What is the oldest restaurant in Chinatown?

Nom Wah Tea Parlor on Doyers Street has served dim sum since 1920 and is widely considered the oldest dim sum parlor in New York. Wo Hop on Mott Street, open since 1938, is another veteran.

What is Dimes Square?

Dimes Square is the nickname for the small cluster of restaurants and bars around the meeting of Canal and Division Streets, named after the restaurant Dimes. It became shorthand for a downtown art and media scene in the early 2020s and still has some of the most fun bars in the area.

What subway goes to Chinatown?

Canal Street station is served by the 6, J, Z, N, Q, R and W trains. The B and D stop at Grand Street, and the F stops at East Broadway, which is best for Two Bridges and Dimes Square.

Where are the cheapest dumplings in Chinatown?

Prosperity Dumpling and Vanessa's Dumpling House, both on Eldridge Street, sell fried pork and chive dumplings and sesame pancakes for just a few dollars. Both are counter service and fast.

Is the Museum of Chinese in America open?

Yes. The Museum of Chinese in America is open at 215 Centre Street in a building designed by Maya Lin. Check the official site for hours and current exhibitions.

City / Block by Block

The Chinatown Guide: Chinatown, Two Bridges and Dimes Square in 2026

Dim sum since 1920, dumplings for pocket change, a queer Asian American bookstore and the downtown scene's favorite corner. Here is how to do Manhattan's Chinatown right.

By Shout NY EditorsUpdated September 25, 2026Every listing checked Sep 25, 202612 min readChinatown Two Bridges Lower East Side

Chinatown mural — Photo: Art256275 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (license)

Manhattan's Chinatown is the best place in the city to eat well for almost nothing, and it has been for more than a century. It is also a working neighborhood, with fish markets, herbalists, garment history and family associations, where hundreds of thousands of people shop, work and live. Treat it like a food court and you miss most of it.

In 2026 Chinatown is juggling a lot: pandemic losses it is still recovering from, rising rents, and a stream of new bars and galleries pushing in from the Lower East Side, especially around the pocket nicknamed Dimes Square. The old guard is still strong. Nom Wah still serves dim sum on the bend of Doyers Street, Wo Hop still fills its basement at 2am, and the dumpling counters on Eldridge still sell lunch for less than a coffee on Bedford Avenue. This guide covers all of it: Chinatown proper, Two Bridges down by the water and the Dimes Square corner where downtown goes to be seen.

At a glance.

26 picks in this guide

01Nom Wah Tea ParlorThe city's oldest dim sum parlor, serving since 1920
02Wo HopA basement Cantonese spot for a late-night meal downtown
24Yu & Me BooksA queer Asian American bookstore focused on immigrant stories
19Le DiveA French-inspired natural wine bar with prime sidewalk seats

Where: Chinatown, Two Bridges and Dimes Square in lower Manhattan
Getting there: Subway to Canal St (6,J,Z,N,Q,R,W), Grand St (B,D) or East Broadway (F)

The lay of the land

Chinatown sprawls across lower Manhattan, roughly from Canal Street south toward the courthouses at Worth Street, and from Lafayette and Baxter Streets east past the Bowery toward East Broadway. The old core is the triangle of Mott, Pell, Doyers and Bayard Streets, where the oldest restaurants are. East of the Bowery, the Eldridge, Forsyth and East Broadway corridor is newer, with a heavier Fujianese presence and the cheapest eats.

A curved street in Chinatown, New York City, lined with buildings housing shops with awnings and signs in English and Chinese. — Photo: Beyond My Ken via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (license)

Two Bridges is the stretch between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges down to the East River, along Madison, Henry and Cherry Streets. It is mostly residential, with a few excellent restaurants.

Dimes Square is the tiny triangle where Canal Street meets Division Street, near Ludlow and Essex, on the seam between Chinatown and the Lower East Side. A handful of restaurants and bars here became famous in the early 2020s, and the cluster keeps growing along Division and East Broadway.

Subway: Canal Street (6, J, Z, N, Q, R, W) is the main hub for the old core. Grand Street (B, D) sits at the north edge by Sara D. Roosevelt Park. East Broadway (F) is best for Two Bridges and Dimes Square. The whole area is walkable in 20 minutes, and walking is how you should do it. For the Lower East Side just north, see our Lower East Side guide.

Eat

Nom Wah Tea Parlor

Chinatown13 Doyers St$

Website Map Profile

Exterior view of Nom Wah Tea Parlor on Doyers Street in Chinatown, Manhattan, New York City. The street has a distinct bend. — Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (license)

Serving dim sum since 1920 on the crooked elbow of Doyers Street, Nom Wah is the oldest dim sum parlor in the city and still a pleasure. Order from the checklist menu: shrimp and snow pea leaf dumplings, the original egg roll, roast pork buns and almond cookies to go.

Go for: The original egg roll, shrimp dumplings, a pot of tea. Know before you go: Weekend brunch lines are long; weekday afternoons are calm.

Wo Hop

Chinatown17 Mott St$

At a glance.

The lay of the land

Eat

Great NY Noodle Town

Prosperity Dumpling and Vanessa's Dumpling House

Hop Kee

Spicy Village

Kam Hing Coffee Shop and Chinatown Ice Cream Factory

Drink

Dimes Square

Parcelle and Sunn's

Forgtmenot

Culture

The Chinatown galleries

Columbus Park and Sara D. Roosevelt Park

Shop

A perfect day

The Shout NY take

Shop the story.

Stay in Chinatown.

Questions, answered.

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