Exclusive | NYC noodle shop named best Chinese restaurant in the US for 2024: ‘I just want to scream right now’

Admin December 12, 2024

Tasteful noods only.

NYC is at the tip of the chopstick when it comes to Chinese food in the United States, according to Yelp.

The popular review site ranked Queens eatery Maxi’s Noodle No. 1 on a new Top 100 Chinese Restaurants list — thrilling the proprietor, who swapped a corporate job for the rigors of restaurateur-ing.

“I just want to scream right now,” Maxi Lau-O’Keefe, 35, told The Post upon learning that her seemingly modest munchery had come out on top.

Currently with two Flushing locations, the casual canteen is known for its oversize wontons.

“Wontons are different at my store because they are supersize — traditional Hong Kong or Cantonese wontons … are bite-size,” said Lau-O’Keefe, who worked in HR at Home Depot before feeding foodies full time.

“I have people say to me, ‘Why don’t you make it smaller?’ And I’m like, ‘No. Sorry, not sorry.’”

Catering to devout foodies and homesick Hong Kongers, the wonton wrangler said she’s proud she can produce a product that “warms souls and brings back memories.”

In fact, Lau-O’Keefe said she opened Maxi’s to honor her mother, who died of cancer.

“The main reason why I opened Maxi’s Noodle was because of my mom,” said the dumpling dealer, who moved to New York from Hong Kong in 1997. “It was always her dream to open up a restaurant.”

Maxi’s joined eight other Big Apple spots on the chile-infused list. Yelp awarded the outlets according to their ratings and the volume of reviews, the site said.

The rankings suggest that Americans are overwhelmingly growing weary of white-carton fodder like General Tso’s chicken — increasingly craving authentic “specialties from across China,” a Yelp representative wrote.

The first location of Maxi’s, at 135-11 38th Ave. in Flushing, boasted an average of 4.6 stars from 712 reviewers at the time this article was published. A new branch has recently debuted on bustling Main Street in the hot pot hot spot.

Hong Kong-style noodle bowls compose the lion’s share of the menu.

Choices at Maxi’s include noodles with duck and another adorned with beef that’s been braised for six to seven hours until topple-off-the-bone tender.

But the most popular combo comes with from-scratch-made wontons featuring three different kinds of shrimp and a dollop of pork in a giant, duffel bag-evoking wrapper.

Fortunately, most people seem to be lapping up the plus-size pouches of pleasure — custom-rolled for Maxi-mum taste and silkiness.

“This is as authentic as it gets,” gushed Yelp Elite reviewer Joanna M, adding that “everything is made fresh” and the “wontons are the biggest I’ve had.”

In October, the noodle parlor was featured on the “Pro Tip With Pilar” segment of “The Drew Barrymore Show.” Chef Pilar Valdes visited the Maxi’s and then re-created some of the recipes for Barrymore on set.

In addition to throngs of locals hankering for a taste of the motherland, the shop attracts a smorgasbord of hungry folks, thanks, in part, to its Yelp-famous status.

The business is frequently promoted by the now-ubiquitous foodfluencers — such as content creator @curly.edgy on Instagram, whose video of Maxi’s reportedly hit over a million views in two and a half weeks.

“She had a hundred thousand followers, and then they’re all Latino,” said Lau-O’Keefe. “Getting a lot of Latino people at my shop lately, eating.”

Come January, Maxi’s will open a third location, this one in Manhattan — at 68 Mott St. in Chinatown.

One other NYC spot made it into the Top 10: Chang Lai Fishballs & Noodles at 55B Bayard St. in Chinatown sailed into fifth place. It’s known for its aromatic curry fishballs — a popular Hong Kong street snack — served in a bowl with luscious rice noodles.

Other local nods near the top of the list include Chili (15 E. 37th St.), whose authentic spicy and numbing Sichuan dishes like dan dan noodles and mapo tofu put the place at No. 16. Antidote in Williamsburg (66 South Second St.), a Shanghai-inflected Sichuan spot that caters to all palates with succulent meat dishes like dongpo pork alongside egg tofu with mushroom and other herbivore-friendly fare, came in at No. 22.