Acclaimed Queens Chinese Noodle Shop May be Moving to Manhattan

Uncle Zhou — the popular restaurant famous for delivering some of the city’s best wide, hand-pulled noodles — has shuttered its Elmhurst location with plans to re-open sometime this year.

The new location is unknown, and owner Steven Zhou did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A notice on the restaurant’s website said they would open up in a new space this year but did not provide further information.

David Hsueh, the owner of the building at 83-29 Broadway, near Dongan Avenue, says he heard Zhou plans to open a restaurant in Manhattan.

Zhou opened his small restaurant in 2011, and it quickly became a beloved stop for food critics and lovers of his take on Henan cuisine. Signature dishes include “dial oil” noodles, topped with hot oil, garlic, and vinegar — offered both knife-shaved and hand-pulled. It’s repeatedly been on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list and is a Times under $25 critic’s pick.

In its place is Chef Guo, a Chinese restaurant serving a different menu from owner Jason Guo’s hometown in the Liaoning province of China. It’s Guo’s first restaurant, and his specialties include fried pork in sweet and sour sauce, chicken with mushrooms and a vegetable hot and spicy soup. The menu also has a long list of dumplings and noodle dishes, braised ribs and a “oil-guzzling okra” dish.

Guo spent a few months planning to open his own restaurant in either Flushing or Elmhurst when the space became available, he said. They celebrated their grand opening on January 16.

Despite the different menu, it still looks like Uncle Zhou. The Michelin stickers are still on the door and the walls still have the light yellow paint from before. “We are a totally different restaurant,” Guo tells Eater. He’s open seven days a week.

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