You may not be able to stagger down the staircase at 2:30 a.m., nor gawk at the vast collection of fading photos that cover the basement restaurant's walls, but the original Wo Hop (the neighborhood's second oldest restaurant, behind Nom Wah) and the younger Wo Hop City, are now back in action, serving their classic, Americanized Chinese fare on Mott Street.
You can get takeout of course, or delivery, but the real move is to come down here to Chinatown and stretch out in one of the handsomely designed outdoor seating spaces that now line the block. New tables and chairs, plexiglass shields, barriers thick with plant life, bright coloring, plenty of umbrella coverage — these are among the most pleasant such dining areas I've seen in the Covid era.
The materials were all contributed by the Rockwell Group, whose participation is part of their larger effort to help NYC restaurants survive the pandemic, working here with the New York Hospitality Group, the Chinatown Partnership, and the Department of Transportation. The project also has a long list of corporate sponsors.
While this southernmost stretch of Mott Street was touted as being entirely closed to all vehicles, seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. starting last Wednesday, that has not been the case. Unfortunately, the barricades have already been pushed to the side, and drivers are even ignoring the "No Through Traffic" and "5 MPH" compromise signs — a citywide problem with Open Streets, a plan some have noted "lacks vision and ambition."
Cars or no cars, the public seems ready to return to Chinatown, a dining destination that has been hit hard by the pandemic, with tourists and New Yorkers avoiding the neighborhood as far back as late January. On Friday at 6 p.m. almost every outdoor table along lower Mott Street was filled, and Doyers Street — which was truly closed to cars — was hopping in an unalarming, properly-distanced fashion as well.
Doyers Street
Scott Lynch / GothamistAfter a fifteen minute wait I secured a seat at Wo Hop and ordered up a feast. There's a certain nostalgia at play when eating here, with all those delightfully borderline sweet dishes that dominated the scene when I first started coming to Chinatown in the 1970s. And although the hours are truncated, the Wo Hop menu still runs more than 250 items long.
Not wanting to hog my precious four-top, I chose quickly. Roast Pork with Chinese Mushrooms featured large chunks of butter-soft fungi and a glutinous sauce. Sesame Chicken with Broccoli wasn't really "hot spicy" as the header promised, but the meat was tender and the dish had some kick. Also on the table was a container of sticky Cold Sesame Noodles for old time's sake, and Wo Hop's decent Fried Rice, in this case with shrimp.
As far as pandemic protocols go, there's a comically large bottle of sanitizer at every setting, the staff is 100% masked, those plexiglass shields between tables mostly provide a secure feeling, though the tables are close together. And everything is served in takeout containers, which is not only safe but also efficient when you're ready to leave and still have like three more meals worth of food still to be eaten.
Other notable restaurants taking advantage of the block's new seating areas, or offering tables on closed-down Doyers Street, include Hop Kee, Nom Wah Tea Room, Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles, and Ping's.
The Wo Hops are located at 15 and 17 Mott Street, between Mosco Street and Chatham Square, and are currently open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (wohopchinese.com)
