"Downtown Austin's best Chinese for a decade, Best of Austin 2024 — book ahead and order the soup dumplings for a team dinner."
About Wu Chow
Wu Chow opened in late 2015 from the team behind Swift's Attic. A decade on, it is still the first room Austin names for Chinese. It sits in the IBC Bank Plaza at 500 West 5th Street, in the Warehouse District: a polished downtown space, not a strip-mall standby. Austin Chronicle readers voted it the city's best Chinese in 2024. The kitchen cooks across the regional styles with Texas produce, and it does so with more discipline than the competition. For the standards we hold it to, see our seven signs of a great restaurant.
The Kitchen
Executive chef Ji Peng Chen runs the line. He spent more than forty years cooking Sichuan and Cantonese food, much of it in New York's Chinatown and Queens, before Austin. It shows in the fundamentals, which is where most kitchens at this price quietly fail.
The Shanghai soup dumplings are the signature and the thing to order first: thin-skinned, full of broth, and done properly, which in this city is rarer than it should be. Around them the menu runs deep — yu xiang eggplant, salt-and-pepper squid, mapo tofu, crispy sesame beef, and an off-menu Beijing roast duck you order ahead by phone. Most plates land between $12 and $30, so a sharing dinner sits near $35 to $55 a head before drinks. Order family-style or you have misread the room. The Austin Chronicle's 2024 best-Chinese vote is the proof on paper; the cooking is the proof on the plate.
The Room
The downtown setting does real work: high ceilings, warm wood, a proper bar. It is a notch more polished than most Chinese rooms in the city and dressed for a working dinner. Lively at peak, never chaotic. A table of eight is as easy here as two at the bar. Dress is smart-casual; neat denim passes, but the room rewards a little effort. Weekend dinner and Sunday dim sum are the busy services, so book ahead. Weekday tables are easy.
Best for a Team Dinner
Book Wu Chow for a team dinner or a client meal. The menu is built to share, the room is polished enough to impress without going stiff, and a long table of dumplings and roast duck keeps everyone talking instead of staring at a tasting-menu card. Order family-style and let the soup dumplings open the evening. See the best team-dinner tables and the best restaurants to impress a client in Austin, plus our best Chinese restaurants guide.
Not for
Not for a cheap, quick lunch. Wu Chow is a sit-down downtown room with downtown prices, and a full sharing dinner runs well past the strip-mall standard. If you want a ten-minute turn and a bargain bill, this is the wrong door.
Frequently Asked
Is Wu Chow worth it?
Yes. It has been the room Austin names first for Chinese for a decade, and Austin Chronicle readers voted it Best of Austin for Chinese in 2024. The Shanghai soup dumplings are the dish to order first, the cooking is precise across the regional styles, and a sharing dinner runs about $35 to $55 a head. Book a downtown table and order family-style.
What should I order at Wu Chow?
Start with the Shanghai soup dumplings, the dish the kitchen is known for, then spread across yu xiang eggplant, salt-and-pepper squid, mapo tofu and the crispy sesame beef. For a group, call ahead for the off-menu Beijing roast duck. Most plates land between $12 and $30, so order family-style and share rather than ordering a plate each.
Who is the chef at Wu Chow?
Executive chef Ji Peng Chen runs the Wu Chow kitchen, with more than forty years cooking Sichuan and Cantonese food, much of it in New York's Chinatown and Queens before Austin. The restaurant opened in late 2015 from the team behind Swift's Attic, and Chen's command of the fundamentals is why it has outlasted flashier downtown rooms.
Does Wu Chow serve dim sum?
Yes. Wu Chow runs a dedicated dim sum service on Sundays, alongside its signature Shanghai soup dumplings available through the week. The Sunday service is popular, so a reservation is wise. The dim sum here is the program that made the restaurant's reputation and helped define modern Chinese dining in downtown Austin.
Do you need a reservation at Wu Chow?
For weekend dinner and Sunday dim sum, yes; book ahead through OpenTable or by phone, as the downtown room fills at peak. Weekday lunch and early dinner are easier and often walkable. For the off-menu Beijing roast duck you must call ahead to order it. See the wider Austin dining guide for timing.
Reserve a Table
Reserve at Wu Chow
Via OpenTable · or call 512-476-2469
Affiliate disclosure: Restaurants for Kings may earn a commission when you book through our reservation links, at no cost to you. Our scores are editorial and never paid for.
Practical Information
Address500 W 5th St #168, Austin, TX 78701
NeighbourhoodWarehouse District
CuisineModern Chinese · dim sum
Average spend~$35–55 per person, ex-drinks
Signature dishShanghai soup dumplings
ChefJi Peng Chen (executive chef)
Dress codeSmart-casual
ReservationOpenTable / phone
RecognitionAustin Chronicle Best Chinese 2024
