damnlines.comdamnlines.comChinatown coffee-shop bakery since 1968, famous for baked char siu bao that regularly draws a line.
Mei Lai Wah is a takeout counter, not a sit-down room, so its line is a buy-and-go queue for hot buns. Diner Theory reports the line "typically stretches down the block," with waits "sometimes up to 30 minutes," though it notes the cash-only line "tends to move fairly quickly." Mott Street Girls describes "long lines of hungry patrons" waiting essentially every day for the same thing.
The draw is the baked roast pork bun (char siu bao), reported around $3 by Diner Theory. Buns come out of the oven in batches, and Eat This NY notes the roast pork buns can sell out, so part of the line is a race for a fresh hot tray rather than pure crowd volume. The shop keeps a cash heritage; Mott Street Girls notes a cash discount.
Regulars work the payment split. Diner Theory and Mott Street Girls both describe separate cash and card lines, with the cash line moving faster and self-serve kiosks/tablets letting card orders skip ahead and text you when the order is ready. For the calmest visit, Eat This NY points to mornings before roughly 11am, when it is "a more modest group of locals with their newspapers and morning coffee."
No camera here yet — but these lines are on camera right now:
Golden Diner · 6 min walkclosedLucinda's · 23 min walkclosedBreakfast by Salt's Cure · 23 min walkclosedWe do not have a live camera here, so we cannot give a current count. Diner Theory reports the line "typically stretches down the block," with waits "sometimes up to 30 minutes," but adds that the cash-only line "tends to move fairly quickly."
Eat This NY points to mornings before about 11am, when it is "a more modest group of locals with their newspapers and morning coffee." Going early also helps because Eat This NY notes the roast pork buns can sell out later in the day.
It runs on a cash heritage; Mott Street Girls notes a cash discount, and both Mott Street Girls and Diner Theory describe a faster cash line plus self-serve kiosks/tablets for card orders that text you when the order is ready.
The signature is the baked char siu bao (roast pork bun), reported around $3 by Diner Theory. Diner Theory and Eat This NY also list pineapple buns, pineapple-pork buns, steamed pork buns, shu mai, and rice noodle rolls.
It is at 41 Mott Street in Manhattan's Chinatown, open daily roughly 8:30 AM to 7:30 PM per its listings; it moved here after more than 50 years on Bayard Street to reduce overcrowding.