Nana Noodle House — Restaurant in Kearny

Come for their chewy, delicious pulled noodle dishes in a hole-in-the-wall setting, but maybe order takeout to avoid their fees.

I’ve wanted to visit m for a while and just tried them. Note a few things before your visit:

The best part of my visit was the food. Among our group of 3 we tried: the shanxi spicy noodles with meat sauce, the “noodles with meat sauce” (or jajiang noodles for those familiar), and the shanxi “knife sliced noodles with meat sauce” which was a thicker noodle. They also provided a dark chili oil that reminded me strongly of one from DunHuang in Edison, another hand-pulled noodle place. Not highly spicy per se but aromatic with texture. Note that for most dishes that are not soups, you can get them either semi-soupy or ask for them dry. For example I’m used to Dan Dan noodles being dry, but decided to try them as-is which had more than a little soupy sauciness. There appeared to be maybe 2 people running the place, a lady who took orders and maybe another in the back. Because of this, we had to wait almost 20min before we could offer because there was a group of 8 or 10 who’d already ordered before us. I think other reviews may have mentioned service being slow, be aware. They are cash-only and I don’t think there’s an ATM here. They charge $1.50 per person seated as a “service and seating charge”, and $.50 for any to-go containers. This is listed at the front desk, at least. I wasn’t sure how to handle this and ended up treating the first charge as a portion of our tip and deducted it from what I would normally leave. Parking is on the street and wasn’t easy to find. I’m not familiar with the area and we lucked out finding parking on the street around the block. They didn’t use any AC during the 80°+ day, and had a small fan blowing. Of course this adds to the authentic/hole-in-wall feel 😂

If I were to visit again I’d probably get takeout because the noodles...

Lucky Foo in Kearny, NJ: The Real Deal Chinese Experience

If you're looking for that authentic, no-frills Chinese spot, Lucky Foo is for you.

If you're expecting some fancy American-style service, you might be in for a shock. But trust me, that's part of the charm. It's just one person cooking and one serving, and their mission? Get that homemade food to you, no matter how long it takes. Don't come here if you're in a rush - this is slow food at its finest. I learned about this style of service living in Hawaii, so it felt familiar to me.

Now, let's talk about the star of the show - the food. It's clean, packed with homestyle flavor, and will leave you feeling satisfied. That noodle soup? Pure magic. When I'm craving authentic, homemade noodle soup, this is the spot I head to. It's not an everyday thing, but when that specific craving hits, Lucky Foo delivers.

The vibe inside is something else. It's quiet - like, eerily quiet - and filled with what looked like college-age Asian students. No background music, no chitchat, just people focused on their bowls or phones. It's an experience, I'm telling you.

Don't expect any fancy menus - it's all up on the wall. And heads up, it's cash only. But honestly? The food is so good, you won't even care.

If you're after authentic Chinese cuisine without any of the fuss, Lucky Foo is your spot. It might not be for everyone, but for those who get it, get it. It's a little slice of homestyle heaven right...

Very good food. The beef noodle soup broth was not as dark as i am used to having, but it was very flavorful, more flavor than it looks. Lady asked if i wanted tripe, because it normally comes with it, and i said i don't. She was very considerate for asking me. Also had the beef with scallion pancake and chives pie. Beef scallion pancake had a lil bit too much hoisen sauce so a lil bit too salty but still good. Chives pie was good but not salty enough so i asked for dumpling sauce. She gave me a packet of soy sauce to make my own dumpling sauce with the vinegar on the table, but strange that they don't make their own dumpling sauce when they serve so many different kinds of dumplings and buns. But those are minor things, the most important is the food, and i thought overall it...