Zhong Jie — Restaurant in New York

The bbq was delicious, very authentic Northern Chinese flavor. It was a family business and the owner and his wife talked to us and we chatted quite a bit. They were very friendly and they said it was extremely hard for them to overcome the hardship due to the pandemic a few months ago and we were happy for them that they finally went through that hardest period. They gave us 草莓糖葫芦（sugarcoated strawberries on a stick）as the dessert on the house, and we were amazed to see this here in NY. It is a traditional snack in Northern China and we have never seen anyone selling it in the U.S. The most traditional way was using hawthorn, which is only found in China. They used to have hawthorn but now it’s harder to have it shipped from China, and expensive at the same time. The owner said they would not sell it, they would only give it for free if you dine in there, which was awesome. The risk of having the hawthorn confiscated at the U.S custom was high, so they had to keep trying and shipping it to the U.S. just so Chinese customers can find it nostalgic and less homesick if they can find it in their restaurant. They also have two young sons doing homework in the back of the restaurant, which made me feel good that we were supporting their family.

The signs outside the restaurant might not seem that pretty, but their food was delicious...

Pro: the seasoning and flavor is top notch! One of the best (northern) Chinese bbq in the city! Definitely worth visiting.

Big big Con: Given the food quality I’m ok with the recent price lift, anyway everything else is getting pricier. But given its current price, this is not exactly a one-$-sign cheap eat anymore, so we are expecting at least a decent dining ambience: Please hire a waiter, everyone there is already working as hard as they can, including the store owner‘s underaged kid serving as the main waiter. But they are still seriously understaffed, service is lacking, there’s a long wait between each step. No glass, no water…

Plz turn on the AC!! It’s hot and the chef are bbqing in the back, it’s really hot in the dining area and because the air is stagnant, it kinda smells bad too. Not a very pleasant experience

Please improve the store hygienic condition, I think this point goes back how much they are understaffed. The bathroom need to be better maintained, there’s an old toothbrush by the sink and three empty hand soap bottle… all the menus are torn up and greasy…

To sum up, I really like this place and hope they could improve and stay in business. I will definitely come back if they could improve their store...

I had high expectations for this restaurant based on the recommendations, but unfortunately, it fell far short. My friends and I were the only table dining there today, which made the poor service even more surprising.

We ordered four dishes in total, all of which were labeled as popular or highly recommended. However, the quality was disappointing. The crispy pork (锅包肉）was excessively sour and didn’t resemble the traditional flavor it’s known for. Another vegetable dish we ordered was overwhelmingly salty, making it difficult to enjoy.

For the price—$30-$40 per person—it felt like a poor value. With the same budget, there are plenty of other restaurants offering better food and service. I wouldn’t recommend this place based on...