Yu Noodles to dish out Chinese soup and dumplings in Tysons this fall

An up-and-coming, local Chinese restaurant chain will open a new location in Tysons’ Scotts Run area later this year.

Construction has begun on Yu Noodles in The Commons at 1690 Anderson Road, Suite B. A brochure for the Safeway-anchored shopping center indicates that the restaurant is replacing Nouvelle Salon next to Lost Dog Cafe.

A November opening is anticipated for the 2,500-square-foot restuarant, which will be the chain’s fourth, co-owner Andy Qiu told FFXnow.

Yu Noodles has seen its profile gradually rise since launching in Rockville, Maryland, in 2018. Started by Qiu and co-owner and chef Tony Cai, the business specializes in spicy Chongqing noodle soups, but it has become equally known for its dumplings, especially its xiao long bao (pork soup dumplings).

Though they now occupy a spot under its name in the logo, the soup dumplings weren’t part of Yu Noodles’ original menu, and they’re still not available at the smaller Rockville cafe. However, Qiu says adding them was always part of the plan.

“We want to test the market. We don’t know if it’s ready yet or people like it,” Qiu said. “…The first one, we just rent space and we start from there, but somehow, people like it, and so we try to open more locations.”

Yu Noodles unveiled the soup dumplings when its first full-sized restaurant opened just outside of Fairfax City in 2020. The company added a Herndon location in April.

Highlighted by a glowing review in The Washington Post last week, Qiu attributes the restaurant’s growing popularity to the menu, which veers away from dishes like lo mein and General Tso’s chicken that remain staples of most Chinese restaurants in the U.S.

“This is kind of street food,” Qiu said. “It’s very popular in China, in Asian countries, so I think the first thing is the style of the food. The second is we try to make the restaurant clean and [provide] good service.”

Qiu hopes to see that success continue in Tysons, where Yu Noodles could be buoyed by an influx of residents in nearby Scotts Run and visitors from Capital One Center on the north side of Route 123. Scotts Run alone has been approved for nearly 6.7 million square feet of development.

Though the Tysons opening is still a few months away, Yu Noodles is also in the midst of negotiating a lease for an Arlington location. Since the deal hasn’t been finalized, Qiu couldn’t share an exact address, but it’s “definitely in the Rosslyn area,” he said.