Mission Chinese Food
Chinese restaurant · Chinatown
45 Mott St, New York, NY 10013
Highlights
Inventive Sichuan-American fare with bold flavors and creative twists.
Inventive Sichuan-American fare with bold flavors and creative twists.
"Wait, what? You can reserve at Mission Chinese now and don't have to wait 1.5 hours in line to eat some tingling amazing spicy chinese food... Not like any other Chinese you tasted before." - My Orange Box
"A Chinese-American, Sichuan-forward restaurant that returned to New York after a pop-up residency and now operates permanently at 45 Mott Street, offering longstanding favorites like chile-blasted Chongqing chicken wings and kung pao pastrami alongside inventive takes on Sichuan cuisine through a contemporary American lens. Founded in San Francisco and later expanded to New York neighborhoods, the concept became a neon-lit, millennial magnet but also faced serious allegations of racial discrimination and abuse at its LES location, contributing to a 2022 pullout from the city before this Chinatown revival. The current incarnation grew out of a nighttime residency and emphasizes bold, playful dishes rooted in Sichuan techniques." - Tierney Plumb
"A New York City restaurant where John deBary serves as general manager; a drinks writer by trade, he draws on extensive nightlife experience to inform practical bar- and service-related advice. His perspective addresses tipping norms (recommending roughly 20% at restaurant-style cocktail bars and $1–$2 for simple orders), appropriate phone etiquette, how to read social cues when drinking solo, consent around buying someone a drink, when to involve staff about rowdy groups, and discreet ways staff can help someone safely exit a bad date." - ByHana Asbrink
"Starting as a San Francisco food cart and later expanding to New York (including Lower East Side and Bushwick locations), this restaurant became a landmark of early-2000s dining for its rule-breaking, loud, ferociously spicy, and cross-cultural cooking that felt distinctly Chinese American rather than simplistic fusion. Its highly curated, picture-ready rooms and offbeat ambiance helped popularize bold flavors, spicy dishes, and a queer, transgressive kitchen aesthetic while making its chefs cultural figures; many diners, especially Asian Americans, said it made them feel seen. The founders and key cooks became stars, but the restaurant’s legacy is complicated by workplace controversies: a 2018 lawsuit alleging racial discrimination and ongoing reports from former staff about abusive behavior and a gap between the progressive image and the reality of working there. Although the suit was settled, the principals have since apologized and moved on to other projects, and the recent closure of the last New York location feels like the end of an era even as the broader Asian American restaurant scene advances beyond any single creative chef." - BySerena Dai
"A vanilla-bean panna cotta is served with pop rocks so each bite fizzes in the mouth, turning a classic into a playful, textural experience." - ByGenevieve Yam
