Ho Foods

Richard Ho red-cooks his beef noodle broth with rock sugar, soy and fermented broad-bean paste. The stock underneath is neck bones and beef feet.2 Ligaya Mishan put the shop on the Times' hundred best restaurants in the city in 2026.1

Why go

Ho worked front of house at Blue Ribbon Sushi for eight years, in Brooklyn and at Columbus Circle. He ran Ho Foods as a pop-up through 2015 and 2016.2 He took the old Porchetta space on East 7th Street and opened for good in January 2018.7

Ho's cut is shank, and the tendon and connective tissue are what give the broth its body.2 Taiwanese breakfast came later, and the shop has since taken the storefront next door.5 1

Order this / avoid

Order: the beef noodle soup. Willa Moore, in The Infatuation, says the only decision is thin noodles or thick.4
Order: the lu rou fan, braised minced pork over rice.1
Order: the breakfast set for two in the morning. That is sweet and savory soy milk, a scallion pancake rolled around scrambled egg, youtiao, fan tuan and a turnip cake.5
Avoid: turning up at night for the breakfast set. The kitchen's own line is breakfast in the day.8

What locals & experts say

Ligaya Mishan, co-chief restaurant critic of The New York Times, on the pork rice, May 2026: it arrives with the essential adornment of a soy-sauce-stained egg, its heart turned to jam.1
Bao Ong, in Time Out New York, September 2019: the closet-sized room is worth the wait for one of the city's best bowls of Taiwanese beef noodle soup (or any soup for that matter).6
Matt Tervooren, then a staff writer for The Infatuation, rating it 8.3 in January 2022: the broth has been cooked for 24 hours, and his advice is to ask for the soup extra spicy with a can of Taiwanese beer.3
Richard Ho, to Gothamist in October 2024, on why he opens for breakfast at all: I think people like starting off their day with a treat.5

Good to know

The wait: ten seats, an hour or more in line at the worst of it, and the soup lands fast once you sit.3
Add-on: tendon, on top of the beef slices.3

Verdict

should-visit — Go alone, and go early. The line is the whole admission here, and I would pay it.

Ho Foods.