Shanxi noodles find a home in the US

The city of Los Angeles, California, US now has a Shanxi Noodle House, a part of Shanxi province's effort to gain brand recognition, situated in a Chinese community and designed as a "cave dwelling", a traditional Shanxi dwelling carved in the loess soil of northern China.

In remarking on the eatery's reception, Zhao Weihua and Yang Zhifeng, two of its investors, remarked recently, "We had more than 700 customers 11:00 am - 3:30 pm the very first day we opened, which was way beyond our expectations."

Performers at Shanxi noodle restaurant in Los Angeles, on opening day. [Photo/ShanxiEvening]

The food is meant to display Shanxi's characteristics, or as Zhao explained, "We want to present Shanxi's special charm to let people know more about our home," and the restaurant is decorated with shadow puppets, a traditional Chinese art form.

Another interesting thing is that customers can watch the full process of noodle making through a glass wall, which leads one Chinese American customer, Liu Xiaosha, to give it the thumbs-up and say, "This is the first time I've ever seen these wonderful noodles being made."

Giving the noodles a try at the new restaurant. [Photo/Shanxi Evening]

One American who said he's interested in Chinese culture, added, "There are many noodle restaurants in Los Angeles, before Shanxi Noodle House opened, the Italian restaurants were the only place you could see noodles made by hand."

The restaurant has about 15 employees and main chefs, all from Shanxi, with the assistants consisting mostly of Mexicans and Chinese students as servants. A bowl of noodles costs $10 and, according to Zhao, they are continuing to add new products - from cold dishes to hot dishes, and from soups to dumplings - then added, "We're exploring new ways to tailor the Shanxi taste to Los Angeles."