9 Best Places to Eat in Xi'an
Xi’an is a legendary food city, built on Shaanxi wheat cuisine and a large share of halal cooking from the Hui community, though not everything here is halal. These nine are among the best-known names, not the only good options, but a solid place to start.
1. Lao Sun Jia
Open since 1898, this is one of the city’s oldest names for yangrou paomo, the mutton stew poured over flatbread you hand-tear yourself at the table before it’s cooked. A classic, unhurried version of the dish.
2. Wei Jia
A well-known chain for roujiamo (the “Chinese hamburger,” braised meat stuffed into a toasted bun, CNY 8-15) and liangpi (cold dressed noodles, CNY 8-15), with multiple locations that make it an easy first stop for either dish.
3. Jia San Tangbao
Known for guantangbao, soup-filled steamed dumplings that take some technique to eat without spilling the broth. A Muslim Quarter staple worth the short queue.
4. Lao Xu Jia and Yi Gu Zhai
Two names associated with Xi’an’s persimmon cakes (huoshi bing), made from the small Huoju persimmons grown near Lintong. A sweet, crisp-edged snack that pairs well with a walk through the quarter.
5. De Fa Chang
The city’s best-known spot for the dumpling banquet (jiaozi yan), a multi-course tasting of differently shaped and filled dumplings, worth booking ahead for groups.
6. Huimin Jie Street Stalls
The Muslim Quarter’s main strip is where most of this list clusters. Beyond the named shops, work through biang biang noodles (hand-pulled wide belts in chili oil, the character itself running past 50 strokes by most counts) and guokui, a thick pan-fried flatbread, from whichever stall has the longest local line.
7. Yangrou Paomo Houses Near the Bell Tower
Beyond Lao Sun Jia, smaller paomo shops near the Bell Tower serve the same hand-torn bread and mutton broth at lower prices and shorter waits, a good backup if the famous names are full.
8. Datang Everbright City Food Stalls
This free, lit-up pedestrian street near the Big Wild Goose Pagoda runs a rotating set of stalls after dark, a good spot for skewers and snacks alongside the hanfu photo crowd.
9. Hua Shan Lu Snack Street
A pedestrian street dedicated to snacks, useful for trying guokui and other Shaanxi street food away from the busiest Muslim Quarter crowds.
Bring cash for the smaller stalls; not every vendor takes a foreign-linked Alipay or WeChat Pay card yet, even with both apps otherwise running the city.
Read more: pair a Muslim Quarter meal with a City Wall bike ride the same evening, both covered in our Xi’an things-to-do guide .