An acclaimed Chinese restaurant with Sichuan-style noodles and dumplings is planning a new location in Tysons.
Mian Sichuan Noodle is preparing to open at 8395 Leesburg Pike in Pike 7 Plaza, replacing a vacancy left by the decades-old China Wok restaurant last summer. Exterior signage for Mian Sichuan Noodle has appeared at the retail bay after the restaurant applied for a permit there earlier this year.
The new restaurant — named after the Chinese word for “noodle” — is making the trek to Tysons from Southern California, where owner and James Beard Award-nominated chef Tony Xu has opened five locations since Mian’s debut in the Los Angeles metro area a decade ago.
The restaurant can also now be found in Houston, Honolulu and Las Vegas.
Mian’s menu includes a variety of appetizers and entrees, with a focus on its specialty noodles and rice noodles, “anchored by the bold, pungent, and spicy flavors for which the [Sichuan] region is known and revered,” according to the restaurant’s website.
Dishes include pork dumplings and more than two dozen variations of noodles, including hot and sour, with spare ribs or mapo tofu, among others.
The restaurant’s culinary offerings received much acclaim in Southern California, including a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation. In 2016, late Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold described Mian’s flavors as “bright and clean” in a positive review:
“The flavors are bright and clean, informed as much by the tart funkiness of Sichuan pickles as by pure chile heat; the noodles (handmade, although not necessarily in-house) have an integrity and chew you might associate with good Italian pasta.”
Before Mian, China Wok had previously operated at the Tysons shopping strip for 34 years, neighboring Tysons Modern Dentistry and a former weight loss clinic. It closed last July as its owners announced their retirement after running the restaurant since 1991.
It’s unclear when exactly the restaurant intends to open, although signs at the address say it is “coming soon.” Mian did not return a request for comment submitted through property owner Federal Realty.
