Flushing’s Groundbreaking Golden Mall Is Opening Soon in Manhattan

Flushing’s groundbreaking Golden Mall, which recently reopened after four years closed, was reported to be working on a Manhattan expansion. Now there’s an address: 47 Broadway, near Trinity Church, in the Financial District, according to an Instagram post from Golden Mall.

The food court, which first opened in Flushing in 1990 and showcased a variety of regional Chinese food stalls, gained citywide notoriety from the late greats, Anthony Bourdain and Jonathan Gold, among other food celebrities — who heralded it at the time for being unlike any other food court in town. Most notably, it was the original home of Xi’an Famous Foods, that gave a springboard for the noodle spot to become one of the city’s preeminent homegrown chains.

But over the years, other food halls like New World Mall, and most recently, the luxury Tangram Mall food court, have outpaced its success — changes that represent an influx of more monied spots in Flushing, an undeniable turning point in area gentrification.

After closing in 2019, the Golden Mall underwent a $2 million renovation in hopes of luring in a new generation of diners, spearheaded by Robert Cheng, whose family has owned the food court since 2000, the New York Times first reported earlier this year.

Eater critic Robert Sietsema stopped by in April to check out the revamped Golden Mall at 41-28 Main Street, near 41st Road, recommending dishes like beef offal soup from a stall named Xi Jiang Qian Hu.

The Golden Mall’s expansion to Manhattan — in a 32,000-square-foot space — marks a new era for the family-run business, the Times reported. The Golden Mall has been a champion of solo stalls without an additional restaurant presence while balancing outposts from chains abroad. “... if the market changes, we also have to change,” Cheng told the publication. Part of that seems to be seeking out Manhattan tourists, in an area ripe for a dining overhaul.

Slated for a summer opening, it will join other new developments in the neighborhood. Before the acclaimed chef Jamal James Kent’s death this month, the restaurateur was on track to be working on five food and beverage concepts at 1 Wall Street inside Printemps, a Paris department store opening its first New York location — a collaboration with James Beard-winning Portland, Oregon chef Gregory Gourdet.