Houston has come a long way since its original Asiatown developed in East Downtown in the 1980s. The area was once bustling with a number of Asian-owned restaurants and businesses, and was considered one of the best places to seek out excellent Chinese food. Rapid commercial development in the ‘90s resulted in their displacement, leading many to relocate to Southwest Houston where Asiatown, as we know it today, was taking shape.
In the last couple of decades, Bellaire Boulevard in Asiatown has indeed become a hotbed for great Chinese restaurants, but the cuisine is well represented far and wide across the city with chefs taking to Montrose, the Heights, Rice Village, River Oaks, and Katy Asiatown to showcase their takes on traditional fare. From golden Beijing duck to melt-in-your-mouth xiao long bao, Houston’s Chinese restaurants deliver a dining experience as vibrant and rich as the city’s cultural tapestry.
Whether it’s a hearty takeout order you seek, or a more in depth, dim sum brunch experience, consider this guide of Houston’s best Chinese restaurants the next time a craving for soup dumplings or sesame chicken hits.
Maison Chinoise
Lombardi Family Concepts brought this modern Chinese restaurant, which has an outpost in Dallas, to the River Oaks Shopping Center this fall. Guests will find starters like coconut milk bread and Sichuan salt and pepper lamb lollipops, along with dum dishes such as pork bao and wagyu pot stickers. A showstopping Imperial Peking duck serves two to four guests, with all the traditional accoutrements. Its cocktail list also incorporates Asian ingredients in drinks like the Pandan Express martini and Lychee Luck.1958 W. Gray St., Houston, maisonchinoiserestaurants.com
Hu’s Cooking
John Hu doesn’t hold back on the spice at his Rice Village restaurant, but it’s often tempered with other ingredients, as evidenced by the spicy shabu lamb which combines spearmint, cilantro, and chile pepper. Guests will see familiar plates like General Tso’s and kung pao chicken, but for a true house specialty, try Hu’s seafood hot pot or sweet-skin duck. 2502 W. Holcombe Blvd., Houston, huscooking.com
China Garden
Vintage menus and family snapshots adorn the walls of China Garden, Houston’s oldest Chinese restaurant. Established in 1969 by David and Marian Jue, the stalwart remains family-run with the couple’s children at the helm today. Huddle with your dining mates around heaping portions of Chinese traditions like Hunan beef, sweet and sour chicken, and China Garden’s signature, oversized egg rolls. With its close proximity to the Toyota Center in Downtown, China Garden has long served as a gathering place before or after sporting events and concerts. 1602 Leeland St., Houston, originalchinagardenhouston.com
Mala Sichuan Bistro
Even before this Sichuan restaurant was awarded a Bib Gourmand from Michelin, it was lauded among locals for its tongue-tingling dishes. Crowd-pleasers like housemade red oil dumplings, dan dan noodles with ground pork, and spicy crispy chicken pack plenty of fiery flavor, while an unexpected punch from Sichuan peppercorns keep diners sweating. With outposts in Asiatown, Katy, Sugar Land, Montrose, and the Heights, Mala is a convenient choice for both dining in and taking out. Multiple locations, malasichuan.com
Ambassador Chinese Restaurant
This old school Chinese eatery on the Richmond strip has been around since 1975, feeding loyal clientele comforts like sesame chicken and beef with broccoli. It will make you nostalgic for the first time your parents took you to a Chinese restaurant. It’s beloved for its super-sized egg rolls, soul-soothing soups, and warm hospitality. Order the sweet and sour chicken and a glass of wine, and sit back and listen to the dulcet sounds of golden age crooners from the restaurant’s playlist.4326 Richmond Ave., Houston, ambassadorhouston.com
Fung’s Kitchen
This capacious restaurant specializes in Cantonese-style live seafood, with fresh fish, lobster, shrimp, and more on offer. Visit on weekends when dim sum carts weave their way through the dining room, laden with a wide variety of small plates, and then end the meal with the TikTok famous lava buns, a pillowy pastry filled with salted egg yolk custard. 7320 Southwest Fwy. #115, Houston, fungskitchen.com
Tim Ho Wan
This Michelin-rated dim sum house based in Hong Kong, opened its first Texas outpost in Katy, further cementing the area’s budding Asiatown as a premier culinary destination. Tim Ho Wan is known for its baked BBQ pork buns, which pack tender meat into subtly sweet, doughy buns with a sugary crust. These are a must, but the vast menu has much more to explore in the way of dim sum, including har gow with shrimp, sticky rice in lotus leaf, and bone-warming congee. 23330 Grand Cir. Blvd. Ste. 180, Katy, timhowanusa.com
Cafe Ginger
Located in the River Oaks Shopping Center, this Japanese-Chinese fusion restaurant is a draw for its sophisticated, art-filled interiors just as much as its food. Along with a full sushi program, the menu features classic plates like moo shu, sesame chicken, Mongolian beef, and Hunan prawns. A hard-to-beat lunch menu, which features an entree, soup, and side, makes this a hopping day-time destination. 1574 W. Gray St., Houston, cafeginger.net
Rice Box
Let the brilliant shine of neon lights guide you to one of Rice Box’s five illuminated Houston locations. The fast casual, counter-service restaurant offers belly-busting eats as a callback to the comfort and nostalgia of American Chinese takeout. Staples like orange peeled beef and kung pao chicken come with rice and an egg roll, and guests can opt to make dishes vegetarian by subbing out the protein for tofu or cauliflower. Multiple locations, riceboxed.com
Duck N Bao
It isn’t mandatory to order the whole lacquered Peking-style duck at Duck N Bao, but it’s clear why the dish is the restaurant’s namesake. Served half or whole, the signature duck is roasted daily, and presented alongside pancakes, cucumber, scallion, and duck sauce making it an epic feast to share. While duck may be the main attraction, consider wetting your palate with a variety of dim sum, or starters like the marinated garlic cucumbers, kung pao brussels sprouts, and smoked pork ribs smoked in tea leaf. 5535 Memorial Dr. Ste. O, Houston, ducknbao.com
Dim Sum Box
This casual Katy Asiatown gem, known for its ample dim sum offerings, hails from Gilbert Fung of Fung’s Kitchen, which gives it major street cred. Guests can order at the counter and choose from rice noodles and congee, steamed dumplings and buns, fried sesame balls and egg rolls, and beverages like chrysanthemum tea and orange blossom white tea, available by cup or the pot. 1223 Grand W. Blvd. Ste. B-107, Katy, dimsumboxkaty.com
Spicy Girl
Take the spice seriously at this Sichuan restaurant, located in the Winbern strip at Mid Main. Dishes like the chili chicken and spicy boiled beef leave lingering flavor on the tongue, while meatless entrees like the mapo tofu pack a punch. For those looking for duck, Spicy Girl has options, from serving traditional Beijing duck meat with buns and duck bone soup to Hawaiian duck with boneless meat. 917 Winbern St. Unit B, Houston, spicygirlhtx.com
Lao Sze Chuan
An outpost of celebrity chef Tony Hu’s Chicago restaurant, Lao Sze Chuan opened in Montrose in 2023, and quickly became known as a top tier destination for dim sum, rice and noodle platters, and spicy specialty chicken dishes galore. Splurge on the crispy duck, smoked in black tea over fragrant camphor wood, and keep a Thai tea near when tasting your way through peppery dishes like the mapo tofu, boiled fish, and twice-cooked pork. 3407 Montrose Blvd. Ste. A-8, Houston, laoszechuantx.com
Mein
This Cantonese restaurant in Asiatown’s Yun-Lu Center is dark, moody, and has an enticing menu of seafood, meat, and heaping noodle dishes. Start with clams in black bean sauce and choose from countless varieties of fried rice, like shrimp and pineapple, mustard green, or garlic sausage. Then huddle over one of the hor-fun noodle platters, or a Hong Kong-style wonton noodle soup. 9630 Clarewood Dr. Ste. A13, Houston, eatmein.com
Aling’s Chinese Bistro
Aling’s is well worth the trek to Sugar Land. The restaurant features a menu of Indo-Chinese cuisine, which reflects the influence of Chinese immigrants in India in the early 1900s. A blend of ingredients from both cultures is harmoniously showcased in dishes like sweet corn soup, Manchurian chicken, hakka noodles, and chop-suey.6542 Hwy 90 Alt., Sugar Land, alingschinese.com
One Dragon
What One Dragon lacks in curb appeal, it makes up for in flavor. The small Asiantown haunt is known for its soup dumplings, which are a must, but also consider dishes like dan dan noodles, braised pork belly, and spicy eggplant. With a compact dining room, the restaurant fills up fast, especially on weekends. 9310 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, one-dragon-restaurant.com
Triple Pepper
There are four locations across the Greater Houston area of this Sichuan restaurant that caters to all spice levels. Using ingredients like Sichuan peppercorns and Pixian Doubanjiang, a fermented broad bean paste, the menu features dishes like mapo tofu and twice-cooked pork. Also, find favorites like Sichuan spicy chicken and scallion pancakes, plus interesting plates like pickled pepper pig’s feet and squid stew. Multiple locations, triplepeppertx.com
