Uncle Zhou

I have been to this place about three times, one thing I have gotten all three times is the knife cut beef noodle soup and it has been magic every time, but today I thought I would also try some of their dumplings so I got the pan fried ones. As im walking in I see that the restaurant has been recommended by Michelin 4 times which makes me even more exited to try more things off the menu but to my disappointment I ended up with some burnt dumplings I’m still gonna go their for the beef soup but sadly nothing else.

Ah, I haven’t been so happy eating a meal in such a long time. Uncle Zhou’s truly left a big cheese smile on my face.
Uncle Zhou is rather unassuming, I’ve walked by this restaurant countless times without ever noticing it. Shame on me. Lucky for me, a few friends were raving about it the day before so that is the only reason I heard about it and subsequently looked it up. I decided I just had to come check it out since I love Northern Chinese cuisine.
I came here in a small group of four for dinner on New Year’s Day. Kudos for them being open on a national holiday but then again that’s the norm for Chinese-​owned restaurants. It is well-​lit and most importantly appears to be clean (as in no oil-​slicked menus, tables, nor dining plates and utensils).
For appetizers and dishes to share, we ordered: pancake with beef, lamb dumplings, and cumin powder fried lamb. My husband and I shared a bowl of spicy beef hand-​drawn noodles and a bowl of dial oil hand-​drawn noodles so that we can try both. We chose hand-​drawn noodles over knife-​shaved simply because I like the idea of slurping up my noodles more.
— Pancake with beef: This was not what I was expecting at all. I had in mind a thin scallion pancake with beef but no. The «pancake» is a dense bread with a thinly sliced beef in the center and a bit of lettuce. While it wasn’t actually bad, I saw it as a waste of stomach space. Pass.
— Lamb dumplings: These were boiled. They were slightly gamey but not overly so. They were not anything particularly special. I probably would not order these again.
— Cumin powder fried lamb: OH. MY. GOODNESS. SO. DANG. GOOD. These are to DIE for. If you like the spicy cumin lamb skewers from the street carts in Flushing, you’d LOVE these. Each little piece of lamb is packed with bold flavors with a nice kick. This is what life is all about. An absolute MUST order.
— Dial oil hand-​drawn noodles: While I have no idea what «dial oil» is supposed to mean, what I do know is that this bowl of noodles is absolutely phenomenal. There is no meat. You will find some bok choy, lots of minced garlic, and some mystery sauce that tastes to be a wonderful concoction of Chinese vinegar, spice, and oil. It may not look like anything spectacular, but just mix it up and be prepare to hear the angels sing. If you like garlic, you’ll love this. Highly recommended.
— Spicy beef hand-​drawn noodles: While this is more similar to your typical Lanzhou hand pulled noodles soup base, it still is astounding. The noodles are perfectly bouncy with great consistency and the broth is very tasty with just the right amount of numbing spice. LOVE IT. I highly recommend this as well.
While I found the pancake with beef and lamb dumplings to be somewhat underwhelming, everything else that we had tried were absolutely INCREDIBLE. This is Northern Chinese cuisine at its best where its all about Szechuan peppercorns, dried red peppers, cumin, handmade noodles, lamb, and just big BOLD FLAVORS. Please, please, please don’t come here expecting to order wonton noodles or pork lo mein.
The service was quick, friendly, and attentive. I also love how the staff understands and speaks English pretty well.
Just an all around A+. I am already planning my return. Can’t wait.
P. S. Finding parking can be tough in this area but don’t give up!.. Or just make it easier for yourself and take the train.

Was in the mood for lan zhou hand pulled noodles; but not going to flushing for it. Discovered this place and I am more than satisfied.
Had the spicy beef noodle — it was spot on; spicy as well — no need to add chili sauce.
parking is bad — good luck if you drive.
will definitely come back to if i am ever in the area again.

YES YES YES!!! I love their knife sliced noodles with lamb. Their dumplings are so tasty. CASH ONLY so don’t forget that. Tables are a short wait during their busy time. I came Sunday around 1 and only had to wait like 5 mins for a table for two. I really enjoyed eating here and I will be back to try those lamb dumplings. Love this spot!

On return visits we love this place even more. The knife shaved noodles are the way to go. Such a great texture and easier to eat. The spice broth is really great as are the pork and chive dumplings. There’s a reason this place gets a Michelin Bib Gourmand award. After two disappointing and *expensive* bougie meals early in the week, our meal here was by far the best and most satisfying and it cost $ 18 for two.

This is my favorite go to place if I’m craving for some hot beef noodle soup. Their dishes are good too but I always just end up ordering my beef noodle soup. Their soup base is very flavorful, smells so good, with hint of sesame oil and some other mysterious ingredients that makes it oh so delicious! I’m glad it’s not loaded up with MSG like the others, because I don’t feel thirsty after eating here. That’s how I always tell if my food is loaded with MSG or not.

My Boyfriend wanted to go here and really wanted to like this place, because this is his type of food with handmade noodles. I personally didn’t like it I ordered beef noodle and I didn’t like the noodle, it was a little bit harder than I expected and I personally just didn’t like the texture of it. My boyfriend ordered the lamb noodle, and it was ok I actually love the soup. He also ordered stir fried intestine. Overall everything was good, but we didn’t feel there was anything special about this restaurant, we had better noodles in other places.

Tried different noodle dishes like the tomato and egg over noodles and Zha Jiang Mian, some boiled and fried dumplings, some of the big tray of chicken, scallion pancake with beef, shredded potato with sour sauce, couldn’t stand the cumin spiced lamb because it was too pungent for me.
The fried dumplings was the best item we tried at Uncle Zhou. I didn’t much like the boiled dumplings. I felt the skin on the boiled dumplings were too thick for my liking. The fillings for all the dumplings are adequate. I would order the fried dumplings in a heartbeat.
As for the rest of the food, it was only okay for me. I saw a video made by my favorite You Tube personality and had to try to place since I live close. But was disappointed by the food a bit. The noodle dishes were bland, even the Zha Jiang Mian, which I never had it bland before! All I tasted was noodles. I could barely taste the sauce. Which I thought is not possible because bean paste is pungent! The tomato with egg over noodles, no taste. At least the noodles were cooked to the right texture.
The scallion pancake is fluffy but I didn’t taste scallion. It was not flaky at all like the best scallion pancakes out there. It tasted just like fluffy bread, that’s it. Would never order it again I hardly taste the thin slice of beef.
If I were near the area again, and I were hungry, bottom line, I would try another place because the food here is just mediocre, for me. Still on the look out for good Zha Jiang Mian near my apartment.
But if I had a hankering for fried dumplings, I would stop by Uncle Zhou for some.

I came here again and it hasn’t even been a week I think. I ordered the Dial Oiled Hand Drawn Noodles. I asked for the wide noodles which is Hui Mien. It was unbelievably just as good as the first time I had it. A simple and wonderfully delicious noodles that is garlicy, spicy, sour, and savory.
The difference with this 2^nd visit than the 1^st visit is… ta da… I ordered a second bowl. This time I got the Dial Oiled Knife Shaved Noodles. That is right I got two bowls. It’s that good to me.
These are different than the Hui Mien in which the noodles are actually shaved off from the dough. That is how you get the noodles. The consistency is different. The Wide noodles are a lot wider and longer strains of noodles. The knife shaved noodles are not as wide, but a bit thicker.
The Dial Oiled Knife Shaved Noodles are cooked just the same as the wide noodles. There is the knife shaved noodles with garlic, scallions, bean sprouts, bok choy on the top and vinegar and soy sauce on the bottom. To complete the dish, hot boiling chili oil is dumped over the noodles.
The Dial Oiled Knife Shaved Noodles was just as good as the Dial Oiled Wide Noodles. So delicious. Aroma was amazing. The dish was absolutely heaven.
Now which one do I like better. While both are equally good, I think I like the wide noodles better, because it is more chewy and I think it soaks up the sauces and other flavors more.
You think I must have been that hungry to order two… Yes I was starving, but after I ate both bowls of noodles… I could have gone for a third bowl. Was I full… no! I was definitely not hungry anymore. Crazy I am.
This place has become my favorite noodle place.

My best friend thought it would be a great night to try something out of our comfort zone. I thought OK, I’m game for new things. I didn’t know she had rabbit in mind. Now having a bunny growing up, I was against eating it. She ordered it anyway, along with the cumin beef, and rice. The cumin beef was very good, but quite on the salty side. The rabbit, she didn’t like at all. After lots of nagging, I tried it and it really was not good. Poor bunny. It was very salty, dry, and gamey. I couldn’t compare it to anything else. It didn’t taste like chicken or beef. It wasn’t my cup of tea. Speaking of tea, they give you a tall glass of tea instead of water, so if you want water, you’ll have to ask them. The servers were nice. It’s a small place, so eat and leave. Dilly dallying will not be allowed. They’ll make it very clear when they want you to leave. They’re not rude about it, but come on, the place is small and they need the tables for other customers.

The service here is superb comparing to most Chinese restaurants. We came early at 11am when they just opened, and some of the items on the menu were not available yet. The waiter were very polite to us when he was explaining and helping us. The food is quite impressive too. They have some authentic Henan classics like kouwan, which is a very interesting steamed dish.

I know everyone is entitled to their own opinions and while mine can sometimes be questionable, I’d like to think that I’ve tried enough Chinese places between Flushing and Chinatown to have at least some experience when it comes to deciding between good and no-​so-​good Chinese.
Uncle Zhou is GOOD. Has to be one of, if not my favorite Chinese place. Now, I’ve only been twice, but the dishes I’ve had I was really impressed with. Had the sautéed mushroom dish, spicy rabbit, spicy fish, dial oil noodles, and the dill+pork steamed dumplings. Everything was bomb.
I’ll most certainly be back.

The bottom line with this place: hands down the best Chinese-​style Jjajangmyeon (Zha Jiang Mian) I’ve ever had, but the other dishes were good, too. Also, everything was reasonably priced.
Uncle Zhou’s is a great place to go if you’re looking for good authentic Chinese food and don’t want to break the bank. For ~$ 45 total including tax and tip we got: a vegetable dish, a huge plate of Chicken, potatoes, and noodles (like over a foot in diameter), dumplings, and a large bowl of Zha Jiang Mian.
The Zha Jiang Mian was prepared the Chinese way (a lighter brown sauce with ground pork) with noodles and sliced cucumbers. But, the sauce was really good because it wasn’t watery and lame. It was actually quite thick and flavorful, but not as thick as the Korean style noodles would be.
I had a great time here and will definitely come back for their Zha Jiang Mian. You should come and try it, too. There are also a ton of other dishes they serve in case that’s not your thing.

3.5 Stars
Uncle Zhou Restaurant (UZ’s) is a great local place. If I lived nearby, I’ll definitely stop by here to crave my spicy palate. But it’s good to know that this place is nothing extraordinary.
Special Meatball in Soup: Whack, don’t bother.
Cumin Powder Fried Lamb: Expected the meat to be a bit more crispy and tender, but it was neither. It didn’t taste particularly great either– kind of bland to be honest.
Pork Intestines w/​Hot Peppers: To be honest, the saving grace for this place. The pork intestines were chewy but not to the point that’ll require you to chew like a cow. It was well seasoned and pretty spicy.
Like I said, if you’re craving spicy food, this is a great local spot to go to. Although I was not really satisfied with a few of the things I ordered, I know this spot has a lot of potential. I am willing to give some of the other stuff on the menu another try!

We were for a late dinner around 9pm on a Monday night. The place was somewhat busy but we were seated immediately. As fans of Northern Chinese cuisine, we just had to stop by & check this place out.
The service were pretty good. The lady who took our order were friendly & polite. We got the spicy beef noodle soup, the spicy chicken knife shaved noodle, & the pork n’ chive dumplings. We can’t say which one we love most. We love everything that we ordered. They were just so full of flavor! Absolutely amazing! Everything from the noodles, the meat, the soup, they were just so good. The spicy level is just perfect for us.
All total, we spent about $ 19. We weren’t stuffed but we were definitely satisfied. The portion is pretty good for the price. We love this place!

So fortunate to live in walking distance of this and a couple amazing restaurants in this area! My fiancé and i walked into uncle zhou’s after Unilocaling and hit the honeypot. The waiters and waitresses were all really nice and patient with me and the food was so on point. The knife shaved noodles i got with pork meat were chewy and perfect and the ingredients were also super fresh and not wilted or old and the soup base for my fiancé’s beef noodle soup dish was also very clean and savory. Totaallllyy loved our entire experience there and will be returning to try out more dishes! Highly recommend the venture.
Edit: came back again for spicy beef knife shaved noodles, the dial oil (?) (dandan noodle like) hand pulled noodles and the lamb dumplings and they were all exactly what i wanted and was expecting. good fresh ingredients, just spicy enough savory broth and of course amazing perfectly cooked noodles. totally going back again to try rest of their menu!

I am so lucky my brother lives around this area and he decides to bring us over to this amazing restaurant. I’m a big sucker for hand pulled noodles and anything lamb so give me a bowl of the noodle soup to share (we made the mistake of ordering a bowl for everyone and couldn’t finish!) and some lamb dumplings and I’ll be set.
They have a great assortment of cold dishes as well as stir fry that is amazing. Overall, this isn’t a good choice for anyone who is sensitive to very salty food but you’re in for a treat here. Can’t wait to come back!

This place wasn’t here when I used to live here, but I’m glad I stumbled upon it today, I love hand drawn noodles!
I ordered the spicy chicken knife shaved noodles. I usually can’t handle spicy food very well, but the waiter told me that it wasn’t really spicy plus it’s a popular dish, so I gave it a try.
The hand drawn noodles were absolutely delicious, I loved how chewy they were. It wasn’t that spicy at all, it was more a little kick at the end of each bite. It was really good, but there wasn’t a lot of chicken. And I do kind of wish there was some kind of vegetable in it too.
My brother got some rice dish, which he didn’t really like, but I guess this place is more known for their noodles?

Did I over order? Probably? Did I get a good variety of food? Most definitely. So I took an Asian friend here since his «comfort food» is rice and noodles. The place is on a little Asian strip of restaurants, the restaurant is on the smaller end and the two seaters are pretty close together. The place is relative cheap, noodles are around $ 6 and the big plates are in the low $ 10’s.
The food:
Cumin powder fried lamb– oh slap my ass was this good. This kinda reminded me of the popular food carts around Flushing selling those $ 1 skewers. The cumin pairs with the lamb nicely and there is a subtle touch of heat. The lamb was really tender and had nice texture. This is a absolute must get.
Fish Filet in fresh hot pepper sauce. This is a really popular Szechuan dish and the one here is really respectable. This dish was actually a lot spicier than I was expecting. The white fish is nice and tender and the flavor of the broth was quite tasty. My only issue with the dish were the random pieces of what seemed like egg shell, or crab shell or salt crystal. I am not sure what it was but it was definitely off putting.
Spicy Beef Hand-​Drawn Noodle– I thought the flavor of the dish was nice, it does have a kick but more numbing than spicy. The hand drawn noodles were great, the texture was great, I did find some spice in the dish to be a little off putting, had a soap like quality.
Tomato & egg knife shaved noodles with beef. This dish is by no means exciting, seemed more like something you make at home (not my home, but some Asian home lol) It was pretty good but it lacked excitement.
Lamb dumpling– I was pretty disappointed with this dish. The lamb flavor wasn’t really pronounced and the filling was so salty. My friend who happens to like salty food even said it was salty. I even tried the table side hot sauce and that was a lost cause.
Chive & Pork dumpling– thought the dumplings were just regular steamed dumplings, nothing crazy.
Lamb hand-​drawn noodle– nothing really too exciting. I think the rice dishes are the way to go here. Thought the broth and noodles were kinda lifeless.

Favorite noodles restaurant in Elmhurst!
Very clean and very friendly environment here at Uncle Zhou’s. Mr. Zhou is always there to welcome you to his restaurant or ready to take your order for take-​out.
I am a big fan of their Spicy Beef Knifed-​Noodles! The soup is a rich flavored, beef broth. Very spicy but not too crazy spicy. Although, if you are a brave one — add more chili in for more excitement! I really love the tender beef slices and the little bok choys that they put in there. The broth was so flavorful and I always finish this dish entirely — down to every last drop! Hand pulled noodles and knifed noodles are freshly made in the back and I really love that their noodles that «bouncy» feel to it when you just take a bite! I am usually not a fan of noodles in general, but this one tops my list!
Another favorite is their fried lamb dumplings! I just love how crispy and evenly fried the skin is. This is a great appetizer to go with the Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, by the way! Their dumplings looked long-​shaped to me than normal dumplings and the meat isn’t too much. The meat is very well minced and stuffed into the dumpling skin. Regardless, the dumplings tasted great!
The dumplings are also freshly made in the back. You can actually buy them frozen to bring home — you just have to call ahead to make sure that they have it on the day of. I recommend you to claim it before another customer gets their hands on their yummy dumplings!
I am surprised that not a lot of people visit this place yet — please go pay Uncle Zhou a visit!