Atlanta’s Chinese dining scene is one of the most diverse and authentic in the American Southeast, fueled by the city’s large Chinese-American community, a significant population of Chinese international students and professionals, and the Buford Highway corridor in Chamblee that houses one of the most concentrated ethnic restaurant landscapes in the country. The metro area’s Chinese restaurants span Cantonese dim sum, Sichuan hot pots and numbing-spicy preparations, Hong Kong-style roast meats, Northern Chinese dumplings, and Shanghainese soup dumplings, offering a depth of regional diversity that rivals cities with much larger Chinese populations. The Chamblee and Doraville areas function as Atlanta’s de facto Chinatown, with strip malls housing exceptional regional Chinese specialists operating largely outside mainstream dining media attention but drawing dedicated local followings. Downtown and Midtown Atlanta have also developed upscale Chinese concepts that bring regional Chinese cooking to a broader Atlanta dining audience.
Evaluating Chinese restaurants in Atlanta depends on what regional tradition you are seeking, and asking the staff or looking for Chinese-language menus alongside English ones is the clearest indicator of authenticity. Sichuan restaurants should prominently feature the numbing heat of Sichuan peppercorns alongside dried chili heat, which are distinct flavor profiles. Cantonese restaurants are best evaluated by the quality of their dim sum and roasted meats. Downtown restaurants serving a business clientele often offer more formal settings but should be evaluated on ingredient quality and preparation technique rather than ambiance alone. Established restaurants with long operating histories and consistent critical recognition across multiple local media sources generally outperform newer concepts with only social media buzz.
Top Chinese Restaurant Companies in Atlanta
1. Urban Hai
Leadership: Chef Hai Wang and restaurateur Gary Lin (Founders)
Address: 77 12th Street NE, Suite 7, Atlanta, GA 30309
Phone: 404-549-8181
Website: https://www.urbanhai.com
Hours: Mon-Thu and Sun 11AM-10PM, Fri-Sat 11AM-11PM
Services:
- Regional Chinese cuisine from multiple Chinese provinces
- Peking duck served multiple ways
- Dim sum-style small plates
- Sichuan dishes including mapo tofu
- Full bar program
About: Urban Hai is an upscale Chinese restaurant in Midtown Atlanta founded by Chef Hai Wang, who brings 25 years of culinary experience and expertise across multiple Chinese regional cuisines, and restaurateur Gary Lin. The restaurant has earned top rankings on both Yelp and Atlanta Eats as the city’s best Chinese restaurant, driven by a menu that authentically represents regional Chinese traditions including Peking duck, duck fried rice, Sichuan preparations, and dim sum-style small plates. Located on 12th Street in Midtown, the restaurant occupies a central position accessible to Atlanta’s business and residential communities. The combination of genuine culinary expertise from Chef Wang and professional hospitality execution has distinguished Urban Hai in a market where quality Chinese dining has historically required navigating the Buford Highway corridor.
2. Hsu’s Gourmet Asian Cuisine
Founded: 1983
Address: 192 Peachtree Center Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: 404-659-2788
Website: https://www.hsus.com
Hours: Mon-Fri 11AM-2PM and 5PM-9PM, Sat-Sun 5PM-9PM
Services:
- Szechuan and Cantonese cuisine
- Full table service
- Complimentary parking (2 hours lunch, 4 hours dinner)
- Private dining for groups up to 65
About: Hsu’s Gourmet has served Downtown Atlanta from its Peachtree Center Avenue location since 1983, making it one of the city’s longest-operating Chinese restaurants and a landmark of Atlanta’s downtown dining scene. The restaurant specializes in Szechuan and Cantonese cuisine and has attracted a notable clientele over its four decades of operation, with a wall of celebrity photos that includes appearances by Betty White and Spike Lee. The attached parking deck with complimentary validation for up to four hours at dinner addresses one of downtown Atlanta’s primary dining friction points. Private dining capacity for groups up to 65 makes it a practical destination for business entertainment and corporate events in the CNN Center and Centennial Olympic Park area.
3. La Mei Zi
Address: 5385 New Peachtree Road, Chamblee, GA 30341
Services:
- Counter-service Sichuan restaurant
- Spicy braised fish
- Dan dan noodles
- Ben Ben chicken
- Spicy dried eggplant
- Authentic Sichuan street food preparations
About: La Mei Zi operates as a counter-service Sichuan restaurant in Chamblee’s Buford Highway corridor, one of the most internationally recognized ethnic food districts in the American Southeast. The restaurant’s focused Sichuan menu features preparations like spicy braised fish, dan dan noodles, Ben Ben chicken, and spicy dried eggplant that represent authentic Sichuan culinary traditions with the numbing heat of Sichuan peppercorns that defines the regional cuisine. Its position in the Chamblee corridor places it within an area where Chinese speakers constitute a large proportion of the customer base, an indicator of authenticity that food media including The Infatuation has recognized in its Atlanta guides. La Mei Zi’s counter-service format delivers Sichuan quality at casual pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the best area in Atlanta to find authentic Chinese food?
A: The Buford Highway corridor in Chamblee and Doraville is Atlanta’s most concentrated and authentic Chinese dining district, with a mix of Sichuan, Cantonese, Northern Chinese, and other regional specialists in strip malls along the road. The Atlanta Chinatown plaza in Chamblee houses multiple food stalls serving everything from dumplings to hot pot at very accessible prices. For convenience without the Buford Highway commute, Urban Hai in Midtown offers genuine regional Chinese cuisine in an accessible location. Downtown Atlanta’s Hsu’s Gourmet serves a long-established clientele seeking Szechuan and Cantonese classics in a formal setting.
Q: What is the difference between Sichuan and Cantonese Chinese food in Atlanta?
A: Sichuan cuisine from China’s western Sichuan province is characterized by bold, spicy preparations using dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, which produce a distinctive numbing sensation alongside heat. Dishes like mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, and spicy braised fish are Sichuan signatures. Cantonese cuisine from southern China’s Guangdong province emphasizes delicate flavors, fresh seafood, and techniques like steaming and quick stir-frying, with dim sum as its most distinctive contribution to global dining. Atlanta has strong practitioners of both traditions, with Sichuan cuisine particularly well represented on the Buford Highway corridor.
Q: What should I expect to pay at Atlanta’s top Chinese restaurants?
A: Counter-service Sichuan restaurants on Buford Highway like La Mei Zi typically run $12-$20 per person for a full meal, making them among Atlanta’s best value dining options. Mid-range Chinese restaurants like Hsu’s Gourmet average $30-$50 per person for a formal dinner with drinks. Urban Hai in Midtown as an upscale Chinese concept runs $40-$65 per person for a full dinner experience with cocktails. Dim sum at Chamblee-area Cantonese restaurants typically runs $20-$35 per person for a complete meal during weekend brunch service.
Conclusion
Atlanta’s Chinese restaurant landscape offers exceptional diversity from the upscale regional Chinese expertise of Urban Hai in Midtown to the four-decade downtown institution Hsu’s Gourmet and the authentic Sichuan counter-service excellence of La Mei Zi in the Buford Highway corridor. Exploring beyond the obvious tourist-facing options to the Chamblee and Doraville strip mall restaurants reveals one of the most genuine ethnic Chinese dining landscapes in the Southeast. Each of the highlighted restaurants represents a distinct approach to Chinese culinary tradition that rewards repeat visits.