you know what kind of food I’ll probably go for.

So here we go! Here are the Chinese food restaurants I’m most excited about:

Chinese Food Picks for NYC Restaurant Week To-Go 2021

Golden Unicorn

18 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

212-941-0911

Golden Unicorn has been serving up Cantonese fare and dim sum since 1989. I had my first NYC dim sum experience at Golden Unicorn years ago and it currently remains at the top of my list for flavor, the authenticity of their old-school dim sum, and the creativity of their new-age dim sum. The ambiance here is so wonderfully nostalgic, too. You can get the full experience of eating in a bustling chaotic Chinese banquet hall, choosing your food on the fly from steaming food carts making their rounds. Even dim sum places in Hong Kong rarely have this live-time ordering from the food carts nowadays as more and more places are moving toward the new-age dim sum vibe instead. I hope Golden Unicorn is here to stay in NYC!

What people like to order here: har gow (steamed shrimp dumpling), golden lava bun (soft steamed bun filled with sweet savory salted egg yolk custard), cheung fun (rice noodle rolls)

What you get for $20.21 during NYC Restaurant Week: choice of hot and sour soup, chicken sweet corn soup or soda; choice of dimsum: pork shumai, shrimp dumpling, chicken feet, spare ribs; one egg tart; choice of one entrée over rice: Beijing pork chop, beef with hot peppers or braised bean curds with fish filets

Jing Fong

Chinatown location:20 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013; 212-964-5256

Upper West Side location:380 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024; 646-678-5511

Dim sum fans in Manhattan Chinatown generally fall into one of two camps: team Golden Unicorn or Team Jing Fong. Jing Fong has two locations: one in Chinatown and one in the Upper West Side (both of which are participating in NYC Restaurant Week). Like Golden Unicorn, Jing Fong utilizes those beloved food carts that just add so much to the dining experience. You’ve got to try both restaurants and see which you like better!

What people like to order here: sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf, BBQ roast pork buns, siu mai (open faced steamed shrimp and pork dumpling)

What you get for $20.21 during NYC Restaurant Week (Chinatown location): choice of longevity noodles (mushroom vegetarian or chicken); plus choice of dim sum appetizer: vegetable or har gow shrimp dumplings

Shanghai Asian Cuisine

14A Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013

212-964-5640

A quality soup dumpling, AKA xiao long bao, AKA “XLB” is the mark of Shanghainese restaurant, and Shanghai Asian Cuisine makes big promises regarding the quality of their steamed little meaty treasures. I haven’t had them here before but am looking forward to it! What I look for in a soup dumpling— a good XLB needs a thin skin/wrapper to let the inner meat and soup shine like the stars they are. The filling has to be savory (duh) and meaty (double duh) but fresh and springy, with a not-too-oily soup. It also needs to avoid that slightly musty flavor that is found in the XLB a lot of restaurants serve. It’s a lot to ask for, but makes finding a great soup dumpling so rewarding.

What people like to order here: soup dumplings, Shanghai style drunken chicken (cold dish of chicken steeped in rice wine), Shanghai Lo Mein

What you get for $20.21 during NYC Restaurant Week (Chinatown location):
-Lunch: choice of steamed or fried tiny pork buns; choice of pork chop and noodles in soup or noodles in meat sauce; vegetable spring rolls; choice of soy bean milk or Thai iced tea
–Dinner: steamed tiny buns with crab meat and pork; choice of Shanghai lo mein or Szechuan-style wonton; Szechuan-style bean curd; vegetable spring rolls; hot and sour soup

Hop Lee

16 Mott St, New York, NY 10013

212-962-6475

Hop Lee is a classic Cantonese restaurant in south Chinatown on my favorite of streets: Mott St. Come here for multi-course family style dining, or take advantage of one of their ludicrously affordable lunch specials. This is a place beloved to locals across generations and is known for making their customers feel like family.

What people like to order here: clam with black bean sauce, ginger scallion lobster, shrimp with walnuts

What you get for $20.21 during NYC Restaurant Week: Peking pork chop served over young chow fried rice with a side of stir-fried string beans and minced pork

Grain House

929 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

212-531-1130

Alright, this place is a bit far north, in the Upper West Side, but the story (and food pictures) have piqued my interest. The owner of Grain House opened this restaurant in 2018 initially to appeal to Chinese students in the area (it’s near Columbia University) but the food has really taken off since then. The restaurant specializes in tingling, ever-so-slightly-numbing of the tongue, flavorful mala cuisine.

What I would order from here: pork ribs with kelp soup, spicy and numbing pork wonton, mapo tofu, double cooked pork, cumin lamb, 8 treasure rice cake dessert

What you get for $20.21 during NYC Restaurant Week: pork soup dumplings, mapo tofu and white rice

Mazu Szechuan Cuisine

495 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10016

646-609-3388

Szechuan food, dim sum, and a wine bar? Fusion restaurants sometimes tend to lack authenticity, but Mazu Szechuan Cuisine promises genuine Chinese flavor with good service.

What people like to order here: dumplings, Mapo tofu

What you get for $20.21 during NYC Restaurant Week: choice of black pepper scallop, spicy garlic shrimp, black bean beef, kung pao chicken, lobster fried rice or mapo tofu; choice of Szechuan pork dumplings, chicken potstickers, cold sesame noodles, Szechuan meatball or steamed broccoli

3 Times

Lower East Side location: 90 Clinton St, New York, NY 10002; 646-609-6324

Union Square location: 818 Broadway, New York, NY 10003; 646-609-3040

Both locations of 3 Times is participating in NYC Restaurant Week. The Chinatown location is known for a more upscale dine-in experience compared to the rest of Chinatown, while the Union Square location is labeled as a causal eatery— so it’s probably a happy medium for most people. 3 Times is a place to go for heart-warming and belly-warming Chinese comfort food.

What people like to order here: soup dumplings, beef noodle soup, Dan Dan noodles

What you get for $20.21 during NYC Restaurant Week (LES location): choice of appetizer: shrimp and pork shumai, fried vegetable dumplings or fried chicken dumplings; plus choice of entrée: braised baby back ribs, dry pepper chicken, sauteed snow pea shoots, mapo tofu, organic mushroom with 3 Times sauce or lion’s head meatballs

Evergreen on 38th Street

Multiple reviews tout Evergreen on 38 as “the best Chinese food in Midtown” so I’ll have to try it out (and not-so-low-key compare to it to my Chinatown faves). This restaurant has a more upscale vibe and offers Shanghai style dim sum as well as a sizeable vegetarian-friendly menu (Do not discount this— Chinese veggies are very worth getting when eating out! Unless you have a 200,000 BTU burner for personal use at home, you’re not getting that same fire-kissed flavor imparted to those leafy greens). They also offer fancier Chinese offerings for special events including Peking Duck, Chilean sea bass with ginger and scallion, sea cucumber, and Dungeness crab. On the flip side, they also offer entrees very Chinese American-esque so I’m not sure what to make of it. I’ll just have to give them a try and taste for myself.

10 E 38th St, New York, NY 10016

212-448-1199

What people like to order here: soup dumplings, scallion pancake, Peking Duck

What you get for $20.21 during NYC Restaurant Week: choice of General Tso’s chicken, diced chicken with chili pepper, slice pork with mixed vegetables, crispy shredded beef, pepper steak with onions, shrimp with broccoli, fish filet in spicy bean paste or the evergreen vegetable deluxe; plus one Cantonese dim sum

Which restaurants are you most excited to try for NYC Restaurant Week this Winter 2021? Let’s get out there and support the New York City food culture we all know and love!