A white plastic bowl, sitting on a purple table, is filled with hand-pulled noodles, bok choy, chile flakes, and bean sprouts. A plastic Coke bottle appears to the side. — Excellent biang biang noodles from a hospital food court? Yup.

Where to Eat Hand-Pulled Noodles in and Around Boston

The local hand-pulled noodle scene continues to grow

by Terrence Doyle Updated Feb 9, 2021, 9:10am EST

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Excellent biang biang noodles from a hospital food court? Yup.

| Terrence B. Doyle/Eater

by Terrence Doyle Updated Feb 9, 2021, 9:10am EST

The Boston area’s reputation for good hand-pulled noodle restaurants is growing. A number of spots serving hand-pulled noodles in the style of several different regional Chinese cuisines have opened in the past few years, with a few even expanding to open sibling restaurants.

Check out these 10 restaurants (and their siblings) to try Boston’s best stretchy, chewy, sometimes spicy hand-pulled noodles.

Please note that a number of Boston-area restaurants have resumed dine-in service, and the level of service offered is indicated on each map point. However, this should not be taken as endorsement for dining in, as there are still safety concerns: For updated information on coronavirus cases in the area, please visit the Massachusetts coronavirus website.

Studies indicate that there is a lower exposure risk when outdoors, but the level of risk involved with patio dining is contingent on restaurants following strict social distancing and other safety guidelines.

This map was originally published on September 19, 2019; it is updated periodically, and the date of the most recent update appears above.

Aries Noodle and Dumpling

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This Waltham noodle and dumpling shop opened in early 2019 and is serving up Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles with and without beef. Eaters can also snack on pig ears, duck, and a variety of pan-fried and steamed dumplings.

Aries is open for takeout and delivery.

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617 Main St, Waltham, MA 02452

(781) 209-0008

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Silk Road Uyghur Cuisine

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This Cambridge spot is one of only a few restaurants in the Boston area serving Uyghur food. (Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group from Eastern and Central Asia, live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Uyghur cuisine is influenced by parts of China and Central Asia and is typically halal. Over the past several years, the Chinese government has created a series of prison camps, where it has detained as many as one million Muslims, including Uyghurs.) Get the hand-pulled, dry-fried noodles with beef.

Silk Road Uyghur Cuisine is open for takeout and delivery (within a four mile radius) directly from the restaurant. Delivery fees vary — $1.99 within a two mile radius, and $4.99 within a four mile radius.

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645 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02141

(617) 945-1909

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A takeout container of dry-fried noodles with beef at Silk Road Express in Allston, served on a striped wooden table with a pair of chopsticks. — These dry-fried noodles with beef from Silk Road’s fast-casual location in Allston are delightfully spicy

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Home Taste

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Home Taste’s menu is packed with treats like Chinese burgers (the English transliteration of which is rougamo), which are served on flaky, layered flatbread and stuffed with stewed meat, but the star of the show is the selection of hand-pulled noodle dishes. Home Taste also has a location in Arlington.

Home Taste is open for takeout and delivery from the Watertown location, and curbside pickup in Arlington. Delivery for orders over $100 is sometimes available from the Arlington location; call to confirm.

58 Mt Auburn St, Watertown, MA 02472

(617) 923-0227

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A navy blue plate is topped with spicy cumin lamb hand-pulled noodles at Home Taste in Watertown. The dish is accompanied with pan-fried pork dumplings. — Home Taste’s cumin lamb hand-pulled noodles

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Pagu

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Chef and owner Tracy Chang told Eater that Pagu’s spicy pork biang biang noodles — which the kitchen developed during the pandemic to offer more comfort food — has quickly become the restaurant’s most popular dish, even more so than its much loved ramen and bao. Pagu’s biang biang noodles are adorned with soy-braised pulled pork and garlic, and tossed with a spicy house-made XO sauce.

Pagu is open for takeout, delivery, groceries, and suburban pickup. Order its biang biang noodles kit, and try your hand at pulling noodles in your own kitchen.

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310 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

(617) 945-9290

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Chopsticks lift pork and chili oil spiked hand-pulled noodles out of a blue bowl. The image is backdropped by a white wall. — Spicy pork biang biang noodles from Pagu

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Xi'an Rougamo

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Unsurprisingly, Xi’an Rougamo is dishing out rougamo — the aforementioned Chinese “burgers” — at its Downtown Crossing food court kiosk in the Corner Mall. Don’t miss the hand-pulled, garlic-spiked noodles, however, and top it all off with a bubble tea.

Xi’an Rougamo is open for takeout and delivery.

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417 Washington St, Boston, MA 02110

Chopsticks lift a thick hand-pulled noodle from a plastic bowl full of noodles, chili flakes, garlic, and vegetables — Hand-pulled noodles at Xi’an Rougamo in the Corner Mall food court in Downtown Crossing

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16 Excellent Chinese Restaurants in Boston

Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe

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Gene’s Chinese Flatbread Cafe is perhaps the best-known of all of the Boston-area spots serving hand-pulled noodles. Along with its Bedford Street location in downtown Boston, Gene’s has restaurants in Westford and Woburn. Try the standard hand-pulled noodles (#4) with a lamb skewer or two on the side.

Gene’s is open for takeout and delivery via Caviar and Grubhub.

86 Bedford St, Boston, MA 02111

(617) 482-1888

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A black plastic bowl of thick hand-pulled noodles, heavily dusted with chile powder and topped with greens and a generous dollop of garlic. A wooden skewer of lamb pieces sits across the rim of the bowl, which is on a Chinese Zodiac placemat on a red tray. — Hand-pulled noodles with a lamb skewer at Gene’s Chinese Flatbread Cafe

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Lanzhou Fresh Noodles

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This Allston spot (which recently replaced a different restaurant also known for its hand-pulled noodles) on Brighton Avenue offers a variety of dumplings, noodle soups, and cumin lamb biang biang noodles.

Lanzhou Fresh Noodles is open for takeout.

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182 Brighton Ave, Allston, MA 02134

(617) 787-8888

MDM Noodles

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This Brighton restaurant has a variety of hand-pulled noodle dishes. Carnivores will be happy with the hand-pulled noodles with beef and scallions, while vegetarians can snack on hand-pulled noodles with scrambled eggs and tomatoes. Also worth trying: spicy hand-pulled noodles with boiled lamb.

MDM Noodles is open for takeout and delivery.

351 Washington St, Brighton, MA 02135

(617) 208-8663

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Noodles King

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Not convinced hospital food courts have any good dining options? Think again. This noodle kiosk in the Longwood Galleria is serving a number of tempting Chinese dishes, including spicy biang biang noodles served with bok choy, garlic, and sprouts. The rougamo is also among the best in the city.

Noodles King is open for takeout.