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Steak Shapiro’s Top 10 Favorite Chinese Restaurants in Atlanta

Chinese food, ahh how much do we all love it? A lot! In the Shapiro home it has always been a Sunday night tradition but it goes way deeper than that.  I love it for a business lunch, I love it on Buford Highway when celebrating a birthday,  I love it when folks are in from out of town and I am wanting to show off the culinary diversity of our city.  Atlanta has a plethora of options from small neighborhood spots to glamorous highly acclaimed top chefs that have dominated in this category for years. It’s hard to pick just 10 top spots but hey everyone has tough decisions to make in life. Here’s my list in alphabetical order. 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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1. Canton Cooks

A strip mall in Sandy Springs is where you will find me on Sunday nights as I make sure our family gets their Canton Cooks fix at least twice a month. The ingredients are beautiful particularly the fresh lobster and seafood dishes.  I am also partial to the delicious moo shu pork as well.

 

2. Gu’s Kitchen 

The Chinese restaurant that folks travel far and wide to indulge in always wins with tremendous spicy flavors and dumplings that are legendary. With multiple locations whichever one you end up at make sure that the spicy dried eggplant and beef noodles are part of the program.  

Hai - Pork Knuckle | Photo: haieat.com
Hai – Pork Knuckle | Photo: haieat.com

3. Hai

Their dim sum offerings are superb as are the creamy custard buns and Chinese favorites like Dan Dan noodles and the bold pork knuckles. 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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4. LanZhou Ramen

You haven’t had ramen like this before, and the show the chef puts on making the noodles right of you is insanely cool. Very much worth the hype especially with an order of the fried pot sticker dumplings. 

La Mei Zei - Three Cups Chicken | Photo: Yelp
La Mei Zi – Three Cups Chicken | Photo: Yelp

5. La Mei Zi

The three cups chicken is truly spectacular with huge chunks of chicken that are so flavorful and tender. It’s a perfect dish and the Dan Dan noodles have just the right amount of spice. 

 

6. Man Chun Hong

If you are Chinese noodle freak like I am and have not yet been to Man Chun Hong on Buford Highway then get in your car immediately, thank me later. The noodles are homemade fresh in the kitchen right in front of you then devour them with every seafood, pork and beef combo you can dream of.

Masterpiece - Eggplant | Masterpieceduluth.com
Masterpiece – Eggplant | Masterpieceduluth.com

7. Masterpiece

The accolades for this powerhouse restaurant just keep coming thanks to the genius of Chef Rui Lui who does amazing things with crazy spicy flavors you won’t find anywhere else in town.  The dry fried eggplant and tea smoked duck are just two of the 100 dishes that make clear that this restaurant has hit Atlanta restaurant royalty.

Northern China Eatery's Soup Dumplings
Northern China Eatery – Xiao Long Bao / Soup Dumplings

8. Northern China Eatery

If you love dumplings, then you need to have Northern China Eatery on speed dial.  They’re famous for their soup dumplings but they have dozens more dumplings that just dominate, I’m partial to the pan fried pork dumplings to start every meal.  Northern China knows what it means to be authentic but still appeal to mainstream Atlanta who appreciate the great history of this spot and the fish in a hot and spicy pot.

 

9. Tasty China

Marietta has finally started to make more things happen with their dining scene but they have always had one stand by Tasty China on Franklin Rd. Authentic Sichuan flavors are where the love for this restaurant comes from and the beef tenderloin, 3 Pepper Chicken and Cumin Duck are next level good.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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10. Urban Wu

Buford Highway may be where you think you have to go for authentic Chinese food but Urban Wu is bringing everything you love about Sichuan cuisine right to Buckhead. The spicy braised fish is killer and I could easily eat about a hundred of those spicy dried eggplant bites. 

 

 

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