Golden Lanzhou Bowls — Restaurant in Murfreesboro

I’m fully aware that this establishment is brand new; they even have a handwritten sign outside stating that they are happy to take any and all feedback, so this is not meant as negative feedback more constructive for future improvements.

I gave this a 2 star because the potential is there. They desperately need more help, so management needs to make that a priority.

Service: Our party of five visited on a Saturday around 5:45 pm for dinner. When we walked in, the employee who greeted us was both exasperated and overwhelmed and said, “OMG, we are so busy, it’s going to be about 15-20 minutes.”

While not the greeting we expected, we waited outside for 15 minutes. Once we were seated we chatted amongst ourselves but noticed 15 minutes had gone by without any acknowledgement and we weren’t even asked if we wanted any water or a menu. The employee who seated our party was both the host, waiter, server, bussed tables, took payments, etc., it was simply too much for one person to handle. Things took a bit longer than usual (nearly 40 minutes for our food to arrive) but that is no fault of his. He was energetic, but overwhelmed and just needed help. Other customers seemed to be waiting for their check which took awhile, waiting to order, or got their food at different times. Their process/service still needs to be worked out. Lots of room for improvement here.

Food: we ordered the Xiao Long Bao, Chicken Dumplings (steamed), two bowls of the Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup with wide flat noodles, one bowl of the same soup with thin noodles. Having had hand pulled noodles before in other places around the country, we had high expectations, but unfortunately the noodle consistency was not what we expected. Disappointing. So much for all the Instagram hype. The broth itself was fine though it seemed a bit too salty. The other food items were just okay. We did not finish our bowls of noodles, they were still full when we left.

All this to say: They have potential but it’s the growing pains of a new restaurant. Management needs to work on improving their service and people skills. We will try it again in 6 months to see if improvements...

Oh. Man. You guys need to go to Golden Lanzhou Bowls. They're near the corner of Northfield/Rutherford and Lascassas Pike in what used to be the Food Lion strip. HAND. PULLED. NOODLES. I'm not kidding. I've wanted to try fresh hand pulled noodles for a long time. For a long time, you had to go as far as Atlanta to get it. Now you don't.

Lane and I started (our own personal buffet) with the Chinese hamburger and honestly, if that had been the only good thing, we'd be back 🤣 it was this delicious crispy pocket of goodness, and when you add the chili oil? Even better. Then we had the smashed cucumber and wood ear onion salad. Of the two, my favorite was the smashed cucumber, but both were great. The wood ear onion salad was probably my least favorite of the whole meal, but seriously. It was still good. The pork dumplings were awesome. They were full, of good size, and packed flavor. The sauces that came with them were also delicious. The Xiao long bao were so so fresh and flavorful. They were soft and chewy without being gummy at all, which is perfection. Of course we had to also get the Lanzhou Traditional beef soup noodles. We chose the flat wide noodles, but we now want to try them all. The noodles were the perfect chew and didn't fall apart at all. The broth was flavorful and the recommendation of adding the vinegar (and chili oil for some heat) was the perfect one. The vinegar brightened it and the chili oil was excellent in it. The beef wasn't off the charts flavorful, but it didn't have to be since the broth packed a great punch. I will say the Chinese five spice fills your nostrils when the soup arrives, and it warms you.

This was one of the best meals we've had in a while. They're still technically in their soft opening phase, so it's hard to find them via Google.

Just go. You won't regret it. We do recommend ordering everything at once to limit...

After seeing a tiktok posted by @krunchymuffin where she and her partner were raving about a new local restaurant my boyfriend and I decided to stop in and we have no regrets other than not coming in sooner! We walked in at 7 PM (we were out the door by 8 PM) and were immediately greeted and sat at a table and given lemon waters before we placed our order. Even though to us we were not waiting long at all the lovely woman handling the front of house duties sent us some delicious fried wonton strips with sweet and sour sauce to the table completely complimentary, with me being pregnant this had me beaming! We both ordered the Lanzhou Traditional Beef Soup Noodles, I got the original thin round noodles whereas my boyfriend got the thin wide flat noodles- both were delicious! We also got an order of the Xiao Long Bao which were pillow soft with a yummy meat filling. The table had housemade chili oil which was hands down the best we’ve ever had! Everyone who served us was so polite and attentive we genuinely had the best experience ever and it was such a pleasure to meet everyone. They were so detail oriented that even when giving me a to go container to take home the remainder of my noodles and soup they gave me two separate bowls to pack my noodles and broth separate which is absolutely genius! We cannot wait to come back and are so happy to have something so comforting and unique so...