Beijing Noodle, a Fort Collins favorite known for its traditional Chinese dishes, has made the cut on USA TODAY’s list of best restaurants in the country.
The USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year 2024 list, released today, features 47 restaurants across the country. It was compiled by USA TODAY’s network of food journalists, who pooled their expertise to select the final list.
The recognition came as a surprise to Tianxi “Dennis” Zhang, who opened the restaurant southwest of the Colorado State University campus with his wife, Yirong Sun, back in 2018.
All the couple wanted was to bring traditional Chinese dishes to their adopted Colorado hometown, realizing Sun’s longtime dream of having her own restaurant in the process, Zhang told the Coloradoan in December.
“We feel very proud,” Zhang added. “We never thought that we (would get recognized) like this.”
Beijing Noodle was chosen because of its rare offerings of traditional Chinese fare, from its hard-boiled tea eggs and five spice pig ears to its array of scratch-made noodle dishes.