Fast-Casual Noodle House Delivers Regional Chinese Dishes to Westfield UTC

The first of two highly-anticipated Chinese restaurants has arrived at Westfield UTC. Though global hot pot chain Haidilao is still under construction inside the mall, Qin West Noodle is finally up and running on the Macy’s end of complex. The Los Angeles-based fast-casual noodle house, which was founded in 2012, already operates several locations in the greater LA area, including in Chinatown and Westwood, as well as an outpost near UC Irvine.

Its counter-service menu hinges on regional dishes from a variety of Chinese provinces including Shanxi in the northwest whose specialties include lamb paomo, a soup served with glass noodles and flatbread, and roujiamo, a flatbread stuffed with stewed meat that’s often paired with liangpi, a cold noodle dish that Qin West offers in limited quantities per day. From Guangxi in South China, there’s guilin soup which features rice noodles and beef shank with pickled Chinese cabbage and sour beans, and liuzhou soup, or luosifen, with a broth made from beef bones and river snails.

Many of the noodle dishes are spicy but can be ordered at milder levels of heat.

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The other half of the menu focuses on stir-fried dishes, from beef chow mein and chicken fried rice to twice-cooked pork and spicy cumin beef along with sides like marinated cucumbers, beef tendon, and steamed dumplings.

A rep for the restaurant tells Eater that they’re not planning to open anything else in San Diego this year but will revisit local expansion in 2023.

• All Openings Coverage on Eater [ESD]