华丰一号快餐 · Cantonese Roast Meats
NYC's most legendary cheap eat — Cantonese roast pork, duck, and chicken chopped to order over gravy-soaked rice. Under $10. Cash only. The line moves fast. The food is worth every minute.
Everything at Wah Fung starts with the roasting — whole animals hung and slow-roasted daily, then chopped to order in front of you. Served over gravy-soaked steamed rice with fresh cabbage. Simple. Perfect. Irreplaceable.
On the border of Chinatown and the Lower East Side, 79 Chrystie Street has been serving the same thing for years: roast pork, duck, and chicken chopped to order over rice and cabbage, at prices that haven't kept pace with the rest of Manhattan and never will. That's the Wah Fung promise.
The line outside tells you everything you need to know before you taste a single bite. It's mostly locals, a growing number of tourists who found the place on TikTok, and regulars who come back three days in a row because the portions are so large and the price is so absurd that it doesn't make sense to eat anywhere else for lunch. "You come to New York to get Wah Fung and in turn Wah Fung will make you come back," wrote one guest who called it his favorite Chinese food establishment after visiting as a summer intern.
The Infatuation rated it an 8 out of 10 — "worth making an effort or crossing town for." It's a no-nonsense, takeout-only operation: you enter, you point at the hanging meats, the cleaver comes down, the tin fills up, you pay cash, you leave. And you will be back.
Closed Mondays. Come before 5PM — popular cuts (especially duck) can sell out. Arrive by 11:30AM or mid-afternoon for shortest wait.
79 Chrystie Street. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 9AM–7PM. Bring cash. Come early.