famous foods type private founder jason wang headquarters new york new york united states number of locations 11 2016 products a selection of the street foods of xi an china website http www.xianfoods.com xi an famous foods is a chain of fast casual restaurants based in new york city that serves authentic northern chinese dishes . xi an famous foods a family run business with no outside investors is currently located in different areas of new york city and serves the cuisine of xi an . since its founding in 2005 xi an famous foods has gained much popularity . it has been featured in many television shows such as the cooking channel s food ography kelly choi s eat out new york and anthony bourdain s no reservations . 1 it has also appeared in the new york times new york magazine the wall street journal forbes and many more . as of 2016 xi an famous foods has eleven stores that span queens brooklyn and manhattan . contents 1 history 2 menu 3 operations 4 cultural influence 5 press 6 biang 7 lnyf lunar new year festival 7.1 2015 lunar new year festival 7.2 2016 lunar new year festival 8 see also 9 references history edit 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 . 2 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 . 3 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 . 4 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 . 5 wang and his father made and sold their homemade noodles and lamb burgers 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 . 6 menu edit xi an famous foods menu consist of cold noodles burgers soups hand ripped noodles 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 kitchen and the noodles are hand pulled in the shop . with over 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 edit 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 march 2016 xi an famous foods has opened five 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 . 7 nolita location cultural influence edit xi an famous foods was the first shop to bring xi an cuisine to the united states . 8 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 . 9 with its menu translated into english xi an famous foods is accessible to everyone . menu items 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 . 10 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 edit 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 11 and breakout brand of 2016 by restaurant news . 12 following that mention media outlets such as business insider and nbc asian american have picked up on xi an famous foods story . biang edit 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 . in 2012 biang first opened its doors in flushing as a proper table service version of their fast casual original . 13 during its three years of operation biang has received one star from the times and was also included on michelin s bib gourmand list . 14 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 and noodle dishes to its customers . lnyf lunar new year festival edit kina grannis 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 . 15 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 . 16 100 % 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 . 17 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 . jason wang and far east movement 2015 lunar new year festival edit 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 edit 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 . see also edit list of chinese restaurants references edit shao heng july 30 2013 . the phenomenon of xi an famous foods in new york city . forbes . retrieved august 27 2015 . stern steven june 7 2011 . based on an old family recipe . the new york times . retrieved august 27 2015 . yablon alex september 29 2013 . boom brands 2013 xi an famous foods . new york magazine . retrieved august 27 2015 . shao heng july 30 2013 . the phenomenon of xi an famous foods in new york city . forbes . retrieved august 27 2015 . reddy sumathi december 29 2010 . using its noodle xi an expands . the wall street journal . retrieved august 27 2015 . stern steven june 7 2011 . based on an old family recipe . the new york times . retrieved august 27 2015 . strehlke sade january 27 2015 . anthony bourdain boosts xi an famous foods . the wall street journal . retrieved august 27 2015 . shao heng july 30 2013 . the phenomenon of xi an famous foods in new york city . forbes . retrieved august 27 2015 . shao heng july 30 2013 . the phenomenon of xi an famous foods in new york city . forbes . retrieved august 27 2015 . shao heng july 30 2013 . the phenomenon of xi an famous foods in new york city . forbes . retrieved august 27 2015 . tobias ruth january 25 2016 . the 17 best chinese restaurants in america . time out . retrieved june 10 2016 . thorn bret february 16 2016 . breakout brands 2016 xi an famous foods . restaurant news . retrieved june 10 2016 . lynch scott december 22 2015 . biang brings delicious barbecued chicken heart skewers to east village . gothamist . retrieved june 10 2016 . morabito greg december 1 2015 . jason wang plans to move flushing noodle hit biang to former alder space . eater . retrieved june 10 2016 . xi an famous foods january 4 2016 . xi an famous foods