Xi’an Food Guide
What to Eat, Where to Find It, and How to Order Like a Local
🥢 Must-Try Dishes
Lamb Stew with BreadLamb Soup with Flatbread
Yangrou Paomo is Xi’an’s signature dish—rich, white, and flavorful mutton broth served with hand-torn pieces of flatbread. The most authentic way to eat it is to tear the flatbread into soybean-sized pieces yourself, then have the kitchen pour piping-hot mutton broth over them. Every bite is soaked in broth, delivering a rich and savory flavor.
Where to Eat
Old shops in the back alleys of Hui Muslim Street—the locals’ top choice. About 38 yuan per bowl.
Biangbiang NoodlesBiangbiang Noodles
Xi’an’s most distinctive noodle dish—hand-pulled noodles that are both wide and long, as wide as a belt. Topped with chili flakes, minced garlic, and chopped scallions, they’re doused with piping-hot oil, and the aroma explodes with a sizzling “sizzle.”
Where to Eat
15–20 yuan per person.
🛒 Street Food
Rou Jia MoChinese Hamburger
Roujiamo is known as “China’s hamburger”—a crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside Baiji bun filled with braised pork that’s been simmered for hours. The meat, a perfect blend of lean and fatty, is braised until tender and flavorful, then chopped and stuffed into a freshly baked bun.
Where to Eat
Featured on the TV series *A Bite of China*. Only open until noon.
LiangpiCold Noodles
Chewy, smooth noodles topped with shredded cucumber, bean sprouts, and wheat gluten, drizzled with sesame paste, garlic water, chili oil, and vinegar. The refreshingly sour and spicy flavor completely wipes away the summer heat.
Where to Eat
There are street stalls everywhere.