Business Spotlight: Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles
Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles
1 Doyers St
We’re excited to spotlight Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles, a beloved Chinatown noodle shop that serves northern-style Chinese dishes including noodles, soups, and dumplings. Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles was started by Liu Li Di when he moved to the United States in 2007.
Blog by J.C. Liang, Photos by Jordan Ji
When you are wandering around Chinatown, why not stop by Tasty Hand-pulled Noodle at 1 Doyers St to stop your noodle craving?
As one of the best noodle spots in Chinatown, the history of Tasty Hand-pulled Noodle traces back to the 1980s, when the owner, Liu Li Di, partnered up with Muslims and opened up a hand-pulled noodle restaurant in Fujian, China. Focusing on making the best authentic northern-style Chinese cuisines, Tasty Hand-pulled Noodle has been around since 2007. With respect to his craft, we decided to ask Liu Li Di some questions about his struggles and success.
What was your business like back then when you first started? What are some challenges you encountered and overcame?
When I first started this restaurant after coming to the States in 2007, not a lot of people would come to Doyers Street. People come here to get a haircut, but as American people were not too familiar with this kind of noodle restaurant back then, few of them would risk trying the food. There were a couple of noodle restaurants and Malaysian restaurants around, but they all closed up eventually. Business was really difficult back then: my storefront is tiny, as it only fits around 6 tables inside. Before I was able to set up tables outside during COVID, I barely make a profit from this restaurant. At one point, somebody wrote an article in a magazine after trying the noodles, and that’s how I get my initial exposure. Nowadays people usually find out about us on Google Maps, and the reviews are important. Seeing customers enjoying our noodles is what keeps me going forward.
What are some of the best-selling items on your menu? What is your favorite?
As a noodle restaurant, we take pride in our fried or soup noodles. The doughs were made with a lot of effort, the noodles are always hand-pulled, and the chewiness of our noodles is what set us apart from other noodle restaurants. The dumplings and soup dumplings here are also authentic and delicious. Moreover, our sesame chicken is usually one of our best-selling items. As for my favorite, I really enjoy the smashed cucumbers: it is always a refreshing treat, especially during summertime.
What do you have to say to the Chinatown community?
I really appreciate the community, my business would not be like this without them. For example, the street is always kept clean and tidy so that we could set up our tables outdoors. And without members of the community spreading word of mouth, I would not have nearly as many customers as I have today. I appreciate their efforts in supporting small businesses like mine.
Chinatown establishments like Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles are what makes the spirit of our neighborhood. We need your support now more than ever to keep that spirit alive. Together, we can preserve Chinatown businesses and ensure Chinatown will always be open for business. To support our Chinatown organizations, donate to the Small Business Innovation Hub here.
Photo credit: Jordan Ji
